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Jesus Cruz

Phillies, Jesus Cruz Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies recently agreed to minor league deals with reliever Jesús Cruz and corner outfielder Dustin Peterson, according to their transactions log at MLB.com. It’s unclear if either will get a non-roster Spring Training invitation.

Cruz, 27, is a 6’1″ right-hander with eight MLB appearances to his name. Seven of those came last season for the division-rival Braves, as he worked 8 2/3 innings of low-leverage work. He allowed six runs (including a trio of homers) with four walks and six strikeouts before losing his 40-man roster spot at the beginning of August.

Things went better at the Triple-A level, where the Mexico native showed interesting swing-and-miss stuff. Cruz punched out an excellent 32.2% of batters faced in 28 outings with the Braves’ highest affiliate in Gwinnett. That came with a lofty 13.2% walk percentage, the continuation of longstanding control problems he’s shown throughout his career. Cruz has walked 13.4% of opponents in parts of five minor league seasons.

Erratic as his strike-throwing is, he’s shown the ability to miss bats at the upper levels of the minors. Cruz averaged just under 95 MPH with his heater and around 87 MPH on his slider during his limited MLB look in Atlanta. He’ll add a reasonably strong arm to the Phils’ bullpen depth chart, likely to open the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, meaning Philadelphia could send him back and forth between MLB and the minors if he secures a 40-man roster spot.

Peterson is a former second-round pick of the Padres who has limited MLB time as a member of the Braves and Tigers. He played in 19 games between the two clubs from 2018-19, collecting 10 hits and two walks in 49 plate appearances. The 28-year-old has spent a decade in the minor leagues, hitting .261/.319/.364 in just under 3700 trips to the plate.

The right-handed hitter opened the 2022 campaign with the Brewers on a minor league pact. After just three games, Milwaukee traded him to Philadelphia. Peterson spent the rest of the season with the IronPigs, posting a .244/.318/.379 line with nine homers across 102 contests. He made a favorable enough impression on the organization to get another minor league opportunity and could play a similar depth role during the upcoming season.

19 Players Elect Free Agency

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Players hit minor league free agency on a daily basis during the postseason, as opposed to major league free agents who hit free agency following the World Series when their contracts expire. On Thursday, MLBTR covered 15 players who elected minor league free agency, and we will continue to provide occasional updates as players continue to hit the open market, as noted on the MiLB.com transactions log.

If a player is not on their organization’s 40-man roster at the end of the season, he will hit minor league free agency as long as he has at least 3 years of MLB service time, been assigned outright more than once in his career, and/or has played in the minor leagues for parts of seven or more seasons. Everyone on today’s list is part of that group of players, and most will search for another minor league deal this offseason, though a few may manage to latch onto a major league club and secure a bench or bullpen spot entering the 2023 season.

Infielders:

Outfielders:

Pitchers:

Braves Claim Daniel Young, Outright Jesus Cruz

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The Braves claimed left-hander Daniel Young off waivers from the Mariners and outrighted right-hander Jesus Cruz to Triple-A Gwinnett, the team announced today.  The Mariners had designated Young for assignment earlier this week.

Young had a 7.36 ERA over 2 2/3 innings with Seattle this season, marking his first appearance in the big leagues.  Originally an eight-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2015 draft, Young is now reunited with Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, who was Toronto’s general manager when Young’s pro career got underway.

The left-hander has a 3.79 ERA over 299 1/3 career innings in the minors, working as a reliever in all but one of his 230 games.  A grounder specialist for much of his career, Young’s strikeout rate shot up to 33.9% over his 28 innings with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate this year, while still inducing grounders at a 55.7% rate.  This improvement in his age-28 season earned Young his first cup of coffee in the majors, and now another fresh start in a new organization.

Cruz’s big league resume consists of a single inning with the Cardinals in 2020 and 8 2/3 frames with Atlanta this season, with a 7.45 ERA to show for that brief sample size.  The righty has missed plenty of bats over five pro seasons, but he has had some problems with his control and (this season especially at Triple-A) keeping the ball in the park.

