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Brewers Claim Nick Franklin, Designate Michael Blazek Fror Assignment

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The Brewers have claimed infielder/outfielder Nick Franklin off waivers from the Rays, reports Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Rays had designated the 26-year-old Franklin for assignment over the winter. Milwaukee announced the move, somewhat surprisingly adding that righty Michael Blazek has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Franklin enjoyed a productive year for the Rays in a limited sample of 191 plate appearances last season, hitting .270/.328/.443 with six homers and six stolen bases. However, the former top prospect never settled into an everyday role with Tampa Bay or even a regular position. Last year, Franklin saw time at shortstop, second base, first base, right field and left field, though the majority of his work in the Majors has come at second base.

That defensive versatility figures to play well for the Brewers in the National League, as the switch-hitting Franklin will give manager Craig Counsell a jack-of-all-trades type to utilize in a variety of capacities. While there don’t appear to be everyday at-bats for Franklin anywhere in Milwaukee, he can join speedster Hernan Perez in bouncing all over the diamond and could, of course, take on a larger role in the event of an injury.

Blazek’s DFA is a bit of a surprise, if only because he’s just one year removed from a terrific season out of the Milwaukee ’pen. While the 28-year-old Blazek limped to a 5.66 ERA in 41 1/3 innings last year, he logged an outstanding 2.43 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate across 55 2/3 innings in 2015. Blazek maintained his velocity in 2016 (average fastball of 93.0 mph), but he did see his walk, home-run and ground-ball rates all trend in the wrong direction. Blazek does have a minor league option remaining, so any club that either claims him on waivers or acquires him via trade would be able to send him to Triple-A without needing to pass him through waivers.

While Franklin didn’t pan out with the Rays and Drew Smyly has since been traded to the Mariners, there’s still plenty of talent left in the Rays organization as a result of the team’s trade of David Price to the Tigers. In addition to Franklin and Smyly, Tampa Bay landed infield prospect Willy Adames in that deal, and the 21-year-old Adames is widely considered to be one of the top 50 or so prospects in Major League Baseball. The Rays also have Mallex Smith and minor leaguers Ryan Yarbrough and Carlos Vargas to show for their trade of Smyly to Seattle, creating further residual value from that 2014 blockbuster.

Rays Progressing Toward New Stadium

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  • The Rays have made “steady” progress toward a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area, owner Stuart Sternberg announced Sunday (Twitter link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Sternberg is “very optimistic” something will get done to replace Tropicana Field, which opened in 1990 and has been the Rays’ home since 1998, their inaugural season.

Rays Designate Luke Maile For Assignment

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The Rays have designated catcher Luke Maile for assignment, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin reported Saturday that Maile was a candidate to lose his 40-man roster spot.

The 26-year-old Maile became superfluous to the Rays when they signed fellow backstop Derek Norris last month. Even without Maile, they still have three experienced catchers on hand in Norris, Jesus Sucre and Curt Casali, the last of whom will open the year in the minors.

Maile, whom the Rays chose in the eighth round of the 2012 amateur draft, debuted in the majors in 2015. He has since collected 161 plate appearances and batted a woeful .214/.234/.338. Most of Maile’s big league action came last year, when he drew positive pitch-framing marks in 42 games behind the plate and threw out seven of 18 would-be base stealers.

Rays Likely To Jettison Curt Casali, Luke Maile or Ryan Garton

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Melvin Upton Jr. Won’t Make Blue Jays

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8:07pm: The Giants are content with their current outfielders, meaning they’re not inclined to go after Upton, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. However, Schulman doesn’t rule out a trade, noting it could come down to the caliber of prospect the Jays are seeking for Upton (Twitter links).

6:25pm: The Tigers won’t pursue Upton, either, adds Heyman (on Twitter).

6:07pm: The Orioles are “not a fit” for Upton, Heyman hears (Twitter link).

5:40pm: Outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. won’t make the Blue Jays’ Opening Day roster, reports Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Jays are listening to offers for Upton, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who lists the Tigers, Orioles, Rays and Giants as sensible fits.

Toronto hasn’t finalized its roster yet, though the last spot was reportedly down to Upton and out-of-options infielder Ryan Goins as of Tuesday. Notably, the Blue Jays signed utilityman Chris Coghlan to a minor league deal Saturday, so it’s possible he could factor into the mix.

The Blue Jays can’t option Upton to the minors without his consent. As such, whether via trade or release, it appears the 32-year-old’s short tenure with the organization is about to end. Upton joined the club prior to last July in a deal with the Padres, who ate all but $5MM of the remaining $22MM on his contract and acquired right-hander Hansel Rodriguez in return.

Upton is due $16.45MM this season, which will conclude the five-year, $75.5MM deal he signed with the Braves in 2012, and the right-handed-hitter seemed likely to spend the campaign as a platoon left fielder in Toronto with the lefty-swinging Ezequiel Carrera. But, statistically speaking, Upton made a poor impression down the stretch last year in Toronto, where he hit just .196/.261/.318 in 165 post-trade plate appearances. He followed that up with another weak line, .194/.216/.472, in 36 spring at-bats.

