Brewers To Sign Luis Perdomo
The Brewers have a deal in place with righty Luis Perdomo, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). It’s a minor-league arrangement.
The 27-year-old Perdomo had been cut loose recently by the Padres. He’s expected to miss all of the upcoming campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
It isn’t clear just yet whether the accord has any special provisions (such as an option) for future seasons. If nothing else, Perdomo will be eligible for arbitration once again at season’s end, so the Brewers could decide to add him to their 40-man roster and tender him a contract if his rehab progresses well.
If he can fully recover from his elbow woes, Perdomo will be looking for a chance to prove that he can deliver consistent results at the MLB level. He has a standout, mid-nineties sinker that reliably produces gaudy groundball numbers, but owns only a 5.19 ERA in his 444 1/3 career frames at the game’s highest level.
Padres Release Luis Perdomo
Right-hander Luis Perdomo has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, the Padres announced this afternoon. He was designated for assignment when the team set its roster in advance of the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.
Perdomo, 27, is a former Rule 5 pickup himself. The Padres gave him 146 2/3 frames of work that Rule 5 season even as he was clobbered for a 5.71 ERA, as the team didn’t want to let go of a power sinker with such strong ground-ball tendencies. Things took a turn for the better in 2017 when Perdomo pitched a career-high 163 2/3 innings with a 4.67 ERA, a 4.40 FIP and a whopping 61.9 percent grounder rate out of the San Diego rotation. The Padres moved Perdomo to the bullpen in 2019 and saw him turn in 72 frames of 4.00 ERA/3.60 FIP ball with a diminished but still-strong 52.5 percent ground-ball rate.
Unfortunately for the organization and for Perdomo himself, he wasn’t able to sustain that output in 2020. The righty went down with a forearm injury in September after 17 1/3 ugly innings, and a month later the Padres announced that Perdomo had undergone Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss the entire 2021 season as a result. It’s possible that the Padres bring Perdomo back on a minor league pact with an eye toward getting some value out of him in 2022, but he’ll have the opportunity to see if other clubs have similar interest.
Perdomo’s career 5.19 ERA isn’t much to look at, but he has a 4.44 FIP, 4.20 xFIP and a 57.3 percent ground-ball rate in 444 1/3 innings as Major Leaguer.
Padres Designate Luis Perdomo, Select 3 Players
The Padres announced that they have designated right-hander Luis Perdomo for assignment and selected three players – righties Reggie Lawson and Mason Thompson, and infielder Tucupita Marcano.
Perdomo is off the Padres’ roster as they prepare for this winter’s Rule 5 Draft, but he actually first joined the team as a Rule 5 selection from the Rockies before the 2015 campaign. Perdomo has since given the 444 1/3 innings of 5.19 ERA/4.44 FIP ball with 6.74 K/9, 3.26 BB/9 and an excellent 57.3 percent groundball rate. Now, if any team takes on the 27-year-old, it could get him for two seasons of arbitration control.
Lawson was the 71st pick in the 2016 draft who ranked as a top 100 prospect that year. He made his Double-A debut in 2019 and pitched to a 5.20 ERA/4.14 FIP with 11.71 K/9 and 4.23 BB/9 in 27 2/3 frames. MLB.com ranks him as the Padres’ 10th-best prospect and gives him a chance to at least turn into a stellar major league reliever.
Thompson is not among the Padres’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com, but the site is high on Marcano, whom it places at No. 8 in the team’s system. The 21-year-old middle infielder “could develop into a serious on-base threat as a bat-first middle infielder,” per MLB.com.
Luis Perdomo Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Padres right-hander Luis Perdomo underwent Tommy John surgery last week, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports (via Twitter). As per the usual 12-15 month recovery timeline, Perdomo will almost certainly miss the entire 2021 season.
Perdomo spent some time on the injured list in September due to forearm inflammation, though he returned to pitch one more game for San Diego on September 16 before being sent to the team’s alternate training site for most of the remainder of the season, and he didn’t pitch during the Padres’ playoff run.
Acquired via the Rule 5 draft in December 2015, Perdomo has never pitched above the high-A ball level when he made his Major League debut in 2016, though he showed some hints of rotation-level durability and potential during his first two seasons with the Padres. Unfortunately for Perdomo, shoulder problems set him back in 2018, and he then re-emerged as more or less a full-time reliever in 2019. He didn’t quite fit the normal relief pitcher model given his knack for generating grounders (57.3% career ground ball rate) rather than strikeouts (career 6.7 K/9), but Perdomo posted a solid 4.00 ERA over 72 frames during the 2019 season. Between his forearm issue this season and being shuttled back and forth from the alternate training site, however, Perdomo became something of an afterthought for San Diego.
