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Wily Peralta

Royals Release Wily Peralta

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July 24: Peralta has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, per a club announcement.

July 22: The Royals announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Wily Peralta. He’d been designated for assignment over the weekend.

Peralta, 30, has pitched to an ugly 5.80 ERA with a similarly unsightly 24-to-19 K/BB ratio in 40 1/3 innings this season. He’s been tagged for seven home runs on the year and seen his fastball velocity drop from an average of 96.2 mph in 2018 to 94.4 mph in 2019.

Peralta did post a 3.67 ERA through 34 1/3 innings in his first season with Kansas City in 2018. However, the former Brewers hurler also averaged an untenable 6.0 walks per nine innings pitched with unfavorable ratings from fielding-independent metrics (4.73 FIP, 4.66 xFIP, 4.67 SIERA). That didn’t deter the Royals from bringing him back for a second season at a guarantee of $3.25MM. He’s still owed just under $847K of this year’s $2.25MM base salary in addition to a $1MM buyout on a 2020 mutual option.

That salary obligation and this year’s poor results make him a sure thing to clear release waivers and become a free agent on Wednesday. At that point, he’ll be free to sign with any club and will only be owed the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time spent in the Majors. The Royals will remain on the hook for the rest of his salary and the option buyout.

Royals Designate Wily Peralta For Assignment

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The Royals have designated righty Wily Peralta for assignment, per Jeffrey Flanagan of mlb.com. Right-hander Josh Staumont will be recalled in his place.

Once a promising young starter for the Brewers, Peralta hit the skids in 2015 and couldn’t steady himself even after a 2017 transition to the bullpen. Kansas City’s reclamation attempt also fell flat: in 42 relief appearances for the club this season, Peralta posted a 5.80 ERA/5.85 FIP on back of a mere 5.36 K/9. Command was always an issue for the now 30-year-old, who often flashed electric heat but rarely displayed the bat-missing secondary stuff to match.

The move was somewhat overdue for the Royals, whose players are afforded some of the longest leashes league-wide. The KC ’pen has again been shaky this season, though the trio at the back-end (Ian Kennedy, Jake Diekman, Scott Barlow) has been far more reliable than last season’s iteration.

Royals Agree To New Deal With Wily Peralta

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The Royals have struck a “reworked” deal with righty Wily Peralta, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). He had been controllable pursuant to a $3MM club option.

This new deal seems to tweak things only slightly, perhaps simply as a means of delaying part of Peralta’s 2019 salary obligation. He’ll now take home $2.25MM for the season to come, per the report. In 2020, the deal calls for a $7MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout.

In addition to adding a bit of extra guaranteed money, Peralta can now earn a bit more if he remains in the closer’s role for the Royals. The deal will provide him another million dollars if he finishes 55 games, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (via Twitter).

Peralta, 29, ended up sliding into the ninth inning in K.C. after joining the organization on a minors deal and opening the year at Triple-A. In his 34 1/3 MLB frames, he worked to a 3.67 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and ended up recording 14 saves.

That said, Peralta also allowed a disconcerting number of walks — just over six per nine innings, in fact. The former Brewers starter did throw his four- and two-seam fastballs as hard as ever before, averaging over 96 mph on each, and reached a double-digit swinging-strike rate (an even 10.0%) for the first time.

Royals Place Jorge Soler On 10-Day DL, Promote Adalberto Mondesi, Select Wily Peralta’s Contract

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The Royals announced a flurry of roster moves (Twitter links) this morning, including outfielder Jorge Soler’s official placement on the 10-day DL with a left toe fracture.  Left-hander Eric Skoglund was transferred to the 60-day DL, while infielder Ramon Torres and right-hander Scott Barlow were optioned to Triple-A.  Joining the 25-man roster are infielder Adalberto Mondesi, outfielder Rosell Herrera, and righty Wily Peralta, as the Royals selected Peralta’s contract from Triple-A Omaha.

[Updated Royals depth chart at Roster Resource]

Soler is expected to miss at least six weeks of action with the injury, which was seemingly originally caused by a foul ball off his foot and then exacerbated when Soler was running on Friday night.  Soler’s production has cooled off following a huge opening six weeks, though he still had a .265/.354/.466 slash line and nine homers through 257 total plate appearances this season.  It seemed as though Soler was finally enjoying the breakout campaign long expected of him since his (not long ago) days as one of the game’s best prospects coming up in the Cubs farm system, though this DL stint is an unfortunate interruption to Soler’s season.

