Minor MLB Transactions: 7/3/17
Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the game…
- Infielder Tony Renda has been dealt from the Reds to the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. The 26-year-old had been outrighted over the winter after struggling in his MLB debut last year. Through 198 plate appearances at Triple-A in 2017, he was slashing just .260/.305/.326 — albeit with just 18 strikeouts to go with a dozen walks.
- In another minor swap, the Giants purchased Tyler Herb from the Mariners for an undisclosed sum, both teams announced. He’ll actually represent the player to be named later in the deal that sent Chris Heston to Seattle, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, with some undisclosed technicality requiring the particular treatment. The 25-year-old was taken in the 29th round of the 2014 draft. He made it up to the Double-A level last year and has thrown well there upon a repeat assignment. Herb has made it through 98 innings in 16 starts on the year, posting a 3.31 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
- Nationals righty Jacob Turner has accepted an outright assignment after clearing waivers, per a team announcement. Still just 26, Turner has given the Nats some badly needed innings this year, though his ERA stands at 5.08 after 39 frames of action. He is expected to resume working as a starter in case he’s needed in that role at the major league level.
- Also outrighted was Blue Jays outfielder Ian Parmley, Toronto announced. He was up for a brief stretch, but will return to plying his trade at Triple-A Buffalo. over 205 plate appearances there on the year, Parmley is slashing .289/.332/.369.
- The Mariners released southpaw Nick Hagadone, according to Triple-A Tacoma announcer Mike Curto (via Twitter). As Curto notes, Hagadone has been particularly impressive of late. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of four MLB seasons, all with the Indians, but missed all of last year after an elbow fracture. He landed in Seattle on a minors deal and has thrown 33 1/3 innings of 3.51 ERA ball — with 9.5 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 — since arriving in Tacoma. (It could well be, then, that Hagadone utilized an opt-out clause, though we’ve heard no indication of that as of yet.)
Earlier Transactions
- The Brewers announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Michael Blazek from Triple-A Colorado Springs. The 28-year-old was outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier this year but remained in the organization and has posted a solid 3.13 ERA in that extremely hitter-friendly setting. While all of Blazek’s 104 career appearances in the Majors have been in relief, he’s been working as a starter for his past 10 trips to the hill in Triple-A. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy suggests (via Twitter) that Blazek could very well pitch today in relief of left-hander Brent Suter. Piggybacking the two would certainly make some sense, as Suter may not be fully stretched out with his most recent start coming back on June 13. Milwaukee already had an open spot on the 40-man, so there’s no corresponding 40-man move needed to accommodate Blazek.
Blue Jays Designate Glenn Sparkman For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of righty Mike Bolsinger from Triple-A Buffalo and designated fellow right-hander and Rule 5 pick Glenn Sparkman for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man and 25-man rosters.
[Related: Updated Toronto Blue Jays depth chart]
The 25-year-old Sparkman missed the majority of the season to this point recovering from a fractured right thumb and made his big league debut over the weekend, though his two appearances proved to be a nightmare. Sparkman made it through his first without allowing an earned run, but he was torched for seven runs on eight hits in just a third of an inning on Sunday. He has a nice track record in a limited sample of work at the Double-A level and in Class-A Advanced as well, but he’ll have to clear waivers and be offered back to Kansas City if the Jays have any hope of retaining him, and there’s little reason for the Royals not to take him back.
Bolsinger, 29, returns to the Jays after previously being outrighted on the heels of a 5.61 ERA and a 21-to-19 K/BB ratio in 25 2/3 frames with Toronto. He’s been lights-out in Triple-A this year, though, with a 1.60 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 through 33 2/3 innings there.
Blue Jays Acquire Miguel Montero
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve acquired catcher Miguel Montero and cash considerations from the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Darrell Ceciliani has been moved to the 60-day DL to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported last week that the Jays had interest in Montero after the Cubs had designated him for assignment.
