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Phillip Diehl

15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Mets Acquire Tyler Naquin, Phillip Diehl From Reds

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The Reds and Mets have lined up on a trade sending outfielder Tyler Naquin and minor league reliever Phillip Diehl from Cincinnati to New York. In exchange, the Reds are acquiring a pair of low minors prospects, right-hander Jose Acuña and second baseman Hector Rodríguez. Both clubs have announced the agreement.

Naquin had been one of the more obvious trade candidates around the league. The 31-year-old is set to reach free agency at the end of the season, so there was little reason for the last-place Reds not to look to move him for future value. He’ll head to Queens as the second left-handed bat the Mets have added in as many weeks. New York picked up first baseman/designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach in a deal with the Pirates last Friday.

A former first-round pick of Cleveland, Naquin had an excellent rookie season back in 2016. His offensive productivity was up-and-down for the rest of his time there, but he’s settled in as a solid platoon bat over the past two years. Naquin signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati over the 2020-21 offseason, and he cracked the Opening Day roster last year. That paved for the way for a season and a half as a Red, in which he posted a .262/.324/.462 line through 655 plate appearances.

That overall offensive productivity is a hair above average, and Naquin has been quite good when holding the platoon advantage. He’s popped 23 homers in 542 plate appearances against right-handed pitching over the past couple seasons, compiling a .278/.338/.503 mark against righties. That power has translated outside of the Reds hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park, and the Mets figure to leverage him as a platoon player down the stretch.

The Mets have one of the game’s best outfields, with a trio of Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte manning the grass. Canha and Marte will continue to pick up the lion’s share of playing time in the corners, but Naquin complements those veteran right-handed bats. He’ll also supplement a DH group that includes Vogelbach and Dominic Smith from the left side, as well as the righty-swinging J.D. Davis.

Naquin’s acquisition seemingly increases the likelihood that at least one of Smith or Davis gets dealt before next Tuesday’s deadline. The Mets have been on the hunt for offensive help for weeks, largely due to dissatisfaction with Smith’s and Davis’ performance. Adding a pair of DH/bench bats to an already full outfield and with superstar Pete Alonso at first base further clutters that group. Each of Smith and Davis has minor league options remaining, and the Mets have already optioned Smith this year. That’s a possibility if the club simply wants to stockpile as much depth as possible, but it also stands to reason they’d be open to trade opportunities.

The Mets will seemingly add a bit of money to the payroll, as there’s no indication cash considerations are changing hands. Naquin is playing this season on a $4.025MM salary, around $1.525MM of which is still to be paid. The Mets luxury tax figure is narrowly above the $290MM threshold, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, a team that exceeds $290MM (the fourth and highest tier of CBT penalization) is taxed at an 80% rate for every dollar thereafter.

In addition to Naquin, the Mets add some non-roster bullpen depth. Diehl, who was outrighted off the Reds 40-man roster in May, won’t immediately occupy a spot on New York’s 40-man. He’s spent the bulk of the season with the Reds top affiliate in Louisville, working to a 4.24 ERA through 23 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old has an excellent 30.6% strikeout rate against a decent 8.2% walk percentage, although his fly-ball oriented approach has made him fairly home run prone.

New York’s left-handed relief depth is thin, with Joely Rodríguez and recent waiver claim Sam Clay the only two bullpen southpaws on the 40-man roster. Clay has been hit hard in four appearances with Triple-A Syracuse and has yet to appear in an MLB game as a Met. Rodríguez, acquired from the Yankees shortly before the season, owns a 5.93 ERA across 27 1/3 innings on the year. He’s striking out batters and inducing grounders at a decent clip, but he’s also walked a massive 16.3% of batters faced. Left-handed relief help figures to continue to be a target over the next few days even with Diehl bolstering the organizational depth.

To create space for Naquin on the 40-man roster, the Mets announced they’ve designated reliever R.J. Alvarez for assignment. The righty was selected onto the roster earlier this month but didn’t wind up making an MLB appearance. He’s had a nice season in Syracuse, working to a 3.16 ERA through 31 1/3 frames. The Mets will presumably place the 31-year-old on waivers in the coming days.

The Reds, meanwhile, add some talent to the lower levels. Rodríguez, an 18-year-old infielder, was recently ranked by Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs as the #30 prospect in the Mets organization. Longenhagen writes that the left-handed hitter has excellent bat control, but he has limited power upside in a 5’8″ frame.  He was recently signed out of the Dominican Republic. Acuña, 19, was recently promoted to Low-A. He has never appeared on an organizational prospect list at FanGraphs or Baseball America.

