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Nationals Promote Juan Soto

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SUNDAY: Soto’s promotion is now official. To make room for him on its roster, Washington designated Sierra for assignment and optioned righty Jefry Rodriguez to Double-A. Sierra, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Nationals during the offseason. He went on to amass 60 PAs with the Nats and bat .167/.217/.204 prior to his designation.

SATURDAY: The Nationals will promote outfield prospect Juan Soto, Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com tweets. Soto will join the Nats on Sunday, Kerr adds. Given that Washington’s 40-man roster is at capacity, it’ll need to make a corresponding move to create a spot for Soto.

The 19-year-old Soto is one of the game’s most exciting prospects and will immediately become the majors’ youngest player, though his promotion comes under unfortunate circumstances for the Nationals. The club has been dealing with a spate of injuries in the outfield, where Adam Eaton, Brian Goodwin and high-end prospect Victor Robles have missed most of this season, and Howie Kendrick will sit out the rest of it after suffering a ruptured Achilles on Saturday. Moreover, the Nats lost minor leaguer/40-man option Rafael Bautista to a season-ending knee injury earlier this week.

Now, thanks in part to the hits the Nats’ depth has taken, Soto is set to join a Bryce Harper-fronted outfield alignment whose other 25-man choices at the moment include Michael A. Taylor, Matt Adams, Moises Sierra and Andrew Stevenson. It has been a meteoric rise for the Dominican-born Soto, who signed with the Nationals as a 16-year-old in 2015. Soto was among the most highly regarded players available in that year’s international class, and the $1.5MM he received represented the biggest bonus the Nats had given to a Latin American teenager at the time.

Since immigrating to the United States, the lefty-swinging Soto has paid back the Nats by running roughshod over minor league pitching. Dating back to his minors in 2016, he owns a tremendous .361/.433/.608 batting line across 508 plate appearances. Soto has racked up 178 of those trips this year among the Single-A, High-A and Double-A levels, though only 31 came with the latter affiliate prior to his promotion. He was hardly overmatched during that small sample of work, however, evidenced by his .296/.387/.556 slash.

Judging by his history, Soto will emerge as an offensive centerpiece in Washington either this season or down the line. He’s also a capable corner outfielder, notes MLB.com, which ranks him as the game’s 15th-best prospect. While Soto has spent the majority of his pro career in right field, Harper figures to man that spot in D.C. at least through this season. As such, Soto seems likely to line up in left for the Nats, who have gotten off to a respectable start (24-20) but could use a boost if they’re going to overcome the Braves and Phillies en route to a third straight NL East crown.

Pirates Promote Austin Meadows, Place Starling Marte On DL

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May 18: The Pirates have announced Meadows’ promotion and Marte’s placement on the DL.

May 17: The Pirates announced tonight that they’re planning to promote top outfield prospect Austin Meadows tomorrow. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic first reported that the Bucs were planning to call up the long time top prospect. Biertempfel adds that he’ll be stepping into the roster spot of Starling Marte, who’ll land on the disabled list with a right oblique strain.

Austin Meadows | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Meadows, 23, has long rated as one of the game’s most promising outfield prospects. The ninth overall pick in 2013, Meadows entered the season ranked among the game’s top 50 prospects, per Baseball America (44), MLB.com (45), Fangraphs (47), Baseball Prospectus (34). After a down season at the Triple-A level in 2017, Meadows is hitting .281/.326/.380 with a homer and eight steals (in nine attempts). He’s struck out in just 20 of his 131 plate appearances but also drawn just seven walks.

The promotion will give the Pirates their first regular-season look at Meadows against Major League pitching. Hamstring injuries throughout his minor league tenure likely delayed Meadows’ timeline, and while he still has yet to truly overpower Triple-A pitching as he did at the Double-A level, there’s plenty of reason for optimism regarding his bat. Scouting reports on Meadows credit him for having an above-average to plus hit tool with average power and plus speed. Those wheels serve him well defensively, also, as he’s capable of playing center field, though more recent scouting reports on him forecast a potential move to left field when all is said and done.

It’s possible that this is merely a short-term promotion for Meadows, but oblique injuries tend to keep players on the disabled list for around a month, so he may also get a reasonably prolonged look in the outfield with Marte on the shelf. With Andrew McCutchen now in San Francisco and Corey Dickerson only controlled through 2019, Meadows will be fighting to show the Pirates that he deserves the long-term spot in the outfield that the organization has long hoped he’d eventually claim. For the time being, it seems likely that Meadows will man center field, with Dickerson and Gregory Polanco flanking him in the outfield corners.

