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Miguel Del Pozo

Tigers Re-Sign Miguel Del Pozo To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have re-signed left-hander Miguel Del Pozo to a minor league deal, according to his transaction tracker at MLB.com.

Del Pozo, 30, appeared in the majors with the Angels in 2019 and the Pirates in 2020. He was able to reach free agency prior to 2021 and signed a minor league deal with the Tigers. He was eventually selected to the big league club and made five appearances for Detroit last year. For his career, he’s thrown 18 1/3 MLB innings in 27 games, with an inflated 9.82 ERA in that small sample.

He stuck on the Tigers’ 40-man over the 2021-22 offseason but didn’t make the Opening Day roster, getting outrighted in April and eventually spending all of 2022 with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. He tossed 53 1/3 innings with Toledo this year, registering a 3.88 ERA along with a 30.7% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate.

Del Pozo elected free agency at the end of the season but was evidently content to stick with the Tigers’ organization, quickly returning to the club. He will serve as left-handed relief depth and look to build off a strong season in the minors.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/7/22

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The Mariners have signed right-hander Jairo Diaz to a minor league deal, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Diaz had an excellent season for the Rockies in 2019, throwing 57 2/3 innings out of their bullpen. His 4.53 ERA might not look impressive at first glance, but for someone calling Coors Field home during the “juiced ball” season, that’s nothing to sneeze at. His 25.7% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate were both better than league average.

Unfortunately, things went in the wrong direction for Diaz in 2020, as his ERA shot up to 7.65, along with a 16% strikeout rate and 13.2% walk rate. He was outrighted in 2021, throwing just 7 1/3 Triple-A innings on the year due to injuries. For the Mariners, this is a no-risk way of bolstering their bullpen depth.

Some other moves from Opening Day 2022…

  • The Mariners also signed minor league deals with lefty Rob Kaminsky and infielder Taylor Featherston, per the team’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. Kaminsky has 4 2/3 innings of MLB experience, which came with the Cardinals in 2020. Last year, he signed a minors deal with the Phillies but was held to just one inning of work in the minors due to a left elbow osteophyte. The last time he saw extensive work was 2019, when he pitched 56 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, with a 3.54 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. As for Featherston, he saw MLB action from 2015-2017, appearing in 137 games but hitting just .160/.221/.256. He didn’t play at all in 2020 or 2021, meaning his last action was 2019. He split that year between Double-A and Triple-A with the Royals, hitting .241/.303/.426, but with a 38.7% strikeout rate.
  • The Orioles traded minor league shortstop Mason McCoy to the Mariners for cash considerations, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. He was selected by the Orioles in the sixth round of the 2017 draft and has been with the organization for his whole career thus far. In 2020, he cracked Baseball America’s list of the top 30 Baltimore prospects, coming in at #29. BA’s report indicated that his defensive game is stronger his offensive output, which he certainly showed in 2021. In 112 Triple-A games, McCoy hit .221/.288/.368, striking out in 29.2% of his plate appearances. However, he did steal 13 bags and spent time at shortstop, second base, third base, left field and center field.
  • Tigers announced that left-hander Miguel Del Pozo, who was designated for assignment yesterday, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. The 29-year-old logged 5 1/3 MLB innings last year, throwing 38 1/3 in Triple-A. In that time with the Mud Hens, he had a 2.82 ERA with a 34.6% strikeout rate and a 10.3% walk rate.

Tigers Announce Several Transactions, Finalize Opening Day Roster

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The Tigers announced a landslide of roster moves Wednesday as they set their Opening Day roster. Most notable among them is the formal selection of top prospect Spencer Torkelson’s contract. It was already known that Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2020 draft and a consensus top-five prospect in all of baseball, would make the Opening Day roster, but his promotion to the big leagues is now official.

