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Minor MLB Transactions: 1/24/17

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

  • The Angels announced today that right-hander Blake Parker has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster. Parker had been designated for assignment on Jan. 19 when the Halos claimed Juan Graterol off waivers. (Graterol has since already been lost on waivers to the Blue Jays.) Like Graterol, Parker has bounced around the league quite a bit this winter, moving from the Yankees, to the Angels, to the Brewers and back to the Angels. After losing his 40-man spot on four different occasions, Parker has cleared waivers. He’ll have the option to elect free agency but would also presumably be invited to big league camp with the Angels this spring. Last season, Parker tossed 17 1/3 innings with the Mariners and Yankees, logging a 4.67 ERA with a 15-to-9 K/BB ratio. The former Cubs righty has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors and owns a 3.87 ERA in 90 2/3 innings.
  • The Orioles announced a list of non-roster invitations today, and while they’ve mostly been previously reported and noted here on MLBTR, their minor league pact with infielder/outfielder Alex Castellanos was a new announcement. Castellanos, 30, saw brief bits of action with the Dodgers in 2012-13 but hasn’t appeared in the Major since. While he’s struggled to a .171/.186/.390 batting line in his 43 big league PAs, Castellanos owns a career .292/.373/.517 line in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He has more than 2700 pro innings in right field plus another 1661 innings as a third baseman. He’s also logged 900+ innings at second base, 500+ innings in center and left as well as 155 innings at first base.

Earlier Updates

  • Former big league righty Barry Enright is heading back to a MLB organization, taking a minors deal with the Padres, as Chris Jackson of MiLB.com reported on Twitter. Enright had been pitching for the Mexican League’s Tijuana Toros (and also spent time with the Hermosillo organization in 2015). He joined MLBTR’s podcast at the outset of that stint, and went on to turn in two productive seasons as a starter in Mexico. In 2016, Enright pitched to a 3.19 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 over 127 frames. Also signing on with San Diego, per Jackson, is outfielder Nick Buss. The 30-year-old appeared in 36 MLB games last year for the Angels, but hit just .198/.247/.346. He did have a productive year at Triple-A, however, slashing .290/.345/.462 in his 372 plate appearances.
  • Right-hander Yohan Pino, who pitched most recently in Korea, will join the Twins on a minors deal. Pino, 33, didn’t perform well for the KT Wiz, coughing up 31 earned runs on 62 hits over his 39 innings. He has had greater success stateside, however. Pino spent time in the majors in 2014 and 2015 with the Twins and Royals, posting a 4.63 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in his 79 2/3 innings.
  • The Diamondbacks have agreed to re-sign third baseman Carlos Rivero to a minor-league deal. Rivero, 28, spent all of 2016 at Arizona’s top affiliate, hitting .277/.316/.484 with 19 home runs over 446 plate appearances. Rivero represents a depth option at the hot corner. He has appeared in just four MLB games in his career; those came in 2014 with the Red Sox.
  • Joining the Braves on a minors pact is outfielder Xavier Avery. The 27-year-old played with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016, slashing .248/.332/.363 over 347 plate appearances. He briefly cracked the majors back in 2012 with Baltimore, but hasn’t made his way back since.

International Signings/Moves: Kuroda, Pino, Davies, Cardinals, Stults

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Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times passes on a Sponichi report (Twitter link) noting that former Dodgers/Yankees right-hander Hiroki Kuroda will earn $4.9MM in 2016 on his latest one-year deal with the Hiroshima Carp. That, as Hernandez notes, makes Kuroda the highest-paid player in Japan. Kuroda, who will turn 41 in February, returned to Japan last year for what many believed would be his final season. However, the veteran showed no signs of his age, reeling off a 2.55 ERA in 169 2/3 innings across 26 starts and averaging 5.6 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9. The strong campaign marked another impressive chapter in Kuroda’s exceptional career, which now spans 19 seasons between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball. The upcoming season will be his 20th as a professional, and to this point, he has a lifetime 193-176 record, a 3.53 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 1.22 WHIP in 3202 2/3 innings.

