Mariners Designate Shawn O’Malley For Assignment
The Mariners have designated utilityman Shawn O’Malley for assignment, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. The move clears space on the team’s 40-man roster for infielder Gordon Beckham, whose contract the Mariners have selected from Triple-A Tacoma.
The 29-year-old O’Malley played a significant role on the 2016 Mariners, batting .229/.299/.319 in 89 games while playing six positions. This year, however, he missed time due to an appendectomy, then a significant shoulder injury. He hasn’t appeared in the big leagues at all and hasn’t hit much in 20 games with Tacoma as he’s tried to shake off the rust.
Beckham signed with the Mariners after the Giants released him near the end of Spring Training. He’s produced a .262/.313/.393 line this season for Tacoma. The veteran played in 88 games last year with the Braves and Giants, batting .212/.294/.347. He should provide a bit of extra infield depth for the Mariners down the stretch.
Mariners Outright Bergman, Place Phelps On DL, Announce Promotions
The Mariners have outrighted right-hander Christian Bergman, per a club announcement. That move clears another 40-man roster slot after the team lost righty Sam Gaviglio to a waiver claim earlier today; it’s also just one of the many transactions entered today by the ever-active M’s front office.
Righty David Phelps has returned to the 10-day DL due to an elbow impingement. He missed time earlier this month and has not looked himself of late. Indeed, Phelps has lost about two miles per hour on his average fastball as compared with the first four months of the season.
In more positive news relating to injuries, both outfielder Jarrod Dyson and righty Shae Simmons have returned from their own runs on the disabled list. The latter had been on the 60-day DL while working back from a flexor strain.
Catcher Mike Marjama was added to the 40-man roster and promoted to give the team another option behind the dish. The team also activated just-acquired righty Mike Leake.
With no limitations on the active roster, the M’s have also brought up a few players that were on optional assignment. Three right-handed pitchers — Dan Altavilla, Ryan Garton, and Andrew Moore — are on their way to help bolster the bullpen.
Royals Claim Sam Gaviglio, Release Neftali Feliz
The Royals have claimed righty Sam Gaviglio off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from the Seattle organization. Kansas City, meanwhile, has released veteran hurler Neftali Feliz, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets.
That move will open a 40-man spot for the M’s as they put together a slate of September call-ups. Gaviglio, 27, debuted this year for Seattle, working to a 4.62 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 over 62 1/3 innings. He was tagged for 15 long balls in that span. Gaviglio did throw better at Triple-A, though, posting a 3.88 ERA across 72 frames in 13 outings.
As for Feliz, the 29-year-old landed with the Royals after an unsuccessful run with the Brewers earlier this year. He gave K.C. twenty outings of 4.74 ERA ball, averaging 7.6 strikeouts and 3.8 walks per nine. Milwaukee will continue to pay the remainder of the $5.35MM owed to Feliz for the season.
Cubs Acquire Leonys Martin
The Cubs announced to reporters just before tonight’s deadline for postseason roster eligibility that they’ve acquired outfielder Leonys Martin and cash from the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later or cash (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times).
The addition of Martin will give the Cubs a fleet-footed reserve outfielder to serve as a pinch-runner and/or late-inning defensive upgrade, at the very least, over the season’s final month. While such players aren’t rostered throughout the bulk of the regular season, the month of September is its own animal; rosters expand to 40 beginning Sept. 1, allowing teams the luxury of having this type of highly specialized player on board.
Of course, Martin isn’t that far removed from being regarded in considerably better fashion. He logged a .247/.306/.378 batting line with 15 homers and 24 steals as Seattle’s primary center fielder in 2016. While that line checks in below the league average, Martin’s glove and baserunning prowess still allowed him to check in at 2.2 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs. And from 2013-14, Martin contributed more than six total WAR thanks largely to his speed and defense.
While those heights appear likely to be squarely in the past for Martin, he’s posted a strong .307/.348/.494 batting line with 11 homers and 25 steals in 87 Triple-A contests this season. He’s earning $4.85MM this year after avoiding arbitration last offseason, but the inclusion of cash from the Mariners surely indicates that they’re picking up the majority of the tab on that salary. Martin seems a likely candidate to join the Cubs’ big league roster in the very near future, where he’ll look to improve on the dismal .174/.221/.287 slash he’s posted through 122 plate appearances in the Majors this year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mariners Acquire Mike Leake
12:07pm: The Cardinals will send the Mariners around $17MM, Rosenthal tweets.
10:12am: In a surprising development, the Cardinals have dealt righty Mike Leake to the Mariners. Young infielder Rayder Ascanio will go to St. Louis in the swap, with $750K of international bonus pool spending capacity and unannounced cash considerations also heading to Seattle.
It’s not yet known how much cash the M’s will take on in the deal or what players may be headed in return. Leake had already cleared revocable waivers, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). That was to be expected. Leake is earning $15MM this year, with about $2.5MM left to go. He remains under contract through 2020, with a $53MM total guarantee — including a $5MM buyout of a 2021 mutual option.