As for Marte, his loss shouldn’t be undersold. Though the 29-year-old disappointed fans and the organization alike in 2017 when he was slapped with an 80-game suspension following a failed PED test, he’s bounced back extraordinarily well in 2018, hitting at a career-best .308/.366/.503 pace with six homers, five doubles and an NL-best four triples — all while racking up 10 steals in 13 tries and walking at a career-high 8.6 percent clip. That’s quite a lot of production to subtract from the lineup and leaves Meadows with some sizable shoes to fill, though if he can simply hold his own at the plate in his first exposure to MLB pitching and play capable defense in center field, the Pirates will surely be pleased with that outcome.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Promote Mike Soroka

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The Braves have promoted top pitching prospect Mike Soroka to take the ball in tonight’s contest, per a club announcement. Though Soroka had to be added to the 40-man roster, there were openings available.

Mike Soroka | Getty Images

In a corresponding move that was completed yesterday, righty Chase Whitley was optioned to open a spot on the active roster. The Braves still have eight arms available in the pen.

Soroka, 20, entered the season as one of the game’s most-hyped pitching prospects. By consensus, he placed among the game’s top thirty-five or so pre-MLB players. Baseball America is among the most bullish outlets on the young righty, ranking him 27th on its board.

Thus far, Soroka has done nothing but increase the anticipation with his first four starts at the Triple-A level. In 22 2/3 innings this season for Gwinnett, he sports an attractive 1.99 ERA wih 9.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. He’s also drawing grounders on an eye-popping 69.0% of the balls put in play against him.

Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to be a Braves fan. The organization is off to a nice start and has already welcomed top overall prospect Ronald Acuna, who has knocked the cover off the ball early on.

Now, the club will get a look at perhaps its most exciting young arm. The 28th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Soroka has breezed through the Braves’ system. While he has not typically carried his current strikeout or groundball rates over full seasons, all the tools are there for a front-of-the-rotation starter.

It’s worth noting, too, that Soroka ought not to face many restrictions on his workload this year. He threw 143 frames in 2016 and 153 2/3 last year at Double-A, so he should be clear to handle about as many as the team likes in 2018. If he can hold down a MLB roster spot the rest of the way, Soroka would put himself on course to reach arbitration as a Super Two player after the 2020 season. Regardless, he cannot pass six years of major-league service until after the 2024 campaign, at the earliest.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Twins To Promote Fernando Romero

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Twins skipper Paul Molitor announced today that the club would promote top pitching prospect Fernando Romero to join the rotation, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN was among those to tweet. He’ll take the ball on Wednesday night.

Romero, 23, has steadily moved up the ladder since entering the Twins’ system in 2012. He cracked the top-100 prospect lists of MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus entering the current season, following a year in which he threw 125 innings of 3.53 ERA ball, with 8.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 along with a 52.0% groundball rate, at the Double-A level.

The results have continued into the 2018 season, as Romero has now held opposing teams to a 2.57 earned run average through 21 frames in his first few outings at the Triple-A level. He’s continuing to get plenty of groundballs with his high-velocity sinker, though his 20:10 K/BB ratio isn’t exactly scintillating and may hint at the need for further refinement of his slider and change.

Some prospect hounds see some risk in Romero’s profile, particularly as to whether he’ll have long-term health issues and/or whether he’ll stick in the rotation. For now, though, they’ll bet on his talent with the organization badly in need of a shot in the arm after a 9-14 start to the season.

Fellow righty Phil Hughes will be bumped into a relief role to accommodate Romero’s move into the rotation, though a roster move has yet to be announced. Hughes was knocked around in two poor starts to open the year, and is coming off of two consecutive poor and injury-plagued seasons, so he’ll look to get back on track in the bullpen.

Braves Promote Ronald Acuna

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April 25: Acuna’s contract has been formally selected from Triple-A Gwinnett, the club announced. He’s playing left field and batting sixth for the Braves in his MLB debut.

April 24: The Braves are set to promote top prospect Ronald Acuna to the Major Leagues, Daniel Alvarez Montes of EVTV Miami reports (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman hears the same and adds that Acuna is expected to join the team tomorrow (Twitter link).

Ronald Acuna | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The timing of Acuna’s promotion has been a source of consternation among Braves fans all season, as many felt he should’ve been with the club from Opening Day after laying waste to minor league pitching in 2017 and outhitting the vast majority of the Braves’ roster in Spring Training. The Braves, however, understandably appear to have wanted to keep Acuna in Triple-A long enough to delay his free agency by a full year. By keeping him in Triple-A until April 14, Atlanta delayed his free agency from the 2023-24 offseason to the 2024-25 offseason.

