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Jharel Cotton

Twins Designate Jharel Cotton For Assignment

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The Twins will designate right-hander Jharel Cotton for assignment today in order to open roster space for right-hander Dylan Bundy, who is being activated from the injured list, manager Rocco Baldelli announced (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).

It’ll be the second DFA of the season for the 30-year-old Cotton, who was also designated back on April 13. Cotton cleared waivers the first time around and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul, even though he has three-plus years of service time and a prior outright — either of which would allow him to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. The Twins will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers a second time.

Cotton was claimed off waivers out of the Rangers organization at the end of the 2021 season and has tossed 6 2/3 innings for Minnesota thus far in 2022. He’s yielded just one run and punched out seven batters in that time, but he’s also walked six batters, hit another one and thrown a wild pitch. A former top-100 prospect who went from the Dodgers to the A’s alongside Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas in 2016’s Josh Reddick/Rich Hill swap, Cotton carries a 4.60 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 35.5% grounder rate in 195 2/3 big league innings.

As for Bundy, he’ll return after missing nearly two weeks following a positive Covid test. The former Orioles and Angels righty was brilliant to begin the season, combining for 15 1/3 innings of one-run ball with a 12-to-1 K/BB ratio across his first three starts as a Twin. He was clobbered for six runs in six innings against the Rays in his fourth start of the season, however, and his former Orioles club jumped him for a whopping nine runs in 3 2/3 innings the day before he landed on the injured list.

That pair of disastrous outings has overshadowed Bundy’s terrific start, and he’s now sitting on a 5.76 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate through 25 innings. With Bailey Ober sidelined by a groin strain and Chris Paddack landing on the 60-day IL owing to elbow inflammation, the Twins will be all the more dependent on a rebound from Bundy. If Bundy can put that pair of ugly outings behind him and right the ship, his one-year, $5MM contract contains an $11MM club option for the 2023 season. He’ll take the mound for tonight’s game in Oakland.

Twins Place Carlos Correa, Chris Paddack On 10-Day IL; Select Mark Contreras, Jharel Cotton

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The Twins announced that shortstop Carlos Correa and right-hander Chris Paddack have been placed on the 10-day injured list today. Correa’s placement (due to a right middle finger contusion) is retroactive to May 6, while Paddack’s placement with right elbow inflammation is retroactive to May 9.  Minnesota has selected the contracts of outfielder Mark Contreras and righty Jharel Cotton to replace Correa and Paddack on the active roster.

As reported earlier today, Correa needed more time to recover from the deep bruise suffered in Thursday’s game, and the shortstop hasn’t played since.  While Correa may have avoided serious injury, things seem more ominous for Paddack, who has a history of elbow problems.  Paddack is still considering his next step, and another surgery hasn’t been ruled out.

Royce Lewis will take over for Correa at shortstop, and Sonny Gray’s return from the injured list over the weekend means the Twins still have a full five-man rotation (plus Dylan Bundy on the COVID-related IL).  Minnesota is still missing a lot of key personnel on the injured list, so to improve that depth, Contreras and Cotton are joining the roster.

Cotton already appeared in two games with the Twins earlier this season, tossing two innings before being outrighted off the 40-man roster.  The former top-100 prospect is trying to revive his career after a number of injuries, and after posting a 3.52 ERA over 30 2/3 innings with the Rangers last season, Cotton was acquired by the Twins on a waiver claim back in November.

Contreras was a ninth-round pick for the Twins in the 2017 draft, and the UC Riverside product is now set to make his Major League debut.  The 27-year-old didn’t hit much in his first three pro seasons, but after not playing in 2020 due to the canceled minor league campaign, Contreras returned to action with a flourish, hitting well at Double-A and earning a promotion to Triple-A Rochester.  Over 497 plate appearances at Rochester over the last two seasons, Contreras has hit .246/.338/.492 with 23 homers, and 17 steals in 23 chances.

Both Contreras and Gilberto Celestino can play all three outfield positions, and Contreras is a left-handed hitting complement to Celestino’s righty bat.  Minnesota now has some flexibility with their outfield bench depth behind starters Max Kepler, Nick Gordon, and Byron Buxton, though with Buxton still day-to-day with a minor hip strain, the Twins can’t afford to lose yet another regular (especially a star like Buxton) when they’re already stretched thin.

