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Matt McBride

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/21/18

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Phillies have a host of new additions to the team’s list of MLB Spring Training participants. In addition to a few we’ve already featured here at MLBTR, the Philadelphia club has announced the signings of southpaw Jeremy Bleich, backstop Rob Brantly, righty Josh Martin, utilityman Matt McBride, and infielder Gregorio Petit. Every one of these players has seen MLB time except for Martin, who’ll be looking for his first crack at the bigs after compiling a seven-season minor-league stat line with the Indians organization that features a 3.33 ERA and 9.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • Likewise, the Padres have announced a haul of camp competitors. Allen Craig will come back for another go, as will Alex Dickerson. Otherwise, southpaws Ryan Bollinger and Dietrich Enns have inked with the San Diego org, along with righty Tyler Higgins. On the position-player side, infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Aderlin Rodriguez are joined by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo. It’s the opposite situation from the one just discussed above, as all of the new additions excepting Enns — who’s compiled two MLB appearances — have yet to crack the majors.
  • A handful of new free agents are heading to the Rangers, too, per a club announcement. Lefty Jack Leathersich has seen action in a pair of MLB campaigns, but won’t get a camp invite. Fellow southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, righties, Ariel Hernandez and Phillips Valdez, and infielder Nolan Fontana will open their tenure in Texas on the MLB side of Spring Training. Hernandez and Fontana each have minimal experience in the bigs. Valdez worked to a 2.73 ERA in 135 upper-minors innings with the Nationals organization last year, with 6.9 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9; Del Pozo has averaged ten strikeouts per nine in his minor-league career.
  • The Red Sox have added another hurler on a minor-league pact, this time picking up righty Ryan Weber, per Michael Mayer of Metsmerizedonline.com (via Twitter). Now 28 years of age, Weber has thrown 73 2/3 innings of 5.01 ERA ball over the past four years, though the vast majority of those came in 2015 and 2016. He was rather effective last year at Triple-A in a swingman capacity, spinning 115 1/3 innings of 2.73 ERA ball with 6.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9.

Phillies Sign Will Middlebrooks To Minor League Deal

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4:06pm: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Middlebrooks’ deal with Philadelphia contains a $1.2MM base salary if he makes the big league roster. The contract also has opt-out language to afford Middlebrooks the right to pursue opportunities in Asia should they arise.

3:58pm: The Phillies announced 10 minor league signees today, including one for former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks. (SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo had previously tweeted that a match between the two sides was likely.)

Philadelphia also announced its previously reported minor league agreements with righties Pedro Beato and Steve Geltz, infielder Pedro Florimon and catcher Eric Fryer. Others joining (or re-joining) the Phils organization include catcher/infielder/outfielder Matt McBride, infielders Heiker Meneses and Mitch Walding, catcher Logan Moore and outfielder Danny Ortiz. All 10 players received invites to Major League Spring Training.

Middlebrooks and McBride are the only two newly revealed signees to bring MLB experience to the table. It’s now been five years since Middlebrooks looked to be a rising star in the Red Sox organization after hitting .288/.325/.509 with 15 homers in 286 plate appearances as a rookie. Since that time, the now-29-year-old Middlebrooks’ star has faded; he’s batted just .210/.256/.356 in 948 plate appearances split between the Red Sox, Padres, Brewers and Rangers. Last year, Middlebrooks hit .211/.231/.368 in 39 PAs with the Rangers.

McBride, 32, played in 92 games with the Rockies and A’s from 2012-16, batting a combined .201/.228/.299 in 202 PAs along the way. He does carry a lifetime .299/.343/.506 batting line in parts of eight Triple-A seasons — during which time he’s logged more than 1000 innings as a catcher, first baseman, left fielder and right fielder.

Athletics Re-Sign Felix Doubront, Matt McBride To Minor League Deals

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The Athletics have re-signed left-hander Felix Doubront, catcher/corner outfielder Matt McBride and right-handed reliever Aaron Kurcz to minor league contracts, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The 29-year-old Doubront missed the 2016 season due to April Tommy John surgery and told Slusser that the way in which Oakland handled his rehab played a big part in his decision to return. “I felt comfortable with Oakland and they took care of me, so I want to repay them on their investment and help them in the big leagues,” said Doubront to Slusser. Doubront pitched 52 2/3 innings with the A’s back in 2015 and limped to a 5.81 ERA, although his peripheral stats that season — 6.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 47.1 percent ground-ball rate, 4.45 FIP, 4.31 xFIP — indicated that he performed better than that onerous ERA would otherwise suggest. In 513 2/3 big league innings, Doubront has a 4.89 ERA.

McBride, 31, was a second-rounder with the Indians back in 2006 but went to Colorado in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade and ultimately landed in Oakland last year after signing a minor league deal. He’s a lifetime .310/.350/.517 hitter in parts of seven minor league seasons but has hit just .201/.228/.299 in 202 MLB plate appearances. McBride has nearly 2500 innings in the outfield corners and more than 1800 innings as a first baseman in his minor league career.

