Brewers Designate Tommy Milone For Assignment
The Brewers announced that they’ve designated left-hander Tommy Milone for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Rob Scahill from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Milone, 30, opened the season as the lone left-hander on the Brewers’ roster, and his departure will give Milwaukee an all-right-handed staff (h/t: MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, on Twitter). The former Nationals, Athletics and Twins hurler has been a fairly regular contributor in the Majors in each of the past five big league seasons, but Minnesota elected to outright him following the 2016 season rather than give him a raise on last year’s $4.5MM salary.
The soft-tossing Milone got quality results in the Oakland and Minnesota rotations from 2012-15, averaging 25 starts per season to go along with a 3.98 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. However, he slipped to a 5.71 ERA last year in Minnesota and ultimately lost his rotation spot. Milone’s ERA has continued to balloon in Milwaukee, where he’s logged a 6.43 mark through his first 21 frames, though his outstanding 16-to-2 K/BB ratio lends some optimism for a turnaround.
Milone is on a very affordable one-year deal that came with a mere $1.25MM base salary. Of that modest sum, just $1.05MM remains, so he’d make for a reasonable pickup should any club with rotation injuries wish to make a claim on waivers (or a minor trade). That said, Milone’s ceiling as a back-of-the-rotation starter, his recent struggles and the remaining cash on his deal could allow him to pass through waivers. At that point, he’d have the right to refuse a minor league assignment in favor of free agency, although as a player with fewer than five years of Major League service time, doing so would mean forfeiting the remaining money on his contract. As such, if has passes through waivers unclaimed, it seems likely that he’d remain in the organization and hope to work his way back to the Major League roster.
Roster Notes: Brewers, Mets, Royals, Red Sox, Rangers
The Brewers are down to 24 players after demoting relievers Tyler Cravy and Rob Scahill on Saturday, but general manager David Stearns declined to address whether he’ll add a player from outside the organization, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Both Cravy and Scahill are unhappy that they didn’t earn the 25th spot, per Haudricourt, with Cravy claiming he could seek “a 9 to 5 job where I get treated like a human, at this point.” Continued the 27-year-old: “It would just be nice to have the honesty straight up front instead of, ‘Hey, you’re competing for a job,’ then literally out-compete everyone and be told, ‘Sorry, we have other plans.’ “It says a lot about the integrity, or lack thereof, of the guys running the show, but what are you going to do?”
While Cravy isn’t sure if he’s willing “to play for guys who treat you like this,” Stearns seemed to chalk the right-hander’s comments up to frustration. “Tyler, in particular, went through this last year,” said Stearns. “He made the trip with us (to play Class AA) Biloxi and was sent out at Biloxi. Dealing with this two years in a row is not a pleasant experience. We’re sensitive to that.”
More of the latest roster news:
- Mets righty Seth Lugo will begin the season on the 10-day disabled list with a tired arm, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Lugo doesn’t have any structural damage, relays DiComo, who notes that Rafael Montero will claim a spot in the bullpen for as long as he’s out. Lugo spent most of the spring vying for one of the two vacancies in the Mets’ rotation, but the team chose Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler over him Thursday.
- The Royals have optioned infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield to Triple-A, meaning Christian Colon has won a bench job in Kansas City. Merrifield was easily the better of the two last season, having hit .283/.323/.392 to Colon’s .231/.294/.293, but the latter is out of options and could have ended up with another organization had KC demoted him.
- With Josh Rutledge on the shelf because of a hamstring injury, the Red Sox have tabbed first baseman/outfielder Steve Selsky for a reserve job. As a right-handed hitter, Selsky is a better fit for the role than the lefty-swinging Marco Hernandez, whom the Red Sox optioned to Triple-A. Selsky, a January waiver claim from the Reds, is likely to platoon at first with the left-handed Mitch Moreland, as Hanley Ramirez (shoulder) still isn’t healthy enough to play the field.
- Righty Mike Hauschild has made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. The Rangers took Hauschild from the AL West rival Astros in December’s Rule 5 draft. The 27-year-old is now in line to make his major league debut, having spent the previous five years in the minors after going to Houston in Round 33 of the 2012 amateur draft. He worked exclusively as a starter at Triple-A over the past two seasons and posted a 3.33 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 227 1/3 innings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/6/17
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Blue Jays announced the signing of infielder Jonathan Diaz to a minor league deal earlier this week. Diaz was originally drafted by the Jays in 2006 and this is his third separate stint in the organization. Diaz has a .406 OPS over 65 career plate appearances in the majors, all with the Red Sox and Blue Jays during the 2013-15 seasons. The 31-year-old spent 2016 playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate.
