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Tony Renda

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/18

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The latest minor moves from around the baseball world…

  • The Red Sox re-signed infielder Tony Renda to a new minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  After playing in 32 games for the Reds as a rookie in 2016, Renda didn’t make it back to the majors until this season, when he appeared in a single game for Boston.  The lone appearance was a notable one, as Renda entered the game as a pinch-runner in the 10th inning and scored the winning run in a 5-4 win over the Yankees on August 5.  (Renda even received a World Series ring for his modest contribution to Boston’s championship season.)  After hitting a combined .318/.373/.453 over 292 PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2018, Renda will return to the organization after being outrighted after the season.
  • The Lotte Giants of the KBO League have announced new contracts for left-hander Brooks Raley and right-hander Jake Thompson for the 2019 season. (Hat tip to MyKBO.net’s Dan Kurtz for passing on the news.)  Raley will receive $1.17MM for his fifth season in South Korea, where he has been a solid rotation piece for the Giants.  A former Cubs draft pick, Raley tossed 38 1/3 innings for Chicago in 2012-13 and hasn’t since been back in the big leagues.  Thompson will head to the KBO after being designated for assignment off the Brewers roster last summer and ultimately let go into free agency.  Formerly a well-regarded prospect for the Phillies, Thompson never found much consistency at the MLB level, posting a 4.87 ERA over 116 1/3 frames for Philadelphia from 2016-18.  Thompson will receive $760K in guaranteed salary, with another $140K available in incentive bonuses.

Red Sox Outright Carson Smith, Tony Renda, Justin Haley

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The Red Sox have outrighted Carson Smith off of the 40-man roster, per a club announcement. He has elected free agency. Boston also announced that infielder Tony Renda and right-hander Justin Haley have been outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket. Meanwhile, Dustin Pedroia, Austin Maddox and Marco Hernandez were reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and added back to the 40-man roster.

Smith’s time with the Sox was disappointing, to put things mildly. Acquired in the 2015-16 offseason in the trade that sent Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro to the Mariners, Smith was one of the first major acquisitions for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. At the time, Boston looked to have secured a long-term, high-leverage weapon for the back of the ’pen. That, of course, was far from the case.

It’s easy to forget just how dominant Smith was as a rookie in Seattle, given the three injury-ruined seasons that have since elapsed, but the righty was legitimately overpowering with the 2015 Mariners. In 70 innings of work, he pitched to a minuscule 2.31 ERA with 11.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.26 HR/9 and a whopping 64.8 percent ground-ball rate. That combination of whiffs, strong control and elite ground-ball tendencies is exceedingly rare, so it’s easy to see why Smith was viewed as an attractive option.

Unfortunately for the Sox, Smith’s arm simply couldn’t hold up. He underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2016 season and was only able to make it back to the field for 6 2/3 innings in 2017. The 2018 season brought an embarrassing end to his Red Sox tenure. Smith hit the disabled list with a subluxation in his right shoulder back in May — an injury which he appeared to incur after throwing his glove in the dugout out of frustration. After the fact, he told reporters that he believed fatigue from being overworked might’ve contributed to the status of his balky shoulder — a suggestion which manager Alex Cora characterized as “surprising” and with which he flatly stated he “[didn’t] agree.” Smith ultimately went under the knife in June and didn’t return to the field after the fact.

Renda, 28 in January, appeared in one game as a pinch-runner for the Sox this season and split the remainder of the season between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket. In a combined 292 minor league plate appearances, the former Reds and Nationals prospect posted a quality .318/.373/.453 slash — adding five homers, 19 doubles, a triple and 10 steals along the way.

Haley, meanwhile, was Boston’s sixth-round pick back in 2012. The 27-year-old made his Red Sox debut this season, though it wasn’t his Major League debut, as Haley logged 18 innings as a Rule 5 pick of the Twins back in 2017. In four games and a total of 7 2/3 innings with Boston this season, he allowed four runs on 10 hits and three walks without a strikeout. Overall, he has a 5.61 ERA in 25 2/3 big league innings, though he’s worked to a considerably better 3.53 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 260 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level in his career to date.

