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Rangers Release Burke Badenhop

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The Rangers have released right-hander Burke Badenhop, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. The 33-year-old ACES client had signed a minor league deal with Texas early in the season after missing out on a spot in the Nationals’ bullpen as a non-roster invitee in Spring Training.

Badenhop pitched 4 2/3 innings with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate this year, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts in that small sample of work. While not a household name, Badenhop has carved out a role as a steadily productive middle reliever over the past seven seasons in the Majors. In that time, he’s averaged 58 games/66 innings per year to go along with a 3.50 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 54.4 percent ground-ball rate. Badenhop hasn’t been on the disabled list since 2009, so a club looking for some durable bullpen depth could certainly give the righty a look on a new minor league deal. Last year, Badenhop posted a 3.93 ERA in 66 1/3 innings as a member of the Reds’ bullpen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/24/16

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Here are today’s minor transactions from around baseball:

  • The Rangers will purchase the contract of southpaw Cesar Ramos on Monday so he can make a spot start in place of the injured Cole Hamels, Texas executive VP of communications John Blake tweets.  There is no word yet on the corresponding moves that would create roster space for Ramos; Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speculates that Keone Kela could be moved to the 60-day DL and Alex Claudio could head to Triple-A.  Only ten of Ramos’ 251 career games have been starts, though he made seven starts as recently as 2014 with the Rays.  Ramos posted a 2.75 ERA and 2.87 K/BB rate in 52 1/3 relief innings with the Angels last season before being rather surprisingly non-tendered.  He signed a minor league deal with Texas in January.
  • The Rays transferred Alex Cobb to the 60-day DL in order to create a 40-man roster spot for Jhan Marinez, the club announced.  Cobb has been out of action for almost a full year recovering from Tommy John surgery and is expected back late this season.

Earlier Updates

  • The White Sox have recalled right-hander Miguel Gonzalez from Triple-A and optioned righty Erik Johnson in a corresponding move, tweets Scott Gregor of the Daily Herald. Gonzalez will start for the White Sox on Monday in Toronto. Gonzalez joined the Sox as a free agent earlier this month after the Orioles unexpectedly released him. The 31-year-old has made 95 career starts and owns a lifetime 3.82 ERA to go with a 6.47 K/9 and 2.96 BB/9.
  • The Red Sox recalled lefty Henry Owens and right-hander Pat Light, sending southpaw Roenis Elias and righty Noe Ramirez to Triple-A in corresponding moves, per a team announcement. Owens, 23, will start the Red Sox’s game against Houston tonight. He made 11 starts for the Sox last year and logged a 4.57 ERA with a 7.14 K/9 and 3.43 BB/9 in 63 innings. Light has been in Boston’s system since the club used a first-rounder on him in the 2012 draft, and he’s just now breaking into the majors. Light owns an underwhelming 4.63 ERA in 266 1/3 minor league innings, though he has flashed impressive strikeout ability since moving to a relief role last season and can hit 100 mph.
  • The Reds announced that right-hander Tim Melville (who was designated for assignment Friday) cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Louisville. The 26-year-old Melville allowed 11 earned runs in nine innings — including two starts — while recording eight strikeouts against nine walks before the Reds designated him. Melville worked to a 4.63 ERA in 151 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year in the Tigers organization.
  • The Tigers have placed closer Francisco Rodriguez on the family medical emergency list and recalled left-hander Matt Boyd from Triple-A, the team announced. There’s no word yet on how long Rodriguez will be away from the club. K-Rod has converted on 4 of 5 save opportunities for the Tigers this season, but the process hasn’t been pretty (.75 K/BB ratio, 7.11 ERA). Boyd, whom Detroit acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade last year, debuted in the majors in 2015, logging a combined 13 appearances with the Tigers and Blue Jays. The 25-year-old pitched to an unsightly 7.53 ERA in 57 1/3 innings, though he has been quite successful at the Triple-A level (2.53 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 10 starts dating back to last season).

Injury Updates: Rangers, Rays, Reds, Mets

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The Rangers have scratched southpaw Cole Hamels from his start Monday against the Yankees because of left groin soreness, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report (on Twitter). Hamels also missed a start last year because of a sore groin, but the club doesn’t believe the injury is serious. It’s currently unclear who will start in his place Monday.

