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Cardinals Sign Luis Garcia

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The Cardinals announced Friday that they’ve signed free-agent righty Luis Garcia to a Major League contract. He’ll take the 26-man roster spot of Johan Oviedo, who was optioned to Triple-A Memphis yesterday. Carlos Martinez has been moved to the 60-day injured list in order to create a roster spot.

Garcia, 34, spent the first part of the season in the Yankees organization and pitched well for their Triple-A affiliate before being granted his release a couple days ago. In 17 1/3 frames with Scranton, he pitched to a 3.63 ERA with a 27.5 percent strikeout rate and a 4.3 percent walk rate.

While Garcia didn’t make it to the big leagues with the Yankees, he’s racked up 315 innings across parts of eight Major League seasons — mostly coming with the Phillies. From 2013-18, Garcia was an oft-used member of the Philadelphia bullpen, pitching to a 4.15 ERA over the life of 244 2/3 innings. His age-30 season, in particular, was an excellent campaign that saw the righty post a career-best 2.65 ERA in a career-high 71 1/3 innings.

Garcia has struggled in the three seasons since that outstanding effort, however, posting a combined 5.26 ERA and 4.94 FIP with the Phillies, Angels and Rangers in that time. He’ll look to right the ship with his fourth big league organization and also give the Cards some depth at a time when their pitching staff has been hit hard by injuries.

Martinez’s move to the 60-day injured list comes just two days after he was placed on the 10-day IL, so he’ll spend the remainder of the 2021 season on the shelf. A lengthy absence was expected to be in store for the right-hander, however, given that he tore a ligament in his right thumb. Martinez has had a roller coaster of a season, pitching to a 6.23 ERA overall, but the overwhelming bulk of the damage against him has been confined to a pair of starts: a 10-run drubbing by the Dodgers on June 2 and an eight-run meltdown in Atlanta just two starts later.

Outside of those two starts, Martinez has been a serviceable member of an increasingly injury-marred Cardinals rotation. He has a combined 4.46 ERA in his other 14 outings and has at the very least kept the Cards in the game more often than not. He’ll now join Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas on the injured list, however, leaving the Cardinals with just three starters on the roster at the moment: Adam Wainwright, Kwang Hyun Kim and Wade LeBlanc.

Rotation upgrades figure to be the main focus for the Cards as the July 30 trade deadline approaches — at least if they don’t pivot the other direction and sell off some veteran pieces.

Indians Release Rene Rivera

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The Indians have released veteran catcher Rene Rivera, per the transactions log at MLB.com. Cleveland designated him for assignment this past weekend after activating Roberto Perez from the injured list.

Rivera, who’ll turn 38 at the end of the month, was signed to a minor league deal earlier this year and made his way to the big leagues when Perez first landed on the injured list. He logged 21 games behind the plate with Cleveland, batting .236/.300/.400 in 63 plate appearances. Rivera connected on a pair of homers and three doubles, but he also fanned in 24 of those 63 trips to the plate (38 percent).

The Indians currently have fellow veterans Ryan Lavarnway and Wilson Ramos (who recently signed with Cleveland) on their Triple-A roster, which left Rivera without much of an opportunity even in the upper minors. He’ll head back to the free-agent market and look for another opportunity. In parts of 13 seasons split between nine different clubs, Rivera is a .221/.273/.355 hitter who boasts an elite 36 percent caught-stealing rate and a generally strong defensive reputation (though his defensive marks were down during his brief Cleveland run).

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/8/21

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Today’s minor moves:

  • The Blue Jays announced they’ve acquired outfield prospect Darlin Guzman from the Reds as the player to be named later in the teams’ January deal that sent right-hander Héctor Pérez to Cincinnati. Guzman joined the Reds during the 2017-18 international signing period and spent the next two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. He hit .306/.361/.537 over 391 plate appearances in the DSL and was with the Reds’ Arizona Complex League team in 2021. The 20-year-old has never appeared on a Reds system ranking at Baseball America or FanGraphs. Pérez, meanwhile, was outrighted off the 40-man roster last month after struggling with Triple-A Louisville. He remains in the organization but hasn’t made a big league appearance with Cincinnati.
  • The Cubs announced that catcher Taylor Gushue has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa. The 27-year-old does not have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization as high minors depth. A longtime Nationals farmhand, Gushue signed with the Cubs over the winter and has hit .272/.328/.440 over 137 plate appearances with Iowa this season. That earned him his first promotion to the major leagues last week, but he was designated for assignment having appeared in just two games when Chicago signed Robinson Chirinos to a big league deal.

