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Minor MLB Transactions: 6/17/18

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The latest minor league moves from around baseball…

  • The Cardinals signed left-hander Tommy Layne to a minor league deal, and Layne made his organizational debut last night with an inning of work for Double-A Springfield.  Layne posted a 7.62 ERA and 1.13 K/BB rate over 13 relief innings for the Yankees last season before being released, and he has since bounced around in the Dodgers and Red Sox farm systems on minors contracts.  Prior to his rough 2017 campaign, Layne had a solid 3.23 ERA and 8.4 K/9 (albeit against a 4.2 BB/9) over 136 2/3 career innings with the Padres, Red Sox, and Yankees, displaying some LOOGY tendencies thanks to some wide career splits.  Left-handed batters have managed just a .516 OPS against Layne in his big league career, while right-handed batters have a strong .840 OPS.

Cardinals Notes: DeJong, Leone

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  • Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong is on track to come off the disabled list in early July, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. DeJong, out since suffering a fractured left hand May 17, has been cleared to resume hitting and is aiming to take batting practice during the upcoming week. Meanwhile, injured reliever Dominic Leone has “turned the corner from uncertainty to progressing in the right direction,” according to general manager Michael Girsch (via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Leone now looks likely to return this year, which wasn’t the case before, Goold notes. A nerve issue in Leone’s right biceps has kept him on the shelf since May 5.

Luke Gregerson Undergoes Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

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Cardinals reliever Luke Gregerson is already on the disabled list due to an impingement in his right shoulder, but MLB.com’s Joe Trezza tweets that Gregerson also had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn right meniscus yesterday. He’ll be out for at least an additional four to six weeks following that procedure.

Signed to a two-year, $11MM contract this offseason, Gregerson has been limited to just 8 1/3 innings so far in 2018. He’s been hit hard in that time, yielding eight runs on eight hits (two homers) and three walks with eight strikeouts.

While he’s never been a flamethrower, Gregerson’s average fastball was sitting at just 87.8 mph in his limited 2018 sample — a decrease of nearly two miles per hour from last season’s average of 89.5 mph. To his credit, Gregerson’s 16.7 percent swinging-strike rate was actually the second-best mark of his career, and his 60.9 percent ground-ball rate remained considerably ahead of the league average for relievers (43.3 percent).

[Related: St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]

Gregerson is one of several Cards relievers on the shelf, joining Matt Bowman, Greg Holland, Dominic Leone and Tyler Lyons. In his absence, the Cards have leaned heavily on surprise closer Bud Norris. Young flamethrower Jordan Hicks has been the most highly used piece of a largely unproven collection of arms that have been utilized in high-leverage spots, with John Brebbia, Mike Mayers and Sam Tuivailala all being asked to pick up meaningful innings (and performing quite well in the process).

Cardinals Agree To Terms With No. 43 Pick Griffin Roberts

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  • The Cardinals agreed to terms with Wake Forest right-hander Griffin Roberts on a $1,664,200 bonus — the full slot value of his No. 43 selection — per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (on Twitter). Opinions on Roberts were somewhat split, with Baseball America most favorably ranking him 47th in the class, while Fangraphs pegged him 84th overall. Reports on him praise Roberts for possessing one of the best sliders of any amateur in the country, but there’s also quite a bit of uncertainty as to whether he can be a starter at the professional level or if he’ll be a bullpen piece. He also had control issues prior to the 2018 season.

Cardinals Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Nolan Gorman

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The Cardinals have reached agreement on a bonus with first-round draft pick Nolan Gorman, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). If and when the pact is finalized, the nineteenth overall draft pick will receive a full-slot bonus of $3,231,700.

Gorman, a high-school third baseman from Arizona, was widely ranked as one of the fifteen-best prospects entering the draft. His loudest tool is his power at the plate. And it’s not just projection; in Baseball America’s words, Gorman hits the ball “harder than almost anyone in the [draft] class.”

The draw of that pop led prospect hounds — as well as the Cards — to put a lofty draft grade on the left-handed-hitting slugger despite some questions. His pure hitting ability isn’t considered as advanced, though he has excelled against significant velocity. And though he’s said to carry a quality arm, there are plenty of questions as to whether he’ll stay at the hot corner in the long run.

Notably, multiple outlets — including BA and Fangraphs — observed that Gorman has become stiffer at the plate and in the field of late, adding to the worries. These concerns obviously weren’t that pressing, though, as the 18-year-old still landed in the middle of the first round. As ESPN.com’s Keith Law explained it, “if he hits enough just to get to the power, it won’t really matter where he plays” in the field.

Cardinals Select Daniel Poncedeleon

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon from Triple-A Memphis. First baseman Luke Voit has been optioned back to Memphis in a corresponding move.

It’ll be the first call to the Majors for Poncedeleon, who persevered through a frightening head injury that necessitated brain surgery after he was struck in the head by a comeback line drive last May (link via MLB.com’s Jen Langosch). The 26-year-old was a ninth-round pick of the Cards back in 2014.

