Orioles Designate Logan Allen, Select Nick Vespi
The Orioles announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Nick Vespi from Triple-A Norfolk and cleared a spot on the roster by designating fellow southpaw Logan Allen for assignment.
Baltimore only claimed Logan, 24, off waivers from the Guardians 12 days ago. He appeared in three games with the O’s, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and two walks with one strikeout in just 1 2/3 innings. It’ll be a brief stop on the Orioles’ 40-man roster, and Baltimore will now have a week to trade Allen or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Selected by the Red Sox in the eighth round of the 2015 draft, Allen was once a well regarded pitching prospect who’s been involved in his fair share of notable trades. Boston shipped him to San Diego alongside Manuel Margot, Carlos Asuaje and Javy Guerra in the trade that brought Craig Kimbrel to the Sox. The Padres subsequently included Allen and Franmil Reyes as part of the return in the three-team trade that brought Mike Clevinger over from Cleveland.
Allen has gotten a look in parts of four big league seasons, seeing action in San Diego, Cleveland and Baltimore. He’s tallied 96 1/3 innings but has just a 5.89 ERA to show for it. Allen has missed plenty of bats in the minors but has only a 15.5% strikeout walk against an elevated 9.6% walk rate during his time at the big league level. He’s also out of minor league options, so any team that picks him up won’t be able to send him to the minors without first passing him through waivers.
As for the 26-year-old Vespi, he was an 18th-round pick by the O’s back in 2015 and will be making his big league debut the first time he gets into a game. He’s not considered to be among the organization’s top-end pitching prospects, but his strong performance in Norfolk has become hard to overlook. Vespi has fired 14 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run, striking out 21 of 52 batters (40.4%) against just three walks (5.8%) along the way.
Orioles Claim Logan Allen
The Orioles have claimed left-hander Logan Allen off waivers, as announced by the Guardians. Allen and first baseman Bobby Bradley were both designated for assignment on May 1, and the Guards announced that Bradley cleared DFA waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.
Allen has a 4.50 ERA over six relief innings this season, and a 5.80 ERA, 15.7% strikeout rate, and 9.3% walk rate over 94 2/3 total MLB innings with the Padres and Guardians since 2019. While not the largest of sample sizes, Allen also hasn’t pitched well at the Triple-A level, with only a 5.76 ERA over 156 1/3 frames of work at the top rung on the minor league ladder. Allen has delivered more strikeouts in the minors than in the majors, but at both levels, keeping the ball in the park has been his most pressing issue.
More was expected from Allen at this point in his career, particularly since he drew top-100 prospect attention prior to the 2019 season. This made him one of the key pieces involved in a noteworthy three-team swap between Cleveland, San Diego, and Cincinnati at the 2019 trade deadline, and the Guardians clearly eyed Allen as a possible future rotation piece.
With all of this in mind, Allen is still a few weeks away from his 25th birthday. His entire prime could be ahead of him if a new club is able to harness his stuff, and it isn’t a shock that a rebuilding team like the Orioles quickly made a waiver claim.
Allen has worked mostly as a starter in the minors, while his big league appearances are an even 15-15 split between starts and relief appearances. It seems likely that Baltimore will continue to explore Allen as a starting pitcher, and he could get some looks in the rotation in the near future given the depleted state of the O’s staff. Ace John Means and swingman Chris Ellis have both been lost to season-ending injuries, while another swing option in Alexander Wells was also recently sidelined with a UCL injury.
Guardians Designate Logan Allen, Bobby Bradley For Assignment
The Guardians have designated left-hander Logan Allen and first baseman Bobby Bradley for assignment. In another roster move, righty Anthony Castro was activated from the COVID-related injured list, and then optioned to Triple-A.
In the short term, the Guardians have reduced their roster from 28 to 26 players in advance of tomorrow’s roster reduction deadline. In the bigger picture, however, these moves could mark the organizational end of two players who (not long ago) were considered two possible building blocks. Both Allen and Bradley were former top-100 ranked prospects, but that promise didn’t translate into consistent MLB success. Allen and Bradley are both out of minor league options, so Cleveland had to expose them to the DFA wire in order to try and send either player to Triple-A.
