Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Ian Hamilton

Yankees Sign Ian Hamilton To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Yankees have signed right-hander Ian Hamilton to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Hamilton will presumably be invited to participate in major league Spring Training.

Hamilton, 28 in June, has 15 scattered major league appearances, with 10 of those coming in 2018, four in 2020 and one last year. He has a 4.91 ERA over 14 2/3 innings in that time, striking out 14.1% of hitters while walking 12.5% of them and posting a 39.1% ground ball rate.

Last year, he was in the Twins’ system but not on the 40-man roster. He was briefly added to the big league club as a COVID substitute, making a single appearance of 2 2/3 innings. He made 23 appearances for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints, posting a 1.88 ERA with a 32.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 51.6% ground ball rate. He was then traded to the Guardians for catcher Sandy León, but the switch seemed to throw him off his rhythm. He posted a 6.27 ERA in 15 appearances after the deal with his walk rate jumping up to 13.1%, though he still got strikeouts at a 28.6% rate and kept 50% of balls in play on the ground.

Between the two organizations, Hamilton posted a 3.61 ERA in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings while striking out 30.6% of batters faced and getting grounders on more than half of balls in play. His 9.7% combined walk rate was a bit high, but it was still a solid showing and the Yankees are intrigued enough to give him a closer look. The club has lost some bullpen pieces this winter, with Chad Green, Aroldis Chapman and Miguel Castro having signed elsewhere, while Zack Britton is still a free agent. The most significant addition to the Yankee bullpen so far has been the signing of Tommy Kahnle, but Hamilton will provide some non-roster depth and try to earn his way into the club’s plans. If he can succeed in that regard, he still has an option season remaining and comes with plenty of club control since he’s yet to cross the one-year service time mark.

Twins Acquire Sandy Leon From Guardians

By | at

The Twins and Guardians have swung an inter-division trade, with Minnesota picking up catcher Sandy Leon.  Right-hander Ian Hamilton is headed to Cleveland on the other end of the swap.  The two players have been respectively assigned to their new teams’ Triple-A affiliates.

Ryan Jeffers suffered a thumb fracture in mid-July that will keep him out of action for another 4-6 weeks, leaving the Twins short at catcher behind Gary Sanchez.  The veteran Leon will provide some defense-first depth behind Sanchez, with rookie Caleb Hamilton and the more experienced Chance Sisco (on the Triple-A roster) also in the mix.

Leon’s second stint in Cleveland didn’t last long, as the Guardians only acquired him from the Reds in cash deal in late June, and then outrighted him off the 40-man roster two weeks ago.  For the season, Leon has appeared in only eight MLB games and posted a .514 OPS over 21 plate appearances.  Other than an offensive outburst over 78 games with the Red Sox in 2016, Leon has been a defensive specialist for much of his career, well-regarded as a pitch-framer and for his ability to manage pitchers and call games.

Hamilton has amassed 14 2/3 innings over parts of three MLB seasons, including 2 2/3 frames with the Twins this year.  An 11th-round pick for the White Sox in 2016, Hamilton had some excellent numbers at Triple-A this year, with a 1.88 ERA, 32.1% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate in 28 2/3 relief innings.

Twins Sign Aaron Sanchez, Tyler Thornburg To Minors Deals

By | at

The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with starter Aaron Sanchez, reports Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). Minnesota also signed reliever Tyler Thornburg to a non-roster deal over the weekend, assigning him to Triple-A St. Paul.

Sanchez began the season in the Nationals’ organization after signing a minor league deal in March. He opened the year in Triple-A but was selected to the majors in mid-April. The 29-year-old made seven starts with the Nats but was tagged for an 8.33 ERA as he struck out a career-low 11.3% of opposing hitters. Sanchez threw a fair amount of strikes and induced grounders on over the half the batted balls against him, but he surrendered six home runs in 31 1/3 innings while struggling to miss bats.

Washington designated Sanchez for assignment and outrighted him off their roster late last month, at which point he elected free agency. The Southern California native once looked like a potential rotation building block for the Blue Jays, making an All-Star appearance and leading American League qualifiers in ERA in 2016. Sanchez has assumed more of a journeyman role in the last few seasons, though, particularly since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2019. After working in the mid-upper 90s at peak, he averaged just north of 90 MPH on his fastball with the Giants last year and a pedestrian 92 MPH for Washington this season.

