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Kyle Tyler

Mariners, Kyle Tyler Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Mariners are signing reliever Kyle Tyler to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. The Nello Gamberdino client hit free agency last summer after being released by the Giants.

Tyler’s name frequented the MLBTR pages last offseason. The right-hander bounced around to a number of teams in rapid succession, essentially serving as the 41st man on a handful of clubs’ rosters. A career-long member of the Angels through the lockout, he lost his 40-man spot with Anaheim during Spring Training. Within a few weeks, he’d go to the Red Sox, Padres, back to the Angels and then back to the Padres via waivers.

While Tyler held a 40-man spot in San Diego into early June, he was again designated for assignment at that point. He finally cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. The Padres re-selected him onto the roster within a few days, then waived him again a couple weeks thereafter. Tyler cleared and became a minor league free agent (as was his right after a second career outright assignment) and signed a non-roster deal with the Giants. He made only four Triple-A appearances in the San Francisco organization before being released.

It was a circuitous route, one Tyler acknowledged at the time wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience. The 26-year-old got into just two MLB games last year, both with San Diego. He spent the majority of the season with the Friars’ top affiliate in El Paso, posting a 4.98 ERA through 21 2/3 innings of relief. He struck out 29% of batters faced with an excellent 58.7% grounder percentage for the Chihuahuas, though he also walked over 20% of opponents.

The free passes were uncharacteristic, as Tyler had never previously walked more than 8.6% of batters faced at a minor league stop. Prospect evaluators had pointed to his above-average control in pegging him as a potential depth starter, though he’s settled into a relief role for the past couple seasons.

Tyler joins Taylor Williams, Casey Sadler, Riley O’Brien and José Rodríguez as righty relievers with MLB experience who’ll serve as non-roster depth options for the Mariners. The M’s have a very deep bullpen that isn’t likely to afford many early opportunities to that group. Tyler will likely start the year at Triple-A Tacoma and try to vie for a midseason job. He still has two option years remaining, so the M’s could shuttle him between Seattle and Tacoma if he secures a 40-man roster spot.

Giants, Kyle Tyler Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants recently signed right-hander Kyle Tyler to a minor league contract, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. He elected free agency after being outrighted off the Padres roster for the second time earlier this month.

Tyler, 25, has had a tumultuous past few months. A former Angels draftee, he reached the big leagues with the Halos late last season. Los Angeles designated him for assignment coming out of the lockout, kicking off a series of transactions. Tyler went to the Red Sox, Padres, back to the Angels then back to the Padres on waivers within a span of three weeks. He finally stuck on the Friars 40-man roster for a couple months, but he was again designated for assignment in early June.

After passing through waivers unclaimed, Tyler was assigned outright to Triple-A El Paso. San Diego reselected him to the majors a few days later but eventually DFA him again. Tyler again cleared waivers, and the second outright afforded him the right to head to free agency rather than return to El Paso. He did so and will now try to pitch his way back to the big leagues in San Francisco.

Tyler has seven MLB appearances under his belt: five with last year’s Angels, two with the Padres this season. He’s allowed only four runs through 16 1/3 innings, but he owns a mediocre 8:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has averaged just 91 MPH on his fastball in that time. To his credit, Tyler has typically posted excellent numbers in the minors, a big reason he reached the majors only three-plus years after falling to the 20th round in the draft. He posted a 3.38 ERA with a solid 24.3% strikeout rate and a modest 7.3% walk percentage through 15 appearances (12 starts) in Double-A last season.

This year, Tyler has run into some uncharacteristic control woes at the minors’ top level. He’s walked more than one-fifth of opponents through 21 2/3 frames in El Paso. Strike-throwing had been a strength before this season, however, and the Giants will see if he can get on track in a new environment. Tyler has worked mostly in relief this season but has a fair bit of pre-2022 starting experience, so San Francisco can keep him as a depth option in either role.

Padres Select Tayler Scott, Designate Kyle Tyler

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The Padres have selected the contract of right-hander Tayler Scott. Lefty Ray Kerr will be optioned to create a spot for Scott on the active roster. Righty Kyle Tyler has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

This will be Scott’s first major league action since 2019, his only previous season in the bigs. He logged 16 1/3 innings that year between the Mariners and the Orioles, though was tattooed in that small sample to a 14.33 ERA. After that, he spent the next two seasons in Japan, suiting up for the Hiroshima Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2020 and 2021.

He signed a minor league deal with the Padres in February and is having a nice season in Triple-A. Through 31 innings for El Paso, he has a 3.48 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate. The Friars will now give the 30-year-old a chance to see if he can carry any of that over to the big league level.

