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Red Sox Sign Taylor Cole To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox announced that Taylor Cole has been signed to a minor league contract, with the right-hander receiving a non-roster invitation to Spring Training.  Since Cole began the offseason as a minor league free agent, he is eligible to sign during the lockout.

Cole posted a 2.08 ERA over 8 2/3 innings in the Dominican Winter League, which marked his first action of any kind since he pitched for the Angels in 2019.  Beyond the canceled minor league season and postponed MLB season in 2020, Cole was also set back by shoulder problems that forced him to undergo surgery in August 2020.  He didn’t pitch at all last season while recovering, until finally returning to the mound this winter to audition for scouts in the Dominican.

Cole posted a 4.97 ERA over 88 2/3 career innings with the Blue Jays and Angels from 2017-19, with a 23.9% strikeout rate and a 49.4% grounder rate.  The righty had some bigger strikeout totals during his minor league career, and his grounder-heavy attack did a generally good job of avoiding the long ball until the homer-heavy 2019 Triple-A season, as Cole surrendered five home runs over 23 1/3 total innings with Anaheim’s Triple-A and high-A affiliates.

He hasn’t yet had a chance to rebound from that rough 2019 campaign, but the Red Sox clearly saw enough in the DWL to take the low-risk move of inviting Cole to their spring camp.  Cole has worked as both a starter and reliever during his career, thus perhaps lining up as a swingman or long relief option as Boston looks to cover innings and create flexibility within its pitching staff.

Taylor Cole Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

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Angels right-hander Taylor Cole announced on Instagram that he underwent surgery on a bothersome shoulder Wednesday (hat tip to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times). It’s unclear how much time Cole will need to recover, but he wrote that there’s “a difficult road” ahead.

The 30-year-old Cole, an ex-Blue Jay, appeared in the majors in each of the two previous seasons with the Angels. He prevented runs at an impressive rate in 2018 (2.75 ERA), but not so much last year (5.92). In all, Cole has thrown 87 2/3 innings of 4.62 ERA/3.31 FIP ball with 9.14 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 49.1 percent groundball rate since the Angels signed him to a minor league contract in 2018.

In the wake of his 2019 struggles, the Angels outrighed Cole in late March. He hasn’t rejoined their 40-man roster since then, but he was part of their 60-player pool.

Angels Outright Taylor Cole, Option Four Players

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, revealing that recently designated right-hander Taylor Cole cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The Halos also optioned right-hander Luke Bard, left-hander Ryan Buchter, outfielder Michael Hermosillo and first baseman Jared Walsh to Salt Lake.

Cole, 30, will technically have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency due to the fact that he’s been previously outrighted (by the Blue Jays in 2017), but given the uncertain state of the game it’d be a surprise to see him venture into the open market. The righty posted an ugly 5.92 ERA in 51 2/3 innings with the Halos last year and doesn’t have a history of success in Triple-A (4.96 ERA in 81 2/3 innings).

That said, Cole probably wasn’t as bad as his ERA appeared; Cole was weighed down by a .366 average in balls in play and a fluky low 60.3 percent strand rate. Assuming he does indeed head to Triple-A, he’ll provide some experienced depth to an organization that has been utterly hammered by injuries to the pitching staff over the past few years.

Of the players optioned to Triple-A, Buchter is the most surprising. The former Athletics, Royals and Padres southpaw inked a minor league deal with the Angels this winter but was selected to the MLB roster on Sunday, making it seem like he’d punched his ticket to the big league roster. Instead, it appears that whenever the season does begin, he’ll bide his time in Triple-A as he waits for an MLB look. In 214 MLB innings, Buchter has a 2.86 ERA with nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

Bard pitched 49 innings with the Angels last year but narrowly kept his ERA under 5.00. The former second-round pick is proof that spin rate alone won’t bring about success — he led the Majors in fastball spin — and he’ll head down to Salt Lake for additional work. Hermosillo has yet to hit in the Majors and saw his production dip in a second Triple-A season last year. Walsh hit 36 home runs in 98 games with Salt Lake last year, slugging nearly .700 amid Triple-A’s own juiced ball bonanza. The 26-year-old’s output didn’t carry over to the Majors, but he received only 87 plate appearances. He’ll probably get another shot in the big leagues at some point in 2020.

