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Minor MLB Transactions: 4/16/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

  • The Rangers sent lefty reliever Andrew Faulkner to Triple-A and recalled righty Nick Martinez, according to John Henry of MLB.com. Prior to the move, Faulkner tossed 4 1/3 innings for the Rangers and allowed four earned runs, five hits and three walks while striking out just one batter. Martinez logged extensive time in the majors last season, totaling 125 innings of 3.96 ERA ball with Texas. ERA estimators like FIP (4.98) and xFIP (4.99) thought far less of his performance. He’ll serve as a long reliever and spot starter for the Rangers.
  • The Brewers have called up righty Zach Davies from Triple-A Colorado Springs to make a spot start against the Pirates on Sunday, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, they sent outfielder Keon Broxton down to Colorado Springs. Davies, whom the Brewers acquired from the Orioles last year, fared respectably in his first big league action in 2015. In six starts (34 innings), he put up a 3.71 ERA to go along with a 6.35 K/9 and 3.97 BB/9. Broxton went without a hit and struck out 11 times in 18 plate appearances before the demotion.
  • The Orioles have released righty Todd Redmond, their Triple-A Norfolk Tides affiliate tweets. The 30-year-old Redmond pitched a combined 152 innings for the Blue Jays in 2013 and 2014, appearing as both a starter and as a reliever, but spent most of last season with Toronto’s Triple-A team. The O’s signed him to a minor-league deal in November, but he struggled after being sent to Norfolk, allowing 15 runs in five innings there. In his big-league career, Redmond has a 4.25 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 171 1/3 innings.

NL Central Notes: Freese, Votto, Murton, Brewers

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Newly signed Pirates infielder David Freese was “hungry” to join the organization, GM Neal Huntington told Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Freese spoke with Nesbitt as well, explaining that the organization’s recent surge and track record of making the postseason appealed to him when the Bucs approached. Freese added that it’s been interesting to watch the club’s rise to prominence, having seen the early stages as a member of the Cardinals. “We came to Pittsburgh early on in [2011], and then we showed up two or three months later and it was sold out,” said Freese. “I think that’s kinda when things started to change a little bit. That was an atmosphere I wanted to be a part of. To see where this organization has come the last four or five years, that’s special.” Nesbitt notes that the plan for Freese is for him to play third base while Jung Ho Kang is out for the first month of the season, and he’ll then shift across the diamond and platoon with John Jaso.

More from the NL Central…

  • The Reds have no intention of moving Joey Votto as part of their rebuild, GM Dick Williams tells MLB.com’s Barry Bloom. “Joey’s the cornerstone of our lineup right now, and [he] will be in the future,” said Williams when asked about the possibility of trading Votto. “I think the contract we have him signed to is very reasonable for a small-market team, making that kind of commitment. The way salaries have gone, it looks like a very reasonable and fair contract. … I wouldn’t say ’never,’ but having Joey in the middle of the lineup is pretty special.” Votto has eight years and $199MM remaining on his 10-year, $225MM extension. That deal also included a full no-trade clause, so the possibility of trading Votto isn’t entirely in the club’s hands anyway.
  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick interviews Cubs non-roster invitee Matt Murton, who returned to the team this winter on a minor league deal after six successful seasons with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Murton, who missed the first two weeks of camp recovering from an appendectomy, discusses his time in Japan and explains that he initially expected to spend just one season overseas. As Crasnick notes, though, Murton’s success led him to be one of the league’s highest-paid players, earning a bit shy of $4MM at his peak. Though that’s a relatively small sum in today’s Major League landscape, it’s significantly more than he’d earn even if he were to make the Majors. That might’ve made it tempting to stay, but Murton still has big league aspirations. “I reached a point where if I stayed there too much longer, this window was going to close,” he tells Crasnick. “My goal right now is living in the moment, competing today. I really do think I have something left. I think I can be an asset. But that’s all talk. I’ve got to get out there and do it.”
  • Brewers manager Craig Counsell chatted with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt about two of the young players they acquired in offseason trades — Jacob Nottingham and Keon Broxton. While some have questioned whether Nottingham can stick behind the plate, Counsell emphatically voiced that there is “no question” in the minds of the Brewers that Nottingham is a catcher in the long haul. He also offered high praise for the 25-year-old Broxton, who could be the early favorite to play center field for the club.

Reactions To The Khris Davis Trade

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The Athletics acquired outfielder Khris Davis  from the Brewers yesterday for prospects Jacob Nottingham and Bubba Derby. The A’s also designated pitcher Sean Nolin in a related move. Here is a sampling of the reactions to and effects of the deal.