Acuna, though, got off to a brutal start in Triple-A Gwinnett, which prompted the Braves to keep the 21-year-old in the minors even longer. Not wanting to promote Acuna to the Majors when he was struggling badly against minor league arms, Atlanta waited for their prized prospect to begin to right the ship at the plate. That’s been taking place over the past week, as Acuna has collected 1 11 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in 37 plate appearances.

Entering the 2018 season, virtually every set of prospect rankings from major outlets considered Acuna to be the game’s top overall prospect. It was a rapid ascent for Acuna, who entered the 2017 campaign as a consensus top 100 prospect but not near the top of any notable rankings. His meteoric rise began last season when he started in Class-A Advanced and skyrocketed to Triple-A by the end of the year. The Venezuelan-born slugger didn’t just move up the ladder, though; his numbers actually improved upon each promotion, culminating with a .344/.393/.548 line in Triple-A.

Overall, Acuna slashed .325/.374/.522 with 21 homers, 31 doubles, eight triples and 44 steals across three minor league levels in 2017 — and he did so all before turning 20 years of age this past December. Even before reading any of the many glowing scouting reports on Acuna — and there’s no shortage of them, as Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN are among the many that have lauded him — it’s readily apparent that he’s a significantly more advanced talent than most prospects. That type of production in Double-A and Triple-A is rare for prospects who are several years older than Acuna, even, but doing so at age 19 is a rather remarkable accomplishment.

It stands to reason that Acuna will be thrown directly into the mix in left field with the Braves, who managed to jettison Matt Kemp this offseason in order to create an easy path to at-bats for the ballyhooed young slugger. Preston Tucker has been holding down the fort in left field and performed admirably as a stopgap, but his bat has cooled substantially since a hot start to the season (.514 OPS over his past 44 PAs).

With Acuna now penciled in as the primary left fielder, Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis will occupy the team’s other two outfield spots. Tucker or Peter Bourjos remain on hand as reserve options in the outfield, though it’s possible that one could be a roster casualty to make way for Acuna. The Braves already designated one reserve, Lane Adams, for assignment last week.

Yankees Promote Gleyber Torres

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SUNDAY: Torres is starting at second on Sunday for the Yankees, who optioned Wade to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

SATURDAY: The Yankees are set to promote their best prospect, infielder Gleyber Torres, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports. Torres will join the Yankees for their game against the Blue Jays on Sunday. He’s already on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, so they won’t need to jettison anyone in order to make room for him.

The 21-year-old Torres is in his second full season with the Yankees, who acquired him in a deal with the Cubs centering on closer Aroldis Chapman in July 2016. It’s fair to say the trade has worked out for both teams, given that Chapman helped pitch the Cubs to a World Series that year and then returned to the Yankees as a free agent in the ensuing offseason, and Torres has turned into an elite prospect.

MLB.com is among many outlets with a high opinion of Torres, ranking him as the game’s No. 5 prospect while lauding his offensive and defensive potential. The right-handed-hitting Torres has shown plenty of upside with the bat since his promotion to Triple-A in 2017, having slashed .331/.409/.488 in 149 plate appearances at the minors’ highest level. Torres’ season was cut short in 2017 on account of a left elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, but he returned this year to post a .370/.415/.543 line in 53 PAs prior to his promotion to New York.

Originally a shortstop, Torres also brings minor league experience at second and third base. He’s unlikely to make an impact at short for the Yankees, who have breakout star Didi Gregorius there, but could play either of the other two positions. Of course, fellow highly touted prospect Miguel Andujar has impressed lately at third, where he has been filling in for the injured Brandon Drury (on the DL since April 7 with migraines). On the other hand, New York hasn’t gotten much production at second from accomplished veteran Neil Walker or youngster Tyler Wade, so Torres could be a factor there for a 10-9 club that’s lagging well behind the incredibly hot Red Sox (17-2) in the AL East early in the season.

Regardless of where Torres primarily lines up, or if this just proves to be a cup of coffee until Drury returns, the Yankees will be able to control him through the 2024 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cardinals Promote Tyler O’Neill

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April 19: The Cardinals have formally announced the promotion. Right-hander John Brebbia was optioned to Memphis in place of O’Neill.

April 18: The Cardinals plan to promote outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill, according to MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. A corresponding move is not yet known, but will occur before tomorrow’s scheduled contest.