Speaking of top prospects, the most noteworthy of Kansas City’s corresponding moves is the promotion of Mondesi, who is back in the majors for the first time in 2018.  Mondesi was a consensus top-40 prospect prior to the 2016 season, with Baseball Prospectus rating him as high as 16th on their list of baseball’s top 100 minor leaguers, though he has shown next to nothing at the plate in two brief stints in the Show.  Mondesi has just a .181/.226/.271 slash line over 209 career PA in the majors, though he has shown more composure as a hitter at the Triple-A level.  With the usual caveat that the Pacific Coast League is very hitter-friendly, Mondesi has hit .292/.328/.527 with 19 homers over 551 Triple-A plate appearances.

Mondesi has already displayed excellent speed and strong defensive ability, so his prospect ceiling would only be further elevated if he can add value as a hitter.  He has mostly played shortstop in the minors with some time at second base, and with the Royals in rebuild mode, Mondesi could get an extended look at either position now that he’s back on the 25-man roster.  Whit Merrifield is certainly staying in the everyday lineup but can play other positions than second base, so Mondesi could displace Ryan Goins for regular time at the keystone, or potentially displace starting shortstop Alcides Escobar.  Manager Ned Yost told reporters (including The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd) that Mondesi will play four games a week for the time being, to keep Mondesi fresh after some injuries earlier in the season.

Peralta signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract (with a $3MM club option for 2019) last winter, though he has yet to appear in a big league game for the Royals after being outrighted off the 40-man roster at the end of Spring Training.  Peralta has a 4.37 ERA over 35 innings at Triple-A, posting a strong 10.0 K/9 but a troubling 5.4 BB/9.  The hard-throwing veteran is looking to rebound after a very rough 2017 season that led his being outrighted off Milwaukee’s roster last summer.

Royals Outright Wily Peralta

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Right-hander Wily Peralta cleared waivers and has been outrighted from the Royals’ 40-man roster, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports. He’ll head to Triple-A Omaha.

As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted earlier this week, Peralta was signed to a fully-guaranteed MLB deal. As such, the Royals will be on the hook for his entire salary unless he lands elsewhere, in which case his new team will pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary. Peralta allowed 14 earned runs across just eight innings during spring training. His 2017 campaign with the Brewers wasn’t much better, as the righty posted a cataclysmic 7.85 ERA across 18 appearances (nine starts) with the Brewers. The 28-year-old saw his walk rate skyrocket to a career-high 5.02 BB/9, while his HR/9 ended the year at a 1.57 figure.

Poor recent performance aside, Peralta’s designation was likely affected in part by Kansas City’s desire to hold Rule 5 picks Burch Smith and Brad Keller on the roster. The team is in a bit of a rebuilding period, so the upside of keeping these two young players for the long term probably outweighs the value of holding onto the struggling Peralta.

 

Royals Designate Kyle Zimmer, Wily Peralta For Assignment

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The Royals have designated right-handers Wily Peralta and Kyle Zimmer for assignment, tweets Rustin Dodd of The Athletic. MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan adds that right-hander Nate Karns has been placed on the 10-day disabled list, and he’ll be replaced in the rotation by lefty Eric Skoglund for the time being. Relievers Tim Hill, Brian Flynn and Burch Smith have all made the big league roster, per Flanagan.

Peralta, 28, signed a fully guaranteed one-year deal with the Royals early this offseason, so Kansas City will remain on the hook for that salary unless another team claims the former Brewers hurler. That seems unlikely, particularly when considering that Peralta was hammered for 14 runs on 16 hits and eight walks in eight spring frames (though he did tally a dozen strikeouts as well).

Zimmer, 26, was the fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft and long rated as one of the game’s better prospects, but injuries have devastated his young career. He’s appeared in just 111 1/3 regular-season innings dating back to the 2014 season and struggled to a 5.40 ERA in 36 2/3 frames with Triple-A Omaha when healthy in 2017.

As for Karns, he’s headed to the DL with elbow issues after seeing his 2017 campaign cut short by surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. While the Royals aren’t giving up on him as a contributor, it seems they’re shutting the door on Karns as a starter for the time being. Flanagan tweets that manager Ned Yost said Karns will work in relief when he returns to the roster, ideally in a two- to three-inning role to provide some length to the relief corps.

That, of course, will open up a long-term spot in the K.C. rotation, though it remains unclear as of yet who will seize that opportunity in the long run. Skoglund will have the first crack, though the 25-year-old struggled in his first look in the Majors last year.

Royals To Sign Wily Peralta

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The Royals became the latest team to strike on the pitching market, adding righty Wily Peralta on a one-year deal, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star first reported (Twitter links). Peralta will receive a $1.525MM guarantee, $1.5MM of which will go to his 2018 salary. The remaining $25K is allocated to a buyout for a $3MM option for 2019. It’s also possible for Peralta to tack on another $1.25MM per season in performance incentives.