Allen was an eighth-round pick for the Red Sox in 2015, and he has thus far been involved in two major trades in his young career. Allen was one of the four prospects Boston sent to the Padres for Craig Kimbrel in November 2015, and Allen was then one of the seven names involved in the huge three-team swap between San Diego, Cincinnati, and Cleveland prior to the 2019 trade deadline. That deal saw Cleveland end up with Franmil Reyes, Yasiel Puig, prospects Scott Moss and Victor Nova, plus Allen, who had made his Major League debut earlier that year with the Padres.
After the trade, Allen appeared in one game with his new team in 2019, then only three games in the shortened 2020 season. Last year was Allen’s first semi-extended look at the big league level, and he posted a 6.26 ERA, 16.7% strikeout rate, and 7.7% walk rate over 50 1/3 innings. That walk rate was a positive sign considering some of the control problems Allen had faced in the minors, but as had been the case for Allen at Triple-A, his time in the majors was hampered by the long ball. The southpaw allowed 12 home runs over his 50 1/3 frames.
Between the lack of success in both the majors and at Triple-A Columbus, Allen became an expendable piece for a Guardians organization that is brimming with young talent. The same could be said of Bradley, as Owen Miller and Josh Naylor have emerged as the Guards’ preferred options at first base only about a season after Bradley was seen as a first baseman of the future.
A third-round pick in the 2014 draft, Bradley displayed plenty of power in the minor leagues, even if his batting averages and on-base numbers weren’t always as impressive. A big Triple-A season in 2019 earned him a call-up and a 15-game cup of coffee in Cleveland, but Bradley didn’t see any game action at all in 2020 — the minor league season was canceled, and the Guardians never promoted Bradley from their alternate training site.
Cleveland fans were notably impatient to see Bradley get a look in 2021, especially with Jake Bauers struggling as the team’s regular first baseman. Once Bradley finally got his chance, however, he hit a modest .208/.294/.445 with 16 home runs in 279 PA. His power was still apparent, but Bradley struck out 99 times, and particularly struggled against left-handed pitching. This season, Bradley had only two hits in 17 at-bats, striking out nine times.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see either player taken via waiver claim, or for another club to work out a trade with the Guardians. Both players are still young (both have May birthdays, with Allen turning 25 this month and Bradley 26), and they have each shown enough flashes of promise that a new team might think the flaws can be fixed.
Quick Hits: Guardians, Allen, Yankees, Severino, Brewers, Hiura
As part of a broader overview of the Guardians’ 40-man roster, Zack Meisel of the Athletic suggests southpaw Logan Allen could be a possible trade candidate. Allen, not to be confused with a Double-A pitching prospect of the same name, is out of minor league option years. Cleveland therefore needs to carry the 24-year-old on the active roster or make him available to other clubs. The Guardians are currently projected to open the year with a starting five of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie.
It’s possible Allen lands a spot in a bullpen that could also include Sam Hentges and Anthony Gose as left-handed options. Allen has worked primarily as a starter throughout his professional career, though. He’s yet to find much big league success, posting a 5.89 ERA/5.19 SIERA across 88 2/3 career innings, but he appeared on top 100 prospect lists at Baseball America and MLB Pipeline heading into 2019 and has excellent numbers up through Double-A.
Meisel also looks at the position player group in a piece that’ll be of interest to Cleveland fans. Notably, he points out that the club will likely have to add a catcher to the roster before the start of the season, with only Austin Hedges and prospect Bryan Lavastida (who has scant Triple-A experience) currently on the 40-man. The Guardians brought in veteran Sandy León on a minor league deal in November. He currently seems the favorite for the #2 job behind Hedges, but he’d have to be formally selected to the 40-man roster once the team breaks camp.
More notes from around the league:
- After missing nearly two full seasons on account of a February 2020 Tommy John surgery, Luis Severino returned to the Yankees late last season. He made four regular season appearances in relief, tallying a combined six innings, before working 1 1/3 frames during the Wild Card game loss to the Red Sox. Severino told Andy Martino of SNY this week (Twitter link) that he’s been throwing bullpen sessions and remains on track to return to the starting rotation in 2022, as expected. It’s not clear how many innings New York can bank on from Severino, who also only logged twelve frames in 2019 due to shoulder issues. They’ll no doubt be cautious with the 27-year-old righty’s workload, but Severino would be a highly valuable piece of the Yankees pitching staff if he’s able to return at peak form on a rate basis. In his last two healthy seasons (2017-18), he posted a 3.18 ERA with an excellent 28.8% strikeout rate.
