Twins Select Andrew Albers, Kyle Barraclough
The Twins have selected the contracts of pitchers Andrew Albers and Kyle Barraclough, according to Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). Left-hander Lewis Thorpe is landing on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement, while righty Edgar García is being optioned to Triple-A St. Paul. Minnesota removed right-hander Beau Burrows from the 40-man roster. Burrows has already cleared outright waivers and will remain in the organization on assignment to St. Paul.
Albers is back in Minnesota for his third separate stint with the club. He broke into the majors with the Twins in 2013 but was released the following offseason so he could pursue an opportunity in the Korea Baseball Organization. Albers returned stateside in 2015 with the Blue Jays, then found his way back to the Twins in 2016 in free agency. He saw some big league time with the Mariners in 2017, then signed with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2018 campaign.
The well-traveled Albers signed an extension with the Buffaloes to keep him in NPB through 2020. He returned to affiliated ball this past offseason, singing a minors pact with the Twins in February. Assigned to St. Paul, Albers has been a mainstay in the Saints’ rotation. Over 91 innings in that hitter-friendly environment, he’s worked to 3.86 ERA, offsetting a below-average 19.8% strikeout rate with an incredible 2.3% walk percentage. That strong showing has earned the 35-year-old another big league opportunity, where he figures to be a multi-inning relief option for manager Rocco Baldelli.
Barraclough hasn’t been away from the big leagues quite as long as Albers has, but he’s back at the highest level for the first time in two years. The hard-throwing righty looked like a key bullpen piece for the Marlins early in his career, working to a 2.78 ERA across 97 innings between 2015-16. But Barraclough’s always-shaky control became less palatable as his strikeout totals fell over the coming seasons, and he hasn’t pitched in the majors since a tough 2019 campaign split between Miami and the Nationals.
Signed to a minor league deal by the Yankees over the winter, Barraclough was granted his release in mid-June and hooked on with the Twins two days later. Between the two teams’ Triple-A affiliates, the 31-year-old has posted an even 3.00 ERA with a massive 38.7% strikeout rate. Barraclough’s walk rate has still been troublingly high at 14.8%, but his impressive swing-and-miss stuff will earn him a look in a Minnesota bullpen that had to cover almost ten innings yesterday because Thorpe departed with shoulder soreness early in his start.
Burrows was a first-round pick of the Tigers in 2015 and was seen as one of the more promising pitching prospects in the Detroit system over the next few years. He dominated the lowest levels but hasn’t yet found much success above Double-A. The 24-year-old owns a 5.15 ERA over 94 1/3 Triple-A innings and has been tagged for 22 runs over a brief 17 2/3 frame look at the major league level.
Clearly, Burrows’ time in the big leagues hasn’t gone as he’d envisioned to this point. That said, he’s still young enough it’s plausible he can eventually deliver upon some of the promise that made him so well-regarded not long ago. The Twins are surely happy to get an opportunity to work with Burrows, whom they added on a waiver claim from Detroit in late June, without having to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him.
In other news for Minnesota, Baldelli informed reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that star center fielder Byron Buxton is set to embark upon a rehab assignment with St. Paul tomorrow. It’ll be his first game action in nearly two months, as Buxton suffered a left hand fracture after being hit by a pitch on June 22. Position players can spend up to twenty days on rehab assignments, so Buxton looks likely to be back in the big leagues by the first week of September so long as he doesn’t suffer any setbacks.
Buxton’s return comes as the Twins have started to play more to their expected level coming into the year. It’s too late for Minnesota to make a playoff push, but an improved second half could reinforce the front office’s belief the club is capable of returning to contention in 2022. Buxton’s return for the season’s final month-plus will be a welcome opportunity to give him some needed reps. It’s certainly been a frustrating campaign for Buxton, who has been brilliant (.369/.409/.767) when healthy but has required a pair of significant IL stints. The 27-year-old missed around six weeks between May and June with a right hip strain, then made it back for just three games before suffering the hand fracture.
Mariners Claim Kevin Padlo
The Mariners have claimed infielder Kevin Padlo off waivers from the Rays, per a club announcement. Right-hander Justin Dunn was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Dunn has already spent 63 days on the IL, so the shift to the 60-day IL is an entirely procedural move.
Padlo, 25, made his big league debut with the Rays in 2021 but went just 1-for-12 in 14 plate appearances before being optioned back down to Triple-A Durham, where he’s struggled to a .174/.270/.379 batting line in 282 plate appearances on the season.
