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Erik Kratz

Astros Release Erik Kratz

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MAY 24: Kratz has cleared waivers and been released, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.

MAY 23: The Astros have placed Kratz on release waivers, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. If he clears tomorrow, he’ll be a free agent.

MAY 16: The Astros announced today that they have designated catcher Erik Kratz for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. Houston has also optioned outfielder Preston Tucker to Triple-A, recalled Evan Gattis from Double-A Corpus Christi and selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp. Gattis will serve as the team’s new backup catcher.

Kratz, 35, came to the Astros late in Spring Training in exchange for right-hander Dan Straily. The veteran backstop appeared in 15 games for Houston, totaling 30 plate appearances, but went just 2-for-29 at the dish before today’s DFA. He also pitched an inning to save the Houston bullpen in an 11-1 loss suffered at the hands of the Mariners on April 26. The former Phillies/Royals/Blue Jays backstop is a career .210/.261/.381 hitter at the Major League level and has caught 33 percent of opposing base-stealers in his big league career.

Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle first reported Kemp’s promotion. The 24-year-old entered the season rated 14th and 15th, respectively, by MLB.com and Baseball America on their lists of Houston’s top 30 prospects. He has a lengthy track record of getting on base and swiped 76 bases from 2014-15, but his defense has drawn some question marks (particularly from BA), and he lacks power, as evidenced by the 14 homers he’s hit in 1644 minor league plate appearances.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12-15-2015

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves right here:

  • The Red Sox announced that they’ve re-signed right-hander Anthony Varvaro to a minor league contract. Additionally, they announced the signings of outfielder Ryan LaMarre (as WEEI’s Rob Bradford first reported), catcher Ali Solis, infielder Chris Dominguez and right-hander William Cuevas to minor league deals. Of that group, Varvaro, LaMarre and Dominguez played in the Majors last season, with Varvaro logging 11 innings in the Boston bullpen. The 31-year-old Varvaro has seen Major League action in each season dating back to 2010, highlighted by 128 innings of 2.74 ERA ball for the Braves from 2013-14. LaMarre, 27, made his big league debut with the Reds last season and appeared in 21 games but recorded just 26 plate appearances. Dominguez, 29, also received a brief look from Cincinnati in 2015 and got a similar cup of coffee with the 2014 Giants. Boston also confirmed its previously reported signing of veteran right-hander Sean O’Sullivan on a minors pact.

Earlier Updates

  • Among the Twins’ recent minor league signees are outfielder Darin Mastroianni, shortstop Wilfredo Tovar, and righty Brandon Kintzler, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. The 30-year-old Mastroianni failed to crack the majors last year for the first time in four seasons, and slashed just .257/.308/.345 in 484 Triple-A plate appearances. Tovar, 24, had spent his entire career in the Mets organization and put up a .283/.327/.356 batting line last year over 388 turns at bat in his first run at the highest level of the minors. Injuries have limited Kintzler, who is 31. He only threw 29 1/3 innings at all levels last year after contributing 135 1/3 major league innings of 2.93 ERA pitching over 2013-14.
  • The Padres have signed backstop Erik Kratz to a minor league deal, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune recently reported on Twitter. Kratz, 35, only saw 28 MLB plate appearances last year but provides another depth piece for a San Diego club that has numerous options behind the dish.

Outrighted: De Fratus, Pettibone, Kratz, Green

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Phillies announced that they’ve outrighted seven players from the 40-man roster. Right-hander Justin De Fratus, catcher Erik Kratz, infielder Chase d’Arnaud, outfielder Jordan Danks and lefties Adam Loewen and Ken Roberts were all outrighted off the roster. Additionally, right-hander Jonathan Pettibone was activated from the 60-day DL and outrighted. The 27-year-old De Fratus has been a regular member of the Philadelphia bullpen for the past three seasons but struggled to a 5.51 ERA in 80 innings this season. Pettibone, 25, tossed 100 1/3 solid innings for the Phils in 2013 but has struggled to recover from shoulder surgery. He threw just three innings last year and didn’t pitch in the Majors in 2015.
  • The Angels announced today that infielder Grant Green has cleared outright waivers and will be assigned to Triple-A. Green, 28, was designated for assignment just before the end of the regular season. He was once a prized young player, and continues to perform in the upper minors, but has slashed just .249/.283/.335 over an even 300 career plate appearances. Notably, the move does not necessarily mean that Los Angeles will be able to stash Green in the minors. Now that he’s off of the 40-man, he’ll be eligible for minor league free agency.