It’s the first move of what’s likely to be a busy few days for Cincinnati general manager Nick Krall and his staff. Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle are the club’s top trade candidates, but they also have a host of rental bats who should generate interest. Beyond Naquin, Cincinnati could market impending free agent hitters Brandon Drury, Donovan Solano and Tommy Pham to contenders.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Mets were acquiring Diehl. Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the Mets were acquiring Naquin. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was first to report the prospect return.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Reds Designate Phillip Diehl, Re-Sign Buck Farmer

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TODAY: Farmer did reject the outright assignment and become a free agent, but then re-signed with the Reds on a new minor league contract.

MAY 9: The Reds announced this afternoon they’ve designated left-handed reliever Phillip Diehl for assignment. The move opens an active roster spot for Luis Castillo, who was reinstated from the injured list to start tonight’s game as expected.

Diehl, a Cincinnati native, was selected to the majors by his hometown club in late April. It marked his first MLB call since a 2019-20 stint with the Rockies, and he ultimately appeared in five games. Diehl allowed seven runs in just 5 2/3 innings, with his three home runs allowed proving a particular undoing. The longball had also been problematic during his time in Colorado, and Diehl has now surrendered six homers in 19 big league innings.

The 27-year-old is out of minor league option years, meaning the Reds had to bump Diehl off the 40-man roster if they weren’t going to keep him in the majors. In so doing, they remove the only southpaw bullpen option who’d been on the major league team. Veteran Justin Wilson is on the injured list, and starter Reiver Sanmartín — recently optioned to Triple-A Louisville — is rather remarkably the only currently healthy left-handed pitcher on the Reds’ 40-man roster.

The Reds will have a week to trade Diehl or try to run him through waivers. He struck out 11 batters while issuing just one walk in eight innings with the Bats before being called up, so it stands to reason they’d prefer to keep him in the organization as a non-roster player. Diehl has been outrighted in the past and would have the right to elect minor league free agency if he clears waivers, however.

Cincinnati also announced that reliever Buck Farmer, who had been designated for assignment on Friday, passed through waivers unclaimed and was outrighted to Louisville. The team didn’t specify whether Farmer had chosen to accept or reject the assignment. As a player with five-plus years of big league service time, Farmer can forego the minors in favor of free agency while still collecting what remains of this year’s $850K salary.

Reds To Select Phillip Diehl

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12:45pm: The Reds announced the move, adding that lefty Justin Wilson is heading to the 10-day injured list with a soreness in his left elbow. With Wilson sidelined and Diehl up in the Majors, the Reds will still have just one lone southpaw option in the bullpen.

11:25am: The Reds are selecting the contract of left-handed reliever Phillip Diehl, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’ll be the Cincinnati native’s first big league work since appearing with the Rockies in 2020. The Reds have an open spot on the 40-man roster at the moment, so no corresponding 40-man move was necessary. The team hasn’t yet announced the transaction, though, so it’s possible it’ll be accompanied by other roster moves.

Diehl, 27, is in his second season with his hometown organization. He spent the 2021 season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, where he pitched to a terrific 2.47 ERA with a 33%  strikeout rate against a 5.6% walk rate in 54 2/3 innings of relief. Despite that showing, Diehl didn’t get a look in the big leagues with the Reds, who claimed him off waivers from the Rockies in early April and passed him through waivers a month later.

This season, Diehl has has yielded four earned runs on five hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts through eight frames. He’ll give manager David Bell a second southpaw option in a bullpen that had previously only included veteran Justin Wilson.

In 13 1/3 career Major League innings, Diehl has allowed 13 runs. He’s been outstanding at Triple-A dating back to last season, however, and has a long history of both missing bats (31.1% strikeout rate) and limiting free passes (6.7% walk rate) in parts of six minor league seasons.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/4/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball:

  • Reds left-hander Phillip Diehl cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. The Reds added Diehl as a waiver claim from the Rockies on April 14, but the Cincinnati native didn’t appear in a game with his hometown team before they designated him for assignment last weekend. The 26-year-old’s only big league experience so far came from 2019-20 as a member of the Rockies, with whom he pitched a total of 13 1/3 innings and yielded 13 earned runs on 17 hits. Diehl also struggled in Triple-A during the offensively charged 2019 minor league season, but he has registered dominant numbers at the lower levels of the minors. He amassed 40 Double-A innings from 2018-19 and put up a minuscule 0.90 ERA with 41 strikeouts, 14 walks and just 23 hits allowed.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Reds, Phillies

