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Minor MLB Transactions: 4/27/16

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Baseball America’s Matt Eddy runs down the week’s minor moves, including a few that we’ve yet to cover here:

  • Veteran righty Roberto Hernandez re-signed with the Blue Jays after previously opting out of his contract. He’ll function as depth at the Triple-A level, presumably, and look to return to the majors after ten straight seasons with at least some MLB action. The 35-year-old posted a 4.36 ERA with 4.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in his 84 2/3 frames for the Astros in 2015.
  • The Orioles have released right-hander Todd Redmond, who most recently enjoyed a three-year run in the Jays’ organization. He received only 16 major league innings there last year, however, after functioning as a useful swingman in the prior two seasons. Redmond, 30, had been added by the O’s on a minor league deal, but was hammered (18 hits & 15 runs in five innings) in his first two outings for Triple-A Norfolk.
  • Former Royals prospect Noel Arguelles has joined the Nationals, per Eddy. Now 26, the Cuban southpaw washed out of Kansas City after originally joining the organization as a big-bonus international free agent. He appeared briefly in the Venezuelan winter league last year but otherwise hasn’t pitched competitively since 2014, when he was knocked around for 7.15 earned runs per nine over 61 2/3 innings in his first run at Double-A.

Minor Moves: Arguelles, Rays, Lorick, Lopez, Rockies

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Here are the day’s minor transactions from around the league…

  • Baseball America’s Matt Eddy delivers a series of recent releases. You can check his always-useful Twitter feed for the full run, but the highlight is probably the Royals’ release of lefty Noel Arguelles (Twitter link). A high-profile signee out of Cuba back in 2009, the 25-year-old was hit hard in Double-A last year after switching full-time to a relief role. He was brought as a minor league free agent, but Kansas City has apparently seen enough.
  • Eddy also tweets that the Rays have parted ways with two of the team’s seven supplemental first-rounders from 2011, shortstop Brandon Martin and outfielder James Harris. Both players are still just 21 years of age, but neither has mastered the lower minors or even reached the High-A level.
  • The Cubs have released left-hander Jeff Lorick, per the team’ transactions page. The 27-year-old Lorick was a 20th-round selection back in the 2009 draft and spent the 2014 campaign (his age-26 season) at Double-A Tennessee, where he worked to a 4.52 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work. Lorick struggled as a starter in the Class-A Advanced Florida State League in 2011, but he’s always missed a good number of bats when working as a reliever. However, he’s also walked more than four hitters per nine innings and has yet to reach the Triple-A level.
  • The Marlins have released second baseman Alfredo Lopez, also via the team transaction page at MLB.com. The 25-year-old batted .216/.298/.263 at Double-A in 2014 and had spent most of the 2015 spring working in Minor League camp. Lopez has hit well in the lower minors (.300 average, .384 OBP in Class-A Advanced) but stalled in Double-A and has very limited experience at the Triple-A level.
  • The Rockies released outfielders Jared Simon and Brian Humphries as well as infielder Matt Wessinger, per the MLB transaction page. Simon, a 2010 sixth-round pick, and Humphries, a 14th-rounder in 2011, each spent last season with Double-A Tulsa and OPSed south of .700. Wessinger is perhaps the most notable, as he was a fifth-rounder as recently as 2012, but he batted just .214/.278/.295 at Class-A Advanced in 2014.

Minor Moves: Jurrjens, Wang, Delcarmen, Burriss

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

  • Baseball America’s Matt Eddy has published his latest round of Minor League Transactions, and within the piece he notes that the Rockies have re-signed Jair Jurrjens to a minor league deal. Additionally, the Royals have re-signed Cuban lefty Noel Arguelles, Jordan Norberto re-signed with the Rays and Russ Canzler is back with the Phillies. Each of these is a minor league deal.
  • The Braves have signed right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (on Twitter). The Braves are known to be seeking rotation depth, and Wang should provide just that. The former Yankee totaled 172 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level in 2014, posting a 4.12 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 57 walks.
  • The Nationals have re-signed right-hander Manny Delcarmen and infielder Emmanuel Burriss to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson (Twitter links). Burriss, 30 in January, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2012 but batted .300/.377/.412 in 510 Triple-A plate appearances for the Nats this past season. The 32-year-old Delcarmen hasn’t seen big league action since 2010, but he, too, had a strong season at Triple-A Syracuse for the Nats in 2014. Delcarmen posted a 3.13 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings of relief.

Minor Moves: Tim Wheeler, Noel Arguelles

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Here are today's minor moves from around the league…

  • In addition to Rafael Ortega, who was recently claimed by the Rangers, the Rockies also put outfield prospect Tim Wheeler on waivers, tweets the Denver Post's Troy Renck. Wheeler, however cleared and has been outrighted to the minor leagues, says Renck. Wheeler entered the season as Colorado's No. 11 prospect, per Baseball America, but struggled to the tune of a .262/.330/.355 batting line as a 25-year-old at the Triple-A level. Prior to the season, BA noted the alarming drop in Wheeler's power, and he didn't correct it in 2013. Wheeler blasted 33 homers at Double-A in 2011 but has gone yard just seven times in 855 plate appearances at Triple-A since that time.
  • The Royals have outrighted left-hander Noel Arguelles to Triple-A Omaha after the Cuban hurler cleared waivers, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). That Arguelles, 23, cleared waivers is no surprise given the fact that he is guaranteed nearly $1.4MM in 2014 after signing a five-year, $7MM contract prior to the 2010 season. Shoulder surgery has derailed the once-promising lefty's prospect status, as he's pitched to a 6.14 ERA with more walks than strikeouts over his previous 196 1/3 innings in the minors.