More injury updates on some key major leaguers:

  • In other news concerning an integral member of the Rangers’ rotation, right-hander Yu Darvish is fully healthy and on track for a mid-May return, general manager Jon Daniels told MLB Network Radio on Sunday (Twitter link). Darvish, who missed the 2015 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery, could begin a rehab assignment May 1 and rejoin the Rangers on May 16, Grant wrote earlier this week.
  • Another 2015 Tommy John surgery recipient, Rays right-hander Alex Cobb, should return by late July or early August, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Times. Rays closer Brad Boxberger is on course for a mid-May comeback from core muscle surgery, which he underwent in March, adds Topkin.
  • Reds righty Anthony DeSclafani, who’s working his way back from an oblique strain, began his rehab stint Saturday at the Double-A level and threw four innings, allowing three runs, four hits and a walk while striking out five. He’ll next start for Low-A Dayton, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). DeSclafani posted a 4.05 ERA with a 7.36 K/9 and 2.68 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings for the Reds last season.
  • Like Darvish and Cobb, Mets lefty Josh Edgin is also coming back from 2015 Tommy John surgery. Edgin’s recovery is going well and it’s possible he’ll return to the majors next month, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com. Edgin served as a shutdown option out of the Mets’ bullpen in 2014, compiling a 9.22 K/9 and 1.98 BB/9 to accompany a stingy 1.32 ERA in 27 1/3 innings.

Quick Hits: Rockies, Hamilton, Gimenez, Mazara, Padres

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The Rockies and visiting teams have tried several run-prevention strategies at Coors Field over the years with little success, though ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription-only column) suggests a novel idea — what if the Rockies and others used a fourth outfielder?  The idea, which stemmed from a chat with Jake Peavy, would be a natural extension of the defensive shifts that have become more common in recent years.  Here’s more from around the baseball world…

  • Josh Hamilton and Chris Gimenez are both playing games in extended spring training, Rangers manager Jeff Banister told reporters (including MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan).  Gimenez could start a rehab assignment as soon as Monday, as the catcher looks to return after being sidelined for a month by an ankle infection.  Hamilton faces a longer road back to the bigs, as he’ll play in extended spring games for the next week and then some minor league action.  Banister said the Rangers want to see Hamilton get around 35 plate appearances before considering a return to the MLB roster.  Hamilton has battled left knee problems all offseason, and has already undergone two operations and a stem cell/PRP injection within the last eight months.
  • The Rangers have a solid history of producing good young position players, MLB.com’s Phil Rogers writes, and Nomar Mazara is one of the most exciting of them all.  The 20-year-old Mazara has made a huge impact in his first taste of big league action, taking a .378/.419/.514 slash line over 43 PAs into Saturday’s play.
  • Melvin Upton is enjoying a good season and could eventually be a trade chip for the Padres, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes as part of a reader chat.  San Diego would probably still have to eat some of the roughly $30.18MM owed to Upton through the 2017 season to make a trade work.  That would still represent something of a win for the Padres and Upton, as his deal was though to be one of the worst in baseball at this time just a year ago.  In two seasons as a Padres, however, Upton has regained some value by hitting .261/.334/.433 with seven homers over 292 PA and he also posted above-average defensive metrics in center field in 2015.
  • Albert Abreu would be a much-hyped prospect in most farm systems, but he’s something of a hidden gem within the Astros’ deep minor league organization.  Baseball America’s Ben Badler profiles Abreu, a 20-year-old righty from the Dominican Republic who signed a $185K international deal in 2013.  Abreu has a 5.11 ERA over 12 1/3 innings at high-A ball this season, though with very impressive peripherals (13.9 K/9, 4.75 K/BB rate, no homers allowed).

AL Notes: Darvish, Smith, ERod, Kelly, Owens, Snell, Farquhar, Gausman, Gallardo

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Here’s the latest out of the American League, with a focus on some recent injury news on key pitchers:

