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JT Riddle Elects Free Agency

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Infielder/outfielder JT Riddle has rejected an outright assignment from the Pirates in favor of free agency, as indicated on the Triple-A International League transactions page. Pittsburgh designated Riddle for assignment last week, and as a player with more than three years of MLB service, he has the right to opt for the open market after being outrighted from the roster.

Pittsburgh signed Riddle to a one-year deal worth $850K over the winter, but the former Marlins utilityman scuffled through the least-productive season of his career — albeit in a small sample of just 63 plate appearances. As a Pirate, Riddle managed just a .149/.174/.224 slash with a homer, two doubles and a stolen base. Despite only playing 23 games with the Bucs, Riddle appeared at all four infield positions and all three outfield slots, demonstrating some of the defensive versatility that appealed to the Pirates in the first place.

Riddle, who’ll turn 29 next week, was a career .229/.269/.368 hitter with 18 home runs, 29 doubles and five triples in 718 plate appearances with Miami prior to signing in Pittsburgh this winter. He’ll likely find some minor league offers and Spring Training invites this winter due to that versatility and his career .284/.321/.457 slash in parts of five Triple-A seasons.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/3/20

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A trio of players appear ticketed for free agency this offseason after being outrighted off clubs’ rosters yesterday, per the MLB.com transactions log:

  • Cubs’ reliever Josh Osich cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Chicago acquired Osich from the Red Sox at this year’s trade deadline, although he only wound up pitching in four games for them down the stretch. Osich combined for a 6.38 ERA in 18.1 innings for the two teams this year, although he did rack up an impressive 24:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
  • White Sox reliever Alex McRae also passed through the wire after being designated this week. McRae spent the first six seasons of his professional career in the Pirates’ organization before joining the Sox last offseason. He tossed three scoreless innings for the South Siders this year. McRae has a 7.50 ERA/7.09 FIP in 36 career MLB innings.
  • Also passing through waivers was Rangers’ infielder Yadiel Rivera. The 28-year-old utilityman was reported to have been designated for assignment in early September, but he instead reverted to the injured list after being diagnosed with an elbow injury. Rivera wound up having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his elbow, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reported late last month, and is expected to be out for five to six months. Rivera has just a .175/.244/.217 line in 319 MLB plate appearances across six seasons.

Pirates Outright Andrew Susac

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Pirates catcher Andrew Susac cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster, per John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com (Twitter link). He can become a minor league free agent this offseason.

Susac, 30, joined the Pirates’ big league roster late in the season when Jacob Stallings landed on the seven-day concussion list. The former Giants top prospect picked up only four plate appearances though, and hasn’t tallied more than 19 plate appearances in the Majors since the 2015 campaign in San Francisco. In all, Susac has a career .219/.286/.371 slash with seven homes in 304 plate appearances at the game’s top level. While Susac has never quite put things together in the big leagues, however, he’s a lifetime .247/.351/.431 hitter in 1020 trips to the plate in Triple-A.

Between Susac’s outright, yesterday’s claim of righty Sean Poppen and the corresponding decision to designate JT Riddle for assignment, the Pirates’ 40-man roster is at 39 players.

Diamondbacks Outright Joe Mantiply

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OCT. 1: The D-backs announced that they have outrighted Mantiply to Triple-A Reno.

SEPT. 28: The Diamondbacks announced that they have designated left-hander Joe Mantiply for assignment. They reinstated infielder Domingo Leyba from the restricted list in a corresponding move.

Mantiply, a former Tiger and Yankee whom the Diamondbacks signed to a minor league contract last winter, threw 2 1/3 innings of four-run ball for the D-backs in 2020. The 29-year-old has tossed just eight major league innings and surrendered 12 earned runs on 13 hits with more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six) thus far.

Leyba, meanwhile, is back with the Snakes after receiving an 80-game suspension for a positive performance-enhancing drug test last March. The 25-year-old Leyba made his D-backs debut a season ago with 30 plate appearances and seven hits. FanGraphs ranked Leyba as the D-backs’ 26th-best prospect last November.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/1/20

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Checking in on the game’s latest minor moves…

  • The Indians have reinstated right-hander Emmanuel Clase from the restricted list, the team announced. Clase missed the entire season after suffering a teres major strain and receiving an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Before that, he was the headlining part of the return the Indians received for righty Corey Kluber in an offseason trade with the Rangers. The flamethrowing Clase thrived in his major league debut in 2019 with a 2.31 ERA/3.43 FIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.31 BB/9 and a 60.6 percent groundball in 23 1/3 innings. Based on that, Clase should be an important part of the Indians’ bullpen next year.
  • Rays left-hander Sean Gilmartin has accepted an outright assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The club previously designated Gilmartin on Tuesday. Gilmartin, whom the Rays have shuffled on and off their roster throughout the year, threw 4 1/3 regular-season innings and yielded four earned runs on seven hits and four walks (five strikeouts).

Pirates Claim Sean Poppen, Designate JT Riddle

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The Pirates have claimed right-hander Sean Poppen off waivers from the Twins, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. Pittsburgh designated infielder/outfielder JT Riddle for assignment in a corresponding move.

Poppen, whom the Twins designated earlier this week, saw brief action with the team in each of the past two seasons, but the 26-year-old Harvard alumnus struggled along the way. He’ll join the Pirates with a 6.19 ERA (but a far better 3.33 FIP), 10.69 K/9, 5.06 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent groundball rate over 16 big league innings. Poppen was effective during his Triple-A debut a year ago, though, as he threw 61 innings of 3.84 ERA/3.92 FIP ball, notched 10.03 K/9 against 3.98 BB/9, and posted an excellent 56.9 GB percentage.