- The 2021 campaign was a massive struggle for Keston Hiura. The former ninth overall pick struck out in an untenable 39.1% of his plate appearances, and the Brewers accordingly optioned him to Triple-A Nashville on multiple occasions. It marked the second straight year of struggles for Hiura, who burst onto the MLB scene with a .303/.368/.570 showing in 348 plate appearances as a rookie in 2019. Will Sammon of the Athletic wrote this week that the right-handed hitter is working with a longtime personal coach to simplify his mechanics and tone down his leg kick in an effort to improve his contact rate. With Kolten Wong and Rowdy Tellez in place at second and first base, respectively, the Brewers aren’t likely to rely on Hiura as an everyday option out of the gate. Last fall, president of baseball operations David Stearns suggested he could see some time in the outfield to offer manager Craig Counsell more flexibility in working him into the lineup at multiple positions.
Indians Place Eddie Rosario On 10-Day IL, Select DJ Johnson
The Indians announced a series of moves prior to today’s doubleheader with the Rays, including the placement of outfielder Eddie Rosario on the 10-day injured list due to a right abdominal strain. Left-hander Logan Allen was also optioned to Triple-A. To fill these roster spots, the Tribe selected the contract of right-hander DJ Johnson from Triple-A and called up outfielder Daniel Johnson and infielder Owen Miller (for the doubleheader, Miller will serve as the 27th man). To create 40-man roster space for Johnson, Josh Naylor was shifted to the 60-day injured list in the wake of his recent leg surgery.
Rosario has been bothered by abdominal issues for the last week, and after he was an early removal from Monday’s game, an IL placement was deemed necessary to give the outfielder a chance to fully heal. With a .309/.330/.489 slash line over his last 100 plate appearances, Rosario is finally starting to heat up at the plate, and his absence will remove another bat from the struggling Cleveland lineup.
Signed to a one-year, $8MM free agent deal last winter, Rosario’s first two months with the Tribe were rough, resulting in an overall .254/.296/.389 slash line in 306 PA despite his success over the last four weeks. The dropoff in slugging is of particular concern, as Rosario was (if anything) a power-first player during the previous four seasons with the Twins. Since Rosario has never posted good hard-hit ball numbers or taken many walks, the lack of power has curtailed Rosario’s offensive production, though his numbers in June provide some hope that he can get on track in the second half of the season.
A platoon of Daniel Johnson and Oscar Mercado could be the Tribe’s top option to fill in for Rosario in the outfield, and even if Rosario is able to return from the IL pretty quickly, it’s fair to assume that Cleveland will continue to explore trading for an outfielder as the deadline approaches. The Indians are 42-40 but still within striking distance of the postseason, 6.5 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and 4.5 games back of a wild card berth. Between a lack of hitting and a bunch of injuries within the rotation, however, the Cleveland front office has a lot of needs to address while at the same time keeping payroll in check and (as always) keeping an eye towards the future. If the team slumps over the next two weeks, the Tribe’s deadline activity is likely to lean more towards selling than buying, though the Indians have often tried to accomplish both goals in multi-player trades over the last few years.
DJ Johnson inked a minor league deal over the winter, and now looks on the verge of his first big league action since the 2019 season. After posting a 4.88 ERA over 31 1/3 innings with the Rockies in 2018-19, Johnson played in Japan in 2020, and was also in the mix for a spot on the U.S. Olympic baseball team at the upcoming Summer Games.
Indians Notes: Allen, Rotation, Vargas, Hankins, Jones
The Indians optioned lefty Logan Allen to Triple-A following a trio of rough starts, including this week’s six-run drubbing at the hands of the Twins. Three of that game’s first four batters homered off Allen to put Cleveland in an early hole. Manager Terry Francona told reporters, including Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes, that Allen’s fastball command has been off. The pitcher himself agreed, calling his location “spotty” and acknowledging that he’s regularly put himself behind in the count and tipped the advantage in the hitters’ favor. Allen was brilliant in Spring Training, allowing just one run in 14 innings with an 18-to-3 K/BB ratio, but the early results this year just haven’t been there. He’s allowed 18 runs (16 earned) on 20 hits (seven homers) and seven walks with 12 strikeouts in 15 2/3 frames.