Poncedeleon made just six starts for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate last season due to that scare, but he’s appeared in a dozen games (11 of them starts) in Memphis this season, pitching to a 2.41 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 5.3 BB/9, 0.3 HR/9 and a 32.4 percent ground-ball rate in 59 2/3 innings. While he’s not considered among the Cardinals’ top couple of tiers of prospects, Poncedeleon received an honorable mention in last year’s rankings from Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, drawing praise for an “above-average downhill fastball, deep-breaking curveball and fading changeup.” Longenhagen’s report notes that there’s a chance Poncedeleon ultimately settles into the bullpen.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]

For the Cardinals, Poncedeleon will give them another option both in the rotation and in the bullpen following some injury woes in both regards. St. Louis recently lost Alex Reyes for the season and is uncertain as to when Adam Wainwright will be healthy enough to return, though the team still has a strong rotation mix of Carlos Martinez, Miles Mikolas, Luke Weaver, Michael Wacha and Jack Flaherty. But relievers Matt Bowman, Greg Holland, Tyler Lyons, Luke Gregerson and Dominic Leone are all also on the disabled list, so Poncedeleon replenishes some needed depth for their staff.

Blue Jays Claim Preston Guilmet, Designate Deck McGuire

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The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Preston Guilmet off waivers from the Cardinals, per an announcement from Toronto. To make room for Guilmet, the Jays designated righty Deck McGuire for assignment.

This will be Guilmet’s second stint with the Toronto organization, as he previously tossed 14 1/3 innings with its Triple-A affiliate in 2015. The 30-year-old has combined for 260 1/3 innings at Triple-A with multiple franchises and logged a 2.39 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. However, Guilmet hasn’t been anywhere near that successful across 25 major league frames (9.36 ERA, 7.92 K/9, 3.24 BB/9) with the Indians, Orioles, Brewers, Rays and Cardinals. He made a pair of appearances with St. Louis this week and yielded five earned runs in two innings, leading the Redbirds to designate him on Thursday.

The Jays selected McGuire 10th overall in the 2010 draft, and he has finally seen his first action with the club this season, allowing six earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old – who, like Guilmet, is in his second stint with the Jays – also garnered a bit of experience in the majors with the Reds last season. Most of his work has come in the upper levels of the minors, including 334 frames at Triple-A, where he has registered a 4.99 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/7/18

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:

  • Mets lefty Aaron Laffey has decided to retire, according to Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review Journal (via Twitter). The 33-year-old, an eight-year MLB veteran, had been pitching for the organization’s top affiliate. Laffey was struggling quite a bit, though, carrying an unsightly 11.77 ERA through 26 innings in six starts. He recorded only 11 strikeouts against six walks while surrendering a whopping 45 base hits and ten long balls. Over his 494 1/3 career innings in the majors, the last of which came in 2015, Laffey worked to a 4.44 ERA. He spent the bulk of his time with the Indians and also saw substantial action with the Blue Jays, along with shorter stints with the Mets, Mariners, Yankees, and Rockies.
  • Backstop Steven Baron has cleared waivers after being outrighted by the Cardinals, according to a club announcement and as tweeted by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It seems Baron will accept an assignment to Triple-A. He was designated for assignment recently after a brief MLB stint, during which he recorded his first hit in the majors. The 27-year-old is a .248/.307/.333 hitter in 455 career plate appearances at Triple-A.

Cardinals Designate Preston Guilmet

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The Cardinals announced today that they have designated righty Preston Guilmet for assignment. His roster spot will go to infielder Greg Garcia, who was activated from the paternity list.

Guilmet was only just added to the roster, making his first big-league appearance since 2015. But he was shelled in two outings against the Marlins, coughing up five earned runs on seven hits (including two home runs). Guilmet had shown quite well at Triple-A before that, though, racking up a 35:5 K/BB ratio and allowing just three earned runs on nine hits in 29 innings of action.

Red Schoendienst Passes Away

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Baseball lost a legend on Wednesday evening, as the Cardinals announced that Red Schoendienst has passed away at the age of 95. The Hall of Famer was a 10-time All-Star who won a pair of World Series rings as a player and another during a managerial career that spanned parts of 14 seasons at the helm of the Cardinals.

A native of Germantown, Ill., Schoendienst made his big league debut as a 22-year-old with the 1945 Cardinals, leading the NL with 26 steals and hitting .278/.305/.343. He made the first of his 10 All-Star teams in his sophomore year with the Cards, a team for whom he enjoyed 15 seasons as a player in addition to his 14-year run as manager. Schoendienst also spent parts of four seasons with the Milwaukee Braves and two seasons with the New York Giants.

Schoendienst, who had been the oldest living member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, finished his career with 2449 hits, 1223 runs scored, 84 homers, 427 doubles, 78 triples, 89 steals and a .289/.337/.387 batting line in 2216 games and 9224 plate appearances. He finished in the Top 4 of the National League MVP voting on two occasions and garnered votes in four other seasons, and he posted a career 1041-955 record as a manager — twice managing the All-Star team on the heels of a World Series appearance (1968-69). Enos Slaughter, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and the great Stan Musial were among the all-time greats that Schoendienst called teammates over the course of a 19-year playing career. Since his playing and managerial days, Schoendienst had served as a Senior Special Assistant to the Cardinals organization.

The Cardinals issued a video tribute to their beloved franchise icon (on Twitter), paying homage to his legend against the audio backdrop of an excerpt from his Hall of Fame induction speech. Commissioner Rob Manfred also offered a statement:

“Red Schoendienst was one of the most beloved figures in the rich history of the St. Louis Cardinals, the franchise he served for 67 years. He was a 10-time All-Star second baseman, a World Series Champion as a player with the 1946 Cardinals and the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, and a championship-winning manager with the 1967 Cardinals. Red was a teammate, manager, and friend of some of the greatest players in the history of Baseball. The connection between Red and the fans of St. Louis spanned multiple generations and he was a wonderful ambassador for our game. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Red’s family, his many friends and admirers throughout our game, and Cardinals fans everywhere.”

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