Riddle joined the Pirates on an $850K deal last offseason after logging significant at-bats with the Marlins from 2017-19. The 28-year-old recorded a woeful line with the Bucs, hitting .149/.174/.224 with one home run and a 4 wRC+ in 69 plate appearances. Overall, Riddle has batted .222/.261/.355 with 19 HRs through 787 PA in the majors.

Orioles Outright Evan Phillips

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The Orioles announced Wednesday that right-hander Evan Phillips has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore’s 40-man roster is down to 36 players.

Phillips, 26, was acquired in the 2018 trade that sent Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day to the Braves. He’s been up and down with the O’s since that trade, pitching to a 7.36 ERA with an impressive 65 strikeouts (12.3 K/9) but an alarming 36 walks (6.8 BB/9) through 47 2/3 frames as a member of the Baltimore ’pen.

Control issues have been a problem even in the upper minors, although Phillips does also own a 3.41 ERA and 10.8 K/9 in 121 Triple-A innings. Phillips sits a bit north of 94 mph with his heater but doesn’t possess the type of high-end spin rate or swinging-strike rates on the pitch one would expect from a pitcher with his strikeout rates.

Cubs Select Josh Phegley, Designate Josh Osich

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The Cubs have selected the contract of catcher Josh Phegley from their alternate training site and designated left-handed reliever Josh Osich for assignment in order to open roster space, per a club announcement. Phegley will make the team’s Wild Card roster.

Phegley, 32, logged 18 plate appearances with the Cubs earlier this season but struggled in that short sample, collecting just one hit and one walk while getting plunked by a pitch in that time as well. He’ll be a third catcher behind Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini this series and give the Cubs a bench option who hit .233/.282/.397 in 300 games with the A’s from 2015-19.

Osich, also 32, allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits with four strikeouts in just 2 2/3 innings over four games with the Cubs. Osich notched a 4.66 ERA in 67 2/3 innings with the Cubs last year while posting a 61-to-15 K/BB ratio in that time. However, he carries just a 5.02 ERA and 5.21 FIP in 206 1/3 big league innings to this point in his career. Osich can become a free agent if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

White Sox Release Steve Cishek; Ross Detwiler Elects Free Agency

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The White Sox have released right-hander Steve Cishek, according to the MLB.com transactions page.  Both Cishek and left-hander Ross Detwiler were designated for assignment earlier this week, and Detwiler is also on the move, as the southpaw has elected to become a free agent.

After pitching for the Cubs in 2018-19, Cishek moved to the south side of Chicago after signing a one-year free agent deal with the White Sox last winter.  Cishek earned $5.25MM in guaranteed salary, and he will get $750K as a buyout of the $6.75MM club option on his services for the 2021 season.

For that $6MM investment, the White Sox received a 5.40 ERA, 2.33 K/BB rate, and 9.5 K/9 over 20 innings from Cishek.  As noted by MLBTR’s Steve Adams last Thursday, much of the damage done to Cishek’s ERA came early in the season — Cishek allowed seven runs over his first 5 2/3 innings of work (in seven games) before settling down to allow five runs over his next 14 1/3 innings (15 appearances).  That said, Cishek also had the highest HR/9 and the lowest ground-ball rate of his 11 MLB seasons, albeit in the small sample size of the abbreviated 2020 campaign.

While Cishek had a tough start and a solid finish to his season, Detwiler was the opposite story.  The lefty didn’t allow a run until his 10th appearance of the season, and had a sterling 1.47 ERA over his first 18 1/3 innings pitched.  Unfortunately for Detwiler, a disastrous final outing more than doubled his runs allowed total for the entire season, though his final numbers (3.20 ERA, 3.00 K/BB rate, 6.9 K/9 in 19 2/3 IP) are more than respectable.

With 23 combined Major League seasons on their resumes, Cishek and Detwiler offer a lot of experience for teams looking for veteran bullpen depth this offseason.  The two veterans, however, will face a lot of competition for jobs amidst a deep field of free agent relievers that will only grow longer once more teams begin their offseason roster maintenance.

White Sox Reinstate Leury Garcia From 45-Day IL, Designate Alex McRae

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The White Sox have reinstated utilityman Leury Garcia from the 45-day injured list and included him on their postseason roster, the team announced.  Righty Alex McRae was designated for assignment to create roster space.

Garcia hasn’t played since August 10, as a severed thumb ligament required surgery.  The 29-year-old was off to a pretty nice start, hitting .271/.317/.441 over his 63 regular season plate appearances, getting a lot of action at shortstop (due to Tim Anderson’s own IL stint) and second base (before Nick Madrigal was called up to the big leagues).  Garcia has been known more for his versatility than his switch-hitting bat over his eight MLB seasons, and his ability to play all over the diamond will make him a nice bench piece for the Sox during their postseason run.  As a member of the White Sox organization since 2013, this playoff appearance surely feels extra sweet for Garcia after seven losing seasons.

McRae only appeared in two games for Chicago this season, tossing three scoreless innings.  The right-hander signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last winter after spending his first six pro seasons in the Pirates organization.  McRae saw Major League action in both 2018 and 2019, posting a combined 8.18 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 1.14 K/BB rate over 33 innings for Pittsburgh.

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