Phillies Outright Scott Kingery
The Phillies announced they’ve sent infielder Scott Kingery outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after he cleared waivers. Philadelphia needed to clear an active roster spot for Zack Wheeler, who’d been on paternity leave. Outrighting Kingery rather than merely optioning him also opens a spot on the 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.
Philadelphia just selected Kingery to the big league club on Tuesday. He appeared in one game as a defensive replacement but didn’t tally an at-bat before losing his roster spot. Bryson Stott and Didi Gregorius started all three games in the middle infield positions, and it seems the Phils are comfortable with Matt Vierling as a utility option while Johan Camargo is on the injured list.
Kingery has appeared in only 52 MLB games since the start of the 2020 season, hitting .144/.204/.250 in 143 trips to the plate. That’s obviously not the kind of production the organization envisioned from the former top prospect, who at one point looked as if he’d cement himself as their long-term second baseman. Instead, Kingery’s strong offensive numbers from the early part of his minor league career have never really carried over at the big league level.
The Phils signed the University of Arizona product to a six-year, $24MM guarantee shortly before he made his MLB debut. He’s under contract through 2023, making $6.25MM this season and $8.25MM next year. The Phils technically control him through 2026 via a trio of subsequent club options, but it’d take a massive turn of fortune over the next year and a half for the team to consider exercising any of those.
As a player with between three and five years of MLB service time, Kingery technically has the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency. Doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of the money on his deal, however, so he’ll certainly instead head back to Lehigh Valley. The 28-year-old is hitting .185/.297/.296 across 64 plate appearances with the IronPigs.
Lucas Sims Loses Arbitration Case
The Reds beat reliever Lucas Sims in arbitration, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Sims will be paid at the team’s filing rate of $1.2MM this season; he’d been seeking a $1.6MM salary.
A former first-round pick of the Braves, Sims struggled as a starting pitcher during his rookie season in 2017. Atlanta dealt him to Cincinnati at the 2018 deadline, and he’s since worked primarily out of the bullpen. He was bounced on and off the big league roster through 2019 but emerged as a high-leverage option during the shortened 2020 season. Sims posted a 2.45 ERA while striking out a third of opponents through 25 2/3 innings that year.
The right-hander struck out an even more impressive 39% of batters faced last season. He also collected the first seven saves of his career and held nine leads, but 37% of the baserunners he allowed came around to score and he served up 4.40 earned runs per nine innings.
This year’s arbitration process is anomalous because of the lockout, which froze offseason business for more than three months. The delay forced unsettled arb cases to be resolved in-season, as logistical hurdles prevented them from being handled during the customary February and March time period. Nevertheless, the hearings are to be decided based on players’ pre-2022 bodies of work, so Sims’ performance this year should not have been a factor in the result.
There would not have been much to go on in Sims’ case anyhow, as he’s been limited to six appearances by injury. Back spasms have hampered him for a few months, and he’s spent the past four weeks on the 15-day IL. He struggled during his limited look on the active roster, seemingly impacted by the back issue.
This was Sims’ first season of arbitration-eligibility. He’ll be eligible twice more before first qualifying for free agency after the 2024 season, assuming the team continues to tender him contracts.
Yusmeiro Petit Granted Release From Padres
Reliever Yusmeiro Petit was released from his minor league contract with the Padres yesterday, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports (Twitter link) that he exercised an opt-out clause in the deal.
The 14-year MLB veteran returns to the open market in search of a new opportunity. He spent a bit more than a month in the San Diego organization but struggled over 11 appearances with Triple-A El Paso. Through 11 2/3 innings, he surrendered ten runs on 18 hits (including three homers). Petit’s 10:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio was fine, but he allowed too much damage on contact to keep runs off the board.
Recent Triple-A struggles aside, Petit has a generally strong track record over a much larger body of work in the big leagues. He’s posted an ERA under 4.00 in each of the past five seasons and in eight of the last nine years. The righty has been an innings-eating workhorse out of the bullpen. No pitcher recorded more outs in relief between 2017-21 than Petit, who soaked up 363 frames across 317 appearances.
The 37-year-old has never been a hard-thrower, succeeding on plus control and a knack for consistently inducing weak contact. Petit has no doubt been aided in recent years by pitching in a spacious ballpark and in front of an elite defensive unit with the A’s, but it was still a bit surprising he didn’t land a big league deal over the winter given his durability and consistency.
