Mets Agree To Minor League Deal With Patrick Kivlehan
The Mets added outfielder/infielder Patrick Kivlehan to their Triple-A roster in Las Vegas today, reports Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review Journal (via Twitter). Helfand had previously reported that Bryce Brentz would miss the next four to six weeks after incurring a broken bone when fouling a ball into his foot, so Kivlehan, who was recently released by the Reds, will help to fill Brentz’s spot for the time being.
Kivlehan, 28, logged a career-high 204 plate appearances with the Reds last season but struggled to a .208/.304/.399 batting line. He spent the entire season on Cincinnati’s big league roster and walked at a 10.8 percent clip while also showing some decent pop in his bat, slugging nine homers, five doubles and a triple while posting a .191 ISO in a part-time role. He had trouble making contact on a consistent basis, however, as evidenced by a 29.9 percent strikeout clip.
Through his first 47 plate appearances with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018, Kivlehan hit just .167/.255/.167 with 15 strikeouts against two walks. He’ll head to a more hitter-friendly environment in Vegas as he looks to boost his production closer to the .251/.306/.424 output he’s managed in his Triple-A career. In addition to giving the Mets some coverage in the outfield corners, he also has experience at both corner-infield slots.
Reds Release Patrick Kivlehan
The Reds have released infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan from their Triple-A affiliate, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports in his latest transactions roundup. The 28-year-old had been with the organization since 2016.
Kivlehan spent the entire 2017 season in the Majors with the Reds, tallying a career-high 204 plate appearances but struggling to a .208/.304/.399 batting line. He did manage to walk at a 10.8 percent clip and slug nine homers, five doubles and a triple while posting a quality .191 ISO in that time. However, Kivlehan also punched out in 29.9 percent of those 204 plate appearances as well.
Thus far in the 2018 season, that power was nowhere to be found at the Triple-A level. Through his first 47 PAs, Kivlehan hit just .167/.255/.167 with 15 strikeouts against two walks. Kivlehan, a career .251/.306/.424 hitter in Triple-A, has extensive experience at third base, first base and in left field. He’s also spent more than 100 innings in center field and left field, and he made a quick two-inning cameo at second base with Cincinnati’s top affiliate in 2018 as well.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/18/17
Here are Saturday’s minor moves throughout the league…
- The Reds have re-signed outfielder Patrick Kivlehan to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training, beat reporter Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports on Twitter. After bouncing around between the minor league systems of the Mariners, Rangers and Padres, Kivlehan made his major league debut in 2016 with the Padres organization and eventually made his way over to the Reds. In 204 plate appearances with Cincinnati last year, he hit .208/.304/.399 with a 29.9% K rate and 9 homers.
Reds Outright Patrick Kivlehan, Deck McGuire
The Reds announced Friday that infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan and right-hander Deck McGuire have been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers. Both can elect minor league free agency. Cincinnati also reinstated lefty Brandon Finnegan and righty Anthony DeSclafani from the 60-day disabled list, so their 40-man roster remains at 33 players for the time being.
Kivlehan, 28 next month, tallied a career-high 204 plate appearances but posted a bleak .208/.304/.399 batting line in that time. He showed some pop, hitting nine homers with five doubles and a triple, but the former Mariners/Rangers prospect also fanned in 30 percent of his plate appearances. Kivlehan has experience at both corner infield and outfield positions, and he’s a career .255/.308/.437 hitter in 223 Triple-A games.
The 28-year-old McGuire is a known name to some thanks to his No. 11 overall selection out of Georgia Tech by the Blue Jays back in the 2010 draft. He’s yet to live up to that draft billing, struggling greatly in Triple-A for the Jays, Athletics, Dodgers and Cardinals before landing in the Reds organization this past winter.
While McGuire spent the year in Double-A rather than the minors’ top level, he notched a strong 2.79 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 with a 38.8 percent ground-ball rate through 168 innings (27 starts). He made his MLB debut with the Reds in September, tossing 13 2/3 innings with 11-to-2 K/BB ratio and notching his first big league victory along the way.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/2/17
Sunday’s minor moves…
- The White Sox have selected the contracts of three offseason minor league signings – infielder/outfielder Cody Asche, catcher Geovany Soto and right-handed reliever Anthony Swarzak. The 26-year-old Asche was once a well-regarded prospect with the Phillies, but he scuffled to a .240/.298/.385 line in 1,287 plate appearances with the club from 2013-16. Soto, who’s in his second stint with the White Sox, has typically served as a capable offensive catcher, and has thrown out would-be base stealers at a league-average rate, though his pitch-framing numbers have declined in recent seasons. Swarzak, meanwhile, has created intrigue this spring with an uptick in velocity. The 31-year-old threw harder than usual with the Yankees last season, and he logged terrific strikeout and walk rates of 9.0 and 2.03, respectively, per nine innings. However, a bloated home run-to-fly ball ratio (27.8 percent) led to a 5.52 ERA in 31 frames.
