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Recapping The CPBL’s International Player Signings

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Chinese Professional Baseball League teams are preparing for their spring camps, and the last several months have seen the CPBL’s five clubs adding some familiar foreign-born names to their rosters.  Under CPBL rules, teams are allowed to have a maximum of four international players on their active rosters, so with some teams opting to add a fifth or sixth player to keep in their minor leagues for replacement purposes.  However, replacing an international player isn’t as simple as a normal call-up — a foreign player must be released in order to be removed from a CPBL team’s active roster.

There isn’t an official limit on how many international-born players can be signed per team, so it is possible that more names could be added to this list in the coming days or weeks.  (The post will be updated to reflect such moves.)  Much thanks to the CPBL Stats website for their work in reporting on many of these signings.  Here’s the rundown…

CTBC Brothers
Jose De Paula, Shawn Morimando, Francisco Pena, Teddy Stankiewicz, Jose Valdez

Fubon Guardians
Xavier Batista, Yomar Flande Concepcion, Luis Escobar, Joe Van Meter

Rakuten Monkeys
Ryan Bollinger, Dylan Covey, Bradin Hagens, Henry Sosa

Uni-President Lions
Brock Dykxhoorn, Keury Mella, Logan Ondrusek, Wilin Rosario

Wei Chuan Dragons
Jake Brigham, Drew Gagnon, Telvin Nash, Ronny Rodriguez, Bryan Woodall

CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys Re-Sign Dylan Covey, Ryan Bollinger

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Last month, the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League announced that right-hander Dylan Covey and left-hander Ryan Bollinger had signed new contracts with the team for the 2022 season.  (Hat tip to CPBL Stats.)  Both pitchers will be entering their second season with the Monkeys, and for Bollinger, 2022 will be his fourth year of CPBL action.

Covey posted a 6.57 ERA over 264 1/3 innings with the White Sox and Red Sox from 2017-20, officially beginning his MLB career after Chicago selected him away from the A’s in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft.  The righty’s grounder-heavy arsenal didn’t translate well against Major League batters, as Covey had only a 15.4% career strikeout rate, and the long ball (18.4% home run rate) also plagued him.

While that strikeout rate only marginally improved in Covey’s first CPBL season, the overall numbers were much better, as he posted a 4.01 ERA over 58 1/3 innings with the Monkeys.  As noted by CPBL Stats, Covey joined the Taoyuan-based team in midseason and got off to a slow start, but posted a minuscule 0.58 ERA over his final five outings of the season.

Though Bollinger has been pitching in the CPBL for three seasons, he has only seen action in two of those years, as foot injuries kept him from appearing in even a single game in 2020.  Moving from the Fubon Guardians to the Monkeys last year, Bollinger had a nice rebound, posting a 2.80 ERA and 24.73% strikeout rate over 106 innings for the Rakuten squad.

Bollinger (who turns 31 in February) was a 47th-round pick for the Phillies back in 2009, drafted as a first baseman but quickly transitioning to pitching.  He never actually played in Philadelphia’s farm system, as Bollinger moved onto a well-traveled pro career that has included stops with several independent teams, the Australian Baseball League, and the CPBL.  The southpaw pitched in the affiliated minors with the White Sox from 2011-13 and with the Yankees in 2018, plus he signed a minor league deal with the Padres in the 2018-19 offseason but was released at the end of Spring Training.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/21/18

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Phillies have a host of new additions to the team’s list of MLB Spring Training participants. In addition to a few we’ve already featured here at MLBTR, the Philadelphia club has announced the signings of southpaw Jeremy Bleich, backstop Rob Brantly, righty Josh Martin, utilityman Matt McBride, and infielder Gregorio Petit. Every one of these players has seen MLB time except for Martin, who’ll be looking for his first crack at the bigs after compiling a seven-season minor-league stat line with the Indians organization that features a 3.33 ERA and 9.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • Likewise, the Padres have announced a haul of camp competitors. Allen Craig will come back for another go, as will Alex Dickerson. Otherwise, southpaws Ryan Bollinger and Dietrich Enns have inked with the San Diego org, along with righty Tyler Higgins. On the position-player side, infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Aderlin Rodriguez are joined by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo. It’s the opposite situation from the one just discussed above, as all of the new additions excepting Enns — who’s compiled two MLB appearances — have yet to crack the majors.
  • A handful of new free agents are heading to the Rangers, too, per a club announcement. Lefty Jack Leathersich has seen action in a pair of MLB campaigns, but won’t get a camp invite. Fellow southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, righties, Ariel Hernandez and Phillips Valdez, and infielder Nolan Fontana will open their tenure in Texas on the MLB side of Spring Training. Hernandez and Fontana each have minimal experience in the bigs. Valdez worked to a 2.73 ERA in 135 upper-minors innings with the Nationals organization last year, with 6.9 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9; Del Pozo has averaged ten strikeouts per nine in his minor-league career.
  • The Red Sox have added another hurler on a minor-league pact, this time picking up righty Ryan Weber, per Michael Mayer of Metsmerizedonline.com (via Twitter). Now 28 years of age, Weber has thrown 73 2/3 innings of 5.01 ERA ball over the past four years, though the vast majority of those came in 2015 and 2016. He was rather effective last year at Triple-A in a swingman capacity, spinning 115 1/3 innings of 2.73 ERA ball with 6.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9.

