Pirates Designate Jose Soriano For Assignment, Select Diego Castillo
Nov 14: Soriano has cleared waivers and been returned to the Angels, per Jack Harris of the L.A. Times.
Nov 7: The Pirates announced that right-hander Jose Soriano has been designated for assignment. The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for infielder Diego Castillo, whose contract has been selected to the 40-man.
Soriano threw only 3 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh’s A-ball affiliate in Bradenton this season, as the 23-year-old had to undergo his second Tommy John surgery in as many seasons. Soriano first went under the knife in February 2020 when he was still a member of the Angels organization, but the Pirates rolled the dice and selected Soriano in last December’s Rule 5 draft.
Soriano’s latest surgery took place in mid-June, so considering the usual 13-15 month timeline for TJ recoveries and the fact that this is already Soriano’s second operation in such a brief period, it certainly doesn’t seem like he’ll see any action during the 2022 season. It’s a brutal outcome for a youngster who showed such intriguing promise when pitching in the Angels’ farm system, as Soriano drew plenty of attention thanks to his big fastball and strikeout numbers. Soriano has mostly worked as a starting pitcher, but he was seen as a potential power reliever or even a closer candidate thanks to his one-two punch of a fastball and curve, even if walks continued to be an issue.
Not to be confused with the veteran reliever of the same name, the Pirates’ Diego Castillo is a 24-year-old infielder who joined the organization from the Yankees this past July as part of the Clay Holmes trade. Castillo hadn’t hit much over his first four minor league seasons, but after the canceled 2020 minor league campaign, his bat took a big step forward in his return to action. Castillo hit .278/.355/.487 with 19 home runs in 440 total plate appearances in 2021, with those PA split over the Yankees’ Double-A team and the Pirates’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.
Between this development at the plate and his ability to play second base, third base, and shortstop, Castillo has put himself on the radar as a candidate to reach the majors next season. As noted by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Castillo would’ve been eligible for minor league free agency if the Pirates hadn’t put him on the 40-man roster.
Brewers Acquire Mike Brosseau From Rays
The Brewers have acquired utilityman Mike Brosseau from the Rays in exchange for minor league right-hander Evan Reifert. Both teams have officially announced the trade.
One of many multi-positional players coming through the Rays’ pipeline, Brosseau was an undrafted free agent who rose through Tampa’s ranks to appear in 143 games over the last three seasons. Brosseau hit .284/.343/.500 with 11 homers over 240 plate appearances in 2019-20, and looked to be on the verge of becoming a regular in the Rays’ infield mix before struggling in 2021.
Brosseau never seemed to get on track in the early going, and then found himself frequently shuttled back and forth between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham. An oblique strain in July further hampered his season, and overall, Brosseau hit only .187/.266/.347 over 169 PA for the Rays. This apparently made Brosseau an expendable piece for a Rays team deep in infield depth, and as broadcaster Neil Solondz notes, the Rays now also open up a roster spot in advance of the 40-man roster deadline on November 19.
The Brewers have a pattern of seeking out versatile players, and Brosseau has plenty of experience at multiple positions. He has mostly played second base and third base throughout his pro career, but also has seen a decent chunk of action as a shortstop, first baseman, and corner outfielder. A right-handed hitter, Brosseau can serve as a complement to lefty swingers Kolten Wong at second base or Rowdy Tellez at first base. With Brosseau now in the fold, it could increase the chances that Milwaukee parts ways with at least one of Daniel Vogelbach or Jace Peterson prior to November 19, or the December 2 non-tender deadline.
Reifert is also technically an undrafted player, as though he was a 30th-round pick for the Rangers in 2018, he opted to attend college rather than begin his pro career at that stage. He instead signed with the Brewers in 2020, as Reifert wasn’t selected in the shortened five-round 2020 draft.
The 22-year-old righty looked good in his first season, posting a 2.10 ERA with a stunning 40.23% strikeout rate over 60 combined relief innings with the Brewers’ high-A and A-ball affiliates. Those missed bats came with some shaky control, however, as Reifert’s walk rate was a concerning 14.06%. Reifert possesses an upper-90s fastball, so if the Rays can improve his command, the team will have yet another hard-throwing bullpen weapon at their disposal in the next season or two.