Twins Outright Jharel Cotton

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Apr. 20: Cotton has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A St. Paul, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Apr. 13: The Twins have selected the contract of right-hander Dereck Rodriguez and designated righty Jharel Cotton for assignment in a corresponding move, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Rodriguez, 29, will be making his debut for the team that originally selected him in the sixth round of the 2011 draft, though he took a rather roundabout way to getting there. The son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, Dereck never got a big league look in seven years with Minnesota before becoming a minor league free agent and signing on with the Giants. He made his MLB debut with San Francisco in 2018 and enjoyed a brilliant rookie season before struggling immensely in 2019-20.

With the 2018 Giants, Rodriguez posted an out-of-the-blue 2.81 ERA in 118 1/3 innings. His 18.3% strikeout rate and 39.5% grounder rate were both well below the league average, but his 7.4% walk rate was strong. Fielding-independent marks weren’t as bullish on Rodriguez as his bottom-line ERA but generally felt he looked the part of at least a fourth/fifth starter.

Rodriguez unraveled in 2019, however, when opponents belted 21 home runs against him in just 99 innings, en route to a 5.64 ERA. His strikeout and walk rates trended in the wrong direction, and by 2020, Rodriguez received just four big league innings (allowing six runs on 10 hits, including two more homers) before being designated for assignment. The Tigers claimed him off waivers but didn’t put him on the mound in a big league game, and Rodriguez elected free agency after clearing waivers that November. He signed a minor league deal with the Rockies last year but pitched to a 6.72 ERA in 22 Triple-A games.

Rodriguez returned to his original organization on a minor league contract this winter. He tossed a scoreless inning for the Twins during Spring Training and has gotten out to a nice start with the Saints, tossing four more shutout frames with a 5-to-2 K/BB ratio and 50% grounder rate in his lone start thus far. Rough showing from 2019-21 notwithstanding, Rodriguez has a career 4.27 ERA, a 17.1% strikeout rate and a 7.9% walk rate in 221 1/3 big league innings. He’ll be able to give the Twins some length in the bullpen and perhaps make a spot start if necessary.

As for the 30-year-old Cotton, he was an offseason waiver claim out of the Rangers organization who stuck on the 40-man roster through the winter and through Spring Training. Cotton held opponents to a pair of runs in seven Grapefruit League innings, but he walked five batters during that time and has seen his command woes continue. While Cotton has pitched a pair of scoreless frames for the Twins so far, he’s walked four of the 10 opponents he’s faced and also thrown a wild pitch.

A former top-100 prospect with the A’s, Cotton has tallied 191 innings over 54 big league games dating back to his 2016 debut, but he has a tepid 4.66 ERA to show for his efforts. His 19.4% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 35.5% ground-ball rate are all worse than the Major League average, and the 91.7 mph he’s averaged on his fastball in his two innings so far is down considerably from last year’s 93.6 mph average. The Twins will have a week to trade Cotton, place him on outright waivers or release him.

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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Twins Claim Jharel Cotton, Outright Rob Refsnyder

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The Twins announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Jharel Cotton off waivers from the Rangers and outrighted infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder off the 40-man roster. Minnesota also confirmed prior reports that right-hander Alex Colome’s 2022 mutual option has been declined.

Though his track record is spotty, Cotton put up solid numbers as a low-leverage relief option for the Rangers in 2021, posting a 3.52 ERA (3.72 FIP) across 30 2/3 innings while striking out just shy of a batter an inning. For his career, Cotton sports a less appealing 4.71 ERA (5.06 FIP) over 189 innings, though prior to 2021 he hadn’t seen a big-league mound since he covered 129 of those innings as a back-end starter for the 2017 A’s.

Since then, Cotton has dealt with a variety of injuries, undergoing both Tommy John surgery in 2018 and a hamstring issue that also required surgery in 2019. The A’s traded him to the Cubs for cash considerations in late 2019, and though he was chosen for the Cubs’ alternate site, he was never promoted to the active roster. The Rangers then signed him to a minor league deal and promoted him to the bigs in July of this year after he pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 42 innings at Triple-A Round Rock.

Cotton will be arbitration-eligible in 2022 (Matt Swartz pegs him at a $1.2MM salary in MLBTR’s arbitration projections), which may be behind the Rangers’ decision to move on from the righty. The Twins evidently see him as a potential bargain, however, as they look to return to contention next year following a disappointing 2021. They’ll hope Cotton can help solidify the back end of a ’pen that featured several solid options (Taylor Rogers, Caleb Thielbar, Tyler Duffey) in 2021 but struggled to cover a season’s worth of innings.

