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Brock Holt Granted Release From Braves

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The Braves announced this morning that veteran utilityman Brock Holt requested and was granted his release. He’d been in camp on a minor league deal in hopes of winning a roster spot in Atlanta but will now return to the open market in search of a new opportunity.

It’s common for veteran players to exercise out clauses and/or request their release in this manner late in Spring Training. Manager Brian Snitker tells reporters that Holt had been informed he would not make the team (Twitter link via Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and the club honored his request to explore other options. Veterans Phil Gosselin and Pat Valaika are still vying for a utility spot, Toscano adds.

Holt, 33, spent the 2021 season with the Rangers and appeared in 77 games, batting .209/.281/.298 in 260 trips to the plate. That rough season continued a downturn at the plate that began in 2020, but Holt still isn’t too far removed from a productive 2018-19 stretch in Boston that saw him slash .286/.366/.407 in a larger sample of 662 plate appearances.

A left-handed hitter known for his defensive versatility, Holt’s jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none skill set has found him consistent opportunities at the big league level dating back to 2014. He’s played every position on the diamond with the exception of catcher, including 2 1/3 innings on the mound. Holt’s work in center field is limited to just 75 innings, but beyond that he’s played at least 224 innings in both outfield corners and at all four infield slots.

With rosters expanding to 28 players for the early portion of the season, a versatile veteran with Holt’s overall track record at the plate — he’s a .262/.332/.362 hitter in 2661 MLB plate appearances — ought to have interest from other clubs. For what it’s worth, he went 3-for-9 with a home run, a double and a walk in his limited time with the Braves this spring.

Braves To Sign Phil Gosselin To Minors Deal

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The Braves are set to sign infielder Phil Gosselin to a minor-league deal, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter).

Gosselin originally entered the league as a Braves’ draft pick back in 2010 when they selected him in the fifth round out of the University of Virginia. He made his Major League debut with a cup of coffee during the 2013 season. The Braves sent him to Arizona for Bronson Arroyo and Touki Toussaint in June 0f 2015. The Braves briefly claimed him off waivers in 2018, but he did not make it back to the Major League roster with Atlanta that season.

Gosselin saw more playing time in 2021 than at any other time during his big league career, garnering 373 plate appearances with the Angels in his age-32 season.  He posted a .261/.314/.362 line, good for an 87 wRC+. He can play all over the diamond, spending most of 2021 split between first base, third base, and left field, though he appeared everywhere in his career except for center field and catcher.

He’ll have the opportunity to compete for a utility role in Atlanta that has recently been held by Ehire Adrianza, Charlie Culberson, and Orlando Arcia, the latter of whom remains on the roster.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/30/21

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The deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players has come and gone. The Tigers’ decision to non-tender Matthew Boyd — more on that here — represents the most prominent name cast into free agency tonight, but here’s a quick rundown of the rest of the non-tenders in the American League.

Note that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco also has a rundown of this year’s National League non-tenders, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz published his annual projected arbitration salaries earlier this offseason.

Onto the transactions…

  • Outfielder Tim Locastro was non-tendered by the Red Sox, the team announced. The speedy HBP-magnet was claimed off waivers from the Yankees earlier this month after an injury-marred season. He is likely to be an in-demand depth option for teams if his ACL tear recovery goes well.
  • The Rangers announced that outfielder Billy McKinney and catchers David Garcia and Yohel Pozo were non-tendered. Texas also assigned outfielder DJ Peters outright to Triple-A Salt Lake after he went unclaimed on waivers.
  • The Royals non-tendered lefty Richard Lovelady, per a club announcement. Lovelady underwent Tommy John surgery late in the 2021 season and is expected to be sidelined for the entirety of the 2022 season.
  • The Twins non-tendered right-hander Juan Minaya, left-hander Danny Coulombe and right-hander Trevor Megill, per a team announcement. Megill’s non-tender is particularly curious, as he was only just claimed off waivers a few hours ago and was not arbitration-eligible. Presumably, the team will try to quickly re-sign him to a minor league pact and bring him to Spring Training as a depth piece.
  • Infielder Phil Gosselin has been non-tendered by the Angels, per an announcement from the team. The journeyman saw a career-high 373 plate appearances in 2021, but is unlikely to challenge that number next year owing to below average offensive and defensive metrics.