Perdomo will be eligible for arbitration for the second time this winter, and he already looked like a potential non-tender candidate even before his injury. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected (depending on how arbiters view 2020 statistics) a salary range of $1.1MM / $1.2MM / $1.0MM for Perdomo through the arb process. It isn’t out of the question that the Padres could non-tender Perdomo and then re-sign him to a minor league deal as he rehabilitates, or it’s also possible that Perdomo might have to wait until the 2021-22 offseason before landing his next contract.
Padres Promote Luis Campusano
The Padres announced that they have promoted young catcher Luis Campusano to the majors. He’ll serve as their designated hitter against the Athletics on Friday, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. In other moves, San Diego transferred left-hander Jose Castillo to the 45-day injured list and placed righty Luis Perdomo on the 10-day IL with forearm discomfort.
The 21-year-old Campusano is one of many standout youngsters in the San Diego organization. Thanks in part to a consistently elite farm system, the Padres have finally begun to realize their vast potential this season. The club has stormed to a 23-16 record, good for the No. 1 wild-card spot in the National League, as it seeks to break a 13-year playoff drought.
While the Padres have been a pleasant surprise as a whole, they’ve received little production from their catchers, who rank toward the bottom of the majors in offense. As a result, general manager A.J. Preller has made a few notable changes to the position in recent days. Leading up to Monday’s trade deadline, the Padres shipped out the light-hitting Austin Hedges and acquired both Jason Castro and Austin Nola. So, it’s unclear how much time Campusano will receive behind the plate in 2020 (or at DH, for that matter, as the Padres also landed Mitch Moreland during an aggressive deadline), though the right-handed swinger at least looks capable of serving as a long-term weapon for the team.
A second-round pick of the Padres in 2017, Campusano reached High-A for the first time a season ago and slashed .325/.396/.509 with 15 home runs and nearly as many walks (52) as strikeouts (57). Since then, the likes of ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (No. 33), FanGraphs (40), Keith Law of The Athletic (42), MLB.com (52) and Baseball America (85) have all ranked Campusano among the game’s 100 best prospects. McDaniel, the most bullish of the bunch, wrote that Campusano “has a plus arm” behind the plate and “plus contact skills” as a hitter, though he could trade some contact for more power as he progresses.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres Promote Adrian Morejon
As expected, the Padres have called up left-hander Adrian Morejon from their alternate training site. The team made this announcement in advance of Morejon’s scheduled start against the Rangers this afternoon. Righty Luis Perdomo was optioned to the alternate training site to create roster space.
This will be Morejon’s second stint in the big leagues, and there isn’t really anywhere to go but up after he posted a 10.13 ERA through eight innings and five appearances (two of them starts) in 2019. A bothersome shoulder may have been partially to blame for Morejon’s issues, as he was sent to the injured list last August and was eventually shut down for the season.
Of course, Morejon is hardly the only player to have an underwhelming MLB debut, and the southpaw is still considered one of the sport’s more intriguing pitching prospects. He has been a staple of top-100 prospects lists for the last few years, with Keith Law (72nd), Baseball Prospectus (75th) and Baseball America (89th) all including Morejon on their pre-2020 rankings. Morejon was the headliner of the Padres’ spending splurge in the 2016-17 international signing period, as the Cuba native signed for an eye-opening $11MM bonus.
It wasn’t too long ago that Perdomo was holding down a spot in San Diego’s rotation, as the right-hander amassed 310 1/3 innings for the Friars in 2016-17, starting 49 of 64 games. Injuries hampered the groundball specialist in 2018, however, and Perdomo has been since used primarily as a reliever while yo-yoing between the majors and Triple-A. Perdomo did post a solid 4.00 ERA, 3.06 K/BB rate, 60.6% grounder rate, and 6.9 K/9 over 72 innings in 2019, though he had had a rougher go of things this season (8.10 ERA over 10 innings).
Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League
Entering the day, there were more than 150 players on the clock to exchange arbitration figures with their respective teams prior to a noon ET deadline. As one would expect, there’ll be an utter landslide of arbitration agreements in advance of that deadline. We already ran through some key facts and reminders on the arbitration process earlier this morning for those who are unfamiliar or simply need a refresher on one of MLB’s most complex idiosyncrasies, which will hopefully clear up many questions readers might have.
