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Minor MLB Transactions: 2/13/21

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Some minor league moves from around the sport…

Latest Moves

  • The Cardinals have signed outfielder Matt Szczur to a minor league deal that contains an invite to their big league Spring Training camp, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury reports (via Twitter).  Szczur hit .231/.312/.355 over 667 plate appearances with the Cubs and Padres from 2014-18 but he hasn’t since returned to the majors.  The 31-year-old signed minor league contracts with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2019 season and the Phillies prior to 2020, with Philadelphia releasing Szczur back in June.

Earlier Today

  • The White Sox signed infielder Marco Hernandez to a minor league contract back in January, as originally noted by the transactions page for Triple-A East (formerly the International League).  Hernandez was released by the Red Sox in August, ending a six-year stint in the Boston organization that saw Hernandez hit .265/.300/.342 over 271 plate appearances in parts of three MLB seasons.  He was part of Boston’s 60-man player pool but didn’t see any big league action in 2020.  Hernandez played mostly second base with the Red Sox but he also has experience at third base and shortstop, so he will be competing for a utility infield job in Chicago’s camp.
  • The Angels announced that left-hander Dillon Peters was outrighted Triple-A at clearing waivers.  Peters will be invited to the team’s Spring Training camp after being designated for assignment last week.  The southpaw pitched in just one MLB game in 2020, getting hit for four runs (three earned) over 1 2/3 innings for the Angels.  A groundball specialist while coming up in the Marlins’ farm system, Peters has a 5.83 ERA and only a 16.7K% over 132 2/3 career Major League innings with Miami and Anaheim.
  • Diamondbacks left-hander Taylor Guilbeau has been outrighted to Triple-A, the team announced.  Guilbeau cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week, and he will also be invited to Arizona’s big league Spring Training camp.  Guilbeau posted a 2.70 ERA over 20 MLB innings with the Mariners from 2019-20, with the D’Backs acquiring the grounder specialist on a waiver claim in October.
  • The Twins announced that southpaw Brandon Waddell has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment last Thursday.  Waddell has been invited to the Twins’ Major League Spring Training camp.  A fifth-round pick for the Pirates in the 2015 draft, Waddell made his MLB debut in 2020, tossing 3 1/3 innings over two games with Pittsburgh.  Minnesota claimed Waddell off waivers from the Pirates in October.

Padres Acquire Mitch Moreland

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The Padres have acquired first baseman Mitch Moreland from the Red Sox. Prospects Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario are headed to Boston in return.

Moreland, 34, has been in Boston since the start of 2017. On the whole, he’s been a little better than average at the plate, combining for a .251/.332/.471 line (108 wRC+). He has been on an absolute tear this season, though, blasting eight home runs in 79 plate appearances en route to a .328/.430/.746 slash. Moreland has always hit the ball hard, generally avoided strikeouts and drawn his fair share of walks.

Like incumbent Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer, Moreland’s a left-handed bat, but he could complement right-handed hitting DH Ty France. Thanks in part to strong contributions from Hosmer and France, San Diego’s lineup has been among the best in baseball this season. Moreland is owed the balance of his $925K prorated salary and comes with an affordable $3MM club option for 2021.

In exchange, Boston picks up a pair of well-regarded prospects. Both Potts and Rosario were included among Baseball America’s top 30 Padre farmhands midseason. Potts, a 21-year-old third baseman, draws praise for his big-time raw power and comes with a first-round pedigree, but some scouts question his bat-to-ball skills. He performed well in the low minors, but scuffled a bit last season, when he hit .227/.290/.406 with a 28.6% strikeout rate in Double-A. In fairness, Potts was very young for that level, and the Texas League’s an extremely pitcher-friendly environment regardless.

Rosario, 20, was a high-priced international signee from the Pads’ vaunted 2016 J2 class. He draws ample praise for his athleticism and center field defense, although it’s up in the air how much impact he’ll make offensively despite seemingly exceptional plate discipline. Rosario has topped out at the High-A level, where he hit .242/.372/.314 with three home runs in 525 plate appearances.

All told, it’s a pretty strong haul for Boston, especially since Moreland’s fantastic start hadn’t helped propel them past an 11-22 record. That said, roster rules help explain why the Padres were willing to part with both players. Each needs to be added to the 40-man this offseason or else be exposed to the Rule V draft. The Pads, who continue to progress their swath of strong prospects to the high minors and above, have a seeming roster crunch incoming. The Red Sox, on the other hand, don’t have a particularly well-regarded farm system and can more easily find roster space for Potts and Rosario this offseason.