Rockies Re-Sign Jhoulys Chacin
Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin has agreed on a one-year deal to return to the Rockies, as per Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (via Twitter). The team has announced the signing. Chacin’s deal is worth $1.25MM, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter).
Chacin, 34 in January, had his best years in purple from 2009 to 2014. He returned to Colorado last season, making 46 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen. Though it was a different role than the last time Chacin pitched for the Rockies, he put together his best season since 2018 nevertheless, logging 64 1/3 innings with a 4.34 ERA/4.63 FIP.
Chacin’s best season overall came in that 2018 season when he made 35 starts for a playoff-bound Brewers’ squad that won 96 games and the NL Central crown. Chacin won a career-high 15 games with a 3.50 ERA/4.03 FIP in 192 2/3 innings. He kept it up in the postseason, making three starts and giving up just two earned runs over 12 1/3 innings, which included a game two victory over the Rockies in the NLDS.
Though Chacin has more career playoff innings against the Rockies than for them, they have nonetheless shared a productive partnership over the years. Chacin figures to remain in the bullpen as a multi-inning option in 2022. Overall, Chacin owns a 4.06 ERA/4.08 FIP in 1,388 1/3 innings across 13 seasons with the Rockies, Brewers, Braves, Diamondbacks, Angels, Padres, and Red Sox. He surpassed 10 years of service time last season.
Adam Conley Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency
Left-handed pitcher Adam Conley, who was recently designated for assignment by the Rays, has cleared waivers and elected free agency per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
The 31-year-old Conley pitched effectively for a dominant Rays team after signing a surprise minor league deal in May. The jarring nature of Conley’s contract with the Rays came after he backed out of a deal with NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, citing pandemic-related concerns.
For all the tumult of the reliever’s offseason though, the effects weren’t particular pronounced on his bottom-line results. Conley pitched to a 2.29 ERA across 19+ innings for Tampa Bay, albeit with less shiny peripherals and minor league numbers (4.35 ERA in 31 Triple-A innings). Some good BABIP fortune largely explains the hurler’s pristine ERA, but even when factoring that in his ability to limit walks and avoid hard contact were definite pluses. Another team will likely sign Conley to a low-risk deal to serve as depth in the coming months, perhaps eyeing a bit of upside if his effectiveness in this year’s small sample size proves sustainable.
Orioles Re-Sign Spenser Watkins
The Orioles have re-signed right-hander Spenser Watkins to a new minor league deal, MASNsports.com’s Melanie Newman reports (Twitter link). The contract contains an invitation to Baltimore’s spring camp.
Watkins elected free agency four days ago, shortly after the Orioles outrighted him off their 40-man roster. The 2021 season saw Watkins made his MLB debut, and the righty posted an 8.07 ERA over 54 2/3 innings for the O’s. Watkins started 10 of his 16 appearances, and pitched well over his first three starts before batters started adjusting in a big way. Watkins allowed 14 homers over his 54 2/3 frames, and had only a 13.7% strikeout rate.
Never a big strikeout pitcher even in the minors, Watkins has an 3.86 ERA over 625 1/3 innings of minor league work, mostly in the Tigers’ farm system before Detroit released him in 2020. Baltimore signed Watkins to a minors deal last offseason and he performed well enough at Triple-A Norfolk to finally get the call to the Show. The 29-year-old Watkins will likely continue to serve as rotation depth in the minors, though he’ll get a chance to compete for a roster spot at Spring Training.
Yankees Sign Joely Rodriguez
The Yankees have signed left-handed pitcher Joely Rodriguez to a one-year contract, per a team announcement. Just three days ago, the club paid him a $500K buyout and declined their $3MM club option for the southpaw, but have now quickly brought him back into the fold. Joel Sherman of the New York Post relays that the new deal is for $2MM, meaning the club saved themselves $500K by letting him reach free agency for a few days. Although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that there’s also $250K of incentives in the deal.