Royals Designate Arguelles, Falu For Assignment

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The Royals have designated left-hander Noel Arguelles and second baseman Irving Falu for assignment in order to clear space for additions to their 40-man roster, the team announced via press release. In addition to the pair of DFAs, right-hander Felipe Paulino has elected free agency after being outrighted. The Royals will add Lane Adams, Christian Colon, Cheslor Cuthbert and Michael Mariot to the 40-man roster.

The Royals signed Arguelles, a Cuban defector, to a five-year, $7MM contract back in 2009, but the southpaw never lived up to his lofty prospect status. Arguelles, 23, underwent shoulder surgery in 2010 and was hampered by groin problems in 2013. He has a career 5.12 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 300 1/3 minor league innings, none coming above the Double-A level.

Falu, 30, has outstanding Major League numbers, but they come in a tiny sample of just 95 plate appearances. Still, the switch-hitter owns a .337/.366/.427 slash line with the Royals — the only team for whom he's played at the big league level. Falu is a career .283/.342/.365 hitter in Triple-A.

Paulino, also 30, pitched to a 3.55 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 162 1/3 innings with the Royals from 2011-12 but had his 2012 campaign cut short by Tommy John surgery. His strong career strikeout rate (8.4 K/9) and respectable ground-ball rate (44 percent) make him an intriguing buy-low candidate.

Royals Notes: Santana, Moore, Francoeur, Deadline

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Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star recently took the time to answer a vast array of Twitter questions from his followers and write them up in a Q&A. Here are some highlights from the piece…

  • No matter how well Danny Duffy pitches in Triple-A as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, the team won't part with Ervin Santana if they're in contention. Should they fall out of the race, the Royals would likely make Santana available if they received an offer they deemed more valuable than a compensatory draft pick, suggesting that the Royals are planning on making Santana a qualifying offer this offseason.
  • Dutton doesn't get any sense from the Royals organization that general manager Dayton Moore is on a short lease, though he concedes that if the team is struggling at this time next year, that could change.
  • Dutton expects the recently DFA'ed Jeff Francoeur to clear waivers and sign with another team as opposed to a trade or Frenchy accepting a minor league assignment.
  • It's still not clear if the Royals will be buyers at the deadline, though Dutton expects them to look hard at additions. However, he calls the odds of them making a big move "slim."
  • Lefty Noel Arguelles could lose his 40-man roster spot this offseason if the Royals are in need of a roster spot. Kansas City gave the Cuban lefty a five-year, $7MM deal in 2009, but he has produced just a 5.24 ERA in 283 2/3 minor league innings to date. The 23-year-old has more walks than strikeouts in 179 2/3 career innings for Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

Royals Notes: Hosmer, Arguelles

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The Royals defeated the Orioles this afternoon to earn their fifth victory in their last six games.  The big headline of the day for Kansas City, however, has to do with a certain minor league call-up…

  • The Royals announced that Eric Hosmer has been called up to the big leagues to replace Kila Ka'aihue at first base.  Hosmer was the third overall pick of the 2008 amateur draft and was rated by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect in the game before this season.  He has a career .886 OPS in the minors, and had a superb .439/.525/.582 line in 118 plate appearances for Triple-A Omaha this season.
  • MLB.com's Dick Kaegel says the club wanted Hosmer to have around 250 Triple-A at-bats before coming to the majors, but it's interesting that K.C. pulled the trigger now and not next month.  The early call-up means that Hosmer is likely to pick up enough service time to become a Super Two player, meaning he'll earn an extra year of salary arbitration.  This, of course, depends on if the Super Two rules aren't changed in the next collective bargaining agreement.
  • Noel Arguelles is pitching well in his first month of pro baseball, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star.
  • You can follow all the latest Kansas City news on MLBTR's Royals-centric Facebook page, RSS and Twitter feeds.

Odds & Ends: Griffey, Texeira, Arguelles, Burrell

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Friday night linkage..

Odds & Ends: Dye, Arguelles, Royals, Astros

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Upset over seeing your Syracuse-topped bracket get ruined tonight?  Cheer up by reading these news items!

The New Market For Cuban Players

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When you think about Cuban players that signed with a Major League team this past offseason, the first name that will come to mind is Aroldis Chapman and his six-year, $30.25MM contract. However, as ESPN's Jorge Arangure writes, the contracts signed by Jose Iglesias, Adeiny Hechevarria, and Noel Arguelles may dictate the future of the Cuban market.

Arangure notes that at this time last year, Iglesias and Arguelles were expected to command only $1-2MM on the open market. They, of course, signed for $8.25MM and $6.9MM, respectively. If those players meet expectations, not only will teams start to specifically target Cuban prospects, but players in Cuba will surely take notice and attempt to defect at a younger age.

Even though players like Hechevarria and Iglesias are college-aged, they're perceived to be more advanced than their American counterparts because they've faced tougher competition growing up. However, for every Kendry Morales making an impact in the big leagues, there's a Juan Miranda stuck in Triple-A. The risk associated with young players is the same no matter where they come from, but the Cuban market is getting more and more expensive. 

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