Reds Outright Stephen Johnson, Kyle Skipworth
The Reds announced that right-hander Stephen Johnson and catcher Kyle Skipworth have cleared waivers and been outrighted off the 40-man roster (Johnson to Triple-A Louisville and Skipworth to Double-A Pensacola). Skipworth was on the 60-day disabled list but had reached the end of his rehab window and was subsequently placed on waivers, whereas Johnson’s removal from the 40-man roster will drop Cincinnati’s count to 39, paving way for the activation of right-hander Anthony DeSclafani from the 60-day disabled list.
Johnson, 25, was acquired by the Reds from the Giants last August in exchange for Marlon Byrd. He rattled off 8 2/3 shutout innings for Cincinnati’s Double-A affiliate following the trade last season and went on to post a 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings in the Arizona Fall League. Dominant as Johnson was in 2015 (he also had a 3.41 ERA with 10.6 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 in 58 innings for San Francisco’s Double-A affiliate), he’s looked lost on the mound at Triple-A in 2016. In 28 1/3 innings with Louisville, he’s limped to a 5.72 ERA and seen his strikeout rate dip to 8.9 K/9 against a still-too-high 4.4 BB/9 rate (he’s also hit four batters). His struggles have escalated recently, as he has a 7.20 ERA over the past month prior to today’s news.
Skipworth, meanwhile, will look to get his career back on track at the Double-A level. The 26-year-old was selected sixth overall by the Marlins in the 2008 draft and at one point rated as a Top 100 prospect in the eyes of both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. Skipworth even drew comparisons to Joe Mauer for his offensive upside back in BA’s 2008 scouting report, but his tools at the plate have never come around in the minors. He’s a career .214/.279/.384 hitter in parts of nine minor league seasons and doesn’t have an OPS north of .700 at any single minor league level.
In DeSclafani, the Reds will be getting their most consistent starter from 2016 back into the rotation. Oblique injuries have kept the 26-year-old from taking a big league mound this season, but he built up to 72 pitches in his final rehab assignment and has apparently been deemed ready to return to the team. DeSclafani, who posted a 4.05 ERA in 184 2/3 innings for Cincinnati last season, will look to augment a rotation that has struggled tremendously in 2016. With Raisel Iglesias having spent much of the season on the DL alongside DeSclafani and Alfredo Simon allowing more than a run per inning, Reds’ starters have combined to post a 5.04 ERA on the year.
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday
Tonight at 8:00pm ET is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In other words: there will be a significant amount of 40-man roster moves made over the course of the next 13 or so hours. Six clubs already made moves to protect prospects from the Rule 5 yesterday, and each of the remaining 24 clubs should make moves today as well.
In brief: players drafted/signed at 18 years of age or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Players drafted/signed at 19 or older must be added within four years. Those interested in all of the specifics can refer to articles from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Perhaps of greater interest is that Mayo lists all of the prospects from MLB.com’s Top 100 list and from their organizational Top 30 lists that much be protected in advance of tonight’s deadline, while Cooper provides brief write-ups on each player that has been protected (and will continue to do so as additions are made).
Here are today’s additions to the 40-man roster. You can check out Baseball America’s coverage to learn more about the individual players listed below …
- The last team to report is the Giants, who have added a host of names to their 40-man: pitchers Ty Blach, Clayton Blackburn, Kyle Crick, Ian Gardeck, Adalberto Mejia, Steven Okert, Jake Smith, and Chris Stratton. With the roster filled up with that many pre-MLB arms, it’s fair to wonder whether the team anticipates trading from among that group.
- In their second set of 40-man promotions today, the Astros have selected the contracts of outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana.
- Moving onto the Marlins 40-man are lefty Jarlin Garcia and a trio of righties: Jacob Esch, Austin Brice, and Nick Wittgren.
- The Cubs have placed backstop Willson Contreras, righty Pierce Johnson, third baseman Jeimer Candelario, and first baseman Dan Vogelbach onto their 40-man, the team announced.
- The Phillies added outfielder Roman Quinn and righties Jimmy Cordero and Edubray Ramos.
- Joining the Royals‘ 40-man are pitchers Matthew Strahm, Alec Mills, and Kyle Zimmer, infielder Ramon Torres, and outfielders Brett Eibner and Bubba Starling, the club announced.
- The Rockies have selected the contracts of righties Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela, infielder Trevor Story, and outfielder Raimel Tapia.
- The Rays will add righties Jacob Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, and German Marquez to the 40-man roster along with infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter and rising lefty prospect Blake Snell.