Tyler O'Neill | Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images

O’Neill, who was acquired last summer in a swap that sent young pitcher Marco Gonzales to the Mariners, will receive his first shot in the majors. The former third-round pick was widely rated as one of the game’s hundred best prospects entering each of the past two seasons.

Though O’Neill only received a dozen plate appearances this spring owing to injury, he has certainly earned the chance after going on a tear to open the season at Triple-A. Over his 52 plate appearances, the right-handed hitter carries a .388/.385/.837 slash with six home runs. He carried .800+ OPS marks in the upper minors in 2016 and 2017, so there’s little left for him to show at the plate.

Of course, whether he’ll carry that productivity into the majors is the big question — as it is for any prospect. O’Neill draws walks at a decent rate but has shown some swing and miss. If he can make enough contact, O’Neill is viewed as having a chance at becoming an everyday right fielder at the game’s highest level.

It’s also not yet clear whether O’Neill is slated to receive a full opportunity to prove he belongs. He may just provide some depth while the club evaluates Tommy Pham’s status after he experienced groin tightness in last night’s game. The Cards’ outfield mix currently includes three right-handed hitters (Pham, Marcell Ozuna, and Harrison Bader) and the switch-hitting Dexter Fowler, so there isn’t a clear opportunity in the near-term.

Regardless of how long he stays in the Majors this time around, be it for one day or for the remainder of the season, enough time has already passed that the Cardinals will be able to control O’Neill through at least the 2024 season.

*An earlier version of this post mistakenly identified O’Neill as a left-handed hitter.

Angels To Promote Jaime Barria

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The Angels will promote top prospect Jaime Barria to make his Major League debut in a start against the Rangers on Wednesday, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link).

Jaime Barria | Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Barria, 21, entered the season rated by ESPN’s Keith Law as the game’s No. 62 overall prospect (subscription link). The Panamanian-born righty is already on the Angels’ 40-man roster, so the team will only need to make a 25-man roster move to bring him up to the big leagues.

It’s been a quick rise through the minors for Barria, who opened the 2017 season in Class-A Advanced but ascended to Triple-A and finished out the year with a combined 2.80 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 through 141 2/3 innings. The 6’1″, 210-pound righty has been an extreme fly-ball pitcher in his minor league tenure, with last year’s fly-ball rates ranging from 48.1 percent in Class-A Advanced (65 1/3 innings) to 58.5 percent in Triple-A (14 2/3 innings). Law’s report describes Barria as a three-pitch, command-and-control oriented starter who lacks a true plus pitch but comes with a high floor as a fourth starter (with the potential to develop into more).

Barria’s promotion was largely necessitated by injuries to Angels starters Andrew Heaney, Matt Shoemaker and J.C. Ramirez. The start likely would’ve gone to Parker Bridwell, though he needs to spend at least 10 days in the minors after being optioned on the heels of his April 6 start for the Halos. As for Heaney (who is nearing a return) and Nick Tropeano, Fletcher tweets that that duo could be in line to start on Thursday and Friday for the Angels.

It’s not clear if he’ll remain in the big leagues beyond his initial start, though it seems likely that the Halos will option Barria back to the minors at some point. If Barria were to stick in the Majors for good beyond Wednesday’s promotion, he’d accrue just enough service time to qualify for free agency following the 2023 season. A bit more additional minor league time, however, would delay his path to free agency until the end of the 2024 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees Place Billy McKinney On DL, Recall Miguel Andujar

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Another day, another injury for the Yankees’ outfield. Billy McKinney is headed to the disabled list after crashing into the left field wall at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on an attempted catch Saturday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to report. The Yankees will recall third baseman Miguel Andujar to take McKinney’s spot on their 25-man roster.

The rookie McKinney suffered an AC sprain in his left shoulder, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, which forced him to leave the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in the first inning. The Yankees then subbed in Brett Gardner, who had been scheduled for an off day, to take McKinney’s place in left. Gardner joined Aaron Judge in center (his first big league game at the position) and Giancarlo Stanton in right to comprise New York’s outfield.

With Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier also on the DL, the Yankees’ vaunted outfield has taken a beating early this season. They still have the enviable Judge-Stanton-Gardner trio intact, of course, but the depth behind them is now lacking. Potential backups on the big league roster include third baseman Brandon Drury, who played 94 games in the Diamondbacks’ outfield in 2016, utilityman Tyler Wade and first baseman Tyler Austin – both of whom bring some outfield experience to the table. The Yankees also have veteran Shane Robinson in the organization, but he’s not on their 40-man roster.