Red Sox Place Ian Kinsler on DL, Pedroia To 60-Day DL

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The Red Sox have officially placed the recently-acquired Ian Kinsler on the disabled list and moved fellow second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day DL. Infielder Tony Renda has been added to the MLB roster to take Kinsler’s place.

Kinsler, of course, recently came to Boston by way of a July 30th transaction that sent a pair of minor leaguers to the Angels. The Red Sox also received about $1.83MM in the swap. The 36-year-old had already amassed four hits in just 11 plate appearances with the Red Sox and has enjoyed a strong season to date, accruing 2.1 fWAR across the 2018 season in part due to typically stellar defense.

It remains to be seen how the Sox plan to proceed in Kinsler’s absence. The “tight hamstring” probably won’t shelve the veteran for too long, but it’s not as though Boston has a host of capable keystone defenders. Following the removal of Kinsler from last night’s matchup, MVP candidate Mookie Betts shifted from the outfield to second base (his natural position, though one he hasn’t played since 2014).

As for Pedroia, it would appear that recent concerns were not without cause. Following offseason knee surgery, the veteran (and one of the long-time faces of the Red Sox franchise) hasn’t been able to make a clean comeback to the field. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Pedroia has already been back on the disabled list for over 60 days, so this transfer won’t in and of itself affect his timetable to return to the field. Still, there’s been no word of any change to his status.

Injury Notes: Deal Medicals, Matz, Devenski, Nicasio, Kinsler

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WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford took an interesting look at changes that have been made to the process of assessing health in trades. The 2016 Drew Pomeranz swap, and more particularly the fallout from it, sparked the development of a much more robust system for documenting and assessing medical matters. While thee’s obviously an advantage in enhancing the scrutiny, it also leads to what Bradford calls a “tremendously tedious process.”

Here’s the latest on some injury situations around the league:

  • The Mets announced today that they have placed lefty Steven Matz on the 10-day disabled list with a flexor pronator strain. That sounds a bit frightening, though indications are that it’s not a terribly concerning injury situation. Still, any arm troubles are somewhat more worrisome for a young hurler that has experienced so many already since his 2015 debut. Matz, who will be replaced on the active roster by right-hander Corey Oswalt, joins Phillip Evans on the shelf. The 25-year-old infielder suffered a non-displaced fracture of his tibia, though it is perhaps still possible he’ll be able to return to action this season.
  • The Astros have placed reliever Chris Devenski on the 10-day disabled list with left hamstring tightness, the club announced. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by southpaw Cionel Perez. Devenski had been cruising through another dominant season before he imploded very recently. Devenski had a 1.32 ERA as of July 1st, but has since allowed 13 earned runs in seven outings — including eight without recording an out over his past two appearances. Clearly, something isn’t quite right, so the ’Stros will give him a chance to get back to full health before the stretch run.
  • Also heading to the DL is Mariners righty Juan Nicasio, the team announced. He’ll be replaced by reliever Chasen Bradford. Knee problems have been an issue for the 31-year-old Nicasio this year. He’s now sporting a 6.00 ERA through 42 frames on the season, though he’s also carrying a sparkling 53:5 K/BB ratio.
  • Just-acquired Red Sox second baseman Ian Kinsler is likewise set to hit the DL after leaving tonight’s game with a tight hamstring, Bradford tweets. The seriousness isn’t yet apparent, but it doesn’t appear to be a major source of concern. Kinsler will be replaced for the time being by infielder Tony Renda.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/3/17

