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Brewers Sign David Dahl To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have signed free-agent outfielder David Dahl to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A, tweets Will Sammon of The Athletic. They’ve also released infielder Kevin Kramer from their Nashville roster.

The 27-year-old Dahl was a first-round pick and longtime top prospect with the Rockies. After debuting as a 21-year-old back in 2016 and hitting the ground running with a .315/.359/.500 slash in 237 plate appearances, Dahl looked like a potential building block for the Rox.

However, Dahl came to the Majors with an injury history of note. He suffered a lacerated spleen during an outfield collision in the minor leagues and had an emergency splenectomy, and since his big league debut he’s incurred a stress reaction in rib cage, a broken foot, a lower back strain, a high ankle sprain and a right shoulder strain — all over the course of about four years.

Dahl spent the 2017 season on the injured list but returned to enjoy productive 2018-19 campaigns. The 2020 season was a disaster, however, as he posted a .183/.222/.247 batting line in 99 plate appearances with the Rockies, who somewhat surprisingly non-tendered him in the offseason. The Rangers swooped in to add Dahl on a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $2.7MM, but he looked nowhere near the 2016-19 version of himself; in 220 plate appearances this season, Dahl has batted only .210/.247/.322.

Texas designated Dahl for assignment earlier this month, and no team saw fit to claim the remainder of his $2.7MM salary on outright waivers. Dahl rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, and he’ll now join the Brewers in hopes of finding another big league opportunity with a third organization. Milwaukee would only owe Dahl the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster — if he’s called up at all before season’s end.

Kramer, 27, came to the Brewers via a July 4 swap that sent lefty Nathan Kirby to the Pirates. It was an intra-division swap of two formerly high-profile draft prospects who simply haven’t panned out as their organizations had hoped. Kramer improved upon the woeful numbers he’d posted with the Bucs’ top minor league affiliate in what will go down as a brief run with the Brewers’ Nashville affiliate, but his output was still below average overall. In 66 plate appearances with Triple-A Nashville, Kramer hit .245/.379/.321.

Brewers Acquire Kevin Kramer From Pirates

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The Brewers and Pirates have swung an inter-division trade, with utilityman Kevin Kramer going to Milwaukee.  In return, Pittsburgh will receive left-hander Nathan Kirby.

Though it’s usually rare for division rivals to combine on trades, the Pirates and Brewers have been relatively frequent trade partners in recent years, and in fact just completed another deal of minor leaguers just a little over a week ago.  Today’s trade sees the two clubs swap a pair of fairly high picks from the 2015 amateur draft.

Kramer has 43 games’ worth of big league experience, all coming with the Pirates during the 2018-19 seasons, and he produced only a .387 OPS over 90 career plate appearances.  A second-round pick for the Bucs in the 2015 draft, Kramer posted considerably better numbers during his minor league career, though he also struggled at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, hitting .196/.318/.296 over 214 PA.  The 2020 season was a complete wash for Kramer due to hip surgery in May 2020.

The 27-year-old Kramer will provide the Brew Crew with some farm system depth, and he also fits Milwaukee’s preferred model of a multi-positional player.  Most of Kramer’s pro career has been spent as a second baseman, but he has also seen quite a bit of time at shortstop, third base, and both corner outfield slots.

While Kramer was chosen 62nd overall in 2015, Kirby went even higher, taken 40th overall as the Brewers’ pick in Competitive Balance Round A.  Since being drafted, however, Kirby’s pro career has still almost barely begun, with just 102 1/3 total innings pitched (71 coming in the 2018 season).  The southpaw has been ravaged by injuries, including both a Tommy John surgery and a thoracic outlet syndrome procedure.