Thornburg has also spent time in the NL East this year, as he began the season with the Braves. Atlanta had signed the veteran reliever to a $900K contract during Spring Training, and he opened the season in the big league bullpen. Thornburg allowed six runs (four earned) in 9 1/3 frames, striking out ten while issuing five walks. His early-season velocity was right in line with career norms, but Thornburg’s swing-and-miss rate was underwhelming and the Braves had consigned him to lower-leverage work. Atlanta designated him for assignment and released him in late May.

The 33-year-old has appeared in parts of nine MLB seasons, suiting up with the Brewers, Red Sox, Reds and Braves. Thornburg was quietly one of the league’s more effective late-game weapons in Milwaukee between 2013-16, but he’s struggled with injuries and underperformance in the years since then. Thornburg, who made his organizational debut with St. Paul yesterday, will try to pitch his way into a Minnesota bullpen that has been middle-of-the-pack thus far.

The rotation was generally expected to be a weakness, but Twins’ starters enter play Monday with the 7th-lowest collective ERA (3.54). That’s a big reason the club is currently sitting 32-24 and four and a half games clear of the competition in the AL Central, but they’ve been hit by a series of injuries over the past month.

Minnesota lost another rotation member this evening, announcing that right-hander Bailey Ober has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 3, due to a right groin strain. That’s the same issue that already resulted in an IL stint earlier in the season, as he was on the shelf for the first three weeks of May.

Ober made it back to the mound on May 22, and he’s made three starts since returning. The 26-year-old has allowed nine runs in 14 innings over that time, and he’ll apparently need some more time to recover. Ober earned himself a season-opening rotation spot with a solid 4.19 ERA showing across 20 starts as a rookie last year. He’d allowed only eight runs in 19 2/3 innings through four April outings prior to his first IL stint.

Minnesota is also without Joe Ryan — currently on the COVID-19 IL — and Sonny Gray, who hit the IL late last week due to a pectoral strain. Josh Winder has been out since mid-May dealing with a shoulder impingement, and the team lost Chris Paddack to Tommy John surgery last month. Dylan Bundy, Devin Smeltzer and Chris Archer are rotation locks, with Cole Sands probably the top depth option on the 40-man roster. Prospects Jordan Balazovic and Ronny Henriquez are already on the 40-man and starting games with St. Paul, but both have struggled mightily this year. Sanchez joins Chi Chi González as experienced, non-roster depth options with the Saints.

In additional procedural moves, the Twins reinstated four players — Max Kepler, Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar — from the restricted list. Jharel Cotton and Ian Hamilton, both of whom had been selected to the roster as designated COVID-19 substitutes before the club’s weekend series in Toronto, have been removed from the 40-man and returned to St. Paul. That’s also true of González, who started Friday’s game but was returned over the weekend.

Twins Select Jharel Cotton, Ian Hamilton

By | at

The Twins announced a series of roster moves ahead of this weekend’s series in Toronto. Minnesota selected the contracts of right-handers Chi Chi González, Jharel Cotton and Ian Hamilton while recalling outfielder Mark Contreras from Triple-A St. Paul. González will start this evening’s game, as had been reported yesterday.

In corresponding moves, four players — Max Kepler, Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar — have been placed on the restricted list. That’s typical procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 on teams heading to Toronto. The Canadian government prohibits unvaccinated athletes from crossing the border, so that quartet will be out of action until next week.

Cotton has bounced on and off the roster a couple times this season. Claimed off waivers from the Rangers last winter, he’s made four appearances in relief for the Twins. Over 6 2/3 innings, Cotton has allowed just two runs but issued six walks. He’s impressed in St. Paul, allowing four runs in 11 2/3 frames while striking out 18 batters against three walks.

Hamilton is in line for his team debut, nearly a year and a half after Minnesota claimed him off waivers from the Phillies. The Twins outrighted the Washington State product off their 40-man roster a few weeks later, and he spent the entire 2021 campaign in St. Paul. He posted a 4.12 ERA across 59 innings last year, striking out an excellent 33.5% of opponents but walking a sky-high 15.2% of batters faced. The 26-year-old maintained that strikeout prowess while getting his walk rate to a more manageable 9.6% this year, allowing only one run in 12 2/3 frames. Hamilton has 14 games of MLB experience under his belt, with the 2018-20 White Sox.