  • Rehabbing Rangers ace Yu Darvish will throw another live BP session before beginning his rehab assignment, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The righty hasn’t suffered any kind of setback, but hopes to refine his offspeed offerings before reporting to Double-A to begin his march back to the majors.
  • Meanwhile, Red Sox reliever Carson Smith looks to be on track for a return in early May, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. He’ll need to make at least three minor league outings, including two on back-to-back days, before being activate. The righty will be a welcome addition to the back of the Boston pen. Likewise, lefty Eduardo Rodriguez may be on his way back soon, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald tweets that he could return to the majors after two rehab starts.
  • In other Red Sox pitching news, the club is hopeful that Joe Kelly won’t miss much more than the minimum on his 15-day DL stint, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports (Twitter links). Southpaw Henry Owens will step into Kelly’s place in the rotation. He’s put up three solid outings at Triple-A thus far, allowing just two earned runs in 18 innings with 23 strikeouts and ten walks.
  • With top Rays pitching prospect Blake Snell coming up for his first start tomorrow, Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo takes a look at the 23-year-old lefty. While he still needs to refine his command, BA suggests he could become a number two starter if he can reach his ceiling in the majors. Tampa Bay has optioned reliever Danny Farquhar to clear room for Snell, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 29-year-old righty has pitched well enough in the early going, but he was one of only a few optionable arms in the Rays’ pen and appeared in each of the last two games.
  • The Orioles are set to activate Kevin Gausman for his first start of the season on Monday, with the heralded righty saying that he thinks his shoulder issues are a thing of the past, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports. In his latest rehab appearance, said Gausman, he felt more “comfortable” than he had in his prior outings. Hopes are high for the 25-year-old, and the Baltimore rotation is certainly need of a boost with only one member (Ubaldo Jimenez) currently carrying a sub-4.00 ERA.

Keone Kela To Miss Three Months Due To Elbow Surgery

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10:08pm: Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake announced tonight that Kela will indeed undergo surgery to remove the bone spur. Kela will have the operation tomorrow, and Wilson tweets that he’ll be out for three months.

4:17pm: Rangers setup man Keone Kela is headed to the disabled list with an impingement in his right elbow, the club announced today. Right-hander Phil Klein will be recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take Kela’s spot on the 25-man roster. Both Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (links to Twitter) and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (link) have tweeted that surgery seems likely Kela, with Grant suggesting a 12-week timeline for his recovery. That would sideline Kela past the All-Star break and mark a significant hit to the Rangers’ bullpen. Wilson does tweet that the Rangers are confident that there is no damage to Kela’s ulnar collateral ligament, making Tommy John surgery unlikely.

Kela, who just turned 23, had an excellent rookie season with the Rangers in 2015, logging a 2.39 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 50.6 percent ground-ball rate. This particular issue dates back to last season, Grant tweets, as Kela was diagnosed with the bone spur in September but elected to undergo a platelet-rich plasma injection to alleviate the pain. Per Grant, general manager Jon Daniels gets the impression that “[Kela] wants to feel 100 percent” this time around.

As I noted in reviewing the Rangers’ offseason, the club has amassed a deep stock of bullpen talent, so the Rangers are at least well-equipped to handle the loss of their outstanding setup man. In addition to closer Shawn Tolleson, the Rangers have Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman, Tom Wilhelmsen and an intriguing upside play in right-hander Tony Barnette, who was signed out of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball this offseason. The Rangers had enough relief depth that they were rumored to be discussing a swap of a bullpen arm for a fifth starter with the Indians late in Spring Training, although with Kela potentially missing three months, it seems fortuitous that a deal never came to fruition.

AL West Notes: Heaney, Santiago, Beltre, Zunino

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Angels manager Mike Scioscia tells reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) and Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (Twitter link) that left-hander Andrew Heaney has “plateaued” in his rehab from left forearm tightness. Heaney is “still feeling something when he throws harder,” per Fletcher. Gonzalez adds that Heaney is stuck playing catch from 60 feet and unable to ramp up his workouts from that point. The 24-year-old Heaney hit the disabled list earlier this season after experiencing a drop in velocity over the course of his lone start of the season. The Halos, who are without C.J. Wilson for an indefinite time and have seen Jered Weaver’s velocity dip to the very low 80s, and a prolonged absence would only further raise questions about the starting staff. On the plus side, Nick Tropeano has stepped up with a pair of excellent starts for the Angels in Heaney’s stead.

