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Derek Dietrich

Rangers Designate Greg Bird For Assignment, Select Derek Dietrich

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The Rangers announced a series of roster moves Tuesday afternoon, most notably adding recently signed Derek Dietrich to the Major League roster and designating first baseman Greg Bird for assignment (after first reinstating him from the injured list). Texas also selected the contract of lefty Wes Benjamin from its alternate training site and optioned right-hander Jimmy Herget and infielder Anderson Tejeda.

Designating Bird for assignment opened one of two requisite roster spots for Dietrich and Benjamin. The other looks to have come from placing right-hander Luke Farrell on the Covid-19 injured list. Texas merely announced that Farrell has been placed on the IL, but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News further reports that it is a Covid-19 IL placement due to Farrell coming into “close contact” with an individual who has tested positive. Farrell has tested negative to this point, per Grant.

Dietrich only just inked a minor league contract with the Rangers yesterday, but he’ll step in as an apparent first base and second base option in the wake of Bird’s departure. The longtime Marlins utilityman slugged a career-best 19 home runs last year, though the overwhelming majority of his production came in the season’s first nine to ten weeks. Dietrich experienced a precipitous dip in production after that point but will look to rebound in his latest setting after being unable to grab a big league spot on prior minors pacts with the Reds and Cubs.

The 27-year-old Benjamin is stepping onto a big league roster for the first time. He was clobbered in Triple-A in 2019 (5.52 ERA in 135 1/3 frames), but that’s true of most of the league’s pitchers after unprecedented levels of home runs that mirrored the Major League long ball surge. Prior to 2019, Benjamin had run up a sub-4.00 ERA in each of his professional seasons, topping out with a solid showing at Double-A in 2018 (3.62 ERA, 72-to-23 K/BB ratio in 79 2/3 innings).

As for Bird, the former Yankees first base hopeful will again be on the lookout for a new team. He’s shown in the past that he has all of the skill to be a strong offensive contributor in the Majors, but shoulder and ankle injuries have completely derailed his career to this point. It’s perhaps telling that he landed on the IL with the Rangers before taking his first plate appearance with the club.

Rangers Sign Derek Dietrich

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The Rangers have signed infielder Derek Dietrich to a minor league contract and assigned him to their alternate training site, per a club announcement. Texas will be the third organization for Dietrich already in 2020. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds (with whom he spent the 2019 season) over the winter and latched on with the Cubs late last month after Cincinnati cut him loose. The Cubs released Dietrich just 24 hours ago.

Early last summer, Dietrich looked to be one of the best minor league pickups in all of MLB. Through his first 157 trips to the plate, he raked at a .263/.369/.684 clip and had already set a new career-high in home runs. He was thriving both at the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park and on the road, but his offensive output cratered in the season’s final few months. Over his final 149 plate appearances, he hit just .102/.284/.212.

In all, Dietrich is a career .246/.334/.427 hitter with 79 home runs, 106 doubles and 21 triples in 2438 plate appearances between the Marlins and Reds. He has experience playing second base, first base, third base and the outfield corners. He’ll give the club some lefty-hitting bench depth and perhaps an alternative to the struggling Rougned Odor, who has opened the season with a disastrous .114/.205/.229 slash and 16 strikeouts in 39 plate appearances.

Cubs Release Derek Dietrich

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The Cubs announced that utilityman Derek Dietrich has been released so that Dietrich can explore a Major League opportunity with another club.  (MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian was among those to report the news.)

Dietrich signed a minor league deal with Chicago just prior to the July opener, and only three days after the Reds released him from another minors contract.  Dietrich didn’t receive a call-up to the Cubs’ active roster, and it’s fair to assume that he wasn’t in the team’s plans in the near future, which led to their granting his request for a release.  With Dietrich’s track record of multi-positional versatility and a career 107 OPS+, any number of teams could have their eye on him for regular big league duty.

Dietrich spent his first six seasons with the Marlins before playing with the Reds in a somewhat unusual 2019 season.  He hit a career-best 19 homers and posted a career-best .462 slugging percentage over 306 plate appearances, though he batted only .187.  Much of Dietrich’s 2019 production was built around an incredible 68-PA stretch in May, as Dietrich exploded to hit .293/.397/.931 and 12 home runs.

Cubs Sign Ryan LaMarre

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The Cubs announced Friday that they’ve signed outfielder Ryan LaMarre to a minor league deal. Chicago also confirmed its previously reported minor league deal with infielder Derek Dietrich and added 2020 draftee Burl Carraway to its 60-man player pool. All three players will head to the team’s alternate training site in South Bend.

