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Angels Select Phil Gosselin, Designate Scott Schebler

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The Angels have selected the contract of infielder Phil Gosselin and designated outfielder Scott Schebler for assignment, per a team announcement.

This is now the ninth straight season in the bigs for Gosselin, whom the Angels signed to a minor league contract over the winter. The 32-year-old has appeared in the majors with six teams, most recently the Phillies, and put together a .261/.314/.361 line in 749 plate appearances. Gosselin has experience at several positions, including third base, where he’ll start for the Angels on Tuesday. Starter Anthony Rendon will sit because of a knee contusion.

Schebler, another of the Angels’ offseason minor league additions, had his contract selected in mid-April. The two-time 30-home run hitter has failed to impress since then, however, with a mere four hits (three doubles and a single) in 27 plate appearances. Schebler struck out 11 times while recording no walks during that span.

Rangers Place Brock Holt On 10-Day IL, Select Andy Ibanez

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The Rangers announced that they have placed infielder Brock Holt on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 3, with a right hamstring strain. In other moves, the team selected the contract of infielder Andy Ibanez from Triple-A Round Rock and moved catcher Sam Huff from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL. Huff is recovering from right knee surgery.

This is already the second time this season that a right hamstring strain has forced Holt to the IL, as he missed time in April with the same issue. When Holt has been healthy enough to play, the offseason minor league signing has given the Rangers respectable offensive production with a .250/.377/.295 line in 53 plate appearances. Defensively, Holt has lined up exclusively at third base, where he has shared time with Charlie Culberson.

With Holt down, Ibanez will provide the Rangers with some extra depth in their infield. The Cuba native was Baseball America’s third-ranked international prospect in 2015, when he wound up scoring a $1.6MM payday with the Rangers. Ibanez was one of BA’s top 10 Rangers prospects during his first couple of seasons with the organization, but the 28-year-old’s stock has fallen since, and he still hasn’t appeared in the majors. As a minor leaguer, Ibanez is a .285/.352/.443 hitter with 53 home runs in 1,949 plate appearances.

Phillies Select Enyel De Los Santos

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The Phillies announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and optioned lefty Cristopher Sanchez to Triple-A.

Now 25 years old, De Los Santos joined the Phillies before 2018 in a trade that sent infielder Freddy Galvis from Philadelphia to San Diego. De Los Santos was a noteworthy prospect in his younger days, topping out as Baseball America’s sixth-best farmhand in the Philly organization in 2019.

Since a promising showing with the Phillies’ Triple-A team in 2018, De Los Santos’ production has taken a negative turn. Across 30 major league innings from 2018-19, De Los Santos put up a bloated 5.70 ERA with a 19.6 percent strikeout rate and a walk percentage of 10.2. He also threw 94 frames of 4.40 ERA ball with similar strikeout and walk rates during the 2019 Triple-A campaign.

With no minor league season in 2020, De Los Santos’ only hope of getting into a real game was to crack the Phillies’ bullpen. He was unable to do that at any point, though, and the team removed him from its 40-man roster in August.

Nationals Activate Juan Soto, Will Harris; Designate Hernan Perez

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The Nationals have activated outfielder Juan Soto and right-handed reliever Will Harris from the injured list, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com. In corresponding moves, the Nationals designated infielder/outfielder Hernan Perez for assignment and optioned righty Kyle McGowin to Triple-A.

The Nationals held an ugly 5-9 record when Soto went on the IL on April 20 with a strained left shoulder. To their credit, though, the Nats did more than stay afloat during their superstar hitter’s absence. After going 7-3 while Soto was on the shelf, Washington sits at 12-12 – good for a half-game lead in the National League East. They’ll have to continue playing without Soto at full strength for a little while longer, as manager Dave Martinez said the 22-year-old still isn’t ready to throw in games (via Zuckerman). For now, he’ll serve as a pinch-hitter. That should continue leaving right field to Yadiel Hernandez, who has come up large with a .362/.444/.500 line in 36 plate appearances.

Harris, 36, has yet to debut this year as a result of right hand inflammation. There was a fear Harris would require thoracic outlet surgery, but he avoided that procedure and will now rejoin the Nationals’ bullpen a month into the season. The club signed Harris to a three-year, $24MM contract entering last season after a strong run with the Astros. Harris did throw 17 2/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball with a 25 percent strikeout rate in 2020, though his fielding-independent numbers (4.09 xFIP, 4.13 SIERA, 4.55 FIP) were less impressive. He also experienced an increase in walks and home runs allowed, while his groundball percentage tumbled by over 12 percent from the previous season.

The 30-year-old Perez signed a minor league contract with the Nationals over the winter and then made their Opening Day roster. Perez couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity, though, as he collected one hit (a single) in 21 plate appearances and struck out 10 times, leading the Nats to boot him from their 40-man roster.

