Notable Draft Signings: 7/14/23
The Cubs and Reds agreed to terms with top 15 picks this afternoon. A few other top 40 selections are also set to put pen to paper.
(See pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Keith Law of the Athletic, MLB Pipeline):
- The Mariners have agreed to terms with all but two draft choices, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. 29th overall selection Johnny Farmelo and 20th-rounder Will Watson are the only players who haven’t agreed to terms. First round pick Colt Emerson will receive a $3.8MM bonus, per Kramer. That’s above the $3.5MM slot value for the 22nd overall pick. A hit-first prep infielder out of Ohio, Emerson had been committed to Auburn. Seattle will sign 30th overall pick Tai Peete for $2.5MM, Kramer reports. That’s a little below the $2.73MM slot value. Peete is a 6’2″ infielder from a Georgia high school who draws praise for his power potential and athleticism but some hit tool questions. He’ll bypass a commitment to Georgia Tech.
- The Mets are in agreement on a $2.75MM bonus with 32nd overall draftee Colin Houck, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). New York went a bit above the $2.61MM slot value to sign the Georgia high schooler out of a commitment to Mississippi State. Houck, a right-handed hitting infielder, ranked between 10th and 21st on the referenced pre-draft rankings. There are questions about whether he’ll outgrow shortstop and eventually kick over to third base, but he’s viewed as a well-rounded offensive player with power projection and the ability to stick somewhere on the infield dirt.
Mariners Sign Logan Allen To Minor League Deal
The Mariners signed left-hander Logan Allen to a minor league contract this evening, according to an announcement from Triple-A broadcaster Mike Curto (on Twitter). He’ll join the M’s top affiliate in Tacoma.
Allen, 26, is a former Guardians southpaw who is not related to a current Cleveland pitcher of the same name. Seattle’s Allen has pitched in parts of four MLB campaigns, mostly with Cleveland. He has a 5.89 ERA through 96 1/3 MLB frames. He has a below-average 15.5% strikeout rate and a 9.6% walk percentage in that stretch.
The 6’3″ hurler was a fairly well-regarded prospect coming through the minor league ranks. He had strong numbers up through Double-A, including a 2.75 ERA at that level. Allen has yet to find much success beyond that point, allowing 6.35 earned runs per nine in parts of five Triple-A campaigns.
That includes a 7.20 ERA through 45 innings with the Rockies’ top affiliate earlier in the season. Allen signed a minor league deal with Colorado last August but had a rough time in an extremely hitter-friendly setting in Albuquerque. He was released two weeks ago.
Seattle has George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo and Bryan Woo in the rotation. Bryce Miller is on the injured list with a blister but expected to rejoin the rotation on Sunday. Allen isn’t going to crack that group if everyone’s healthy, but he’ll add an experienced upper minors depth option.
Cardinals Interested In Logan Gilbert
The Cardinals are coming out of the All-Star break with a 38-52 record, placing them in last place in the National League Central and 11 games back in the Wild Card race. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak recently admitted that the club will have to approach the deadline as sellers, focusing on making moves that benefit the 2024 club.
The club has just over two weeks until the August 1 deadline, giving them some time to figure out their plans, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a report with some specifics that shine a light on their current plans. Notably, the Cards are uninterested in trading core players like Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker. They are open, however, to trading pitchers like Jordan Montgomery, Jordan Hicks, Ryan Helsley and Génesis Cabrera, while Jack Flaherty is already generating interest from other clubs. As for what kind of player they are looking to bring in, Goold lists Logan Gilbert of the Mariners as someone they are interested in.
To be clear, there’s no indication that the Mariners have any inclination towards trading Gilbert, but it’s entirely understandable why the Cards would be interested. The 26-year-old Gilbert has made 74 starts to this point in his career, posting a 3.75 ERA with a 24% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 36.9% ground ball rate. He’s right in line with those figures this year, having a 3.66 ERA with similar peripherals in 18 starts.
More importantly for the Cardinals, Gilbert can be immediately plugged into their rotation and has plenty of club control remaining. He came into this season with one year and 144 days of service time and will finish this season at 2.144. That makes him a virtual lock to qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player this winter, but he will still have four years of club control left, meaning he isn’t slated to become a free agent until after the 2027 season.