LaMarre, 31, has spent time in the Majors in each of the past five seasons, most recently with the Twins in 2018-19. The 2010 second-rounder, who is a career .236/.286/.338 hitter in 246 trips to the plate, had recently opted out of a minor league deal with the Rays. He’s capable of playing all three outfield positions and carries a solid .281/.349/.415 batting line in parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level.

Carraway, selected in the second round out of Dallas Baptist University, is seen as a pure bullpen prospect with a powerful fastball/curve combination. He misses bats with ease but also has struggled with his control. He was widely regarded as a top-100 prospect in this year’s draft and could rise to the Majors quickly — although a 2020 debut would nevertheless register as a surprise.

Cubs Sign Derek Dietrich To Minor League Contract

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Utility player Derek Dietrich announced Thursday on Instagram that he has signed with the Cubs, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic relays. It’s a minor league contract for Dietrich, who will head to their alternate training site in South Bend, Ind., per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Dietrich had been a free agent since he opted out of a minors deal with the division-rival Reds on Monday.

The 31-year-old Dietrich will bring a track record of respectable offense and defensive versatility to the Chicago organization. The former Marlin and Red has been an above-average hitter throughout his career, having slashed .246/.334/.427 (108 wRC+) with 79 home runs in 2,438 plate appearances. He also has 100-plus games of experience at second, third and in left field, though he has never been a high-grade defender in the majors.

The Cubs will enter the season with former NL MVP Kris Bryant at third and likely 2019 success story Ian Happ in left, but second base may not be as certain. Offseason minor league signing Jason Kipnis, whose offensive production has dropped off in the past few years, is seemingly in line to start there. David Bote and Nico Hoerner also look to be in the mix, while Daniel Descalso will begin the year on the 45-day injured list.

Reds Release Derek Dietrich

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Reds utilityman Derek Dietrich has requested and received his release from the team, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com tweets. Dietrich, whom the Reds brought back on a minor league contract over the winter, just joined their player pool last week after a positive coronavirus test. He excercised an opt-out clause, meaning he won’t be able to re-sign with the Reds this year, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic notes.

For the Reds and Dietrich, this ends what was briefly a very fruitful relationship. The former Marlin signed a minors pact with the Reds heading into 2019, earned a roster spot and then went into the summer as one of the game’s hottest hitters. Dietrich posted a ridiculous .304/.400/.841 line with 12 home runs in just 80 plate appearances in May, but his production cratered after that. He finished the season a .187/.328/.462 hitter with 19 homers in 341 PA, though that line was still 2 percent better than league average, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.

The 31-year-old Dietrich, to his credit, has consistently been a better-than-average offensive player since his career started in 2013. He owns a lifetime triple-slash of .246/.334/.427 (108 wRC+) with 79 HRs in 2,438 trips to the plate, though most of the lefty-swinger’s damage has come against righties. Defensively, Dietrich has garnered extensive experience at several positions (first, second, third and left). While Dietrich hasn’t graded particularly well at any of those spots, his versatility in the field and history of respectable offense should enable him to catch on elsewhere.

Reds Add Derek Dietrich To 60-Man Player Pool

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The Reds have added utilityman Derek Dietrich to their 60-man player pool, per a team announcement. He’ll report to their satellite location at Prasco Park. Dietrich told reporters he tested positive for coronavirus, necessitating the waiting period.

Dietrich had been with the organization this spring as a minor-league invitee. He carried a .174/.259/.478 slash line with two long balls in 27 plate appearances of Cactus League action.

Since he’s not slated to work out initially with the team’s anticipated active roster players, it seems rather unlikely that Dietrich has a shot at earning a MLB job to open the year. But the seven-year veteran, who’ll soon turn 31, would be on call if a need arises during the season. In 2,438 career plate appearances at the game’s highest level, he carries a .246/.334/.427 batting line.

Reds Re-Sign Derek Dietrich

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The Reds have re-signed infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training, per a team announcement. He’s represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.

It’s the second straight winter that Dietrich has inked a minors pact with Cincinnati. An injury to then-second baseman Scooter Gennett helped pave the way for him to land a spot on the big league roster last winter, and partway through the season, Dietrich looked to be one of the best minor league pickups in all of MLB. As of that early-June check-in, Dietrich had posted a stout .263/.369/.684 batting line while already establishing a new career-high in home runs through just 157 plate appearances. He was thriving both at the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park and on the road, but the now-30-year-old slugger saw his offensive output crater shortly thereafter.

