Minor MLB Transactions: 7/5/21
The latest minor moves from around baseball:
- The Red Sox have transferred right-hander Eduard Bazardo from the minor league injured list to the 60-day IL, the team announced. Doing so will entitle the 25-year-old to MLB pay and service time while he rehabs but creates an opening on the 40-man roster. Bazardo, who’s dealing with a strained right lat, has made a pair of major league appearances this season. He has tossed three scoreless innings with a trio of strikeouts and two walks.
Outrighted: Beasley, Bergen, Wade
A handful of players around the league have cleared waivers:
- Right-hander Jeremy Beasley and lefty Travis Bergen both went unclaimed on outright waivers, the Blue Jays announced. They’ve been subsequently assigned to Triple-A. Beasley, 25, appeared in eight games with the Jays this season and posted an impressive 27.7 percent strikeout rate in 9 1/3 frames. However, he also surrendered eight earned runs, walked 19.1 percent of his opponents and served up three home runs in that short time. Bergen was designated for assignment last week despite a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings, although the 27-year-old’s eight walks in that time make that ERA look rather dubious. Bergen has an excellent minor league track record but has been injured frequently throughout his pro career to date. If he can repeat his past minor league success and remain healthy, he could get another look before too long.
- The Orioles announced that righty Konner Wade cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk. The 29-year-old made a very brief MLB debut last week but was hit hard, surrendering six runs on seven hits and a walk with one strikeout in 1 2/3 innings. The former Rockies and Red Sox farmhand has been enjoying a solid season in Norfolk to date, having pitched to a 3.24 ERA through 33 1/3 frames. Wade has just a 16 percent strikeout rate there, but he’s also notched a tidy 6.1 percent walk rate and an above-average 48.5 percent ground-ball rate. While it obviously wasn’t the debut Wade had envisioned, there’s been a fairly steady churn on the Orioles’ pitching staff so far in 2021, so continued success in Triple-A could lead to another look in the Majors later this summer.
Twins Outright Matt Shoemaker
Twins right-hander Matt Shoemaker has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A St. Paul, reports Dan Hayes of the Athletic (Twitter link). Minnesota designated him for assignment last week.
The Twins signed Shoemaker to a one-year, $2MM deal over the winter in the hope he’d stabilize the back of the rotation. That’s not how things have played out, though, as Shoemaker has been one of the least effective pitchers in the league this season. The 34-year-old has taken the ball sixteen times (including eleven starts) but the results haven’t been there. Shoemaker has been tagged for an 8.06 ERA/5.37 SIERA across 60 1/3 innings. He has struck out just 14.1% of batters faced — by far the worst mark of his career — and he’s given up fifteen home runs. It’s the second consecutive season in which Shoemaker has given up more than two longballs per nine innings pitched, an untenable mark.
Nevertheless, there’s little harm for the Twins in giving Shoemaker a chance to try to work things out in Triple-A. Prior to 2020, he’d carved out a nice career as a solid back-of-the-rotation arm when healthy. His velocity is still in line with its range from recent seasons. Despite the lack of strikeouts, Shoemaker’s 10.3% swinging strike rate is only a little worse than league average.
As a player with more than six years of major league service, Shoemaker had the right to refuse a minor league assignment while still collecting the remainder of his guaranteed salary. He’s instead decided to stick around in the Twins system and hope to pitch his way back to Target Field before the end of the season.
Jerad Eickhoff Re-Signs With Mets
4:40 pm: Eickhoff is returning to the Mets on a new minor league arrangement, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter link).
9:27 am: Right-hander Jerad Eickhoff went unclaimed on waivers and has elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to Triple-A, per the transactions log at MiLB.com. He can now sign with any club (or re-sign a new minor league deal with the Mets).
Eickhoff, who turned 31 on Friday, returned to the big leagues with a pair of starts for an injury-depleted Mets club last month. The righty saw Major League time with the Phillies each season from 2015-19, pitching to a combined 4.15 ERA with a 21.3 percent strikeout rate and a 6.8 percent walk rate. His best work, however, came in the first two years of that span, when he posted a 3.44 ERA in 248 1/3 frames. Eickhoff’s final three seasons with the Phils were marred by injuries — most notably surgery to address carpal tunnel syndrome in his pitching hand.
Eickhoff split the 2020 season between the Padres and Rangers organizations after signing a minor league deal with the Padres. San Diego even selected his contract to the MLB roster early in the 2020 campaign, but he was sent out before appearing in a game. He later inked a minor league pact with his original organization, the Rangers, but didn’t make it back to the big leagues before season’s end.
The 2020 season marked the first since 2015 in which Eickhoff didn’t pitch in the Majors. He’ll now look for a new opportunity after yielding five runs on 11 hits and four walks with six punchouts in 10 innings for the Mets. Four of the hits surrendered by Eickhoff in his brief time with the Mets’ big league club were home runs, which is cause for some concern, as are the struggles he had in Triple-A Syracuse before being called to the Majors: 44 innings, 5.32 ERA, 22.1 percent strikeout rate, 7.0 percent walk rate, 11 home runs allowed.
