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Optioned Players: Red Sox, Twins, Astros, Rangers, Cubs

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What was supposed to be Opening Day across baseball may as well have been called Optioning Day. As seen on this site, several teams cut down their rosters Thursday. Here are several that we haven’t covered yet:

  • The Red Sox made their minor league signing of utilityman Yairo Munoz official, assigning him to Triple-A Pawtucket, and sent down pitchers Colten Brewer, Chris Mazza, Matt Hall and Jeffrey Springs. Brewer’s the most notable name among the pitchers. The 27-year-old ranked fifth among Red Sox relievers last season in innings (54 2/3). Brewer recorded a passable 4.12 ERA with 8.56 K/9 and a 50.3 percent groundball rate along the way, but he also walked 5.6 batters per nine. 
  • The Twins optioned right-handed reliever Sean Poppen and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr., Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Poppen had a rough 8 1/3-inning major league debut last year, but he logged solid production as a member of Triple-A Rochester, with which he pitched to a 3.84 ERA, struck out just over 10 hitters per nine and induced grounders at a 57 percent clip. The disciplined Wade impressively drew more walks than strikeouts at both the Triple-A and big league levels last season, though low batting averages and a lack of power limited his impact.
  • The Astros optioned infielder Jack Mayfield, catcher Garrett Stubbs and lefty Blake Taylor to Triple-A Round Rock, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Mayfield and Stubbs posted subpar production last year during their MLB debuts, though they only combined for 104 plate appearances. Taylor, 24, spent most of 2019 as a member of the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, with whom he managed an excellent 1.85 ERA with 10.38 K/9, 2.77 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent GB rate in 39 innings. He joined the Astros in the package they received for outfielder Jake Marisnick over the winter.
  • The Rangers sent down southpaw Taylor Hearn and outfielder Scott Heineman. The 25-year-old Hearn endured an injury-limited 2019, but he was seen as one of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects before then. While Heineman raked in Triple-A ball (.340/.412/.553 in 182 plate appearances), he slumped to a .213/.306/.373 line in 85 PA with the Rangers.
  • The Cubs optioned hard-throwing reliever Dillon Maples to Triple-A Iowa, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Despite great strikeout totals, the 27-year-old righty has gotten knocked around to the tune of an 8.06 ERA in 22 1/3 frames as a Cub since 2017. Walks have been a major problem for Maples, who has doled out almost 8.5 free passes per nine in the bigs. He wasn’t much better in that department in Triple-A last year, when he walked more than 7.5 hitters per nine. Nevertheless, thanks in large part to a whopping 16.53 K/9 and a tremendous GB percentage of 62.1, Maples pitched to a respectable 3.77 ERA in 43 innings.

Rangers Designate David Carpenter

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The Rangers announced that they have designated righty David Carpenter for assignment. It’s the second time he has been bumped from the MLB roster this season.

The move coincides with the team’s decision to send fellow right-hander Adrian Sampson to the 10-day injured list due to a lower back issue. To take the open roster spots, the club has recalled first baseman/outfielder Scott Heineman and righty Phillips Valdez.

Carpenter, 34, made it back to the majors this season for the first time since 2015. And he earned his way back up after his brief initial stint. Over 34 2/3 Triple-A innings on the season, he carries a 1.82 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. Unfortunately, Carpenter hasn’t shown up in his limited big league frames, allowing four earned runs with a 2:4 K/BB ratio in four appearances.

AL West Notes: Mazara, Mariners, K. Calhoun

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Nomar Mazara has gone from an expected foundational piece with the Rangers to a platoon outfielder whose future is somewhat up in the air, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. Texas is committed to getting lengthy looks at Willie Calhoun and Scott Heineman in the outfield, and when Joey Gallo returns from the IL, he’ll reenter the outfield mix as well. Mazara, meanwhile, has the worst OBP against left-handed pitching of any qualified hitter in the AL and ranks near the bottom in terms of average and slugging as well. He’s nearing the conclusion of his fourth full year in the big leagues, and while he’ll likely put together his fourth 20-homer season — he’s at 15 presently — he’s never produced even a league-average offensive season based on OPS+ or wRC+. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter and earn a raise on this year’s $3.3MM salary. Texas has some in-house alternatives and the ability to spend in free agency, and Mazara drew some interest prior to the July 31 trade deadline. It’d be painful to sell low on the former top prospect, but it’s clear that his stock has dropped considerably.

