Giants Sign Jose Dominguez To Minor League Deal
The Giants have signed righty reliever Jose Dominguez to a minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. Dominguez split his time between the Padres’ bullpen and that of Triple-A El Paso in 2016, posting a 5.05 ERA, 5.0 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 35 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He also struggled with his control at El Paso, with 25 walks in 35 2/3 innings there. He previously pitched for the Dodgers and Rays, heading from Los Angeles to Tampa Bay in the deal two years ago that sent Adam Liberatore and Joel Peralta to the Dodgers.
Despite his underwhelming numbers in 2016, the 26-year-old Dominguez will surely continue to get chances, since he throws extremely hard (reaching into the upper 90s with his fastball) and has a 90-MPH slider. He’ll provide the Giants with what would appear to be significant upside should he solve his control issues, although his chances of doing so are probably limited.
Padres Outright Jemile Weeks, Jake Smith, Jose Dominguez
The Padres have announced that three players were outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster. Infielder Jemile Weeks and righties Jake Smith and Jose Dominguez all lost their spots.
Weeks, a 29-year-old switch hitter, managed only seven hits and three walks in 57 plate appearances on the year for San Diego. He has mostly functioned as a journeyman depth option over the last several years after failing to follow up on a highly promising rookie campaign with the A’s back in 2011. Weeks elected free agency, so he’ll be back on the open market this winter.
The 26-year-old Smith received his first brief crack at the majors this year, but only took the ball four times for the Padres. He struggled badly at Double-A for the Giants, with San Diego claiming him in July. While Smith’s six appearances at the same level in the Padres organization were more successful, it wasn’t enough for the team to dedicate a MLB roster slot to him going forward.
Dominguez, like Weeks, took free agency. The 26-year-old has appeared in the majors in each of the last four years and threw a career-high 35 2/3 innings in 2016. The results weren’t there, though, as he worked to a 5.05 ERA with just twenty strikeouts against 17 walks.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/23/15
We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:
- Today’s Dodgers minor league additions include outfielders Alex Hassan and Rico Noel, the previously reported Lisalverto Bonilla, and righty Daniel Corcino, Eddy tweets. Hassan is an OBP specialist who bounced around quite a bit last year and has spent most of his time at the Triple-A level over the past several seasons. Noel, soon to turn 27, has big-time speed on the bases and cracked the Yankees’ roster late last year as a pinch runner. And the 25-year-old Corcino has at times looked like a reasonably promising young pitcher, but missed most of last year after Los Angeles claimed him off waivers from the Reds.
- The Yankees have agreed to sign veteran righty Vinnie Pestano and catcher Sebastian Valle, Eddy adds on Twitter. Pestano, 30, has had some strong MLB campaigns in the past. But he only notched 11 2/3 big league frames last year with the Angels, though he’s posted impressive strikeout tallies at every level. Valle, a 25-year-old backstop from Mexico, spent most of his career in the Phillies organization before moving to the Pirates last year. He’s yet to reach the majors.
- Joining the Mets on a minors deal is first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, per another Eddy tweet, along with pitchers Buddy Carlyle and Duane Below. Krauss has racked up 435 major league turns at the plate over the last three years, slashing .188/.255/.324. Carlyle, who just turned 38, has posted strong numbers in the upper minors and majors over the last several years.
- The Padres have added pitchers Jose Dominguez and Carlos Pimentel on minor league deals, Eddy tweets. As Eddy notes, Dominguez has a live right arm while Pimentel was named the PCL’s pitcher of the year last season with the Cubs.
Earlier Updates
- The Braves have added first baseman Nate Freiman on a minor league deal, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Recently released by the A’s, Freiman put up a meager .220/.279/.321 batting line last year at Triple-A but has shown more in recent years.
- Heading to the Orioles on a minor league deal is outfielder Xavier Avery, Eddy also tweets. Avery, who’ll soon turn 26, spent time with three organizations last year at the Triple-A level and has yet to return to the majors since a 2012 debut in Baltimore.
- Catcher Jhonatan Solano has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals that includes a major league camp invite, the club announced. Solano, 30, spent last year with the Marlins — his first season outside of the Washington organization. He’s never done much damage with the bat, but is a well-regarded receiver.
- The Tigers also added several other players on MiLB pacts. In addition to making the Valdespin addition official, Detroit announced the signings of righties Logan Kensing, Melvin Mercedes, and Dustin Molleken as well as infielder Alberto Gonzalez and outfielder Nate Schierholtz. Mercedes and Molleken have spent the vast majority of their time in the minors, but the others all have ample big league experience. The 33-year-old Kensing allowed ten earned runs in 15 1/3 frames with the Mariners last year. Gonzalez, a seven-year MLB veteran, spent last year in the upper minors with the Detroit organization. And the 31-year-old Schierholtz failed to reach the majors last year after a string of eight seasons, playing instead for Japan’s Hiroshima Carp.
- The Tigers have reached a minor league deal with infielder/outfielder Jordany Valdespin, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Valdespin, who turns 28 today, does not receive an invitation to major league camp, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (also via Twitter). The Dominican utilityman has seen MLB action in each of the last four seasons, but made it into only two games with the Marlins last year. He slashed .291/.378/.371 over 457 plate appearances at the Triple-A level in 2015.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/22/15
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- The Rays have outrighted righty Jose Dominguez to Triple-A Durham, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Rays designated Dominguez for assignment last week. He had a handful of successful appearances with the big club this year, but struggled at Durham, posting a 6.26 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 6.3 BB/9 in 23 innings. The Rays acquired him along with pitching prospect Greg Harris in November when they traded Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore to the Dodgers.
Rays Designate Jose Dominguez For Assignment
The Rays have designated Jose Dominguez for assignment, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). The move will make room on the 40-man roster for the return of pitcher Drew Smyly.
Dominguez, 25, came to the Rays in the November deal that sent Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore to the Dodgers. Tampa Bay also acquired minor league pitcher Greg Harris in that swap.
Dominguez received a brief taste of Major League action in each of the past three seasons – two with L.A. and one with Tampa Bay. Baseball America once ranked him 11th among Dodgers prospects, calling him a “pure power arm” whose fastball sits 97-100 mph and can touch 102. However, BA noted his erratic command and a 50-game suspension for PED use on his minor league track record in their scouting report. In 25 appearances with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate this season, Dominguez has posted a 6.26 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 6.3 BB/9. Still, he’s shown a propensity for strikeouts in the minors, averaging 9.9 punchouts per nine innings for his career.
To keep track of Dominguez and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.