Montero, 34 this weekend, sounded off on teammate Jake Arrieta and the rest of the Cubs’ pitching staff last week for slow delivery times, citing that as the reason that the Nationals were able to steal seven bases against the Cubs in one game. While Arrieta undoubtedly carried his share of the blame in that instance, the Cubs didn’t take kindly to Montero’s candid assessment with the media; Montero was designated for assignment roughly 12 hours later.
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters after the fact that the organization considered that an instance of Montero “not being a good teammate,” while Anthony Rizzo offered some pointed criticism of Montero in a radio interview the next morning. Said Rizzo on ESPN 1000 (Twitter link): “When you point fingers you’re a selfish player. We have another catcher that throws everyone out.”
At the plate, Montero figures to give the Jays a boost in production. Toronto catchers have posted a putrid .168/.280/.280 batting line in 2017 on the whole. While Russell Martin isn’t hitting for average, he’s still getting on base and showing a bit of power, as evidenced by his .213/.369/.368 line. However, the combination of Luke Maile, Mike Ohlman and Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been a black hole for the Jays, from an offensive standpoint, hitting a combined .108/.140/.162 in 136 plate appearances. Montero isn’t the hitter that he once was, but he’s still touting a .286/.366/.439 batting line in 2017, albeit in a small sample of 112 plate appearances (just 13 of which have come against fellow lefties).
From a defensive standpoint, there are more questions with Montero. While he’s long rated as a plus framer and again has positive marks in 2017, he’s also thrown out just one of the 32 men that have attempted to steal a base against him this year. Last season he managed to halt a mere 11 percent of stolen base attempts against him, and he was at just 20 percent with the Cubs back in 2015. While there’s assuredly some level of truth to Montero’s comments — many stolen bases, after all, are swiped primarily at the expense of the pitcher — Montero certainly isn’t without blame. As Rizzo alluded to, Montero’s now-former teammate, Willson Contreras, has managed to throw out 35 percent of his opponents over the past two seasons.
Montero is earning $14MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $60MM contract extension that he signed with the Diamondbacks in 2012. Of that $14MM sum, approximately $6.96MM remains. Unsurprisingly, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Cubs will pay the “vast majority” of the sum that remains on that deal as a means of facilitating the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/2/17
Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Braves have released outfielder Sanders Commings, tweets Robert Murray of FanRag. Commings joined the Braves for a $100K bonus in February, which came after a short career in the NFL as a defensive back with the Kansas City Chiefs. A fifth-round pick out of Georgia in 2013, Commings saw action in two games that year. Those proved to be Commings’ only NFL appearances, as he broke his ankle during training camp in 2014 and was waived with an injury settlement a year later. Commings played high school baseball before turning to football, and he was so promising that the Diamondbacks drafted him in 2008 (in the 37th round). In his return to baseball this year, Commings, 27, has played at the rookie level and hit .154/.267/.231 in a meager sample size (15 PA).
- The Reds purchased the contract of right-hander Asher Wojciechowski, as per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, Brandon Finnegan was moved to the 60-day DL and righty Jackson Stephens was optioned to Triple-A. This is Wojciechowski’s second stint with the big league team this season, having been DFA’ed and outrighted off Cincinnati’s roster last month. Wojciechowski posted a 6.75 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 4.5 K/BB rate over 21 1/3 IP, and he allowed six homers over that brief stay in the majors.
- The Cardinals acquired outfielder Lane Thomas from the Blue Jays in exchange for international bonus pool money, as announced by the Cards’ Twitter feed. Thomas, 21, was a fifth-round pick for Toronto in 2014 who has a .242/.321/.379 slash line over 1109 career PA, none above the high-A level. The Jays entered the July 2 int’l signing period with $4.75MM bonus pool and they have already reportedly spent $2.15MM of that total on two notable prospects.