Royals Sign Alcides Escobar

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The Royals turned back the clock Tuesday, announcing that they’ve agreed to terms with veteran shortstop Alcides Escobar on a minor league deal. Escobar, the Royals’ everyday shortstop for their 2014-15 World Series teams, will head to Triple-A Omaha to begin the season.

Now 34 years old, Escobar was one of the key pieces Kansas City received in the 2010 trade that sent Zack Greinke to Milwaukee. Coming over alongside Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress, Escobar quickly established himself as a foundational piece for the Royals. He was never a huge contributor at the plate, but at his best he hit for a respectable average while racking up 30-plus steals per year and flashing Gold Glove-caliber leather.

Escobar has appeared in parts of eight seasons with the Royals in the past, batting a combined .259/.292/.344 in just over 5000 plate appearances. He spent the 2020 season with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, hitting .273/.312/.329 through 104 games.

Escobar is on hand as a depth piece right now, but with Adalberto Mondesi still sidelined and being no stranger to prolonged stints on the injured list, it makes sense to bring in some veteran depth. The Royals have already gotten a notable portion of the 2014-15 band back together, as they currently have Wade Davis, Greg Holland and Jarrod Dyson on the MLB roster alongside franchise cornerstones Salvador Perez and Danny Duffy.

Nicky Lopez has been handling shortstop work in Mondesi’s absence and has performed well in the early stages of the season, but he has a limited track record at the plat. If his bat steps back or if the Royals incur further injuries in the middle infield, it’s possible that Escobar will be brought back into the fold and given another reunion tour in front of the Kansas City faithful.

Brewers Sign Wade LeBlanc, Logan Forsythe

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The Brewers have signed left-hander Wade LeBlanc, infielder Logan Forsythe and catcher Christian Kelley to minor league contracts, per a team announcement. All three will open the season with their top minor league affiliate in Nashville.

LeBlanc, 36, began the season with the Orioles but was designated for assignment after six appearances. He spent the 2020 season with Baltimore as well, but the overall results weren’t pretty. The soft-tossing southpaw logged 29 frames with the Birds and was clobbered for 27 runs on 38 hits and nine walks with 19 strikeouts.

That said, LeBlanc has a pretty lengthy track record at the big league level and was particularly effective from 2014-18, when he tallied 321 2/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball spread across stints with the Angels, Yankees, Pirates and Mariners. He notched a career-high 162 innings with the 2018 Mariners and turned in a very solid 3.72 ERA in that time.

Forsythe, 34, brings a solid track record of his own to the Brewers. He’s spent parts of 10 seasons in the Majors and is experienced at all four infield positions. His peak came with the 2015-16 Rays, when he slashed a combined .273/.347/.444 as the team’s primary second baseman. He’s struggled at the plate and bounced around the league in journeyman fashion since that time. Overall, Forsythe is a career .244/.326/.369 hitter. He’s a versatile right-handed bat who’ll give the Brewers a depth option with a similar skill set to that of 2020 utilityman Jedd Gyorko (albeit without as much success at the plate).

The 27-year-old Kelley has never appeared in the Majors. He’s spent his career to this point in the Pirates organization, topping out with a rough Triple-A showing in 2019. Kelley was an 11th-round pick by the Bucs back in 2015 and carries only a career .229/.311/.306 batting line as a professional. However, he’s regarded as a sound defender, rating as the best defensive catcher in Pittsburgh’s system from 2018-20, per Baseball America. He’ll give the Brewers some depth with both Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina on the injured list.

Cubs Announce Series Of Roster Moves

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The Cubs announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, placing righty Jake Arrieta, infielder Nico Hoerner and reliever Dan Winkler on the 10-day injured list. Arrieta is dealing with a right thumb abrasion, while Hoerner has a left forearm strain and Winkler is being slowed by tendinitis in his right triceps. In their absence, the Cubs have recalled lefty Kyle Ryan and right-hander Keegan Thompson. They’ve also selected the contract of infielder Ildemaro Vargas, filling their 40-man roster.

Arrieta, 35, has had a decent rebound effort with the Cubs thus far, making six starts and logging a 4.31 ERA through 31 1/3 frames out of the rotation. He signed a one-year, $6.5MM deal to return to the team with which he won a Cy Young Award in 2015 and a World Series ring in 2016. He’d been slated to take the mound tomorrow, but it appears the cut on his pitching thumb hasn’t healed to the point where he’s able to properly throw all of his offerings. Given the nature of the injury, it seems likely to be a short-term stay on the IL.

The 23-year-old is out to a brilliant start in 2021, slashing .389/.500/.556 with six doubles, three steals and eight walks against seven strikeouts through 44 trips to the plate. Hoerner collided with center fielder Ian Happ when chasing down a shallow fly-ball during Sunday’s game against the Reds, though it’s not clear if that play is the source of his current injury. Happ remains day-to-day after that incident, with manager David Ross telling reporters he’s been diagnosed with a rib contusion after getting kicked “pretty hard” by Hoerner in the process. Hoerner tells reporters he expects to be back from the IL when he’s first eligible (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago).

