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Orioles Sign Asher Wojciechowski, Four Others To Minors Deals

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The Orioles have signed righty Asher Wojciechowski and four other hurlers to minor-league pacts, according to a club announcement. Wojciechowski’s signing was first reported by Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun, via Twitter. Also joining the Baltimore organization are lefties Jason Gurka and Luis Lugo and righties Christian Binford and Perci Garner.

Wojciechowski, who’s nearing his 29th birthday, got his first full shot at the majors last year with the Reds. But he scuffled to a 6.50 ERA in 62 1/3 innings while coughing up 14 long balls. On the positive side, Wojciechowski did manage to record 64 strikeouts against 19 walks, and was much more effective in limited minor-league action. Needless to say, getting the dingers under control will be a key if Wojciechowski is to have any success pitching in Camden Yards, though he’ll have to earn his way there first.

As for the others, Lugo topped out at Double-A with the Indians, where he pitched to a 4.35 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 134 1/3 innings in 2017. Binford, a former Royals prospect, has failed to succeed at the highest level of the minors despite making it there in each of the past four seasons. Most recently, he allowed 7.24 earned per nine over 115 2/3 frames. We covered Garner’s addition yesterday.

Then there’s Gurka, who is now 29 and broke into the professional ranks as a 15th round pick by the Orioles back in 2008. He has seen minimal MLB time but has mostly thrown at Triple-A of late. In 2017, he compiled 50 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, with 9.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, with the Angels’ and Yankees’ top affiliates.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/30/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • Joining the Orioles on a minors deal is righty Perci Garner, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Soon to turn 29, Garner struggled in limited action in an injury-limited 2017 season. But he did show a 95 mph heater and 14.4% swinging-strike rate in his brief foray into the majors in 2016, and worked to a 1.83 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 78 2/3 frames in the upper minors that year. Notably, too, Garner’s innings tally came in just 41 relief appearances, suggesting that the former starter could have some multi-inning potential.
  • Infielder/outfielder Jimmy Paredes has joined the KBO’s Doosan Bears, as Korea’s Naver Sports reports (Korean language link; h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). He’ll receive a $800K salary for the 2018 season. Paredes has seen just over a thousand MLB plate appearances in parts of six seasons, slashing only .251/.286/.369. He spent the 2017 campaign with Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines, where he produced a .219/.270/.364 slash with ten home runs in 289 trips to the plate.

Earlier Updates

  • The Tigers announced that they have completed their summer swap with the Cubs by acquiring cash rather than a player to be named. That deal sent Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes to Detroit in exchange for veterans Justin Wilson and Alex Avila. The amount of cash that’s now changing hands isn’t known. Obviously, the key to this deal from the Tigers’ perspective was Candelario. The 24-year-old had an impressive initial showing upon reaching the majors with his new organization, slashing .330/.406/.468 in 106 plate appearances.
  • Anthony Gose is joining the Rangers on a minors deal, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter links). He’s expected both to function as a left-handed reliever — as he did last year in the minors — and to play the outfield — as he long did previously, including at the major-league level. Gose, who’s still just 27, recorded 14 strikeouts and six walks while allowing nine earned runs in 10 2/3 innings at the High-A level in 2017. Elbow issues halted his season at that point. Though Gose never showed quite enough bat in the majors, which is why he ended up attempting the conversion, he does have a useful skillset — quality speed and defense — that would make him a hypothetically interesting roster piece if he can develop sufficiently on the mound.
  • Joining the Twins on minor-league pacts are outfielder Ryan LaMarre, catcher Bobby Wilson, righty Myles Jaye, and catcher/infielder Willians Astudillo, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. LaMarre has reached the majors very briefly in each of the past three seasons; he spent most of last year at Triple-A with the Athletics and Angels organizations, slashing just .247/.328/.300 in 194 plate appearances. The 34-year-old Wilson, an eight-year MLB veteran, hit .243/.318/.428 for the Dodgers’ top affiliate lat year and will likely head to Rochester for depth. Jaye, who’ll soon turn 26, struggled in his first chance at the game’s highest level last year but has also compiled three consecutive sub-4.00 ERA seasons in the upper minors. The versatile Astudillo — the only member of this group that hasn’t tasted the bigs — posted great numbers in limited action at Triple-A last year but is a lifetime .750 OPS hitter in the minors.
  • The Marlins have added righty Drew Rucinski on a minors deal, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). Rucinski, who turns 29 at the end of December, has seen minimal action in three MLB campaigns. He transitioned to full-time relief in 2017 for the first time since his earliest work in the low minors, with fairly promising results. In 63 frames at Triple-A, Rucinski compiled a 2.57 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/10/17

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Thursday’s minor transactions from around baseball:

  • The Mariners announced that they’ve outrighted catcher Tuffy Gosewisch to Triple-A Tacoma. The team designated Gosewisch for assignment after its minor trade with the Rays last weekend. Gosewisch hadn’t suited up for the Mariners since May, a month in which he appeared in 11 games and struggled to an .071/.103/.071 line in 31 plate appearances. The 33-year-old has been better this season in Tacoma, albeit not great, with a .219/.310/.358 performance in 249 PAs. To Gosewisch’s credit, though, he has done a nice job holding would-be base stealers at bay throughout his pro career, and has caught 18 of 52 attempted thieves (35 percent) with the Rainiers this season.
  • Angels outfielder Shane Robinson was also outrighted to Triple-A. He’ll return to Salt Lake, where he has batted .338/.397/.436 in 298 trips to the plate this year, after hitting just .200/.276/.200 in 29 tries with the Angels. They designated him Monday.
  • Blue Jays right-hander Mike Bolsinger was outrighted, too, the club announced. The Jays designated Bolsinger last weekend for the third time this year. With a 6.31 ERA over 41 1/3 innings this season, Bolsinger hasn’t fared well at all in Toronto. The 29-year-old has been excellent with Triple-A Buffalo, though, having notched a 1.60 ERA, 6.95 K/9 and 1.07 BB/9 over 33 2/3 frames.
  • The Indians have re-signed righty Perci Garner to a minor league contract, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Cleveland just released Garner, 28, a week ago. Injuries have limited him to 15 2/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A this year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/3/17