Andujar, 23, may slot in at both third and first in his second major league call-up. He vied for the Yankees’ third base job during the spring, but the late-February acquisition of Drury made it unlikely he’d open the season in the majors. Andujar appeared in five of the team’s games last year, which he mostly spent at the Triple-A level. He slashed an outstanding .317/.364/.502 in 250 PAs at the minors’ highest level in 2017, leading to his soaring stock as a prospect. Andujar’s a highly regarded youngster who ranks as FanGraphs’ 14th-best prospect.

Phillies Sign Scott Kingery To Long-Term Deal

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2:51pm: The contract includes a $1.5MM signing bonus, per Gelb, who also has the yearly breakdown. Kingery will earn $750K this year, $1.25MM in 2019, $1.5MM in 2020, $4MM in 2021, $6MM in 2022 and $8MM in 2023. Additionally, there’s a $1MM buyout for the first option, $500K for the second, and $250K for the third, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).

2:14pm: The Phillies have signed second base prospect Scott Kingery to a six-year contract through the 2023 campaign, according to a team announcement. It’s worth $24MM in guarantees, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. The pact also features club options for the 2024, ’25 and ’26 seasons, meaning it could cancel out three of Kingery’s free-agent years. Those options are worth $13MM, $14MM and $15MM, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. Kingery is a client of PSI Sports Management.

Kingery’s payday is a record-breaking amount for a player who has never appeared in the majors, easily beating out the five-year, $10MM guarantee the Astros gave first baseman Jon Singleton (an ex-Phillies prospect) back in 2014. Kingery and Singleton are the only two players to ever receive long-term deals before debuting in the majors. The Singleton contract hasn’t worked out at all for the Astros, but the Phillies weren’t going to let that deter them from wrapping up Kingery for the long haul.

The news of the 23-year-old Kingery’s accord comes on the heels of his first big league promotion, which was reported earlier Sunday. Service time looked to be a concern prior to the announcement of the deal, but that obviously won’t be an issue now for the Phillies, who expect Kingery to emerge as an important major leaguer this season.

Kingery, who joined the Phillies in Round 2 of the 2015 draft, saw his stock soar last year after slashing .313/.379/.608 (166 wRC+) with 18 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 317 Double-A plate appearances. The righty-swinger earned a promotion to Triple-A as a result of that production and also performed well at that level, where he batted .294/.337/.449 (117 wRC+) with eight homers and 10 steals in 286 PAs.

Thanks to his breakout 2017 showing, Kingery ranks as MLB.com’s 35th-best prospect. The outlet lauds his “advanced approach” at the plate and “plus speed,” noting that he has the upside of an everyday second baseman. The Phillies already have a quality second baseman in Cesar Hernandez, who accounted for 7.6 fWAR from 2016-17, so it’s unclear how often Kingery will play there in the near term.

Even if Hernandez continues to hold down the keystone for the time being, Kingery could factor in elsewhere. Although nearly all of Kingery’s minor league action came at second, manager Gabe Kapler suggested earlier this spring that the player could fill a super-utility role in the majors (via Matt Gelb of The Athletic; subscription required).

“He can play in the big leagues at many different positions,” Kapler said. “He can play second base, he can play shortstop, he can play centerfield. There’s no doubt in my mind that he can handle third base. He can handle both corners. In theory, that’s an exciting role for Scott.”

For the most part, the Phillies look well positioned in the infield (depth chart), where big-money first baseman Carlos Santana and touted shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford will join Hernandez in starting roles. Third baseman Maikel Franco has been a disappointment, however, and could cede his spot to Kingery if he continues to struggle this year. The Phillies are also talented in the outfield, where slugger Rhys Hoskins will play left and Odubel Herrera will continue to handle center. Right field’s less certain, although both Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr impressed last season.

Regardless of where Kingery lines up in 2018 and beyond, it’s obvious the Phillies regard him as an integral core piece and someone who can help them return to relevance. Philadelphia is mired in a six-year playoff drought and hasn’t finished .500 or better since 2012. The franchise looks to be on the upswing, though, in part because of Kingery’s potential.

Along with Kingery and the rest of the Phillies’ previously mentioned talent on the position player side, they made a bold strike in free agency in signing former Cubs ace Jake Arrieta to a three-year, $75MM contract. They also have budding star righty Aaron Nola under control through 2021. Plus, given that the Phillies have the capability to spend among the league’s top teams (as seen with the Santana and Arrieta signings), they should be in play for other established free agents in future offseasons.

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia first reported the news. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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