On the heels of a tough showing in El Paso, Petit figures to again be limited to minor league offers during his next trip to the market. There should be no shortage of clubs with interest on a non-roster deal, though, considering how effective he’s been throughout his time in the majors despite lacking overpowering stuff.
Chi Chi Gonzalez Triggers Opt-Out In Twins’ Deal
Right-hander Chi Chi González has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Twins, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (Twitter link). Minnesota has until Saturday to decide whether to select him onto the big league roster or grant him his release.
González has made one MLB start for the Twins, getting the ball last Friday against the Blue Jays. He allowed three runs in as many innings in an eventual 9-3 Minnesota win. He’d been called up as a designated COVID-19 substitute, however, replacing a quartet of players who weren’t permitted to attend the Toronto series because of their vaccination status. The substitute designation meant González only occupied a temporary spot on the roster, and he was quickly returned to the minor leagues thereafter.
This time around, the Twins have to decide whether González merits a more defined spot on the big league club. He’s out of minor league option years, so adding him to the 40-man means he’d have to take a place on the MLB active roster as well. Wolfson floats the possibility of the organization selecting González, having him start Saturday’s game against the Rays — the Minnesota starter is still listed as to be determined — then designating him for assignment anyhow. If that’s the course of action the organization takes, they’d likely lose González next week, as he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment even if he passes through waivers unclaimed.
Minnesota could also choose to keep González on the big league roster as a long relief/rotation depth option, as they’re currently dealing with various pitching injuries. Sonny Gray and Bailey Ober recently landed on the injured list, joining Josh Winder and Joe Ryan on the shelf. The Twins have already been without or lost Chris Paddack, Kenta Maeda and Randy Dobnak to longer-term issues, and while Gray and Ryan seem to be trending towards a return, there’s an argument for stockpiling depth considering the injury histories of most of Minnesota’s arms.
González has started five of eight games with the Twins’ top affiliate in St. Paul this season. He’s worked 36 2/3 innings with a 3.44 ERA, striking out a league average 23.2% of opponents with an excellent 55.7% ground-ball rate. That’s solid work in the high minors for the former first-round pick, but he struggled to a 6.15 ERA in the majors with the Rockies from 2019-21.
Felix Pena Signs With KBO’s Hanwha Eagles
June 10: The Hanwha Eagles announced agreement with Pena on a deal that will pay him $500K for the remainder of the season (h/t to Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap). He’ll take the roster spot of former Pirates and Blue Jays righty Nick Kingham, who was released last week due to an elbow injury.
June 8: Right-hander Felix Pena is exercising an opt-out in his minor league deal with the Mets in order to sign with a team in the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link). It’s not clear yet which club Pena will sign with.
Pena, 32, signed with the Mets over the winter on the heels of an outstanding showing in the Dominican Winter League (1.91 ERA, 27-to-7 K/BB ratio in 33 innings). He’s appeared in eight games with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse thus far — six starts and a pair of relief appearances — working to a 4.06 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate and very strong walk and ground-ball rates (7.0% and 53.3%, respectively).
A solid swingman with the Halos from 2018-20, Pena turned in a combined 215 2/3 innings of 4.34 ERA ball with a 23.6% strikeout rate, a 7.7% walk rate and a 43.4% grounder rate during that three-year run. He’s made 24 starts at the MLB level in addition to another 80 relief outings, though it’s likely he’ll work out of a rotation in the KBO.
Pena suffered an ACL tear with the 2019 Angels, rebounded with a solid 2020 effort and then posted disastrous results both in the Majors and in Triple-A during the 2021 season. A hamstring strain shelved him for the first six weeks last season, and he was clobbered for seven runs in just 1 2/3 frames upon returning. The Halos passed him through waivers and retained his rights, but he surrendered 61 innings in 68 1/3 Triple-A frames over the remainder of the year in Salt Lake.
That ugly sequence took him off the MLB radar, but Pena’s strong showing in winter ball and solid work in Triple-A look to have earned him a six-figure salary overseas. If he shows well enough in the KBO, he could potentially put himself back on the MLB map, as we’ve seen with increasing frequency in recent years.