Detroit also selected the contracts of right-handers Drew Hutchison, Jacob Barnes and Will Vest. In a series of corresponding 40-man roster moves, Detroit designated left-hander Miguel Del Pozo for assignment and placed catcher Jake Rogers (recovering from Tommy John surgery), Spencer Turnbull (recovering from Tommy John surgery) and Jose Cisnero (strained right shoulder) on the 60-day injured list.

The Tigers also announced an additional series of placements on the 10-day injured list: lefty Andrew Chafin (groin strain), outfielder Derek Hill (hamstring strain) and righty Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder strain) are all beginning the season on the 10-day IL. Top outfield prospect Riley Greene is being placed on the minor league injured list after fracturing his foot late in Spring Training. The Tigers also announced that righty Elvin Rodriguez made the roster over infielder Willi Castro, and the team has assigned veteran right-handers Chase Anderson (Triple-A) and Wily Peralta (Class-A Advanced) to minor league affiliates to begin the year.

None of Hutchison, Vest or Barnes has an extensive track record of big league success, but they’ve all logged MLB action in the past and will give Detroit some bullpen depth early in the season, particularly while Cisnero sits out at least the first two months of the season mending a shoulder injury. That absence is perhaps the most surprising revelation in today’s sequence of moves. Cisnero was behind schedule to start camp and felt some discomfort in his most recent outing, but prior to today’s announcement there was no indication he’d require such a lengthy absence. It’s a notable loss for the Tigers, given the 32-year-old’s 3.45 ERA, 24 holds and four saves over the past two seasons.

Chafin, who signed a two-year, $13MM contract with an opt-out after the 2022 season will hope for a minimal absence. There’s been no indication from the club that he’s expected to require a long stay on the IL, but he’s been trending toward a 10-day placement since originally experiencing pain at the end of March. Hill has also been ailing since the final day of March, so his move to the IL doesn’t rate as much of a surprise.

As for the 29-year-old Del Pozo, he lasted the offseason on Detroit’s 40-man roster after allowing two runs on eight hits and no walks with four punchouts during a brief Detroit debut late in the 2021 campaign. He’s allowed a total of 20 runs in 18 1/3 Major League innings, however, and didn’t help his cause this spring when he appeared in two games and was tagged for a combined five runs in just one inning of work. Detroit will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through outright waivers.

Veterans Anderson and Peralta will give the Tigers some pitching depth in the minors to begin the season. Anderson joined the club on a minor league deal in mid-March and allowed three earned runs on nine hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in five innings during camp. He’s struggled substantially in the Majors across the past two seasons but from 2014-19 was a solid back-of-the-rotation arm, logging a combined 3.94 ERA in 857 innings between the D-backs and Brewers.

Peralta seems even likelier to be added to the big league roster, despite his assignment to a Class-A affiliate. The right-hander had a strong showing in Detroit last year after signing a minor league pact, pitching to a 3.07 ERA across 18 appearances (17 starts) — a total of 93 2/3 innings. But Peralta was slow to get to camp, owing to visa issues, and he’ll remain at the Tigers’ Lakeland facility, where their High-A team plays, as he builds up toward game readiness. Peralta didn’t make it to Tigers camp until this past weekend and didn’t have time to get into an official spring game, but once he’s built up he’ll be an option to join the club’s rotation or pitch in a long-relief role.

Tigers Place Michael Fulmer On 10-Day Injured List

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The Tigers placed right-hander Michael Fulmer on the 10-day injured list due to a right cervical spine strain.  Left-hander Miguel Del Pozo was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take Fulmer’s spot on the active roster.  Despite the rather ominous-sounding official injury designation, “the normal term is his neck is bothering him,” manager A.J. Hinch told The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters.  Fulmer felt the injury following yesterday’s outing against the Astros, which saw the righty allow three runs on two homers over an inning of work.

While the issue doesn’t sound overly serious, it does represent at least 10 fewer days for opposing scouts and front offices to gauge Fulmer’s value as a trade candidate.  The 2016 AL Rookie Of The Year has reinvented himself as a reliever coming off Tommy John surgery in 2019 and some tough results as a starter in 2020, and Fulmer has a 3.62 ERA, 29.66% strikeout rate, and 5.08% walk rate in 27 1/3 innings out of the bullpen this season.  He has also shown some quality in high-leverage situations, racking up six saves as part of Detroit’s closer committee.

