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Braves Designate Jack Mayfield For Assignment

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The Braves announced that they’ve designated infielder Jack Mayfield for assignment in order to open a roster spot for their previously reported waiver claim of outfielder Guillermo Heredia from the Mets.

The 30-year-old Mayfield was claimed off waivers from the Astros organization earlier in the winter despite a shaky track record at the MLB level. In 112 plate appearances as a big leaguer, Mayfield has batted .170/.198/.283.

That said, Mayfield also carries a more robust .268/.325/.472 slash through 1224 plate appearances in Triple-A, and he’s a versatile defender with minor league options remaining. He’s graded out well in limited samples of work at second base, shortstop and third base, making him a potential bench piece or Triple-A stash for another club if they have the 40-man roster flexibility to take him on.

The Braves will have a week to trade Mayfield or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he does go unclaimed, he could be retained by the Braves and return to camp as a non-roster invitee.

Indians Claim Harold Ramirez, Designate Jordan Humphreys

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The Indians announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed outfielder Harold Ramirez off waivers from the Marlins. Right-hander Jordan Humphreys was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

The 26-year-old Ramirez debuted at the MLB level with the Marlins in May 2019 and posted a superb .368/.419/.474 batting line over his first month of action before his bat cooled off. Ramirez struggled through June and July that year before rebounding, to an extent, in the final two months of the year. Overall, his .276/.312/.416 batting line through 446 plate appearances as a rookie looked to position him well for a lengthier audition in 2020.

That didn’t happen, however, as Ramirez was one of the 20 members of the Marlins organization to test positive for Covid-19 during the team’s outbreak. When he returned from that diagnosis, he sustained a hamstring injury almost immediately and didn’t return from there on. All told, he played in just three games last summer.

Ramirez adds to what has been a consistently jumbled outfield mix for Cleveland over the past few seasons. The Indians brought in former division rival Eddie Rosario on a one-year deal to play left field, and they’ll likely give Oscar Mercado a chance to rebound in center field. Beyond that, playing time ought to be largely up for grabs, and Ramirez should be squarely in the mix, alongside Josh Naylor, Jordan Luplow, Jake Bauers, Bradley Zimmer and Daniel Johnson.

All of those players in that hodgepodge, Ramirez included, have at least one minor league option remaining, so there won’t be any cases of a player winning out solely to avoid a DFA. That should set the stage for a legitimate competition during camp, though Ramirez and Luplow are the only two right-handed bats in the bunch, which could give them an advantage.

Humphreys, 24, has yet to make his big league debut but had a big 2017 season across two Class-A levels in the Mets organization before requiring Tommy John surgery. He allowed just two runs in 13 innings of Rookie ball in 2019 as he rehabbed from that surgery and likely would’ve been ticketed for a Double-A assignment in 2020 had their been a minor league season.

The Mets traded Humphreys to the Giants in exchange for Billy Hamilton, however, and Cleveland eventually picked Humphreys up off waivers. Coincidentally, both Humphreys and Hamilton are with the Indians organization at the moment, as Hamilton inked a minor league deal earlier in the winter.

Cleveland will have a week to trade Humphreys or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If they can indeed sneak him through waivers, he’d remain in camp as a non-roster invitee and give the club an interesting depth piece. In 169 2/3 professional innings, Humphreys has a 2.60 ERA with an above-average 26.1 percent strikeout rate and a brilliant 4.4 percent walk rate.

Braves Claim Guillermo Heredia

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The Braves have claimed outfielder Guillermo Heredia off waivers from the Mets, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). New York had designated the 30-year-old for assignment over the weekend. By claiming Heredia, the Braves will become responsible for the entirety of the $1MM salary that he’d previously agreed upon in order to avoid an arbitration hearing with the Mets.

Heredia has spent parts of the past five seasons in the Major Leagues — mostly with the Mariners. Seattle traded him to Tampa Bay for the 2019 season, after which he was non-tendered and subsequently signed with the Pirates. The Mets claimed Heredia off waivers themselves back in August after a lackluster showing in Pittsburgh, and he went on to appear in seven games before season’s end.