As for Tyler, this is the sixth time he’s been designated for assignment this year. The incredible sequence of events started in March, when the Angels designated him for the first time. From there, he was claimed and quickly re-designated by the Red Sox, Padres, Angels and then the Padres again. On that fifth time, he cleared waivers and was outrighted by the Friars. Three days later, he was selected back to the big league team and has now received DFA #6. In the midst of all of that, he’s managed to throw four scoreless innings in the majors, along with 21 2/3 innings at Triple-A with a 4.98 ERA. If the previous months are any indication, he will surely garner attention from other clubs. The Padres will have one week to trade him or put him back on the waiver wire.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Scott’s promotion and Kerr’s option before the official announcement.

Padres Place Joe Musgrove On COVID-IL, Activate Mike Clevinger

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The Padres activated right-hander Mike Clevinger from the COVID-related injury list today, while also placing righty Joe Musgrove on the COVID-IL.  In other moves, righty Reiss Knehr was called up from Triple-A El Paso, Kyle Tyler was optioned to Triple-A, and Matt Beaty was shifted to the 60-day IL.

Clevinger ended up missing a week of action, and he told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dennis Lin) that his symptoms were caused by a case of the flu that hit his entire household, rather than COVID-19.  For now, Clevinger is available to pitch out of the bullpen during the Padres’ weekend series against the Rockies, until San Diego can figure out how to fit him back into the rotation.

Musgrove’s situation could create an obvious opening, as Musgrove is set to start Wednesday’s game against the Diamondbacks.  It isn’t known if Musgrove has actually tested positive or if his placement was precautionary (due to symptoms or being a close contact), but in the latter situation, he could possibly be back in plenty of time to make that scheduled start.

Musgrove has been one of baseball’s best pitchers this season, while Clevinger has also pitched well over four starts, though his season has been delayed by IL stints due to a knee injury and a triceps strain.  Clevinger missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery, so these additional health setbacks are surely a frustration to the 31-year-old, even if none of these injuries have been overly serious.

Once everyone is healthy, Nick Martinez will likely head back to the bullpen, as the Padres continue to manage a six-man rotation.  Blake Snell is the only member of this group that hasn’t pitched well in 2022, though Snell also missed over a month at the start of the season due to an adductor strain.

Padres Select Kyle Tyler

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The Padres selected the contract of right-hander Kyle Tyler prior to today’s game with the Rockies.  Righty Reiss Knehr was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Tyler has become a familiar name on MLBTR’s pages in recent weeks, as he has been designated for assignment five times in less than three months, and claimed off waivers on four of those occasions.  This flurry has seen Tyler go from the Angels, to the Red Sox, to the Padres, back to the Angels, and then finally back to San Diego for his latest stop.

All of these transactions have taken place without Tyler ever seeing any big league action, but the 25-year-old is now in line to follow up on his 2021 rookie season.  Debuting with the Angels last year, Tyler posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings of relief work, with six strikeouts and walks apiece.

Working as both a starter and reliever over his minor league career, Tyler has a 3.40 ERA over 248 2/3 professional innings since Anaheim selected him in the 20th round of the 2018 draft.  This includes a 5.51 ERA over 16 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso this season, though even beyond that small sample size, Tyler’s 2022 performance is understandably hard to gauge given all the starts and stops involved in his unusual season.

Padres Outright Kyle Tyler

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The Padres announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week.

Tyler has spent a good portion of the past few months in a state of limbo, as this was his fifth DFA since mid-March. After being cut loose by the Angels, he was claimed by the Red Sox, then the Padres, back to the Angels, followed by a second claim by the Padres. This time, he made it through waivers unclaimed and will now stick with the Chihuahuas. He does not have enough service time to reject an outright assignment, meaning he will stay in the Padres’ organization without taking up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Tyler, 25, only has 12 1/3 MLB innings on his ledger, meaning the widespread interest he’s garnered on the waiver wire is mostly due to his minor league work. Last year, in 86 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he had a 3.66 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. This year, he’s thrown 16 1/3 innings for the Chihuahuas with a 5.51 ERA. He’s still getting strikeouts at a nice 26.8% clip but his walk rate has ballooned up to 19.7% in that sample.

Padres Designate Kyle Tyler For Assignment

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The Padres announced they’ve designated reliever Kyle Tyler for assignment. San Diego also sent righty Pedro Avila — whom the club hadn’t previously indicated was in DFA limbo — outright to Triple-A after he went unclaimed on waivers. The moves clear a pair of 40-man roster vacancies for Adrian Morejón and Michel Báez, each of whom have been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to the minor leagues.

