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J.B. Wendelken

NPB’s Yokohama BayStars To Sign J.B. Wendelken

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The Yokohama BayStars have signed right-hander J.B. Wendelken, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  The contract is a one-year deal with an option for 2024, and Wendelken can earn up to $3.05MM, including incentives.

Wendleken elected free agency after the season, ending a stint with the Diamondbacks that began in August 2021 when Arizona claimed him off waivers from the A’s.  The Diamondbacks agreed to an arbitration-avoiding one-year, $835K deal with Wendelken last winter, but he posted only a 5.29 ERA over 29 innings in 2022.  Arizona designated the righty for assignment in July and then outrighted him off the 40-man roster, with Wendelken then spending the remainder of the season at Triple-A Reno.

Beginning his career in Oakland, Wendelken had a solid 2.30 ERA over 74 1/3 relief innings from 2018-20, though his 3.74 SIERA was perhaps more reflective of his overall work.  Wendelken benefited from a very low .218 BABIP in those three seasons, but his fortune changed with a .310 BABIP in 2021 and a dropoff in his strikeout rate.  The right-hander has only a 19% strikeout rate and a unimpressive 11.4% walk rate over 72 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 season, as well as a 4.71 ERA.

With this recent performance, Wendelken might have been hard-pressed to find anything beyond than a minor league deal with an MLB team this winter, so he has instead opted for some guaranteed money and a fresh start in Japan.  Wendelken’s Triple-A numbers are worth noting, as he had a strong 2.63 ERA, 35.1% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate over the small sample size of 24 innings with Reno.  This provides some hope that Wendelken can perhaps get on track with the BayStars, and either continue in NPB or perhaps eventually explore a return to North American baseball.

15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Diamondbacks Claim Sergio Alcantara, Designate J.B. Wendelken

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve brought back infielder Sergio Alcántara via waivers from the Padres. Reliever J.B. Wendelken has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

It’s familiar territory for Alcántara, who is clearly well-regarded by the Arizona front office and coaching staff. The Snakes initially signed him as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic a decade ago. After a few seasons in the farm system, he was dealt to the Tigers at the 2017 deadline as part of the J.D. Martinez trade. Alcántara landed with the Cubs via waivers last season, and the D-Backs reacquired him from Chicago in a trade this March. A month into the season, Arizona designated Alcántara for assignment. The Padres grabbed him on waivers but DFA him themselves last week, and the D-Backs jumped on the chance to acquire him for a third time.

Alcántara, who turns 26 next weekend, continues to earn opportunities based on the strength of his glove. Long regarded by many prospect evaluators as a potential plus shortstop, he’s rated very highly in the eyes of public defensive metrics over his 450 MLB innings at shortstop. He’s capable of suiting up all around the infield.

While his defensive prowess has drawn a fair bit of interest as a depth infielder, Alcántara’s struggles at the plate have prevented him from securing a long-term home. He’s tallied 373 plate appearances over the past three seasons, with the majority of that work coming for last year’s Cubs. The switch-hitter owns a meager .188/.268/.307 line, hitting just seven home runs while striking out at an elevated 27.6% clip.

Alcántara is out of minor league option years, meaning the D-Backs will have to keep him on the active roster or again designate him for assignment. He’ll add some immediate infield cover while the team navigates a left hamstring injury for Ketel Marte. Marte has been able to serve as a designated hitter for the past week, but the team hasn’t run him out on defense for fear of aggravating that issue. Arizona has relied on a rookie middle-infield tandem of Geraldo Perdomo and Buddy Kennedy of late, and neither player has offered much at the dish. Perdomo has long been viewed as a highly-regarded prospect and figures to get continued run at shortstop, but Alcántara could vie for playing time with Kennedy and/or fellow utility option Jake Hager.

Wendelken, meanwhile, loses his roster spot amidst a second straight down year. The right-hander was quietly one of the more reliable bullpen arms for the A’s early in his career. Between 2018-20, Wendelken fired 74 1/3 innings of 2.30 ERA ball. He punched out a solid 26.4% of opponents over that stretch while holding batters to a measly .172/.246/.276 slash line. Oakland looked as if they’d unearthed a long-term key piece of the bullpen, but Wendelken has run into unexpected struggles over the past couple seasons.

Through 26 games in green and gold last year, he posted a 4.32 ERA. The A’s made the surprising decision to designate him for assignment, and the D-Backs (owner of the league’s top waiver priority at the time) promptly placed a claim. Wendelken stuck on the active roster for the remainder of the season but posted a 4.34 ERA while watching his strikeout percentage plummet to 16.9%.

