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Sam Moll

A’s Select Sam Moll, Designate Jordan Weems For Assignment

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The Athletics announced a trio of roster moves today, first and foremost selecting the contract of recently-acquired Sam Moll, placing him on the active roster. To make room, Domingo Acevedo was optioned to Triple-A and Jordan Weems was designated for assignment.

Moll returns to the Major Leagues for the first time since 2017 — the last time he was a member of the Oakland organization. Acquiring Moll from the Diamondbacks seemed like a depth move because he wasn’t on the 40-man roster, but the A’s clearly see a more immediate need for the 29-year-old southpaw. Beyond his short stint in the Majors with the A’s in 2017, Moll has been a true minor-league journeyman, playing first for Colorado — who drafted him in the third round back in 2013 — before moving on to Oakland, Toronto, San Francisco, and Arizona.

Weems made just five appearances this season and 14 for the A’s in the past two seasons. The 28-year-old struggles with his command — which has continued this season. Over 4 1/3 innings, Weems have allowed three earned runs on two hits and three walks while striking out four.

As for Acevedo, the former Yankees’ farmhand was signed by Oakland in November, 2020. In his first big league action, the right-hander allowed three earned runs in three innings across three outings. To his credit, he did not walk a batter while striking out three.

Athletics Acquire Sam Moll From Diamondbacks

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The Athletics announced they’ve acquired reliever Sam Moll from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations. Moll was not on the Arizona 40-man roster, so he’ll serve as high minors bullpen depth with the A’s for now.

It’s something of a homecoming for Moll, who appeared in eleven games for Oakland back in 2017. That marks the extent of his major league experience to date. The left-hander has a much lengthier track record at Triple-A, where he’s logged parts of five seasons and pitched to a 4.42 ERA across 152 2/3 innings.

Moll signed a minors pact with the D-Backs in January. He’s spent the year with Triple-A Reno, working to a 5.82 ERA with a strong 29.7% strikeout rate but a very high 14.9% walk percentage.

Diamondbacks Sign Seven To Minor League Deals

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The Diamondbacks announced the signing of seven players to minor league deals: Bryan Holaday, Seth Frankoff (previously reported), Bradley Roney, Sam Moll, Drew Weeks, Christian Lopes, and Jamie Ritchie, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter).

Out of this group, only Holaday, Frankoff and Moll have appeared in the majors. Holaday carries the most experience, having amassed 768 plate appearances with multiple teams (including 33 with the Orioles last season). The 33-year-old owns a .238/.283/.333 line with 10 home runs in the bigs. Moll, 29, has only appeared in MLB in one season – 2017, when he totaled 6 2/3 innings as a member of the Athletics. He has pitched to a much larger sample size of 131 innings in Triple-A and logged a 4.19 ERA.

Among the players here who haven’t reached the majors, Lopes earned the highest marks as a prospect, as Baseball America ranked the former seventh-round pick 23rd in the Blue Jays’ farm system in 2013. Lopes is now 28, though, and didn’t move beyond Triple-A ball with the Jays or the Rangers. He hit .272/.364/.426 with five HRs over 228 PA with the Rangers’ Triple-A team in 2019.

 

Giants Sign Joey Rickard, Matt Carasiti, Sam Moll

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The Giants have announced several of their non-roster invitees for 2020 Spring Training, thus revealing a few as-yet-unknown signings. Outfielder Joey Rickard is back after being non-tendered. He’ll be joined by hurlers Matt Carasiti and Sam Moll on minors deals.

Otherwise, the team’s tweets (pitchers / hitters) revealed a slate of preexisting minor-league signees and prospects. Of particular note is righty Andrew Triggs, who joined the organization late last season in search of a comeback, and recent top draft choices Sean Hjelle and Joey Bart.

Rickard is the best-known of the new additions. The 28-year-old, a former Rule 5 pick who stuck with the Orioles, landed in San Francisco via waiver claim last year. He’s just a .247/.301/.373 hitter in 978 MLB plate appearances, but did knock around Triple-A pitching last year with a .326/.404/.555 slash over 272 plate appearances.