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

  • Infielder Tony Renda has been dealt from the Reds to the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. The 26-year-old had been outrighted over the winter after struggling in his MLB debut last year. Through 198 plate appearances at Triple-A in 2017, he was slashing just .260/.305/.326 — albeit with just 18 strikeouts to go with a dozen walks.
  • In another minor swap, the Giants purchased Tyler Herb from the Mariners for an undisclosed sum, both teams announced. He’ll actually represent the player to be named later in the deal that sent Chris Heston to Seattle, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, with some undisclosed technicality requiring the particular treatment. The 25-year-old was taken in the 29th round of the 2014 draft. He made it up to the Double-A level last year and has thrown well there upon a repeat assignment. Herb has made it through 98 innings in 16 starts on the year, posting a 3.31 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
  • Nationals righty Jacob Turner has accepted an outright assignment after clearing waivers, per a team announcement. Still just 26, Turner has given the Nats some badly needed innings this year, though his ERA stands at 5.08 after 39 frames of action. He is expected to resume working as a starter in case he’s needed in that role at the major league level.
  • Also outrighted was Blue Jays outfielder Ian Parmley, Toronto announced. He was up for a brief stretch, but will return to plying his trade at Triple-A Buffalo. over 205 plate appearances there on the year, Parmley is slashing .289/.332/.369.
  • The Mariners released southpaw Nick Hagadone, according to Triple-A Tacoma announcer Mike Curto (via Twitter). As Curto notes, Hagadone has been particularly impressive of late. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of four MLB seasons, all with the Indians, but missed all of last year after an elbow fracture. He landed in Seattle on a minors deal and has thrown 33 1/3 innings of 3.51 ERA ball — with 9.5 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 — since arriving in Tacoma. (It could well be, then, that Hagadone utilized an opt-out clause, though we’ve heard no indication of that as of yet.)

Earlier Transactions

  • The Brewers announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Michael Blazek from Triple-A Colorado Springs. The 28-year-old was outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier this year but remained in the organization and has posted a solid 3.13 ERA in that extremely hitter-friendly setting. While all of Blazek’s 104 career appearances in the Majors have been in relief, he’s been working as a starter for his past 10 trips to the hill in Triple-A. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy suggests (via Twitter) that Blazek could very well pitch today in relief of left-hander Brent Suter. Piggybacking the two would certainly make some sense, as Suter may not be fully stretched out with his most recent start coming back on June 13. Milwaukee already had an open spot on the 40-man, so there’s no corresponding 40-man move needed to accommodate Blazek.

Reds Announce Minor-League Signings, Non-Roster Invitations

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The Reds have announced 18 non-roster invitations to MLB camp this spring, as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. That includes a variety of internal players as well as a few outside additions: southpaw Lucas Luetge along with catchers Rob Brantly and Shawn Zarraga.

Luetge, 29, spent 2016 at Triple-A for the Angels after spending parts of four seasons in the majors with the Mariners. He ended the campaign with 55 2/3 innings of 4.85 ERA pitching. Though he managed a healthy 9.4 K/9, Luetge continued to issue a few too many free passes (4.7 BB/9).

The 27-year-old Brantly has seen action in three major league seasons, hitting .225/.286/.317 over 392 plate appearances. At Triple-A with the Mariners last year, he slashed .244/.268/.432 over 315 trips to the plate. He also chipped in a personal-best 14 long balls.

Zarraga, also 27, will also join the group of backstops hoping to establish a place in the pecking order. He reached base at a useful .384 clip in 99 Double-A plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2016, but struggled with the bat in limited action at the highest level of the minors. Zarraga is still looking for his first crack at the majors.

Other players receiving big league invites include, on the position-player side, catcher Chad Wallach, infielders Brandon Dixon, Tony Renda (who was recently outrighted), and Zach Vincej, utilitymen Hernan Iribarren (who will stay with Cincinnati after also being outrighted) and Patrick Kivlehan (claimed and then outrighted in October), as well as outfielders Sebastian Elizalde and Gabriel Guerrero (who was claimed, non-tendered, and then re-signed to a minors deal). Among pitchers, lefties Ismael Guillon and Nick Routt are joined by righties Alejandro Chacin, Jimmy Herget, Tyler Mahle, Evan Mitchell, Kevin Shackelford, and — perhaps most intriguingly — just-signed Cuban hurler Vladimir Gutierrez.

Reds Outright Tony Renda

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The Reds outrighted second baseman/outfielder Tony Renda off their 40-man roster and assigned him to Triple-A, the team announced.  The Reds now have 38 players and two open spots on their 40-man roster.

Renda came to Cincinnati last winter as part of the four-player trade package the Yankees sent to the Reds in exchange for Aroldis Chapman.  He made his big league debut this season and posted a .463 OPS over his first 67 plate appearances in the Show.  Originally a second-round pick for the Nationals in 2012, Renda has a .289/.361/.378 slash line over 2347 career minor league PA in the Cincinnati, New York and Washington farm systems.

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