Angels Select Phil Gosselin, Designate Scott Schebler

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The Angels have selected the contract of infielder Phil Gosselin and designated outfielder Scott Schebler for assignment, per a team announcement.

This is now the ninth straight season in the bigs for Gosselin, whom the Angels signed to a minor league contract over the winter. The 32-year-old has appeared in the majors with six teams, most recently the Phillies, and put together a .261/.314/.361 line in 749 plate appearances. Gosselin has experience at several positions, including third base, where he’ll start for the Angels on Tuesday. Starter Anthony Rendon will sit because of a knee contusion.

Schebler, another of the Angels’ offseason minor league additions, had his contract selected in mid-April. The two-time 30-home run hitter has failed to impress since then, however, with a mere four hits (three doubles and a single) in 27 plate appearances. Schebler struck out 11 times while recording no walks during that span.

Angels To Sign Phil Gosselin

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The Angels have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran infielder Phil Gosselin and invited him to Major League Spring Training, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya (Twitter link).

Gosselin, 32, spent the 2019-20 seasons with the Phillies and batted .255/.312/.363 with three homers and eight doubles in 170  trips to the plate. The well-traveled utilityman has seen MLB time with the Braves, D-backs, Rangers, Reds and Pirates in addition to his work in Philadelphia. Defensively, Gosselin has spent the bulk of his MLB time at second base, although he has experience at all four infield spots and has seen time in the outfield corners as well.

The Angels have a full infield, with David Fletcher at second base, offseason trade acquisition Jose Iglesias at shortstop and Anthony Rendon at third base. Gosselin will compete with former top prospect Franklin Barreto, waiver claim Robel Garcia and 24-year-old Luis Rengifo for backup time around the infield. Barreto is out of minor league options, which likely helps his case, but it’s possible the Halos could carry more than one backup infielder.

Phillies Decline David Phelps’ Option

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The Phillies announced they’ve declined their $4.5MM club option on right-hander David Phelps. He’ll receive a $250K buyout and hit free agency. The Phillies also declined their $7MM option on fellow reliever Héctor Neris, although he remains on the roster as an arbitration-eligible player. Philadelphia also confirmed the previously-reported declination of David Robertson’s club option.

Additionally, utilityman Phil Gosselin, right-handers Heath Hembree and Blake Parker and southpaw Adam Morgan have all cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Right-hander Johan Quezada, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from the Marlins.

Phelps came over from the Brewers in a midseason swap for three low-level prospects. The hope was that he’d help salvage a bullpen that had been the club’s weak point. Unfortunately, he was tattooed for eleven runs in 7.2 innings down the stretch. Phelps’ overall strikeout and walk numbers were stellar, but massive home run problems led to a 6.53 ERA.

Neris is projected for a salary between $4.8MM and $6.4MM in arbitration if tendered. That made declining the option an easy call, and it’s possible Neris ultimately winds up non-tendered.

Phillies Designate Robert Stock For Assignment, Set Opening Day Roster

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The Phillies set their Opening Day roster this morning, announcing within their press release that righty Robert Stock was designated for assignment. The club has selected the contracts of veteran infielder Neil Walker and right-handers Trevor Kelley and Ramon Rosso. The Phils also reinstated Scott Kingery, Hector Neris, Tommy Hunter and lefty Austin Davis from the injured list. The Phils’ initial roster only includes 29 players, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki notes, but it seems they could yet add veteran infielder Phil Gosselin to the mix. They’ll first need to make another 40-man move to clear space on the roster, however, which is likely the reason he has not yet been included.

Stock, 30, averages nearly 98 mph on his heater and posted a 4.11 ERA with 9.5 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate in 50 1/3 innings with the Padres between 2018-19. That’s a solid-enough resume, but he’s still bounced from St. Louis, to Houston, to Pittsburgh, to Cincinnati, to San Diego and Philadelphia since being a 2009 second-round pick and has only these past two seasons of MLB work on his resume.

Injuries have played their role, but Stock also has struggled to locate the ball throughout his time in the minor leagues (career 5.5 BB/9). He has a pair of minor league options remaining and was claimed by the Phils the last time he hit waivers, so perhaps another club will speculate on his powerful right arm.