As for the pitchers, both are 28 years of age, got their starts with the Rockies organization, and will be looking to return to the majors after brief prior action. The right-handed Carasiti got a few MLB appearances in 2019 with the Mariners but spent most of the year at Triple-A, working to a 3.53 ERA in 43 1/3 total Triple-A innings. Moll, a southpaw, returns to the San Francisco org after throwing 49 frames of 2.39 ERA ball with 9.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 with the team’s top affiliate.

Blue Jays Outright Sam Moll

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Left-hander Sam Moll cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A, the Blue Jays’ PR account has announced. Moll was designated for assignment earlier this week when the club selected the contracts of John Axford and Tyler Clippard.

Moll worked his way through the 40-man rosters of the Athletics, Pirates, Mariners and Blue Jays this offseason, but less than a week into the season he’ll be forced to settle for a Triple-A salary. The southpaw allowed eight earned runs in just 6 2/3 innings last season in his first taste of major league action.

Still, there’s some semblance of upside for the 26-year-old Moll, who managed a 3.64 ERA between the Triple-A affiliates of the A’s and Rockies last season. He’s long been effective at inducing ground balls, and topped 70% for his ground ball rate last year at Triple-A.

Blue Jays Place Troy Tulowitzki On 60-Day DL, Designate Sam Moll

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The Blue Jays announced today that they’ve placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 60-day disabled list due to “bilateral heel bone spurs.” The team has also designated southpaw Sam Moll for assignment. The moves create a pair of 40-man roster spots for veteran relievers John Axford and Tyler Clippard, each of whom has had his contract formally selected by the Jays and will open the year in the Toronto bullpen.

Tulowitzki, 33, will be out for at least two months after being limited to 66 games in 2017 by injuries. Unlike the 2017 season, though, the Jays boast a fair bit of middle infield depth after picking up utility options such as Aledmys Diaz, Yangervis Solarte and Gift Ngoepe this winter — each of whom has played shortstop at the big league level.

A former third-round pick of the Rockies, Moll made his big league debut in 2017, though he was tagged for eight earned runs in a small sample of 6 2/3 innings. His work in the minors, however, is more solid. In 54 1/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Rockies and the A’s, Moll pitched to a 3.64 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. Moll has a history of missing bats and inducing grounders at an above-average rate through the Double-A level, though he’s bounced from the A’s to the Pirates to the Mariners to the Jays via the waiver wire this winter.

Blue Jays Claim Sam Moll

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The Blue Jays have claimed lefty reliever Sam Moll off waivers from the Mariners; both teams’ PR accounts have announced the move.

It’s been a busy year for the 26-year-old Moll, who began last season with the Rockies, end it with the Athletics, and has since been the object of a waiver hot-potato game between Pirates, Mariners and now the Blue Jays. Seattle GM Jerry DiPoto had spoken back in September of plans to convert Moll back to a starter even though he hasn’t pitched in that capacity since his professional debut in 2013. Instead, he’ll join his fourth team of the winter and hope he can earn a shot in Toronto, presumably in the bullpen.

The Athletics gave Moll his first taste of MLB action last season in the form of a September call-up. He make 11 appearances with the club, although he recorded one or no outs in six of them. Moll ended the season having allowed eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, though he did manage to strike out seven hitters. There’s some upside for Moll. He throws a fastball in the mid-nineties, which he mixes with a slider.

After being selected in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Rockies, Moll rose steadily through the minor league ranks. He managed to exceed a 50% ground ball rate in two consecutive seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate before the Athletics acquired him in August of 2017 for cash considerations.

 

Mariners Notes: Rotation, Gamel, Iwakuma, Moll

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The Mariners feel they need to bolster their rotation and are likely to increase their efforts to add a starter on the trade and free-agent markets if they miss out on right-hander Shohei Ohtani, Bob Dutton reports (Twitter links). If the Mariners are successful in luring Ohtani to Seattle, however, they’ll likely focus more on beefing up the bullpen and adding an outfielder to the mix. Certainly, the Mariners are doing everything in their power to be able to make the best offer possible to Ohtani, as they’ve now traded prospects Thyago Vieira (to the White Sox) and David Banuelos (to the Twins) to add an additional $1.5MM worth of international bonus allotments.