Braves Place Kenley Jansen On Injured List Due To Irregular Heartbeat

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The Braves announced Tuesday that closer Kenley Jansen has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to an irregular heartbeat. The move is retroactive to June 27. Right-hander Jesus Cruz has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take his spot on the active roster.

It’s a worrisome ailment for Jansen, though this is far from the first time the 34-year-old has dealt with the issue. Jansen has thrice been placed on the injured list due to irregular heartbeats — once in 2011 and again in both 2017 and 2018. He’s had a pair of cardiac ablation procedures during his big league career in hopes of corralling the issue, though it seems he’s not yet entirely out of the woods in that regard.

The Braves’ announcement didn’t include a timetable for Jansen’s return, although his most recent IL placement for this issue, back in 2018, resulted in a minimal 10-day absence. The Braves are surely hopeful for a similarly quick return this time around, although the obvious broader hope is that, regardless of Jansen’s availability on the baseball field, he can remain in overall good health and eventually move beyond episodes of this nature entirely.

Jansen, in his first year with any organization other than the Dodgers, has been quite good. The three-time All-Star carries a 3.58 ERA through 32 2/3 innings, and secondary metrics like FIP (2.18), SIERA (2.07) and xERA (2.12) feel he’s been considerably better than that earned run average would indicate. That’s due largely to Jansen’s brilliant 36.4% strikeout rate, his strong 6.2% walk rate and his continued ability to limit hard contact better than nearly any pitcher in the league (86.5 mph average exit velocity, 28.4% hard-hit rate).

Taking Jansen’s place on the roster in the short term will be the 27-year-old Cruz, who pitched six innings of one-run ball for the Braves earlier this season. The former Cardinals minor leaguer has been similarly sharp in Gwinnett, where he’s notched a tidy 2.45 ERA with a sensational 24-to-1 K/BB ratio through 14 2/3 innings of relief.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/29/22

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Catching up on some minor moves from around the baseball world….

Latest Moves

  • The Yankees announced that catcher Rob Brantly was re-signed to a new minor league contract.  Brantly was designated for assignment earlier this week and cleared waivers, but then opted to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.  After two days of testing the market, Brantly is now back in the organization and has been assigned to Triple-A.  Originally joining the Yankees back in August 2020, the veteran backstop has appeared in seven games with New York at the MLB level, including one game this year to provide depth when Kyle Higashioka was on the COVID-IL.

Earlier Today

  • The Braves announced that right-hander Tyler Thornburg has been released.  Thornburg was designated for assignment earlier this week, after posting a 3.86 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, and 10.6% walk rate over 9 1/3 relief innings.  After missing the entire 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery, Thornburg signed a $900K deal with Atlanta, and the injury-plagued righty will now return to the open market in search of another new contract. Atlanta also selected the contract of reliever Jesus Cruz.
  • The Pirates outrighted left-hander Cam Alldred to Triple-A after Alldred cleared waivers.  Another recent DFA, Alldred made his Major League debut in cup-of-c0ffee fashion this season, tossing a scoreless inning for Pittsburgh on May 12.  Mostly working as a reliever over 178 1/3 innings in the Pirates’ farm system, Alldred has a 2.83 ERA, though with an underwhelming 23.56% strikeout rate.

Cardinals Release Ricardo Sanchez, Jesus Cruz

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The Cardinals have released left-hander Ricardo Sanchez and right-hander Jesus Cruz.  Neither hurler pitched in the majors in 2021, as Sanchez was recovering from Tommy John surgery and Cruz spent the season at the Cards’ alternate training camp in April and then with Triple-A Memphis.

Both pitchers made their MLB debuts in 2020, with Sanchez getting a slightly longer look in the Show.  Sanchez pitched 5 1/3 innings over three appearances with St. Louis, while Cruz was up in pure “cup of coffee” form with one inning of work in a single game.

