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Minor MLB Transactions: 12/9/19

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The Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization have inked right-hander Drew Gagnon to a $650K contract with a $200K signing bonus, Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net reports. The Tigers also re-signed outfielder Preston Tucker on a $550K salary with a $300K bonus. The Mets released the 29-year-old Gagnon in late November, which came after a couple brief but rough seasons in New York. Gagnon pitched to a 7.32 ERA across a combined 35 2/3 innings as a Met, but he did have a productive 2019 at the Triple-A level. Tucker, also 29, didn’t hit much in major league stints with the Astros, Braves or Reds, though he performed well after leaving the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate last May to head to Korea. In his first year as a Tiger, Tucker batted .311/.381/.479 with nine home runs in 399 plate appearances.

Now for the latest minor moves from the bigs…

  • The Angels announced that right-hander Jose Rodriguez cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. The move leaves the Angels with one open spot on their 40-man roster. The 24-year-old Rodriguez made his major league debut in 2019, and though he managed a 2.75 ERA during that 19 2/3-inning span, he also totaled almost as many walks (11) as strikeouts (13). Furthermore, Rodriguez had difficulty across 44 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level, where he stumbled to a 6.29 ERA with 9.14 K/9 and 4.47 BB/9.
  • In another Angels transaction, the club signed lefty Hoby Milner to a minor league contract, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com tweets. While Milner spent the previous two seasons with the Rays, the ex-Phillie didn’t log much major league time in either campaign. But the 28-year-old amassed plenty of impressive innings last season as a member of Triple-A Durham, with which he worked to a 3.06 ERA and recorded 12.99 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 over 61 2/3 frames.
  • The Marlins have picked up infielder Gosuke Katoh on a minors deal, Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel writes. His agreement comes with an invitation to big league spring training. Notably, there are now members of the Miami front office who were in New York’s FO when the Yankees picked Katoh in the second round of the 2013 draft. Evidenced in part by his high selection (No. 66), Katoh was once a highly promising prospect. While Katoh hasn’t made it to the majors since then, the 25-year-old did have a nice season in 2019. In his first action at the Triple-A level, Katoh slashed .279/.382/.443 with 11 homers and eight steals in 308 PA.
  • The Mets have signed catcher David Rodriguez to a minors pact with an invitation to MLB camp, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Rodriguez, 23, spent his first seven professional seasons in the Rays’ system, making it to the Double-A level in each of the past two years. He hit .225/.303/.366 with seven homers over 295 PA in 2019.

Former Big Leaguers Playing Abroad: KBO Hitter Roundup

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It’s always fun to keep an eye on familiar players who’ve taken their talents across the pond. Now that the 2019 season is in the books, it seemed an opportune time to check in. Numerous former big leaguers are playing abroad, many of them thriving in Asia’s top leagues.

We’ve seen foreign stints help spur big league revivals from quite a few players. Eric Thames, Miles Mikolas, and Chris Martin are among those that played significant roles in the 2019 MLB campaign. Whether any of the players covered below will do so remains to be seen, but there’s certainly a path.

Let’s start with the Korea Baseball Organization, the top league in South Korea. Remember, teams in the KBO and other leagues face limits on the number of non-native players they can employ. That creates a lot of pressure to secure big production from those roster spots, and often spurs mid-season change. (Statistics courtesy of the always excellent MyKBO.)

The top performers …

  • Former Phillies slugger Darin Ruf marauded the KBO once again, though he wasn’t quite as awesome this year (.911 OPS, 22 home runs) as he was in 2018 (1.024 OPS, 33 home runs). After scoring with Ruf, the Samsung Lions went after Mac Williamson in a mid-season move. But Williamson failed to gain traction in his forty contests, hitting a tepid .273/.329/.409.
  • Several other hitters joined Ruf as repeat KBO participants and star-level performers. Outfielder Jamie Romak has also now completed three excellent campaigns with the SK Wyverns. Like Ruf, he took a step back this year (1.001 OPS to .878 OPS), likely reflecting a KBO baseball de-juicing effort.
  • After a brief but promising showing in 2018, Jerry Sands rewarded the Kiwoom Heroes for bringing him back by swatting 28 dingers and batting a robust .305/.400/.543 on the year. Jared Hoying wasn’t quite as productive, but turned in a solid sophomore campaign with the Hanwha Eagles (.284/.343/.460).
  • The KT Wiz continued to benefit from their 2017 find of outfielder Mel Rojas Jr., who never got a big-league call-up from the Pirates or Braves. He slashed a robust .322/.384/.530 with 24 homers in his third KBO season.