A few more notes out of Seattle…

  • General manager Jerry Dipoto has spoken recently about his team’s desire for versatility on the roster, and to that end, the Mariners are asking Ben Gamel to work out at first base this offseason and in Spring Training, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Gamel, 25, turned in a solid .275/.322/.413 batting line with 11 homers last year and is capable of handling all three outfield spots already. Seattle picked up Ryon Healy to serve as its primary first baseman in 2018 and beyond, though certainly the ability to give Gamel some reps at first would give manager Scott Servais additional flexibility when filling out the lineup card.
  • Dipoto joined Aaron Goldsmith on the third installment of the Mariners’ new “Wheelhouse” podcast and, as he has in the previous two episodes, discussed a host of topics that Mariners fans will want to hear. Notably, Dipoto tells Goldsmith that Hisashi Iwakuma (who recently signed a minor league deal with the Mariners) will be in Spring Training on a throwing program and, if all goes well, will be ready to pitch by mid-May. Dipoto gushes about Iwakuma’s work ethic and ability to sequence pitches to deceive hitters and says that he hopes the remainder of Iwakuma’s days as a player are spent in a Mariners uniform.
  • Also of note, Dipoto explains that the Mariners are going to try to convert waiver claim Sam Moll from a reliever back into a starter. Dipoto notes that Moll has a solid riding fastball in the 90-94 mph range and a changeup that helps him generate grounders, as well as a breaking pitch that trails behind his other two offerings somewhat in quality. Moll has only started six games as a professional but was a starter in college and intrigues the Mariners in that role. At minimum, Dipoto says the Mariners view Moll as a multi-inning relief candidate with a pair of minor league options, giving them some nice flexibility next year.

Mariners Claim Sam Moll

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The Mariners announced that they’ve claimed left-handed reliever Sam Moll off waivers from the Pirates, bringing their 40-man roster to a total of 37 players.

Pittsburgh had only just claimed the 25-year-old Moll off waivers from the A’s on Monday, but the Bucs apparently did so with the hope of then passing Moll through waivers themselves in order to keep him in the organization without committing a 40-man roster spot.

A former third-round pick of the Rockies, Moll made his big league debut in 2017, though he was tagged for eight earned runs in a small sample of 6 2/3 innings. His work in the minors, however, is more solid. In 54 1/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Rockies and the A’s, Moll pitched to a 3.64 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9.

Moll has a history of missing bats and inducing grounders at an above-average rate through the Double-A level and will give Seattle a lefty with multiple minor league options remaining to compete for a bullpen spot next spring — assuming he makes it to camp with the Mariners and doesn’t land with another organization via waivers, of course.

Pirates Claim Sam Moll From Athletics

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The Pirates have claimed left-hander Sam Moll off waivers from the Athletics, according to press releases from both teams. Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Moll, 25, is a former third-round pick of the Rockies that was traded to Oakland this past August for cash considerations. The A’s designated him for assignment last week when clearing space on their 40-man roster to protect several players from the Rule 5 Draft.

The 2017 season saw Moll make his big league debut in Oakland, though the results weren’t especially pretty. In 6 2/3 frames, the Memphis product was tagged for eight runs on 13 hits (including two homers) and three walks with seven strikeouts.

In 54 1/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Rockies and the A’s, Moll pitched to a more respectable 3.64 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. He also registered a promising 50.3 percent ground-ball rate in his 47 1/3 innings with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate, though that fell to 33.3 percent in admittedly tiny seven-inning sample with Oakland’s affiliate. Overall, Moll has a history of missing bats and inducing grounders at decent clips in the minors. He joins Nik Turley as the second southpaw claimed off waivers by the Bucs since the offseason began.

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