Roberto Osuna Signs With NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines
Reliever Roberto Osuna has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced yesterday. Mexican publication Beisbolpuro first reported the agreement (Twitter link) last week.
Osuna has spent the 2022 season playing in the Mexican League, where he’s appeared in 12 games with the Diablos Rojos del México. He tossed 13 1/3 innings of three-run ball, striking out 15 batters and collecting six saves. That strong work caught the attention of the Marines, who figure to install Osuna at the back end of their bullpen.
The 27-year-old hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2020, when he was outrighted off the Astros roster. Osuna had missed much of that season with an elbow injury that limited him to four appearances. That malady initially came with a recommendation he undergo Tommy John surgery, but a second opinion suggested he could rehab without going under the knife. He’s spent the past couple seasons pitching in Mexico and seems to have recovered from the elbow issue, considering how effective he’s been for the Diablos Rojos.
Of greater import is that Osuna served a 75-game suspension in 2018 for violating the MLB – MLBPA Domestic Violence Policy. A member of the Blue Jays at the time, he was arrested in Canada and charged with the assault of his then-girlfriend. He later agreed to a one-year peace bond, with the alleged victim withdrawing the charges to resolve the criminal case.
Per the Canadian Department of Justice’s web site, peace bonds are generally used when “an individual (the defendant) appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed.” The Canadian Department of Justice further adds that peace bonds are obtainable by “any person who fears that another person may injure them, their spouse or common-law partner, or a child, or may damage their property.”
The Astros acquired Osuna from Toronto at the 2018 trade deadline while he was in the midst of serving his suspension. He posted excellent numbers, tossing 103 innings of 2.53 ERA ball with a 26.1% strikeout rate through the end of 2019. He led the American League with 38 saves in 2019, his most recent full season in the majors. There’s little question of his on-field effectiveness when he’s healthy, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll get another MLB opportunity at any point down the line.
Padres Outright Kyle Tyler
The Padres announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
Tyler has spent a good portion of the past few months in a state of limbo, as this was his fifth DFA since mid-March. After being cut loose by the Angels, he was claimed by the Red Sox, then the Padres, back to the Angels, followed by a second claim by the Padres. This time, he made it through waivers unclaimed and will now stick with the Chihuahuas. He does not have enough service time to reject an outright assignment, meaning he will stay in the Padres’ organization without taking up a spot on the 40-man roster.
Tyler, 25, only has 12 1/3 MLB innings on his ledger, meaning the widespread interest he’s garnered on the waiver wire is mostly due to his minor league work. Last year, in 86 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he had a 3.66 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. This year, he’s thrown 16 1/3 innings for the Chihuahuas with a 5.51 ERA. He’s still getting strikeouts at a nice 26.8% clip but his walk rate has ballooned up to 19.7% in that sample.
Reds To Select Chris Okey
The Reds are going to select the contract of catcher Chris Okey, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. He will join the club’s catching corps, which took a big hit today with the announcement that Tyler Stephenson fractured his thumb and will be out for a month or more. He will head to the injured list in a corresponding move. The club already has a vacancy on their 40-man roster due to Mike Moustakas going on the Covid-IL earlier this week.
Okey was selected in the second round, 43rd overall, by the Reds in the 2016 draft. Considered to be a bat-first catcher at the time, he was ranked as the #14 Reds’ prospect by Baseball America in 2017, with FanGraphs showing a bit more confidence by placing him at #8 in the system. However, the next season, he dropped to #26 on the FG list and off the BA list entirely, as injuries slowed his progress and his bat didn’t quite live up to expectations.
Despite losing some prospect shine, Okey is having a nice season here in 2022. Through 74 plate appearances in 24 Triple-A games, he’s hitting .265/.324/.441. That production is good enough for him to have a wRC+ of 102 on the year, 2% better than the league average hitter, though catchers typically produce a bit less than other hitters. There is perhaps a bit of good luck in there, as his .386 BABIP is well above previous seasons, and he also has a 31.1% strikeout rate on the year. The 27-year-old will make his MLB debut as soon as he gets into a game.
With Stephenson out for the next few weeks, Okey and Aramis Garcia will make up the club’s catching duo. Mark Kolozsvary is also on the 40-man and playing in Triple-A, but the Reds evidently want to get a look at their former second-rounder and see how he fares at the big league level.