Winkler, meanwhile, has held opponents to just one run on five hits in 10 1/3 innings. It’s a strong start in terms of bottom-line results, but the fact that he’s walked seven batters, plunked another and snapped off a wild pitch suggest that he’ll need to improve his control if he’s to maintain anything close to that output. To his credit, Winkler has also punched out a dozen of the 44 hitters he’s faced, but this marks a second straight year of questionable command in the Cubs’ bullpen for the 31-year-old Illinois native.

Ryan leads Cubs relievers in innings pitched over the past few seasons and will give Ross another lefty to work with for the time being. Thompson, who made his MLB debut when he tossed an inning earlier this year, is slated to start the second game of today’s twin bill against the Dodgers. He’s a 26-year-old back-of-the-rotation/swingman candidate who ranks 14th among Cubs farmhands at MLB.com, 23rd at FanGraphs and 28th at Baseball America. The Cubs’ rotation doesn’t have room for him when it’s at full strength, but he’ll likely be called upon for multiple spot starts in situations just as this throughout the year, when injuries pop up among the team’s top few starters.

Vargas has appeared in eight games with the Cubs dating back to a 2020 waiver claim from the Twins. He’s spent the bulk of his career with the D-backs, primarily in a utility role, and is a lifetime .252/.280/.388 hitter in 300 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. He’ll factor into the mix at second base and off the bench while Hoerner is sidelined.

Pirates Release Brian Goodwin

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The Pirates have released veteran outfielder Brian Goodwin, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among those to report. The 30-year-old Goodwin joined the Pirates back in February on a minor league contract. The deal included an opt-out clause for May, so it’s possible Goodwin exercised it before the Pirates decided to cut him loose.

Goodwin has experience at all three outfield positions, but the former National, Royal, Angel and Red was unable to work his way up to the majors with Pittsburgh. The Pirates have primarily relied on Bryan Reynolds, Dustin Fowler (whom they outrighted last week), Phillip Evans and Gregory Polanco in the grass this year, and they’ve given a few starts to recent waiver pickup Ka’ai Tom of late. Reynolds has been far and away the most effective member of that group, while Evans has put up league-average offense and Polanco has gotten off to a slow start.

Goodwin has logged average offense in his own right during his 1,124-plate appearance career, in which he has hit .250/.317/.455 (101 wRC+) with 42 home runs and 22 stolen bases. That history of respectable offensive production should help him latch on elsewhere sometime soon.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/3/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • Infielder Greg Garcia opted out of his minor league contract with the Phillies, who subsequently released him, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Garcia spent roughly two weeks with the Phillies, though he never made it to their roster after signing April 22. The former Cardinal and Padre will return to the open market as the owner of a .245/.354/.339 line in 1,303 plate appearances.

Earlier transactions:

  • JT Riddle and Tzu-Wei Lin both cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Twins earlier this week, according to SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter links).  The infielders will be assigned to the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul for the start of the minor league season.  Riddle and Lin signed minors deals with Minnesota in December, and each had their contracts selected in April as the Twins looked to fill some roster holes created by injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak.  Riddle appeared in four games before landing on the COVID injured list himself, while Lin appeared in just one game as a defensive sub.

Blue Jays Place Kirk, Milone, Castro On 10-Day IL

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MAY 3: Kirk could miss at least six weeks, Ben Wagner of Sportsnet tweets.

MAY 2, 5:20PM: Right-hander Anthony Castro was also sent to the 10-day IL due to a forearm strain.  The severity of the strain isn’t known, though Castro did undergo Tommy John surgery earlier in his career.  Left-hander Anthony Kay was called up from the alternate training site.

11:40PM: The Blue Jays indeed decided to recall Riley Adams from Triple-A to replace Kirk on the active roster, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter).

9:10PM: The Blue Jays will make a number of roster moves today. Alejandro Kirk and Tommy Milone will head to the injured list, while Ross Stripling will return to the team, per Ben Wagner of Sportsnet (via Twitter). Presumably, with Kirk out for at least 10 days, the Blue Jays will need to add a backup to the roster for Danny Jansen.

Speculatively speaking, Reese McGuire or Juan Graterol would be the Jays’ top option, though either one would need to be added to the 40-man roster. The Jays do have an open spot on their 40-man, but they also have Riley Adams, 24, who is already on the 40-man roster and could slot into Jansen’s backup role without a 40-man move. If the Jays expect Kirk to return after a minimum stint on the IL, they might prefer to avoid the rigmarole that comes with putting the out-of-options McGuire back onto the active roster. Graterol, 32, does have an option remaining.

On the pitching side, Milone heads to the injured list after contributing 14 innings of 6.43 ERA baseball (4.09 FIP). The veteran southpaw made one start and five appearances out of the pen. Stripling will return to the rotation for the first time since being placed on the injured list with a flexor strain in mid-April. Stripling and the Blue Jays hope he can re-gain the form that made him a valuable swingman for the Dodgers from 2016 to 2019.

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