Overall, Heredia slashed just .212/.278/.394 in 36 plate appearances between the two clubs. It was a small sample, to be sure, but Heredia’s prior work in the big leagues doesn’t give much more reason for optimism at the plate. He’s a career .239/.316/.344 batter in 1137 plate appearances across those four teams.

Heredia, however, is capable of playing all three outfield positions, has a minor league option remaining and does have a respectable line against left-handed pitching: .274/.337/.397. His right-handed bat will give the Braves some depth and a possible bench bat, though his skill set is somewhat similar to fellow recent waiver claim Phil Ervin. With Marcell Ozuna, Ronald Acuna Jr., Cristian Pache and Ender Inciarte all ahead of him on the depth chart, it seems likelier that he’ll be ticketed for Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the season than for Atlanta’s 26-man roster.

Dodgers, Blue Jays Complete Ross Stripling Trade

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The Dodgers have acquired first baseman/outfielder Ryan Noda from the Blue Jays, Juan Toribio of MLB.com was among those to report. Noda was the second of two players to be named later (joining right-hander Kendall Williams) in the teams’ August trade centering on veteran righty Ross Stripling.

Now 24 years old, Noda became a pro when the Jays chose him in the 15th round of the 2017 draft. He has mashed in the minors since then, having combined for a .272/.422/.478 line with 40 home runs and 35 stolen bases in 1,292 plate appearances among the rookie, Single-A and High-A levels. However, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote last month that Noda “strikes out a lot for someone older than is usual for his level” and may only amount to a Quad-A type of player. Noda fanned in just under 30 percent of his plate appearances during his most recent minor league action in 2019.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/23/21

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Tuesday’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Braves have agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Travis Snider, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The former Blue Jay will now reunite with Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who was the GM in Toronto during part of Snider’s tenure there. Snider was a star prospect early in his Jays tenure but hasn’t lived up to the hype in the majors. The 33-year-old owns a .244/.311/.399 line with 54 home runs in 1,971 plate appearances, and he hasn’t appeared in the bigs since he split 2015 between Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
  • The Mariners announced that they have outrighted Robert Dugger to Triple-A. The team designated the right-hander for assignment last week, which came a little over two months after it claimed him off waivers from the Marlins in December. Dugger, 25, pitched to a 7.40 ERA with a similarly poor 4.2 K-BB percentage in 45 innings as a Marlin from 2019-20. He’ll remain with the M’s as depth for at least the time being.

Yankees Sign Justin Wilson

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11:45am: Wilson’s contractual terms are virtually identical to Gardner’s, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). He’ll be paid $2.85MM in 2021 with a $2.3MM player option for the 2022 season. If Wilson declines that option, the Yankees have a $7.15MM club option or $1.15MM buyout on him. The lone difference is that if Wilson exercises his player option for the 2022 season, the Yankees will pick up a 2023 club option worth the league minimum plus $500K. (The exact 2023 league minimum isn’t yet known due to the expiring collective bargaining agreement.)

As with Gardner, it’s quite unlikely that Wilson will exercise that player option, thus giving the Yankees a year of virtual league-minimum control over him — particularly when he’s guaranteed at least the $1.15MM buyout on the 2022 club option anyhow. But rather than a straight $4MM guarantee, this structure reduces the luxury hit to a more palatable $2.575MM.

Feb. 23, 10:40am: The Yankees have announced the signing of Wilson to a one-year deal. As with their signings of Brett Gardner and Darren O’Day, the contract contains a player option for Wilson and a club option for the Yankees that can be picked up if he declines. The player option structure will allow the team to artificially weigh down the luxury-tax hit on Wilson, as it’s considered guaranteed money for luxury purposes.

Feb. 15:  The Yankees and free-agent reliever Justin Wilson have reached a deal, pending a physical, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. Sweeny Murti of WFAN first reported the pact. The Yankees were in discussions with Wilson over the weekend and looked to be progressing toward a deal then, so it isn’t a surprise that the ACES client is joining the team.

