Minor MLB Transactions: 2/22/18
Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around baseball…
- Righty Joan Gregorio has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A by the Giants, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). The 26-year-old was once regarded as a quality prospect but needs to regain his trajectory after a 2017 season marred by a PED suspension. He did work to a 3.04 ERA in 74 Triple-A innings over 13 starts, but managed only 7.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 on the year.
- Southpaw Casey Crosby has signed on with the Twins on a minor-league deal, as Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com pointed out today on Twitter. Rick Armstrong of the Aurora Beacon-News had the story a few weeks back, charting Crosby’s quiet exit from the sport and his decision to attempt a comeback. The lefty briefly appeared with the Tigers in 2012 but has not returned to the majors since. Indeed, Crosby last recorded time in affiliated ball with Detroit in 2014, with elbow pain contributing to his departure. The 29-year-old, a former fifth-round draft pick, returned to indy ball late last year and is hoping that an improved diet and revamped mechanics will lead to a remarkable rebound.
Earlier Updates
- Former big league outfielder Jose Tabata has signed with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League, the team announced today. Tabata, 29, once looked like a building block for the Pirates after hitting .299/.346/.400 with four homers, 19 steals and terrific outfield defense as a 21-year-old rookie back in 2010. Pittsburgh was bullish enough on the former top prospect that they inked him to a six-year, $15MM contract extension that offseason, but even that modest guarantee proved to be a misstep, as Tabata’s production declined in the coming years. The outfielder went on to hit .267/.333/.369 with diminishing value on the basepaths and in the outfield in 407 games over the next five seasons. He hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2015 and hasn’t performed well in Triple-A in recent seasons, either. He’ll now look to follow in the footsteps of dozens of other big leaguers who have used the independent circuit (the Atlantic League, in particular) as a stepping stone back into affiliated ball.
Giants Designate Joan Gregorio For Assignment
The Giants have designated right-hander Joan Gregorio for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Tony Watson, whose contract with San Francisco is now official (Twitter link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).
Gregorio, 26, has yet to reach the Majors and missed the second half of the 2017 season in Triple-A due to a PED suspension. Prior to that, he’d pitched to a 3.04 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 32.5 percent ground-ball rate in 74 innings of work there. Overall, Gregorio has a 4.37 ERA in 181 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Gregorio was, at one point, a mainstay on Giants’ prospect rankings, topping out at No. 7 among their farmhands in the 2016-17 offseason, per Baseball America. BA noted that he had an average fastball and slider with an improving changeup but questionable command, pointing to a potential shift to the ‘pen.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/1/17
The latest minor moves from around baseball:
- Major League Baseball has suspended Giants right-handed prospect Joan Gregorio for the rest of the season because of steroid use, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Gregorio, 25, is the Giants’ eighth-best prospect, per MLB Pipeline, which lauds his fastball and notes that the team regards him as a potential starter at the big league level. The 6-foot-7 Gregorio has worked almost exclusively out of the rotation at various minor league levels since debuting with the Giants organization in 2010. In 13 starts and 74 innings this year at Triple-A, Gregorio logged a 3.04 ERA (with a 5.13 FIP), 7.42 K/9 and 4.26 BB/9.
- The Pirates released infielder Jason Rogers on Friday, according to their Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis (Twitter link). The 29-year-old will sign with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Central League, reports Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rogers’ tenure with the Pirates began in December 2015, when they acquired him from NL Central rival Milwaukee in a deal that saw the Brewers land center fielder Keon Broxton. While Broxton has turned into a regular for the Brewers, Rogers only totaled 33 plate appearances with the Pirates (all last season) and hit a meager .080/.303/.160. He was much better at Triple-A this year, slashing .289/.362/.439 with nine home runs in 282 PAs.
- Righty Eddie Gamboa has declined an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake announced Friday. The Rangers designated Gamboa for assignment June 22, which came after the 32-year-old knuckleballer opened the season with a 6.49 ERA, 5.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 77 2/3 Triple-A innings. Gamboa made his major league debut with the Rays last season and put up a 1.35 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 over 13 1/3 frames. Texas acquired him for a player to be named later or cash considerations over the winter.
- The Indians announced that MLB has suspended right-hander Joe Colon for the rest of the season after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Colon has been with the Indians since they selected him in the 12th round of the 2009 draft, and he debuted in the majors last year with 10 innings of eight-earned run, 12-hit ball. The 27-year-old worked at Triple-A this season and posted a 4.13 ERA, 9.37 K/9 and 4.96 BB/9 in 32 2/3 innings.