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White Sox To Select Andrew Vaughn

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Prized White Sox prospect Andrew Vaughn has made the team’s Opening Day roster. He isn’t on Chicago’s 40-man, so the team will need to select him.

The White Sox could have gained an extra year of service time by keeping Vaughn down for the first few weeks of the season, but executive vice president Ken Williams said last week that wouldn’t be a motivating factor in their decision. The team was true to its word. If Vaughn doesn’t return to the minors, he’ll be controllable through 2026 and eligible for arbitration after 2023, though the White Sox could certainly extend him before then, as they’ve done on multiple occasions in recent years with offensive building blocks such as Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert.

General manager Rick Hahn stated Tuesday (via James Fegan of The Athletic), “Having Andrew around will be a positive for this offense.” The White Sox expect Vaughn to factor in at designated hitter, first base and left field, according to Hahn.

It became easier to envision Vaughn making Chicago’s season-opening roster when the club received the devastating news of Jimenez’s ruptured pectoral tendon last week. Jimenez underwent surgery Tuesday and remains likely to miss at least five to six months, Hahn said. The hope is that Vaughn will help fill Jimenez’s enormous offensive void.

Now 22 years old, Vaughn is a former University of California standout whom the White Sox drafted third overall in 2019 and then signed to a $7.2MM-plus bonus. Vaughn hasn’t gotten above High-A ball since then, but he has held his own in the minors, having slashed .278/.384/.449 in 245 plate appearances. He has also looked ready for prime time this spring with a .279/.375/.459 line and six extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs and a triple) in 61 at-bats.

Along with Vaughn’s addition, the White Sox made a handful of other roster moves Tuesday. They optioned infielder Danny Mendick to their alternate site and reassigned fellow infielders Tim Beckham, Zach Remillard and Matt Reynolds, outfielder Nick Williams, and right-hander Ryan Burr. The club also made the previously reported release of catcher Jonathan Lucroy official.

Mariners To Select Taylor Trammell’s Contract

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The Mariners will include outfield prospect Taylor Trammell on their Opening Day roster, manager Scott Servais told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (all Twitter links) and other reporters.  Trammell hasn’t only just made the roster, but Servais that Trammell will be the starter in either left field or center field depending on the health of Kyle Lewis.  Another notable Seattle prospect in Justin Dunn has won the sixth starter job, Servais said, while Rule 5 Draft pick Will Vest has also made the team and will work out of the Mariners’ bullpen.

The 35th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Trammell is set to make his Major League debut after having already been part of two huge trades in his young professional career.  Trammell was originally drafted by the Reds, who sent him to the Padres as the only piece San Diego received in their end of the three-team blockbuster in July 2019 that saw Trevor Bauer go from Cleveland to Cincinnati, while such notables as Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, and Yasiel Puig were part of the five-player package acquired by the Indians.  After a little more than a year in San Diego’s farm system, Trammell was on the move again, dealt with Ty France, Luis Torrens, and Andres Munoz to the Mariners for Austin Nola, Austin Adams, and Dan Altavilla.

It’s naturally unusual to see a top-100 prospect dealt twice in as many years before he even begins his MLB career, and it could speak to why Trammell has fallen closer to the back-end of minor league talent rankings over the last four years (he topped out at #11 for Baseball America and #16th for MLB.com, both prior to the 2019 season).  Trammell has hit a solid but unspectacular .270/.363/.406 over 1799 plate appearances in the minors, but only a .234/.340/.349 slash over 514 PA at Double-A.  According to MLB Pipeline’s scouting report, Trammell “got a little pull-happy in 2019, which led to more swing and miss, but he still drew a ton of walks and showed off premium bat speed.”

Trammell put in work to correct his swing at the Padres’ and Mariners’ alternate training sites in 2020, and clearly Seattle was impressed enough to allow Trammell to bypass Triple-A and directly suit up in the big leagues.  While Lewis’ injury was surely a factor in the Mariners’ decision, Trammell was already gaining a lot of buzz to make the team even prior to Lewis’ collision with the wall, and was seen as a potential starter in left field.  While scouts are mixed as to whether or not Trammell could be a long-term center field option, he can surely handle the position on a short-term basis while Lewis recovers.