- The Reds have signed infielder Zach Walters to a minor league contract, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 27-year-old switch-hitter spent the 2014-15 seasons in the Indians organization after being traded over from the Nationals in exchange for Asdrubal Cabrera, and he was with the Dodgers last season. Walters has displayed plenty of pop, with 10 homers in 181 career MLB plate appearances, but he’s also been extremely strikeout prone in the bigs. Overall, he’s a .176/.227/.382 hitter in the Majors, though his .265/.312/.482 career line in Triple-A is more palatable. Walters logged a .770 OPS in 94 games with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate last season and played every position on the diamond besides catcher.
- The Brewers announced today that right-hander Rob Scahill has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A. The 29-year-old had previously been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for infielder Ehire Adrianza, who was claimed off waivers before promptly being designated for assignment himself (in favor of first baseman and fellow waiver claim Jesus Aguilar). Scahill pitched well for the Brewers late in the 2016 season, tossing 18 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA and a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio. Scahill’s ground-ball rate has soared in each of the past two seasons, sitting around 62 percent in that time. He’s yet to find consistent success in the Majors, though he does possess a very solid 3.03 ERA in his past 65 1/3 innings in the big leagues.
- The Orioles announced that they’ve re-signed infielder Robert Andino to a minor league contract. Baltimore also confirmed its previously reported minors contract with Johnny Giavotella. The 32-year-old Andino will return to Baltimore for his second stint after previously spending the 2009-12 seasons with the Orioles. In 2016, Andino returned to the Majors following a two-year absence from the bigs and picked up seven singles in 24 plate appearances with the Marlins. He spent most of the season in Triple-A New Orleans, hitting .267/.319/.427. Capable of playing shortstop, second base and third base, Andino will likely provide the O’s with some infield depth in the upper minors. While Andino does receive an invite to Major League Spring Training (per Rich Dubroff of PressboxOnline, on Twitter), Ryan Flaherty is in line to be the team’s primary utility option.
Brewers Claim Rob Scahill From Pirates
The Brewers have announced that they’ve claimed righty reliever Rob Scahill from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs. The Bucs designated Scahill for assignment when they claimed Eric Fryer from the Cardinals last week.
The 29-year-old Scahill has spent the season bouncing back and forth between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis. He’s generally had good big-league results in two seasons with the Pirates, with a 3.26 ERA, but he’s posted somewhat underwhelming peripherals (7.1 K/9, 4.2 BB/9). Previously, he’d appeared in parts of three seasons with the Rockies. The Brewers probably liked that Scahill entered the season with less than two full years of service time, however, and that he can still be optioned back and forth to the minors.
Pirates Claim Eric Fryer From Cardinals, Designate Rob Scahill
3:33pm: The Pirates have announced both the Fryer claim and right-handed reliever Rob Scahill‘s designation for assignment. Scahill threw 16 1/3 innings for the Pirates this year prior to the designation and recorded a 4.41 ERA, 7.16 K/9, 3.31 BB/9 and 58 percent ground-ball rate. In 104 big league innings, the 29-year-old owns a 3.89 ERA, 6.23 K/9, 3.72 BB/9 and 52.7 percent grounder rate.
[RELATED: Updated Pirates depth chart]
1:32pm: The Pirates have claimed catcher Eric Fryer off waivers from the division-rival Cardinals, reports Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). The 30-year-old became available when the Redbirds designated him for assignment Tuesday, though they were hoping he’d sneak through waivers and remain in the organization.
This will be the second stint in Pittsburgh for Fryer, who was previously with the Bucs from 2010-12. He looks poised to take the place of Chris Stewart – who could head to the disabled list, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets. Stewart would then join starting backstop Francisco Cervelli as the second Bucs catcher on the DL, leaving the position to Fryer and Erik Kratz.
In parts of six major league seasons, Fryer has totaled 199 trips to the plate and hit .270/.347/.354. Forty-one of those PAs came this year in St. Louis, with which Fryer slashed an outstanding .368/.415/.421. Those numbers are vastly superior to the .237/.328/.328 line Fryer has compiled in 935 Triple-A plate appearances, so regression is clearly on the way. Defensively, Fryer has graded respectably as a pitch framer and thrown out 29 percent of base stealers during his minor league career.