Several KBO newcomers found something in their new organizations …

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez took a difficult path to the majors and did not receive a lengthy opportunity at the game’s highest level, but displayed his intriguing blend of hitting ability with the Doosan Bears. Appearing in all 144 contests, Fernandez poked 15 long balls and slashed a hefty .344/.413/.483.
  • The KIA Tigers dropped former Cardinals flash-in-the-pan outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker after just eleven contests. That may have been a quick leash, but they ended up making out well with Preston Tucker. The former MLB reserve outfielder ultimately slashed .311/.382/.479 with nine home runs.

Other KBO organizations are likely to go back to the drawing board after cycling through multiple players …

  • Another team changing horses in mid-stream was the LG Twins, who tired of former Phillies first bagger Tommy Joseph after he slashed .274/.335/.426 with nine long balls in 54 games. The club turned to another OBP-challenged slugger in the left-handed-hitting Carlos Peguero, who provided a bit more overall offense (.286/.333/.472) but no additional dingers (9) in his 57 appearances.
  • Former Padres infielder Carlos Asuaje struggled in 49 games with the Lotte Giants, slashing just .252/.358/.368. He was replaced by Jacob Wilson, a former Cards and Nats farmhand, but Wilson wasn’t much more effective (.251/.352/.433 with nine home runs). (Wilson and Rojas were the only two hitters to appear in the KBO this year without prior MLB experience.)
  • The NC Dinos opened the year with Christian Bethancourt behind the plate, but he didn’t do enough damage to hang onto his roster spot, with a .246/.311/.404 line in 53 games. That led to a mid-season change to former big league outfielder Jake Smolinski. Unfortunately, he managed only a .229/.301/.439 slash of his own.

Preston Tucker, KBO’s Kia Tigers Agree To Deal

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Outfielder Preston Tucker is set to sign with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization, per an announcement from the Tigers (link via Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency). He’ll take a physical for them on Monday. Tucker had been with the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate to begin the 2019 season but will seemingly be granted his release. With the Tigers, he’ll take the spot of another former MLB outfielder, Jeremy Hazelbaker, who is being released.

Tucker, 28, had two separate stints with the Braves in 2018 as well as one with the Reds, hitting a combined .229/.299/.404 with six homers and 11 doubles in 184 plate appearances. He was one of several unexpected contributors who helped to carry the Braves early in the season before the debut of Ronald Acuna last season, raking at a .288/.333/.538 clip through his first 18 games (and, like Hazelbaker with the ’16 Cardinals, serving as a reminder that April stats can be quite misleading). He posted just a .626 OPS from that point through season’s end, however.

Tucker has seen 651 plate appearances at the MLB level and has a rather meek .222/.281/.403 slash to show for his efforts, though he sports a much heftier .273/.341/.467 line in 1411 PAs across parts of six Triple-A seasons.

As for the 31-year-old Hazelbaker, he signed a one-year deal with the Tigers in the offseason but will see his stint there end after just 11 games and a .146/.239/.341 batting line through 46 plate appearances. Hazelbaker had a down year in a 2018 season he split between the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and the Rays, but he’s a lifetime .259/.327/.436 hitter in parts of seven Triple-A campaigns.

White Sox Sign Preston Tucker To Minor League Deal

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The Chicago White Sox announced (via Twitter) a minor league deal for outfielder Preston Tucker. He has been invited to Spring Training, where he will wear number thirty-two.

Tucker has bounced around a bit the last few years, going from the Braves to the Reds and back to the Braves in 2018 after coming up in the Astros’ system. For his career, he has yet to find his stroke, hitting only .222/.281/.403, though he was close to league average with Atlanta before they traded him away the first time. Tucker, 28, was hitting .256/.307/.444 through 62 games when the Braves sent him to Cincinnati as part of the Adam Duvall trade. Atlanta bought him back from the Reds in early September, though he didn’t see much action the rest of the way.

Tucker represents a nice buy-low gambit for the White Sox, who have some at-bats to give in the outfield with Daniel Palka, Jon Jay and Adam Engel atop the depth chart for now. Veterans Brandon Guyer and Leury Garcia have also been brought in to camp to compete for a backup role. Tucker consistently put up monster power numbers in the minor leagues, and he has suffered from perennially low BABIP numbers at the big league level. There’s definitely some late-blooming potential here for Tucker, who finds a nice landing spot in Chicago where, if he makes the team out of camp, he could receive a real opportunity to establish himself early in the season.