Kirby finally got back on the mound this season for the first time since 2018, and he has a 1.93 ERA, 23.17% strikeout rate, and a troublingly high 15.85% walk rate in 18 2/3 bullpen innings for Double-A Biloxi.  Kirby is still only 27 years old, so the Pirates are taking a flier to see if Kirby has a second act to his career, and if he can perhaps eventually reach the majors as a reliever.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/30/20

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Rounding up some minor moves around the game:

  • Royals left-hander Mike Montgomery and right-hander Kevin McCarthy cleared outright waivers and have elected free agency, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (Twitter link). Montgomery, 31, was limited to 5.1 innings in 2020 due to a lat injury, derailing his chance of cementing himself in the Kansas City rotation. McCarthy was an oft-used bullpen piece in 2019 but only got into five games last season. Additionally, Kansas City claimed righty Carlos Sanabria off waivers from the Astros, per Flanagan (Twitter link). The 23-year-old reliever performed well in the high minors in 2019 and made his MLB debut in this year.
  • The Twins claimed right-hander Ian Gibaut off waivers from the Rangers, per an announcement from Texas. The 26-year-old pitched to just a 6.57 ERA in 12.1 innings this year but was once a well-regarded relief prospect. He comes with one option year remaining. Fellow Texas righty Luke Farrell cleared outright waivers.
  • The Twins also claimed left-hander Brandon Waddell off waivers from the Pirates, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (Twitter link). Additionally, Pirates’ catchers John Ryan Murphy and Luke Maile, utilityman Kevin Kramer, right-hander Yacksel Rios and outfielder Jason Martin all cleared outright waivers, per an announcement from Pittsburgh.
  • The Mets claimed right-hander Nick Tropeano off waivers from the Pirates, per an announcement from Pittsburgh. The 30-year-old pitched in seven games with a 1.15 ERA for the Pirates in 2020. He’s projected for a salary just under $1MM in arbitration.
  • The Nationals announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Steven Fuentes. The 23-year-old pitched to a 2.69 ERA/2.24 FIP in 63.2 Double-A innings in 2019 and would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter. Baseball America ranks Fuentes the #27 prospect in the Washington system.
  • The Cubs announced that they have claimed infielder Max Schrock via waivers from the rival Cardinals. Chicago also outrighted lefty Rex Brothers to Triple-A Iowa. Schrock picked up just 17 plate appearances for St. Louis in 2020 and collected three hits (two singles and a homer). Brothers, 32, threw only 3.1 innings with the Cubs and allowed three earned runs.
  • Speaking of the Cardinals, they announced outright assignments for righty Nabil Crismatt and lefty Ricardo Sanchez. Crismatt was successful for the Cardinals in 2020, notching 8.1 frames of three-run ball with eight strikeouts and one walk. Sanchez had some difficulty across 5.1 innings, though, as he gave up four earned runs and issued five walks.

Kevin Kramer Undergoes Hip Surgery

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Pirates utilityman Kevin Kramer will be sidelined for a lengthy stretch after undergoing surgery on his right hip, per a club announcement. MLB.com’s Adam Berry was among those to convey the news on Twitter.

The Bucs anticipate a rehabilitation timeline of four to six months, which means Kramer will almost certainly not be a part of the team’s 2020 short-season roster. He’ll get to work rehabbing in hopes of being ready for a full Spring Training next year.

The labral repair procedure was conducted “to address recent and chronic symptoms,” per the team. Kramer had not been able to train in anticipation of a resumption of play.

Kramer had been competing in camp for a bench job with the Pirates. Before the pandemic shutdown, he had appeared in 11 Spring Training contests.

A 2015 second-round draft pick, Kramer has received sporadic MLB opportunities over the past two seasons. He has struggled to a cumulative .152/.222/.165 batting line in ninety plate appearances. Kramer has had more success in the upper minors, though last year’s .260/.335/.417 output at Triple-A represented a step back after a strong 2018 showing.

Injury Notes: Dyson, Cueto, Polanco, Dominguez, Morejon

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The Twins are waiting to see how reliever Sam Dyson responds to some time off to deal with recurring biceps soreness. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed the matter with reporters including Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). It’s an effort to “get out ahead” of things, says Falvey. The Twins need their most significant trade deadline acquisition at top form with a major postseason clash beckoning. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been himself since coming over. Dyson owns a 7.15 ERA in a dozen appearances in Minnesota.