Some more news and notes from the AL West…

  • Asked during a conference call about the Mariners’ plans in free agency this winter (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times), general manager Jerry Dipoto replied: “We don’t expect to go into the offseason scouring the free-agent market at the top of the food chain.” That shouldn’t be a particularly surprising stance for anyone to see, as the Seattle club has made it abundantly clear that its rebuild will be a multiyear process. With Felix Hernandez’s contract coming off the books and just over $86MM committed to next season’s payroll at present, the Mariners will have plenty of money to spend, but those funds seem likelier to be allocated to stopgaps, potential summer trade chips and/or mid-range free agents than to any top-tier talent. As Divish points out, Seattle would have overpay (substantially, most likely) in order to sway any free agent to join a club that just lost 90-plus games and is publicly rebuilding.
  • The Mariners will consider moving to a six-man rotation in the near future, MLB.com’s Greg Johns writes. Well-regarded pitching prospects Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, acquired in the offseason deals for James Paxton and Edwin Diaz, respectively, will likely join the club by September. Felix Hernandez, too, could return in September. Such an arrangement could help Seattle in monitoring the workload of rookie Yusei Kikuchi and also preventing Marco Gonzales from a radical increase in his innings count from 2018. Sheffield was given a reprieve from the comically hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League recently and has dominated Double-A opposition with a 1.64 ERA and 65-to-14 K/BB ratio in 60 1/3 innings of work. Dunn has also spent the year in Double-A, compiling 100 1/3 innings of 3.59 ERA ball with 10.7 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
  • Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun knows that with Jo Adell looming, the team has an affordable alternative to his $14MM club option, but he tells Mik DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times that he’s focused more on his current play than his contractual status. “I’m worried about playing now, and what happens will happen,” said Calhoun. “[Adell] is definitely a great player. He’s a young guy, and we’ll see how he continues to develop, but the talent is there. He’s going to be a big league player for a long time.” Calhoun has been the Angels’ primary right fielder since 2014 and, with the exception of a down season in 2018, has been a generally underrated player. Still, it’s questionable whether the Angels or another club would value him at a net $13MM — the option has a $1MM buyout — in advance of his age-32 season. Free agents entering their mid-30s haven’t fared well in recent years, and corner bats in particular have struggled on the open market. Calhoun’s case is surely helped by the fact that a good bit of his value is tied to his glove and a 10.2 percent walk rate across the past four seasons.

Rangers Notes: Odor, Gallo, Heineman

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Rougned Odor’s persistent offensive struggles have become difficult to overlook, but it doesn’t sound as though there’s much thought to benching him or sending him down to Triple-A for a reset. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that while veteran Logan Forsythe and journeyman Danny Santana have each outperformed Odor, manager Chris Woodward continued to support his struggling second baseman this week. “I would only make that decision if I thought Rougie was to the point where, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ If he lost hope,” said Woodward of Odor, who is hitting just .161/.231/.329 through 170 plate appearances. “If he keeps fighting the way he does, I feel like I’ve got to support that.” The fact that Odor inked a seven-year, $49.5MM contract on the heels of a 33-homer campaign in 2016 surely plays into the calculus as well, of course. He’s being paid $7.5MM this season and still owed $36MM from 2020-22 (including a buyout on a 2023 option) under the terms of that ill-fated deal.

More from the division…

  • The Rangers and slugger Joey Gallo haven’t touched base about a possible long-term deal since spring of 2018, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports in his latest mailbag piece. At that point, talks with agent Scott Boras didn’t progress. Now in the midst of a breakout season in which he’s playing a surprisingly competent center field (+3 Defensive Runs Saved, +0.6 Ultimate Zone Rating, +2 Outs Above Average), Gallo will of course have a substantially price tag if there’s any interest at all. Grant notes that the two sides should take some time this summer to gauge whether Gallo has any interest in such a deal, though there isn’t necessarily any urgency to get a deal done given that Gallo is controlled through 2022. The 25-year-old is hitting .273/.418/.624 with 15 homers through 208 plate appearances. While his average is being propped up to an extent by a .390 BABIP, Gallo is also walking at a career-high 19.7 percent clip and leading the Majors in hard-hit rate and exit velocity. If anything, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Gallo actually hit for more power even if his average trends downward a ways.
  • Outfield prospect Scott Heineman’s rehab assignment has been halted after he experienced renewed discomfort in his surgically repaired left shoulder, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Heineman, 26, hit .295/.355/.429 with 11 homers, 20 doubles, two triples and 16 steals a season ago in Triple-A, perhaps putting himself on the radar for an eventual look at the MLB level. However, he struggled in just six games with Triple-A Nashville on a rehab assignment before being called back. There’s no immediate timeline on when he’ll return to the field, though that determination will presumably come in the near future once he’s further evaluated by the team’s medical staff.

Rangers Acquire Zack Granite

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The Rangers have acquired outfielder Zack Granite from the Twins for minor league pitcher Xavier Moore and cash, Phil Miller of the Star Tribune tweets. Texas has placed outfielder Scott Heineman on the 60-day injured list to create 40-man room for Granite, per a team announcement.

The 26-year-old Granite had been in limbo in Minnesota since Feb. 25, when the club designated him for assignment after signing free agent Marwin Gonzalez. Granite had been a member of the Twins since they used a 14th-round pick on him in 2013. The fleet-of-foot Granite was successful at times during his tenure with the Minnesota organization, including during a 56-steal season with its Double-A affiliate in 2016 and an outstanding offensive campaign (.336/.392/.475 in 313 plate appearances) with its Triple-A team in 2017.

Unfortunately, last season was an injury-shortened nightmare for Granite, which helped seal his fate with the Twins. The lefty batted a horrid .211/.282/.245 in 263 attempts at the Triple-A level and wasn’t much better in his first major league action, as he slashed .237/.321/.290 in 107 tries. To Granite’s credit, though, he walked (12) more than he struck out (nine) during his brief run in the majors last year, and he has consistently managed low K numbers in the minors. However, he hasn’t shown much power at any level.

With a minor league option remaining, Granite figures to serve as depth for Texas, which is rebuilding and in position to use a 40-man spot on a player of his ilk. In doing so, the Rangers will wave goodbye to Moore, whom they selected in the 16th round of the 2017 draft. Now 20 years old, the right-handed Moore has pitched exclusively in the low minors in his short pro career. Moore divided last season between the low-A and rookie levels, where he combined to throw 18 2/3 innings and log a 5.30 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9.

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