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Minor MLB Transactions: 6/19/18

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Here are some of the notable recent minor moves from around the league …

  • The Giants released outfielder-turned-pitcher Jordan Schafer, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Schafer had joined the San Francisco organization at the start of the current season in hopes of continuing his attempt to return to the majors on the mound. He had missed the prior campaign owing to Tommy John surgery. Schafer threw 6 1/3 innings at Triple-A prior to his release, allowing four earned runs on ten hits and five walks but also recording nine strikeouts.
  • Eddy also reports that the Nationals have released corner infielder Matt Hague from their Triple-A affiliate. The 32-year-old has seen brief action in three MLB campaigns, most recently in 2015. He had joined the Washington organization after being released by the Mariners in April. Over 112 plate appearances at Syracuse, he exhibited typically strong plate discipline (12 walks vs. 18 strikeouts) but was slashing just .242/.321/.323.
  • The Twins have cut ties with hard-throwing righty Zack Jones from Double-A Chattanooga, per the Eastern League transactions log. The former Rule 5 Draft pick had allowed just seven earned runs on ten hits through 25 1/3 innings thus far in 2018, racking up 39 strikeouts along the way. Unfortunately, the 27-year-old Jones has also handed out 25 walks this season. Over his seven minor-league seasons, he has recorded 12.9 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9, so the command issues represent a longstanding concern.

Mariners Release Josh Smith, Matt Hague; Assign Jayson Werth To Triple-A

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The Mariners have made a few transactions at their top affiliate, per Tacoma Rainiers announcer Mike Curto (via Twitter). Righty Josh Smith and infielder Matt Hague have both been released from the Triple-A roster, which now features outfielder Jayson Werth and just-acquired lefty Roenis Elias.

Seattle had inked both Smith and Hague to minors deals, but evidently felt the roster spots were better utilized on other assets. One of those is Werth, a 15-year MLB veteran who will be playing in his age-39 season. He has been working out at extended Spring Training but could now push toward the MLB roster if he shows well at Tacoma.

Smith, 30, compiled a 14:2 K/BB ratio in his 10 1/3 innings early this season, though he also allowed seven earned runs on 17 hits. In parts of three seasons in the majors, he carries a 5.30 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 127 1/3 innings. The 32-year-old Hague, meanwhile, is a right-handed hitter who primarily has lined up at first base as a professional. He was slashing an eyebrow-raising .226/.419/.264 through 74 plate appearances, with an unusual mix of only two extra base hits but 19 walks against just nine strikeouts.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/17

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We’ll keep track of some recent minor moves in this post…

  • Greg Johns of MLB.com reports in a tweet that the Mariners have signed 32-year-old first baseman Matt Hague to a minor-league deal. As Johns points out, Hague hit .297/.373/.414 with the Rochester Redwings this past season (the Triple-A affiliate of the Twins). He’s also spent time with the Pirates and Blue Jays, both of whom gave him opportunities at the major league level. Notably, Hague has walked in the minor league at nearly the same rate he’s struck out, though that skill set hasn’t translated to the majors as of yet.
  • The Mariners have also inked former Cubs farmhand John Andreoli to a minor league pact, Johns tweets, adding that the 27-year-old outfielder hit 14 homers for Triple-A Iowa last season to go along with a .244/.348/.435 slash line. Andreoli was the Cubs’ 17th-round selection in the 2011 draft. He’s walked at least 12% of the time in each of his three seasons with the Iowa Cubs, though his strikeout rate has risen noticeably in each of those seasons. Andreoli has yet to reach the MLB level.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/21/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.

  • The Twins have signed corner infielder Matt Hague to a minor league deal, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. They also re-signed 1B/OF Reynaldo Rodriguez to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old Hague had a strong season with Triple-A Buffalo in the Blue Jays system in 2015, batting .338/.416/.468, and he’s generally hit well at the Triple-A level. In 2016, though, he struggled with Hanshin in Japan, batting .231/.339/.346 in 124 plate appearances. He’s collected a total of 91 career big-league plate appearances with the Jays and Pirates. The 29-year-old Rodriguez batted .220/.304/.329 for Triple-A Rochester in 2016, also serving an 80-game PED suspension. He has over 1,500 career plate appearances at Double-A and has established himself as a good hitter at that level, but his bat has never fully made the leap to Triple-A, and he’s never played in the Majors.
  • The White Sox have outrighted lefty Matt Purke, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. The White Sox designated Purke for assignment when they signed Derek Holland. Purke, a former first-round and third-round pick, posted a 5.50 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in his first 18 career big-league innings in 2016. He spent most of the season in the bullpen at Triple-A Charlotte, where he had a 3.52 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and a way-too-high 5.4 BB/9 over 38 1/3 innings.
  • Veteran lefty Travis Blackley has announced via Twitter that he’s signed a deal with the Tigers, presumably of the minor league variety. (Hat tip to Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group for the tip.) Last season, the 34-year-old Blackley pitched for Puebla in the Mexican League, posting a 3.92 ERA, 5.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 over 110 1/3 innings as a starter. Since last pitching in the big leagues in 2013 (when he appeared with the Astros and Rangers), Blackley has also pitched for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan, for the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs in the US, and for Brisbane in his native Australia.

Matt Hague Signs With Hanshin Tigers

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NOVEMBER 30: The deal is official, Hague himself announced on Twitter.

NOVEMBER 25: The Blue Jays have reached an agreement with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball that will send Triple-A International League MVP Matt Hague to Hanshin in exchange for $300K, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The deal isn’t yet complete, according to Nicholson-Smith, but Hague has been removed from Toronto’s 40-man roster.

In situations such as this, the money exchanged will typically serve as compensation for the team’s agreement to release the player, who is then free to sign a new, more lucrative contract with the overseas club. It’s not clear what type of contract Hague will receive in Japan, but he’ll certainly earn more than he would have with another up-and-down season with a Major League organization and could very well secure $1MM or more.

Hague, 30, had the best all-around Triple-A season of his career in 2015, batting .338/.416/.468 with 11 home runs in 596 plate appearances. While the home runs were shy of his previous career-highs, he’s never hit for the type of average or gotten on base at that lofty a rate previously. Hague split his time evenly between first base and third base this past season but has a good deal more experience playing first base in his career as a whole.

The Blue Jays claimed Hague off waivers from the Pirates in 2014 based on the strength of his Triple-A numbers, but while he continued his excellent minor league production with Toronto, he received just 15 plate appearances on a Major League club rife with potent corner options (most notably Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion but also Chris Colabello, Justin Smoak and, earlier in the season, Danny Valencia as well). Hague is a career .226/.286/.262 hitter in a small sample of 91 Major League plate appearances but has a far more robust triple-slash of .302/.377/.433 across parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level.

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