While the Twins didn’t specify that González, Cotton and Hamilton were coming up as designated COVID substitutes, that appears to be the case. Dan Hayes of the Athletic tweets the trio won’t have to pass through waivers when the others are able to return to the roster. That’s unique to COVID substitutes, who won’t occupy a permanent 40-man roster spot.

The commissioner’s office has the unilateral authority to grant teams permission to designate players as substitutes, which it does when it determines a club has been particularly affected by virus protocols. In all likelihood, each of González, Cotton and Hamilton will come off the 40-man roster on Monday.

Twins Officially Sign Alex Colome, Designate Ian Hamilton

By | at

The Twins announced that they have officially signed right-handed reliever Alex Colome. To make room for Colome on their 40-man roster, they designated fellow righty Ian Hamilton for assignment.

It was a short stay on the 40-man for Hamilton, whom the Twins claimed from the Phillies via waivers exactly one week ago. Hamilton also spent time with the Mariners earlier in the offseason. He entered the pros as an 11th-round pick of the White Sox in 2016, but they designated him for assignment in September.

Now 25 years of age, Hamilton has thrown 12 innings in the majors and yielded six earned runs on 10 hits with nine strikeouts against seven walks. Hamilton has averaged almost 96 mph on his fastball, though, and has another minor league option remaining. He owns a 4.85 ERA with 48 strikeouts against a meager seven walks in 42 2/3 Triple-A frames.

Twins Claim Ian Hamilton

By | at

The Twins have claimed right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton off waivers from the Phillies, per an announcement from the Phillies. He was designated for assignment earlier in the week when Philadelphia re-signed J.T. Realmuto. Minnesota’s 40-man roster is up to 39 players.

Philadelphia claimed the 25-year-old Hamilton from the Mariners, who’d previously claimed him from the White Sox organization. The 2016 eleventh-round pick has appeared briefly in the Majors with the South Siders in two of the past three seasons, allowing a combined six runs on ten hits and seven walks with nine strikeouts in a dozen innings. He’s averaged 95.7 mph on a four-seamer that he complements with a slider and a very seldom-used changeup.

Hamilton had a particularly strong showing between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, and throughout his minor league career as a whole, he’s posted better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (26.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively). He still has a minor league option remaining, so he’ll give the Twins some depth they can shuttle back and forth between Minneapolis and Triple-A St. Paul if he makes it to the season on their 40-man roster.

Hamilton becomes the latest addition to a bullpen mix that is rapidly being reworked. Minnesota signed Alex Colome earlier this week, acquired Shaun Anderson from the Giants yesterday and took a low-cost flier on Hansel Robles in late December.

Phillies Designate Ian Hamilton For Assignment

By | at

The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve designated right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to catcher J.T. Realmuto, whose record-setting five-year deal with the Phils has now been formally announced.

Hamilton, 25, was a waiver claim out of the White Sox organization who’d been expected to compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training. He could still do so, but in order for that to happen he’d need to go unclaimed on waivers and come to camp as a non-roster invitee.

An eleventh-round pick back in 2016, Hamilton has appeared briefly in the Majors with the South Siders in two of the past three seasons, allowing a combined six runs on ten thits and seven walks with nine strikeouts in a dozen innings. He’s averaged 95.7 mph on a four-seamer that he complements with a slider and a very seldom-used changeup.

Hamilton had a particularly strong showing between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, and throughout his minor league career as a whole, he’s posted better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (26.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively). He still has a minor league option remaining, so it’s feasible that a bullpen-needy team could take a low-risk flier now that the Phils have bumped him from the roster. He’ll have a week to be traded, placed on waivers or released.

Phillies Claim Ian Hamilton From Mariners

By | at

The Phillies have claimed right-hander Ian Hamilton off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from Seattle.

This is the second time since September that a team has claimed Hamilton, as the Mariners did so when they got him from the White Sox. Chicago used an 11th-round pick on Hamilton in 2016 and then saw him turn into a decent prospect in its farm system, but the hard thrower hasn’t seen much action in the majors to this point.

Set to turn 26 years old next June, Hamilton has thrown 12 innings of seven-run (six earned) ball with 10 hits allowed and a 9:7 K:BB ratio. He owns a 4.85 ERA with tremendous strikeout and walk rates (10.1 K/9, 1.85 BB/9) across 42 2/3 innings in Triple-A ball.