Sanchez’s debut season was also set back by a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, as he was one of many Cardinals players caught up in an outbreak that ravaged the roster.  The southpaw was also sidelined by elbow problems in August that eventually resulted in the TJ procedure in October 2020.  Going by the normal 12-15 month Tommy John recovery timeline, Sanchez should be ready to pitch again, though it isn’t known if he experienced any setbacks in his rehab.

Sanchez is a veteran of seven pro seasons, mostly spent in the Braves’ farm system.  The left-hander has a 4.52 ERA over 517 1/3 career innings in the minors, though he had gradually improved the control issues that plagued him in his early days.

Cruz was an international signing for the Cardinals in the 2017-18 July 2 class, spending some time in the Mexican League before joining the Cards organization.  Cruz posted a 3.90 ERA over 210 minor league innings, amassing a strong 29.86% strikeout rate, but with a high 13.38% walk rate.  Troublingly, Cruz’s control issues have gotten worse as he has worked his way up the minor league ladder.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Andrus, Red Sox, Pérez, Cardinals, Cruz

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The Texas Rangers are paying Elvis Andrus for another two seasons at $14.25MM per season, but their long-time shortstop might have to start yielding minutes to Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Anderson Tejeda, writes Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. While one consideration might be the $15MM vesting option the Rangers hold on Andrus for 2023, the fact is Andrus hasn’t provided positive value with the bat since 2016 and 2017, the only two seasons of his 12-year career with a wRC+ north of 100. The last remaining member of the Rangers’ back-to-back World Series squads in 2010 and 2011, Andrus long provided value with the glove to offset his subpar bat, but the defensive numbers have slipped a touch and, at his price point, the Rangers can’t afford for him to be a one- or two-dimensional player. Andrus himself admits that he’s been slow to adapt, saying in a quote provided by Grant, “The toughest thing for me is to not to believe my instincts during the game and to actually believe more in a piece of paper, or report. That’s where the game is right now. I think that’s what I’ve been a little hard-headed about.”

  • Boston Red Sox lefty Martin Pérez is glad he remained with the team through the trade deadline. The 29-year-old veteran is trying to do his part to mentor the young players on an inexperienced Boston staff, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Said Pérez, “I’ve been at this level for a couple of years and I’ve learned from a lot of guys. Now it’s time for me to let the youngest guys know what they have to do.” The Red Sox have leaned on Pérez in a season where they’ve lacked veteran options. Boston holds a $6.25MM option for Pérez next season, a reasonable price point for the kind of production he’s offered this season (4.07 ERA across 42 innings).
  • Jesus Cruz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Cardinals’ alternate site, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). Cruz was designated for assignment last week. Cruz, 25, appeared in just one game for the Cardinals this season, yielding 2 earned runs on 3 hits and a walk. Cruz has been in the Cardinals organization since 2017, marching steadily up the organizational ladder year-by-year. In 2019, he stuck out 13.1 batter per nine innings across Double-A and Triple-A, but struggled with his comman, surrendering 6.8 BB/9. He worked a 6.02 ERA across 61 1/3 innings between the two levels.

Cardinals Designate Jesus Cruz

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The Cardinals have designated right-hander Jesus Cruz for assignment, Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets. They also activated reliever Ryan Helsley from the injured list and optioned lefty Rob Kaminsky.

The 25-year-old Cruz had a short run on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster, as the club selected him Aug. 18. He made one appearance as a Cardinal and yielded a pair of earned runs over a single inning of work. Cruz spent last season between Single-A and Double-A, where he combined for a 6.02 ERA and recorded 13.1 K/9 against 6.8 BB/9 over 61 1/3 frames.

Helsley threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in late July, but he then became one of the many Cardinals who tested positive for the coronavirus, which put a temporary halt to their season. Now that he’s back, though, the 26-year-old could be a rather useful piece for St. Louis’ bullpen down the stretch. Helsley debuted in the majors last year and has since ridden a 97 mph fastball to a stingy 2.75 ERA (with a much less impressive 4.05 FIP), 7.78 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings.

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