To clear immediate space for the prospects in their 60-man player pool, Boston released infielder Marco Hernández. The 27-year-old amassed a .265/.300/.342 line in parts of three seasons in Boston.

Robert Murray first reported that Moreland had been traded to San Diego (Twitter link). Dennis Lin of the Athletic first reported the return (via Twitter).

Red Sox Acquire Austin Brice, Outright Marco Hernandez

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TODAY: Hernandez has been outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket after clearing waivers, the Red Sox announced.

JANUARY 10: The Red Sox have acquired righty Austin Brice from the Marlins, per club announcements. Minor-league infielder Angeudis Santos is headed to Miami in return. The Boston organization designate infielder Marco Hernandez for assignment to create roster space.

Brice was recently designated by the Marlins, making him the latest Miami relief arm to be cut loose. With today’s news, he becomes the latest to land on his feet. On occasion, a rebuilding team cuts loose a pre-arb player that ends up on another 40-man roster. But it’s notable that it has happened four times this winter for the Marlins.

The 27-year-old righty did end his 2019 season with some arm woes. And he wasn’t exactly a dominant hurler by measure of his peripheral numbers. But he was able to contribute 44 2/3 frames of 3.43 ERA pitching on the year. He has multiple serviceable pitches that he has tinkered with over the years; perhaps the Red Sox feel they can extract something with a slightly different mix.

Red Sox Re-Sign Marco Hernandez, Josh Osich

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The Red Sox announced today that they have re-signed infielder Marco Hernandez and lefty Josh Osich. Both had been non-tendered in advance of Monday’s deadline.

Both players are headed back onto the 40-man roster. The reason for this approach, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe explains on Twitter, was to enable the sides to agree to a different contract structure than would have been possible in the arbitration context.

Osich gets a split contract with a $850K MLB salary, according to Speier (Twitter link). He had projected to earn $1MM via arbitration after being claimed by the Red Sox from the White Sox in October. The 31-year-old worked to a 4.66 ERA in 67 2/3 MLB innings last year, recording 8.1 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 but coughing up 15 home runs.

As for Hernandez, whose re-signing was reported yesterday, he’ll have a split deal with a MLB rate of $650K MLB (also via Speier, on Twitter). He hasn’t done much damage with the bat in limited opportunities at the game’s highest level, but the organization obviously still thinks the versatile defender could be a valuable roster piece. Hernandez, who hopes to put his shoulder issues behind him in 2020, had projected to earn $700K via arbitration.

Red Sox, Marco Hernandez Agree To New Deal

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The Red Sox and infielder Marco Hernandez are in agreement on a new contract, Robert Murray reports (via Twitter). Boston non-tendered the 27-year-old yesterday.

Presumably, the two sides have struck up a minor league pact and an invite to Spring Training, as Hernandez was only projected to earn $700K in arbitration prior to being non-tendered — just $136K north of the league minimum. Hernandez has been up and down with the Red Sox over the past few seasons, seeing time at second base, third base and shortstop but struggling to produce much at the plate. In 271 plate appearances at the MLB level, Hernandez is a .265/.300/.342 hitter — including a .250/.279/.338 this past season in a career-high 155 plate appearances.

Teams Announce Final Non-Tenders

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We’ve been tracking the day’s arbitration decisions in the run-up to tonight’s deadline, which has produced a bevy of last-minute calls. In addition to those already covered elsewhere (with all projected salary figures from MLBTR/Matt Swartz projections) …