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The Cubs and Reds put on a real barn-burner today in Cincinnati. Cubs’ centerfielder Ian Happ tied the game 12-12 with a three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning – the tenth deep shot of the game. Unfortunately, in the bottom half of the inning, Happ collided with second baseman Nico Hoerner on a short pop fly. Hoerner made the catch, but Happ struggled to get to his feet and was ultimately carted off the field. He appeared cognizant, but a concussion could be in play for Happ, who had three hits in his best offensive performance of the year. With Happ out, the Cubs turned to Willson Contreras, who himself was only available in case of an emergency. Contreras, however, was the last position player on the bench, so he came in to catch while Tony Wolters moved to second, Hoerner moved to left, and Kris Bryant replaced Happ in center. While we await an update on Happ, let’s get some roster updates from around the game…

  • The Reds claimed Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Rockies and designated Phillip Diehl for assignment, the team announced. The 6’6″ righty made his Major League debut for the Rockies in 2020, tossing 8 1/3 innings across four appearances. The 28-year-old has yet to make an appearance this season. Diehl also pitched for the Rockies last season. The Reds claimed him off waivers on April 14th, but he did not appear in a game for the Reds.
  • The Phillies have reinstated Roman Quinn from the COVID-related injured list, returning Mickey Moniak to the alternate site, per the team. Moniak, still just 22 years old, has just a .120/.214/240 batting line in 28 plate appearances this season. The speedy Quinn has also struggled at the plate, slashing .083/.250/.111 in 44 plate appearances this season.

Reds Claim Phillip Diehl, Transfer Michael Lorenzen To 60-Day Injured List

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2:28pm: Lorenzen had a setback in his initial recovery from the shoulder strain and, after getting a second opinion from a specialist, recently received a plasma-rich platelet injection, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. He’s scheduled for a second such injection in two weeks, and the Reds are hopeful that he’ll be able to return sometime in the month of June. That, of course, is dependent on how his shoulder responds to the pair of injections, though.

2:21pm: The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed lefty Phillip Diehl off waivers from the Rockies and optioned him to their alternate training site. Righty Michael Lorenzen was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Lorenzen has been battling a shoulder strain, and manager David Bell recently told reporters that the right-hander’s recovery was “not going as fast as [Lorenzen] would like.”

The waiver claim represents a homecoming for the 26-year-old Diehl, a Cincinnati native who attended Moeller High School before playing his college ball at Louisiana Tech. The Rockies acquired Diehl from the Yankees in exchange for Mike Tauchman — a trade they’d surely like back — and Diehl has been tagged for 13 runs in 13 1/3 innings to this point in his brief career. It’s a small sample, so take this with a grain of salt, but all 13 of those runs have come in 6 1/3 innings at Coors Field; Diehl is unscored upon on the road.

Diehl was hit hard in his lone season of Triple-A ball, recording a 6.75 ERA and serving up a staggering 16 home runs in 45 1/3 frames. That came in 2019’s juiced ball season, however, and he was excellent throughout his minor league career to that point. He boasts a 0.90 ERA in 40 innings of Double-A ball and a 3.15 mark across two Class-A levels. On the whole, he’s punched out a hefty 30.5 percent of the hitters he’s faced in the minors against a similarly impressive 7.1 percent walk rate. Diehl also has a minor league option remaining, so it’s not too tough to see why the Reds were intrigued.

With regard to Lorenzen, it’s an unfortunate development for one of the game’s more interesting players. Lorenzen has been one of the Reds’ top setup men in recent years but was also a part-time outfielder — a strong defender in center field with a career .235/.284/.432 batting line in 146 career plate appearances. He’s belted seven homers in that time and also chipped in a trio of doubles, a triple and even five stolen bases (in seven attempts).

The Reds were planning to give Lorenzen an audition in the starting rotation this year, but it seems the shoulder troubles will table that experiment through at least the season’s first two months. Lorenzen’s initial 10-day IL placement was on Opening Day, retroactive to March 28 — the maximum three days allowed when backdating an IL stint. He’ll be eligible for return 60 days from that point, not from today’s transfer.