Cubs Sign Robinson Chirinos To Major League Deal
The Cubs announced they’ve signed catcher Robinson Chirinos to a one-year, major league contract. Fellow backstop Taylor Gushue has been designated for assignment to create space on the active and 40-man rosters.
Chirinos signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the offseason. A Spring Training hit by pitch led to a right wrist fracture that required surgical repair, helping limit the 37-year-old to 45 plate appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. New York, set behind the plate with a combination of Gary Sánchez and Kyle Higashioka, released Chirinos on Sunday.
It only took the veteran a day to land a big league opportunity elsewhere. He’ll immediately step in as Willson Contreras’s backup in Chicago, a role that has been in flux all season. In addition to Gushue, Tony Wolters, Austin Romine, José Lobatón and P.J. Higgins have all taken brief turns as the Cubs #2 catcher. Wolters struggled and was quickly designated for assignment, while each of Romine, Lobatón and Higgins has suffered some form of significant injury.
That turnover will lead to another opportunity for Chirinos. The MDR Sports Management client has seen action in parts of nine big league seasons, including every year from 2013-20. At his best, he was an above-average hitter with solid power from the right-handed batters box, serving as the primary catcher for the Rangers and Astros. Chirinos is coming off a disappointing 2020 campaign, but that only spanned 82 plate appearances and he’s not far removed from a strong .238/.347/.443 line with Houston in 2019. He’s returning to his original organization, having signed with the Cubs as an amateur from Venezuela back in 2000.
Chicago will have a week to trade Gushue or expose him to waivers. The Cubs selected the 27-year-old after Lobatón’s injury last week. He has since made his first two career major league appearances, going hitless in four trips to the plate. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, the former Nationals prospect has hit a solid .272/.328/.440 with Triple-A Iowa this season.
D-backs Claim Jordan Weems, Designate Ryan Buchter
The Diamondbacks announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Jordan Weems off waivers from the Athletics. Veteran lefty Ryan Buchter was designated for assignment in a corresponding roster move.
Weems, 28, was designated for assignment himself over the weekend. He’s allowed three runs in 4 1/3 frames for Oakland this season and, dating back to last summer’s debut, has yielded a total of eight runs on 12 hits and 10 walks with 22 strikeouts in 18 1/3 frames.
A third-round pick of the Red Sox back in 2011, Weems never made it to The Show in Boston before reaching minor league free agency and latching on with the A’s. He posted solid numbers with Oakland’s MLB club last summer, albeit in 14 1/3 innings, but has been hit hard in a trio of brief stints at the Triple-A level: 6.67 ERA in 29 2/3 innings.
Weems averages better than 95 mph with his heater, however, and turned in a solid 13.1 percent swinging-strike rate in 2020. The Diamondbacks, starved for bullpen help, are surely hoping he can rediscover some of that 2020 form in a change of setting. Weems also has all three minor league options remaining, so he’s a flexible piece both for now and in future seasons if he indeed sticks on the 40-man roster.
As for the 34-year-old Buchter, he’ll now either be traded, placed on outright waivers or released in the next week. He’s tossed 14 2/3 innings of relief out of the Arizona bullpen so far but hasn’t had anywhere near the level of success he’s had for the majority of his big league career.
Buchter entered the season with a 2.90 ERA, a 26.8 percent strikeout rate and an 11.2 percent walk rate but has served up nine earned runs in 14 2/3 innings (5.52 ERA) with as many walks as strikeouts (19.1 percent apiece). His fastball, which averaged 92.6 mph in each of the past three seasons, is down to an average of 90.9 mph in 2021. Buchter’s 7.9 percent swinging-strike rate is also the lowest of his career.
Astros Outright Francis Martes
Right-hander Francis Martes went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Astros and will remain in the organization, tweets The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan. Houston designated him for assignment late last week.
Now 25 years old, Martes once ranked as one of the game’s premier pitching prospects. The big righty peaked at No. 15 overall on Baseball America’s Top 100 and also landed within the game’s Top 25 overall prospects at MLB.com and at FanGraphs as he rose through Houston’s minor league ranks.
That peak, however, came more than three years ago, and Martes has seen his stock plummet in the years since. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 before being hit with not one but two bans after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Martes was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for Clomiphene in March 2019, and less than a year later he was saddled with a 162-game ban after testing positive for boldenone.
Martes returned to the mound in 2021, but he’s been drilled for 14 runs (10 earned) on eight hits and a staggering 13 walks in just 8 1/3 frames. He hasn’t hit any batters but has unloaded three wild pitches as well.
Martes made his big league debut with the Astros as a 21-year-old back in 2017, though he struggled to a 5.80 ERA in 54 1/3 frames. In four years since that time, he’s only managed only 33 1/3 innings because of that injury and the pair of PED violations. It’s possible he’ll eventually work his way back into the mix for a big league spot, but given that he’s walked 29 percent of the batters he’s faced in his limited mound work so far in 2021, he has quite a ways to go before that happens.
