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Minor MLB Transactions: 12/18/20

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The latest minor moves from the majors…

  • The Dodgers have signed infielder Elliot Soto to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. Soto has been a part of a few organizations, most recently the Angels, since the Cubs picked him in the 15th round of the 2010 draft. The 31-year-old has batted .272/.346/.389 with 15 home runs in 1,323 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Soto made his major league debut last season with two hits in seven trips to the plate.
  • The Reds have inked righty Bo Takahashi to a minors pact with an invitation to big league camp, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Takahashi, 23, had been part of the Diamondbacks’ system since 2014. He owns a 4.14 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 567 minor league innings.

Mariners Designate Tim Lopes For Assignment

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The Mariners announced that they have designated infielder/outfielder Tim Lopes for assignment to make room for the signing of right-hander Chris Flexen, who’s officially part of the team.

Lopes was a sixth-round pick of the Mariners in 2012, though he spent time with the Blue Jays a few years back before returning to the M’s on a minor league contract. He made his major league debut in 2019 and slashed a respectable .270/.359/.360 in 128 plate appearances, but the 26-year-old wasn’t able to offer that type of production over a slightly larger sample sample size last season. Lopes concluded with a .238/.278/.364 line in 151 trips to the plate.

Despite his struggles last season, Lopes could draw interest as someone who has played a handful of positions in the majors (second base, third and both corner outfield spots). He also has three minor league options remaining.

Giants Sign Anthony DeSclafani

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DEC. 18: The Giants are deferring half of DeSclafani’s salary, including incentives, to the first quarter of 2022, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

DEC. 16, 4:06pm: The Giants have announced the signing. The deal comes with up to $250K in performance bonuses based on innings pitched, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

3:27pm: The two sides have agreed to a one-year, $6MM contract, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. That comes in north of MLBTR’s one-year, $4MM prediction for DeSclafani.

3:08pm: The Giants and free-agent right-hander Anthony DeSclafani are nearing a deal, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. DeSclafani is a client of VC Sports Group.

This figures to be a buy-low pickup for the Giants, who are set to add a starter who has gone through an up-and-down career since it began in 2014. DeSclafani was a member of the Marlins during his first season, but he moved on to the Reds after that in a trade that sent fellow righty Mat Latos to Miami.

Cincinnati received rather impressive production from DeSclafani from 2015-16, during which he accrued 308 innings and notched a 3.74 ERA/3.79 FIP with 7.48 K/9 and 2.48 BB/9. DeSclafani missed the next season because of elbow problems, though, and didn’t return until June 2018. His production from then through 2019 was fairly respectable, but DeSclafani fell on hard times last season. Despite posting a career-high 94.9 mph on his fastball, the 30-year-old logged personal worsts in ERA (7.22), FIP (6.10), K/9 (6.68) and BB/9 (4.28) across 33 2/3 innings. He also had a rough year by Statcast’s standards, ranking closer to the bottom of the league than the top in most of its categories.

Although last season was no doubt a disaster for DeSclafani, the Giants have done well recently in signing starters to low-risk contracts. They added one of DeSclafani’s former Reds teammates, Kevin Gausman, on a one-year, $9MM pact last offseason. That couldn’t have worked out much better for the Giants, who were so impressed that they issued Gausman a qualifying offer a few weeks back. Gausman accepted that $18.9MM offer and will be atop their rotation in 2021. Along with picking up Gausman a year ago, the Giants signed Drew Smyly to a $4MM guarantee. Smyly also exceeded expectations, though he left for a raise with the Braves earlier this winter.

Assuming DeSclafani is part of the Giants’ rotation next year, he should join a group that will include Gausman, Johnny Cueto and likely Logan Webb. The other spot will probably be up for grabs, especially with Andrew Suarez nearing an agreement with a team in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blue Jays Sign Richard Urena To Minor League Deal

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Infielder Richard Urena is returning to the Blue Jays on a minor league contract, per a club announcement. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training. Toronto also confirmed its previously reported minor league pacts with outfielder Forrest Wall and corner infielder Tyler White. They’ll both be in camp this spring as well.