- The Pirates have added top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell to the club’s 40-man, along with fellow youngsters Harold Ramirez (an outfielder) and Max Moroff (a middle infielder).
- Righty Victor Alcantara has been placed on the Angels‘ 40-man, the club announced. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez notes on Twitter, Alcantara is probably now the team’s single best prospect.
Earlier Updates
- Joining the big league side of the roster for the Yankees are righties Johnny Barbato and Rookie Davis along with outfielder Ben Gamel, the team announced.
- The Reds announced the additions of right-handers Robert Stephenson, Sal Romano, and Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster to keep them from Rule 5 eligibility.
- Going onto the Rangers‘ 40-man roster are outfielder Nomar Mazara, lefty Yohander Mendez, and righties Jose Leclerc and Connor Sadzeck.
- The Dodgers brought righties Jharel Cotton and Ross Stripling onto their 40-man, per a team announcement.
- Infielder Marco Hernandez, righty Pat Light, and lefty Williams Jerez are the newest members of the Red Sox 40-man, the club announced.
- The White Sox have protected righties Brandon Brennan and J.B. Wendelken from the Rule 5 by giving them roster spots.
- The Orioles have added a trio of pitchers, per an announcement. Parker Bridwell and Andrew Triggs throw from the right side, while Chris Lee is a southpaw.
- Moving onto the 40-man for the Indians are righties Mike Clevinger, Shawn Morimando and Dylan Baker, as well as outfielders Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey, per the club.
- The Mets announced the additions of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and righties Seth Lugo, Jeff Walters, and Robert Gsellman to the club’s major league roster.
- Second baseman Joey Wendle and left-hander Jose Torres were added to the Athletics 40-man roster, per the club.
- The Mariners announced that they have purchased the contracts of infielder Patrick Kivlehan and outfielder Boog Powell, thereby adding them to the 40-man roster and protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft.
- The Astros announced the additions of catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and right-handers Jandel Gustave, Juan Minaya, Joe Musgrove and David Paulino to the 40-man roster. Notably, Gustave was a Rule 5 pick last year and found himself with both the Padres and Royals before ultimately being returned to Houston.
- The Tigers announced that they’ve added right-handers Michael Fulmer and Montreal Robertson as well as left-hander Jairo Labourt to the 40-man. Fulmer was the main piece picked up in Detroit’s trade of Yoenis Cespedes, while Labourt was one of three lefties acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade.
Added To The 40-Man: Reds, Padres, Braves, Jays, Cards, Nats
The deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft is tomorrow night at 8:00pm ET. As such, there will be a large volume of players added to 40-man rosters in the coming day as well as a handful of moves to clear 40-man space for those new additions. The Astros’ trade of Jonathan Villar and release of Robbie Grossman and Luis Cruz earlier today, for instance, created three new spots on their 40-man for the purpose of protecting prospects. Players who signed at 18 or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to all 29 other teams in the Rule 5 Draft. Players who were 19 or older at the time they signed must be added within four seasons.
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has more specifics on the intricacies of the Rule 5 Draft for those that are interested. Mayo also notes that 11 of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects are in need of protection from the Rule 5 Draft, and he goes on to list the players from each organization’s Top 30 prospects who must be added by tomorrow night in order to be protected.
With all of that said, here’s today’s list of players that have been added to the 40-man roster…
- The Reds have added right-handers Robert Stephenson and Sal Romano as well as left-hander Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster, per a tweet from MLBPipeline.com.
- Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets that the Padres have added recently acquired outfielder Manuel Margot to the 40-man roster in addition to shortstop prospect Jose Rondon. Margot was one of the centerpieces in the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel to Boston.
Earlier Updates
- Outfielder Mallex Smith and right-hander John Gant have been added to the Braves‘ 40-man roster, the team announced today. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that there won’t be any further additions before tomorrow’s deadline.
- The Blue Jays have added right-handers Blake McFarland and Brady Dragmire to their 40-man roster, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. That still leaves five empty spots on the club’s 40-man roster, though there’s no guarantee that the Blue Jays will fill those voids prior to tomorrow’s deadline.
- The Cardinals announced today that they’ve purchased the contracts of shortstop Aledmys Diaz, left-hander Dean Kiekhefer and outfielder Charlie Tilson, thus protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft (Twitter link).
- The Nationals have selected the contracts of infielder Chris Bostick, catcher Spencer Kieboom and left-hander Nick Lee, per a team announcement (on Twitter).