The Cards are not planning a deep rebuild but are instead focused on next year’s club, when they have plenty of rotation uncertainty. Adam Wainwright is planning to retire after this year, while both Flaherty and Montgomery are impending free agents. They have also seen some internal options struggle this year. Steven Matz had an ERA of 5.72 through 10 starts before getting bumped to the bullpen, though he recently retook a rotation job after some solid relief work. Matthew Liberatore has decent numbers in Triple-A but a 6.75 ERA in the majors this year. Dakota Hudson has spent most of the year in Triple-A, posting an ERA of 6.00 at that level. All of that leaves Miles Mikolas as the only sure thing for next year’s rotation.
But Seattle wouldn’t give up Gilbert easily. The club is 45-44 right now and just four games out in the American League Wild Card race. Gilbert is a key part of their rotation right now and for future seasons, given his aforementioned years of control. If they were to give any thought to moving him, they would likely have to get back something that helps some other part of their roster in the here and now. They also have Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Bryan Woo in their rotation alongside Gilbert, but Robbie Ray is out of the season while Bryce Miller and Marco Gonzales are currently on the injured list. Subtracting Gilbert from that mix would to be weighed against the benefits of an upgrade elsewhere.
The Mariners have tried to do a buy-sell hybrid before, which was in 2021. They flipped relievers Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero to the Astros in exchange for Joe Smith and Abraham Toro, while picking up Diego Castillo and Tyler Anderson in separate deals. The move didn’t work out, with the clubhouse apparently not thrilled by the closer suddenly pitching for a divisional rival and the M’s ultimately missing the playoffs.
This year’s trade deadline is generally considered to have a lack of sellers that may force clubs to consider trades between contenders, with each club giving up current major league talent, such as last year’s deal where the Cards got Montgomery from the Yankees for Harrison Bader. A Gilbert trade would be a significantly different beast though, since Montgomery and Bader each had just a season and a half of club control remaining at the time. When factoring in Gilbert’s extra control and the fact that the M’s just got burned on the hybrid deadline strategy not too long ago, it’s hard to view a trade coming together as a likely scenario.
Nonetheless, the interest from the Cardinals is instructive as to what their targets might be. They have a crowded position player mix and may perhaps look to swap someone from that group for some controllable pitching, even if it’s not Gilbert. It remains to be seen which players they are willing to put on the table in such a pursuit, but it seems they’ll hang onto Arenado, Goldschmidt, Nootbaar and Walker.
It’s not a terrible shock to see those names listed as off-limits. Goldschmidt and Arenado are the two most important players on the club, finishing first and third respectively in National League MVP voting last year. Both players also have full no-trade clauses, which would make a deal complicated even if the Cardinals wanted to consider it. The players could always waive their clauses but Goold reports that Arenado has not been approached about doing so and would prefer to stay anyway. There’s been no reporting to suggest that anything is different with Goldschmidt.
Walker was one of the top prospects in the league coming into this year and is faring well in his first season, hitting .283/.347/.457 for a 123 wRC+ thus far. He made the club’s Opening Day roster but was optioned for over a month at one point, meaning he’ll come up shy of one year of major league service here in 2023 and leave the Cards with six further seasons of control. As a consensus top prospect, he could earn that full year by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, but he would still be a key part of the club’s future even in that scenario.
Nootbaar, meanwhile, has hit .241/.343/.420 in 226 career games while providing above-average outfield defense. He will still have four years of control remaining after this one and isn’t slated to qualify for arbitration until after 2024.
Just because those names are listed as unavailable, it doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone not named is therefore available, but the club will likely have to move someone. Tyler O’Neill has often been speculated as a candidate since the club has Nootbaar, Walker, Dylan Carlson and others in the outfield mix. On the infield, meanwhile, Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan have somewhat similar multi-positional profiles and have been pushed to the grass with Paul DeJong and Nolan Gorman often in the middle infield. If the Cards have their sights set on an impact rotation addition like Gilbert or someone similar, they might have to make the difficult decision of parting with someone in that group.
Though that situation seems fluid and has many factors, the rental pitching seems much more straightforward. Each of Montgomery, Flaherty and Hicks are impending free agents and seem virtual locks to be moved at this point. Montgomery is a consistent mid-rotation guy, with a 3.75 career ERA and a 3.23 mark here in 2023. He’s making $10MM this year, which will leave about $3.22MM left to be paid out at the deadline.
