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Orioles Designate Mason Williams For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that they’ve designated outfielder Mason Williams for assignment.

Now 29 years old, Williams was a first-round pick of the Yankees in 2010 who hasn’t established himself in the majors. He’s only a .272/.309/.370 hitter across 252 plate appearances, including 52 with the Orioles since 2019. Williams went 2-for-18 with nine strikeouts this season before the Orioles before Friday. They previously DFA’d Williams on Sept. 1 and then outrighted him Sept. 4, only to bring him back for a short period.

Reds Outright Matt Davidson

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The Reds have outrighted infielder Matt Davidson, the team announced. Davidson accepted the assignment and will remain part of the organization. Meanwhile, the club placed right-hander Tyler Thornburg on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow sprain and recalled righty Jose De Leon.

The Reds designated Davidson for assignment on Sept. 8, which came after the two-time 20-home run hitter batted .163/.234/.295 with three homers in 47 plate appearances. He also saw a bit of time on the mound, throwing 3 1/3 innings of two-earned run ball.

The elbow problem represents yet another troubling injury for Thornburg, who was a premier reliever with the Brewers in 2016 but has fallen off since the Red Sox acquired him entering 2017. Thornburg missed all of that season, during which he underwent thoracic outlet surgery, and has only totaled 49 2/3 innings in the majors since. The 31-year-old has performed decently in his first season with the Reds, though, having struck out 10 and yielded three earned runs on six hits and five walks.

Blue Jays Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Blue Jays announced several roster moves on Friday, including the activation of reliever Ken Giles from the 45-day injured list. They also promoted catcher Alejandro Kirk, designated outfielder Billy McKinney and backstop Caleb Joseph, recalled righty Jacob Waguespack and optioned righty Sean Reid-Foley.

Giles made just two appearances this year (on July 24 and 26) before landing on the IL with a right forearm strain. It’s the second consecutive season limited by arm injuries for Giles, but when he’s right, he’s dominant. The 29-year-old was among the league’s best relievers last season, when he threw 53 innings and registered a 1.87 ERA/2.27 FIP with 14.09 K/9, 2.89 BB/9 and 23 saves in 24 chances. Giles’ production didn’t help lead to contention for the Jays then, but they’re 24-19 this season and in possession of a playoff spot. Therefore, if Giles is able to revisit his 2019 form, he could be an enormous down-the-stretch addition for Toronto.

Kirk, 21, has done nothing but hit in the minors over the past couple years. Even though he only reached the High-A level before this promotion, Kirk should be in line to at least back up Danny Jansen right now. He ranks as one of the top Blue Jays prospects at Baseball America (No. 5), MLB.com (No. 6) and FanGraphs (No. 6), with BA writing that Kirk “has an innate ability to barrel baseballs consistently, along with a good sense of the strike zone.”

Kirk will take over for Joseph, a former Oriole whom the Blue Jays signed to a minors pact in the offseason. Toronto selected Joseph back on Sept. 5, but it’s now booting the light-hitting 34-year-old from its roster after less than a week.

McKinney, along with the recently outrighted Brandon Drury, was part of the Blue Jays’ return for left-hander J.A. Happ in a deal they made with the Yankees in 2018. McKinney was effective after the Jays picked him up, as he hit .252/.320/.470 with six home runs in 118 plate appearances, but he didn’t come close to that production last year and hasn’t been part of Toronto’s plans this season. The 26-year-old totaled just three PA in 2020 before the Jays designated him.

Indians Designate Dominic Leone For Assignment

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The Indians have designated right-hander Dominic Leone for assignment, the team announced. They recalled righty Cam Hill to take Leone’s roster spot.

Leone was an offseason minor league signing for the Indians, with whom he cracked the roster but had a rough time over 9 2/3 innings before they designated him. The 28-year-old did rack up 16 strikeouts in that span, but he also gave up nine earned runs on 14 hits and five walks. This will go down as the second straight difficult campaign for Leone, who struggled to a 5.53 ERA/5.45 FIP over 40 2/3 innings as a Cardinal in 2019.

Not too long ago, Leone was an eminently valuable member of Toronto’s bullpen, as he logged a 2.56 ERA/2.94 FIP with 10.36 K/9 and 2.94 BB/9 in 70 1/3 innings in 2017. The Blue Jays traded Leone to the Cardinals in a deal for outfielder Randal Grichuk during the ensuing winter, but Leone hasn’t really been the same since he battled right biceps problems in his first season in St. Louis.