Phillies Sign Erik Kratz To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies announced that they have signed catcher Erik Kratz to a minor league contract. Earlier today, Kratz’s agents at Jackson Management Group tweeted that their client had agreed to terms with a new team — they declined to specify which club — meaning he’s now been in four organizations in one month’s time.

Signing with the Phillies marks a homecoming for the veteran Kratz in more ways than one. For starters, the 35-year-old is a native of Telford, Penn. and attended high school in nearby Lansdale — both of which are roughly an hour outside of Philadelphia. The Phillies are also the team that gave Kratz his first significant taste of Major League action. Though he actually debuted with Pennsylvania’s other big league squad, Kratz totaled just 36 plate appearances in his 2010 debut with Pittsburgh.

Kratz has 537 plate appearances at the Major League level — 381 of which have come as a member of the Phillies. From 2011-13, Kratz batted .230/.291/.436 for the Phillies and showed impressive power with a .206 ISO and 18 homers while serving primarily as a backup to Carlos Ruiz.

Kratz began the year with the Royals but has since been designated for assignment and claimed by the Red Sox. Boston again designated Kratz shortly after, and he then signed with the Mariners. However, Kratz opted out of that deal when it became apparent that he wouldn’t get a look on the big league roster. Over the course of his career, Kratz is a .217/.270/.400 hitter that has caught 31 percent of attempted base-stealers and graded out well in terms of pitch-framing metrics.

Mariners Release Erik Kratz After He Opts Out Of Deal

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TODAY: Kratz opted out of his deal when he learned he would not receive a promotion, per a tweet from his representatives at J.M.G. Baseball.

YESTERDAY: The Mariners have released catcher Erik Kratz, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Kratz had been playing at Triple-A since being released by the Royals and signing a minor league deal with Seattle.

Given this morning’s report that the Mariners were nearing a deal to acquire a backstop, it would appear that this move is designed to allow current backup Jesus Sucre to return to Tacoma. It remains unclear whether a deal will get done, but the release of Kratz certainly lines up with that outcome. Nevertheless, Divish notes on Twitter that his sources tell him there are no trade talks that can be characterized as being “close.”

Kratz, 35, owns a .211/.276/.400 slash over 105 Triple-A plate appearances on the season. He also briefly appeared at the major league level with Kansas City. Over parts of six seasons in the big leagues, beginning in 2010 when he was already thirty years of age, Kratz has put up a .217/.270/.400 slash with 23 home runs in 537 turns at bat.

Mariners Sign Erik Kratz To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners announced that they’ve signed catcher Erik Kratz to a minor league deal. The 35-year-old Kratz, a client of Metis Sports Management, will head to Triple-A Tacoma for the time being. Earlier today, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweeted that Kratz had agreed to a deal with a new team, with Seattle a likely landing spot.

A career .217/.270/.400 hitter, the 35-year-old Kratz has proven himself capable of hitting for power but at the cost of questionable batting average and OBP marks. Defensively, Kratz’s 31 percent caught-stealing rate is above average, and he’s received plus ratings in terms of pitch framing. He began the season with Royals, who ultimately opted to go with Drew Butera as their backup catcher over Kratz. Boston picked him up off waivers when he was designated for assignment by Kansas City, but they, too designated Kratz once it was determined that an injury to promising young backstop Blake Swihart was minor. FOX’s Jon Morosi noted at the time Kratz elected free agency that the Mariners were a possible landing spot.

Erik Kratz Elects Free Agency

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Catcher Erik Kratz has elected free agency after being outrighted off the Red Sox’ 40-man roster, reports  Brian Macpherson of the Providence Journal (on Twitter). Kratz was designated for assignment by the Red Sox late last week once Blake Swihart recovered from a minor injury.

A career .217/.270/.400 hitter, the 35-year-old Kratz has proven himself capable of hitting for power but at the cost of questionable batting average and OBP marks. Defensively, Kratz’s 31 percent caught-stealing rate is above average, and he’s received plus ratings in terms of pitch framing.

Kratz and his agents at Metis Sports Management will now have the opportunity to seek a deal with any club in need of depth and/or immediate help behind the plate. The Mariners, according to Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter), are one team that could be a possible landing spot.