A’s Select Jacob Wilson, Place Chad Pinder On IL

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The Athletics announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Jacob Wilson from Triple-A Las Vegas and placed Chad Pinder on the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring strain. A’s skipper Bob Melvin tells reporters that Pinder’s injury is going to sideline him “awhile,” noting that the strain is in the middle of the hamstring muscle and that such injuries are “probably at least a month” (Twitter link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle).

Wilson, 30, will be making his MLB debut nine years after being selected by the Cardinals in the 10th round of the 2012 draft. He’s since bounced to the Nationals for a few seasons and also spent a year with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Lotte Giants. After inking a minor league deal over the winter, he headed to Vegas and has mashed at a .288/.385/.630 clip while slugging 14 home runs, 17 doubles and a pair of triples in 218 plate appearances.

Wilson has played all over the diamond in his pro career, though his primary positions have been second base and third base. He’s also logged nearly 500 innings at first base, and the A’s have been giving him time in left field so far in 2021 as well. He’ll give them a right-handed bat to help cover for Pinder’s absence. In 1409 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Wilson is a .263/.341/.462 hitter.

This is the second IL stint of the season for Pinder, who missed more than a month earlier in the year thanks to a left knee sprain. The 29-year-old has been a versatile and valuable role player for the A’s in recent years, but he’s struggling through the least-productive season of his MLB tenure to date, batting just .216/.269/.358 with the second-highest strikeout rate (27.6 percent) and second-lowest walk rate (5.5 percent) of his career.

Dodgers Select Darien Nunez

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The Dodgers announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Darien Nunez and optioned right-hander Mitch White to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Their 40-man roster is now full.

Nunez, 28, signed with the Dodgers out of Cuba back in 2018 and has consistently posted solid numbers out of the bullpen as he’s risen through their system. He’s gotten his first experience at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2021, pitching to a combined 2.70 ERA with a 35.3 percent strikeout rate and a 12.6 percent walk rate in 30 innings. Obviously, the Dodgers will hope his control of the strike zone improves — he’s also hit a batter and tossed three wild pitches — but it’s a generally encouraging showing for the lefty.

Nunez has never ranked among the Dodgers’ best prospect, perhaps in part due to his age, but he’ll nevertheless get his first look at the MLB level. Since he’s only just been selected, he’ll be optionable for all of this year and each of the two subsequent seasons, which could make him an up-and-down bit of depth while he looks to establish himself. The Dodgers frequently turn over the edges of their pitching staff — as White, who has now been optioned five times in 2021 aloone, can attest. Nunez will now be part of that churn for the foreseeable future, and he’ll give manager Dave Roberts a third lefty alongside David Price and Garrett Cleavinger while Victor Gonzalez is on the injured list due to plantar fasciitis.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/7/21

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Today’s minor transactions:

  • Left-hander Ryan Buchter has cleared outright waivers, the Diamondbacks announced. Arizona designated the veteran reliever for assignment earlier in the week. Buchter was a generally productive middle innings arm between 2016-19, but he didn’t see much action in 2020 and has had a poor season in 2021. Buchter tossed 14 2/3 innings with the D-Backs, pitching to a 5.52 ERA with 13 strikeouts and walks apiece. As a player who has previously been passed through outright waivers, he has the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency.
  • The Red Sox have released left-hander Bobby Poyner, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). Poyner tossed 34 innings out of the Boston bullpen between 2018-19, working to a 4.50 ERA/3.68 SIERA. Boston passed him through outright waivers in January 2020, and he’d spent the 2021 campaign with Triple-A Worcester. Poyner has struggled in 13 innings at the minors’ highest level this year, allowing 15 runs on 22 hits (including six homers), two walks and three hit batsmen.
  • Nationals infielder Humberto Arteaga has apparently cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment over the weekend. Arteaga has been back in action for the Nats Triple-A affiliate in Rochester the past two nights. He’s spent most of the year with the Red Wings but was selected to the major league roster for a day last week, going 0-3 with a sacrifice fly. Arteaga was waived after the Nats acquired Alcides Escobar from the Royals to fill their vacant utility infield role.

Brewers Select Jandel Gustave

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The Brewers selected right-hander Jandel Gustave to the 40-man roster before the second game of today’s doubleheader against the Mets. Milwaukee acquired the 28-year-old from the division-rival Pirates last month. Gustave is active for tonight’s game in New York as the designated “27th man” for the doubleheader. The Brewers already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

If he makes an appearance, Gustave will return to the big leagues for the first time since 2019. He’s appeared in parts of three major league seasons, tossing 44 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball with the Astros and Giants. While Gustave’s run prevention numbers have been solid, he has struck out just 17.4% of opposing hitters in the big leagues while walking a slightly elevated 10.9% of batters faced.