Arizona tendered the 29-year-old a contract over the winter, hoping he’d rediscover something approaching his 2018-20 form. Instead, Wendelken has allowed a personal-worst 5.28 ERA through 29 innings. He’s continued to show diminished strikeout and swing-and-miss numbers, and manager Torey Lovullo has more frequently deployed him in lower-leverage situations. Like Alcántara, Wendelken is out of options, and the D-Backs have decided to move on entirely.

They’ll now have a week to trade him or try to run him through waivers. In spite of his down swing-and-miss rate, Wendelken hasn’t lost any velocity or spin on his fastball or slider relative to his peak. That could attract some interest from other clubs hoping to see if they can coax something more closely resembling his early-career success.

Wendelken is playing this season on an $835K salary, a touch above the league minimum but a modest figure nonetheless. He’s still due around half that amount, which would be the responsibility of any team that claims him off waivers. Should he clear waivers, Wendelken would have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency. As a player with between three and five years of MLB service time, however, electing free agency would require forfeiting the remainder of this year’s guaranteed salary.

Injury Notes: Cousins, Buxton, Wendelken

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The Brewers placed Jake Cousins on the 10-day injured list on May 1 with what was described as a right elbow effusion, or a build-up of fluid within the elbow.  However, an MRI also revealed a “concern” with Cousins’ UCL, manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters, and a second opinion is being sought.

It makes for a very ominous situation for the 27-year-old righty, who seemingly came out of nowhere to post a 2.70 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate (albeit with a 15.2% walk rate) over 30 innings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen.  Batters did a little more damage against Cousins this year, as he had a 4.50 ERA, 34.2% strikeout rate, and 13.2% walk rate in eight innings before heading to the injured list.

Some notes on other injury-related situations around baseball…

  • Byron Buxton left today’s 1-0 Twins victory over the Athletics due to tightness in his right hip, acting manager Jayce Tingler told reporters after the game.  Buxton is day-to-day with the injury, but even a seemingly minor issue has to be of concern given Buxton’s import to Minnesota’s lineup, and his long injury history.  Exactly one year ago today, the Twins placed Buxton on the 10-day IL with a right hip strain that cost the outfielder six weeks of action.  Buxton has a spectacular .278/.342/.722 slash line through his first 79 plate appearances of the season, adding nine homers and his usual great glovework in center field.
  • Diamondbacks right-hander J.B. Wendelken was reinstated from the COVID-related injured list, with righty Luis Frias heading to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Wendelken has been out since April 28 due to a positive COVID-19 test.  Since the D’Backs claimed Wendelken off waivers from the A’s last August, the righty has a 4.33 ERA over 27 innings in an Arizona uniform, though with only a 15.31% strikeout rate.

Diamondbacks Select Tyler Holton

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The D-Backs announced they’ve selected left-hander Tyler Holton onto the major league roster. Arizona placed reliever J.B. Wendelken on the injured list without a designation, recalled Luis Frias and optioned Tyler Gilbert to Triple-A Reno. The team also announced that veteran southpaw Oliver Pérez, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has been released.

Arizona selected Holton in the ninth round of the 2018 draft out of Florida State. The Tallahassee native was one of the top pitchers in Division I ball in 2017, but he suffered a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery early the next year. That kept him out of action until July 2019. Holton made 13 appearances between rookie and short-season ball that year, then didn’t pitch in games due to the canceled 2020 minor league season.

The D-Backs pushed Holton to Double-A to open 2021. He posted a 6.33 ERA in 48 1/3 innings but had above-average strikeout (26.2%), walk (6.1%) and ground-ball (53.3%) marks. He earned a late-season bump to Reno last year, and he’s made five appearances with the Aces thus far in 2022. Over eight innings, he’s allowed six runs on 12 hits (including a pair of homers) and five walks, but he’s punched out ten. Holton has never appeared on an organizational prospects list at Baseball America; Brendan Gawlowski and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs included him as an honorable mention in their write-up of the Arizona farm this past offseason, noting that he throws an 88-90 MPH fastball and has a promising changeup.

Holton will join Joe Mantiply and Kyle Nelson as left-handed relief options for skipper Torey Lovullo. Pérez had been in that mix to open the year, but the D-Backs removed him from the roster on Monday. He’ll have the option to explore offers from all 30 teams now that he’s a free agent if he wants to continue playing in affiliated ball. Pérez had been set to play the 2022 campaign — which he’s already announced will be his last — with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League before he landed with the D-Backs.

Tender Deadline Signings: 11/30/21

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With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming tonight at 8pm ET — the MLBPA and MLB jointly agreed to move the deadline up a couple days due to the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement — we’ll likely see a slew of arbitration-eligible players signing one-year deals.