Braves Outright Lindgren, Ramirez, Adams, Tucker

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The Braves announced a variety of 40-man roster moves today. In addition to losing outfielder Michael Reed to the Twins via waivers, the team outrighted lefty Jacob Lindgren, righty Jose Ramirez, and outfielders Lane Adams and Preston Tucker after that quartet went unclaimed.

Each of those players will remain with the organization, having cleared waivers, though Adams has the right to declare free agency since he has previously been outrighted. With four other players returning from the 60-day DL and taking up posts on the 40-man, the Atlanta organization now has nine openings left to work with as the offseason gets underway.

The 25-year-old Lindgren was a second-round pick of the Yankees in 2014 and quickly rose to the Majors, debuting in 2015. However, his promising career has been derailed by a pair of Tommy John surgeries — the most recent of which cost him the 2018 season. Because of all the time he’s spent on the big league 60-day DL, he’d have been arbitration-eligible this winter despite only having tallied seven MLB innings. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him to earn only a modest $600K salary through that arbitration process, though.

Ramirez, meanwhile, missed most of the 2018 season owing to shoulder troubles. He tossed just 6 1/3 innings at the big league level with the Braves this year, though he’s previously functioned as a quality middle reliever under manager Brian Snitker. From 2016-17, Ramirez totaled 94 2/3 frames of 3.33 ERA ball with 8.5 K/9, though he’s also struggled with his control (4.5 BB/9, nine hit batters).

Adams, 29 next month, hit .240/.345/.520 in a tiny sample of 29 plate appearances as a reserve outfielder this season. He tallied 122 PAs with Atlanta in 2017 and batted .275/.339/.468 with five homers and 10 steals in that time. Adams has a solid track record in Double-A but has struggled in Triple-A. He’s shown glimpses of talent in the big leagues, however, and is capable of playing all three outfield spots, so he should latch on elsewhere on a minor league pact as a quality depth piece with a very viable chance of returning to the Majors next year.

As for Tucker, the 28-year-old turned some heads with an early-season showing that saw him hit .288/.333/.538 with three homers in 57 plate appearances. But Tucker had never managed to hit at that level in the past, and his bat quickly deteriorated (as did his playing time). Over his next 70 PAs, Tucker hit only .231/.286/.369. Atlanta traded him to the Reds in the summer’s lackluster Adam Duvall swap, and after a similarly uninspiring stint in Cincinnati, Tucker landed back with the Braves to close out the season. In all, after that fast start to the season, he hit only .202/.283/.342.

Braves Acquire Preston Tucker

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The Braves have brought back a familiar face in Preston Tucker, re-acquiring the outfielder from the Reds in exchange for cash considerations (as per the Braves’ official Twitter feed).

Atlanta previously traded Tucker to Cincinnati as part of the teams’ July deal involving veteran outfielder Adam Duvall.  The 28-year-old Tucker failed to impress during his brief time with the Reds, with only a .664 OPS over 42 plate appearances, and he was demoted to Triple-A earlier this week.  Over the entire 2018 season, however, Tucker’s .240/.302/.419 slash line over 169 combined PA with the Braves and Reds this year is nearly league average (96 wRC+).

Tucker will provide the Braves with a bit more outfield depth as rosters expand in September, plus there is some late-bloomer potential given his strong career minor league numbers.  Tucker does have 23 homers over his 636 career PA in the big leagues, though his overall production at the plate leaves much to be desired (.224/.281/.410).

Braves Acquire Adam Duvall From Reds For Lucas Sims, Matt Wisler, Preston Tucker

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The Braves have acquired outfielder Adam Duvall from the Reds in exchange for a trio of players, all of whom have MLB experience. Cincinnati receives righties Lucas Sims and Matt Wisler along with outfielder Preston Tucker. At first glance, it’s something of a swap of unwanted assets, as both teams clearly had different plans with their roster spots.

For the Atlanta organization, this represents an easily justifiable roll of the dice on Duvall. As he closes in on his 30th birthday, Duvall is stuck in a rough campaign. But he has huge power — he topped thirty bombs in each of the past two seasons — and also grades out as a high-end defender in left field.

In the near-term, Duvall will bolster the current outfield mix. Even if he isn’t able to boost his productivity at the plate all that much, he has been much better against left-handed pitching this season and over his career. The opposite is true of struggling Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte, who could give way to phenom Ronald Acuna up the middle when the situation calls for it.