Refsnyder, a journeyman utility bench bat, was also eligible for arbitration, but the Twins have decided not to tender him a contract at a projected $800K salary. He’ll presumably opt for minor league free agency in the coming days.

Across 614 plate appearances in parts of six seasons with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers, and Twins, Refsnyder has put together a .224/.310/.308 line. His versatility may give him a chance to catch on somewhere, but he’ll likely need to find a way to tap into more power (he’s slugged .442 across parts of nine seasons in the minors) to add much value.

Deadline Day Roster Moves

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After what was arguably the wildest trade deadline in years with dozens of deals around the league, multiple teams made follow-up roster moves. Trades end up squeezing some players off of rosters, or creating holes that need to be filled. This post will itemize the many 40-man roster moves that teams made after a dizzying array of blockbuster deals earlier in the day.

AL East

AL Central

  • Pablo Sandoval was released by the Indians. This was just hours after he was acquired in the Eddie Rosario trade. Based on his release, it’s clear that he was only included as salary offset.
  • The Tigers selected the contract of reliever Ian Krol. The left-hander is back after being designated for assignment earlier in the week.

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

  • The Diamondbacks claimed outfielder Jake Hager off waivers from the Mariners. This will be Hager’s fourth club on the season, having been previously designated for assignment by the Mets, Brewers and Mariners. Arizona also selected the contracts of infielder Drew Ellis and left-hander Miguel Aguilar.
  • The Dodgers announced that they claimed catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Marlins. Wallach was recently designated for assignment when Brian Anderson was reinstated from the IL.

Rangers Sign Jharel Cotton, Jason Martin To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers announced that they have signed right-hander Jharel Cotton, outfielder Jason Martin and righty Edubray Ramos (previously reported) to minor league contracts. All three deals come with invitations to spring training.

The 28-year-old Cotton was a top 100 prospect during his younger days, and he posted encouraging numbers (2.15 ERA/3.76 FIP) during his 29 1/3-major league debut with the Athletics in 2016. Cotton was then a regular in the A’s rotation the next season, in which he totaled 129 1/3 frames on 24 starts, but he could only muster a 5.58 ERA with a similar 5.68 FIP that year. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since then, owing largely to the Tommy John surgery he underwent in March 2018. Cotton tried to work his way back in 2019, but hamstring injuries helped prevent that from happening. Oakland then sent Cotton to the Cubs in a minor trade, though Chicago released him in September.

Martin entered the pros as a 2013 eighth-round pick of the Astros, who traded him to the Pirates five years later as part of the teams’ Gerrit Cole swap. But Martin didn’t produce much in two Triple-A seasons as a Pirate, and he slumped to a .200/.294/.244 line in the majors over a small sample of plate appearances (51) from 2019-20. The Pirates outrighted the 25-year-old after the season.

Cubs Claim Ildemaro Vargas, Release Jharel Cotton

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The Cubs have claimed infielder Ildemaro Vargas off waivers from the Twins, the team announced.  In another move, the Cubs also announced that right-hander Jharel Cotton has been released.

Vargas was designated for assignment three days ago, as Minnesota looked to clear roster space for Josh Donaldson’s activation from the injured list.  Vargas is now on the move for the second time in a month, as the Twins only just acquired him a trade from the Diamondbacks (after another DFA) in early August.

Vargas has 45 combined plate appearances with the D’Backs and Twins this season, and has hit .255/.284/.385 over 289 career PA at the big league level, all but 24 of them in an Arizona uniform.  The switch-hitting Vargas has primarily worked as a second baseman in the minors and at the big league level, but he has experience at multiple other positions (mostly shortstop and third base) and thus offers some value as a utility piece.

Since Vargas is out of options, the Cubs will have to carry him on their Major League roster lest they risk designating him again and losing him to another team’s waiver claim.  Vargas will join Nico Hoerner and David Bote as Chicago’s primary backup infielders, with Jason Kipnis increasingly getting the lion’s share of regular second base playing time.

Cotton was acquired from the Athletics in an offseason trade, and the righty will now look for a new team to get his career back on track.  Once a top-100 ranked prospect during his time in Oakland’s farm system, Cotton hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2017 due to Tommy John surgery.  His brief big league resume consists of a 4.95 ERA over 158 1/3 innings in 2016-17, though Cotton has a solid 3.85 ERA, 3.84 K/BB rate, and 10.2 K/9 over 496 career innings at the minor league level.