More injury updates from around the game …

  • Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto, on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback in his most recent rehab outing, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll be reevaluated in the next few days but won’t be an option for the team as soon as originally hoped. Manager Bruce Bochy had previously put a tentative date of Sept. 8 on a return for Cueto, but that no longer appears to be a plausible timeline. Back tightness, rather than arm issues, has caused the revised timeline. While there’s still hope that Cueto will make it back to the big-league bump this season, the organization will surely avoid any unnecessary risks.
  • A few Pirates outfielders won’t return to action this year, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Gregory Polanco will receive platelet-rich plasma injections in a bid to spur healing in his troublesome shoulder. That’ll be a key situation to monitor in the offseason for the Pittsburgh organization. Jason Martin now has his own shoulder malady to deal with: a separation suffered yesterday. He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. Infielder Kevin Kramer will come up to the active roster due in part to Martin’s absence. Though Bucs righty Mitch Keller was hit in the wrist with a batted ball yesterday, he was able to play catch today. his timeline isn’t clear, but that certainly seems like promising news.
  • The Phillies got some promising news on righty reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has at times seemed destined to miss the rest of the season. Despite a recent scare, he has shown enough progress in his elbow health to resume throwing, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via tweet). It’s still not clear that Dominguez will have enough time to ramp up and return to active duty, though perhaps there’s still an outside shot.
  • Padres southpaw Adrian Morejon will not make it back to the bigs in 2019, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. That’s not to say that the widely hailed 20-year-old isn’t making progress. His injured shoulder is in good enough shape to allow Morejon to resume throwing. Though he struggled quite a bit in limited MLB action, Morejon has generally shown all the skills that made him a consensus top-100 leaguewide prospect. He’ll likely again factor into the San Diego plans next season, though he’ll do so without much of an innings base to work from. Morejon has not yet thrown more than 65 1/3 frames in a given campaign and fell shy of that mark this year.

Pirates Name Gonzalez, Kang Starters At Shortstop, Third Base

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The Pirates have settled on Erik Gonzalez and Jung Ho Kang as their starters at shortstop and third base, respectively, to open the 2019 season, general manger Neal Huntington revealed to reporters Monday (Twitter links via Adam Berry of MLB.com).

Gonzalez’s primary competition for the shortstop role had been Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer, the latter of whom was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis this morning, per a team press release. Newman, it seems, will still have the opportunity to compete for a utility role with the club, though he could land in Indianapolis as well if the Buccos decide he requires everyday at-bats. Kang, meanwhile, beat out Colin Moran for the role of primary third baseman. Moran will see some time at first base as well, which could afford him a bit more playing time.

The 25-year-old Gonzalez came to the Pirates in the offseason trade that sent Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff to the Indians. Gonzalez had to make the club one way or another, given that he’s out of minor league options, though it wasn’t set in stone that he’d break camp as the regular shortstop. The organization’s confidence in his glove, it seems, ultimately helped to sway the decision, as neither Gonzalez (.233/.303/.367 in 33 PAs) nor Newman (.276/.290/.448 in 30 PAs) has had a particularly impactful spring at the plate.

Kang, 32 on Opening Day, returned to the Pirates in September after missing all of the 2017 season and most of the 2018 campaign due to DUI arrests in his native South Korea, which prevented him from securing a work visa. He’ll likely bring a steadier glove to the hot corner than Moran displayed in 2018 (-8 Defensive Runs Saved, -6.6 UZR), and Kang has also connected on five spring home runs, although he’s also struck out 13 times in 31 trips to the plate. Moran is hitting .214/.303/.357 in his own tiny sample of 32 PAs.

Neither decision comes with permanence, of course. Gonzalez is a mere .263/.292/.389 hitter in 275 Major League plate appearances with Cleveland, and if he’s unable to improve on that paltry OBP, his bat will be enough of a liability that it’d eventually merit contemplation of a switch. This will, however, be his first chance at regular playing time, as he was limited to a utility role with the Indians given the presence of more established players such as Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

Kang, meanwhile, appeared in only three big league games last season — his first MLB action since 2016. He’s on a one-year, $3MM contract with the Pittsburgh organization, so he’ll have a bit of a leash early in the season but isn’t compensated such that the organization would shy away from moving on if he isn’t providing value.

Pirates Promote Kevin Kramer, Designate Buddy Boshers

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The Pirates announced several September call-ups today, designating lefty Buddy Boshers to create roster space. Pittsburgh selected the contract of well-regarded middle-infield prospect Kevin Kramer along with that of journeyman catcher Ryan Lavarnway.

Also heading up to the majors are a series of players who already possessed 40-man roster spots. Righties Tanner Anderson, Michael Feliz, and Clay Holmes will all join the organization for the stretch run, as will outfielder Jordan Luplow.

