Minor Transactions: 1/28/20
A couple minor transactions from around the game…
- The Athletics have signed utilityman Ryan Court to a minor league contract, Alex Coffey of The Athletic tweets. A 23rd-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2011, the 31-year-old Court made his MLB debut with one of the A’s division rivals, the Mariners, last season. Court had difficulty over that 44-plate appearance showing, hitting .208/.240/.375 with 11 strikeouts. On the other hand, Court owns a much more productive .262/.355/.423 line in 1,187 PA at the Triple-A level, where he has seen action with the M’s, Red Sox and Cubs organizations dating back to 2016.
- Former Mariners outfielder/infielder Stefen Romero won’t be returning to the bigs (or even Triple-A ball) in 2020. Romero has signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball, Jim Allen reports. This season will be the fourth in a row in Japan for the 31-year-old Romero, who batted .268/.332/.494 with 69 homers in 1,256 trips to the plate as a member of the Orix Buffaloes from 2017-19.
Mariners Outright Ryan Court
The Mariners announced Wednesday that corner infielder/outfielder Ryan Court cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle had designated Court for assignment yesterday in making another wave of September call-ups.
Court, 31, made his MLB debut with the Mariners earlier this season, hitting .208/.240/.375 with a home run, a double and 11 strikeouts in 25 plate appearances. A 23rd-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2011, Court has also spent time with the Red Sox and Cubs before landing with the Mariners’ top affiliate in 2019. He logged a .258/.364/.505 slash and 11 home runs with Tacoma before his call to the Majors and is a lifetime .262/.355/.423 hitter in 1187 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’ll be able to become a minor league free agent at the end of the season.
Mariners Promote 4 Prospects, Designate Ryan Court
The Mariners announced the promotion of four prospects: righty Justin Dunn, outfielder Kyle Lewis, infielder Donnie Walton, and righty Art Warren. To create 40-man roster space, the club designated utilityman Ryan Court for assignment.
This multi-part move comes as no surprise, as the Seattle organization was reportedly preparing to call up Dunn (link) and Lewis (link) just yesterday. Both have ranked among the organization’s very best prospects.
Walton and Warren are lesser-known entities, but still hold promise of their own. Both ranked toward the back of the club’s latest top-thirty prospect list at MLB.com, though of course the import of such a designation varies depending upon the depth of a system.
Walton, 25, spent the season turning in good numbers at the Double-A level. Over 558 plate appearances, he slashed a sturdy .300/.390/.427 with 11 home runs. He’d have been eligible to be selected in this year’s Rule 5 draft but for the move to add him to the 40-man.
As for Warren, he already went through a winter of Rule 5 eligibility without being taken. This time, he’ll be protected by the M’s. At 26 years of age, Warren worked to a 1.71 ERA with 11.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 31 2/3 innings as Walton’s teammate.
The 31-year-old Court finally got his first shot at the majors this year in Seattle, but wasn’t able to stake out a claim to a long-term job. It was still a rewarding season, as he logged his first MLB hit and first home run in a brief showing after entering the campaign in the indy ball ranks. Court is a .262/.355/.423 hitter in over a thousand plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.
Mariners Reinstate Dee Gordon, Option Court
Infielder Dee Gordon is back in the lineup for Seattle this evening, following the team’s announcement of his activation from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, utilityman Ryan Court has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.
It’s been a season to forget for GM Jerry Dipoto‘s “reimagined” Seattle crew, with the northwestern outfit limping to a 48-69 record entering play Saturday. As such, it’s difficult to see the Mariners having much to gain from the reinstallation of the 31-year-old Gordon, who, in this phase of his career, offers little aside from a light bat and some still-flight feet. The second baseman, who has been sidelined since July 22nd with a left quad strain, has hit .280/.306/.367 (81 wRC+) in 2019, his second season with Seattle. It is worth noting that a good late-season showing from Gordon could, in theory, help DiPoto’s chances of offloading the veteran in the offseason; Gordon will make $13.5MM in 2020, the last guaranteed season of a 5-year/$50MM deal signed in 2016 with the Miami Marlins.
Court’s initiatory stint in the big leagues granted him just 18 at-bats with Seattle. The 31-year-old has amassed over 3000 at-bats at the minor league level and is a career .275/.366/.430 hitter within the developmental ranks.
Mariners Select Ryan Court
The Mariners have selected the contract of infielder Ryan Court, per a club announcement. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow infielder Tim Lopes, who has gone on the 7-day concussion injured list after being struck in the head by a pitch last night. Ryon Healy was shifted to the 60-day IL to free a 40-man spot.
It’s a nice reward for the 31-year-old Court, whose first trip to the plate will be his first at the MLB level. A former 23rd-round draft pick, Court has seen action at Triple-A in parts of four seasons but seemed unlikely ever to touch the majors when he opened the present season in the indy ball ranks.
As it turns out, Court has been a nice find for the M’s top affiliate. In 154 plate appearances, he carries a .279/.377/.581 slash with nine home runs — that’s just two shy of his single-season career high. Court has appeared all over the diamond but has mostly been utilized as a corner infielder in recent seasons.