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • Per an announcement from the Indians, righty Perci Garner has been released after clearing waivers. Garner was designated for assignment recently. The 28-year-old cracked the majors briefly last year and showed well in the minors, but he has missed a lot of time in 2017 for injury reasons that remain less than clear. When he has pitched, his control issues have resurfaced. Through 14 1/3 Double-A frames, Garner permitted nine walks but also rang up 18 strikeouts while allowing five runs on only seven hits. But he managed to permit seven earned runs on only one hit in his three appearances at Triple-A, owing to eight free passes in just 1 1/3 innings.
  • The Marlins have acquired outfielder Eury Perez from the Pirates, per an announcement from the Indianapolis Indians. Perez had been playing for Indianapolis, the Bucs’ top affiliate, since joining the organization on a minors deal over  the winter. He has been productive at the plate (.336/.400/.433) continued to run wild on the bases (22 steals) in a fifty game sample. Perez has seen MLB action in four seasons, though he has just 156 total plate appearances — with a poor .254/.307/.282 batting line — at the game’s highest level.
  • The Tigers are set to select the contract of veteran right-hander Edward Mujica, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). The 33-year-old hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2015, as he’s spent the past season plus between the Triple-A affiliates for the Phillies, Royals, Twins and Tigers. The former Cardinals closer has generally been excellent in Toledo this season, though, logging 46 innings with 7.4 K/9, 1.0 BB/9 and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 2.35 earned run average. He’ll join a Tigers ’pen that has an MLB-worst 5.18 ERA and recently traded its best reliever, Justin Wilson.

Indians Acquire Joe Smith

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The Indians have acquired right-hander Joe Smith from the Blue Jays, The side-arming reliever, a free agent at season’s end, will return to Cleveland for his second stint with the Indians. Minor league lefty Thomas Pannone and shortstop Samad Taylor are going to the Jays to complete the deal.  Righty Perci Garner has been designated for assignment by the Tribe to make roster space for Smith.

Jun 14, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Joe Smith (38) throws a pitch in the eighth inning during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The 33-year-old Smith enjoyed five excellent seasons in Cleveland, pitching to a 2.76 ERA in 271 innings there from 2009-13. Since that time, he’s produced quality results in both Anaheim and in Toronto, although his 2017 campaign has been slowed by a roughly month-long stay on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder.

That said, Smith has been outstanding, when healthy, thus far in 2017. Through 35 2/3 innings, he’s averaged 12.9 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 with a 43.2 percent ground-ball rate. The resulting 3.28 ERA looks solid in its own right but is buoyed by even more impressive FIP (2.31), xFIP (2.46) and SIERA (2.42) marks — suggesting that there’s yet room for improvement down the stretch.

Smith is earning a modest $3MM in 2017, and he’s owed the balance of that figure — roughly $1.03MM — through the end of the year. In the interim, he’ll slot into a formidable Indians relief corps that is anchored by Andrew Miller and Cody Allen but also features a number of strong right-handed options, including Zach McAllister, Nick Goody, Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw.

MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal (on Twitter) reported the trade. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweeted the return after Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter) that it involved two lower-level minor leaguers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Moves: White Sox, Indians

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Here’s a look at today’s minor moves..

  • The White Sox signed right-hander Euclides Leyer, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter).  The White Sox had Leyer in their system for five years before losing him to the Reds in this year’s Rule 5 Draft.  In 34 appearances for the team’s Advanced-A team, Leyer pitched to a 4.53 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.
  • The Indians signed minor league pitcher Perci Garner, according to Eddy (link).  Garner, 26, was a former second-round choice of the Phillies but was never able to produce consistently in their farm system.

Minor Moves: Burton, Garner, Toles

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Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around MLB:

  • Three days after releasing him, the Yankees have signed right-hander Jared Burton to a minor league deal, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Burton was an Article XX(B) free agent, so the release/re-signing allows the Yankees to avoid paying the reliever a $100K retention bonus to remain in the organization.
  • The Phillies have released their 2010 second-round pick right-hander Perci Garner, tweets CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. Garner never advanced beyond Double-A and compiled a mark of 4.50 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 during 87 appearances (73 starts) in his five seasons in the Philadelphia organization.
  • The Rays have released outfielder Andrew Toles, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Toles, the Rays’ 2013 minor league player of the year, posted a line of .261/.302/.337 in 218 plate appearances last year at Class A-Advanced Charlotte despite missing two months for personal reasons. The 22-year-old was a third-round selection of the Rays in the 2012 draft.

Phillies Agree To Terms With Draft Pick Garner

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The Phillies have agreed to terms with second-round draft pick Perci Garner, MLBTR has learned. The right-hander, out of Ball State, was drafted 77th overall yesterday by Philadelphia.

According to MLB.com's Zach Schonbrun, Garner shot up a few draft boards after hitting 96 mph with his fastball earlier this season. Phillies scouting director Marti Wolever expressed optimism about Garner's potential:

"He's very athletic…. We think he's got tremendous topside, great live body, loose arm, [a] chance to have at least three quality pitches."

The Phillies also agreed to a deal with first-round selection Jesse Biddle, and have now locked up their top two picks from this year's draft.

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