The other interesting wrinkle to the Mariners’ decision is that if Trammell sticks on the active roster, he’ll gain enough service time to reach free agency after the 2026 season, whereas holding Trammell back for a few extra weeks would allow the M’s to get a seventh year of team control over his services.  Naturally, service time is a particularly contentious issue in Seattle in the wake of comments made by former president/CEO Kevin Mather during a rotary club speech, as he openly spoke about keeping such youngsters as Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert in the minors long enough this year to delay their service clocks.  Trammell was indirectly referenced by Mather as well, when he noted that though the Mariners had several of their top prospects working out at the alternate training site last season, “there was no chance you were going to see these young players at T-Mobile Park.  We weren’t going to put them on the 40-man roster, we weren’t going to start the service time clock.”

Dunn already has a year and 20 days of service time accumulated over two seasons and 52 1/3 innings for the Mariners, and the righty will now enter Seattle’s rotation for the second straight year.  A highly-touted prospect in his own right, Dunn and Kelenic were the prizes of the trade package received from the Mets in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade.  Dunn has a 4.13 ERA as a Major Leaguer, though with almost as many walks (31) as strikeouts (38), Dunn’s advanced metrics indicate that some good fortune went into that respectable ERA.

Vest was a 12th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2017 draft, and the left-hander has a 3.88 ERA and 25.6% strikeout rate over 132 1/3 innings in Detroit’s farm system, working exclusively as a reliever.  As per the provisions of the Rule 5 Draft, Vest must remain on the Mariners’ big league roster for the entire season in order for Seattle to permanently retain his rights; otherwise, the M’s must offer him back to the Tigers for $50K.

Rays Add Top Prospect Shane McClanahan To Playoff Roster

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The Rays are adding top left-handed pitching prospect Shane McClanahan to their postseason roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ll need to make a 40-man roster move to formally select the 2018 first-rounder’s contract.

McClanahan, 23, was selected with the No. 31 overall pick out of the University of South Florida. He split the 2019 season across three levels — Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A — while pitching to a combined 3.36 ERA with 11.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 0.52 HR/9. He currently ranks 79th on Baseball America’s end-of-season Top 100 prospect rankings and 99th at MLB.com. FanGraphs isn’t quite as bullish, listing him 10th within his own organization.

Armed with an upper-90s heater, a plus breaking ball and a potentially average changeup, McClanahan has the potential to eventually slot into the Rays’ rotation. That almost certainly won’t be his role this postseason, as he’ll likely instead give Kevin Cash a hard-throwing lefty with whom opposing advance scouts may not be especially familiar. MLB.com’s report on McClanahan gives him the upside of a No. 3 starter or better while noting that the effort in his delivery gives some scouts pause in projecting him as a starter. Even if the ’pen is his home in the long run, McClanahan’s power fastball and plus curve give him the tools to serve as a formidable relief weapon with Tampa Bay.

McClanahan won’t gain any big league service time for the days spent on the Rays’ postseason roster, but he’ll be added to the 40-man roster sooner than was necessary to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft and now firmly put himself in position for a big league opportunity early in the 2021 campaign. The Rays may still want to see McClanahan get some work in Triple-A next season, but a strong showing during a deep postseason run could also force the organization’s hand.

Twins To Add Top Prospect Alex Kirilloff To Playoff Roster

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In a surprise move, the Twins are set to promote top outfield prospect Alex Kirilloff for what would be his MLB debut during the first round of the postseason. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported last night that the move was being discussed, and both Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (Twitter link) hear that Kirilloff is indeed being added to the big league roster. His contract will need to be formally selected, although fellow rookie outfielder Brent Rooker is on the 10-day IL with a season-ending forearm fracture, so he could just be moved to the 45-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Alex Kirilloff | David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports

Kirilloff, 22, was the No. 15 overall pick of the 2016 draft. He missed the 2017 due to Tommy John surgery but cemented himself as one of the game’s top 50 overall prospects when he laid waste to Class-A pitching in his 2018 return. The Pittsburgh native split that season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, posting a combined .348/.392/.578 slash with 20 homers, 44 doubles and seven triples in just 561 plate appearances. He followed that up with a .283/.343/.413 slash that was good for a 121 wRC+ in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Southern League last year.

