White Sox Designate Mike Wright For Assignment
The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve reinstated righty Ryan Tepera from the injured list. Fellow right-hander Mike Wright was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.
Wright, 31, signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the winter and pitched to a 5.50 ERA with 11 strikeouts and 11 walks in 18 frames over 13 appearances in the past six weeks. He’s spent the bulk of the season with the White Sox’ top affiliate in Charlotte, where he had a more impressive 3.40 ERA with a 23 percent strikeout rate, a 7.4 percent walk rate and a 47.7 percent grounder rate in 95 1/3 frames.
A third-round draft pick by the Orioles back in 2011, Wright spent parts of five seasons pitching in Baltimore but was never able to establish himself there. He headed overseas to the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2020 campaign and logged 157 2/3 innings of 4.68 ERA ball in the rotation for the KBO-champion NC Dinos.
All told, Wright carries a career 5.97 ERA in 276 big league innings but a much sharper 3.70 mark in 543 career innings at the Triple-A level. The White Sox will place Wright on outright waivers or release him in the coming days. Players with three or more years of Major League service time, which Wright has, who are outrighted off a 40-man roster become free agents at season’s end anyhow, so Wright will soon be back on the open market one way or another.
A’s Select Pete Kozma
The Athletics have placed infielder Vimael Machin on the injured list and selected the contract of veteran infielder Pete Kozma from Triple-A Las Vegas, per a club announcement. Oakland didn’t provide an injury designation for Machin, which suggests he’s been placed on the Covid-19-related injured list. He won’t count against the 40-man roster while on that list.
Kozma, 33, will be returning to the big leagues for the first time since 2018. He’s logged 113 games with the A’s top affiliate in 2021 and posted a .244/.307/.337 batting line in 500 trips to the plate.
Offense has never been a strong point for Kozma, a defensive standout with the Cardinals from 2011-15. Kozma was the everyday shortstop in St. Louis in 2013, when the Cardinals made it to Game 6 of the World Series before falling to the Red Sox. Outside of that season, however, Kozma has been primarily used as a bench piece or an up-and-down depth option. He’s only topped 100 plate appearances twice in his career: 2013 (448 plate appearances) and 2015 (111).
It’ll likely be a short stay on Oakland’s 40-man roster for the veteran Kozma, but the A’s are in need of some infield help with Machin on the injured list and with primary shortstop Elvis Andrus sustaining a fractured fibula that required surgery. He can handle any of shortstop, second base or third base over the final weekend’s worth of games. Kozma technically remains arbitration-eligible now that he’s on the roster, but it’s quite possible he’ll simply be outrighted and become a free agent at season’s end.
Matt Andriese Elects Free Agency
The Mariners announced that right-hander Matt Andriese has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. He’d been designated for assignment earlier this week.
The 32-year-old Andriese split this season between the Red Sox and M’s. He signed a one-year deal with Boston over the offseason but was released in August. Andriese landed a major league contract with Seattle not long after but was let go after just eight outings as a Mariner.
Andriese’s time with the Red Sox didn’t go as planned. While he started the season well, his performance dipped from May onwards and he finished his tenure there with just a 6.03 ERA across 37 1/3 innings. To his credit, he performed better during his brief look in Seattle. As a Mariner, Andriese tossed eleven innings of six-run (three earned) ball. He punched out twelve in that limited time while issuing just a pair of walks and racking up grounders on more than half the balls in play against him. That came in almost exclusively low-leverage outings, though, and Andriese wound up being the odd man out when the Mariners decided to bring up pitching prospect Matt Brash on Tuesday.
A seven-year veteran, Andriese has a fair amount of starting experience at the big league level. He’s worked in long relief over the past three seasons, although he was in consideration for a season-opening rotation job with Boston at one point. Clubs looking for depth in either the rotation or the bullpen could consider Andriese an option going into next season.
Giants Designate Jose Quintana For Assignment
The Giants announced they’ve reinstated first baseman Darin Ruf and right-hander Johnny Cueto from the injured list before this evening’s game against the Diamondbacks. In corresponding moves, left-hander Tony Watson landed on the 10-day injured list due to a strain in his throwing shoulder, while fellow southpaw José Quintana was designated for assignment.
The transactions series likely ends Quintana’s time in San Francisco after just a few weeks. The Giants claimed Quintana off waivers from the Angels at the end of August, absorbing the approximate $1.5MM remaining on his contract to add him just before the deadline for players to be eligible for teams’ postseason rosters.
Picking up Quintana didn’t work out quite as planned. He made five relief appearances with San Francisco, working 9 2/3 innings of five-run ball. The 32-year-old punched out twelve batters in that limited time, but also issued six walks and was tagged for three home runs. Evidently, the front office determined they were content with their other lefty bullpen options — even as Watson lands on the IL — to let Quintana go before the start of the postseason.