From June 7 through season’s end, Dietrich turned in one of the least-productive lines of anyone in baseball: a .102/.284/.212 slash through 149 plate appearances. He managed to the uptick in walks he enjoyed through the season’s first two months, but the rest of his offensive skill set deteriorated at a rapid rate.

In all, Dietrich is a career .246/.334/.427 hitter with 79 home runs, 106 doubles and 21 triples in 2438 plate appearances between the Marlins and Reds. He has experience playing second base, first base, third base and the outfield corners.

This time around, Dietrich will face a new series of challenges in cracking a bulked up Cincinnati roster. The Reds have added sluggers Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos on four-year deals this winter, and they picked up Japanese star Shogo Akiyama on a three-year pact as well. It’s possible that the injury to Eugenio Suarez will give Dietrich a chance to win a roster spot, however, as the Reds could opt to deploy Moustakas at the hot corner while giving Dietrich a look at second base — if he performs well in Spring Training.

Reds Outright Four Players

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The Reds announced Monday that infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich, infielder Christian Colon, right-hander Jackson Stephens and right-hander Keury Mella all went unclaimed on waivers and were set outright to Triple Louisville.

Dietrich, 30, is the most notable name of the group and will surely reject the assignment to once again become a free agent. The former Marlin parlayed a minor league deal in Cincinnati this offseason into an Opening Day roster spot and went on one of the more memorable power surges in recent memory midway through the year. Dietrich launched a dozen homers over a span of just 68 plate appearances in May and carried a 1.000 OPS into June. However, he fell into a slump that was perhaps even more remarkable than that home-run binge; in his final 71 plate appearances, he hit just .071/.257/.179.

Mella, 26, was acquired from the Giants alongside Adam Duvall in the 2015 trade that shipped righty Mike Leake to the Giants. He was considered to be among the more promising pitching prospects in Cincinnati in the couple of years following that trade but has seen his stock dip considerably. The righty yielded 15 runs in 17 Major League innings across parts of three seasons, posting an uninspiring 13-to-12 K/BB ratio during those stints. At the time of his acquisition, Mella was averaging better than a strikeout per inning against older competition in Class-A Advanced, but in parts of three Triple-A seasons he has a 4.59 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 172 2/3 innings.

The 25-year-old Stephens had a big year with Double-A Pensacola back in 2016 but has limped to an ERA north of 5.00 in three trips through Triple-A Louisville while struggling to a 4.83 ERA through multiple MLB auditions. He spent the 2019 season in Triple-A, where he logged a 5.14 ERA with an 80-to-37 K/BB ratio in 84 innings, mostly as a reliever.

Colon, once the fourth overall pick in the draft and a top prospect with the Royals, appeared in just eight games with the Reds and made eight plate appearances. He’s a career .256/.321/.218 hitter in the Majors and batted .300/.372/.443 in Triple-A with the Reds this past season.

Derek Dietrich Changes Representation

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Free-agent infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich will be represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management moving forward, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). He’d previously been repped by SportsMeter, the same company that represents Craig Kimbrel, Ozzie Albies and Francisco Lindor.

Dietrich, 30, was non-tendered by the Marlins last offseason and was unable to secure a big league deal, ultimately signing a minor league pact with the Reds that paid him a $2MM base salary (with another $500K available via incentives) when he made the team out of Spring Training following an injury to Scooter Gennett. That looked to be a substantial bargain for the Reds through the season’s first couple of months; Dietrich maintained an OPS north of 1.000 into June and at one point belted a dozen home runs in a span of just 68 plate appearances.

Not long after that otherworldly power surge, however, Dietrich’s production fell off a cliff. The utilityman found himself in an increasingly limited role and ended the season in a dreadful 1-for-39 slump. Dietrich posted just a .071/.257/.179 in 70 plate appearances after the All-Star break, and while a .086 average on balls in play over that stretch surely didn’t help his case, Dietrich’s end-of-season .187/.328/.462 batting line nevertheless leaves plenty to be desired. To his credit, Dietrich’s 9.2 percent walk rate was a career-best, and his his season-long .176 BABIP should be in line for some positive regression even in spite of his pull-happy, fly-ball-heavy approach.

Dietrich will add another free agent to the offseason ledger over at All Bases Covered, who will also have the likes of Brian Dozier and Stephen Vogt hit the open market again. The switch continues a tough year for Dietrich’s now-former agency. Kimbrel’s trip to the open market lingered beyond the June draft, while former client Nicholas Castellanos jumped ship back in April.

Dietrich’s change in representation will be reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains agent info on thousands of Major League and Minor League players. If you see any errors or omissions within, please let us know: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

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