Rangers Acquire Jason Grilli
The Rangers acquired veteran righty Jason Grilli and cash considerations from the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league outfielder Eduard Pinto, according to a Rangers media release. In corresponding moves, right-hander Preston Claiborne was designated for assignment, righty Tanner Scheppers was optioned to Triple-A and right-hander Tony Barnette was activated from the disabled list.
All of these moves will address a Texas bullpen that ranks near the bottom of the league in most categories, and is particularly in flux after the demotion of closer Matt Bush. It may be unlikely to expect Grilli to factor into the Rangers’ closer-by-committee situation given the veteran’s rough start to the 2017 season. The 40-year-old has a 6.97 ERA over 20 2/3 IP, and despite some decent peripherals (10.02 K/9, 2.56 K/BB rate), Grilli has simply been unable to keep the ball in the park, surrendering a whopping nine home runs in his brief time on the mound this year.
It’s worth noting that Grilli also pitched poorly at the beginning of the 2016 season, though he improved greatly after being dealt to the Blue Jays in May 2016 and was a key cog in Toronto’s run to the postseason. The Rangers are obviously hoping for a similar uptick in performance from a change in scenery for Grilli, who is making his second stint in the organization (he pitched in 30 games for Texas in 2009).
Grilli was still owed roughly $1.4MM for the rest of 2017, so the money Toronto is sending along in the deal likely makes up a good chunk of that remaining salary. In exchange, the Jays add a 22-year-old outfielder in Pinto who has a .309/.367/.390 slash line over 1683 career PA in six pro seasons. Pinto played 22 games at Double-A last season, his highest level achieved, and this year has a .311/.358/.446 slash line over 191 PA at high A-ball.
Claiborne had his contract purchased by the Rangers two weeks ago and he appeared in one game for the team, which marked Claiborne’s first taste of MLB action since 2014. The right-hander missed all of 2015 due to a shoulder injury and spent 2016 pitching in the Giants’ minor league system.
AL International Signings: 7/2/17
Here are some notable American League international signings not yet covered elsewhere on MLB Trade Rumors. All signing information can be found in these invaluable compilations of the initial flurry of July 2 action from Baseball America’s Ben Badler and MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez; the information here is from those sources unless otherwise credited…
- The Yankees have agreed to sign Venezuelan outfielder Everson Pereira and shortstop Roberto Chirinos. Pereira will receive a $1.5MM bonus, while Chirinos gets $900K. The Yankees are also seen as the favorites to sign Dominican shortstop Ronny Rojas, with Sanchez projecting a $1.05MM bonus. Badler tweets that Rojas isn’t eligible to officially sign until August, when he turns 16 years old.
- The Blue Jays have reached agreement with Brazilian right-hander Eric Pardinho on a $1.4MM bonus, as well as signing Dominican shortstop Miguel Hiraldo to a $750K deal.
- The Tigers agreed to sign Venezuelan shortstop Alvaro Gonzalez for a $1MM bonus.
- The Indians have reached deals with Venezuelan shortstop Aaron Bracho ($1.5MM) and Dominican outfielder George Valera ($1.3MM according to Sanchez, $1.2MM according to Badler).
- The Angels signed Bahamanian outfielder Trent Deveaux, with Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reporting that Deveaux will receive a $1.2MM bonus.
- The Mariners have a $1.75MM agreement with Dominican outfielder Julio Rodriguez, as well as a $1.225MM agreement with Venezuelan shortstop Juan Querecuto.
- The Rangers agreed to nine-figure deals with a trio of prospects. Venezuelan outfielder Wilderd Patino will receive a $1.3MM bonus, while Venezuelan shortstop Keyber Rodriguez and Mexican right-hander Damian Mendoza each get bonuses worth $1MM.
Blue Jays Designate Ian Parmley, Select Lucas Harrell
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated outfielder Ian Parmley for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Lucas Harrell.