Urena, 24, spent parts of the 2017-19 seasons with the Blue Jays, appearing in a total of 91 games and hitting .253/.300/.336 through 263 trips to the plate. A versatile defender with a solid defensive reputation as a prospect and a strong throwing arm, Urena logged time at shortstop (394 innings), second base (173 innings) and third base (53 innings) as a member of the Blue Jays over that three-year span. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating weren’t particularly bullish on his work at shortstop in that time, but it’s a relatively small sample from which to draw conclusions.

Toronto tried to pass Urena through waivers back in January, but he ended up being claimed by the Orioles, who successfully passed him through waivers not long thereafter. Urena didn’t make the cut for the Orioles’ 60-man player pool in the shortened 2020 season, however, and he’ll now return to the Jays organization as a depth piece who could give them some cover at multiple positions in 2021.

In 670 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Urena has posted a .250/.289/.373 batting line with 11 homers, 29 doubles, seven triples and five stolen bases (in 10 tries).

Rangers Acquire Ryder Ryan From Mets As PTBNL From Todd Frazier Swap

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The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve acquired minor league right-hander Ryder Ryan from the Mets as the player to be named later from the Aug. 31 trade that sent Todd Frazier to New York.

Ryan, 25, was a 30th-round pick back in 2016 who landed with the Mets in the 2017 Jay Bruce trade. He pitched at the Double-A level with the Mets in both 2018 and 2019, working to a combined 3.51 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and 0.82 HR/9 in 77 innings — primarily as a reliever. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Ryan 24th among Mets farmhands prior to the 2019 season, calling him a potential middle reliever with a consistently average or better breaking ball.

Ryan doesn’t factor prominently into any current ranking of the Mets’ top farmhands, but the Frazier swap still didn’t work out as the now-former front office regime hoped. The veteran Frazier struggled in his return to Queens, hitting .224/.255/.388 in just 51 plate appearances. His 2021 club option was bought out at season’s end, making him a free agent.

Cardinals Sign Jose Rondon To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve signed infielder Jose Rondon to a minor league contract Friday. He’s been invited to Major League Spring Training.

Rondon, 27 in March, appeared in 106 games between the Padres, White Sox and Orioles from 2016-19, mostly with the White Sox. He’s a career .201/.260/.336 hitter with nine homers in 290 plate appearances. Rondon has appeared at all four infield positions and at left field in the Major Leagues, albeit just 16 combined innings at left field and in first base. Shortstop has been his primary position throughout his pro career, though Rondon hasn’t graded out well in an admittedly tiny sample of 217 MLB frames at the position. His marks at second base and third base are better.

Rondon gives the Cardinals some infield depth after the club decided to decline second baseman Kolten Wong’s $12.5MM club option back in November. Even if he were to make the roster, Rondon would presumably serve as a bench piece, with Tommy Edman slotting in as the primary second baseman and Matt Carpenter getting a chance to rebound at the hot corner. The Cards currently have Edmundo Sosa and Elehuris Montero as additional infield options on the 40-man roster, and St. Louis recently added Max Moroff on a minor league deal with a non-roster invite — the same type of deal received by Rondon.

In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Rondon is a .258/.301/.448 hitter.

Cubs, James Bourque Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have agreed to a minor league pact with righty James Bourque and invited him to Major League Spring Training, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Bourque appeared to be in line to get a look with the Nats in September, but an elbow strain landed him on the IL and limited him to four innings. The Nats removed Bourque from the 40-man roster after the season drew to a close, and he opted for free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment.

A 14th-round pick in 2014, Bourque ranked near the back end of the Nationals’ top 30 farmhands in recent years due largely to a power fastball that sits in the mid 90s and an above-average curveball. Control has increasingly become an issue for Bourque as he’s advanced through the minors and faced better competition, but his strikeout rates have also climbed. In 117 innings from 2018-19, Bourque whiffed 162 batters in just 117 innings — good for 12.5 K/9 and a 32.5 percent overall strikeout rate. He also averaged 4.8 BB/9 with a 12.4 percent walk overall walk rate.