Peralta was outrighted in early August by the Brewers and then elected free agency at season’s end. That move came on the heels of a miserable 57 1/3-inning run in 2017, over which Peralta surrendered ten home runs and fifty earned runs. His departure brought a close to his six-year MLB run in Milwaukee, over which time he compiled a 4.48 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 with a 51.2% groundball rate.

The 28-year-old remains a somewhat intriguing bounceback option, though, for a variety of reasons. It has been some time since he was an effective starter, but he did spin 198 2/3 frames of 3.53 ERA ball back in 2014. And Peralta still brings the heat: in 2017, he averaged 96.5 mph with his four-seamer, matching a personal high. An optimist would surely point to Peralta’s meager 59.8% strand rate and lofty .362 BABIP in his most recent season.

Peralta figures to represent a swingman option for K.C., which GM Dayton Moore acknowledged in commenting on the signing to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (via Twitter). Moore indicates that he likes the idea of seeing how his power arsenal fares in the bullpen, while also noting that the club “will look at him as possible rotation depth as well.”

While the team’s plans aren’t yet fully clear, indications are that the Royals are heading for a rebuilding period. If that’s the case, it’s not hard to imagine Peralta functioning as a low-cost rotation piece — particularly if the club explores trades for high-priced starters Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, and Jason Hammel. The latter two, certainly, could only be moved if Kansas City is willing to hang onto some of their remaining obligations.

If, on the other hand, the Royals find themselves in position to bring back free agents Eric Hosmer and/or Mike Moustakas, and decide to hang on to closer Kelvin Herrera, perhaps Peralta could earn his way into the late-inning mix as a setup arm. This move really does not commit the organization in a particular direction, so there’s still quite a bit left to learn about how the Royals’ 2018 roster will shake out.

NL East Notes: Stanton, Phillies, Mets Needs, Nats, Werth

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With the GM Meetings underway, we’ll be rounding up the key bits of information from around the league. Let’s get things started with the NL East:

  • While the Marlins haven’t yet committed to trading Giancarlo Stanton, his pursuit could be the first major piece of the offseason puzzle. As Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel reports, Miami president of baseball operations Michael Hill acknowledges that the front offices has “a sense” of where Stanton would be willing to go via trade. While the team isn’t disclosing that publicly, it’ll obviously be a key factor as the team tries to craft a trade that will meet its needs and receive approval from Stanton, who can veto any swap through his no-trade clause. Hill did also say it’s “definitely a possibility” that Stanton won’t be dealt, though the team’s payroll plans make him an exceedingly tough fit. [RELATED: MLBTR’s breakdown of Stanton’s market and compilation of the latest rumors]
  • One team that has been tied to Stanton, the Phillies, may not be that realistic a suitor after all. Per Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia organization has not engaged the Marlins in “substantive talks” and do not see the slugger as a fit. As Gelb notes, GM Matt Klentak emphasized today that the club is “pretty comfortable with our position-player group right now” and prefers to “let those young players play” — barring, at least, “a pretty unique set of circumstances.” Klentak also acknowledged that “this offseason is the first time since I’ve been here that we will explore contracts of more than one year with free agents.”
  • As they seek to modernize the use of their pitching staff, the Mets seemingly hope to improve the rotation without necessarily spending resources on new acquisitions. As Marc Carig of Newsday writes, GM Sandy Alderson plans both to buttress the training approach and to improve the team’s bullpen. New York could be a player for pitchers such as Brandon Morrow, Mike Minor, and Bryan Shaw — each of whom MLBTR predicts to land a three-year deal. That said, achieving depth will surely involve multiple additions. The team is considering righty Wily Peralta as one swingman candidate, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.
  • Of course, the Mets also have other needs, and committing resources to the pen will make for sacrifices. Second base is an obvious need, though Carig suggests the club may not look to commit too big a chunk of salary to filling that hole. The Mets will also look for a quality hitter that can play right field and/or first base, helping to cover for the questions surrounding Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith (the latter of whom was the recipient of some blunt words from Alderson). It sounds like the team is more or less seeking the same thing it was when it inked Michael Cuddyer a few years back. A righty bat would make the most sense from a platoon perspective, though that could mean giving the lion’s share of time in center to Juan Lagares — a possibility that Carig credits.
  • Nationals president of baseball ops Mike Rizzo downplayed the possibility of the organization landing a top-flight starter, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. He did, however, say that depth in the rotation and the pen were on his offseason wish list. It’s interesting to hear that Rizzo isn’t keen (at least publicly) to pursue more significant additions to the pitching staff. After all, the lineup is also mostly set; on the whole, the ballclub has few holes in terms of its major contributors (with catcher arguably representing a major exception). But with a mandate to pursue an elusive, deep playoff run, that has left some wondering where the team will look to improve. Perhaps building out a strong supporting cast will be the focus; then again, it could be that larger moves could be pursued in a stealthier manner.
  • Rizzo said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Nationals would retain Jayson Werth, as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. “We haven’t really discussed that or gone down that road yet,” said Rizzo, “but I wouldn’t close the door on it.” He did note that such a move would “have to fit into what we want to do,” likely hinting at a much-reduced role for the veteran. In honesty, it’s somewhat difficult to see just how Werth would fit in with the team’s current alignment, though perhaps it’s possible he’d mostly work as a bench bat and depth option.