Tyler is no stranger to the DFA process, as he was something of the 41st man for a few teams earlier this season. The righty was successively designated for assignment and waived by the Angels, Red Sox, Padres and Angels a second time before being claimed off waivers by the Friars (for the second time in as many months) on April 12. At that point, he finally stuck on a 40-man roster for a couple months, but he’ll lose his spot yet again after a rough start to the season at Triple-A El Paso.

The 25-year-old has tossed 16 2/3 innings across 11 outings with the Chihuahuas, posting a 5.51 ERA. Tyler has punched out a solid 26.8% of batters faced but walked an untenable 19.7% of opponents. That marked a rather surprising turn of events for the former 20th-round pick, who had filled up the strike zone for essentially his entire minor league career prior to this season. That track record earned him his first five big league outings with the Halos last season and caught the attention of a few organizations during the first few weeks of this year. Tyler will now be traded or waived yet again in the coming week.

Avila has gotten to the big leagues in three of the past four years, but he’s made just four cumulative appearances. A well-regarded prospect early in his pro career, he’s seen his stock dip since undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2019. He didn’t pitch in 2020 and spent almost all of last season in the upper minors after being non-tendered and re-signed to a minor league deal. San Diego selected him to make a start during last season’s final weekend after falling out of playoff contention, and he’d been on the 40-man roster since then.

He’s spent the bulk of this season as a member of the Chihuahuas, only making two MLB appearances. Avila has a disappointing 8.10 ERA in El Paso, where he’s allowed five homers in 23 1/3 frames and walked 15.6% of batters faced. That rough stretch cost the 25-year-old his roster spot. Avila has never been outrighted in his career and has barely any MLB service time, so he can’t refuse the assignment. He’ll remain in El Paso and try to earn another MLB crack.

Morejón will also be on that roster for the time being, as San Diego has optioned him to Triple-A. A one-time top pitching prospect, the southpaw opened last season in the Friars’ rotation. He required Tommy John surgery after just two starts, though, and the procedure obviously ended his campaign before it really got going. Morejón opened this year on the IL as he continued his recovery, but he’s spent the past few weeks in the minors on a rehab appearance. The 23-year-old has thus far topped out at three innings in a game as the team gradually builds his arm strength back.

Pitchers are allotted up to 30 days for rehab stints (although that can be extended for pitchers recovering from TJS with commissioner’s office approval). Whether the club applied for a lengthier rehab leash or not is unclear, but Morejón will now reassume a 40-man roster spot while the optional assignment provides him something of an unofficial rehab opportunity. The Padres already have a rotation logjam, so they can afford to take their time bringing along a young pitcher who is no doubt still viewed as a key piece of the organizational future.

It’s a nearly identical situation for Báez, who has been optioned to Double-A San Antonio. The 26-year-old reliever saw some MLB action between 2019-20, but he underwent a Tommy John procedure late last spring. He’s been on the IL since then but has made nine minor league appearances as he builds his arm back up.

Padres Claim Kyle Tyler Off Waivers From Angels

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The Padres announced this evening they’ve claimed right-hander Kyle Tyler off waivers from the Angels. In a corresponding move, reliever Javy Guerra has been designated for assignment.

It’s the second time in three weeks the Friars have claimed Tyler, who has made the run through the waiver wire since the end of the lockout. Originally an Angel, he was designated for assignment and landed with the Red Sox. Boston designated him a few days later, and San Diego claimed him. The Padres waived him last week, and the Angels grabbed him back. Two days after that, Los Angeles tried to pass him through waivers again. As it has for the past three times, that effort failed, and Tyler winds up changing hands.

While his name has made its way around the transaction log, Tyler himself has been shuttled around the country reporting to various destinations. The righty tells Sam Blum of the Athletic he’s flown from Arizona to Florida, back to Arizona, to Washington state, then to his Oklahoma City home within the past couple weeks as he’s bounced from team to team. “I’m ready for this to stop and to just have the opportunity to play, and prove my worth,” he told Blum.”(Show) whether I’m good enough to be on a 40-man roster to stay there.”

Tyler started 14 of his 20 appearances between Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt Lake last season. He worked 86 innings of 3.66 ERA ball between the two levels, punching out a solid 25.3% of opponents against an impressive 6.9% walk rate. Baseball America ranked the University of Oklahoma product #39 in the Angels farm system this winter, praising his above-average command. With all three minor league option years remaining, he’s proven an appealing depth add for a few organizations but has lost his roster spot at each turn before having a chance to pitch.

This time around, Tyler must have almost passed through unclaimed. Jayson Stark of the Athletic reported last month the new collective bargaining agreement dictates a team that has already claimed a player off waivers moves to the back of the order if that player is waived again for the rest of the season. That indicates that at least every team besides the Red Sox passed on Tyler before the Padres got a chance to bring him back into the fold.