Quintana will almost certainly wind up hitting free agency in the next couple days, either via release or rejection of an outright assignment. He’ll hit the open market coming off a disappointing season. Signed by Los Angeles to a one-year, $8MM deal in free agency, he was bumped from the rotation after posting a 7.22 ERA through his first nine starts. He didn’t find much more success in relief, posting a 5.52 ERA from that point forward between the Angels and Giants.
It was an atypical season for Quintana, who has offered quality production over the course of his career. He was quietly one of the game’s better starters for a few seasons with the White Sox, leading to a blockbuster crosstown deal that sent him to the Cubs in 2017. That trade — which sent Eloy Jiménez and Dylan Cease to the South Siders — quickly proved regrettable for the Cubs, but Quintana did at least offer consistent innings and useful production for much of his time in Wrigleyville.
He lost most of last season due to injury, though, and his 6.43 ERA this year is by far the highest of his career. That’s been driven by personal-worst walk and home run rates, but Quintana has curiously been better than ever before at missing bats. He’s punched out 28.6% of opposing hitters on the strength of an 11.9% swinging strike rate; both marks are career-highs and above the league average. That extreme production came into play even before Quintana was moved to the pen, as he’d fanned 30.1% of batters faced over his first nine starts.
With Quintana and Watson out of the picture, the Giants look likely to enter the playoffs with Jarlin García and José Álvarez as lefty relief options. Manager Gabe Kapler didn’t rule Watson out for the entire postseason when speaking with reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area), but it at least seems he’d miss the Division Series if the club advanced to that point. Acquired from the Angels at the trade deadline, Waston has posted a 2.96 ERA over 24 1/3 frames with San Francisco.
Ruf looks likely to assume the bulk of the playing time at first base moving forward. Brandon Belt fractured his left thumb after being hit by a pitch over the weekend, and that injury could cost him most or all of the team’s playoffs. Like so much of the roster, Ruf has excelled when given the opportunity this year. Through 300 plate appearances, he owns a .268/.387/.512 line with fifteen home runs. Belt’s injury could force the Giants to deploy Ruf more against right-handed pitching than they have so far, but he’s more than held his own in limited action against righties while absolutely mashing southpaws.
Pirates Select Tanner Anderson
The Pirates announced they’ve selected righty Tanner Anderson to the big league roster. Prospect Roansy Contreras was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis after tossing three scoreless innings in his big league debut yesterday. To create space for Anderson on the 40-man roster, the club transferred lefty Dillon Peters from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
Anderson is back in the majors for the first time in two years. Originally a Pirates’ draftee, he got to the big leagues with Pittsburgh in 2018 and made six relief appearances. That offseason, the Pirates traded him to the A’s. Anderson made five starts for Oakland the following season before being designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster. He hasn’t appeared in the majors since, but he’ll get another opportunity over this season’s final few games.
Over 33 2/3 big league innings, the 28-year-old Anderson has managed only a 6.15 ERA with a below-average 14.9% strikeout rate. He’s pitched fairly well in a swing capacity with Indianapolis since signing a minor league deal with the Bucs in July. Anderson has a 4.17 ERA over 36 2/3 frames with the Pirates’ top affiliate. His 15.6% strikeout rate there is similar to his lackluster big league mark, but Anderson has a decent 8.8% walk percentage and has racked up ground-balls at a huge 60.9% clip.
Peters landed on the IL last week with a lower back strain. Once the club determined he wasn’t going to make it back this season, there’s no harm in transferring him to the 60-day IL. Pittsburgh acquired the 29-year-old from the Angels for cash considerations a few months ago. He’s made six starts in black and gold, tossing 26 2/3 frames of 3.71 ERA ball.
Cubs Select Erick Castillo
The Cubs are selecting catcher Erick Castillo to the big league roster, the team informed reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). Fellow backstop Austin Romine is headed to the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move.
Castillo is an organizational veteran, having joined the Cubs as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela during the 2010-11 international signing period. He has spent the past decade-plus climbing the minor league ranks, and he’ll be rewarded for his perseverance with his first major league call at age-28.
The right-handed hitting Castillo has never appeared on an organizational prospects list at either FanGraphs or Baseball America. That’s largely thanks to a general lack of production at the plate. Over nine minor league seasons, Castillo owns a .212/.281/.264 line with six home runs. He’s a .197/.288/.236 hitter in brief action over parts of three Triple-A campaigns. Clearly, Castillo won’t bring much power potential to the plate, but he’s generally done well to put the ball in play throughout his professional tenure. He’ll be on hand to back up Willson Contreras over the season’s final four games.