With Fulmer still under control through one final arbitration year in 2022, he makes for an interesting trade chip for the Tigers to shop prior to July 30, assuming that he is able to return from the IL in good condition.  An enterprising team could acquire Fulmer as bullpen help for this season, and then perhaps consider stretching him out next spring for one last crack at starting pitching, with a return to the relief corps available as a fallback option.

The transaction also creates another opportunity for Del Pozo, who didn’t get a chance to pitch when he was briefly called up to the Tigers earlier this month.  Del Pozo signed a minor league deal with Detroit last winter, and over 13 innings with the Angels and Pirates in 2019-20, the southpaw issued 16 walks and posted a 12.46 ERA.  At Triple-A Toledo this season, however, Del Pozo has a 1.02 ERA over 17 2/3 innings, with a 35.4% strikeout rate and (perhaps most importantly) a much more palatable 9.23% walk rate.

Tigers’ Matt Manning To Make MLB Debut Thursday; Matthew Boyd To IL

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The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, the most exciting of which is the planned MLB debut of acclaimed pitching prospect Matt Manning.  Manning, 23, will start Thursday night in Anaheim against the Angels.  Additionally, pitchers Matthew Boyd and Alex Lange hit the IL, Wily Peralta and Miguel Del Pozo had their contracts selected, and Jeimer Candelario was reinstated from the IL.

Manning was drafted ninth overall by the Tigers in 2016 out of high school.  Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Manning as the 33rd-best prospect in the game.  The COVID-19 pandemic deprived Manning and many others of a minor league season in 2020, and he also dealt with a right forearm strain.   Manning made his Triple-A debut on May 4th of this year.  He’s scuffled to an 8.07 ERA in seven starts, with more than 27% of his flyballs leaving the yard.  Still, Manning’s last outing was solid, and he retains “frontline starter potential” according to Baseball America.  He’ll get a tough assignment, going up against Shohei Ohtani.

Boyd, 30, exited Monday’s start due to an arm injury that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch described today as “more toward the elbow.”  Through 13 starts, he was experiencing a resurgent season with a 3.44 ERA in 70 2/3 frames.  With a strikeout rate of just 18.8%, Boyd is likely still a 4.50 ERA type pitcher whose flyballs happened to stay in the yard over a brief sample.  Still, he’s under team control through 2022 as an arbitration eligible player and should be a solid late July trade candidate if the injury turns out to be minor.  Boyd joins rotation-mate Spencer Turnbull on the IL.

Lange, a 25-year-old rookie reliever, struggled to the tune of a 7.31 ERA over 18 fairly low-leverage outings before hitting the IL with a shoulder strain.  He was rated as a 40-grade prospect by Baseball America prior to the season.

Peralta and Del Pozo will be new additions to the Tigers’ 40-man roster.  One such spot was opened with the transferring of Rony Garcia to the 60-day IL.  Peralta, 32, joined the Tigers on a minor league deal back in February.  He was once a productive member of the Brewers’ rotation, peaking with a 3.53 ERA in 198 2/3 innings back in 2014.  He managed to give the Mud Hens six mostly solid but brief outings and is an option to take Boyd’s spot Saturday in Anaheim, Hinch told reporters.

Del Pozo has 13 big league innings to his name.  The 28-year-old southpaw inked a minor league deal with the Tigers back in January.  He’s been dominant in a dozen Triple-A relief outings, punching out 34.7% of batters faced and walking only 6.1%.

Tigers Sign Miguel Del Pozo To Minors Deal

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The Tigers announced that left-hander Miguel Del Pozo has been signed to a minor league contract.  Del Pozo chose to become a free agent following the season, after he was outrighted off the Pirates’ roster during the summer.