While those numbers are obviously unsightly, Padlo entered the year ranked comfortably within the middle ranks of a deep Rays’ farm system, sitting 25th at FanGraphs and 20th at Baseball America. Huge raw power from the right side of the plate is Padlo’s calling card, and he had it on full display in the 2019 season when he posted a combined .265/.389/.538 batting line with 21 home runs and 31 doubles. Most of Padlo’s 2019 season was spent in a very pitcher-friendly Double-A setting, but upon being bumped to Triple-A Durham, he ripped nine home runs in just 145 plate appearances and batted .290/.400/.595.
Third base has been Padlo’s primary position in the minors, though there’s some skepticism as to whether he can remain there. He’s also spent time at first base, and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen suggests that his eventual role could be a righty-hitting role player who bounces between all four corner spots and designated hitter.
Padlo has some strikeout issues, with a career 25.4 percent mark in the minors and a 33 percent mark in 2021, but he’s also walked in 13.6 percent of his career plate appearances. He has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so he can give the M’s some corner depth for the next year-plus as he looks to right the ship in the upper minors.
Red Sox Release Matt Andriese
Aug. 19: The Red Sox have released Andriese. He’s now free to sign with any club for the prorated league minimum over the remainder of the season.
Aug. 17: The Red Sox have designated reliever Matt Andriese for assignment, per a club announcement. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for fellow bullpen arm Josh Taylor, who has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list.
Boston brought Andriese aboard on a free agent deal over the winter. He’d hoped to compete for a spot in the starting rotation during Spring Training but ultimately found himself working exclusively as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. The 31-year-old didn’t find a lot of success in that role, posting a 6.03 ERA over 37 1/3 frames.
Andriese has always been a solid strike-thrower and that’s again been the case in 2021. He’s only walked 6.2% of opponents this year, but Andriese has struggled to miss bats. His 21.5% strikeout rate and 8.8% swinging strike rate are each well below-average for a reliever and he’s given up plenty of loud contact. Certainly, Andriese has been a bit unlucky to allow opponents to hit .407 on balls in play against him, but he’s had a hard time avoiding barrels over the course of the campaign.
That production all came in the season’s first half, as Andriese hasn’t pitched since landing on the injured list with hamstring tendinitis on July 10. He’s nearing a return to health, having spent the past few weeks on a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester.
Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so Andriese figures to be released. That’s little more than a formality, as he had enough big league service time to refuse an outright assignment and hit free agency anyways. Assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed — which would appear likely — the Red Sox will remain on the hook for what remains of his $2.1MM guarantee. Any team that then signs Andriese as a free agent would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time he spends on the big league roster.
Cubs Sign Marcus Walden
The Cubs have agreed to terms with right-hander Marcus Walden on a minor league deal, his representatives at Ball Players Agency announced (Twitter link).
Walden, 32, opened the season with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate and has seen time in the Majors with Boston in each of the past three seasons. He was a solid middle-inning option for them from 2018-19, piling up 92 2/3 frames of 3.79 ERA ball while striking out 23.3 percent of his opponents against a 9.1 percent walk rate. Walden recorded an excellent 54.3 percent ground-ball rate in that time and averaged 94.2 mph on his sinker in that time.
The 2020 season, however, marked a considerable step in the wrong direction. Walden’s sinker dipped by 1.3 mph, and his ground-ball rate fell to 40.4 percent while his strikeout rate (14.1 percent) and walk rate (12.7 percent) both fell off. That came in a sample of just 13 1/3 innings, during which the righty was tagged for 14 earned runs on 23 hits (five homers) and nine walks with 10 punchouts.
The Red Sox designated Walden for assignment in late February after signing Marwin Gonzalez to a one-year deal, and he remained in the organization via an outright assignment after clearing waivers. He spent the season thus far in Triple-A Worcester, pitching to a 4.01 ERA and posting rate stats that look much more similar to his solid 2018-19 levels: a 20.9 percent strikeout rate, a 9.9 percent walk rate and a huge 57.6 percent ground-ball rate. Boston released him last week.
With the Cubs, Walden ought to have a good chance at working his way to the big leagues before long. Chicago has overhauled its bullpen in the past month, trading Andrew Chafin, Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel prior to the July 30 deadline and more recently designating both Kyle Ryan and Dan Winkler for assignment. The Cubs have very little in the way of established relievers in the ‘pen at this point, so a strong showing for Walden in Iowa could earn him a look sooner than later.
Rays, David Hess Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rays and right-hander David Hess are in agreement on a minor league contract, MLBTR has learned. He’ll head to Triple-A Durham for the time being. Hess is represented by Total Sports.
Hess, 28, opened the season in Durham after signing a minor league pact with Tampa Bay over the winter. He pitched quite well there before being traded to the Marlins in a July 4 swap that sent minor league righty Justin Sterner from Miami to the Rays. The Marlins immediately selected Hess to the big league roster upon acquiring him, but he wound up pitching just 18 innings there before being designated for assignment. He rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency earlier this week.