Blue Jays Release Jake Lamb
The Blue Jays announced that utilityman Jake Lamb has cleared release waivers. He’s now a free agent. Lamb had been designated for assignment last week, a move that created a vacancy on the 40-man roster filled today when the club selected reliever Jacob Barnes back to the major leagues.
Lamb split the 2021 campaign between the White Sox and Jays. He tallied 170 plate appearances between the two clubs, hitting .194/.306/.368 with seven home runs. The left-handed hitter continued his longstanding history of drawing plenty of walks and he offered a bit of power, but Lamb also fanned in a career-worst 30% of his trips to the dish. He’ll hit the open market and look for an opportunity elsewhere for next season, although it’s possible he’s limited to minor league offers with Spring Training invitations given his struggles over the past few years.
Barnes returns to the majors after being designated for assignment in July. The right-hander opened the year with the Mets but was traded to Toronto in June. He didn’t find much success with either club, tossing a combined 27 2/3 frames of 6.18 ERA ball. Barnes has been far better since accepting an outright to Triple-A Buffalo, though. He’s allowed just one run in 14 1/3 innings with the Bisons, posting a massive 60.5% ground-ball rate in the minors.
Royals Extend Michael A. Taylor
The Royals announced an agreement to keep center fielder Michael A. Taylor from hitting the open market this winter. Taylor receives a two-year, $9MM guarantee, paid out via successive $4.5MM salaries in 2022 and 2023. He’d receive an additional $50K for hitting the 325, 375, 425, 475 and 525 plate appearance mark in each season, with up to $500K in total incentives available. Taylor is represented by ALIGND Sports Agency.
It’s a bit surprising at first glance to see Kansas City jump the market to extend Taylor, who is amidst a below-average year at the plate in his first season in Royal blue. Across 508 plate appearances, the 30-year-old owns a .244/.298/.359 line with twelve home runs. Even after accounting for Kansas City’s extremely pitcher-friendly home ballpark, Taylor’s offensive numbers check in around 21 percentage points below league average according to wRC+.
That’s right in line with his typical production. The right-handed hitter spent the first seven seasons of his big league career with the Nationals, generally struggling to produce much offensively. Taylor has flashed intriguing power potential at times, but he’s been held back by a propensity to swing and miss. He’s not a complete free swinger — Taylor’s rate of chasing pitches outside the strike zone hovers right around league average — but he comes up empty quite a bit even when swinging at pitches inside the strike zone.
Taylor has posted above-average offensive numbers just once in parts of eight big league seasons. Over 432 plate appearances with the Nats in 2017, he hit .271/.320/.486 and popped 19 homers. That season was propped up by an unsustainably high .363 batting average on balls in play, though, and Taylor hasn’t found that kind of success in the years since. Going back to the start of the 2018 campaign, he owns a .234/.291/.364 line with an alarming 28.9% strikeout rate.
That the Royals are anxious to keep Taylor off the open market in spite of his offensive struggles is a testament to his prowess with the glove. Taylor rated very highly defensively throughout his time in Washington, and he’s continued to excel on that side of the ball with Kansas City.
Aside from a pair of semi-rest days at designated hitter, Taylor has lined up exclusively in center field this season. Over 1,141 innings at the position, he’s rated as a staggering 21 runs above average, by measure of Defensive Runs Saved. That’s six runs clear of second-place finisher Harrison Bader. Statcast’s range-based Outs Above Average metric paints a similar picture. By that measure, Taylor is tied with Bader and Manuel Margot with an outfield-best +14 plays. Those advanced metrics align with Taylor’s general reputation for defensive excellence.
The Royals have long valued defense more than most clubs, partially because of the extreme spaciousness of Kauffman Stadium. Excellent glovework was a backbone of their back-to-back pennant winners (and one-time champions) last decade, and the front office continues to place a real emphasis on turning batted balls into outs. With Taylor among the sport’s best handful of players at tracking down fly balls, they’ve struck early to keep him in the fold for the next couple seasons.
While Kansas City surely values Taylor quite a bit, it’s also worth keeping in mind that there wouldn’t have been too many viable alternatives available even if they wished to turn elsewhere. Starling Marte handily tops the upcoming free agent center field class, but he always seemed likely to land a multi-year deal that would’ve been above the Royals’ typical range of spending. Beyond Marte, the class features a group of players who have almost unanimously scuffled offensively this season — Kevin Pillar, Jake Marisnick and Danny Santana among them. There’d have been a strong case for Taylor as the second-best overall center fielder available in free agency.
It’s similarly unclear which center fielders would be attainable in trade. There’ll surely be plenty of calls on players like Cedric Mullins, Bryan Reynolds and Ketel Marte, but their teams’ willingness to make those respective players available ranges from questionable to highly unlikely.