Angels Select Ryan Buchter, Designate Taylor Cole

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Today, the Angels announced that they’ve selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Ryan Buchter. Right-hander Taylor Cole was designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

The news bodes well for Buchter, who now looks like a good bet to break camp with the Angels. The 33-year-old southpaw was inked to a minor league deal last month as a low-risk flier for the Halos bullpen. He’s been an effective relief option throughout his career, with an overall 4.01 FIP through 214 Major League innings.

Despite a pretty sharp 2.98 ERA, 2019 was probably Buchter’s worst year since becoming a full-time big-leaguer in 2016. He walked batters at a career-high rate and his effectiveness against right-handed batters waned. Still, for an Angels bullpen that previously lacked a left-handed option, Buchter is a sensible choice.

Cole’s stint on the Los Angeles 40-man will end after a frustrating 2019 season that saw the 30-year-old stumble to a 5.92 ERA. He was often deployed as a multi-inning reliever or opener, but has been squeezed out of that role with an abundance of righties in the Angels bullpen.

If Cole clears waivers, the Angels could assign him outright to the minor leagues, though in that case Cole could reject that assignment and opt for free agency because he has been outrighted before.

Angels Designate Cody Allen For Assignment

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The Angels designated Cody Allen for assignment today, recalling righty Taylor Cole in his stead, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter).

The DFA represents part-two of a fairly sudden downturn in Cody Allen’s career. Allen owned a 2.67 career ERA through 386 appearances from 2012-2017, notching 122 saves over that span in Cleveland. As the lockdown closer for the pennant-winning Indians, Allen’s consistency at the backend allowed manager Terry Francona to deploy Andrew Miller as a multi-inning, anytime-anywhere fireman and usher in a new era of bullpen dependence.

Last season was a decidedly less successful campaign for Allen as he struggled to a 4.70 ERA in 70 games in his final season in Cleveland. It was the first time he posted an ERA over 3.00 since his rookie season in 2012. He took six losses and blew five saves, but the decreased K-rate (27.7 K%) and increased walk rate (11.4 BB%) pointed to an even more substantial decline.

After inking $8.5MM in guaranteed money from the Angels, Allen walked 17.2% of the batters he faced, a mark in the bottom 1% league wide. He has also given up considerable hard contact (54.5%) as opponents have barreled him up at a 15% clip while getting the ball up in the air more frequently (65.2 FB%). Opponents’ average exit velocity of 94.3 mph ranks Allen ahead of only Reed Garrett (94.7 mph) and Alex Cobb (94.9 mph). Hard hit fly balls have unsurprisingly led to a 20.9 HR/FB%, 3.52 HR/9 and 6.26 ERA.

Allen has incentives in his contract that would have given him his first a many raises at 35 games finished, but with only four saves and 13 games finished, the Angels weren’t at risk of hitting those benchmarks anytime soon. Still, given the picture painted above, it’s hard to argue with the Angels’ decision to cut their losses.

The 30-year-old isn’t likely to be claimed, at which point he has the right to refuse a demotion and become a free agent. He’ll look to catch on somewhere, however, as he has no plans to retire, per Maria Torres of the LA Times (via Twitter). Given his fastball-reliant two-pitch arsenal, Allen will need to develop a new approach to remain viable at the big-league level. His four-seamer has slowed to an average 92.2 mph (from 93.5 mph last year and a career peak 96 mph in 2013), and though he’s become slightly-more invested in his curveball this season, usage rates were not considerably different than his career norms.