Flaherty has shown ace upside in the past but was held back by injuries in recent years. He’s not back to those ace levels this year, currently sporting a 4.27 ERA, but he’s at least healthy and effective enough for a rotation job. Hicks, meanwhile, has triple-digit velocity and seems to be finally figuring out how to weaponize it properly.
Helsley and Cabrera aren’t strict rentals and don’t need to be moved at this deadline, necessarily. But given the volatility of relief performance, it’s logical for the Cardinals to consider what kind of return they can get right now. Helsley seemed to take over the closer’s role last year, posting a 1.25 ERA and racking up 19 saves in the process. He has a 3.24 ERA this year but has been on the injured list for the past month due to a strained right forearm. Players on the IL can be traded but his health status might cast a shadow over trade talks. He can be controlled for two more seasons after this one via arbitration. He’s making $2.15MM and will have about $700K left to be paid out when the deadline rolls around.
Cabrera, 26, has been inconsistent in terms of his strikeouts but has always had subpar control. Regardless, left-handed relief tends to always be in demand to some degree. He has a 4.07 ERA in his career but a 4.70 mark this year. He’s struck out 25.7% of opponents this season but walked 13.2%. Like Helsley, he can be retained via arbitration for two more campaigns after this one. He’s making $950K this year, which will leave just over $300K at deadline time.
All in all, there are many moving parts for the Cardinals to consider, making them one of the most interesting clubs to watch in the coming weeks. They haven’t been in the clear seller position in a while, but they seem well-positioned to take advantage of it. Few clubs are in the same category and many of the other clear sellers have far less to offer in terms of players that would be of interest for contending clubs.
Mariners Outright Tommy Milone
The Mariners have sent left-hander Tommy Milone outright to Triple-A Tacoma, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment a week ago.
All players with a previous career outright or more than three years of major league service time have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of electing free agency. Milone meets both qualifications and could return to the open market, with no public reporting about his decision yet, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him stick with in the Mariners’ system. This is the second time he has been called up to make a spot start, getting promptly designated for assignment afterwards. The first time was back in April, which resulted in him clearing waivers and deciding to stay, which led to his second spot start last week.
Milone, 36, has suited up for Washington, Oakland, Minnesota, Milwaukee, the Mets, Baltimore, Atlanta, Toronto and Seattle in his career, which dates back to 2011. He’s appeared in 198 major league games but has been limited to an emergency option in recent years. Since 2019, he hasn’t been able to reach 40 innings or appear in 10 games in any individual campaign. When called upon, he has been relatively effective, allowing just two earned runs in nine innings this year, with a 5.83 ERA in 24 outings dating back to 2020.
The Mariners have four healthy starters in Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo. The fifth spot is open for now but it’s possible that Bryce Miller could take it after the All-Star break. He’s currently on the injured list due to a blister and is eligible to return this weekend. Left-hander Marco Gonzales is also on the IL but with a murky timeline as he is dealing with nerve issues in his elbow. The M’s recently grabbed Adam Oller off waivers from the A’s and also have Darren McCaughan on the 40-man roster.
Milone is clearly happy with the organization, having repeatedly stuck with them over the past two years despite having multiple opportunities to head elsewhere. There will undoubtedly be a great deal of roster upheaval in the coming weeks thanks to the August 1 trade deadline, which could create new opportunities, but it’s also possible he decides to report to Tacoma and wait for his next chance in the big leagues.
Mariners Claim Adam Oller
2:45pm: The Mariners have now officially announced the claim and that Oller will report to Triple-A Tacoma.
1:15pm: The Mariners have claimed right-hander Adam Oller off waivers from the Athletics, reports Jessica Kleinschmidt. The A’s hadn’t formally announced it, but Oller had recently been placed on outright waivers. The Mariners will assign Oller to Triple-A Tacoma for the time being, a source tells MLBTR. The Mariners haven’t announced the move yet, but they had multiple openings on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.
Oller, 28, was acquired from the Mets alongside fellow right-hander J.T. Ginn in the trade that sent Chris Bassitt from Oakland to New York. He’s appeared in each of the past two seasons with Oakland — his first big league experience — but struggled to a 7.09 ERA with a 12.9% strikeout rate against an 11.9% walk rate in 94 innings. At the time of the trade, Oller was ranked 20th among Mets farmhands, per Baseball America, whose report tabbed him as a largely MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation starter or bulk reliever. Oller hasn’t thrown his slider as hard as advertised, however, and his swinging-strike rate and overall strikeout rate have both suffered as a result.