The move to bring Kirilloff up could very well mean bad news for either Byron Buxton or Josh Donaldson, each of whom has been hobbled by injuries recently. Buxton showed concussion symptoms after being hit in the head by a pitch late last week, while Donaldson has again been dealing with calf issues. Both Buxton and Donaldson worked out with the club yesterday, and manager Rocco Baldelli tabbed it a “relatively good day” for both players.

If and when Kirilloff is added to the roster there’s no guarantee he’ll draw a start in the series. Even if Buxton is sidelined, the club could lean on Eddie Rosario, Jake Cave and Max Kepler across the outfield. Kirilloff, as is the case with that trio, is a left-handed bat, so he wouldn’t even necessarily draw a platoon-based date with Houston lefty Framber Valdez. At the very least, however, he’d give the club an intriguing lefty bat to pinch-hit. Kirilloff has experience at all three outfield positions and at first base as well, so Baldelli could work him into the mix in a variety of ways.

Kirilloff won’t get any big league service time for appearing on the Major League roster in the playoffs, but his promotion only further confirms that he’s on the cusp of an audition as an everyday piece in Minnesota. The only question is just where he’ll slot in. The Twins locked Kepler up on a five-year extension just last year and control Buxton through the 2022 season. Rosario, meanwhile, is only controlled through 2021. Between fellow top 100 prospect Trevor Larnach and the aforementioned Rooker, Minnesota is well stocked with corner outfield bats that are MLB-ready or quite close to it.

Cubs Promote Brailyn Marquez, Designate Patrick Wisdom

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The Cubs have selected the contract of left-handed pitching prospect Brailyn Marquez, the team announced.  Infielder/outfielder Patrick Wisdom has been designated for assignment to create roster room.

Marquez is expected to make his Major League debut in today’s game, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian).  The plan is for Marquez to toss an inning of work that could serve as an audition for the postseason roster.

With a fastball that hits the 100mph threshold, Marquez represents a very intriguing x-factor for the Cubs’ playoff run if he can adjust quickly to big league hitters.  The 21-year-old has never even pitched in Double-A ball, posting a 3.19 ERA, 2.84 K/BB rate, and 10.1 K/9 over 257 innings in Chicago’s farm system.

An international signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, Marquez emerged on top-100 prospect lists prior to the 2020 season.  Baseball America ranked him 37th on their list, with MLB.com (68th), Keith Law (80th), and Baseball Prospectus (84th) all being a bit more reserved in their praise.  BA’s scouting report cited Marquez’s potential front-of-the-rotation arsenal, including his big fastball, a “spike slider,” and also a changeup that was lacking in polish as a legitimate third pitch.

If everything is working, Marquez could be an ace of the future, though the issue is that his delivery doesn’t lend itself to repetition.  Law thinks Marquez will eventually end up as “a very high-end closer” who can pitch multiple innings, and the Cubs certainly wouldn’t mind a preview of that potential future in this year’s playoffs, though obviously the long-term goal is that Marquez will develop into a quality starter.

Rangers Promote Sam Huff

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11:40am: The Rangers have formally selected Huff’s contract, per a team announcement. Outfielder Scott Heineman was optioned to the alternate training site to open a spot on the active roster.

10:40am: The Rangers are set to promote catching prospect Sam Huff to the Major League roster in the wake of Jose Trevino’s left wrist injury, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (via Twitter). Manager Chris Woodward acknowledged last night that promoting Huff was at least something the team would discuss (Twitter link via T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com).

Huff, 22, entered the season ranked as the game’s No. 99 prospect at Baseball America — the infusion of 2020 draftees has since pushed him off the list — and currently ranks second among the organization’s prospects there. He ranks 75th overall at MLB.com. Other outlets, such as FanGraphs, aren’t as bullish given questions about his ability to stick behind the dish and his lofty strikeout rates. There’s no questioning Huff’s raw power, however, which draws 70 grades on the 20-80 scale in most scouting reports.

A seventh-round pick back in 2016, Huff split the 2019 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, where he hit a combined .278/.335/.509 with 28 homers, 22 doubles, a pair of triples and six steals (albeit in a dozen attempts). He’s been an average or better offensive producer at every minor league stop — well above average, in most cases — and boasts a career 34 percent caught-stealing rate thanks to a plus arm that generally receives 60 grades.

