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Minor MLB Transactions: 7/4/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves, all courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted:

  • The Diamondbacks have released righty Kyle Drabek. The former first-rounder, now 28, received a single appearance this year for Arizona. He owns a tough 6.68 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in his 68 2/3 Triple-A innings thus far in 2016.
  • The Pirates have outrighted right-hander Jorge Rondon to Triple-A, per an announcement from the team’s affiliate at Indianapolis. Rondon had been designated for assignment recently. He has a 2.72 ERA over his rather extensive time at Triple-A, but has yet to show much in his brief time at the major league level.
  • Outfielder Tony Campana is headed to the White Sox on a minor league deal after being released by the Nationals, per Eddy. Campana, 30, has seen MLB time in parts of four seasons, none since 2014. He owns a meager .215/.289/.230 slash in 158 Triple-A plate appearances on the year.
  • The Padres released righty Johnny Hellweg, Eddy adds. The towering righty had an unsuccessful trial run in the majors back in 2013. He had struggled with his command and been hit quite hard this year in the minors for the Padres.
  • After being designated recently, catcher Hector Sanchez has been outrighted by the Padres. The 26-year-old will head back to Triple-A, which is where he has spent most of his time in recent years. Sanchez does have 663 major league plate appearances over the last six seasons, with a .240/.276/.348 lifetime batting line.
  • The Mariners have released Efren Navarro, a 30-year-old first baseman. Navarro was off to a .243/.316/.362 slash in his 301 plate appearances this year at Triple-A, well off of his usual productivity at the highest level of the minors.
  • The recently-designated Andrew Bellatti has been outrighted by the Rays. Despite providing 23 1/3 innings of 2.31 ERA pitching last year at the major league level, the right-hander has not cracked the majors this year and had struggled in limited action at Triple-A.
  • The Nationals have released infielder Scott Sizemore, also via Eddy. The 31-year-old was off to a rough start, hitting just .205/.353/.323 over his 243 plate appearances on the year. He hasn’t cracked the majors since 2014.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/1/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Rays outfielder Jaff Decker cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, via Twitter. Decker struggled badly in a limited sample this year at the major league level. He has been quite a productive Triple-A hitter, though, and is still just 26 years ofa ge.
  • Outfielder Alex Presley has rejected an outright assignment with the Brewers, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports on Twitter. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo had tweeted that Presley cleared waivers. Presley heads back onto the open market after a disappointing run with Milwaukee. The 30-year-old still draws interest, and generally does plenty of damage in the highest level of the minors, but just hasn’t ever gained traction in the majors.
  • The Blue Jays have released righty Chad Jenkins, per a tweet from Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 20th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Jenkins has just topped one hundred frames at the major league level and does own a 3.31 career ERA. Clearly, though, the organization never felt that Jenkins warranted a more extended chance. Through 29 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, Jenkins had struggled to a 5.16 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and an uncharacteristic 5.2 BB/9.
  • Heading to the White Sox on a minor league deal is infielder Danny Muno, per Cotillo (via Twitter). Muno, 27, has had little more than a cup of coffee in the majors. He was cut loose by the Mets after posting a .239/.391/.318 slash over his first 110 plate appearances of the year at the Triple-A level.

Earlier Updates

  • The White Sox have inked center fielder Tony Campana to a minor league contract, per the team’s transactions page at MLB.com. Campana, who’s already played one game with his new organization, was recently released by the Nationals after opening the season with their Triple-A affiliate. The 30-year-old struggled at the plate this season, hitting .220/.294/.236 in 144 plate appearances after missing nearly all of the 2015 season due to a torn ligament in his knee sustained in Spring Training 2015 (with the White Sox). Campana’s 2016 struggles aren’t representative of his track record, of course. The fleet-footed veteran has a lifetime .282/.343/.347 slash line in parts of five Triple-A seasons even including this year’s line, and he’s also logged parts of four seasons in the Majors, where he’s compiled a .249/.296/.288 line between the Cubs, Angels and D-backs. Speed has traditionally been Campana’s calling card; he’s gone 66-for-75 in stolen base attempts over the life of 257 big league games and 216-for-286 in his minor league career.

Nationals, Tony Campana Agree To Minor League Deal

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12:04pm: Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that Campana’s minor league deal runs through the 2016 season (Twitter link). Even if he doesn’t end up seeing time with the big league club this season, then, the Nats will get a look at him this summer and next year in Spring Training as well, when he’d have a chance to crack the roster. With Denard Span set to hit free agency this winter, Campana will provide the Nats with a depth piece beyond this season.

12:00pm: The Nationals have agreed to a deal with speedy center fielder Tony Campana, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter links). MLB.com’s Bill Ladson adds (also via Twitter) that it’s a minor league contract.

Campana, a client of Pro Star Sports Management, signed a minor league deal with the White Sox this past offseason but suffered a partially torn ACL in February. He’s rehabbed quickly from the injury, however and has already been performing baseball activities for a month, per Heyman.