While Upton hasn’t performed well in Toronto, the once-valuable Ray revived his career to an extent in San Diego over the prior year and a half. Upton hit a decent .257/.313/.435 with 21 home runs and 29 steals in 602 plate appearances with the Padres, and he combined for nine Defensive Runs Saved and a 2.9 Ultimate Zone Rating in the field. Someone could take a flier on him, then, including the teams Heyman mentioned. Detroit’s only proven outfielders are Melvin’s brother, Justin Upton, and the injured J.D. Martinez; Baltimore tried to acquire Melvin Upton last summer; Tampa Bay, where Upton played from 2007-12, has been looking for outfield help (though the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin tweets the team won’t trade for Upton); and he could conceivably platoon in San Francisco with lefty-hitting left fielder Jarrett Parker.

Rays Designate Nick Franklin For Assignment

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The Rays have designated utilityman Nick Franklin for assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Jumbo Diaz, Daniel Robertson, Mallex Smith and Peter Bourjos have all made the Rays’ Opening Day roster.

The 26-year-old Franklin batted a solid .270/.328/.443 in 191 plate appearances with the Rays in 2016, but he posted subpar defensive numbers and was out of options. He also rarely plays shortstop and therefore doesn’t make an ideal utility infielder, and Rays manager Kevin Cash pointed to Robertson’s ability to back up the shortstop position better than Franklin as a factor in the decision, via a tweet from Topkin. With Smith and Bourjos to back up Colby Rasmus, Kevin Kiermaier and Steven Souza Jr. in the outfield (where Franklin also plays), there was no space for Franklin on the Rays’ roster.

Still, it wouldn’t be a shock if Franklin were claimed on waivers. His versatility, experience, relative youth and modestly useful bat could make him a potential fit for teams seeking to fill out their rosters as Opening Day approaches.

Franklin arrived in Tampa via the Rays’ 2014 three-team trade of David Price — the Rays got Franklin from the Mariners and Drew Smyly and top prospect Willy Adames from the Tigers, with veteran outfielder Austin Jackson heading from Detroit to Seattle. Franklin, though, spent a significant portion of his tenure in the Rays organization in the minors. He has posted a .219/.288/.371 line in parts of four seasons in the big leagues.

Austin Pruitt Wins Spot In Rays' Bullpen

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  • Right-hander Austin Pruitt has beat out Chase Whitley and Jaime Schultz to make the Rays’ roster, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Injuries to Shawn Tolleson and Brad Boxberger likely helped to pave the way for Pruitt, 27, to break camp with the team. The 2013 ninth-round pick turned in a solid 3.76 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 in his first taste of Triple-A work last year. Manager Kevin Cash tells Topkin that delivering the news that Pruitt would make the Opening Day roster was “probably the best conversation all spring.” The manager also noted that a decision on the final bench slot may not come until Saturday (or even Sunday morning, Topkin adds via Twitter).

Rays Still Seeking Outfield Options

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  • The Rays are still on the hunt for outfield help, though the addition of Peter Bourjos to the organization gives them one potential fourth outfield option. Heyman lists free agent Angel Pagan and the Cubs’ Matt Szczur as speculative fits, though the out-of-options Szczur made Chicago’s Opening Day roster, which seemingly lessens the chance of a trade. Heyman also notes that the Rays “came close” to locking up right-hander Alex Cobb on an extension on multiple occasions in the past, but the deal was never quite completed. Given Cobb’s arm troubles over the past two years, perhaps that’s somewhat of a dodged bullet for the Rays (though the 29-year-old is certainly a candidate to bounce back).

    [SOURCE LINK]

Chris Archer Changes Agents

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  • Rays ace Chris Archer has switched to the Legacy Agency, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The righty probably won’t require much contractual work for some time, as he’s still controlled by Tampa Bay through the 2021 season under the early-career extension he signed back in 2014. Of course, agency representation involves more than just MLB salary, and Archer will surely be looking to build out his marketing opportunities — especially if he can right the ship after a disappointing 2016 campaign.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/30/17

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Here are the most recent minor moves of note from around the game:

  • Righty Jair Jurrjens has agreed to a minor-league pact with the Dodgers, Hudson Belinsky of Baseball America reports on Twitter and PG Sports first tweeted. The 31-year-old, who once seemed like a budding ace, last threw in the bigs in 2014 and did not pitch last year after a rough Triple-A stint the season prior. But Jurrjens reappeared in the World Baseball Classic, throwing 11 1/3 innings of 2.38 ERA ball for the Netherlands, and earned another shot at a comeback.
  • Speaking of former Braves standouts, the Rays have brought back lefty Jonny Venters on a minors deal, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old finally threw his first competitive pitches last year in the Tampa Bay organization, but again stalled out in his attempt to return from three Tommy John surgeries. The once-excellent southpaw hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2012.
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