On the negative side of the coin, Huff has punched out in 29.7 percent of his minor league plate appearances to date and walked at just a 7.3 percent clip. MLB.com’s scouting report notes recent improvements in his framing and footwork but also observes that only five players as large as the 6’5″, 240-pound Huff have ever caught 300 games in the Majors. Given that lack of precedent, a broad range of outlooks is to be expected.

Huff has yet to play a game against Double-A pitching, so Major League opposition should present a particularly formidable test. Even if Huff returns to the minors at some point, the club is hopeful that he can emerge as a viable long-term piece of the puzzle. The Rangers have leaned heavily on 36-year-old veteran Robinson Chirinos since 2014 (last year’s one-year departure for the Astros notwithstanding), but Texas traded him to the Mets at the deadline.

The hope at one point may have been that Trevino could’ve been next in line, but he’s now 27 years of age and yet to produce in the upper minors or at the MLB level. Broadly speaking, the Rangers have lacked a top-tier catching prospect for quite some time. Huff is their most well-regarded young backstop in recent memory, and he’ll now get his first big league audition over the next few days. If he sticks in the Majors, he’d be controllable all the way through the 2026 season and wouldn’t be arbitration-eligible until the 2023-24 offseason, but further optional assignments could alter those timelines.

Yankees Promote Clarke Schmidt

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The Yankees have selected right-hander Clarke Schmidt’s contract, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News was among those to report. They optioned righty Ben Heller in a corresponding move.

The 24-year-old Schmidt, whom the Yankees chose 16th overall in the 2017 draft, has become one of their highest-regarded prospects, owing in part to impressive minor league production. He divided last season between High-A and Double-A, combining for a 3.47 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 90 2/3 innings.

In the wake of his 2019 performance, Schmidt earned top 100 prospect rankings at The Athletic (No. 51), Baseball America (No. 64), ESPN.com (82), and MLB.com (94). Keith Law of The Athletic wrote that the former Tommy John patient has a chance to turn into a No. 3-4 starter in the majors.

If Schmidt’s able to provide mid-rotation type of production immediately, it would be a boost to the playoff-contending Yankees, whose starting staff hasn’t lived up to expectations in 2020. Gerrit Cole hasn’t given the club the elite production it anticipated when it signed him to a nine-year, $324MM contract last winter; James Paxton has dealt with injuries and struggled when healthy; and J.A. Happ and Jordan Montgomery have fallen flat. The Yankees’ best starter has been Masahiro Tanaka, who has logged a 3.38 ERA/3.85 FIP over 26 2/3 innings.

Padres Promote Luis Campusano

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The Padres announced that they have promoted young catcher Luis Campusano to the majors. He’ll serve as their designated hitter against the Athletics on Friday, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. In other moves, San Diego transferred left-hander Jose Castillo to the 45-day injured list and placed righty Luis Perdomo on the 10-day IL with forearm discomfort.

The 21-year-old Campusano is one of many standout youngsters in the San Diego organization. Thanks in part to a consistently elite farm system, the Padres have finally begun to realize their vast potential this season. The club has stormed to a 23-16 record, good for the No. 1 wild-card spot in the National League, as it seeks to break a 13-year playoff drought.

While the Padres have been a pleasant surprise as a whole, they’ve received little production from their catchers, who rank toward the bottom of the majors in offense. As a result, general manager A.J. Preller has made a few notable changes to the position in recent days. Leading up to Monday’s trade deadline, the Padres shipped out the light-hitting Austin Hedges and acquired both Jason Castro and Austin Nola. So, it’s unclear how much time Campusano will receive behind the plate in 2020 (or at DH, for that matter, as the Padres also landed Mitch Moreland during an aggressive deadline), though the right-handed swinger at least looks capable of serving as a long-term weapon for the team.

A second-round pick of the Padres in 2017, Campusano reached High-A for the first time a season ago and slashed .325/.396/.509 with 15 home runs and nearly as many walks (52) as strikeouts (57). Since then, the likes of ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (No. 33), FanGraphs (40), Keith Law of The Athletic (42), MLB.com (52) and Baseball America (85) have all ranked Campusano among the game’s 100 best prospects. McDaniel, the most bullish of the bunch, wrote that Campusano “has a plus arm” behind the plate and “plus contact skills” as a hitter, though he could trade some contact for more power as he progresses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pirates Promote Ke’Bryan Hayes

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TODAY: The Pirates have officially called Hayes up, and also promoted recent waiver claim Anthony Alford to the active roster.  Southpaw Brandon Waddell and outfielder Jason Martin were optioned to the club’s alternate training site in corresponding moves.