If they keep him on the 40-man roster this time, San Diego can stash Tyler in the upper minors as depth. That wasn’t the case for Guerra, who is out of options. The Friars were left to either carry him on the big league club or remove him from the 40-man entirely.

A former well-regarded shortstop prospect, Guerra moved to the mound in 2019 after his bat stalled out in the upper minors. He was already on the 40-man roster by virtue of his time as an infielder. That didn’t afford the organization much time to experiment with him in the minor leagues, as Guerra had exhausted his final option year in 2019. San Diego was reluctant to expose the right-hander to waivers, as his fastball routinely threatened triple digits.

Guerra’s inexperience on the mound was evident in his results, however. He owns an 8.46 ERA in 27 2/3 MLB innings, striking out just 16.5% of batters faced with an underwhelming 8% swinging strike rate. The Friars were clearly reluctant to risk losing Guerra in the belief he has the potential for better numbers, but they’ll take the chance to bring Tyler back and get a little more roster flexibility in the bullpen. San Diego has a week to trade Guerra or try to pass him through waivers.

Angels Place Jose Quijada On 10-Day Injured List, Select Brian Moran, Designate Kyle Tyler

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The Angels announced a trio of corresponding roster moves, including the placement of left-hander Jose Quijada on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  Quijada’s placement is retroactive to April 8.  Fellow southpaw Brian Moran will replace Quijada on the active roster after the Halos selected his contract, and right-hander Kyle Tyler was designated for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.

It seems as though Quijada’s injury may have taken place last night, as Jeff Fletcher of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link) notes that Quijada was warming up in the bullpen, but then didn’t come into the game as expected to face a left-handed batter.  The southpaw might now face a lengthy absence given the nature of oblique injuries, and depending on the severity of the strain.

Quijada has spent three of his four MLB seasons with Los Angeles, amassing a 4.85 ERA over 29 2/3 relief innings.  Counting his rookie season with the Marlins in 2019, Quijada has a 5.31 ERA in 59 1/3 career innings, as his tenure has included a lot of missed bats (32% strikeout rate) but also a lot of wildness (15.6% walk rate).

Aaron Loup was the only other lefty in the Angels’ bullpen, necessitating the selection of Moran’s minor league contract.  After joining L.A. on that minors deal back in November, Moran is now lined up to make his first MLB appearance since 2020.  Moran is another former Marlin, with a 6.55 ERA over 11 career Major League innings with Miami and Toronto in 2019-20.

While that represents Moran’s big league resume, he has bounced around to several different organizations since the Mariners picked him in the seventh round of the 2009 draft.  This is actually Moran’s second stint with the Angels, as the Halos acquired him via a post-Rule 5 Draft trade in 2013, but Tommy John surgery sidelined Moran for all of 2014 and kept him from ever pitching for L.A.  Moran has a solid 3.05 ERA over 516 1/3 career innings in the minors.

Tyler has now been designated for assignment four times in under a month, and his first three trips to the DFA wire saw the righty switch teams.  Originally an Angel back on March 19, Tyler was designated and then claimed/designated by both the Red Sox and Padres before landing back in Anaheim on another waiver claim on Friday.  Tyler made his Major League debut last season, with a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Angels’ bullpen

Angels Claim Kyle Tyler Off Waivers From Padres

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The Angels announced this afternoon they’ve claimed right-hander Kyle Tyler off waivers from the Padres. San Diego had designated him for assignment this week in advance of setting their Opening Day roster.

It’s a full-circle moment for Tyler, who made his first five major league appearances with Anaheim last season. He tossed 12 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and walks apiece. Tyler only generated swinging strikes on 4.7% of his offerings in his big league cameo, but he had strong strikeout and walk numbers in the minors.

Tyler started 14 of his 20 appearances between Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt Lake. He worked 86 innings of 3.66 ERA ball between the two levels, punching out a solid 25.3% of opponents against an impressive 6.9% walk rate. Baseball America ranked the University of Oklahoma product #39 in the Angels farm system this winter, praising his above-average command.

Despite the solid minor league showing, the Angels designated Tyler for assignment last month when they signed Ryan Tepera. He landed with the Red Sox on waivers, but Boston designated him themselves just two days later. This time, the Friars grabbed him. His stay in San Diego lasted a couple more weeks than did his time with the Sox, but he now finds himself back in Orange County. Tyler has all three minor league option years remaining, so the Angels can stash him at the upper levels as rotation or long relief depth — if they keep him on the 40-man roster this time around.

In a corresponding move, the Angels placed righty Cooper Criswell on the 60-day injured list. The 25-year-old made his first big league start last August but otherwise spent the year in the upper minors. Criswell has been dealing with shoulder soreness this spring and evidently won’t be ready for MLB action until at least the second week of June.

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