Things were going fine for Hess in Miami for the most part early in his tenure. He worked to a 3.94 ERA with a 15-to-8 K/BB ratio through his first 11 appearances and 16 innings before being ambushed for seven runs in a single frame by the Rockies at Coors Field. He yielded another run in his next outing before being designated, ultimately concluding his time as a Marlin with an unsightly 8.00 ERA.
Hess pitched well with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate to begin the year, however, working to a 2.81 ERA with a 28.9 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 3.9 percent walk rate in 32 frames. He’ll head back to that same environment for now and hope to rediscover that success.
A fifth-round pick of the Orioles back in 2014, Hess has now seen Major League time in parts of four seasons. He’s had some stretches of success, particularly late in his debut campaign in 2018, but has yet to find the consistency needed to stick at the big league level. Hess carries a 6.05 ERA in 208 1/3 Major League innings but a more palatable 3.55 ERA with a 26 percent strikeout rate and 7.3 percent walk rate in parts of three Triple-A seasons (119 innings).
MLB Minor Transactions: 8/18/21
Today’s minor moves:
- The Orioles announced that right-hander Adam Plutko cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. As a player with more than three years of MLB service time, Plutko had the right to elect free agency, but he’s instead decided to accept the assignment. Baltimore acquired the 29-year-old from the Indians for cash considerations just before the start of the season. He went on to work 56 1/3 innings over 38 games as a multi-inning relief option, but Plutko was tagged for a 6.71 ERA. He’ll have a few weeks to try to work his back onto the 40-man roster before the end of the year. If he’s not reselected to the big leagues, Plutko will qualify for minor league free agency this offseason.
- The Rockies reinstated right-hander Chi Chi González from the COVID-19 injured list before this afternoon’s game against the Padres. He worked three innings of three-run ball in today’s 7-5 Colorado win, his first action since landing on the COVID IL in late July. González has a 6.15 ERA over 93 2/3 innings this year, starting sixteen of his twenty appearances. To open space on the 40-man roster, Colorado transferred utilityman Chris Owings to the 60-day injured list. Owings won’t play again this season after undergoing left thumb surgery.
Astros Release Francis Martes
The Astros released Francis Martes this week, notes Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The 25-year-old is now a free agent.
It’s an unceremonious end to Martes’ seven-year tenure with the Astros. Signed by the Marlins as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic, the big right-hander wound up on the move to Houston at the 2014 trade deadline. The then-rebuilding Astros picked up Martes alongside Colin Moran, Jake Marisnick and the #37 overall pick in the 2015 draft (eventually used to select Daz Cameron) for Jarred Cosart and Kiké Hernández.
Martes was a rookie ball flier at the time of the trade, but he quickly developed into one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. By 2016, Martes was viewed by Baseball America as one of the top twenty minor league talents throughout the league. He made his big league debut in 2017, and while he didn’t perform well over 54 1/3 innings, he still seemed like a potential high-upside member of the pitching staff over the coming years.
Unfortunately, Martes hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since then. He dealt with an elbow issue in Spring Training in 2018 and ultimately required Tommy John surgery that August. He was suspended eighty games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance the following season. That looked largely like a moot point — his Tommy John rehab cost him most of that year regardless — but he was hit with a second PED ban in February 2020. As a two-time offender, Martes was suspended for all of last season and into June of this year.
Martes was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land upon his return from that latest ban. He was passed through outright waivers not long thereafter. His time with the Skeeters was a disaster, as Martes allowed 21 runs in 11 2/3 innings, walking a staggering 20 hitters in that time.
Obviously, Martes’ stock has fallen precipitously over the past few years. Nevertheless, it still seems likely he’ll latch on somewhere on a minor league deal. He’s young enough for a rival club to take a no-risk flier in hopes that Martes can recapture some of the highly promising form he showed at his prospect peak.
Yankees Activate Anthony Rizzo, Aroldis Chapman
The Yankees announced they’ve activated first baseman Anthony Rizzo from the COVID-19 injured list. He’s in tonight’s lineup against the archrival Red Sox, hitting second. Additionally, closer Aroldis Chapman is back from the 10-day IL. In corresponding moves, outfielder Jonathan Davis and reliever Nick Nelson were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
To create space for Rizzo on the 40-man roster, New York activated outfielder Trey Amburgey from the 10-day IL and returned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Because Amburgey was originally selected to the big league roster as a replacement for a player who had gone on the COVID-19 IL, he could be removed from the 40-man and sent back to the minors without being placed on waivers.