Parmley, whom the Blue Jays chose in the seventh round of the 2012 draft, made his major league debut last week but failed to reach base in any of his four plate appearances. The 27-year-old has spent nearly the entire season at Triple-A Buffalo, where he has hit .289/.332/.369 with one home run and 11 stolen bases in 205 PAs.
Unlike Parmley, Harrell has a fairly extensive big league track record. The 32-year-old is now set to put on his fifth major league uniform since debuting with the White Sox in 2010. The majority of Harrell’s action has come in Houston, where he pitched from 2011-14 and turned in two seasons of 150-plus innings. At his best, Harrell registered a 3.76 ERA, 6.51 K/9, 3.62 BB/9 and a 57.2 percent ground-ball rate across 193 2/3 frames in 2012.
After his run with the Astros ended, Harrell spent 2015 with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. He resurfaced stateside last season and pitched in both the majors and minors with the Rangers and Braves organizations. In nine starts and 47 big league innings, Harrell logged a 4.21 ERA, 6.89 K/9, 4.79 BB/9 and a 44.3 percent grounder rate. He signed a minor league deal with the Jays over the winter and has combined for 27 2/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
Trade Chatter: A’s, Giants, Yankees, McCutchen, Avila, Dodgers
Though Sonny Gray has garnered most of the headlines in Athletics trade rumors, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Jed Lowrie, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson are all drawing interest as well. The A’s are hoping to move Lowrie to clear a spot for prospect Franklin Barreto to play in the Majors on a full-time basis, she notes. Barreto is currently getting at-bats, but Oakland also has Marcus Semien on the mend and returning perhaps in a week or more. Doolittle and Madson are both in the midst of strong seasons, although the injury-prone Doolittle has been limited to 14 2/3 innings. Madson, meanwhile, looks even better than he did in his 2015 comeback; he’s averaging 9.8 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 with a 54.4 percent ground-ball rate, leading to a 2.35 ERA. Of course, he’s also earning $7.5MM this year and next, and his contract calls for incentives for finishing games, which could make the price even more steep. The Rangers, Cubs, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Braves and Astros have all been scouting Oakland recently, according to Slusser.
Some more trade chatter from around the game…
- The Giants aren’t looking to rebuild so much as they’re looking to reload, president Larry Baer tells Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. Baer acknowledged that the 2017 campaign hasn’t been anything close to what the organization had hoped, but he also indicated that even if the front office moves some veterans this summer, the ultimate goal will be to return to contention in 2018. “Directionally it’s, ‘How can we get right back there in 2018,” said Baer. “It’s not how can we get right back there in 2022 or 2021.” Pavlovic notes that it’s possible the Giants could try to trade Johnny Cueto and still re-sign him this winter if he exercises his opt-out clause with a new team, and Baer wouldn’t rule out that possibility, simply stating that it was “possible” but declining to speculate too heavily.
- The Yankees are looking for bullpen help “right now,” writes FanRag’s Jon Heyman as part of his weekly American League Notes column. The duo of Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances is formidable in the late innings, but the recent struggles of Tyler Clippard and others have GM Brian Cashman on the lookout. Cashman told Heyman that the Yankees aren’t looking for a first baseman at the moment, though recent injury news regarding Tyler Austin and Greg Bird, of course, could change that line of thinking in a hurry.
- There’s been no serious talk between the Pirates and other clubs regarding Andrew McCutchen just yet, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Part of the reason for that is the parity that exists in Wild Card races, as many teams that could eventually add some veteran pieces remain uncertain that they’ll be in the hunt a month from now.