Leake’s contract includes full no-trade protection, so his approval was required for the deal to go through. He has indeed waived the clause, per Nightengale (Twitter link). Notably, Leake has spoken of his desire to be closer to family in Arizona and will now at least get to spend Spring Training there; that motivation and others may have aided his decision.
[RELATED: Updated Mariners & Cardinals Depth Charts]
Since signing on with the Cards before the 2016 season, Leake has shown the durability that earned him the contract, throwing 330 2/3 innings over 56 starts. But he has also managed only a 4.46 cumulative ERA while compiling 6.2 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9. Leake has struggled especially of late, working to an 8.88 ERA in his five starts in August.
Assuming he can get back on track, Leake will help steady a Seattle rotation that has faced a steady barrage of injuries. Felix Hernandez, James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Drew Smyly are all on the DL, with only the first two expected to return this season. The club has fallen three games off of the AL Wild Card pace, but evidently still feels compelled to push for the postseason this year.
Of course, Leake will also represent a piece of the future picture. The Mariners will almost certainly bid adieu to Iwakuma, Smyly, and Yovani Gallardo over the winter. Erasmo Ramirez and even David Phelps — both acquired earlier this summer — could be rotation options (though the latter has worked from the pen), as could Gonzales. Still the team was clearly in need of at least one more arm to go along with King Felix and the Big Maple.
This is the second notable recent swap between these organizations, who had previously struck a deal that sent young lefty Marco Gonzales to Seattle for outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Leake may well end up bumping Gonzales out of the Mariners rotation for the time being.
Seattle will also pick up some bonus pool money, which St. Louis wasn’t able to utilize anyway following penalties for prior spending. The Cards will also add the 21-year-old Ascanio, a middle infielder out of Venezuela. Ascanio has played at the Class A and High-A levels this year, posting a .217/.295/.355 slash over 450 total plate appearances. That’s not a lot of offense, though he has knocked nine balls over the fence — more than he had over his four prior professional seasons combined.
St. Louis remains in the hunt for both the NL Central crown and a Wild Card spot, though the team enters play today five games out of the postseason picture. While the rotation has had its issues, Luke Weaver has emerged as a quality option since returning to the majors recently, perhaps freeing the club to deal Leake. Another young righty, Jack Flaherty, likely isn’t far behind.
Ultimately, dealing Leake may have more to do with future considerations than the club’s immediate postseason hopes. Moving some of the contract will open some payroll space for 2018 and beyond, though it also takes away one rotation option with Lance Lynn slated to hit the open market and Adam Wainwright entering the final year of his contract. The club does still control Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, in addition to the two talented but less-experienced arms noted above, and will hopefully welcome Alex Reyes back into the fold next year. Parting with Leake, though, could conceivably keep the door open for the return of Lynn or lead the team to acquire another rotation piece over the offseason.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter) first said a deal involving Leake was close, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jen Langosch tweeted the detail on the international money.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/28/17
Here are Monday’s minor moves throughout the league…
- The Mariners announced that they’ve once again selected the contract of right-hander Christian Bergman from Triple-A Tacoma, with fellow righty Dan Altavilla being optioned out to open a 25-man roster spot. This marks the third time that the Mariners have added the 29-year-old Bergman to the 40-man roster in 2017 alone. The former Rockies hurler has twice been designated for assignment as well, accepting outright assignments to Tacoma in both instances. Bergman has tossed 51 1/3 innings for the Mariners this season and averaged 5.8 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 with a 38 percent ground-ball rate. The resulting 4.91 ERA (5.62 FIP, 5.18 xFIP, 4.99 SIERA) isn’t especially inspiring, but Bergman adds some length to a Mariners pitching staff that has been ravaged by injuries in 2017. As for the 24-year-old Altavilla, he tossed three innings in yesterday’s game, so he wouldn’t have been available for a couple of days anyhow.
Injury Updates: Cano, Sano, Gomez, Street, Giavotella
Robinson Cano isn’t in today’s Mariners lineup, marking the second baseman’s second straight missed game since suffering a minor hamstring strain on Wednesday. Cano is able to pinch-hit today, however, and manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times) yesterday that Cano’s injury is “about as slight as you get on the Grade 1 side” of a hamstring strain. It certainly looks like Cano will able to avoid the disabled list, which is a boon for a Mariners team in the thick of the wild card race. Here are some more injury updates from around the league…
- Miguel Sano has yet to begin fielding or hitting drills and he is still unable to run on his injured left shin, Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Star Tribune’s Phil Miller and other reporters. Sano is eligible to come off the 10-day DL on Wednesday but it seems like he’ll miss more than the minimum amount of time.
- The Rangers activated Carlos Gomez from the 10-day DL. The outfielder missed only the minimum amount of time after a cyst was removed from behind his right shoulder. Gomez is enjoying a solid season in Texas, hitting .251/.339/.455 with 15 homers in 351 plate appearances.