With Allen out of the rotation for now, it’s not clear who will step into the fifth spot. Righty Cal Quantrill and lefty Sam Hentges are possible options, and Hoynes notes that Hentges was stretched out to 85 pitches at the alternate site before being recalled and plugged into the team’s bullpen. Cleveland had an off-day yesterday, but the Indians are embarking on a stretch of 10 straight days with games, so they’ll need a fifth starter this coming Tuesday.
A few more notes out of Cleveland…
- The Indians received poor news on a pair of their top pitching prospects, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Right-hander Carlos Vargas will miss the 2021 season after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery, while fellow righty and 2018 No. 35 overall pick Ethan Hankins has been sidelined by an elbow injury of his own that is currently being evaluated by team doctors. Vargas ranks 15th among Indians prospects at FanGraphs, 17th at MLB.com and 18th at Baseball America. Hankins respectively lands 12th, 10th, and ninth on those same rankings. Neither pitcher was likely to emerge in the Majors this season, as Vargas hadn’t pitched above short-season Class-A and Hankins hadn’t progressed beyond A-ball himself. Still, it’s a noted setback for a pair of promising arms who’ll now see their timeline to the big leagues pushed back — by at least a full season in the case of Vargas.
- Top organizational prospect Nolan Jones will see the bulk of his time at his natural position, third base, in Triple-A to begin the season, but VP of player development James Harris tells Mandy Bell of MLB.com that Jones will also see work at first base and in the outfield in order to improve his versatility. “…[W]e just don’t know where the opportunity will be,” Harris says of working Jones at multiple positions. Both first base and the outfield have been much weaker spots in the Cleveland lineup than third base in recent seasons — in part due to Jose Ramirez‘s emergence as an MVP-caliber talent but also due to a generally lackluster collection of hitters in a cobbled-together mix in the outfield and at first base. Jake Bauers has been among the game’s least-productive hitters at first base this season, and the Indians’ piecemeal approach to the outfield has again resulted in sub-par production. Indians outfielders have combined for a lowly 83 wRC+ in 2021, which ranks 23rd in MLB. Their first basemen are 29th of 30 by that same measure, checking in at just 58. Jones entered the season widely regarded as one of MLB’s top 50 overall prospects.
AL Notes: Santander, Astros, Indians, Taillon, Yankees
Anthony Santander isn’t in the Orioles lineup today, and it seems as if the outfielder will miss his fifth consecutive spring game. Manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that Santander has been bothered by a sore oblique, though Santander has still been working out and could potentially get back on the field as early as Monday.
Such a quick return would probably mean Santander is ready to roll for Opening Day, but the O’s are likely to be cautious considering that an oblique strain brought Santander’s 2020 season to an early end in September. The injury cut short a breakout year for the 26-year-old, as Santander hit .261/.315/.575 with 11 homers in 165 plate appearances.
More from around the American League…
- The Astros are looking for possible outfield or pitching additions as spring camps draw to a close, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Houston Chronicle). While every team keeps an eye on other clubs’ cuts or waiver moves at this time of year, the Astros may be more inclined than usual to make a move, given both some recent absences due to COVID concerns and the fact that outfield depth was already something of an issue. Chas McCormick looks like the favorite for the fourth outfielder job, and Houston would have to make a 40-man move to include either Jose Siri or Bryan De La Cruz on the active roster. None of this trio has any MLB experience, and starting center fielder Myles Straw could be facing some time on the COVID-related injury list.
- Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, and Logan Allen were all competing for the final two spots in the Indians‘ rotation, and McKenzie and Allen have won the jobs, though their roles have yet to be specifically determined. (The Athletic’s Zack Meisel was among those to report the news.) McKenzie and Allen could be used in regular turns throughout the rotation, or the Tribe might use either in piggyback outings, or perhaps use an opener for an inning or two before giving way to McKenzie or Allen as the bulk pitcher. Quantrill might factor into this situation as well, since Quantrill also made the roster and will work out of the bullpen.
- Manager Aaron Boone announced the Yankees‘ starting rotation for its first six games of the year, and Jameson Taillon won’t make his debut in the pinstripes until the sixth game. The intent, as Boone told The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (Twitter links) and other reporters, is to ease Taillon back into action after the righty missed the entire 2020 season recovering from his second Tommy John procedure. New York will start Gerrit Cole in both the first and fifth games of the year thanks to an early off-day, with Corey Kluber, Domingo German, and Jordan Montgomery slated to take the mound in between Cole’s two outings. The Yankees will also likely adopt a six-man rotation for at least part of April, Boone said.