We’ll track the majority of the National League’s settlements in this post and are maintaining a separate one for American League settlements as well. Note that all projections referenced come courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:
- The Rockies have an agreement in place with righty Jon Gray, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (via Twitter). It’s a $5.6MM deal, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
- Outfielder Tommy Pham has struck a $7.9MM pact with the Padres, who acquired him at the outset of the offseason, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Other Friars striking deals, per an update from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, include Zach Davies ($5.25MM) and Matt Strahm ($1.4MM).
- The Nationals announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with Trea Turner. It’s a $7.45MM agreement, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter), right in range of the $7.5MM projection.
- The Mets are in agreement with a laundry list of players. Right-handers Marcus Stroman ($12MM) and Noah Syndergaard ($9.7MM) were the top earners, per reports from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). Both come in close to their projected values of $11.8M and $9.9MM, respectively. The Mets also have a $5.1MM deal with reliever Edwin Diaz, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). He entered the offseason projected at the $7.0MM level but will fall well shy of that. Despite an outstanding overall track record, Diaz’s platform season was a dud and obviously created some risk in a hearing for his side. Outfielder Brandon Nimmo will play for $2.175MM in his first season of arb eligibility, landing well over the $1.7MM that the model projected. Southpaw Steven Matz, meanwhile, lands a $5MM deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). That’s $300K shy of his projected amount. Relievers Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo will earn $1.225MM and $2MM, respectively, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter links). Slugger Michael Conforto will earn $8.0MM, per SNY.tv’s Andy Martino (via Twitter), which is notably south of the $9.2MM that we projected. And fellow outfielder Jake Marisnick checks in a just over 10% north of his projection at $3,312,500, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
- Star reliever Kirby Yates receiveds a $7,062,500 salary from the Padres, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He tops the $6.5MM that MLBTR projected by a solid margin, reflecting just how exceptional he was in 2019.
- The Marlins will pay recently acquired infielder Jonathan Villar a $8.2MM salary, per MLB.com’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). That’s a far sight shy of the $10.4MM that the MLBTR system projected, perhaps reflecting a more difficult path to the bigger number through recent comparables. The club also had some added leverage here since Villar would likely not fare terribly well on the open market if cut loose at this stage or later. (Unless this is a guaranteed deal, Villar could still be jettisoned, with the club paying just a fraction of the settled amount.) The Fish also have also agreed to terms with lefty Adam Conley (for $1.525MM, per MLB Network Radio’s Craig Mish, via Twitter) and righty Jose Urena (for $3.75MM, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, on Twitter).
- Righty Vince Velasquez will pitch for $3.6MM this year with the Phillies, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via Twitter). Fellow hurler Jose Alvarez will earn $2.95MM, per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
- The Rockies have an agreement with lefty Kyle Freeland, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). He’ll earn $2.875MM. Outfielder David Dahl takes home $2.475MM, Heyman adds on Twitter. The former had projected at $2.4MM and the latter at $3.0MM.
- Pirates hurler Joe Musgrove will receive $2.8MM, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter links). Fellow righty Keone Kela will earn a reported $3.725MM. Both players had projected at $3.4MM, but land well to either side of that number. Infielder Adam Frazier also has a deal at $2.8MM, per Mackey (via Twitter).
- Righty Anthony DeSclafani will earn $5.9MM from the Reds, according to Robert Murray (via Twitter). He had projected at $5.2MM. Backstop Curt Casali will earn $1.4625MM, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). And reliever Matt Bowman takes down $865K, Murray adds on Twitter.
- The Dodgers have worked out a non-typical deal with righty Ross Stripling, Heyman tweets. He’ll get an up-front signing bonus of $1.5MM, which he’ll receive in the next week, and then earn $600K for the campaign to come. Stripling had projected to earn $2.3MM on the year.
- Cardinals righty John Gant will earn $1.3MM after settling with the club. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first tweeted that a deal was in place, while Murray had the number on Twitter. That comes in just under his $1.4MM projection.
Earlier Settlements
Padres Select Alex Dickerson
The Padres announced today that they have selected the contract of Alex Dickerson. He’ll take the active roster spot of righty Luis Perdomo, who was optioned. A 40-man opening was created by moving right-hander Brett Kennedy to the 60-day IL.