Mariners Claim Ian Hamilton

By | at

The Mariners have claimed right-hander Ian Hamilton off waivers from the White Sox, per an announcement from Seattle. The White Sox designated Hamilton for assignment Sept. 18.

Thanks in part to shoulder problems, the 25-year-old Hamilton – who attended high school and college in Washington state – hasn’t taken the mound since Aug. 11. So far this season, he has thrown four innings of two-run ball with five walks against four strikeouts. In all, between this season and his debut in 2018, Hamilton has tossed 12 frames, given up seven runs (six earned), and totaled nine strikeouts against seven walks. The former 11th-round pick (2016) didn’t pitch at all in the majors last season on account of shoulder and jaw injuries.

While his MLB career hasn’t gone that well so far, there’s little harm in taking a chance on Hamilton from the Mariners’ perspective. After all, Hamilton remains a promising flamethrower who was dominant at the Triple-A level as recently as 2018. That year, Hamilton put up a 1.71 ERA/2.76 FIP and notched 9.57 K/9, 1.37 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent groundball rate in 26 1/3 innings.

White Sox Promote Garrett Crochet

By | at

In an eye-opening promotion, the White Sox have selected the contract of left-hander Garrett Crochet, general manager Rick Hahn announced to reporters today (Twitter link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). Chicago drafted the 21-year-old lefty out of Tennessee with the 11th overall pick of the 2020 draft. Righty Evan Marshall is going on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, which opens an active roster spot. Right-hander Ian Hamilton was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Garrett Crochet (via Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics)

It’s obviously of the utmost rarity for a prospect to skip the minor leagues entirely, which Crochet will be doing in the absence of a conventional minor league season. The last player to do so was Mike Leake, although Brandon Finnegan followed a similar arc when he was called by the Royals in September 2014 with just 27 minor league innings under his belt (also a mere three months after being drafted). Of course, the White Sox themselves have done this with a high-profile college lefty as well, rocketing Chris Sale to the big leagues in the same year that he was selected 13th overall (2010).

Crochet might not have the video game-esque numbers that many would expect to see from a top-ranked collegiate pitcher, but he was nevertheless regarded as one of the best prospects in the 2020 draft. Between his sophomore and shortened junior NCAA seasons, Crochet worked to a 3.82 ERA with an 87-to-22 K/BB ratio in 68 1/3 innings. Baseball America was most bullish on Crochet heading into the draft, ranking him as the No. 15 prospect in the class. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (16th), the team at MLB.com (18th), Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs (22nd) and Keith Law of The Athletic (39th) all had Crochet in their top 40 prospects as well.

There was some risk associated with Crochet after he missed the first three weeks of the 2020 season with what McDaniel tabbed as an issue with a muscle in his shoulder. He returned to make one appearance, punching out six hitters in 3 1/3 frames in what proved to be his only outing prior to the NCAA shutdown. Law calls him one of the best arms in the draft and labeled him a likely first-rounder, attributing the relatively bearish ranking to uncertainty surrounding his early absence. BA notes that there are concerns among some clubs about Crochet’s lack of track record as a starter — he started only 13 games in college while making 23 additional relief appearances — but virtually any scouting report on the 6’6″, 218-pound southpaw will say that he had some of the best pure stuff in the draft.

That arsenal, headlined by a fastball that runs up to 99 mph and a 70-grade slider, will be on full display at the game’s top level in the final week-plus of the season. It’s an aggressive move for a White Sox club that is clearly (forgive the cliche) all-in on pushing for a World Series in its first full, post-rebuild campaign.

The Sox have already clinched a postseason berth, and the Dodgers are the only team in baseball with a better record than their current mark of 33-17. They’ve ridden otherworldly performances from MVP candidates Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu to the top of the AL Central. With a formidable one-two punch of Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel in the rotation, followed by promising young arms like Dane Dunning and Dylan Cease, they look like legitimate contenders for a deep postseason run as well.

Crochet figures to head to the bullpen, where he’ll give skipper Rick Renteria a power arm to mix into the late innings alongside Alex Colome, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer and, if he’s able to return by season’s end, fellow lefty Aaron Bummer. Crochet is no lock to make the postseason bullpen — he’ll need to earn his way into that role — but he makes an already loaded White Sox roster look all the more intriguing in the countdown to the team’s first postseason appearance since way back in 2008.

Photos courtesy of Andrew Ferguson/University of Tennessee Athletics.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top