The 29-year-old Campana has appeared in the Majors in each of the past four seasons, spending time with the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Angels. He’s batted .249/.296/.288 in 477 plate appearances, but his speed his calling card. As Heyman notes, if he gets back on track in time, Campana could be a September/October bench asset much in the same way that Terrence Gore was for the Royals in 2014. Campana is 66-for-75 in stolen base attempts in his Major League career, and he’s 211-for-279 in minor league attempts.

White Sox Release Tony Campana

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Here are today’s minor transactions from around baseball, with the newest moves at the top of the post…

  • The White Sox have released outfielder Tony Campana, according to the International League’s official transactions page.  Campana signed a minor league contract with Chicago in November, but suffered a torn ACL during training session last month and is expected to miss the entire 2015 season.

White Sox Notes: Offseason Additions, Campana

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White Sox general manager Rick Hahn was a guest on MLB Network’s Hot Stove earlier this morning and spoke with hosts Ron Darling and Fran Charles to discuss his team’s aggressive offseason (video link). Chicago, of course, has added Jeff Samardzija via trade in addition to signing David Robertson, Melky Cabrera, Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, Emilio Bonifacio and Geovany Soto.

Here are some highlights from Hahn’s appearance as well as another White Sox item…

  • Chicago’s plan goes back to the 2013 trade deadline, Hahn said. “…The die was cast on that season being a disappointment fairly early on,” he explained, “which gave us the opportunity to take a step back and assess where we needed to go as an organization and areas we had to get better.” The Sox flipped Jake Peavy for not only Avisail Garcia but top prospect Francellis Montas, whose stock has soared since the deal. That trade, as well as the trade of Alex Rios, freed up enough cash for the Sox to add Jose Abreu last winter, and his immediate impact helped the team decide to make a push this winter.
  • Early in the offseason, Hahn sat down with owner Jerry Reinsdorf, president Kenny Williams, manager Robin Ventura, pitching coach Don Cooper and hitting coach Todd Steverson to assess the state of the organization. The “marching orders” from Reinsdorf after that meeting “were to go out and put us in a position to contend,” Hahn explained, noting that Reinsdorf did not want to waste the primes of players such as Abreu, Chris Sale and Jose Quintana.
  • One reason that the club added LaRoche, according to Hahn, was that Abreu “ran out of a gas” a bit down the stretch. The team is hopeful that by giving Abreu a little more time at DH and using LaRoche at first base on those days, Abreu can sustain his production throughout the year. Abreu hit only five homers over the final two months of the season, and he posted a relatively pedestrian (by his standards, anyhow) .799 OPS over the final 21 games of 2014. That, of course, could be nothing more than a small sample size, though the lack of home runs could be seen as a sign of fatigue.
  • Asked by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports/MLB Network whether the state of the division impacted the Sox’ aggressive push (referring to the fact that the Tigers and Royals are seen by some as worse than they were in 2014). “We don’t look around and see the team that won the AL Championship in Kansas City or the team that’s won the division the last four years in Detroit as necessarily coming back to the pack,” Hahn replied. Rather, he explained, the decision was more about a belief that the White Sox are in a position where they can reach the same level as those clubs and contend for a division title.
  • Non-roster invitee Tony Campana suffered a torn ACL in a recent training session and will likely miss the entire 2015 season, the Sox announced on Twitter. It’s a tough break for the 28-year-old speedster, who was looking to make the club as a fourth outfielder after posting a solid .277/.336/.340 batting line in Triple-A with the D-Backs and Angels last season.

White Sox Sign Tony Campana

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12:32pm: Campana’s contract is a minor league deal, tweets Chris Cotillo of SB Nation.

12:25pm: The White Sox have signed Tony Campana, the outfielder himself announced on Twitter. Campana is represented by Pro Star Management.

The 28-year-old Campana is a veteran of parts of four Major League seasons, where he’s batted a combined .249/.296/.288. Not known for his bat, Campana possesses blistering speed, as can be seen in his 66-for-75 track record in stolen base attempts. Those 66 swipes have come in a total of just 477 plate appearances/257 games. Unsurprisingly those wheels allow him to cover a significant amount of ground in the outfield, leading to plus defensive marks in both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved (although both metrics feel he’s better suited to play a corner position than center field).

Camapana, who broke into the bigs with the Cubs in 2011, split this past season between the D’Backs and Angels and should give the ChiSox some additional outfield depth. He’s a career .291/.348/.361 hitter at the Triple-A level.

Outrighted: Ryan Brasier, Tony Campana, B.J. Rosenberg

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Here are today’s minor moves and outrights from around the league…

  • The Angels have outrighted righty Ryan Brasier and outfielder Tony Campana off the 40-man roster, tweets Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. Brasier, 27, threw nine innings of relief for the Halos last year but has worked above the 4 earned-per-nine level at Triple-A over the last two seasons and missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The 28-year-old Campana, who joined the Angels on a mid-season waiver claim from the Diamondbacks, owns a .249/.296/.288 slash over 477 plate appearances in parts of four seasons at the MLB level.
  • The Phillies announced that right-hander B.J. Rosenberg has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 29-year-old Rosenberg has 56 2/3 innings of big league experience, but he’s struggled to a 5.72 ERA in the Majors. At the Triple-A level, however, Rosenberg owns a much more palatable 3.87 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 148 2/3 innings. He’s worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen since being selected in the 13th round of the 2008 draft; in 257 games between the Majors and Minors, he’s made 224 relief appearances against just 33 starts. Philadelphia’s 40-man roster is now down to 38.