Dickerson returns to the majors just before his 29th birthday. He was dropped from the San Diego 40-man roster after the 2018 season but re-signed on a minors pact.
A former third-round pick, Dickerson has more or less always produced when healthy. He consistently drubbed minor-league pitching and turned in a strong .257/.333/.455 slash in his first full look at the majors in 2016.
Unfortunately, that’s the last we had seen of Dickerson in regular-season action. Back and elbow injuries robbed him of two consecutive campaigns.
Dickerson has picked up right where he left off at Triple-A, making this an interesting promotion to watch. Through 104 plate appearances in 2019, he’s slashing .360/.462/.593 with five home runs and a confidence-inspiring 17:13 K/BB ratio.
Placed On DL: Rua, Perdomo, Naquin
Here are a few players to hit the disabled list today…
- Rangers outfielder Ryan Rua has been placed on the DL with back spasms, the club has announced; they’ve recalled center fielder Delino DeShields to take his spot on the roster. Rua’s been worse than a replacement level player this year, according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference, hitting a meager .194/.223/.371 across 132 plate appearances. He’s struck out in exactly a third of his plate appearances while drawing just five walks in that span.
- The Padres announced that Luis Perdomo is going back on the disabled list due to a strained right shoulder, while left-hander Jose Castillo will activated from the DL in the same transaction. Perdomo allowed six earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings in his most recent start, and the former Rule 5 Draft selection has endured an ugly season to date. The right-hander has barely averaged four innings per start, walking nearly five batters per nine innings while posting a 7.94 ERA for the Friars. It’s surely a disappointing development for a San Diego ballclub that’s been very patient with him in his development since holding him on their active roster for the entire 2016 season.
- The Indians’ outfield woes continue, with Tyler Naquin becoming the latest player to hit the disabled list. Naquin’s been dealing with a hip injury, as was earlier reported, so the official move comes as little surprise. Right-hander Adam Plutko will be recalled in his place, as tonight’s scheduled starter Mike Clevinger is dealing with a minor illness and may have to miss his start. Naquin’s been only marginally above replacement and sports a .264/.295/.356 slash line, but he was one of few options in the Tribe outfield worth playing and they’ll now likely be intensifying their search for a viable replacement for Lonnie Chisenhall.
NL Roster Notes: Bautista, Perdomo, Gonzalez, Mac/Pence
The Braves don’t intend to take a long time deciding whether to bring up recent signee Jose Bautista, Michael Hoad of Sportsnet.ca writes. GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is “optimistic [Bautista is] going to have an opportunity to come up,” so it seems the expectation is that the former star will indeed get a shot. He’ll be looking for a return to form at the plate even as he makes a surprising return to third base after nearly a decade spent mostly in the outfield. But Anthopoulos did note that he hasn’t made any promises of a MLB promotion, so it seems that Bautista will at least have to show something to get a crack at boosting a Braves team that is off to a nice start.
Here are a few notes on some National League players who are already slated to move onto or off of a major league roster:
- The Padres have optioned righty Luis Perdomo, per a club announcement, with reliever Kirby Yates being activated from the DL to take his roster spot. Though he showed a good bit of promise last year, Perdomo has been tagged for 13 earned runs in 14 innings in his first four starts of the 2018 campaign. Though he has given up quite a lot of hard contact, the resulting .510 batting average on balls in play surely seems like an outlier. Beyond the performance considerations, the move helps the team manage a roster that has quite a few moving parts.
- Marlins pitching prospect Merandy Gonzalez is heading to the majors for the first time, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes. Skipper Don Mattingly says he’ll use his new hurler as a long relief option for the time being. Gonzalez is a starter by trade, and has some long-term hopes of working in a big-league rotation, but at the moment is appealing mostly because he offers the possibility of filling some innings and is already on the 40-man. Miami added Gonzalez in the trade that sent reliever A.J. Ramos to the Mets last summer.
- There’s nothing official yet, but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweeted the “informed speculation” that outfielder Mac Williamson will join the Giants tomorrow. There are still some complications, but the 27-year-old has clearly played his way to a call-up. In fifty trips to the plate at Triple-A, he’s hitting a ridiculous .487/.600/1.026 with six home runs. Meanwhile, veteran Hunter Pence has managed only one extra-base hit, nine singles, and two walks in his 61 MLB plate appearances. It seems he will be headed to the DL with a thumb issue.