This will be the second Yankees stint for Wilson, who began his career with the Pirates from 2012-14 before moving on to the Bronx in a trade for catcher Francisco Cervelli. The left-handed Wilson was highly effective in 2015, but the Yankees nonetheless moved on from him after that season in a trade with the Tigers. The Yankees acquired right-handers Chad Green and Luis Cessa (who are still on their roster) for Wilson, who has continued to perform well dating back to that deal. Along with the Tigers, the 33-year-old Wilson has suited up for the Cubs and Mets since the Yankees first parted with him.

Wilson has been effective everywhere he has pitched, evidenced in part by his 3.27 ERA/3.54 SIERA and above-average strikeout percentage (26.7) over 429 1/3 innings. The hard-throwing Wilson has also surrendered comparable numbers versus lefty hitters (.291 weighted on-base average) and righties (.284), so regardless of handedness, the Yankees can be confident he’ll keep holding his own in 2021.

Along with the aforementioned Green, Wilson will join Zack Britton and fellow free-agent pickup Darren O’Day in giving the team another proven reliever in front of closer Aroldis Chapman.

Braves Sign Jake Lamb

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Feb. 23: The Braves announced their one-year deal with Lamb. While it is technically a Major League deal, it’s also a non-guaranteed deal, per the team. That means Lamb could yet be cut in Spring Training for only a portion of his salary. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that salary to be $1MM.

Feb. 21: The Braves are in agreement on a contract with corner infielder Jake Lamb, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com (Twitter link). It’s expected to be a major league pact, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical. Lamb is a client of CAA Sports.

Lamb once looked like a building block for the Diamondbacks, with whom he began his career. Between 2016-17, he hit .248/.345/.498 with 59 home runs, earning an All-Star berth in the latter season. Unfortunately, the left-handed slugger was plagued by a shoulder issue that eventually required surgery in 2018, knocking him off course. Over the past three seasons, Lamb has just a .205/.309/.351 line with 15 homers across 563 plate appearances. That led Arizona to release him last September.

To his credit, Lamb hooked on with the Athletics after being cut loose by the Diamondbacks and hit very well down the stretch. That production came over just thirteen games on the heels of two-plus seasons of subpar performance, though, so it seems unlikely he’s completely regained his footing at the plate.

The Braves needn’t get his return to peak form for this to make for a worthwhile addition, though. Lamb won’t see much action at first base, thanks to the presence of reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman, but third base was a problem area last season. The combination of Austin Riley, Johan Camargo and the since-departed Adeiny Hechavarría struggled to varying degrees at the plate. Lamb isn’t a sure thing to produce himself, but he’ll bring a left-handed bat with some power to the mix, which could pair well with the right-handed hitting Riley. Non-roster invitees Jason Kipnis and Ehire Adrianza will try to work their way onto the roster during spring training, as well.

Athletics Designate Paul Blackburn For Assignment

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The Athletics have designated right-hander Paul Blackburn for assignment, the team announced Tuesday. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to first baseman/designated hitter Mitch Moreland, who has passed a physical and thus made his one-year agreement with Oakland official.

Blackburn, 27, has seen time in the big leagues with the A’s in each of the past four seasons but has yet to consistently put together strong results. He did notch 58 2/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball as a rookie in 2017, but that was accompanied by a paltry 9.2 percent strikeout rate that served as a clear indicator he’d have difficulty maintaining that output. While Blackburn has succeeded in upping his strikeout rate a bit — it’s still well below league average — he’s nevertheless been hit quite hard in the three years since that debut. Over his past 41 innings in the big leagues, he’s yielded 44 earned runs.

Overall, Blackburn carries a 5.69 ERA in 99 2/3 MLB frames to date, although there are certainly some intriguing aspects to the righty’s track record. He’s induced grounders at a rather hefty 53.2 percent clip thanks to a low-spin sinker, and he’s walked just 6.5 percent of opponents he’s faced in the Majors. Blackburn has a sub-4.00 ERA at every minor league level and a 3.47 ERA mark in parts of eight minor league seasons overall. He’s also out of minor league options, however, meaning he’d have to break camp with another club in order to avoid again being designated for assignment.