Angels Acquire Joe Thatcher, Tony Campana

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10:19am: The Diamondbacks will receive outfielder Zach Borenstein and right-hander Joey Krehbiel, tweets Heyman.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times notes (via Twitter) Borenstein was the Angels’ minor league player of the year in 2013 (.337/.403/.631 at Class A-Advanced Inland Empire). The 23-year-old (the Angels’ 23rd-round selection in 2011), however, hasn’t been able to replicate those numbers this season while bouncing back and forth between Double-A (.266/.338/.440 in 207 plate appearances) and Triple-A (.256/.279/.342 in 123 plate appearances).

Krehbiel is an interesting bullpen arm with a fastball sitting between 92-95 MPH with a good slider, tweets Piecoro. The 21-year-old (taken in the same draft as Borenstein, but in the 12th round) has compiled a 2.00 ERA, 11.5 K/9, and 3.5 BB/9 with five saves in 17 appearances covering 18 innings this season for Class-A Burlington and Class A-Advanced Inland Empire.

10:00am: Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) heard last night that the Halos would be giving up a minor league second baseball in a Thatcher deal.  Either Taylor Lindsey or Alex Yarbrough makes sense, according to Passan. 

9:48am: The D’Backs get a few prospects in the deal and one is a high-ranking prospect, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  Arizona is saving about $1.1MM with this deal, Piecoro tweets.

9:33am: The D’Backs are receiving a prospect and another minor leaguer in the deal, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

8:57am: The Angels are set to acquire Joe Thatcher and Tony Campana from the Diamondbacks, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The return is not yet known.

Rosenthal reported late last night that the Angels were on the hunt for a left-handed reliever and Thatcher was high on their wish list.  Thatcher, who will be a free agent at season’s end, has a 2.63 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 through 37 appearances this season.

For his career, the 32-year-old owns a 3.26 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 across eight seasons with the Padres and Diamondbacks.  Now, he’ll ply his craft for the Halos in what will be his first time outside of the NL West.  Thatcher is a rather inexpensive addition for the Halos as they’re on the hook for the prorated portion of his $2.375MM deal.

Campana, 28, hasn’t done much offensively this season, hitting .150/.164/.200 in 61 plate appearances.   In four years for the Cubs and D’Backs, Campana has hit .246/.294/.286 in 239 total games.  Still, the speedy outfielder has managed to provide value even when he’s not doing much with his bat.  He has 66 career stolen bases and a career 14.6 UZR/150 in the outfield.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

NL West Notes: Hairston, Rockies, Diamondbacks

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The Dodgers signed Roberto Clemente on this date in 1954, beating out a number of interested clubs in the process. The Dodgers would lose the future Hall of Famer in the following Rule 5 draft and he'd spend his entire 18-year career with the Pirates. Here are the latest AL-West related links…

  • Jerry Hairston Jr. won't necessarily retire if the Dodgers win the 2013 World Series, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports.  “It’s February. A lot can happen, really, in a year,” he said. The 36-year-old utility player previously indicated he would retire at the end of the season if the Dodgers won it all.
  • The Rockies continue challenging conventional wisdom while constructing their roster. The team is considering the idea of using eight relievers at home and seven relievers on the road, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. Director of Major League operations Bill Geivett said "it's a fluid situation" but acknowledged the approach could be used to limit scoring at hitter-friendly Coors Field.
  • Tony Campana hasn't produced much as an MLB hitter, but as Dave Cameron of FanGraphs explains those shortcomings don't prevent the speedy outfielder from adding value. Cameron suggests Campana might be able to add one win of value as a pinch runner, especially now that offense has dropped off across MLB. The Diamondbacks acquired Campana from the Cubs for Erick Leal and Jesus Castillo yesterday.

Diamondbacks Acquire Tony Campana

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The Cubs announced that they have traded outfielder Tony Campana to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Erick Leal and Jesus Castillo.  The Cubs designated Campana for assignment last week to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Scott Hairston.

Campana, 26, finished 2012 with a slash line of .264/.308/.299 in 192 plate appearances.  The speedster also racked up 30 stolen bases last season, good for ninth in the National League.  The Diamondbacks are already more than set in the outfield, so its not clear what kind of role they have in mind for Campana.

Venezuelans Leal and Castillo are both just 17-years-old and spent time with the D'Backs Dominical Summer League affiliate in 2012.  Leal posted a 2.44 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 12 starts and two relief appearances.  Meanwhile, Castillo had a 5.40 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in eight starts and six games out of the bullpen.

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