There’s also some future value here for the Braves to hope for. Duvall is heading into arbitration this fall for the first time. While he’ll likely be relatively expensive given his lofty home run rate and ample playing time in recent seasons, he could still be quite a valuable asset. With Nick Markakis headed to free agency, the organization does need corner outfield options.

First, though, Duvall will have to sort himself out. Through 370 plate appearances this season, he has an even 100 strikeouts. While his walk rate is up to a career-high 9.2%, Duvall is carrying a .286 OBP on the season and owns a piddling .294 lifetime mark. Believers in Statcast data will certainly note that the slugger has a promising .349 xwOBA to date on the year, far superior to the .295 wOBA he has actually produced.

Though this swap may not bring the promise of a massive near-term upgrade, it’s a clever means of improving the roster both now and in the future. It is somewhat more difficult to understand the move from the Reds’ perspective, unless one presumes that the club simply decided it wished to part ways with Duvall and that this was the time to do so.

Indeed, Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams says that one aspect of the deal was a desire to go in another direction in the corner outfield, as C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. Jesse Winker may be out for the rest of this season, but he’ll now presumptively line up across from Scott Schebler next year. That leaves unanswered what the team will do up the middle with Billy Hamilton, who continues to run and defend with aplomb while barely hitting at all.

It’s a bit of a curious return for Duvall — who, to be fair, likely wasn’t drawing many strong prospect offers — but one that probably appeals more to the Reds than it would to just about any other organization. All three players acquired will require 40-man spots, yet none has carved out a permanent MLB job to this point despite receiving some opportunities to do so.

Perhaps one’s view of the swap hinges upon how you view the arms that are going to Cincinnati. For the Braves, both were simply upper-level depth pieces who were likely to be squeezed out as rising talents reach the majors or require Rule 5 draft protection. For a Reds organization whose pitching rebuilding effort hasn’t been quite as promising, either or both could perhaps become sources of affordable, useful innings.

The 24-year-old Sims, a 2012 first-rounder, has struggled through twenty MLB outings (including ten starts) over the past two seasons. He has spent most of the present season at Triple-A, where carries a 2.84 ERA with 10.2 K9 and 4.2 BB/9 over 73 innings. As for Wisler, 25, he has limped to a 5.27 ERA in 324 2/3 lifetime MLB frames. The former top prospect has posted a nice combination of 8.4 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 at Triple-A this year, but owns only a 4.37 ERA in seventy innings there.

For the time being, Tucker will help fill the opening created by the trade itself. He could in theory be a future reserve piece for the Reds, but he hits from the left side of the plate — an attribute he shares with all of the above-cited Cincinnati outfielders. The 28-year-old hit well in his run in the majors this year, posting a slighly-above-average .256/.307/.444 slash in 127 plate appearances, but has struggled in limited action at Triple-A.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Mets, Braves, Giants, Phillies

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The Mets will send left-hander Jason Vargas to the disabled list and recall righty Chris Flexen from Triple-A, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Vargas is dealing with a strained calf, thus continuing a disastrous age-35 season for him. After joining the Mets on a two-year, $16MM deal in free agency, Vargas has gone on the DL twice (once for a broken bone in his right hand) and managed horrid numbers in between. With 37 2/3 innings pitched in nine starts, Vargas has averaged just over four frames per appearance and notched an 8.60 ERA/6.55 FIP.

  • Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino is battling right shoulder soreness, which has been a concern throughout the season, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Vizcaino had a cortisone injection this week, per Bowman, and manager Brian Snitker noted that “there are times, he’s going to have to be down just to get him through the year.” Despite the 27-year-old’s shoulder issues, the first-place Braves weren’t interested in ponying up for fellow late-game option Kelvin Herrera, whom the division-rival Nationals acquired from the Royals this week.
  • More on the Braves, who optioned outfielder Preston Tucker to Triple-A on Saturday and recalled right-hander Lucas Sims, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Tucker helped hold the fort down in the outfield before the promotion of now-injured super prospect Ronald Acuna in late April, though the former’s output has fallen off dramatically as the season has progressed. After posting a respectable 105 wRC+ in April, Tucker fell to 76 in May and 42 this month.
  • The Giants optioned outfielder Mac Williamson to Triple-A on Saturday and recalled fellow outfielder Austin Slater to replace him. Williamson began the year on a hot streak, but he suffered a concussion in late April and hasn’t gotten back on track since returning May 25. Overall, he has hit a below-average .213/.295/.383 in 105 plate appearances. The Giants’ hope is that he’ll “regain his swing and confidence” by playing every day in the minors, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.
  • Phillies reliever Pat Neshek began a rehab assignment at the Single-A level Saturday, though it’s still not known when he could return to the majors, Kyle Melnick of MLB.com relays. After Neshek enjoyed an excellent season between Philly and Colorado in 2017, the Phillies brought him back on a two-year, $16MM deal over the winter. But shoulder and forearm injuries have prevented the 37-year-old from taking the mound this season.