  • Brewers GM David Stearns doesn’t expect to make any deals between now and the first day of Spring Training, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Pitchers and catchers report to camp next Sunday. In my opinion, the club does seem to have an opportunity to buy low on a free agent outfielder if they would rather give recent acquisition Rymer Liriano more competition than Kirk Nieuwenhuis or Keon Broxton.
  • In another tweet, Haudricourt relays that the acquisition of Nottingham has no direct effect on Jonathan Lucroy’s status with the team. Nottingham had a successful campaign in High-A last season, but he’s at least one year away from reaching the majors. Given the direction of the Brewers’ rebuild, Lucroy seems to destined to find a new home as soon as he proves himself healthy and effective.
  • The trade made sense in a formulaic way, writes Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs. The A’s had a role for an outfielder while the Brewers are busy acquiring prospects and players with upside. Sullivan provides some background about Davis, noting his ability to slug without steep platoon splits. He ranked in the top five percent of hitters in bat exit velocity on liners and fly balls. In other words, when he makes contact, it’s hard. That could help him to fit into spacious O.Co Coliseum.
  • ESPN’s Christina Kahrl also likes the trade for both teams. As she notes, affordable power hitters are few and far between, making this a rare opportunity for Oakland. Davis is under club control for four more seasons and has yet to reach arbitration. The Brewers farm system was recently rated fifth by ESPN’s Keith Law prior to the trade. The club is poised to rebound quickly from their tear down. They may possibly dodge the scariest years of the new Cubs juggernaut in the process.
  • Nottingham is an offense first catcher, but he’s still one of the best catching prospects, says Jim Callis of MLB.com (video). His power and hitting ability could potentially play at another position if he doesn’t stick behind the dish. Meanwhile, Derby is described as a undersized pitcher who could start or convert into a setup role.

Central Notes: Alvarez, Uribe, Brewers

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Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News takes an interesting look back at what was perhaps the first modern deployment of the opt-out clause. Then-Twins GM Andy MacPhail utilized a player option to lure top starter Jack Morris to the organization. “I thought, what’s the worst thing that can happen?” says the current Phillies president. “I was already committed to giving him $9 million over three years. He could pitch great and leave or he could like it and stay the whole time. Either scenario, I would’ve taken. Nor did I get any criticism at the time.” Things couldn’t have worked out much better, as it turns out, as Morris helped lead Minnesota to a World Series before departing. If you’re interested in some more reading on the history and development of the now-pervasive opt-out, check out this piece from MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes.

Here are some notes from the game’s central divisions:

  • Former Pirates corner infielder Pedro Alvarez is more than just a DH, his agent Scott Boras tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). Alvarez still has the skills and athleticism that got him to the hot corner in Pittsburgh in the first place, says Boras, who rejects the idea that he’s a bat-only player “based upon a short sample size or a moment in his career where he’s had an irregularity in throwing.”
  • The Indians are still pursuing free agent third baseman Juan Uribe, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. We’ve heard consistent chatter on that connection for quite some time, but it still isn’t clear whether Cleveland will (or will need to) push up its offer to get something done. There have also been suggestions that the club may be prepared to wait to see who’s left without a seat when the music stops this winter.
  • The Brewers have paid a lot of attention to center field this winter, Tom Haudricourt writes for Baseball America. In the immediate term, the organization will hold “an open competition,” per GM David Stearns, with veterans Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Eric Young Jr. looking to hold off youngsters Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton. Of course, Santana is seen more as a corner outfielder in the long run, but the club will presumably dedicate most of its playing time there to Ryan Braun and Khris Davis. As for Broxton, Stearns had praise for him as a near-term and future option. “He gives us increased depth in the outfield and has a chance to play center field,” he said. “We think Keon has a chance to be a real asset to our team, beginning this year.”

Pirates Acquire Jason Rogers From Brewers

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The Pirates announced that they have acquired corner infielder/outfielder Jason Rogers from the Brewers in exchange for outfielder Keon Broxton and right-hander Trey Supak.

Jason Rogers

Rogers, 27, is a right-handed bat that will give the Pirates further depth at first base, although the club admittedly already had a right-handed hitting option there in the form of Mike Morse. In 169 plate appearances will Milwaukee last season, Rogers batted .296/.367/.441 with four homers. That marked Rogers’ first extended taste of the Major Leagues, as he’d previously accumulated just 10 plate appearances — all in 2014. Lack of MLB experience notwithstanding, Rogers is a highly accomplished minor league hitter, having compiled a lifetime .290/.372/.476 slash in the minors, including a more impressive .326/.406/.582 line in 90 games at the Triple-A level. Over the past two seasons, between the Majors and minor, Rogers has handled right-handed pitching better than lefties, though his track record prior to that indicates a more traditional platoon split.

In exchange for Rogers, the Brewers will receive a fleet-footed center fielder (Broxton) and a right-hander that was Competitive Balance (Round B) draft pick as recently as 2014 (Supak). Broxton, 26 in May, made his big league debut in 2015, though he received just seven plate appearances. Most of his work came in the minors, where he batted .273/.357/.438 with 10 homers and 39 stolen bases between the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for Pittsburgh. The Pirates originally acquired him from the D-backs early in 2014 in exchange for cash considerations. The former third-round pick (2009) long rated as one of Arizona’s more promising farmhands in the eyes of Baseball America, but he hasn’t appeared on a Top 30 list for either the D-backs or Buccos since 2012, when BA wrote that while he was a plus runner with a plus arm that played MLB-caliber defense in center field even at Class-A Advanced, he struggles to pick up breaking pitches and has a long way to go at the plate. Broxton’s drawn high praise for his athleticism, and it’s possible that even if he doesn’t hit much, he could seemingly be a defensive-minded reserve outfielder.

Supak is 19 years old and rated as the Pirates’ No. 15 prospect, per MLB.com. Supak received a healthy $1MM signing bonus out of the ’14 draft but hasn’t lived up to that investment just yet, as he struggled to a dismal 6.67 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 28 1/3 innings with the Pirates’ Rookie-level Appalachian League affiliate. MLB.com notes that his fastball sits in the low 90s and could grow as his 6’5″ frame develops. However, their scouting reports note that his curveball and changeup are a ways behind his fastball, and even his heater could use some work, as it presently lacks downhill plane.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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