When the Yankees first acquired Rodriguez as part of the Joey Gallo trade, he had an ERA of 5.93 through 27 1/3 innings with the Rangers. Despite that high ERA, there were reasons for optimism, as he had an excellent 63.9% groundball rate, to go along with average-ish strikeout and walk rates of 23.4% and 9.4%, respectively. After coming to the Bronx, he logged 19 more innings with an ERA of 2.84.
This year’s left-handed relief market doesn’t have a lot of standouts, with Aaron Loup, Brooks Raley, Andrew Chafin and Tony Watson representing the cream of the crop. The Yankees have acted quickly and scooped up one of the options that they saw up close and clearly liked enough to bring back, as long as the price was right.
This acts as a sort of early birthday present for Rodriguez, as he will be turning 30 in four days. He’ll slot into a Yankee bullpen alongside other lefty options such as Aroldis Chapman, Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge. The club’s 40-man roster is now full.
Dodgers Sign Andrew Heaney
Andrew Heaney is headed back to Southern California, as the Dodgers announced on Wednesday that they’d signed the southpaw to a one-year contract that’ll reportedly pay him $8.5MM. Heaney is a client of Icon Sports Management.
It’s the first major significant free agent strike of the offseason, as Heaney checked in 50th on MLBTR’s just-released free agent rankings. His reported contract terms land a couple million dollars north of MLBTR’s projected $6MM guarantee. The southpaw split the 2021 campaign between the Angels and the Yankees, who acquired him at the trade deadline for a pair of pitching prospects.
The past few seasons haven’t been smooth for Heaney, as he’s posted an ERA of 4.46 or higher every year since 2018. The 2021 campaign was especially challenging, as the 30-year-old managed just a 5.83 ERA over 129 2/3 frames. He struggled at both stops, posting a 5.27 mark in Orange County and putting up a ghastly 7.32 figure in pinstripes. Those issues in the Bronx became significant enough for the Yankees to transition him into a bullpen role and eventually outright him off the 40-man roster just before the end of the season.
Needless to say, Heaney hasn’t gotten the results he or his teams have desired in recent seasons. His poor run prevention totals are essentially attributable to what happens after batters make contact, though. Heaney fanned 26.9% of opposing hitters this past season, a mark that checks in more than four percentage points above the league average for starters. (His strikeout rate during his time as a starting pitcher was an even more impressive 27.5%). That was supported by a 12.5% swinging strike rate that’s more than a tick above average, while his 7.3% walk percentage was very slightly lower than the league mark. It’s no surprise, then, that Heaney put up a 3.84 SIERA that’s nearly two full runs lower than his ERA.
That kind of line is nothing new for Heaney, who has managed strikeout and walk numbers befitting a mid-rotation arm for the past few seasons. In each of the last four years, his SIERA has hovered between 3.74 and 4.08. Given that SIERA has proven more predictive of a pitcher’s future ERA than even past ERA itself, it’s easy to see why the Dodgers are willing to roll the dice in hopes of forthcoming positive regression. They’re not alone in their optimism, as Mark Feinsand of MLB.com relays that Heaney drew interest from twelve-plus teams during his extremely brief stay on the open market.
That said, the Dodgers aren’t acting without risk. Heaney’s bottom line ERA has exceeded his SIERA in each of the past four campaigns, largely due to consistent issues keeping the ball in the yard. Heaney has allowed home runs at a higher-than-average clip in three of the past four years, and he was among the game’s most homer-prone arms this past season. The former first-round pick allowed 2.01 HR per nine innings in 2021, a rate eclipsed by just five other hurlers (minimum 100 IP). That’s an untenable mark no matter how good a pitcher’s strikeout and walk rates are, so Heaney and the Dodgers’ coaching staff will have to formulate a plan to better avoid the longball in 2022.
While Heaney finished this year in the Yankees’ bullpen, he seems likely to get a crack in the Los Angeles rotation to open next season. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource projects he’ll be joined by Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urías and David Price at the moment, and there’s certainly the possibility for future additions. Heaney’s reported deal pushes the Dodgers’ projected payroll to $206MM, about $40MM shy of the figure the club carried into 2021, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Should they desire, the Dodgers likely still have the resources to pursue a reunion with star free agents Max Scherzer and/or Clayton Kershaw.