- The Twins have selected catcher Chris Gimenez‘s contract and placed reliever Glen Perkins on the 60-day disabled list, according to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Gimenez has a history in Cleveland, including last season. His time there helped him land a minor league pact with the Twins, whose new front office head, Derek Falvey, used to work for the Tribe. Gimenez, a lifetime .218/.297/.335 hitter in 776 PAs, has garnered slightly negative reviews as a framer and will back up the defensively adept Jason Castro in Minnesota. As for Perkins, the Twins’ former (and future?) closer, the three-time All-Star is continuing to rehab from the shoulder surgery he underwent last June. Perkins threw just two innings in 2016.
- The Indians have released left-hander Tim Cooney, who sat out of all last season because of shoulder problems and has dealt with a forearm strain this spring. Cleveland claimed Cooney off waivers from the Cardinals in November, a year after Cooney debuted in the majors and impressed across 31 1/3 innings and six starts. All told, Cooney registered a 3.16 ERA, 8.33 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9.
- The Orioles have selected veteran outfielder Craig Gentry‘s contract. The 33-year-old’s fate was reportedly tied to Rule 5 outfielder Aneury Tavarez, whom the Orioles returned to the Red Sox on Sunday. Gentry’s reemergence looked highly improbable a couple years ago, when he contemplated retirement after suffering a sixth concussion. He also only picked up limited major league experience over the past two seasons, and the Angels released him last year after he dealt with a spine injury. At his best, Gentry brought a solid blend of offense, defense and baserunning as a member of the Rangers from 2012-13. The right-handed hitter will now serve as a platoon option for a Baltimore team with lefty-swinging corner outfielders in Seth Smith and Hyun Soo Kim.
- The Mets have selected the contract of infielder Ty Kelly, who’s back on their 40-man roster after the team designated him for assignment in February. Kelly could have ended up elsewhere at that point, but he ultimately cleared waivers. The 28-year-old made his big league debut with New York last season, hitting .241/.352/.345 in 71 trips to the plate.
- The Reds have selected the contract of outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, who joined the organization as a waiver claim last September. Kivlehan debuted in the majors last year and picked up 24 plate appearances between San Diego and Cincinnati. The 27-year-old has mostly played at the Triple-A level, where he has slashed .255/.308/.477 in a combined 915 plate appearances with the Seattle, Texas and San Diego organizations.
- The Marlins have selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore, whom they signed to a minor league deal in December. Moore spent 2012-15 as a member of the NL East rival Nationals, with whom he hit .228/.281/.401 in 649 PAs. The 30-year-old was with another of the Marlins’ division rivals, the Braves, last season, but he didn’t make it to the majors. Instead, Moore was with Triple-A Gwinnett, where he batted just .229/.276/.375 over a small sample of PAs (106).
Reds Announce Minor-League Signings, Non-Roster Invitations
The Reds have announced 18 non-roster invitations to MLB camp this spring, as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. That includes a variety of internal players as well as a few outside additions: southpaw Lucas Luetge along with catchers Rob Brantly and Shawn Zarraga.
Luetge, 29, spent 2016 at Triple-A for the Angels after spending parts of four seasons in the majors with the Mariners. He ended the campaign with 55 2/3 innings of 4.85 ERA pitching. Though he managed a healthy 9.4 K/9, Luetge continued to issue a few too many free passes (4.7 BB/9).
The 27-year-old Brantly has seen action in three major league seasons, hitting .225/.286/.317 over 392 plate appearances. At Triple-A with the Mariners last year, he slashed .244/.268/.432 over 315 trips to the plate. He also chipped in a personal-best 14 long balls.
Zarraga, also 27, will also join the group of backstops hoping to establish a place in the pecking order. He reached base at a useful .384 clip in 99 Double-A plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2016, but struggled with the bat in limited action at the highest level of the minors. Zarraga is still looking for his first crack at the majors.
Other players receiving big league invites include, on the position-player side, catcher Chad Wallach, infielders Brandon Dixon, Tony Renda (who was recently outrighted), and Zach Vincej, utilitymen Hernan Iribarren (who will stay with Cincinnati after also being outrighted) and Patrick Kivlehan (claimed and then outrighted in October), as well as outfielders Sebastian Elizalde and Gabriel Guerrero (who was claimed, non-tendered, and then re-signed to a minors deal). Among pitchers, lefties Ismael Guillon and Nick Routt are joined by righties Alejandro Chacin, Jimmy Herget, Tyler Mahle, Evan Mitchell, Kevin Shackelford, and — perhaps most intriguingly — just-signed Cuban hurler Vladimir Gutierrez.
Reds Announce Five Outrights
The Reds announced this afternoon that outfielder Tyler Holt, infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, catcher Rafael Lopez and right-handed pitchers Matt Magill and Jon Moscot have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, thus removing each from the team’s 40-man roster.
Holt, 27, received the most big league playing time of the group this season, tallying 208 plate appearances across 106 games and batting .235/.327/.296. This marked the third season in which he’s seen some degree of Major League action — the entirety of which has come between Ohio’s two MLB teams. A longtime Cleveland farmhand, the former 10th-rounder (2010) is a career .228/.306/.274 hitter in 318 PAs as a Major Leaguer and a .304/.398/.382 hitter in Triple-A. He has enough time in the minors to elect free agency and will do just that, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.