In the meantime, the Reds will look forward to getting Sonny Gray back in the near future. He’ll join Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Wade Miley as locks in the rotation. Jeff Hoffman has gotten a pair of early looks, too, but at some point one would expect electric multi-inning reliever Tejay Antone to get an opportunity to show he’s worthy of a rotation job.

Rockies Place Chris Owings On 10-Day IL, Designate Phillip Diehl, Select Alan Trejo

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The Rockies announced that utilityman Chris Owings has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left thumb sprain.  Infielder Alan Trejo has had his contract selected and will replace Owings on the active roster.  In a corresponding move to create 40-man roster space, southpaw Phillip Diehl has been designated for assignment.

After a respectable .268/.318/.439 slash line over only 44 plate appearances with Colorado in 2020, Owings re-signed another minor league deal to return for another season in the Mile High City.  In the small sample size of 17 PA this season, Owings was off to a roaring start, with a 1.722 OPS and three triples.  The thumb sprain is a new injury, as Owings had been battling a hamstring problem in recent days and the Rockies were hopeful that he was going to avoid the IL for that particular issue.

Owings has already bounced around the diamond, making starts as a second baseman, center fielder, and right fielder over his seven games played.  Trejo can replace at least some of that versatility, as the 24-year-old has gotten a lot of time at second base, third base, and shortstop over his brief pro career.  A 16th-round pick out of San Diego State in the 2017 draft, Trejo hit .275/.323/.434 over 1163 PA in Colorado’s farm system, reaching the Double-A level in 2019 before the minor league season was canceled in 2020.  After working out and playing at the Rockies’ alternate training site last season, Trejo is now set to make his Major League debut.

Diehl may be best known as the player acquired by the Rockies in the Mike Tauchman trade of March 2019, a swap that looked like a steal for the Yankees in the wake of Tauchman’s 2019 numbers.  Diehl has recorded a lot of strikeouts (30.51% strikeout rate) and posted a 3.34 ERA over 253 career minor league innings, though he ran into home run trouble pitching with the Rockies’ affiliate in Albuquerque during the homer-happy 2019 minor league season.  Diehl has also been hurt by the long ball during his brief MLB career, as his three homers allowed during his 13 1/3 innings with the Rockies in 2019-20 was a big reason behind his 8.78 ERA.

Charlie Blackmon, 2 Other Rockies Test Positive For Coronavirus

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Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, left-hander Phillip Diehl and righty Ryan Castellani have tested positive for the coronavirus after recently working out at Coors Field, Kyle Newman of the Denver Post reports. Only one of the three showed symptoms, though his identity is unknown.

Aside from Blackmon, Diehl and Castellani, the other players who have been working out at the stadium tested negative. As a result of the positive tests, which Newman writes “came late last week,” the facility has been closed for the week.

Even though Major League Baseball and the players reached an agreement on health and safety protocols Tuesday, paving the way for a 60-game regular season, this is another reminder of how challenging it will be for all involved to get through the campaign unscathed.

Blackmon, a four-time All-Star, is the highest-profile major leaguer to date who we know has tested positive for COVID-19. However, Colorado certainly isn’t the only team that has been affected by it. Just in the past few days, the virus has also impacted the Phillies, Yankees, Angels, Astros, Giants and Blue Jays, not to mention at least a few unnamed clubs.

Rockies Outright Noel Cuevas; Promote Phillip Diehl, Joe Harvey

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The Rockies announced a series of roster moves today as they prepare to finish out a disappointing campaign. Previously designated outfielder Noel Cuevas was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. And the club has recalled a pair of hurlers — lefty Phillip Diehl and righty Joe Harvey — to fill out the relief corps down the stretch.

Cuevas is a versatile outfielder but just hasn’t hit enough to hang onto a 40-man spot. He has put up solid numbers in the upper minors in the past, but produced at just under the league-average rate this year at the Triple-A level. Cuevas managed only a .233/.268/.315 batting line in a 153-plate appearance debut in the big leagues last year.

The two hurlers will be looking for a chance to show they deserve to hang onto their own MLB roster places over the course of the coming offseason. Diehl, 25, debuted briefly earlier this season. He owns a 5.22 ERA in 58 2/3 innings in the upper minors, with 9.8 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 but an unhealthy tally of 16 long balls. Likewise, the 27-year-old Harvey received his first shot at the majors this year — though his came with the Yankees, who later shipped him to Colorado in the quietest deal of deadline day. Harvey has been knocked around since joining the Rox’ top affiliate but will nevertheless get another look in the bigs.

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