As for Heaney, he returns to an area of the country in which he’s spent most of the past seven years. It’ll technically be his second stint as a Dodger, as Heaney was a member of the organization for a few hours between trades during the 2014 Winter Meetings (a tenure highlighted by a tongue-in-cheek tweet thanking the club for their “good run” together). If his results converge with his more promising underlying numbers in 2022, he’d hit next offseason’s free agent market with a good chance at landing a much stronger multi-year deal. In the intervening season, he’ll try to help the Dodgers to their tenth straight playoff appearance and third consecutive trip to the NL Championship Series.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported that Heaney and the Dodgers were in agreement on a one-year deal worth north of $8MM. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported Heaney’s salary at $8.5MM.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/10/21
Some minor moves taking place during this year’s GM Meetings:
- The Orioles have landed right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia on a minor league accord, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. A 30th-rounder drafted out of Hawaii Pacific University by the Rockies in 2016, Garcia has posted promising (if inconsistent) results throughout his minor league career as a starter. The righty received brief looks in the Major Leagues for a 2019 Rockies team and a 2020 Giants team before undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the 2021 season with the San Francisco organization. He will likely serve as relief depth for a Baltimore team that needs it on the heels of a historically poor pitching season.
- The Angels have struck a minor league deal with outfielder Aaron Whitefield, reports SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson. The 25-year-old Whitefield signed with the Twins out of his native Australia back in 2015 and had been a staple in their minor league ranks since. The speedster is coming off a decent Double-A campaign in 2021 where hit .257/.327/.353 but with a tantalizing number of steals (36, in 48 attempts) and centerfield-capable defense. He’ll now serve as a depth option for a Los Angeles team that is frequently beset with injuries and look to get called up to the Majors for the first time since a three-game cameo with Minnesota in 2020.
Tigers Outright Drew Carlton
Tigers reliever Drew Carlton has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the 40-man roster, relays Evan Woodbery of MLive (Twitter link). Detroit’s 40-man roster tally now sits at 39.
Carlton was selected to make his big league debut in September. The 26-year-old made four appearances down the stretch, allowing a pair of runs on six hits and four walks with a strikeout over his first 3 2/3 MLB innings. That brief stint wasn’t great, but Carlton had a far more impressive showing throughout the year with the Mud Hens. He frequently worked multiple frames of relief in Triple-A, compiling 52 1/3 innings over 33 outings. In that time, Carlton posted an impressive 2.92 ERA with a fine 23.6% strikeout percentage and a stellar 4.8% walk rate.
The righty doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization. Assuming he’s not selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft, Carlton figures to get an opportunity to compete for a roster spot next Spring Training.
Nationals Re-Sign Sean Nolin, Alberto Baldonado
The Nationals have re-signed left-handed pitchers Sean Nolin and Alberto Baldonado to minor league deals, reports The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty. Both pitchers saw game action at the Major League level this year for the Nats, though it’s easy to infer from the minor league nature of the deals that the results weren’t what either player was hoping for.
The 31-year-old Nolin is the more senior of the two, having bounced around quite a bit since his pro debut in 2010. In fact, dating back to Nolin’s first minor league action a decade ago, he has pitched just 58 innings at the Major League level, pitching overseas and on the Indie circuit sporadically throughout the past couple of years. Last offseason, the Nationals took a flier on the journeyman pitcher after a year abroad pitching for the Seibu Lions, assigning him to Triple-A where he posted serviceable numbers out of the rotation. Nolin was called up to the parent club in August and posted a 4.39 ERA in 26+ innings, albeit with troubling strikeout (16.3%) and walk rates (10.6%) as well as a suspension to show for his time.
Baldonado has had a similarly adventurous career, pitching in the Indie circuit as well as the Mexican League before making his Major League debut this past season for Washington. Like Nolin, Baldonado provided strong strikeout and run prevention numbers in Triple-A but ran into some difficulty after being promoted. Across 14 games, the 28-year-old rookie pitched 10+ innings of 8.44 ERA ball, showing slightly above average strikeout abilities (24.5% K rate) but offsetting that skill with seven walks and three home runs in limited action.