Red Sox To Select Rob Refsnyder
The Red Sox are selecting the contract of utility player Rob Refsnyder, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. A corresponding move will be required in order to create a spot on the 40-man roster for him. Additionally, the club announced it has reinstated right-hander Hansel Robles from the IL and optioned fellow righty Phillips Valdez in a corresponding move.
Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, Refsnyder joined the big league club earlier this year but was designated as a Covid substitute and therefore was able to be removed from the roster without being exposed to waivers. He got into three games in April before being returned to the minors. He’s having a monster season in Triple-A through 42 games on the season, with a batting line of .306/.429/.524. That amounts to a wRC+ of 156, or 56% better than the league average hitter.
If Refsnyder, 31, can carry anything resembling that type of production to the big leagues, it would be a tremendous boon to the team and his own career numbers. In 235 MLB games to this point, he’s hit .226/.312/.312 for a wRC+ of 72. However, even if he doesn’t hit at an elite level, he’ll at least provide the team with some positional versatility. He’s spent time at first, second and third base as well as all three outfield positions in his career, though he’s only played in the outfield for Worcester this year.
The club hasn’t gotten much offensive production out of its outfield this year. Franchy Cordero, Alex Verdugo, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Arroyo each have a wRC+ between 55 and 95 on the year, indicating that they’ve all been hitting at below-average rates on the season. Enrique Hernandez, recently placed on the IL, also fits this bill with a wRC+ of 73 on the year.
As for Robles, he was dealing with back spasms and last pitched on May 22. He was off to a good start to the year before hitting the IL, throwing 17 innings with a 2.65 ERA. Their might have been some good fortune in there, however, as his 16.2% strikeout rate was well below his career rate of 25.3% and his .188 BABIP was nowhere near his .279 career number.
Royals Sign Roman Quinn To Minor League Deal
The Royals have signed outfielder Roman Quinn to a minor league deal, according to a tweet from the Omaha Storm Chasers, the club’s Triple-A affiliate.
Quinn has spent the vast majority of his career with the Phillies so far, as they drafted him back in 2011. Although he was considered a very noteworthy prospect, even taking the final spot on Baseball America’s Top 100 list in 2013, he’s been slowed by injuries at the big league level. Despite appearing in six MLB seasons to this point, he’s gotten into just 201 total games in that time, never getting into more than 50 in any individual season. He’s never been able to get into much of a groove at the plate in his stop-and-start career, with an MLB batting line of .223/.300/.343, wRC+ of 74. Despite that tepid production at the plate, he’s still provided value with his speed, as Statcast estimates his glovework to have been worth 7 Outs Above Average in his career. Quinn also has 43 stolen bases in his limited MLB action so far.
The Phillies designated him for assignment at the end of last year, with Quinn eventually electing free agency. He signed a minors deal with the Marlins but returned to the open market after not making the club’s Opening Day roster. A few days later, he went back to the Phillies’ organization on a minor league deal, getting selected back to the big league team in late April. He’s stayed healthy so far this year but still hasn’t found much success at the plate. His batting line in 40 plate appearances this year is currently .162/.225/.189, wRC+ of just 20. He’s also struck out in 37.5% of his plate appearances. He was designated for assignment last week, clearing waivers and electing to return to free agency.
Quinn won’t have a clear path back to the big leagues with the Royals immediately, though it’s possible that could change in the coming months. The Royals are currently 18-37, which is the worst record in all of baseball. Although there’s still over six weeks until the trade deadline, they will need an incredible turnaround in that time to avoid the fate of being deadline sellers. The club’s primary outfield consists of Whit Merrifield, Michael A. Taylor and Andrew Benintendi, none of whom have extensive windows of club control. Merrifield is controlled through 2023 with a mutual option for 2024, though he’s unlikely to be moved. He’s been the subject of trade rumors for years but the organization has continued to hold onto him. Given that he’s having the worst season of his career, it’s doubtful the club would suddenly change course and sell while his value is at a low ebb. Benintendi, however, is headed towards free agency at season’s end, while Taylor is controlled through 2023. If the Royals end up pulling the trigger on a trade, they’ll have Quinn on hand as an option to spend some time on the grass in the post-deadline portion of the season.