  • The Padres announced they have non-tendered Miguel Diaz and Pedro Avila. Neither hurler had yet been eligible for arbitration, so this amounts to no more than a roster cleanup. Avila had already been designated for assignment. Diaz, meanwhile, saw extensive action as a Rule V pick in 2017 but has only sporadically logged MLB time since.
  • Relievers Javy Guerra and Koda Glover were non-tendered by the Nationals, per a club announcement. Guerra would have cost a projected $1.3MM. Glover announced earlier today that he would retire.
  • The Red Sox non-tendered infielder Marco Hernandez and reliever Josh Osich, per a team announcement. Neither projected at big dollars — $700K and $1.0MM, respectively — but obviously the club felt it could put the roster spots to better use on other players.
  • The Blue Jays have non-tendered relievers Derek Law and Jason Adam, along with backstop Luke Maile. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter) and Scott Mitchell of TSN (on Twitter) were on the news. Law projected at $1.3MM, while Maile was in line for a $800K payday. Adam is still pre-arb eligible.
  • The Giants announced today that they have non-tendered outfielder Joey Rickard ($1.1MM projection), southpaw Tyler Anderson ($2.625MM), and righty Rico Garcia (pre-arb). Both Anderson and Garcia were claimed from the division-rival Rockies after the end of the 2019 season.
  • In addition to other moves earlier today, the Braves have non-tendered catcher John Ryan Murphy and outfielder Rafael Ortega. Each provided depth down the stretch in 2019 for the Atlanta organization. Murphy would’ve been owed a projected $1.2MM, while Ortega remains shy of arbitration eligibility.
  • A host of players were non-tendered by the Royals, per a club announcement. Righty Jesse Hahn was cut loose along with infielders Humberto Arteaga, Cheslor Cuthbert and Erick Mejia. Among these players, Hahn (projected $900K) and Cuthbert ($1.8MM) have the most MLB experience. With these 40-man trimmings, the K.C. org should be able to place some claims and/or make Rule 5 selections in the coming weeks.
  • Righties Ian Gibaut and Wei-Chieh Huang are each heading to free agency after being non-tendered by the Rangers. Neither is anywhere near the service time needed for arbitration eligibility, so this was just an opportune time for the Texas org to drop them from the MLB roster.

Red Sox Return Mitch Moreland To The IL, Marco Hernandez Recalled

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The Red Sox placed Mitch Moreland back onto the injured list just a day after he was activated. Moreland hits the 10-day IL this time with a right quad strain, per a team announcement. Though they don’t yet know the extent of the injury, there is a suspicion that Moreland may miss significant time, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter).

Moreland was removed from the sixth inning of yesterdays’ game, his first since returning from a lower back strain. For the season, Moreland, 34, has been worth 0.8 rWAR with a .225/.316/.543 line, the final number of which paces the Red Sox for the season. Not unrelated, he also leads the club with 13 home runs, though J.D Martinez and Xander Bogaerts are hot on his heels with 12 apiece. Rookie slugger Michael Chavis has been seeing time at first base in Moreland’s absence.

Josh Smith, meanwhile, has joined the team as the 26th man for today’s day-night doubleheader versus the Rays. The 31-year-old righty has appeared in four games thus far for the BoSox in 2019 while starting six games for Pawtucket. He owns a career 5.28 ERA across 134 2/3 innings for the Red Sox, A’s, and Reds. He signed with the Red Sox this past winter as a minor league free agent after being released by the Mariners. Smith will get the start in the first game of today’s doubleheader, after which he is likely ticketed for a return to Pawtucket.

Infielder Marco Hernandez, 26, was recalled from Triple-A to fill Moreland’s roster spot. The versatile infielder makes his first appearance with the Red Sox since 2017. He missed most of that season and all of 2018 with a shoulder injury, but since his return, he holds a .303 batting average in Pawtucket while playing mostly up the middle. There’s some opportunity for Hernandez at second, where Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez will compete for at-bats while Chavis slides over to first. Holt has been injured for much of the season, whereas Nunez struggled to the tune of .238/.257/.324 in 105 at-bats.

Red Sox Select Contracts Of Bobby Poyner, Marcus Walden

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The Red Sox announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contracts of left-handed reliever Bobby Poyner and right-handed reliever Marcus Walden. In order to clear a necessary 40-man roster slot, Boston placed infielder Marco Hernandez on the 60-day DL as he recovers from a surgical revision of last year’s shoulder operation. Boston also placed Austin Maddox, Dustin Pedroia and Tyler Thornburg on the 10-day disabled list.

Poyner, 25, pitched to a superb 1.49 ERA with 12.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings split between High-A and Double-A in 2017, and he impressed Red Sox brass perhaps even more this spring. In 10 1/3 Grapefruit League frames, Poyner allowed just one run on four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. He’ll break camp with the team as its top left-handed relief option despite the fact that he’s never appeared in a Triple-A game — let alone a Major League contest.

Walden, 29, will also be making his big league debut the first time he steps onto a Major League mound. He’s been on the 40-man roster with the Blue Jays (his original organization) and the Athletics, but he’s topped out at Triple-A to this point. In parts of three seasons at that level, Walden has a 4.30 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9, but like Poyner, he turned in a dominant spring effort. In 14 frames, Walden yielded just one earned run on six hits and four walks with 16 strikeouts.