Mariners Outright Mallex Smith

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The Mariners have outrighted outfielder Mallex Smith to Triple-A Tacoma, the team announced. Smith is now out of their 60-man player pool.

This is the latest setback in the Seattle tenure for Smith, whom the team acquired from the Rays in a trade centering on him and catcher Mike Zunino heading into 2019. Smith was then coming off a highly valuable season as a member of the Rays, with whom he slashed .296/.367/.406 with 40 stolen bases and 3.5 fWAR across 544 plate appearances. For the most part, though, Smith hasn’t come close to replicating those numbers in Seattle. While the 27-year-old Smith has chipped in 48 steals as a Mariner, it hasn’t made up for his shortcomings at the plate. He batted an abysmal .220/.290/.323 with minus-0.5 fWAR over 613 trips to the plate before the M’s outrighted him.

Because of the struggles he has endured in Seattle, Smith has seemingly been out of the team’s plans for a few weeks. He hasn’t played in the majors since Aug. 15, and the Mariners optioned him to their alternate training site Aug. 18. Now, with the offseason nearing and Smith possessing enough service time to opt for free agency, it’s possible he won’t suit up for the Mariners again.

Blue Jays Release Jake Petricka

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The Blue Jays have released right-hander Jake Petricka, who’d been with the club at its alternate training site. The move, which was first noted on the team’s transactions log at MLB.com, was made in conjunction with the addition of shortstop prospect Orelvis Martinez to Toronto’s 60-man player pool.

Petricka, 32, returned to the Jays organization on a minor league deal this winter. He’d spent the 2018 campaign in Toronto, working to a 4.53 ERA and 4.45 FIP with a 41-to-16 K/BB ratio in 45 2/3 frames. The longtime White Sox reliever has seen big league action in parts of seven Major League seasons, totaling 231 2/3 innings with a 3.96 ERA and fielding-independent marks to match (4.02 FIP, 4.00 xFIP, 3.80 SIERA). Along the way, Petricka has averaged 6.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 with a whopping 59.1 percent ground-ball rate.

Entering the season, it seemed plausible that the Jays could eventually need to tap into depth options such as Petricka down at the alternate site. Behind closer Ken Giles and veteran Anthony Bass, the Blue Jays looked poised to rely on a host of young and/or unproven arms. Giles went down with an injury after just 1 2/3, ostensibly enhancing their need for veteran ’pen help, but the Blue Jays’ patchwork collection of arms somewhat surprisingly emerged as one of the team’s greatest strengths.

Righties Rafael Dolis, Jordan Romano, A.J. Cole and Thomas Hatch have all posted ERAs south of 2.50. Hard-throwing Julian Merryweather has shown impressive stuff in his early outings, and southpaw starters-turned-relievers Ryan Borucki and Anthony Kay have thrived as well. Overall, Toronto/Buffalo relievers rank third in ERA at 3.27 and sixth with a 3.75 FIP.

The veteran Petricka will now become a free agent who is free to sign with any big league club, although it’s also possible that he’ll wait until the offseason to sign with a new team — as is common with players who are released in September.

Phillies Designate Neil Walker, Select Ronald Torreyes

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The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve designated veteran infielder Neil Walker for assignment and swapped him out for fellow veteran Ronald Torreyes, whose contract has been selected from their alternate training site. Additionally, southpaw Adam Morgan has been reinstated from the injured list, and righty Ramon Rosso is up as the 29th man for today’s twin bill.

Walker, who turned 35 yesterday, beat out a crowded field to secure a bench spot with the Phillies during Summer Camp. In addition to Torreyes, the Phils had Josh Harrison, Logan Forsythe, Phil Gosselin and T.J. Rivera on minor league deals. Walker and Gosselin won backup spots, but Walker struggled to a .231/.244/.308 slash through 18 games and 41 plate appearances prior to today’s move.

Obviously, Walker wasn’t a heavily used piece in Philadelphia, where top prospect Alec Bohm has impressed through his first 25 big league games at third base. With Jean Segura holding his own at second base and Rhys Hoskins raking at first, playing time has been hard to come by for Walker. The addition of Torreyes in his place will give the club another option to handle shortstop — one of the few positions that Walker has never played at the MLB level.