A few more notes from the AL West…

  • Hector Santiago of the Angels is showing an early velocity bump, as MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez explains. The southpaw matched a career high of ten strikeouts in a sterling start yesterday, aided by a heater that touched 96 mph. He has posted an average fastball velocity of over 92 mph over his first three starts after hovering below 91 mph in the past two seasons. Notably, Santiago is showing significant improvement in other important areas, with a 12.0% swinging strike rate and 47.3% ground-ball rate that dwarf his career marks.
  • Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards examines the two-year, $36MM contract extension to which Adrian Beltre agreed with the Rangers, writing that Beltre’s steady excellence at the plate and in the field gives the contract significant bargain potential. Perhaps more interestingly to some, Edwards juxtaposes Beltre’s age-31 through age-36 seasons with some of the game’s all-time great players and does the same with projections for his upcoming seasons, noting that Beltre is building quite the Hall of Fame case.
  • Mariners catcher Mike Zunino is off to a blistering start at Triple-A Tacoma this season, batting .447 with six homers through his first nine games/40 plate appearances. However, manager Scott Servais tells Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune that Zunino isn’t in line for a quick promotion to the Majors as a result of his torrid opening stretch. “It needs to be a process for (Zunino),” said Servais.“And if he does take an 0-for-10, how is he responding to that? … But Mike needed to get off to a good start, which he did. Have success and (experience) confidence-building. It’s really, really good for him. And for us.” For the time being, Chris Iannetta and Steve Clevenger are the catching options for the Mariners on the 25-man roster.

AL Notes: Rangers, Sandoval, Indians, Keuchel

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Rangers GM Jon Daniels said in an appearance on 105.3 FM The Fan that his club has not made an effort to trade for an impact catcher since Robinson Chirinos’ injury (transcript via the Dallas Morning News). To this point, Daniels says that other clubs haven’t called and marketed potentially available catchers: “No, nobody has really … the guys we’ve heard from the most are the agents who have either free agent catching guys that got released out of camp, or maybe they have a catcher at Triple-A with somebody where maybe they’ve got an out or want us to trade for them.” Daniels said that the Rangers have looked into adding some more organizational depth — defense-first, quality makeup catchers — but is more focused on getting Chirinos healthy than acquiring a potential replacement.

  • Rob Bradford of WEEI.com wonders if some time away from the Red Sox will create the opportunity for Pablo Sandoval to follow the route of former Sox pitcher John Lackey, who was a largely unpopular figure in Boston after the first few seasons of his five-year deal but won his way back into the hearts of Red Sox fans with a very strong 2013 in his return from Tommy John surgery. Bradford notes that it won’t be easy for Sandoval, though right-hander Clay Buchholz tells Bradford that Sandoval’s teammates are all behind him. “We all know what Panda can do,” said Buchholz. “He’s an elite player. He’s battled through some pretty tough criticism and now with this … I hope it’s not anything like it sounds.” Sandoval is currently on the shelf for an undetermined amount of time after visiting Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his ailing shoulder.
  • The Indians will activate right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall from the disabled list on Wednesday this week, writes Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, which means a roster move is forthcoming. Of the team’s four outfielders — Rajai Davis, Collin Cowgill, Marlon Byrd and Tyler Naquin — only Naquin has options and can be sent down without being exposed to waivers. Looking at the pitching staff, Hoynes lists a number of arms that are safe but doesn’t apply that designation to Joba Chamberlain, Ross Detwiler or Dan Otero. Chamberlain and Otero have been strong thus far in the young season, whereas Detwiler has surrendered runs in two of his four appearances on the year.
  • While he’s only made three starts this season, Astros ace and reigning Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel has displayed some notable red flags, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs points out (notably, Cameron’s piece was written prior to Keuchel’s most recent start, though the velocity issues he mentions persisted in that outing). Chief among them is diminished velocity in Keuchel’s sinker, cutter and slider. Velocity peaks in the middle of a season for a pitcher, of course, but Cameron notes that even when comparing Keuchel’s velocity to his velocity last April, there’s a significant dip. Beyond that, Keuchel isn’t commanding the bottom of the strike zone as well as he did last season (or, alternatively, umpires are not being as generous on the bottom of the zone after learning from Statcast data that Keuchel received more favorable bottom-of-the-zone calls than nearly any other pitcher in the league). Cameron stresses that the sample being studied is small, but each is a concerning trend for an Astros club that very much needs Keuchel to approximate his 2015 value to make a run at the top of the division.