The A’s will have a week to trade Blackburn, try to pass him through outright waivers or release him. Should he go unclaimed on waivers, he’ll remain with the club and presumably head to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. At that point, he’d have a chance to force his way back onto the MLB roster or could be sent to Triple-A to open the year as a relatively seasoned upper-level depth piece.

Athletics Sign Mitch Moreland

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The Athletics added some left-handed pop to their lineup, announcing on Tuesday that they’ve signed first baseman/designated hitter Mitch Moreland to a one-year deal. The Paragon Sports International client will reportedly be guaranteed $2.25MM on the deal and can earn another $250K worth of incentives.

Mitch Moreland | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Moreland may be 35 years old, but he’s turned in the best work of his career at the plate over the past two seasons. In 487 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Padres in that time, Moreland has slashed .256/.333/.521 with 29 home runs, 26 doubles and a triple. He’s also boosted his walk rate north of 10 percent in the past few years after previously sitting around seven percent for the bulk of his career, and the uptick in power and free passes hasn’t come with any discernible increase in strikeouts (21.8 percent).

At this point in his career, Moreland’s glovework likely isn’t as good as it was at its Gold Glove peak, but that’s not much of an issue in Oakland, where Matt Olson is among the game’s best defenders at the position. He’ll give them a veteran with a solid defensive track record in the event that Olson misses any time, but Moreland figures to see time as the primary designated hitter for the A’s now that Khris Davis has been traded to Texas in a trade that brought Elvis Andrus to Oakland.

Moreland has never hit left-handed pitching well and is typically shielded from facing southpaws too much, so he’ll likely be deployed in a platoon setting. The A’s don’t have an obvious right-handed-hitting platoon partner at the moment — Chad Pinder likely in a platoon at second base — so it’s possible they could yet look to the market to bring in an affordable righty bat or switch-hitter to pair with Moreland.

Moreland joins Trevor Rosenthal, Yusmeiro Petit and Sergio Romo as recent additions on one-year deals, bringing the Oakland payroll up to a still-modest $85MM in total. It had been a near-silent offseason for the A’s, but it seems their ability to shed the Davis contract and a flooded free-agent market still full of veterans seeking deals has pushed ownership to begin spending a bit.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the deal (via Twitter). Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com first reported the financials.

Yankees Designate Greg Allen For Assignment

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The Yankees have designated outfielder Greg Allen for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to lefty Justin Wilson, whose previously reported deal is now official.

The 27-year-old Allen won’t get into a game as a member of the Yankees, who acquired him in a minor trade that sent minor league lefty James Reeves to the Padres back on Jan. 6. The Yankees were the third organization in half a year’s time for Allen, who opened the 2020 season in Cleveland before being traded to the Padres as part of the Mike Clevinger deal and then landing with New York.

Allen could be on the move again now, although the Yankees surely wouldn’t mind holding onto him as minor league depth in the event that he goes unclaimed on waivers. The soon-to-be 28-year-old has just a .239/.298/.343 batting line in 618 Major League plate appearances, but he’s also gone 32-for-38 in stolen bases during that time. More importantly, Allen is considered a solid defender in the outfield and is capable of handing all three spots out there.

Unfortunately for Allen, he’s also out of minor league options, which left him looking like a potential roster casualty as the Yankees made a slew of one-year additions late in the offseason. While he wasn’t technically the corresponding move for Brett Gardner’s return, which the Yankees also announced today, that deal may have been the final nail in his 40-man roster coffin.

The Yankees will have a week to trade Allen or, as previously noted, attempt to pass him through outright waivers. That the Padres were able to find a trade for Allen the first time around — one for a minor league pitcher and not simply cash or a PTBNL — suggests there was something of a market the last time he was designated. However, many clubs have made other outfield additions and filled up the fringes of their 40-man roster in the six weeks since that time, so it’s certainly possible the Yankees could sneak him through waivers.

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