Although Walker didn’t hit much in his short time with Philly, he’s just a season removed from posting a solid .261/.344/.395 batting line in a utility role with the Marlins. And, of course, Walker was a consistently strong producer from 2010-17, when he hit a combined .273/.342/.439 in just shy of 4300 plate appearances between the Pirates, Mets and Brewers.

The 28-year-old Torreyes, meanwhile, will be reunited with former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi. Torreyes was a fan favorite with the Yanks from 2016-18 when he hit .281/.308/.374 through 221 games as an oft-used bench piece. He spent the 2019 season in the Twins organization but hit poorly in Triple-A and saw only a very brief look in the big leagues.

Marlins Select Johan Quezada, Release Justin Shafer

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The Marlins announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Johan Quezada from their alternate training site and appointed right-hander Robert Dugger as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader. Miami added that fellow righty Justin Shafer, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week, has cleared waivers and been granted his unconditional release.

Quezada, 26, spent his entire career prior to the 2020 season in the Twins organization but never advanced beyond Class-A Advanced. He spent the 2019 campaign with Minnesota’s Florida State League affiliate in Fort Myers, tossing 52 1/3 innings with a 3.44 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 4.9 BB/9 and a 53.4 percent ground-ball rate.

Listed at an NBA-esque 6’9″, Quezada possesses a powerful fastball but has seen his development arc slowed by shoulder surgery that wiped out his 2017 campaign and by the lack of a minor league season in 2020. He inked a minor league deal with the Fish back in December and clearly did enough at their alternate site to earn a look in the big leagues.

Shafer, 27, was claimed from the Reds earlier this season and tagged for eight runs in 5 2/3 frames out of the Miami ’pen. He posted a solid 3.75 ERA in parts of two seasons with the Blue Jays from 2018-19, but the 32 walks and two hit batsmen he tallied in 48 innings with Toronto serve to underscore the control problems that have hampered him to this point in his MLB career. Shafer is now a free agent and eligible to sign with any team for the final couple weeks of the season.

Cardinals Outright Ryan Meisinger

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Cardinals right-hander Ryan Meisinger cleared waivers and was assigned outright to the team’s alternate training site, according to the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment when St. Louis reinstated Carlos Martinez from the injured list earlier this week.

Meisinger, 26, was a waiver claim out of the Orioles organization prior to the 2019 season and has had some strong performances in the upper minors. However, although he boasts a 2.73 ERA and 78-to-20 K/BB ratio through 62 2/3 Triple-A frames, Meisinger has received minimal opportunity in the big leagues. He’s logged just 23 2/3 innings in the big leagues, most of which came with the 2018 Orioles. He hasn’t found success to date, but it’s obviously a rather small sample of work.

That solid body of work in Triple-A apparently didn’t get him claimed by another club in search of bullpen depth, however. He’s been outrighted previously, so he could reject the assignment in favor of free agency. If he accepts, Meisinger will rejoin the Cardinals’ 60-man player pool and remain eligible to return to the club in the final couple weeks of the 2020 season.

60-Man Player Pool Additions: Reds, Blue Jays

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The latest 60-man player pool additions from around the majors…

  • The Reds have added outfielder Michael Siani, infielder Tyler Callihan and right-hander Lyon Richardson to their player pool, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. All three players – Siani (No. 7), Callihan (No. 8) and Richardson (No. 11) – rank among the Reds’ best prospects at MLB.com. The 21-year-old Siani was a fourth-round pick of the Reds in 2018 who batted .253/.333/.339 with six home runs and a whopping 45 stolen bases across 531 plate appearances in Single-A ball last season. Callihan, 20, joined the Reds as a third-rounder last year and hit .263/.298/.442 with six homers and 11 steals in 238 rookie ball plate appearances. Richardson, a 2018 fourth-rounder, logged a 4.15 ERA/3.76 FIP in 112 2/3 innings at the Single-A level last season. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote in May that the hard-throwing Richardson, 20, has the potential to become a top 100 prospect by 2021.
  • Shortstop Orelvis Martinez is now in the Blue Jays’ player pool, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Dominican Republic native was a pricey July 2 signing in 2018 for the Blue Jays, who inked Martinez to a $3.5MM bonus. The 18-year-old has continued to show great promise since then, evidenced in part by the .275/.350/.549 line and 150 wRC+ he put up in 163 plate appearances in rookie ball during his first pro action last season. FanGraphs (No. 4), MLB.com (No. 7) and Baseball America (No. 7) each place Martinez near the top of Toronto’s farm system.
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