Minor MLB Transactions: 5/5/21
The latest minor moves from around the game:
- The Astros signed right-hander Ryan Eades to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, per an announcement from the Skeeters. Selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2013 draft out of LSU, Eades got to the majors in 2019. Across eight games with Minnesota and Baltimore, he worked 11 1/3 relief innings of three-run ball with ten strikeouts and six walks. He hasn’t pitched since being outrighted off the Orioles’ roster at the end of that season. For his career, Eades has a 3.93 ERA with strong strikeout and walk rates (28.9% and 7.1%, respectively) in 75 2/3 Triple-A frames.
- The Cubs reinstated righty Tyson Miller from the COVID injured list before this evening’s game against the Dodgers (via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Miller was optioned to Triple-A Iowa, so no change to the active roster was needed. To create 40-man roster space, Chicago transferred catcher Austin Romine to the 60-day IL. Romine suffered a significant left wrist sprain and was known to be in for an extended absence. Tony Wolters was selected to the roster to back up Willson Contreras when Romine first went down. Prospect Miguel Amaya, assigned to Double-A Tennessee, is the only other catcher on the 40-man.
Orioles Claim Pat Valaika, Announce Four Outrights
The Orioles announced they have claimed infielder Pat Valaika off waivers from the Rockies. Additionally, the club outrighted four pitchers: right-handers Ryan Eades, Luis Ortiz, and Tayler Scott and left-hander Josh Rogers.
Valaika is the most notable name in today’s spate of transactions. The 27-year-old has taken 433 MLB plate appearances over four seasons in Colorado, starting games at all four infield positions (along with a handful of action in left field) in that time. All told, he’s only a .214/.256/.400 hitter, which translates to a dreadful 55 wRC+ when factoring in the run environment of Coors Field. He’s shown some ability to make hard, airborne contact, which surely attracts the Orioles’ front office, but his aggressive approach has not yet proven up to par at the big league level. Valaika will be out of options next season, meaning he needs to stick on the active roster next year or else again be exposed to waivers, assuming he remains on the 40-man roster the entire offseason.
The four pitchers have combined for fewer than 60 MLB innings. Eades, 27, worked to a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 innings in 2019, but his peripherals were far less rosy. Ortiz, still just 24, was once a well-regarded prospect but has fallen on hard times at the highest level of the minors. He started 14 games for Triple-A Norfolk in 2019 and pitched to a 6.38 ERA with unimpressive strikeout (15.4%) and walk (10.1%) rates, a trying season even in the explosive run environment in the International League.
Scott, like Eades, made his MLB debut this season at age-27. Split between Seattle and Baltimore, he worked 16.1 difficult innings, although he was quite good in the high minors. Rogers, meanwhile, was acquired as a secondary piece in the 2018 deal that sent Zack Britton to the Yankees. He started eleven games for Norfolk before going down with a season-ending left elbow sprain.
Because Rogers was on the 60-day injured list, today’s spate of transactions only clears two spots on Balitmore’s 40-man roster, which now sits at 38. The pending activation of Alex Cobb from the 60-day IL and free agency of Mark Trumbo will keep Baltimore’s roster at 38 entering the offseason, as Roch Kubatko of MASN tweets.
Orioles Claim Ryan Eades
The Orioles have claimed right-hander Ryan Eades off outright waivers from the Twins, Roch Kubatko of MASNsport.com reports (via Twitter). Baltimore’s 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding roster move will need to be made.
Eades, 27, was Minnesota’s second-round pick out of Louisiana State University back in 2013. He made his big league debut earlier this summer when he tossed 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball, but his minor league track record has been rather spotty. The 6’2″, 210-pound righty has never ranked among the Twins’ best pitching prospects, despite his draft status, and he was shifted to the bullpen back in 2016 after posting lackluster numbers in the rotation.
Eades showed well out of the ‘pen in 2018, tossing 76 1/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 and a 40 percent ground-ball rate in 76 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. The bottom-line results for Eades in 2019 haven’t been as encouraging; he’s posted a 5.51 ERA in 50 1/3 innings with Minnesota’s top affiliate in Rochester. However, he’s also averaging a career-best 11.2 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. Eades’ HR/9 mark has doubled to 1.2, but long balls throughout all of Triple-A are through the roof now in 2019 after the decision to switch over to the Major League ball (the same one that has led to record home-run paces throughout MLB).
The addition of Eades will give the Orioles some optionable depth for the foreseeable future. Because his contract was only selected this season, Eades can be optioned back and forth not only for the remainder of the 2019 season but also in two additional seasons beyond the current campaign.
Twins Select Ryan Eades, Option Willians Astudillo
The Twins have selected the contract of righty Ryan Eades and optioned C/INF/OF Willians Astudillo to AAA-Rochester, the team reported.
Eades, 27, had appeared in 17 games as a swingman for Rochester, notching a 5.88 ERA despite excellent peripheral markers. The former second-rounder struck out 42 men over those 33 2/3 innings while walking just 12. After his second-round selection in the 2013 draft, Eades has never cracked the top 30 in Baseball America’s assessment of the Twins system, though pre-draft reports lauded his “power curve” and “athletic frame.” He’s been generally stellar since transitioning to a mostly-relief role following the 2016 season, and he’ll look to make his mark as a likely longman in an unsung Twins pen.
Astudillo, also 27, rose to prominence with one of baseball’s most bizarre offensive profiles. The squatty backstop swings at nearly everything – his 63% swing rate was far and away tops in the majors this season – and makes contact nearly every time (his 4.1% strikeout rate was easily MLB’s lowest). The approach hasn’t worked for him so far this year, though, as the Venezuelan slashed just .250/.273/.357 (62 wRC+) in 120 plate appearances for the club. He’ll look to regain the magic-wand touch he brought to the majors last season in what hopes to be a brief stint with the Red Wings.