Oller posted a 3.45 ERA in 120 innings between the Mets’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2021, winning the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year award in the process. Though he struggled in the Majors last year, he still put up a 3.69 ERA at the Triple-A level. In 2023, however, he’s been hit hard both in the big leagues and the minors; he’s sitting on a 7.11 ERA in 50 2/3 frames, albeit with a solid 25.2% strikeout rate against a 10.3% walk rate.
For the Mariners, Oller will serve as depth either in an injury-plagued rotation or in a swingman role. Seattle lost 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to flexor and Tommy John surgery early in the season, and the M’s currently have Marco Gonzales (forearm strain) and Bryce Miller (blisters) on the injured list at the moment. They’re currently using rookie Bryan Woo in the rotation and also turned to journeyman southpaw Tommy Milone for a start not long before the break. Oller, who’s in the second of three minor league option years, can provide some up-and-down depth moving forward.
The Mariners have done well with low-profile pitching acquisitions in recent years, most notably turning minor league signee Paul Sewald into a high-end reliever. They’ve also coaxed strong performances out of unheralded trade acquisition Justin Topa and waiver pickups like Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo so far in 2023. They’ll aim to add Oller to that growing list of pitching successes.
Oller becomes the second pitcher acquired during the Athletics’ fire sale to depart the organization in under two years. The A’s also lost left-hander Zach Logue — acquired in the Matt Chapman trade — to the Tigers on waivers over the winter. Of the seven young pitchers they’ve tried in the rotation since acquiring them as part of the latest teardown, only southpaw JP Sears (4.32 ERA) has an ERA under 6.00. Not every arm they’ve acquired has pitched in the Majors yet, of course, but the early results of the Athletics’ latest wave of trades have not boded well, to say the least.
Giants Acquire Jack Larsen From Mariners
The Giants acquired minor league outfielder Jack Larsen in a trade with the Mariners over the weekend (h/t to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America). San Francisco assigned the left-handed hitter to their top affiliate in Sacramento, where he made his organizational debut on Sunday.
Seattle’s return is unspecified, though most transactions of this nature see cash sent the other way. Larsen hadn’t been on the M’s 40-man roster, so he does not take a spot on San Francisco’s 40-man.
Larsen, 28, had spent the season with the M’s Triple-A club in Tacoma. The UC-San Diego product appeared in 25 games, hitting .313/.466/.338 across 103 plate appearances. Larsen only connected on two extra-base hits (both doubles), but he walked at an elite 21.4% clip against a 23.3% strikeout rate.
Plate discipline has been his calling card through seven professional campaigns. Larsen is a .267/.380/.441 hitter in more than 2200 minor league plate appearances. He got a cup of coffee in Seattle last summer, tallying one plate appearance (a strikeout) in his MLB debut. The M’s outrighted him off the 40-man thereafter.
Larsen has some center field experience but has played almost exclusively in the corner outfield this year. The Giants have Heliot Ramos and Bryce Johnson as 40-man outfielders in Sacramento. Larsen joins 27-year-old Michael Gigliotti as non-roster depth options on the grass.
Poll: Who Will Win The 2023 Home Run Derby?
The 2023 All-Star festivities have already kicked off, with this past weekend featuring the Futures Game and the start of the MLB Draft. The draft continued today and tonight will feature the Home Run Derby, followed by more drafting and the All-Star game tomorrow. The derby is mostly about entertainment, though there’s also a $1MM prize on the line. That’s chump change to a lot of these players, but not all. The runner-up gets $500K and each other participant gets $150K. The player who hits the longest home run will get an extra $100K. It kicks off at 7pm Central time tonight.
The competition will proceed with head-to-head matchups in a bracket with these eight players, proceeding in order of their seeding: Luis Robert Jr., Pete Alonso, Mookie Betts, Adolis García, Randy Arozarena, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Julio Rodríguez and Adley Rutschman. Defending champion Juan Soto isn’t participating this year, leaving the throne open for the taking. Let’s take a look at the matchups and some of their stats.
- Luis Robert Jr. OF, White Sox: Robert is having his best season in many ways, including in the power department. He came into the year with 36 home runs in 222 games but already has 26 this season in just 89 contests. He’s hitting .271/.330/.569 overall for a wRC+ of 143. He has an average exit velocity of 89 mph, max of 113.6 mph and a 15.9% barrel rate. This is his first time participating in the home run derby.
- Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles: Rutschman debuted last year and hit 13 home runs in 113 games but is already up to 12 this year after just 86 contests. He’s hitting .273/.376/.423 on the season for a wRC+ of 125. He has an average exit velocity of 87.9 mph, max of 111.1 mph and a 6.7% barrel rate. This is his first time participating in the home run derby.
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- Adolis García, OF, Rangers: García broke out in 2021 with a 31-homer campaign, added another 27 last year and already has 23 here in 2023. Financially, he’s probably the player with the most to gain from the prize money. He’s yet to reach arbitration and that $1MM total is more than his annual salary. He got a $2.5MM bonus when signing with the Cardinals, but that was way back in 2017. Rutschman is the only other player in the field that is both pre-arb and hasn’t signed an extension, but he got a signing bonus of $8.1MM when signing in 2019. Garcia is hitting .261/.331/.517 this year for a wRC+ of 131. He’s hitting .273/.376/.423 on the whole for a wRC+ of 125. He has an average exit velocity of 92.2 mph, max of 115.1 mph and a 16.4% barrel rate. This is his first time participating in the derby.
- Randy Arozarena, OF, Rays: Arozarena vaulted himself onto the national stage with 10 home runs in the 2020 postseason. He followed that up by hitting 20 in each of the past two seasons and has another 16 here in 2023. He’s hitting .279/.388/.467 on the year for a wRC+ of 147. He has an average exit velocity of 92.9 mph, max of 114.3 mph and a 14.6% barrel rate. This is his first time participating in the derby.
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- Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets: Alonso is the most successful derby participant of the group, winning the competition back-to-back in 2019 and 2021. There was no derby in 2020 due to the pandemic. He attempted to win a third consecutive title last year but was defeated by J-Rod in the semis. He has 172 career home runs and is at 26 this year. He’s slashing .211/.310/.497 for a wRC+ of 123. He has an average exit velocity of 89.2 mph, max of 113.7 mph and a 14.8% barrel rate.
- Julio Rodríguez, OF, Mariners: Rodríguez will be the hometown favorite with the festivities taking place in Seattle this year. As mentioned, he took out Alonso a year ago but fell to Juan Soto in the finals. He hit 28 home runs as a rookie last year and has added 13 more this year. He’s hitting .249/.310/.411 for a wRC+ of 105. He has an average exit velocity of 92.8 mph, max of 115.5 mph and a 9.8% barrel rate.
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- Mookie Betts, IF/OF, Dodgers: Betts is 30 years old and this is his seventh time in the All-Star game but this will be his first derby. He has 239 career home runs, including 26 this year. He’s batting .276/.379/.586 overall for a wRC+ of 157. He has an average exit velocity of 92.5 mph, max of 110.1 mph and a 12.8% barrel rate.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays: Guerrero put on a show in the 2019 contest, hitting 91 home runs overall but falling just short of Alonso in the final round. He has 117 homers in his career and 13 here in 2023. He’s slashing .274/.344/.443 for a wRC+ of 120. He has an average exit velocity of 94.3 mph, max of 116.7 mph and a 13.6% barrel rate.
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The winner of Robert/Rutschman will square off against the winner of García/Arozarena in the semis, while the winner of Alonso/Rodríguez will face the winner of Betts/Guerrero. Before we get to who you think will win, let’s start with who you want to win. (Link to poll for app users)
Who Do You Want To Win The 2023 Derby?
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 33% (2,332)
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Pete Alonso 18% (1,266)
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Julio Rodríguez 13% (936)
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Mookie Betts 8% (528)
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Luis Robert Jr. 7% (512)
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Adley Rutschman 7% (484)
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Randy Arozarena 7% (478)
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Adolis García 6% (437)
Total votes: 6,973
And who do you think will win the 2021 Home Run Derby? (Link to poll for app users)
Who Will Win The 2023 Derby?
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 38% (1,583)
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Pete Alonso 23% (927)
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Julio Rodríguez 12% (474)
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Luis Robert Jr. 7% (301)
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Randy Arozarena 6% (254)
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Adolis García 6% (227)
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Mookie Betts 5% (199)
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Adley Rutschman 4% (148)
Total votes: 4,113
Mariners Outright Jose Rodriguez
The Mariners announced this afternoon that right-hander José Rodríguez was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle apparently placed him on waivers this week without formally announcing the move.