Before tonight, Gustave had spent the entire 2021 season in Triple-A. Split between the Pirates and Brewers affiliates, he’s tossed 17 innings at the minors’ highest level over as many appearances, working to a 3.71 ERA with a strong 21:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Dodgers Outright Yoshi Tsutsugo

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The Dodgers have passed first baseman/corner outfielder Yoshi Tsutsugo through outright waivers, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times was among those to relay. He’ll remain with the organization at Triple-A Oklahoma City but no longer occupies a spot on the 40-man roster.

The Rays originally signed Tsutsugo to a two-year, $12MM contract during the 2019-20 offseason after he’d put together a standout career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He never carried that success over with Tampa Bay, though, hitting just .187/.292/.336 across 272 plate appearances with the Rays. Tampa Bay designated him for assignment in mid-May, and the Dodgers acquired him for cash considerations or a player to be named later, assuming a little more than $430K of Tsutsugo’s contract in the process.

Tsutsugo only picked up 31 plate appearances with the Dodgers before landing on the injured list with a right calf strain. He’s been on a minor league rehab assignment after recovering from that injury, but the twenty-day period allotted for rehab assignments was set to expire. Los Angeles has since gotten back Cody Bellinger from his own IL stint, while Albert Pujols has been decent as a part-time first baseman and bench bat. That evidently left no room on the roster for Tsutsugo.

The 29-year-old will remain as hand as high minors depth. Should the need for a left-handed corner bat emerge in the next few months, the Dodgers could give Tsutsugo another look, but he’d need to again be selected to the 40-man roster.

Phillies Sign Cam Bedrosian

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The Phillies have signed reliever Cam Bedrosian to a minor league contract, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer was among those to relay. He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Bedrosian will be joining his third organization of the year. After spending 2014-20 with the Angels, he signed with the Reds over the winter. His six appearances with Cincinnati were disastrous, though, and the Reds cut him loose. Bedrosian hooked on with the A’s and performed better over nine games in the Bay Area, but Oakland nevertheless designated him for assignment last week. After clearing waivers for the second time this season, the veteran righty elected free agency.

Philadelphia seems to be a good landing spot for Bedrosian to work his way back to the majors relatively quickly. For the second consecutive season, the Phils have had a nightmarish time late in games. Phillies relievers rank 25th in ERA (4.92) and have blow a league-worst 22 leads, despite a 3.89 SIERA that’s hovering right around league average. The Phils have had particular issues in the ninth inning, leading to a recent shakeup in the closer role.

Because of his disastrous start with Cincinnati, Bedrosian’s sitting on a 5.52 ERA/4.93 SIERA across 14 2/3 innings this year. His more recent work with Oakland was adequate, though, and Bedrosian brings a rather strong track record to the Philadelphia system. He was one of the top relievers in baseball back in 2016, when he tossed 40 1/3 frames of 1.12 ERA ball. His work over the past few seasons has been closer to average; he posted a 3.41 ERA with a slightly below-average 22.5% strikeout rate and a typical 9.2% walk percentage between 2018-20.

Even a return to his competent but not overwhelming form of the past couple years would be a boon to a Phillies bullpen looking for answers to their recurring struggles. In an interesting coincidence, Bedrosian’s father Steve played for the Phillies from 1986-89, winning the 1987 NL Cy Young award.

Pirates Sign Dee Strange-Gordon To Minors Deal

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The Pirates have signed infielder Dee Strange-Gordon to a minor league contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  Strange-Gordon will report to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate.

As Passan notes, Strange-Gordon has made it almost a full circuit around the NL Central within the last five months, after previously being released from minor league deals with the Reds and Brewers, and then he opted out of a minors contract with the Cubs just yesterday.  All of this movement hasn’t resulted in any MLB playing time for Strange-Gordon, though a more clear path back to the majors might exist in the Steel City.

The Pirates have seen their infield depth considerably thinned within the last week, with Colin Moran, Erik Gonzalez, and Phillip Evans all placed on the 10-day injured list.  Gregory Polanco’s own IL stint (due to a bilateral adductor strain) has further subtracted from the position player mix, and Strange-Gordon did accumulate some outfield experience in his three seasons with the Mariners.  While the rebuilding Pirates are more prone to take a look at younger players than a veteran like Strange-Gordon, he can at least provide some depth in the event of any more injuries, or perhaps if any Pittsburgh players are moved prior to the July 30 trade deadline.

While it has been some time since Strange-Gordon was even a league-average hitter, he does offer some multi-positional versatility as a shortstop, second baseman, and outfielder.  Even as his batting declined over three seasons with Seattle, Strange-Gordon was still a threat on the basepaths, going 22-for-27 in stolen base attempts as recently as 2019.

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