Cubs DFA Jharel Cotton, Place Tyler Chatwood On IL

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The Cubs announced a series of roster moves today, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales (Twitter links). Tyler Chatwood was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Thursday, due to a back strain. His active roster spot will be filled by right-hander Jason Adam. In turn, Jharel Cotton was designated for assignment to clear a spot for Adam on the 40-man roster.

The Cubs will have a week to trade, release, or outright Cotton to the minors. With one option year remaining and four more seasons of team control, he could be a worthwhile depth pickup for teams with thin pitching staffs. At 28 years old, Cotton is still relatively inexperienced at the Major League level and finds himself in a somewhat new role; 2019 marked the first year since his pro debut in 2012 that the majority of Cotton’s appearances came in relief.

Chatwood has started off the season looking like he’s on track for a nice bounce-back season, although you wouldn’t think so based on his unimpressive 5.40 ERA. Still, he’s striking out batters at a career-best rate (13.8 K/9) while his walks, which have thus far been the biggest obstacle to his success, have trended in the opposite direction: 2.4 BB/9, a career-low rate. That’s lent itself to a 2.60 FIP, which the Cubs ought to be pleased with given his unremarkable numbers over the previous two years.

Adam, 29, signed with the Cubs as a minor-league free agent after two Major League stints with the Royals and Blue Jays. He enjoyed a bit of success last year, posting a 2.91 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio (18 K/10 BB) was nothing special, but he’s good solid stuff: his fastball, which averaged 94.4 mph last year, brings a spin rate that ranked in the 97th-percentile last year, per Statcast. Supplemented with a curveball and changeup, that type of action can certainly play at the MLB level.

Cubs Rotation Candidates

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There’s a chance the Cubs begin the 2020 season with Tyler Chatwood back in the rotation, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times. In the final season of the three-year, $38MM deal signed before 2018, Chatwood arguably represents the most reliable option currently on the roster. Chatwood recovered from a disappointing first season in Chicago with 76 2/3 innings of 3.76 ERA/4.28 FIP baseball while mostly serving as a long man out of the pen. In a year in which the Cubs tested out numerous young arms, Chatwood emerged as a reliable alternative for intermittent opportunities in high-leverage situations, though most of his usage came in the middle innings. He did start five games in 2019, going 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA while averaging between four and five innings per start.

Despite Chatwood’s bounceback – at this stage of his career – there’s probably not a lot of unrealized upside to unearth as a rotation arm. The Cubs will look to add arms to push Chatwood for that rotation spot in the spring. Given their financial situation and the volume of competition for the top remaining arms in free agency, it’s unlikely they’ll be players in that space.

Internally, Adbert Alzolay represents the stiffest competition for the fifth starter’s job. He’s also probably the most exciting candidate for Cubs’ fans, who would love to see a 25-year-old homegrown pitcher earn a turn every fifth day. Theo Epstein and company would surely love to get that monkey off their backs as well. The Epstein regime has somewhat famously failed to develop any homegrown pitching over their Chicago tenure. After an uneven 2019 in which he made his big league debut, Alzolay will need a strong spring to take the role outright. With only 12 1/3 innings at the big league level last season, Alzolay maintained his rookie status and remains the Cubs fifth-ranked prospect per MLB.com.

Alec Mills and Jharel Cotton are two other names to keep an eye on. Mills, 28, doesn’t have the prospect pedigree, but he’s been quietly solid when called upon the last two seasons. The former Royals farmhand is a sleeper favorite should Alzolay prove unready. He also happens to be out of options. Cotton was recently acquired from the A’s in the type of low-cost, high-risk move that has become a staple of the Epstein Cubs. Cotton went to Oakland in the mid-2016 deal that sent Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to the Dodgers. For what it’s worth, the Cubs saw enough in Cotton to add him to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft.

In terms of long shots, the Cubs added another former Dodgers farmhand, Brock Stewart, during the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Justin Steele was also added to the 40-man roster. The 24-year-old southpaw made 11 starts in Double-A with a 5.59 ERA. Steele and Stewart rank pretty far down the totem pole, but they’ll have an opportunity to impress the brass in Spring Training.

As of right now, it’s looking like a fairly open competition to take Cole Hamels recently vacated rotation slot. Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks, and Jose Quintana make up the front four, and that’s unlikely to change, barring a Quintana trade. Lester and Darvish have no-trade clauses, and Hendricks ranks among the least-likely Cubs to be traded given the affordable contract that keeps him in Chicago through the 2024 season.

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