Lopez, 29, appeared in just eight games and tallied seven hitless plate appearances with the Reds this season. He has only 21 PAs and two hits at the big league level to go along with a .259/.333/.322 slash through 175 Triple-A games in his pro career. He, too, will become a free agent, Sheldon notes.
The 26-year-old Magill returned to the Majors for the first time since 2013 when he was with the Dodgers, though his action was fairly limited, as he tossed just 4 1/3 innings across five games late in the year. Magill has a 6.47 ERA 32 Major League innings and has struggled greatly with his control, issuing more walks (33) than innings pitched (32). He does have a more respectable 4.57 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9 in his Triple-A career. Like both Holt and Lopez, Magill is headed for minor league free agency.
As for Kivlehan and Moscot, both will remain in the organization, as neither has the requisite Major League or minor league service time to elect free agency, and neither has been outrighted in the past. Kivlehan, who was designated for assignment last week, is a .282/.344/.470 career hitter in the minors, where he’s played both corner infield positions extensively and has seen limited action in all three outfield slots. The former Mariners prospect is set to turn 27 in December and could compete for a bench spot next spring. Moscot, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-July. He’ll presumably spend most of the next year rehabbing and hope to factor back into the Reds’ bullpen or rotation in late 2017 or early 2018. The 25-year-old has made eight starts for the Reds over the past two seasons but has an ERA just shy of 7.00 in that time, as he’s struggled to locate the ball effectively and to miss bats. Moscot does have a solid minor league track record, however, as he’s logged a 3.79 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2012 draft (including a 4.38 ERA in Triple-A).
Reds Claim Arismendy Alcantara, Designate Patrick Kivlehan
The Reds have claimed infielder/outfielder Arismendy Alcantara off waivers from the Athletics, Cincinnati announced. Fellow utility option Patrick Kivlehan — who was claimed just eight days ago from the Padres — was designated for assignment to clear roster space.
Alcantara, 24, was once one of the more well-regarded prospects in the Cubs’ minor league ranks, but his promising production at Double-A and Triple-A as a 21-year-old and 22-year-old, respectively, hasn’t carried over to the big league level. Alcantara hit .271/.351/.452 with Double-A Tennessee back in 2013 and followed that up with a huge .307/.353/.537 slash with Triple-A Iowa the following season. Both of those impressive stints fueled a promotion to the Majors in ’14, but Alcantara floundered through 300 plate appearances that year, and his bat regressed at Triple-A in 2015. All told, he’s a career .195/.249/.337 hitter through 351 big league plate appearances, though he did post a respectable .278/.325/.467 slash in 108 Triple-A contests this season.
Alcantara has experience playing a slew of positions and can give the Reds another versatile option to move around the diamond. He’s played mostly second base and center field at the Major League level but also has professional experience at shortstop, third base and in both outfield corners.
As for Kivlehan, his stay on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster proved to be brief. The former Rangers/Mariners farmhand was claimed off waivers in late September. In the past calendar year, Kivlehan has been traded from the Mariners to the Rangers, only to be sent back to Seattle before being claimed off waivers by the Padres and later by the Reds. He’ll now potentially land with a fifth organization in the past 12 months. The 26-year-old has just 24 big league plate appearances but is a .282/.344/.470 career hitter in the minors, where he’s played both corner infield positions extensively and has seen limited action in all three outfield slots.
Reds Claim Patrick Kivlehan
The Reds have claimed utilityman Patrick Kivlehan off waivers from the Padres, the Cincinnati organization announced. Kivlehan had been designated for assignment by San Diego.
Entering the year, the 26-year-old had spent his entire professional career in the Mariners organization, moving steadily up the ladder but never having earned a big league promotion. That all changed with a wild 2016 campaign for the former fourth-round draft pick.
Kivlehan is now on to his fourth team of the year with today’s claim. In between his time in Seattle and his forthcoming stint with Cinci, he saw action in the Rangers and Padres organizations. The latter of those afforded him his first big league opportunity, with Kivlehan logging four hits (including one home run) in his first 19 plate appearances.
For most of this year, Kivlehan has played at Triple-A with his various teams. In 397 total plate appearances, he owns a .254/.302/.416 batting line with 12 home runs. Since beginning his pro career as a third baseman, Kivlehan has increasingly spent time also in the corner outfield as well as at first base.
Padres Designate Patrick Kivlehan, Nick Noonan
The Padres have designated outfielder Patrick Kivlehan and infielder Nick Noonan for assignment, the team announced. Their 40-man roster spots were needed for the team’s wave of prospect call-ups, which were also made official.
Though he earned his first MLB promotion, hitting well in just five games of action, Kivlehan will presumably find his way to another club after a year of constant change. (San Diego was his third team in 2016.) Kivlehan spent most of the season at the highest level of the minors, posting a .254/.302/.416 slash with a dozen homers in 397 trips to the dish.
Noonan, 27, received only brief major league time this season — his first as a member of an organization other than the division-rival Giants. Over 374 plate appearances at Triple-A, Noonan has posted a .301/.338/.427 batting line.