Rizzo returns ten days after testing positive for the coronavirus. For the first time, he’ll pair with Luke Voit, who was activated from his own IL stint at the time Rizzo landed on the shelf. It’s an abundance of offensive riches for the Yankees, who’ll have to also find playing time for Joey Gallo, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton between the outfield, first base and designated hitter.
Chapman landed on the IL on August 7 with inflammation in his throwing elbow. While a bit of an ominous-sounding diagnosis, it turned out to only require a near-minimal stint. In his absence, Chad Green, Zack Britton and Jonathan Loáisiga picked up save opportunities, but that role will again fall to Chapman, manager Aaron Boone confirmed to reporters (via Erik Boland of Newsday). The hard-throwing southpaw rebounded from a dreadful few weeks in the middle of the season to post seven consecutive scoreless outings leading up to his IL stint.
The Yankees have almost completely bounced back from the spread of COVID-19 in the clubhouse over the past couple weeks. Reliever Clay Holmes is the only player remaining on the COVID IL for the red-hot Yankees, who have won twelve of their last fifteen to catch the Red Sox and A’s in the American League Wild Card race.
Tigers Acquire Dustin Garneau From Rockies
The Tigers announced they’ve acquired catcher Dustin Garneau from the Rockies in exchange for cash considerations. Garneau was on a minor league deal and hasn’t played in the majors this season, which is why he was eligible to be traded even after the July 30 deadline. That’s about to change, however, as Detroit immediately selected Garneau to the big leagues, optioning outfielder Jacob Robson to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Detroit transferred catcher Jake Rogers from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
Garneau signed a minor league deal with Detroit over the offseason. He missed a good bit of the season due to a wrist fracture and exercised an opt-out in his minor league deal last month after just 60 plate appearances with Toledo. The 34-year-old hooked on with the Rockies — his first big league organization — on a minor league deal in late July.
Assigned to their top affiliate in Albuquerque, Garneau has gone on to hit .229/.357/.400. That’s not overwhelming production, but the Tigers are obviously familiar with Garneau from his earlier stint in the organization. With teams’ options to acquire players rather limited, it’s understandable Detroit circled back to a respected veteran backstop who has some Spring Training and Triple-A experience working with members of their pitching staff. The cash was likely a nominal consideration for the Rockies, but there’s little harm for Colorado in allowing Garneau to get a big league opportunity elsewhere if they weren’t prepared to offer him one themselves.
Tigers starting catcher Eric Haase is unavailable this evening after leaving last night’s game with low back tightness. That left Grayson Greiner as the only viable defensive catcher on the roster, so the Tigers acted quickly to bring in Garneau for depth.
Rogers was part of that catching group earlier this season, but he hasn’t played since landing on the injured list on July 17 with a pronator strain in his right arm. Today’s IL transfer rules him out for sixty days from the date of his original placement, so he can’t return to the big leagues until mid-September at the earliest.
Athletics Select Paul Blackburn
The Athletics announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Paul Blackburn. He’ll get the start in tonight’s game against the White Sox. Oakland placed starter Chris Bassitt on the 10-day injured list to open an active roster spot, while the club already had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster.
Blackburn appeared in the majors for Oakland in every season from 2017-20. Tonight will mark his first big league outing this year, as he’s spent the year with Triple-A Las Vegas after being passed through outright waivers in February.
Over the past four seasons, Blackburn took the ball 21 times (18 starts), working 99 2/3 innings. He’s only managed a 5.69 ERA at the highest level, thanks largely to his trouble missing bats. Blackburn has struck out just 11.9% of opposing hitters — a little more than half the league average — with a tiny 7.1% swinging strike rate.
Despite the lack of swing-and-miss stuff, Blackburn looks like a capable fill-in for the starting staff. He’s a very good strike-thrower, walking hitters at a minuscule 6.5% career clip. The sinkerballer has also had plenty of success keeping the ball down, racking up groundballs at a huge 53.2% rate in the majors. It’s been more of the same for Blackburn in 2021, as he’s induced grounders on 53.9% of balls in play at Triple-A. His 20% strikeout rate with the Aviators is still below-average, but it’s Blackburn’s best mark at any level of his professional career.
Oakland also offered an update on Bassitt, who sustained fractures to his right cheek and jaw after being struck by a 100 MPH line drive in a terrifying incident during last night’s start. A’s trainer Nick Paparesta told reporters (including Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News) Bassitt is expected to undergo surgery next Tuesday. Paparesta estimated it’d take around six weeks for the bones to heal. General manager David Forst said the team is understandably more concerned about Bassitt’s individual well-being than a potential timeline for his return to action at this point, but he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Bassitt making it back to the mound this season (via Rubin).