It was already known that the veteran Walker would make the club’s Opening Day roster. The former Pirates stalwart has long been a steady producer and has recently added more positions to his repertoire, appearing at third base, first base and in the outfield corners. The switch-hitter batted .261/.344/.395 in 381 plate appearances with the Marlins last year and won a spot on the Phillies over veterans Logan Forsythe and Josh Harrison, among others.

Rosso, 24, has a strong minor league track record as a starter but seems likelier to operate out of the bullpen early in the season. It’ll be his MLB debut whenever he gets into a game. Kelley appeared in the big leagues with th Red Sox last year and was a waiver claim by the Phils, who later outrighted him off the 40-man but kept him in the organization. He pitched his way back into the mix this summer and will get his first MLB look with the Phils in the near future.

Phillies To Re-Sign Phil Gosselin

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The Phillies have agreed to re-sign veteran infielder Phil Gosselin to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. He’s represented by Meister Sports Management.

Gosselin, 31, appeared in 44 games with the Phillies in 2019 and spent the rest of the year with their Triple-A club, where he hit .314/.405/.497 in 353 trips to the dish. He was limited to a pinch-hitting and defensive replacement role in the big leagues and went 17-for-65 with three doubles (.262/.294/.308 on the whole).

Gosselin has played primarily second base in the Majors but has experience at all four infield spots and in the outfield corners as well. He’s a veteran of 320 games spanning parts of seven Major League seasons and has batted .263/.312/.355 in 647 big league plate appearances. He’s unlikely to play a major role with the Phillies next year but provides some versatile depth to stash in Triple-A or perhaps to bring north from Clearwater as the team’s 26th man on next year’s expanded regular-season rosters. He’ll join fellow veteran Josh Harrison in competing for a spot in an infield that recently subtracted both Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez (non-tenders) but added Didi Gregorius on a one-year free-agent deal.

Phillies Announce Flurry Of Roster Moves

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The Phillies have announced a wide slate of roster moves today, setting the team up for another fascinating offseason. In particular, the club has shorn a big chunk of its 2019 pitching staff from the roster in one fell swoop.

Philadelphia declined club options over righty Jared Hughes, righty Pat Neshek, and lefty Jason Vargas. Also heading to the open market are five players were outrighted: infielder Phil Gosselin and righties Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Morin, Blake Parker, and Edubray Ramos.

That’s a big chunk of innings going onto the open market despite ongoing control rights. To be exact, the Phils are kicking 219 2/3 of their frames from 2019 back into free agency. It’s hard to argue with any of the decisions.

Hughes was solid as a late-season gap-filler, but didn’t rate at a $3MM price tag for 2020. He’ll get a $250K buyout on the way out. Neshek takes $750K with him instead of pitching for $7MM. That’s no surprise after he was limited to 18 frames due to injury. Vargas is due a $2MM buyout instead of a $8MM salary; the Phils evidently feel they can do better in the rotation on the open market this winter.

The biggest departure is that of Eickhoff. The once-promising starter projected to earn only $1.5MM, with one more season of control thereafter, but the Phils decided to cut bait after watching him struggle to a 5.71 ERA over 58 1/3 innings. Eickhoff had a few encouraging outings upon his return from a long injury layoff, but struggled thereafter and was again sidelined with arm woes.

The other three were also eligible for arbitration. Morin, who has a $1.2MM projected arb salary, struggled to get strikeouts during his stint with the club. Parker surprisingly turned in 11.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 25 frames but also gave up a host of homers and earned runs. Perhaps he’d have been worth a lower-cost keeper price but the Phils weren’t biting at a projected $4.7MM. The 26-year-old Ramos entered the year as a key piece but struggled with injuries and showed a velocity decline when he was available. He projected to earn only $800K, but the team may not have been convinced of his ability to return to full health.

Meanwhile, a host of players were added back to the 40-man roster. Among the players activated from the 60-day injured list is starter Jake Arrieta, who has exercised his player option and will remain with the organization. On the heels of a messy, injury-marred campaign, that comes as no surprise. Additionally, outfielder Odubel Herrera was reinstated from the restricted list after the conclusion of his suspension for a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy. His future with the organization remains unclear following this procedural move.

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