Del Pozo has been hit hard over his 13 career MLB innings, with a total 12.46 ERA from 9 1/3 innings with the Angels in 2019 and then 3 2/3 frames for Pittsburgh last season.  Del Pozo has more walks (13) than strikeouts (13) as a big leaguer, an extreme version of control issues he displayed early in his pro career, though he has seemingly gotten his walks under control as he rose up the minor league ladder.

Over 386 1/3 career innings in the Angels, Rangers, and Marlins farm systems, Del Pozo posted a 4.28 ERA, 25.8 K%, and 10.2% walk rate.  He has worked almost exclusively as a reliever throughout his career, and he joins Locke St. John and Ian Krol as left-handed minor league signing for Detroit within the last month.

Pirates Designate Miguel Del Pozo For Assignment

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The Pirates announced Thursday that left-hander Miguel Del Pozo has been designated for assignment. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for closer Keone Kela, who has officially been reinstated from the Covid-19 injured list.

Del Pozo, 27, has seen time in the Majors in both of the past two seasons — last year with the Angels — but been clobbered for 18 runs on 17 hits and 16 walks in just 13 innings. He’s punched out 13 hitters in that time, but his overall results obviously haven’t earned him any type of staying power. Del Pozo has respectable numbers up through the Double-A level but has yet to find success in Triple-A or the Majors. The Pirates will have a week to either trade him, release him or look to pass him through outright waivers.

Kela’s return was announced by manager Derek Shelton yesterday. He’ll step right into the closer’s role for a Pirates club that has gone 3-13 to begin the season. Long a high-quality reliever, Kela is a free agent at season’s end and figures to be traded in the coming weeks so long as he remains healthy.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/28/20

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Some of the latest minor transactions from around baseball…

  • The Pirates selected left-hander Miguel Del Pozo on Tuesday, per a team announcement. The move accompanied injured list placements for two righties – Kyle Crick (lat muscle strain) and Clay Holmes (forearm strain) – as well as a recall for RHP Geoff Hartlieb. Del Pozo, who joined the Pirates on a minor league contract last offseason, was crushed in his major league debut with the Angels in 2019, when he allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits in 9 1/3 innings. His woes continued Tuesday when he failed to retire any of the four Brewers he faced. Del Pozo walked three, gave up a double and was charged with two earned runs. The Pirates still came out on top, however, with Hartlieb as the winning pitcher.
  • The Phillies announced that infielder Arquimedes Gamboa has cleared waivers and been outrighted off their 40-man roster. The 22-year-old has been part of the organization since 2015, and he’ll remain a Phillie after no one else claimed him. Gamboa, who has topped out in Double-A ball, owns a .213/.298/.296 line in 1,621 plate appearances in the minors.

Pirates Sign Socrates Brito, Miguel Del Pozo, Phillip Evans

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The Pirates have announced a series of minor-league signings. Outfielder Socrates Brito, southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, and infielder Phillip Evans have all received non-roster invitations, as has Hector Noesi, whose signing was previously reported.

Brito was once viewed as a quality prospect but hasn’t shown much in the majors. The 27-year-old carries a lifetime .179/.216/.309 slash in 218 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. But he did turn in a .282/.328/.510 batting line in 428 trips to the dish last year at Triple-A with the Blue Jays organization. New Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington is well-acquainted with Brito, having come over from Toronto.

The 27-year-old Del Pozo debuted in the bigs last year with the Angels after a mid-season claim from the Rangers. He didn’t exactly stake out a firm claim to a permanent job, allowing 11 earned runs on three long balls with an 11:8 K/BB ratio in 9 1/3 frames. But the southpaw works in the mid-nineties with his heater and delivered 68 strikeouts in 48 2/3 Triple-A innings.

As for Evans, also 27, he touched the bigs in the two prior seasons with the Mets but didn’t make it back in 2019 with the Cubs. He did see steady action with the Chicago organization’s top affiliate, slashing .283/.371/.470 in 539 plate appearances — good for a solid but hardly exceptional 106 wRC+ in the International League.

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