Texas Notes: Rangers, Beltre, Gallo, Astros, Giles

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Here’s the latest from the Lone Star State’s two MLB clubs…

  • The Rangers’ decision to extend Adrian Beltre was “probably one of the easiest” of Jon Daniels’ tenure with the club, the GM told reporters (including T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com) yesterday during the official press conference to announce Beltre’s new two-year, $36MM contract.  There was a great deal of speculation and, in fact, assumption that the two sides would work out a new deal this offseason, and Beltre joked that the negotiations weren’t settled until two weeks into the season since “I wanted Giancarlo Stanton money, 13 years and $400MM.”
  • Keeping Beltre through the 2018 season won’t have any impact on top prospect Joey Gallo’s future with the Rangers, Daniels said, aside from a probable position shift.  “Joey has a ton of talent and a ton of ability. He has played the outfield and played first base. Those may be options down the line. We’re not making that decision today,” Daniels said.  Mitch Moreland is a free agent this winter, so first base could be Gallo’s best option given that Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo look to have the corner outfield spots spoken for in 2017 and beyond.  It’s also not out of the question that Gallo could play around the diamond until Beltre’s extension is up, and then take over as the regular third baseman.
  • Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram likes the Beltre extension for the Rangers, as Beltre is still producing at a high level despite just turning 37 years old.  The $18MM average annual value is the cost of doing business, in terms of keeping Beltre off the open market and keeping his contract status from becoming a greater distraction throughout the rest of the year.
  • Though the season is only two weeks old, the early returns on the Ken Giles trade aren’t great from the Astros’ perspective, CBSSports.com’s R.J. Anderson writes.  Houston dealt a hefty package of prospects and young players to the Phillies for Giles and Jonathan Arauz in December, and one of those five players (Vincent Velasquez) has already emerged as an early star of the 2016 season.  Giles, meanwhile, has a 9.64 ERA through 4 2/3 innings and has already allowed as many homers (three) as he did in the entire 2014-15 seasons combined.  As Anderson notes, however, Giles has maintained his velocity and is actually striking batters out at a higher rate, so his early-season homer issues could simply be a fluke.
  • In other Astros news from earlier today, Lance McCullers got through a throwing session with no problems.

AL Notes: Tanaka, Iwakuma, Darvish, Hanley

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Sunday’s showdown between the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka and the Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma will be the first-ever matchup in the majors between two former Japanese league teammates, writes Ryan Hatch of NJ.com. The two ex-Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were supposed to face one another in 2014, but rain prevented that from happening. Regarding Iwakuma, Tanaka said, “There’s a little cultural difference. He’s older than [I am], so, I look up to him…He was the ace of the staff [in Japan]. I learned a lot from him…you know, strategies, and facing batters. Stuff like that.” Interestingly, the 35-year-old Iwakuma and Tanaka, 27, have posted nearly identical ERAs (3.18 to 3.17) since emigrating from Japan. Iwakuma debuted in the majors two years earlier (2012 versus 2014), so his success has come over 363 2/3 more innings than Tanaka’s total.

  • In other news regarding Japanese starters, Rangers ace Yu Darvish threw a live batting practice session Sunday and will engage in another Thursday before beginning a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco on or near April 26, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). Darvish is recovering from Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss all of last season. His 50-pitch BP session Sunday drew raves from pitching coach Doug Brocail, tweets the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant. “The breaking ball was crisp. The slider was unbelievable,” Brocail said. “The fastball was good and hard with both two- and four-seamers. He threw strikes in a lot of good areas. As we measured it, there were a lot of 0-2 and 1-2 counts.” A May 11 return to the Rangers could be within reach for Darvish if all goes well during his rehab stint, per Grant.
  • Thanks in part to a disastrous showing as a left fielder last season, the Red Sox’s Hanley Ramirez was among the league’s least valuable players during his first year in Boston. But the Red Sox like what they’ve seen this year from Ramirez, who is now their first baseman. “We have a different player,” manager John Farrell told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). “He’s in a good place,” second baseman Dustin Pedroia said (link via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). In addition to finding a more suitable position, Ramirez has shown signs of life offensively, slashing .293/.318/.463 in 44 plate appearances. A shoulder injury helped lead to an uncharacteristically poor season at the plate in 2015 for Ramirez, who hit .249/.291/.426 in 430 PAs.
  • Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis – who underwent left shoulder surgery in November – will take the field for live batting practice off a coach for the first time this year Monday, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Meanwhile, lefty Franklin Morales is better after feeling “weakness” in his shoulder earlier this month and will begin a throwing program Monday, Davidi reports (on Twitter).
  • The Indians are expected to activate right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall on Wednesday after he plays a pair of rehab games with Double-A Akron on Monday and Tuesday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link). Upon returning, Chisenhall – who has been on the disabled list since March with a left wrist injury – will vie for playing time in an Indians outfield that has mostly used Rajai Davis, Marlon Byrd and Jose Ramirez so far this year.
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