Five Brewers Minor Leaguers Select Free Agency

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Right-handers Wily Peralta, Rob Scahill, Michael Blazek, David Goforth, and outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis have all elected to become free agents, as per the Brewers’ player development Twitter feed (tip of the hat to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).

Peralta is the most notable name of the bunch, as it wasn’t long ago that the righty looked like a promising part of Milwaukee’s rotation.  After posting solid numbers in 2013-14, however, Peralta’s form dipped the next two seasons and then cratered this year, as he managed only a 7.85 ERA over 57 1/3 IP, with 10 homers and 32 walks in that stretch.  Peralta wasn’t helped by a month-long DL stint due to a calf strain, but his performance also fell off at the Triple-A level over the last two seasons.

His struggles got him designated for assignment and then outrighted off Milwaukee’s 40-man roster over the summer, which allowed Peralta to elect free agency even though he still had two remaining years of team control thanks to Super Two status.  Peralta and the Brewers avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $4.275MM deal last winter.

Blazek was twice DFA’ed and then outrighted off Milwaukee’s roster this season, so it perhaps isn’t surprising that he’s looking for a chance of scenery, especially given his displeasure at being demoted to the minors during Spring Training.  Blazek only made five appearances (one of them a start) for the Brewers in 2017, posting an 8.31 ERA over 8 2/3 innings of work.  The righty posted very effective numbers out of Milwaukee’s bullpen in 2015 but ran into some injury problems and struggled in 2016.

Scahill was also twice designated for assignment this season, plus once more back in February.  The 30-year-old tossed 22 1/3 innings for the Brew Crew, posting a 4.43 ERA despite recording the same number of strikeouts (10) as walks, though four of those free passes were intentional.  Never one to miss many bats over his six years in the bigs, Scahill nevertheless posted a solid 3.03 ERA over 65 1/3 innings for the Pirates and Brewers in 2015-16.

Nieuwenhuis agreed to a split contract last winter and spent much of the season at Triple-A, only appearing in 16 big league games.  Nieuwenhuis received the most playing time of his six-year career in 2016 (125 games and 392 PA) but became an afterthought this year as the Crew had more outfield depth.

Goforth appeared in just one game for the Brewers in 2017, and has 36 1/3 Major League innings to his name after appearing in parts of the last three seasons.  The right-hander has a 3.96 ERA over 533 2/3 career frames in the minors (all in the Milwaukee organization), though he has had increasing control issues and a lack of strikeouts over the last couple of years.

Brewers Outright Wily Peralta, Kirk Nieuwenhuis

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The Brewers announced today that right-hander Wily Peralta and outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis have both cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

The 28-year-old Peralta was designated for assignment on Saturday, and Milwaukee was apparently unable to find a taker for him in any trade talks that may have occurred. No team felt comfortable claiming the remaining $1.4MM on his $4.275MM salary, either, so Peralta will return to the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.

While the fact that Peralta has more than three years of Major League service time allows him to refuse the outright assignment, the fact that he has fewer than five years of service also means that he would forfeit that remaining $1.4MM in order to hit the free-agent market. Peralta will earn that $1.4MM through season’s end whether he’s on the 40-man roster or not, but if he isn’t on the 40-man at the end of the year, he’ll have the right to elect free agency.

It’s been a tough year for Milwaukee’s former Opening Day starter. Peralta posted a 6.08 ERA with a 32-to-17 K/BB ratio through eight starts this season before losing his spot in the rotation and heading to the bullpen. While his strikeout rate and velocity ticked up working in relief, his walk rate also ballooned. Ultimately, Peralta surrendered 23 earned runs on 28 hits and 15 walks in just 17 1/3 frames out of the Brewer bullpen.

As for Nieuwenhuis, the veteran outfielder spent most of the 2016 campaign on the Brewers’ big league roster but has just 16 games and 31 plate appearances to his credit thus far in 2017. He’s hit just .115/.268/.269 in that time, though he’s a career .221/.311/.384 hitter in parts of six big league seasons. He’s in a similar situation to Peralta in that he agreed to a split deal this past winter that reportedly pays him $900K in the Majors and $257K in the minors (each pro-rated). He’d have forfeited the remainder of that contract had he gone the free-agent route.

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