It’s commonplace for a large batch of players to sign deals in the hours leading up to the tender deadline. “Pre-tender” deals of this nature often fall shy of projections due to the fact that teams use the looming threat of a non-tender to enhance their leverage. Arbitration contracts at this juncture are often take-it-or-leave-it propositions, with the “leave it” end of that arrangement resulting in the player being cut loose. Given the widely expected lockout, there could be more incentive than usual for borderline non-tender candidates to take those offers rather than being cast out into free agency just hours before a transaction freeze is implemented.

As a reminder, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed. In a typical year, a team can cut a player on an arb contract at any point before the halfway point in Spring Training and only be responsible for 30 days’ termination pay (about one-sixth of the contract). Releasing a player in the second half of Spring Training bumps the termination pay to 45 days of his prorated salary.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for each team’s arbitration-eligible players last month, although for many of the players listed below, this isn’t so much avoiding arbitration as it is avoiding a non-tender. Here’s a look at today’s agreements…

  • The Yankees have agreed to deals with infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Domingo German, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). Urshela will make $6.55MM, while German has agreed to a $1.75MM deal. Urshela has two seasons of control remaining; German is controllable for three years. Urshela is coming off a .267/.301/.419 showing while playing third base and shortstop. German tossed 98 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.
  • The Twins have signed three arbitration-eligible pitchers, per reports from Feinsand and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). Right-hander Jharel Cotton signed for $700K, reliever Caleb Thielbar lands $1.3MM and reliever Tyler Duffey signs for $3.8MM. Thielbar and Duffey were both productive members of the Minnesota relief corps in 2021. Cotton was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Slater on a $1.85MM deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old (29 next month) appeared at all three spots on the grass while hitting .241/.320/.423 over 306 plate appearances in 2021.
  • Reliever Emilio Pagan and the Padres have agreed on a $2.3MM deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 30-year-old worked 63 1/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/3.93 SIERA ball this past season.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $2MM deal with left-hander Caleb Smith, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). The 30-year-old posted a 4.83 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 113 2/3 innings in a swing capacity in 2021.

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Diamondbacks Claim J.B. Wendelken

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The D-backs have claimed right-hander J.B. Wendelken off waivers from the Athletics, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter). The A’s designated him for assignment just yesterday.

It’d have been surprising for a team in the Diamondbacks’ position — dismal bullpen, No. 1 waiver priority, multiple open 40-man spots — to pass on Wendelken. The right-hander hasn’t had a great season in Oakland, but his work leading up to the 2021 campaign was quite strong.

From 2018-20, Wendelken pitched 74 1/3 innings for the A’s, working to a 2.30 ERA with a strong 26.4 percent strikeout rate and a very solid 8.4 percent walk rate. The righty also thrived in terms of limiting hard contact, yielding an 86.6 mph average exit velocity, a 30.6 percent overall hard-hit rate and just a 2.1 percent barrel rate. Fielding-independent pitching metrics weren’t quite as bullish as his baseline ERA (3.04 FIP, 3.72 SIERA) but still generally agreed that Wendelken was a solid reliever.

The 2021 season hasn’t gone quite as well, but Wendelken has pitched to a respectable 4.32 ERA in 25 frames. His 22.2 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since a brief rookie debut in 2016, and his 11.1 percent walk rate is a career-high. Still, the 28-year-old has continued to limit hard contact effectively, and his swinging-strike and chase rates have actually improved over their 2020 marks.

Wendelken will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, and the D-backs can control him through the 2024 season via that arbitration process. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on the big league roster, but based on his past 100 innings in the Majors, there’s reason to think he can stick.

It’s always possible that Wendelken’s strikeout and walk tendencies continue to trend in the wrong direction, but there’s no reason for the last-place D-backs to pass on a risk-free flier. Arizona relievers rank second-to-last in the Majors with a combined 5.41 ERA, so Wendelken is an upgrade even if he doesn’t quite return to his peak form.

Athletics Designate J.B. Wendelken, Promote A.J. Puk

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The Athletics have designated right-hander J.B. Wendelken for assignment.  Left-hander A.J. Puk has been called up from Triple-A to take Wendelken’s spot on the 26-man roster.

Wendelken posted a 2.61 ERA over his first 10 1/3 innings of the season before a couple of shaky outings preceded a stay of almost two months on the injured list due to an oblique strain.  Over 25 relief innings this year, Wendelken has a 4.32 ERA/4.29 SIERA and a below-average 22.2% strikeout rate, though a .355 BABIP has been working against him.  Wendelken has continued his trend of keeping the ball in the park by allowing only two homers this year.