- Also via Morosi, Tigers catcher Alex Avila is “on the radar” of the Cubs and the Blue Jays. Avila has had a staggering turnaround in his return to Detroit, hitting a ridiculous .315/.431/.586 with 11 homers while earning just a $2MM salary on a one-year deal. While many fans are understandably skeptical of Avila’s turnaround, I’ll point out that Avila’s 57 percent hard-hit rate leads all players with at least 190 plate appearances, and he entered play Thursday tied with teammate J.D. Martinez for the third-highest average exit velocity in baseball (93.7 mph), trailing only Aaron Judge and Miguel Sano. Avila has always had a massive walk rate, as well, and that’s been the case once again in 2017 (16.4 percent). There’s some regression coming, of course, as even with his batted-ball profile he’s probably not going to sustain a .426 BABIP.
- One more from Morosi, who notes that the Dodgers‘ primary focus remains on starting pitching at this time. They’re considering controllable options rather than rental pieces, with Morosi linking Los Angeles to the the Tigers‘ Justin Verlander, the Athletics‘ Sonny Gray, the White Sox‘ Jose Quintana and the Pirates‘ Gerrit Cole.
- For those still looking for more trade-related content to peruse, Heyman penned a column highlighting nearly 100 possible trade candidates, ranging from valuable-but-unlikely-to-move names (e.g. Josh Donaldson, Gerrit Cole) to bad contracts that current teams would like to escape in a potential salary dump (e.g. Junichi Tazawa, Matt Cain). There are some quotes from scouts, general managers and other league execs mixed in throughout.
Draft Signings: 6/29/17
Let’s round up the latest significant draft signings:
- Both of the Blue Jays‘ top picks are under contract, per a team announcement. Both Logan Warmoth and Nate Pearson will receive above-slot bonuses, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (on Twitter), though neither went much over. MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets that Warmoth will receive $2,820,200 ($25K over slot), while Pearson gets $2,452,900 (that’s $150K over the value of the 28th pick). Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith has the story on the deal from the team’s perspective. Warmoth, taken 22nd overall, received top-20 billing from Baseball America and Fangraphs. ESPN.com’s Keith Law was even higher on the UNC shortstop, crediting him with a top-level hit tool, good speed, and a strong chance to stick at short in the long run. Similarly, Pearson drew a consensus as being a top-30-ish prospect, but earned a higher grade from one outlet. BA ranked him 13th, noting that the JuCo righty has made huge strides in developing his arsenal and controlling it.
- The Astros announced the signing of second-rounder Corbin Martin, a right-hander from Texas A&M. He’ll receive a $1MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter), which lands a bit shy of the $1,178,600 allotment for the 56th overall selection. MLB.com was highest on Martin, ranking him 32nd, noting that some inconsistencies have clouded the status of a pitcher who has a promising array of pitches.
- Indians supplemental second-round pick Tyler Freeman, a high-school shortstop from California, will get the slot value of $816,500, Callis tweets. He cracked the top 100 on BA’s list. While he’s said not to possess loud tools, Freeman is credited as a well-rounded player with a sense for the game and quality makeup.
Blue Jays Sign Michael Saunders
The Blue Jays have signed outfielder Michael Saunders to a minor-league deal, per a club announcement. He had been released recently by the Phillies, who’ll pay all but a pro-rated portion of his $8MM salary for the rest of the season.
Saunders, 30, struggled badly after landing in Philadelphia over the winter. He ended his tenure there with 214 plate appearances of .205/.257/.360 hitting and six home runs. The Phils will also owe Saunders a $1MM payment to buy out his $11MM club option for 2018.
Toronto is obviously quite familiar with the veteran outfielder, as he posted a strong year therein 2016. Finally healthy for a full season, Saunders turned in a .253/.338/.478 batting line with 24 long balls over 558 plate appearances. Of course, he also fell off quite a bit in the second half after earning his first All-Star Game berth.
For the time being, Saunders will head to Triple-A. But it’s not hard to imagine him arriving back in the majors before too long. The Jays currently feature a corner outfield mix consisting of right-handed hitters Jose Bautista and Steve Pearce along with the lefty bats of Ezequiel Carrera and Ian Parmley. Adding Saunders to the mix could potentially allow the Jays to utilize Pearce at second base on occasion as well.