As for Cole, the 29-year-old righty owns a career 3.99 ERA across 27 career games, 26 of which have come with the Halos this year and last. He’s been hit hard in the minors this season, however, with a 5.51 ERA and 12.7 hits surrendered per nine innings.

Angels Place Zack Cozart On IL, Select Cesar Puello

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The Angels have placed infielder Zack Cozart on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder inflammation and selected the contract of outfielder Cesar Puello from Triple-A Salt Lake. Outfielder Michael Hermosillo is being transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported a few minutes prior that those moves would be happening (Twitter links). As Fletcher points out, it’s the same left shoulder on which Cozart had season-ending surgery just under one year ago.

Cozart, 33, is in the midst of a second consecutive disappointing season with the Halos, hitting just .124/.178/.144 through 107 plate appearances. He hit just .219/.296/.362 through 58 games with the Angels last season. That’s nowhere near the .297/.385/.548 line he posted in his final year with the Reds, which directly preceded the three-year, $38MM contract he inked with the Angels. No timeline on Cozart’s injury was provided by the Angels, and his placement on the IL is retroactive to yesterday.

Puello, 28, is enjoying a big season in Salt Lake, where he’s slashed .299/.434/.507 with seven long balls, seven doubles and a pair of steals through 166 plate appearances. The former Mets prospect has just 39 plate appearances in the Majors, which was split between the Angels and Rays back in 2017. Puello is a career .295/.394/.450 hitter in 1563 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

The Angels also announced that they’ve optioned right-hander Taylor Cole to Salt Lake in order to open a spot on the active roster for Nick Tropeano, who’ll make his season debut tonight when he follows opener Cam Bedrosian.

Angels Select Contract Of Sam Freeman

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7:29pm: The move is now official. Justin Upton was shifted to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot. That doesn’t seem to reflect upon his outlook, as he was already expected to be sidelined for the first two to three months of the season with a turf toe injury.

5:59pm: The Angels will select the contract of lefty Sam Freeman in order to activate him for tonight’s game, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. It’s one of several pitching moves for the Halos this evening.

Righty Justin Anderson was recalled to join the roster along with Freeman. Right-handers  Taylor Cole and Luke Bard were sent down on optional assignment to clear space on the 25-man.

Freeman, 31, caught on with the Angels just before the start of the season after he was released by the Braves. He wasn’t at his best in 2018, pitching to a 4.29 ERA. Though he managed a 52.1% groundball rate and rung up 10.4 opposing batters per nine innings on strikes over his 50 1/3 frames, Freeman also permitted an unhealthy number of walks (5.7 BB/9).

Injury Notes: Snell, Dickerson, Fowler, Williams, Skaggs

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As expected, the Rays have activated left-hander Blake Snell to start tonight’s game against the White Sox. The first-time All-Star will be on a limited pitch count following a two-week DL stint for left shoulder fatigue. Following a trade of Chris Archer to the Pirates, Snell looks like the only reliable starter in a Rays rotation that continues to see relievers open games more often than the starters themselves. Snell’s pre-injury performance, of course, was phenomenal; his 2.27 ERA would be more than a run lower than his career best season.

Here are a few other disabled list transactions from around the league…

  • Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson has been activated after a short stint on the disabled list; he’d been sidelined with a left hamstring strain. They’ll surely be glad to have him back after the club traded away notable outfield depth in the form of Austin Meadows at the July 31st deadline. While he’s active, Dickerson won’t be starting today’s game against the Cardinals (though he’ll presumably be available off the bench).
  • As expected after last night’s news, Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler will hit the DL after suffering a fractured foot. Fowler’s enduring a miserable season that’s by far his career worst; he’s managed to hit an absolutely wretched .180/.278/.298 across 334 plate appearances while playing middling outfield defense. Fangraphs rates him as being 1.2 wins below replacement level on the season after a 2.5 fWAR debut with the Cards last year.
  • Switch-hitting relief pitcher Taylor Williams is headed to the DL with right elbow soreness. It’s certainly bad news for a Brewers bullpen that’s seeing Corey Knebel struggle mightily of late. Williams has tossed 42 2/3 relief innings and managed to strike out 10.43 batters per nine innings, though he’s only managed to keep the ball on the ground 34.8% of the time and has walked a batter nearly every other inning on average. Williams is in the midst of his first full season in the majors after a 4 2/3 inning cup of coffee last year.
  • Angels hurler Tyler Skaggs is headed to the disabled list with a left adductor strain, the club has announced. Skaggs has described the injury as “extremely frustrating”, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. He apparently sustained it during his last start. In his stead, the Angels have called up right-hander Taylor Cole. The Angels, of course, have already seen their rotation annihilated by injuries this year, with Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani, J.C. Ramirez and Matt Shoemaker among the affected starters.