Indians Place Mike Clevinger, Zach Plesac On Restricted List
The Indians announced today that right-handers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger have been placed on the restricted list. Both pitchers violated the league’s health and safety protocols over the weekend when they went out after Saturday night’s game. In a pair of corresponding moves, Cleveland reinstated outfielder Tyler Naquin from the injured list and recalled lefty Logan Allen from the team’s alternate training site.
Today’s move subtracts both Plesac and Clevinger from the active roster, though they’ll continue to receive both service time and salary while absent, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. That differs from the restricted-list assignments that follow a PED suspension. In all likelihood, the decision was made in order to add a pair of fresh bodies to the roster while Plesac and Clevinger are tested daily for Covid-19 — rather than as a punitive measure. The organization can reinstate the pair whenever it sees fit, so long as both have tested negative at least twice (separated by a span of 24 hours).
It’s not yet clear to what extent (if any) the club will discipline the pair, although the team’s higher-ups can’t be pleased with them. That’s particularly true of Clevinger, who didn’t speak up even after Plesac was disciplined and reportedly took a flight with teammates after having been out. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel tweets that president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti declined to reveal whether Plesac and Clevinger would be subject to some form of discipline. For now, they’ll both be isolated away from the team for at least 72 hours while undergoing continued testing.
Indians Option Five Players To Triple-A
The Indians announced a batch of minor league options today, as left-handers Logan Allen and Scott Moss, first baseman Bobby Bradley, infielder Yu Chang, and outfielder Daniel Johnson were all optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Johnson and Moss are the only members of the quintet who have yet to reach the big leagues.
Allen is perhaps the headline name of the group, ranked in top-100 prospect listings prior to last season when he was still throwing in the Padres’ farm system. The 22-year-old southpaw was one of the key pieces of the trade package Cleveland acquired from San Diego as part of the three-team deal last summer that also brought Franmil Reyes to the Tribe and sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds (Moss also came to Cleveland in that trade, from Cincinnati).
Allen got his first taste of MLB action in 2019, posting a 6.18 ERA over 27 2/3 combined innings with the Padres and Indians. Small sample size notwithstanding, it was something of a rough year all around for Allen, as he also posted a 5.85 ERA over 80 Triple-A innings last season. Those minor league stats, of course, come with the caveat that Triple-A pitching numbers were inflated across the board in 2019, due in large part to the adoption of the livelier Major League baseball.
There was some speculation that Allen could have begun the 2020 season in the Tribe’s rotation, as Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco were both facing injured list stints for at least the opening couple of weeks. With the schedule now pushed back indefinitely, however, it seems likely that Clevinger and Carrasco will be healthy by the time the 2020 season gets underway, so Allen is now ticketed for Columbus.
Johnson was also seen as a speculative candidate to make the team, given the uncertain nature of Cleveland’s outfield. Johnson hit decently well (.267/.353/.400 over 17 PA) during Spring Training but be sent back to Triple-A for more regular playing time. Acquired from the Nationals as part of the Yan Gomes trade in November 2018, Johnson hit .290/.361/.507 with 19 homers over 547 combined PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season.
Indians Promote Logan Allen
The Indians have called up lefty Logan Allen, per a team announcement (h/t MLB.com’s Mandy Bell, on Twitter). He’ll take the active roster spot of southpaw reliever Josh Smith, who was optioned down.
Though Allen debuted in the majors earlier this year, this’ll be his first action in Cleveland. The 22-year-old, who was widely considered a top-100 prospect entering the season, landed with the Indians in this summer’s three-team Trevor Bauer blockbuster.
The expectation is that Allen will open his tenure with his new organization in a relief capacity, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). While the Indians will surely hope to utilize their new hurler as a starter in the long run, he’ll be tasked with contributing right away while cutting his teeth from the bullpen.
Allen didn’t exactly thrive in his first taste of the bigs, working to a 6.75 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 13 walks over 25 1/3 frames in San Diego. And he hasn’t excelled this year at Triple-A, before or after the swap. But Allen was a quality performer in the upper minors and the Indians evidently feel he can be a useful piece right now. If nothing else, he’ll help the club cover some innings for the time being.