Kramer will join Kevin Newman, another talented young infielder seen as part of the future, on the MLB roster. Chosen in the second round of the 2015 draft, Kramer is viewed as a solid all-around player. Certainly, he has impressed in the upper minors in the past two seasons, turning in identical 141 wRC+ figures in an injury-shortened 2017 at Double-A and in a full campaign this year at Triple-A.

In his 527 plate appearances with Indianapolis in 2018, Kramer owns a .311/.365/.492 slash with 15 home runs and 13 steals. He has spent some time at shortstop in the minors, but the bulk of his innings of come at second base and that’s where he’s expected to play in the big leagues.

As for Boshers, the 30-year-old southpaw has seen time in three MLB seasons but didn’t make it up in 2018. He has worked to a 3.32 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in his 57 frames at Triple-A, with time spent at both the Bucs’ and Astros’ top affiliates.

Pirates Notes: Deadline, Rotation, Middle Infield, Bullpen

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The Pirates have fallen to earth since a solid start and now sit a game below .500 (35-36), but general manager Neal Huntington told reporters before Sunday’s loss to the Reds that he still has a buyer’s mindset as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches. “We’ve had more conversations about adding players at this point in time than we’ve had about subtracting players,” Huntington said (via Adam Berry of MLB.com), adding that “our intent is to continue to give this club every chance in the world to show us that we can continue to do the things that we did the first six weeks, eight weeks to put ourselves nine games over and that we can dig out of this hole that we’ve dug ourselves over this tough stretch of 30 days.” The Pirates are sitting in fourth place in a tough NL Central, seven games behind first-place Milwaukee, but they’re only 3 1/2 out of a wild-card spot. With several playoff-contending teams on their schedule in the next several weeks, the Bucs will have an opportunity to make up ground on their competitors and end up as buyers. But if the Pirates drop out of the hunt pre-deadline, they could ultimately market some of their shorter-term players, as Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported this week.

More from Pittsburgh…

  • Right-hander Trevor Williams has scuffled of late, as he recorded a 5.51 ERA in May and then allowed seven earned runs in six innings in his only June start thus far. Nevertheless, there aren’t any plans to pull him from Pittsburgh’s rotation and replace him with impressive rookie Nick Kingham, who’s currently in the minors, Huntington said (via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). “Our focus with Trevor right now is to get that secondary stuff back to being effective, to get the four- and the two-seam fastball command back to being effective, and [we] believe that we’re going to be able to do that and work from there,” stated Huntington, who noted it’s unfortunate for Kingham that “we’ve got six guys that we believe can help us win major league games as starting pitchers right now.” In Huntington’s estimation, that group includes the 26-year-old Williams, who, to his credit, has been a respectable starter since debuting in 2016. Williams has combined for 216 innings of 4.15 ERA ball and posted 6.6 K/9 against 2.95 BB/9 in 40 starts.
  • The Pirates are considering promoting middle infield prospects Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer, but call-ups don’t seem imminent, Brink suggests. Starting middle infielders Josh Harrison (second base) and Jordy Mercer (shortstop) have been reasonably effective, and Huntington expressed confidence in reserve Sean Rodriguez, even though he has hit just .159/.286/299 in 126 plate appearances. Playing time would be hard to come by for the prospects, then, and the Pirates don’t want to promote them unless they’re going to see regular action. Both Newman, MLB.com’s seventh-ranked Pirates prospect, and Kramer (No. 8) have logged above-average production at the Triple-A level this season. Neither Newman nor Kramer is on the Bucs’ already full 40-man roster, though, which stands as another roadblock in the way of the “Seinfeld” tandem.
  • More from Brink, who writes that Huntington took some of the blame Sunday for the woes of Pittsburgh’s bullpen. “The general manager didn’t give the manager a legitimate eighth-inning guy or seventh-inning guy, speaking in conventional terms,” said Huntington, whose team entered Sunday tied for 25th in the majors in bullpen ERA (4.56). As Brink points out, the Pirates’ season-opening plan to have Michael Feliz and George Kontos set up closer Felipe Vazquez didn’t work. Feliz, whom the Bucs acquired over the winter from Houston as part of the teams’ Gerrit Cole trade, has registered a 6.18 ERA over 27 2/3 innings. And Kontos managed a subpar 5.03 mark in 19 2/3 frames before the Pirates released him last month.
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