Blue Jays Claim Taylor Guerrieri From Rays, Outright Four Players

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The Blue Jays announced on Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Taylor Guerrieri off waivers from the Rays. Additionally, Toronto announced that catcher Rafael Lopez and right-handers Leonel Campos, Luis Santos and Taylor Cole have been outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers.

Arm troubles have persistently slowed the career of Guerrieri, a former first-round pick (No. 24 overall, 2011) that from 2012-14 was a consensus top 100 prospect in all of baseball. Guerrieri had Tommy John surgery back in 2013, which limited him to 9 1/3 frames the following season. He slowly built back up over the next two seasons, topping out at a career-high 146 1/3 innings at the Double-A level in 2016. However, further elbow complications limited Guerrieri to that exact same mark of 9 1/3 innings once again in 2017, though he didn’t require surgery this time around. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Guerrieri is believed to be healthy and ready for Spring Training 2018.

Santos (27 in February) and Campos (30) made a handful of appearances each in Toronto this past season, totaling 31 1/3 innings between the two of them. While Santos posted a solid-looking 2.70 ERA in his 16 2/3 frames, he also walked four and served up four home runs in that time. He turned in a 4.07 ERA in 108 1/3 Triple-A innings, mostly as a starter. Campos, meanwhile, showed promising strikeout numbers but shakier control both in the Majors and minors — a common trend throughout his career.

Cole, 28, saw more limited action yet, missing most of the minor league season with an injury before going on a 12 2/3-inning scoreless streak and earning a late look in the Majors. He was hit hard in his lone MLB appearance and suffered a fractured toe after one inning, which cut short his chances of further auditioning.

Lopez, meanwhile, had a great season in Triple-A, hitting .293/.368/.551 in 223 plate appearances. The 30-year-old saw just 63 PAs with the Blue Jays late in the season, though, and has never established himself in the Majors to this point in his career (nor has he demonstrated the level of offensive prowess he did at Buffalo this season).

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/29/17

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Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Dodgers have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Tim Locastro, as per a team announcement.  Outfielder O’Koyea Dickson was placed on the 60-day DL due to a shoulder injury to create space on the 40-man roster.  Manager Dave Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters that the Dodgers are evaluating Locastro as a possible pinch-running specialist for the postseason, to the point that Locastro won’t receive any at-bats during his call-up.  Locastro, a 13th-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2013 draft, has a solid .293/.372/.402 slash line over his 2066 career minor league PA but has shown particular aptitude on the basepaths, stealing 143 bases out of 178 attempts.
  • The Blue Jays announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Taylor Cole for the final series of the season, with righty Aaron Sanchez shifting from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. He’ll give the team an additional bit of bullpen depth for the final three games, though he’s already been removed from the 40-man once this season, so he’ll again be a candidate come off once the regular season ends. The 27-year-old Cole missed much of the regular season due to injury in the minors but threw 12 2/3 innings of scoreless ball across three levels before being promoted for his big league debut in early August. Cole was rocked for four runs on six hits in one inning of work in his lone big league appearance. He suffered a broken toe in that appearance and landed on the MLB 10-day DL before being released and re-signed to a new minor league deal once his DL stint was up.
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