Rodríguez signed a minor league pact with Seattle over the winter. They selected his contract during the season’s second week, bringing the 27-year-old up to the big leagues for the first time in three years. Rodríguez pitched once, tossing three innings of three-run ball, before being optioned back out.
He has otherwise spent the season working out of Tacoma’s starting rotation. Rodríguez has pitched to a 7.53 ERA across 55 innings in the Pacific Coast League. He’s inducing grounders at a solid 47.3% clip but has a well below-average 15.3% strikeout rate.
Since Seattle had not previously designated Rodríguez for assignment, the outright clears a spot on the 40-man roster. After Tommy Milone’s recent DFA, the 40-man count is at 38. Rodríguez has been outrighted on multiple occasions in his career, so he’ll have the ability to test minor league free agency if he doesn’t want to stick as a non-roster player in Tacoma.
Mariners Designate Tommy Milone For Assignment
The Mariners are calling up right-hander Isaiah Campbell, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, with left-hander Tommy Milone designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Campbell is already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Milone, 36, was selected to the club’s roster just yesterday and plugged in for a spot start to cover for the injured Bryce Miller. Milone was able to toss 4 1/3 solid innings, allowing four hits and four walks but just two runs, only one of which was earned.
Even before Milone took the hill, it seemed possible that this would be a one-and-done start. Miller’s injury doesn’t appear to be of the long-term variety, as it’s just a blister. With the All-Star break coming up, the club can survive with their four regular starters of Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo until then. After the break, that group should be rejoined by Miller, assuming that his blister is in better condition after two weeks of rest.
Milone was a regular starter earlier in his career, but this is the type of role he’s served in recent years. Since the end of 2019, he’s played for Baltimore, Atlanta, Toronto and Seattle, making fewer than 10 appearances and logging less than 40 innings in each season from 2020 to the present. This is the second time this year that the M’s have called on his services and promptly cut him from the roster immediately after. They will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment but is clearly comfortable with the organization and already chose to stay when he cleared waivers in April.
As for Campbell, 25, he has the rare distinction among major leaguers of being born in Portugal. According to Baseball Reference, the only other MLB player in that category was Frank Thompson, who played 12 big league games way back in 1875.
Campbell went to high school in Kansas and then attended the University of Arkansas. The Mariners selected him with the 76th overall pick in the 2019 draft. The minor league seasons were canceled by the pandemic in 2020, delaying his professional debut until 2021. He spent that year in High-A, tossing 19 1/3 innings with a 2.33 ERA. Last year, he split his time between High-A and Double-A, throwing 46 innings between those two levels with a tiny 1.57 ERA, striking out 33% of hitters while walking just 6.7%.
That performance was strong enough for the Mariners to add him to their 40-man roster in November, preventing him from being selected in last year’s Rule 5 draft. This year, he has a 2.63 ERA in 24 Double-A innings with a 28.4% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. He was recently ranked the club’s #21 prospect at FanGraphs and #16 at MLB Pipeline.
Mariners To Select Tommy Milone
The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tommy Milone. Right-hander Darren McCaughan was optioned in a corresponding move while righty Penn Murfee was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot for Milone on the 40-man. Milone is listed as the club’s starter for tonight’s game in San Francisco.
Milone, 36, has plenty of major league experience, serving as a regular rotation member with the Athletics and Twins in the early parts of the previous decade. In more recent years, he’s been in the role of a journeyman depth piece. Since the start of 2020, he’s suited up for Atlanta, Baltimore, Toronto and Seattle, not reaching 40 innings in any of those campaigns.
He’s already played this game with the M’s once this year, getting called up in April, making one start and getting designated for assignment promptly after. He tossed 4 2/3 innings in that outing, allowing just one earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. He’s spent most of the season in Triple-A, making 11 starts there with a 4.47 ERA.
The Seattle rotation lost Bryce Miller to the injured list this week and needs another arm to be slotted next to Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo. It’s possible that this will be another one-and-done situation for Milone, since Miller’s IL placement was due to a blister and the All-Star break is coming up on Monday. Assuming Miller’s blister is healed up, he’ll be eligible to come off the injured list after the break and retake his rotation spot.
As for Murfee, it was reported last week that he would require season-ending UCL surgery, making this transfer an inevitable formality. He’ll spend the rest of the year on the 60-day injured list and won’t count against the club’s roster count, though he’ll need to be reinstated during the offseason when there’s no IL.