AL East Notes: Rays, Pedroia, JDM, Lee

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Rays owner Stuart Sternberg weighed in on the MLBPA’s grievance against the Rays and three other clubs regarding concerns over the reallocation of revenue-sharing funds, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The Rays, according to Sternberg, are “beyond” compliant with the rules. “We’re very judicious in how we spend our money, but it’s spent in a lot of forms, and payroll is one of them,” said Sternberg, going on to point out that the Rays’ Opening Day payroll in 2018 will be higher than it was in 2017. Of course, the Rays still rank near the bottom of the league in that regard, as they do every year. Chris Archer, the Rays’ union representative, also spoke with Topkin on the matter. “I have no clue what it costs to run the Dominican academy,” said Archer. “I know just from my perspective, not a whole lot has changed with the spring training facility, not a whole lot has changed at the Trop, and our payroll has not increased significantly.”

  • Veteran Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia had a bit more done to his knee than had previous been known, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. In addition to cartilage restoration work, Pedroia underwent a microfracture procedure to his tibia. Regardless, it seems that the hard-nosed veteran is progressing well given that he has now advanced to taking batting practice. Meanwhile, fellow infielder Marco Hernandez is still six weeks away from resuming baseball activities, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com tweets. Hernandez underwent shoulder surgery last May and only just had screws removed, but at least he now seems to be in sight of returning to the field.
  • In other Red Sox coverage, Bradford discusses new signee J.D. Martinez’s unique relationship with his personal hitting coach. As it turns out, new Boston hitting coach Tim Hyers is well acquainted with Martinez’s guru Robert Van Scoyoc, who’ll be allowed to continue consulting with Martinez even though he has been hired by the Diamondbacks. It’s a deep and interesting look at how Martinez’s unique approach will fit with the organization.
  • Orioles hurler Chris Lee will miss at least a month with an oblique injury, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to tweet. The southpaw had been viewed as one of a variety of hurlers competing for one rotation spot, a long-relief role in the pen, and/or a place in the organizational depth chart. Instead, he’ll have to work back to health before he’s able to begin pressing for his first MLB opportunity. The 25-year-old reached Triple-A for the first time last year, pitching to a 5.11 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 over 116 1/3 innings.

AL East Notes: Hernandez, Swihart, Dickerson, Orioles

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The Red Sox told reporters today that infielder Marco Hernandez will miss the remainder of Spring Training after incurring a setback in his rehab from last year’s shoulder surgery (via MassLive.com’s Jen McCaffrey). Hernandez, who initially went under the knife late last May, went back to Boston for a second procedure this week after doctors determined that he needed to have the pins that were inserted into his shoulder during that initial operation removed. Manager Alex Cora said that Hernandez’s shoulder was feeling abnormally weak and sore following his spring workouts, which prompted the followup exam. There’s no timetable on his return at present.

  • Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston argues that while the Red Sox could benefit from a year of carrying the out-of-options Blake Swihart as a utility player, they may not ever get a higher return for him in a trade than they would this spring. Other clubs still view Swihart as a viable catching option, he notes, whereas a year of scarce opportunities behind the plate thanks to the presence of Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon could change that. The Sox seem to have three players for two bench spots — Brock Holt, Deven Marrero and Swihart, with the latter each being out of minor league options. On the flip side of the coin, one could also argue that a full year of production at the big league level, even in a part-time role. It also seems feasible that Sandy Leon could see his role diminish if his 2017 struggles at the plate carry over into the 2018 season.
  • Rays GM Erik Neander admitted to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the decision to designate Corey Dickerson for assignment was “very difficult and something he didn’t deserve in that way.” However, the presence of so many corner options on the market were dragging out the Rays’ efforts to trade him, and the DFA served as a means of putting a clock on the process for interested trade parties, which ultimately accelerated the process. “With the market and how many guys were out there, we felt that the best way to try to accomplish something was to put a timer on it and expedite the process,” said Neander.
  • The Orioles are dealing with some early injuries in camp, writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Most notable is that of Jonathan Schoop, who was scratched from today’s lineup due to bursitis in his left elbow and is listed as day-to-day. The injury isn’t characterized as serious, but Kubatko notes that it underscores the team’s need to have a strong utility infielder on hand. With that in mind, Kubatko notes that Baltimore still plans to monitor the waiver wire and could continue to be active in picking up infield options in that manner. Kubatko also writes that righty Miguel Castro is suffering from patellar tendinitis in both knees and possibly some back soreness. He won’t make his first scheduled start of the spring. Castro is among the many internal candidates to fill in the fifth spot in the Baltimore rotation.
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