AUGUST 31: The Pirates will promote top third base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes before their game against the Cubs on Tuesday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Hayes’ promotion was slowed thanks in part to a positive coronavirus test in July.

Now 23 years old, Hayes was a 2015 first-round pick (No. 32) who has established himself as a high-end major league prospect since the Pirates drafted him. In fact, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (No. 26), FanGraphs (30), MLB.com (45), Keith Law of The Athletic (46) and Baseball America (59) recently placed Hayes among the game’s 60 best farmhands. McDaniel wrote that Hayes, the son of ex-major leaguer Charlie Hayes, possesses “plus speed, a plus arm and a potential 70 glove,” and if he proves to be a capable offensive player in the majors, the package could make him a star.

So far, Hayes has not necessarily thrived against minor league pitching. He owns a .752 OPS in the minors, and in his most recent showing at the lower levels in 2019, he batted .265/.336/.415 (92 wRC+) with 10 home runs and 12 stolen bases across 480 Triple-A plate appearances. Still, his promotion makes for a rare bit of excitement in a Pittsburgh season that has largely been devoid of it.

The Pirates are a major league-worst 10-21 and have received below-average production from the third base tandem of Erik Gonzalez and JT Riddle, two players who probably won’t be part of the solution over the long haul. Hayes, on the other hand, has a chance to emerge as a franchise cornerstone for years to come. Because the Pirates are waiting until Sept. 1 to call him up, he’ll miss out on Super Two status and won’t be on track to reach free agency until after 2026.

Marlins Promote Jazz Chisholm

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One of the Marlins’ key acquisitions of the 2019 trade deadline is now set to make his Major League debut just after the 2020 trade deadline.  The Marlins have called up star shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm in time for tonight’s game against the Blue Jays, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports (Twitter link).  The club has officially announced the promotion as well as some other transactions, including outfielder Jesus Sanchez being optioned to the Marlins’ alternate training site and left-hander Josh D. Smith being outrighted to the training site.

Chisholm came to Miami from the Diamondbacks in a one-for-one deal for right-hander Zac Gallen on July 31, 2019.  With Gallen already looking like a very solid starter at the MLB level, there will certainly be some extra expectation placed on Chisholm, though the 22-year-old has shown a lot of promise in his pro career.

Signed out of the Bahamas during the 2015-16 international signing window, Chisholm has gained attention on top-100 prospect lists in recent years, though his pre-2020 rankings covered rather a wide range.  The Athletic’s Keith Law (who ranked Chisholm 15th) and Fangraphs (33rd) were the most bullish, with Baseball Prospectus (52nd), MLB.com (66th), and Baseball America (88th) not quite as enthusiastic.

Law was impressed at how Chisholm’s strikeout rate dropped after some adjustments made once he joined the Marlins’ farm system, and noted Chisholm’s “elite tool package at a premium position right now,” with “the hands, footwork, and arm to” remain at shortstop over the long term.  To provide slight contrast, BA’s scouting report feels Chisholm is too “overly aggressive” at the plate, and won’t be a solid hitter unless he “improves his approach, uses the entire field and puts the ball in play more often.”

Chisholm hasn’t played above the Double-A level, where he combined for 458 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks and Marlins affiliates in 2019.  As noted earlier, Chisholm improved once coming to Miami’s farm system — Chisholm hit .284/.383/.494 with three homers in 94 PA with Double-A Jacksonville, as opposed to .204/.305/.427 over 364 PA for Arizona’s affiliate in Jackson.  While a small sample size in a Marlins uniform, it does show promise that Chisholm has unlocked something in a new environment.

He will now add some infield depth to what is suddenly a revamped Marlins infield in the wake of Jonathan Villar’s trade to the Blue Jays.  Chisholm has played shortstop almost exclusively in his career, though Miami manager Don Mattingly told McPherson and other reporters that Chisholm has been playing second base at the team’s alternate training site.  Chisholm could handle second base until Isan Diaz is fully ready to return to the Fish, and then some combination of Chisholm, Diaz, and utilityman Jon Berti (who is a right-handed hitter, unlike the two youngsters) could conceivably juggle second base duties for the remainder of the season.

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