Braves Place Dansby Swanson On 10-Day DL

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The Braves have placed shortstop Dansby Swanson on the 10-day DL with left wrist inflammation, per a team announcement. He’ll be replaced by outfielder Preston Tucker, who was only just optioned way earlier today.

It doesn’t seem as if the move was made out of concern that Swanson has suffered a significant injury. Manager Brian Snitker suggested today that the belief is Swanson’s wrist is “structurally sound,” per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter).

That’s generally good news, then, for the Braves. The team’s encouraging overall start has been matched — and driven, in no small part — by Swanson’s own first month. Coming off of a rough 2017 effort at the plate, he was something of a question mark entering the current campaign.

To this point, Swanson has fulfilled the promise he showed as a former first overall draft pick who sprined through the minors. He’s off to a .289/.336/.430 start through 122 plate appearances, with two home runs and two stolen bases. Defensive metrics are also smiling on Swanson’s efforts in the field after awarding him marginal grades in 2017.

That said, Swanson still has some issues to overcome on the offensive side. He has benefited thus far from a .388 batting average on balls in play that’s sure to decline. Swanson has thus far taken a more aggressive approach than in the past, with his swing rate (48.5%) and swinging-strike rate (11.2%) both easily topping his prior levels. He’s drawing walks in just 5.7% of his plate appearances, well shy of the 10.7% rate he carried last year, while going down on strikeouts more than ever before (26.2%). It remains to be seen how things will shake out as pitchers react to this changed approach and Swanson, in turn, responds.

As for Tucker, he was eligible to return in advance of the usual 10-day waiting period since he was replacing an injured player. It’s fair to wonder, though, whether he’ll remain on the MLB roster for long. There isn’t a rush for another infielder — Johan Camargo can slide to short, with Charlie Culberson and Ryan Flaherty still available off the bench — but the organization had already decided it preferred an alignment that did not include Tucker. He could head back to Gwinnett when Swanson is activated, if not sooner — if, say, the Braves decide to promote just-claimed utilityman Philip Gosselin.

Braves Select Jose Bautista’s Contract, Option Preston Tucker

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1:38pm: The Braves have now announced that Bautista’s contract has been select. Outfielder Preston Tucker was optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster for Bautista.

After a blistering start to the season, Tucker’s bat has unsurprisingly come back down to Earth in recent weeks. He’s posted a .218/.246/.364 slash over his past 57 plate appearances with the Braves.

9:32am: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets that the Braves are adding Bautista to the MLB roster today.

9:24am: The Braves are expected to add Jose Bautista to their lineup tonight, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com (via Twitter). Atlanta will need to formally select the contract of Bautista, who signed a minor league deal with the Braves last month. Atlanta announced in April that the longtime Blue Jays star will play third base in their organization. The Braves currently have three openings on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding 25-man roster move to add Bautista.

Bautista, of course, was primarily a third baseman before breaking out with the Jays and settling in as their right fielder for the better part of a decade. He’s played just 38 innings at the position in the four years prior to signing with Atlanta, however, all of which came last year in Toronto. Bautista hasn’t seen even semi-regular action at the hot corner since 2011, and even then he logged just 205 innings at the position in that entire season.

The 37-year-old slugger has gotten off to a solid start with Atlanta’s top affiliate, hitting .250/.386/.361 with a homer, a double and six walks against eight strikeouts through 44 plate appearances. As Bowman notes, the home run and double came within the past few days, as Bautista’s bat has begun to heat up a bit as he’s shaken off some of the rust after sitting out Spring Training entirely.

Bautista will be looking to rebound from a dreary 2017 season in which he hit just .203/.308/.366. While Bautista still slugged 23 homers and walked at an above-average 12.2 percent clip, his strikeout rate jumped to a career-worst 24.8 percent as his contact rate plummeted from 80.2 percent to 73.3 percent. The biggest flaw for Bautista was a sudden inability to hit fastballs; a career .246/.374/.519 hitter against four-seamers, Bautista flailed ineffectively at four-seam fastballs in 2017, hitting just .198/.294/.365 against them.

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