Apart from a 2017 season wiped out by Tommy John surgery, Wendelken has appeared in five of the last six MLB seasons, all with the A’s.  The 28-year-old has been quite solid over most of his 112 career innings in the Show, including an excellent 1.80 ERA over 25 frames out of Oakland’s bullpen last season.

With teams perpetually in need of relief pitching down the stretch, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another club make a waiver claim on a pitcher who is controllable (through 2024) and has had such recent success at the big league level.  Wendelken is out of options, so the Athletics’ hand was forced in having to DFA him rather than just option him to the minors.

Puk pitched in one game for the A’s before being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a biceps strain.  After being reinstated from the IL and sent to the minors, Puk got off to a brutal start at Triple-A but has since settled down — the southpaw has a 1.64 ERA over his last 22 innings, following a ghastly 11.50 ERA in his first 18 frames.  Long considered one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Puk’s star has been dimmed by multiple injuries, though the A’s will give him another look to see if he can contribute to their bullpen during the pennant race.

Cam Bedrosian Elects Free Agency

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JULY 2: Bedrosian has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, the A’s announced.

JUNE 29: The Athletics announced they’ve selected the contract of first baseman Frank Schwindel. To crate active and 40-man roster space, Oakland designated right-hander Cam Bedrosian for assignment. Additionally, the A’s reinstated righty J.B. Wendelken from the injured list and optioned infielder Vimael Machin to Triple-A Las Vegas.

The promotion makes for a nice birthday present for Schwindel, who turns 29 years old today. The big right-handed hitter earned the call with a monster season at Las Vegas. Schwindel, whom the A’s signed to a minor league deal over the winter, has hit .324/.369/.643 with sixteen home runs across 203 plate appearances with the Aviators. Triple-A West is a hitter’s paradise, and Vegas is especially offense-friendly. Even in that context, Schwindel’s performance was notable. His 1.013 OPS ranks twelfth among the league’s 86 hitters who have taken 100-plus trips to the dish.

Schwindel’s only other major league experience came with the 2019 Royals. He picked up 15 plate appearances over six games, collecting one hit. Schwindel has a .301/.339/.531 line in parts of four seasons at Triple-A. Matt Olson obviously has first base accounted for in Oakland, but Schwindel can back him up on occasion while seeing some time at DH and as a righty power bat off the bench.

The A’s are the second team to move on from Bedrosian this year. The 29-year-old began the season with the Reds, but he was cut loose after getting off to a horrid start. Oakland signed him to a minor league deal shortly thereafter and selected him to the big league roster last month. He appeared in nine games for the A’s, tossing as many innings and allowing just two runs (on a pair of homers) with eight strikeouts and four walks.

Bedrosian has certainly performed better in Oakland than he did in Cincinnati, but his overall numbers remain lackluster. He’s worked to a 5.52 ERA across 14 2/3 frames in 2021, striking out just 21.1% of opposing hitters while walking a lofty 14.1%. Bedrosian posted a stronger 2.45 ERA with the Angels last season, but his strikeout and walk numbers were similarly poor. He looked like a budding relief ace back in 2016, but he’d settled in as more of an average middle-innings arm from 2017-19 before his downturn over the past couple seasons.

The A’s will have a week to trade Bedrosian or place him on waivers. He’d have the right to elect free agency if he clears outright waivers, as he did when the Reds designated him for assignment back in April.

A’s Place J.B. Wendelken On Injured List, Recall Jordan Weems

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The A’s placed J.B. Wendelken on the injured list with a strained left oblique today, per the team. They recalled Jordan Weems to take his spot in the bullpen.

Wendelken has been a major player out of the A’s bullpen so far this season, appearing in 15 games and tossing 12 1/3 innings with a 4.38 ERA/3.09 FIP, 43.6 percent groundball rate, 24.1 percent strikeout rate, and 8.6 percent walk rate. A too-high .368 BABIP has negatively affected Wendelken’s bottom line so far this season. His fastball velocity has been down to 93.3 mph, and he’s gotten very few hitters to chase (nine percent chase rate). Still, he’s avoided barrels (only one allowed this season) and largely done a nice job of limiting hard contact.

Weems was signed as a minor league free agent after beginning his career as a third round pick of the Red Sox back in 2011. He brings a three-pitch mix to the bullpen, pairing a 94-to-95 mph heater with a slider versus right-handers and a change-up versus lefties. He’s back on the active roster after a little more than a week at the alternate site. He has three appearances on the year totaling 2 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.

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