Kurcz, 26, split the 2016 season between Oakland’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, logging a combined 3.03 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings. Kurcz has yet to pitch in the Majors but does own an impressive 3.01 ERA over the duration of his time in the minor leagues, where he’s also averaged 10.6 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 in 329 1/3 innings.

Athletics Outright Matt McBride, Chris Smith

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The A’s announced this afternoon that they’ve outrighted catcher Matt McBride and right-hander Chris Smith off the 40-man roster. Both well-traveled minor leaguers have enough professional experience to elect free agency.

McBride, 31, appeared in 20 games with Oakland this season and totaled 44 plate appearances, during which he batted .209/.227/.279 with 10 punchouts against one walk. That marked the fourth season in which McBride spent some time at the Major League level — each of the other three came as a member of the Rockies — but the former second-round pick has been able to manage just a .201/.228/.299 slash in 202 big league plate appearances. He’s carved out an excellent career at the Triple-A level, however, where he’s batted .310/.350/.517 in parts of seven seasons. Given that production, McBride shouldn’t have trouble latching on elsewhere as a depth option.

Smith, 35, has also seen big league work in parts of four seasons. The 2002 fourth-rounder (Red Sox) totaled 24 2/3 innings with the A’s this year and turned in a very strong 2.92 ERA with 29 strikeouts and a 45.6 percent ground-ball rate, but he also walked 13 in that time (4.7 BB/9) and averaged just 87.6 mph on his fastball. Like McBride, Smith has a pretty lengthy track record of success in Triple-A, having logged a 3.68 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 509 innings across parts of nine seasons at that level.

AL West Notes: McBride, Manaea, Zunino, Wilson, Heaney

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The Athletics have called up catcher/first baseman/outfielder Matt McBride in order to prevent the 30-year-old from signing with a club in Japan, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. McBride received an offer from the Yokohama DeNa BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, Slusser reports, and his contract contains a clause that would’ve allowed him to opt out and pursue the deal. Rather than allow the versatile McBride to leave the organization, Oakland added him to its 25-man and 40-man roster (Felix Doubront was transferred to the 60-day DL). “I’m happy to be here,” McBride told Slusser following the promotion. “I knew it would be one or the other, and I think everyone wants to get the chance to play in the big leagues.” McBride does have some Major League experience, having spent parts of three seasons with the Rockies. In 158 plate appearances in the Majors, he’s batted .199/.228/.305. The A’s, then, will hope that his production can more closely resemble his lifetime .315/.351/.527 line at the Triple-A level (1418 PAs).

More from the division…

  • Slusser also writes that lefty Sean Manaea has an “excellent shot” to stick in the Athletics’ rotation for the long haul if he can approach his numbers from Triple-A. The top prospect, acquired in last summer’s Ben Zobrist trade, could have an audition window of several weeks to impress the front office, as right-hander Henderson Alvarez still figures to be sidelined until mid-May. Should Manaea falter in his initial taste of the Majors, right-hander Jesse Hahn could re-emerge from Nashville, though he’s currently dealing with a blister that prevented him from getting the call on Friday. As Slusser notes, a strong early impression from Manaea will lead to a difficult decision for Oakland, who could have Manaea, Alvarez, Hahn, Sonny Gray, Rich Hill, Kendall Graveman and Chris Bassitt all in the rotation picture. And, for those looking for a bit of a scouting report on the exciting young lefty, Vince Lara-Cinisomo of Baseball America has posted just that, in addition to his thoughts on what to expect from Manaea in the Majors.
  • Mike Zunino spoke with Larry Stone of the Seattle Times about the mechanical adjustments he’s made to his swing and the more relaxed mental approach he’s been able to adopt with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate this season. Triple-A hitting coach Scott Brosius and manager Pat Listach each weighed in on Zunino’s hot start as well, noting that he’s not only more mechanically sound but also showing greater strike-zone recognition, neglecting to chase sliders on the outer edge of the plate and high fastballs out of the zone. Zunino said to Stone that he doesn’t feel “on edge all the time” like he has in the past while struggling in the Majors, adding that he’s “not chasing base hits” by worrying about the outcome. Zunino has come around on recognizing that hard contact, such as a line drive that turns into an out, isn’t necessarily a bad outcome. Zunino was particularly heartened recently with some success hitting to the opposite field — a component of his game that he freely acknowledged has long been lacking.
  • Angels lefty C.J. Wilson is now targeting a mid-June return, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. The 35-year-old southpaw is slated for a bullpen session on May 9 and a simulated game on May 18, each of which would precede a minor league rehab assignment that is currently scheduled to begin on May 23. “It feels like it’s taking forever,” Wilson said. “I want to pitch. I always want to pitch. When you have a light at the end of the tunnel, it feels a little longer as opposed to ’I’m not going to pitch till next year.'” Wilson added that he’s experimenting with a new arm slot in an effort to maintain his health.
  • Another Angels lefty, Andrew Heaney, hasn’t received as optimistic news as Wilson. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets, the team said today that Heaney’s recovery “has slowed,” and the lefty will seek an “additional opinion” on his forearm strain. The club didn’t make any further comment on his health, but it’s now been several weeks since Heaney has thrown, and the continued uncertainty surrounding his recovery (or lack thereof) is discouraging for the team and for Angels fans.
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