Bourque is the second bullpen flier in as many days for the Cubs, who yesterday agreed to a non-guaranteed, Major League deal with former Yankees setup man Jonathan Holder. Chicago hasn’t spent much on the bullpen at all in recent years outside of a one-time splash with Craig Kimbrel that hasn’t panned out, and the team has also struggled to develop consistently productive arms. As such, there are several spots up for grabs in a largely unsettled bullpen mix, creating Spring Training opportunities for Bourque, Holder and any other speculative adds by new president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer.

Rays Sign Michael Wacha

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The Rays added a veteran source of innings to their rotation Friday morning, announcing a one-year deal with right-hander Michael Wacha. The CAA client will reportedly land a $3MM guarantee on the heels of a rough 2020 season with the Mets. That’s the same salary (prior to pro-rating) that Wacha earned in New York last season.

Michael Wacha | Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Wacha struggled through eight games with the Mets in the abbreviated 2020 season, pitching to a 6.62 ERA with a whopping nine home runs allowed in just 34 innings. His 2019 season was also rather lackluster campaign owing in no small part to knee and shoulder injuries — the latter of which has been a recurring issue throughout his career.

Despite the down showing, Wacha was reportedly a fairly popular target among free-agent starters due to his age and price point. The 2015 All-Star also logged a very strong 37-to-7 K/BB ratio in those 34 frames while seeing marked upticks in swinging-strike rate and opponents’ chase rate. His 11.3 percent swinging-strike rate trails only his 11.4 percent mark from his rookie campaign back in 2013, and Wacha’s 34.3 percent chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone was far and away a career-high. He won’t turn 30 until July, either, making Wacha younger than several other free-agent rotation options on the market.

Wacha’s average fastball velocity bottomed out with the Cardinals in 2019, sitting at a career-low 93 mph, per Statcast. He made some positive gains last year, sitting at 93.6 mph with the pitch, but he’s still a ways removed from his 95.1 mph peak back in 2017. He altered his pitch selection considerably in 2020, scrapping a once highly effective curveball to lean into a three-pitch mix featuring his four-seamer, cutter and changeup. The results weren’t great from a run-prevention standpoint, although the aforementioned gains in missed bats surely piqued the Rays’ interest.

Wacha is a sensible pickup for the Rays, who earlier this winter declined their $15MM club option on Charlie Morton but still have high-end starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow to front the rotation. Depth, however, is more of an issue than usual for Tampa Bay, as each of Yonny Chirinos (Tommy John surgery), Jalen Beeks (Tommy John surgery) and Brendan McKay (shoulder surgery) went under the knife in the past several months. Chirinos and Beeks won’t pitch in 2021. McKay’s timeline is still muddy. Prior indications have been that he’ll be delayed in ’21 but eventually be able to take the mound.

With Wacha now on board, the Rays will presumably deploy a starting mix of Snell, Glasnow, Wacha and Ryan Yarbrough. Lefty Josh Fleming, righty Trevor Richards and top prospect Shane McClanahan are all candidates to claim permanent spots in the rotation as well. The Rays were also the club to popularize the usage of openers, so it’s possible they’ll eschew a set fifth starter entirely, instead gravitating toward less conventional means of pitcher use. The possibility of trading a more experienced starter can’t be written off, either, as Snell’s name has popped up on the rumor circuit at multiple points this winter.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported that the two sides were “deep” in talks and that the two sides had reached a $3MM agreement (Twitter links).

Brewers Sign Hoby Milner, Dylan Cozens To Minor League Deals

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The Brewers announced that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Hoby Milner and outfielder Dylan Cozens to minor league contracts. Both players will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

Milner, 30 next month, put up a strong 2.01 ERA but questionable peripherals through 37 1/3 innings as a rookie with the Phillies back in 2017. He’s yet to come close to replicating that level of run prevention; in 24 1/3 frames since that debut effort, he’s been rocked for a 7.77 ERA.