Here are a few signings/moves pertaining to Japan and Korea…

  • Right-hander Yohan Pino has signed a one-year deal with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, the club announced (hat tip: Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency). The soon-to-be 32-year-old Pino, a client of agent Steve Comte, logged 79 2/3 innings over the past two Major League seasons between the Twins and the Royals (spending more time on the mound with the former but enjoying better results with the latter). He owns a 4.63 ERA with averages of 7.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 as a big leaguer, and he’s also compiled a 4.38 ERA in 494 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level in his career. This will be his first stint with an Asian team.
  • Via NPB Tracker’s Patrick Newman (Twitter link), the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball have considered signing right-handers Kyle Davies and Josh Lueke as well as lefty Luis Perez. Newman initially cited a Japanese-language report indicating Yakult had signed the trio, but now indicates that report was incorrect. Davies has the most Major League experience of the bunch, having totaled 768 innings with the Royals and Braves from 2005-11. Davis returned to the Majors this past season, tossing 2 1/3 innings for the Yankees. Though he’s been around for quite some time, Davies will pitch nearly all of next season at age 32, so he could potentially have several relatively lucrative years ahead of him if he thrives in NPB.
  • The Cardinals announced that they have sold the rights to right-hander Zach Petrick to NPB’s DeNA Yokohama Bay Stars (Twitter link). St. Louis will receive cash considerations (the exact amount has yet to be reported) for surrendering the 26-year-old Petrick, who will be better-compensated pitching in Japan’s top league than he would have been in the minor leagues here. Petrick breezed through the minor leagues and posted strong ERA marks until reaching Triple-A, where he’s struggled a bit over the past two seasons, registering a 4.56 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 272 1/3 innings. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent, Petrick rose to No. 15 on Baseball America’s list of Top 30 prospects following the 2013 season, with BA praising his sinking fastball, above-average changeup and repeatable mechanics, which led to strong command.
  • Left-hander Eric Stults will either pitch in Japan this season or retire, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (on Twitter). It’s not clear exactly whether Stults has a concrete offer from a Japanese club, although that does seem to be the implication. Stults made eight starts for the Braves in 2015 and has recorded 683 1/3 innings at the Major League level, working to a 4.24 ERA. His best years came with the 2013-14 Padres, when he was a staple in the team’s rotation and delivered 379 2/3 innings of 4.10 ERA ball.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/15/15

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league, each coming courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy…

  • The Royals have outrighted infielder Dusty Coleman and right-hander Yohan Pino to Triple-A Omaha. Each player was designated for assignment last week as Kansas City added Joba Chamberlain and Louis Coleman to its bullpen. The 31-year-old Pino delivered 19 1/3 solid innings for the Royals this season, posting a 3.26 ERA with a 13-to-3 K/BB ratio. Coleman, 28, made his big league debut in 2015, though he went 0-for-5 in his brief stint. He batted .292/.364/.442 in 99 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
  • Danny Dorn was outrighted to Triple-A by the Blue Jays, who designated him for assignment last week as well. Toronto claimed Dorn off waivers from the D-Backs, but he wasn’t long for the team’s 40-man roster, lasting just under two weeks. The 31-year-old minor league veteran got his first taste of MLB action in Arizona this season and has a nice Triple-A track record — a .280/.355/.485 batting line in 727 games at the top minor league level.

Royals Designate Dusty Coleman, Yohan Pino

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The Royals announced on Monday that they have designated right-hander Yohan Pino and infielder Dusty Coleman for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster for right-handers Joba Chamberlain and Louis Coleman, whose contracts have been selected from Triple-A.

The 31-year-old Pino signed a Major League contract this offseason despite his status as a minor league free agent and wound up pitching 19 2/3 innings for the Royals. In that time, he was effective, notching a 3.26 ERA with a 13-to-3 K/BB ratio. This marks the journeyman’s second season in which he’s accrued some big league service time; Pino debuted as a 30-year-old rookie with the Twins in 2014 and soaked up 60 1/3 innings for an ailing Minnesota pitching staff, posting  5.07 ERA along the way.

Dusty Coleman, 28, made his big league debut this season, though he received just five at-bats and went hitless with three strikeouts. The former 28th-round pick signed a minor league deal with the Royals this winter after spending the 2008-14 seasons with the Athletics organization. He has a lifetime .276/.321/.408 slash line at the Triple-A level.

Chamberlain and Louis Coleman will serve as bullpen depth for manager Ned Yost in the season’s final month. Chamberlain began the season on his second consecutive one-year free agent deal with the Tigers, but his second-half struggles from 2014 carried over into the 2015 campaign, ultimately leading to his release. He briefly latched on with Toronto on a minor league deal but opted out of the deal after struggling at Triple-A. With Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate in his native Nebraska, Chamberlain posted a solid 9-to-2 K/BB ratio but surrendered five runs in seven innings of work.

As for the elder of the two Colemans in this post (Louis), he will be in his fifth stint with Kansas City’s big league ’pen. The LSU product appeared in the Royals’ bullpen each year from 2010-14, totaling 174 1/3 innings with a 3.25 ERA, 9.6 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. However, he struggled to a 5.56 ERA in 34 innings last season, prompting a DFA and outright to Triple-A Omaha.

Royals Sign Yohan Pino To Major League Deal

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The Royals announced that they’ve signed former Twins right-hander Yohan Pino to a Major League contract and designated right-hander Casey Coleman for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster.

Pino, 31 in two weeks, made his Major League debut with the Twins this past season and wound up spending a fairly significant amount of time in the rotation despite less-than-stellar results. Pino made 11 starts and posted a 5.07 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 28.6 percent ground-ball rate. Pino’s 88.3 mph fastball and extreme fly-ball tendencies make it a bit surprising that he landed a big league deal, but the Royals are a team that is well equipped to handle those deficiencies, given their excellent outfield defense. Of course, that assumes that Pino will make the club, which is far from a given at this time, despite the MLB contract he signed.

Coleman, 27, posted a 5.25 ERA in 12 innings for the Royals this past season and owns a lifetime 5.72 mark in 177 2/3 big league innings. He’s averaged 6.2 strikeouts and 4.5 walks per nine innings pitched to go along with a 46.5 percent ground-ball rate. Coleman was always a bit of a soft-tosser, but his average fastball spiked from about 90 mph to 94 mph this season.

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