- Huston Street has resumed throwing this week and the veteran reliever is hoping to make it back for the last two weeks of the season, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. The Angels righty has pitched in just four games this season thanks to two lengthy DL stints, the first due to a strained lat muscle, and then his current absence, which began in early July due to a groin strain but Street was then shut down in early August due to a mild right rotator cuff strain.
- Johnny Giavotella underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right hip, the veteran infielder announced via his own Twitter feed. The procedure will, in Giavotella’s words, “relieve the chronic pain I’ve been playing with for a considerable time,” and he predicts that he’ll be recovered in time for Spring Training. Giavotella signed a minor league deal with the Orioles last winter that ended up paying him $1.1MM when his contract was selected by the team in July. Giavotella appeared in just seven games for the O’s before being outrighted off the 40-man roster and down to Triple-A.
Mariners Outright Leonys Martin
Aug. 25: The Mariners announced on Friday that Martin has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Tacoma.
Aug. 23: The Mariners have designated outfielder Leonys Martin for assignment, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Martin’s active roster spot will go to David Phelps, who was activated from the 10-day DL.
This represents the second trip through DFA limbo on the year for Martin, who was outrighted and later re-selected to the roster. The 29-year-old was much better in his second stint this season, but still managed only a .230/.266/.426 batting line in the 64 plate appearances since he returned to the majors in late July.
Martin is likely to clear waivers, given that he is earning $4.85MM for the season, and can elect free agency if he is outrighted. Doing so, however, would mean forfeiting the remainder of that $4.85MM payday — a sum of roughly $1.03MM. (Players do not earn the right to reject an outright and retain their salary until clearing five years of MLB service.) Martin is eligible for arbitration again this fall, but it seems all but certain he’ll be non-tendered even if he stays in the Seattle organization through the end of the year.
Injury Notes: Cano, Heredia, Britton, Castro, Desmond
The Mariners picked up a win last night, but they incurred a pair of potential injuries in the process, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The Mariners announced last night that Robinson Cano exited the game with tightness in his hamstring, while Guillermo Heredia exited the game after being hit on the wrist by a 92 mph Jason Motte fastball. Cano said he felt something in his hamstring “right away” as he was coming out of the batter’s box on a double to left field, and he’s slated for an MRI this morning. Heredia remained in the game to run the bases after being plunked but came out of the game after that half inning. He’ll undergo x-rays today. The Mariners are shorthanded at the moment after designating Leonys Martin for assignment and losing Shawn O’Malley to a concussion in Triple-A, Divish notes, though the pair of open 40-man spots allows some flexibility should Cano and/or Heredia require DL stints.
A few other injury notes from around the league…
- Orioles closer Zach Britton saw his incredible saves streak come to an end yesterday, and he’s now headed for an MRI on his left knee, writes MLB.com’s Mandy Bell. The O’s called the MRI a precautionary measure and noted that Britton, who has dealt with on-and-off knee issues for years, would have had one before season’s end even without the blown save. “Gosh, I probably had [the injury] since like 2014,” said Britton. “I got my cleats stuck one time in Toronto on their turf, and it’s something that was kind of bothering me.” Britton said he’s pitched through the issue for three years and plans to travel with the team after today’s off-day.
- Jason Castro was forced to exit last night’s game with concussion symptoms after taking a pair of foul balls off his mask, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Twins skipper Paul Molitor described the first as more of a “glancing blow” but said the second was a “direct shot.” Castro began experiencing dizziness as the game went on and demonstrated “some of the symptoms that concern you,” said Molitor, without delving too far into specifics. The Twins already have three catchers on the roster, having recently called up prospect Mitch Garver for his first big league look. Garver, who can also play first base and left field, as yet to start a game behind the dish, but he’d share catching duties with veteran Chris Gimenez should Castro fail to pass concussion protocol and land on the 7-day DL.
- Rockies infielder Ian Desmond will begin a minor league rehab assignment today, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. He’ll likely play four games before being activated from the disabled list on Monday (assuming all goes well), but more interesting than that is the fact that Saunders adds that Desmond could play shortstop upon his return from the DL. Desmond had a “high-intensity” workout on Wednesday that included taking grounders and performing fielding drills at his natural position. Manager Bud Black didn’t commit to the notion that Desmond would oust the struggling Trevor Story at short, but Saunders notes that Desmond could see time at first base, shortstop and in left field upon returning.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/23/17
Here are some of the latest minor moves from around the game, as reported by Baseball America’s Matt Eddy, unless otherwise noted:
- The Tigers announced tonight that they’ve optioned lefty Chad Bell to Triple-A Toledo and will select the contract of right-hander Zac Reininger prior to Thursday’s contest. The 24-year-old Reininger was Detroit’s eight-round pick back in 2013 and has had a strong season across three minor league levels in 2017, rising from Class-A Advanced to Triple-A. In 63 2/3 total innings, Reininger has posted a 2.54 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9. His ground-ball rate was a strong 53.4 percent in 28 Class-A frames but has fallen to the 39 percent range in the upper minors.