That sky-high ERA is an eyesore, but Milner excels at limiting hard contact (career 83.4 mph opponents’ exit velocity and 27.9 percent hard-hit rate). He also comes with a terrific minor league track record, having tallied 146 innings of 3.08 ERA ball with 11.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in four seasons out of the bullpen at the Triple-A level. He’s seen big league time each year since 2017, so there are clearly some clubs who believe there’s another level possible despite the overall lackluster results.

Cozens, meanwhile, was once one of the more promising prospects in the Phillies organization. The 2012 second-rounder is now 26 years old and four seasons removed from a 40-homer campaign at the Double-A level. Cozens hasn’t played in an official game since May 2019 thanks to surgery to remove bone spurs and repair torn cartilage in his left foot that year. He’s a career .252/.329/.473 hitter in the minors with prodigious power but far too much swing-and-miss in his game, evidenced by a 36 percent strikeout rate in parts of three Triple-A seasons.

Cozens does have a handful of MLB plate appearances (45) but has managed just a .154/.267/.282 slash with 24 punchouts in that tiny sample. He’ll give the Brewers some left-handed-hitting depth in Triple-A, but with a full outfield in Milwaukee, he’s likely to open the year in the minors and shake off some of the injury rust as he awaits an MLB opportunity.

Twins Sign Eight Players To Minor League Deals

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The Twins have signed eight players to minor league pacts with invites to Major League Spring Training, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In addition to their previously reported deals with righty Derek Law and second baseman Tzu-Wei Lin, the Twins have re-signed left-hander Danny Coulombe, righty Juan Minaya and catcher Tomas Telis. They’ve also brought infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder and right-handers Glenn Sparkman and Luke Farrell into the fold.

Coulombe, 31, tossed 2 2/3 shutout innings with the Twins in 2020 but spent most of the year at their alternate training site in St. Paul. The former A’s and Dodgers lefty has a career 4.19 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 146 innings out of a big league bullpen. He’s averaged about 8.5 K/9 in that time, but Coulombe’s strikeout numbers exploded at the Triple-A level in 2019, when he punched out 61 hitters in just 36 1/3 innings while maintaining a ground-ball rate north of 50 percent. Suffice it to say, he’s an intriguing depth piece.

Minaya, 30, was selected to the Twins’ big league roster in 2020 but designated for assignment before getting into a game. Minnesota got a long look at him not only at their alternate site in St. Paul this past season but from parts of four seasons spent in the division-rival White Sox’ bullpen. Minaya has a 3.93 ERA, a 4.18 FIP and 10 strikeouts per nine innings in 128 1/3 frames at the MLB level, all coming with the South Siders.

The 29-year-old Telis hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2018 but spent the past two seasons in the Twins organization, including a terrific 2019 showing with their Triple-A club: .330/.364/.490 in 327 plate appearances. Telis, a career .230/.267/.298 hitter in 267 MLB plate appearances, will be behind both Mitch Garver and Ryan Jeffers on the Twins’ depth chart but gives them an experienced depth option.

New to the organization is the 29-year-old Refsnyder, who has seen big league time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and Rangers. In 457 trips to the dish, he’s a .217/.305/.297 hitter. While he was never regarded as a top prospect, Refsnyder excited Yankee fans with a promising debut effort back in 2015, but he’s never replicated that small-sample success. Refsnyder does carry a career .296 average and .372 OBP in parts of six Triple-A seasons, and he has experience at second base, both infield corners and both outfield corners.

Both Sparkman and Farrell have recent MLB experience — Sparkman in Kansas City and Farrell in Texas. Sparkman, 28, has a 5.99 ERA in 180 1/3 big league innings but a strong track record in both Double-A and Triple-A, giving the Twins some upper-level depth. Farrell, the son of former big league skipper John Farrell, has a 5.00 ERA in 63 MLB frames but, like Sparkman, has a stronger track record in the upper minors.

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