Today’s Outrights: Erik Kratz, Edgar Ibarra

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Here are the latest outright assignments, with the newest moves at the top of the post…

  • The Red Sox have outrighted catcher Erik Kratz to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com official transactions page.  The move concludes a busy week for Kratz, as he was claimed off waivers from the Royals last Sunday and then designated for assignment on Thursday.  Kratz has only appeared in four games this season (all with Kansas City), as he has spent time on the DL and also generally had a hard time getting into games given Salvador Perez’s heavy workload behind the plate.
  • The Angels outrighted left-hander Edgar Ibarra off their 40-man roster, club director of communications Eric Kay tweets.  The southpaw was already pitching at Triple-A after being optioned back to Salt Lake earlier this month.  After ten minor league seasons, the 26-year-old Ibarra finally made his Major League debut, allowing a run in four relief innings for the Angels over two games.  Ibarra has posted a 4.20 ERA, 2.07 K/BB rate and 8.0 K/9 over 686 1/3 career minor league innings.

Red Sox Option Joe Kelly, Designate Erik Kratz

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The Red Sox have designated catcher Erik Kratz for assignment and optioned struggling right-hander Joe Kelly to Triple-A Pawtucket, the team announced. (CSN New England’s Sean McAdam tweeted the Kratz DFA prior to the announcement.) Additionally, Dustin Pedroia has landed on the 15-day DL due to a hamstring injury. In a series of corresponding moves, Boston has recalled Jackie Bradley Jr. from Pawtucket and selected the contracts of shortstop Deven Marrero and right-hander Jonathan Aro.

The biggest item of note in this story, for Red Sox fans, will be the departure of Kelly from the rotation, at least for the time being. One of two players acquired from the Cardinals in what now looks to be a lopsided John Lackey trade (the other was Allen Craig), Kelly has made 24 starts in a Red Sox uniform, with the cumulative result being a 4.96 ERA to go along with 6.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9. His 4.20 ERA in 2014 was significantly better than his 5.67 mark this season, but his FIP and xFIP marks over the two seasons are pretty similar, each pegging his true talent in the 4.10 to 4.40 range.

Kelly’s struggles this year have come largely as a result of an inability to strand hitters, but some pundits have suggested that he may simply be better off being converted to a relief pitcher in the long run. Whether that outcome proves to be the case remains to be seen, but one can imagine Kelly’s fastball (currently averaging 95.7 mph) playing up even better in the bullpen. For the time being, at least, Kelly will work in the Pawtucket rotation, tweets the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato.

Kelly has already accumulated enough service time in 2015 to reach three years of Major League service and thus qualify for arbitration following the season. As such, there’s no risk of this option — even if he’s left in the minors for a significant amount of time — delaying his path to free agency. The struggles and demotion will, however, undoubtedly impact his earning potential in his first trip through the arbitration process.

As for the 35-year-old Kratz, he was claimed off waivers from the Royals on Sunday due to some concern over an injury to Blake Swihart. However, Swihart is healthy and back in the lineup, so Kratz’s time in a Boston uniform will end without so much as a single in-game appearance over the few days that he was on the roster. A career .217/.270/.400 hitter, Kratz has proven himself capable of hitting for power but at the cost of questionable batting average and OBP marks. Defensively, Kratz’s 31 percent caught-stealing rate is above average, and he’s received plus ratings in terms of pitch framing.

Red Sox Claim Erik Kratz Off Waivers

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12:56pm: The Red Sox announced that they have claimed Kratz off waivers.  Kratz will provide the team with depth now that Blake Swihart is listed as day-to-day with a sprained left foot.

12:28pm: Erik Kratz has been claimed off waivers by an unknown team, MLBTR has learned.  The catcher was designated for assignment by the Royals on June 11th.

The claiming team is currently unknown, but the Mets and Red Sox both saw catchers leave the game with injury yesterday.  The Mets, however, already have depth behind the plate in Kevin Plawecki and Anthony Recker, so the Red Sox might be the more probable destination.

Most of Kratz’s career has been spent with the Phillies, but he’s also had brief stints in Toronto and Kansas City. All told, Kratz has shown nice power but low batting average and on-base capabilities, as evidenced by a .217/.270/.400 batting line. He’s also a skilled pitch-framer, however, and he’s thrown out 32 percent of attempted base-stealers in his big league career.

Kratz was scheduled to return from the 15-day disabled list earlier this month but was designated for assignment before he could be called back into action for KC.  Kratz would have served as Salvador Perez’s backup in Kansas City had he stayed on board, but that job has gone to Drew Butera instead.

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