Rather than test the vagaries of the free agency and trade markets, the Royals will lock Taylor into center field for the next couple seasons. Last winter, Kansas City added veterans Mike Minor and Carlos Santana on multi-year free agent deals in an effort to contend. That didn’t pan out, but president of baseball operations Dayton Moore and his front office will surely make another run at being competitive this winter. Santana will be back at first base, while franchise cornerstone Salvador Pérez returns on the heels of one of the better offensive seasons by a catcher in recent memory. Nicky Lopez has played well enough to earn an everyday job somewhere, even if top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. comes up early in the season and stakes a claim to Lopez’s current shortstop position. And the versatile Whit Merrifield will be back to hold down a role at some spot on the diamond while hitting at the top of the lineup.
Taylor’s deal brings the Royals’ guaranteed commitments just north of $50MM, in the estimation of Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. That’s before accounting for a fairly modest arbitration class, which will feature raises for players like Brad Keller, Adalberto Mondesi, Scott Barlow and Lopez. Even if that group winds up banking something in the collective $10-15MM range, that still leaves a bit of breathing room for further additions before hitting this season’s $86MM+ mark. It’s certainly possible ownership would be willing to spend beyond this season’s level, since the franchise has run payrolls north of $120MM in the past.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Royals’ agreement with Taylor on a two-year, $9MM deal. Alec Lewis of the Athletic reported the deal contained an additional $500K in available incentives. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported the salaries were to be paid out equally in each season, while Robert Murray of FanSided was first with the specific incentive structure.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Cubs Select Trent Giambrone
The Cubs are set to select the contract of infielder Trent Giambrone, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). It’ll be the first call to the Majors for the former 25th-round pick.
Giambrone, 28 in December, has had a rough season in Triple-A this year but will bring plenty of versatility to the Cubs’ bench for the final few games of the year. In 271 plate appearances, he’s posted just a .174/.274/.255 batting line with three homers, eight doubles, a triple and five steals. He’s shown more power than that in past seasons, swatting 12 homers in 2017, 17 home runs in 2018 and 23 home runs in 2019.
Defensively, Giambrone has primarily been a second baseman both in 2021 and throughout his minor league career. He’s seen brief spells at third base, at shortstop and in the outfield corners this season, but he was deployed all over the field on a consistent basis back in 2019. That season saw Giambrone log between 103 and 334 innings at six different positions: all four infield spots and both outfield corners.
To make room for Giambrone on the active and 40-man rosters, Chicago placed third baseman Patrick Wisdom on the COVID-19 injured list.
Orioles Place Anthony Santander On Injured List
The Orioles announced they’ve reinstated left-hander Bruce Zimmermann from the 60-day injured list. He’ll start this evening’s game against the Red Sox. They’ve also recalled corner infielder/outfielder Tyler Nevin from Triple-A Norfolk and placed right-hander Chris Ellis and outfielder Anthony Santander on the 10-day IL. To create space on the 40-man roster for Zimmermann, Baltimore transferred lefty Keegan Akin, who underwent abdominal surgery last week, from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
Zimmermann is back after missing around two and a half months due to left biceps tendinitis. The 26-year-old appeared in twelve games (eleven starts) before going on the IL, tossing 59 2/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/4.48 SIERA ball. Zimmermann posted a below-average 20.2% strikeout rate and gave up nearly as much hard contact as any pitcher in baseball, but he pounded the strike zone and posted a ground-ball rate just a bit below the league average.
That’s not the most exciting production, but only John Means posted better numbers among O’s hurlers with 50+ innings this season. That looks to give Zimmermann a decent shot at landing a season-opening rotation spot next year, although the O’s front office will at least add a low-cost veteran option or two to that mix this offseason.
Santander’s season comes to a close a few days early because of a right knee sprain. The 26-year-old mashed in last year’s shortened campaign, but he couldn’t follow up on that over a larger body of work. Through 438 plate appearances, Santander hit .241/.286/.433. He hit for a decent amount of power for a third consecutive year, popping 18 home runs, but Santander’s tiny 5.3% walk rate and career-worst 23.1% strikeout percentage (excluding his 13-game rookie year) contributed to serious on-base issues.
This offseason, Santander will be eligible for arbitration for the second of four times. If tendered a contract, he’d be in line for a raise on this year’s $2.1MM salary. The Orioles have no guaranteed money on the books next season, so they could certainly shoulder a few million dollar tab for Santander. Still, that was true last offseason of Renato Nuñez — another low-OBP, power bat — and Baltimore elected to non-tender Nuñez. The front office will have to make a similar call on Santander this winter.