Outright Assignments: Yankees, Cubs, Blue Jays

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Several players, previously designated for assignment, were outrighted yesterday after clearing waivers. Among them:

  • The Yankees have outrighted outfielder Shane Robinson and left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Triple-A Scranton, per a team announcement. New York recently designated both players for assignment after acquiring Andrew McCutchen and Adeiny Hechavarria, respectively. Robinson and Bollinger have each been outrighted in the past, so they’ll be able to elect free agency if they’re so inclined. The 33-year-old Robinson already has significant major league experience on his resume (849 plate appearances), including 54 PAs this season, but has only managed a .580 OPS at the game’s highest level. Bollinger, 27, has not yet reached the majors, but he has performed well in the Yankees’ system this year. Over 111 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, Bollinger has logged a 3.87 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
  • Cubs hurlers Rob Zastryzny and Cory Mazzoni both cleared waivers and were outrighted after losing their 40-man spots recently. The former, a 26-year-old lefty, has seen scattered action with the MLB club over the past three seasons. Zastryzny has moved to a relief role this year at Triple-A, throwing 56 innings of 3.86 ERA ball over 33 appearances (including one start). As for Mazzoni, 28, he allowed just one earned run in his 8 2/3 frames this year in the majors, but also recorded only seven strikeouts with five walks. In his 38 1/3 innings at Iowa in 2018, the former second-rounder pitched to a 4.46 ERA while compiling 34 strikeouts and 11 walks.
  • Righty Murphy Smith was outrighted by the Blue Jays, per a club announcement. It made for a nice story when the 31-year-old debuted in the majors after a lengthy minor-league career, but he was always at risk of being bumped from the 40-man as soon as a roster need arose. Smith allowed three earned runs in his 3 1/3 innings of MLB action this year, but worked to a 3.59 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over 62 2/3 Triple-A innings.

Yankees Acquire Adeiny Hechavarria

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The Yankees have announced that they have acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria from the Pirates. Cash will also go to New York in the deal, with a player to be named later or cash considerations heading back to Pittsburgh. New York designated southpaw Ryan Bollinger to open a 40-man spot.

Hechavarria is not much of a hitter, but is widely regarded as a high-quality defender at shortstop. He’ll presumably be viewed as a late-inning defensive asset for the Yanks, who have a variety of options around the infield as situations warrant. And with Didi Gregorius still working back from injury, Hechavarria also represents something of an insurance policy.

Thus far in 2018, Hechavarria has slashed .254/.287/.342 in 284 plate appearances. That’s nearly an exact match for his lifetime batting line of .255/.291/.345, compiled over nearly three thousand trips to the plate, so there isn’t much mystery about his offensive capabilities.

With the glove, Hech continues to draw well-above-average grades, so the situation is clear there as well. He has played almost exclusively at short in his career, but did see time as a rookie at second and third base as well.

This is now the second time Hechavarria has changed hands in August. Earlier in the month, he went from the Rays to the Bucs. Now, he’ll move again, with both of those organizations still responsible for a portion of the remainder of his $5.9MM salary. Hechavarria will be a free agent at the end of the year.

While it’s still possible the Pirates will pick up a minor prospect in this swap, it seems rather clear that the move was designed to clear a bit of salary and keep the roster clear for younger players. As with the late-breaking trade of David Freese, the move came at the very tail end of tonight’s deadline for teams to acquire players with postseason eligibility.

It’s another unfortunate break for Bollinger in a season that has otherwise surely been out of a dream. He has twice made it onto the MLB roster after an unlikely journey, but has yet to throw a ball in a big-league contest. The 27-year-old carries a 3.87 ERA in 111 2/3 innings in the upper minors most of them at Double-A, with 7.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/27/18

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Keeping track of Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Yankees have outrighted left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Double-A, per a team announcement. Bollinger had a short stint with the Yankees, who selected his contract in time for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers and then optioned him afterward. The well-traveled 27-year-old will continue in Trenton, where he has logged 20 innings this season and posted a microscopic ERA (.90) with 5.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9.

Yankees Select Contract Of Ryan Bollinger

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The Yankees announced today that they have selected the contract of lefty Ryan Bollinger. He will be added to the active roster for tonight’s game.

A corresponding 40-man move is not necessary, as the Yankees had an open spot still available. The club still has plenty of flexibility for the time being, as several players currently on the 10-day DL could potentially be shifted to the 60-day DL should a need arise.

Bollinger will make it to the majors about nine years after he was taken in the 47th round of the 2009 draft by the Phillies. He never pitched with the Philadelphia organization, but did spend three seasons in the low minors with the White Sox beginning in 2011.

For the past three seasons, Bollinger has pitched outside of the affiliated ranks, making several indy ball stops and appearing last year in the Australian Baseball League. River Ave. Blues covered his unheralded signing, providing a video of Bollinger pitching in Germany and rightly noting: “Would be something if this guy made it, huh?” Indeed.

Since joining the Yankees organization over the offseason, Bollinger has worked as a starter in the upper minors. In 29 innings, he owns a 1.86 ERA with 6.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. It seems reasonable to presume that the 27-year-old will join the Yankees’ bullpen upon his arrival. It remains to be seen, though, how long he’ll hold onto his active and 40-man roster spots.

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