Injured List Returns: Hoerner, Benintendi, Villar, Snell
The Cubs activated Nico Hoerner off the 10-day injured list prior to today’s 3-2 loss to the Reds, with infielder Sergio Alcantara optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. Hoerner has been out of action since May 26 due to a left hamstring strain, and that was after already missing time earlier in May with a left forearm strain. Since Hoerner wasn’t called up from the alternate training site until April 22, today marked only the 22nd game of the season for the former top prospect.
Hoerner only showed flashes of his promise during the 2019-20 seasons, but was off to a strong start this year, hitting .338/.405/.432 in his first 84 plate appearances of the 2021 campaign. The Cubs are desperate for any sort of reinforcements, as a nine-game losing streak has sent them spiraling down the NL Central standings and down to an even 42-42 record.
More on some notable names returning to action today…
- Andrew Benintendi was activated off the Royals‘ 10-day IL prior to the team’s 6-2 loss to the Twins. A right rib fracture sent Benintendi to the IL on June 14, and the relatively quick return is a particularly good sign considering that rib injuries essentially ruined the outfielder’s 2020 season. Benintendi had done a good job of bouncing back from that down year, hitting .283/.340/.429 with eight home runs over 241 plate appearances. The Royals optioned Edward Olivares to Triple-A to make room for Benintendi’s activation.
- In between games of their doubleheader with the Yankees, the Mets activated infielder Jonathan Villar off the 10-day IL, with outfielder Albert Almora Jr. going down to Triple-A. Villar had a retroactive placement of June 22 with a right calf strain, so he’ll miss only slightly beyond the 10-day minimum. Amidst multiple injuries within the Mets’ infield this season, Villar has ended up being a major contributor, hitting .246/.333/.410 with six homers in 208 PA while seeing the bulk of action as New York’s starting third baseman.
- Blake Snell tossed four shutout innings in the Padres‘ 11-1 rout of the Phillies today, as Snell was activated off the injured list in time for the start. Snell was technically placed on the COVID-related IL while battling a case of food poisoning, which is why he was able to be activated today despite landing on the injured list on June 30. (Snell tested negative for COVID-19.) While Snell has a 4.99 ERA for the season, he has now tossed nine scoreless innings over his last two outings, hinting at a potential turnaround for the lefty’s first season in San Diego. Right-hander Mason Thompson was optioned to Triple-A to create roster space for Snell.
Brewers Acquire Kevin Kramer From Pirates
The Brewers and Pirates have swung an inter-division trade, with utilityman Kevin Kramer going to Milwaukee. In return, Pittsburgh will receive left-hander Nathan Kirby.
Though it’s usually rare for division rivals to combine on trades, the Pirates and Brewers have been relatively frequent trade partners in recent years, and in fact just completed another deal of minor leaguers just a little over a week ago. Today’s trade sees the two clubs swap a pair of fairly high picks from the 2015 amateur draft.
Kramer has 43 games’ worth of big league experience, all coming with the Pirates during the 2018-19 seasons, and he produced only a .387 OPS over 90 career plate appearances. A second-round pick for the Bucs in the 2015 draft, Kramer posted considerably better numbers during his minor league career, though he also struggled at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, hitting .196/.318/.296 over 214 PA. The 2020 season was a complete wash for Kramer due to hip surgery in May 2020.
The 27-year-old Kramer will provide the Brew Crew with some farm system depth, and he also fits Milwaukee’s preferred model of a multi-positional player. Most of Kramer’s pro career has been spent as a second baseman, but he has also seen quite a bit of time at shortstop, third base, and both corner outfield slots.
While Kramer was chosen 62nd overall in 2015, Kirby went even higher, taken 40th overall as the Brewers’ pick in Competitive Balance Round A. Since being drafted, however, Kirby’s pro career has still almost barely begun, with just 102 1/3 total innings pitched (71 coming in the 2018 season). The southpaw has been ravaged by injuries, including both a Tommy John surgery and a thoracic outlet syndrome procedure.
Kirby finally got back on the mound this season for the first time since 2018, and he has a 1.93 ERA, 23.17% strikeout rate, and a troublingly high 15.85% walk rate in 18 2/3 bullpen innings for Double-A Biloxi. Kirby is still only 27 years old, so the Pirates are taking a flier to see if Kirby has a second act to his career, and if he can perhaps eventually reach the majors as a reliever.
Mariners Sign Shane Carle
The Mariners have signed reliever Shane Carle to a minor league contract, per Mike Curto, broadcaster for Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma. The 29-year-old has been assigned to the Rainiers.
Carle signed a minors pact with the Reds in February. He spent the entire season with Cincinnati’s top farm team in Louisville, working to a 3.45 ERA with decent strikeout and walk rates (21.7% and 7.2%, respectively). Despite the solid performance, Cincinnati released Carle earlier this week rather than add him to the big league roster.
The right-hander appeared in the majors with the Rockies and Braves between 2017-19. The overwhelming majority of his playing time came with Atlanta in 2018, when Carle worked to a 2.86 ERA over 63 frames. His peripherals never supported that run prevention level, though. Carle only struck out 16.6% of batters faced that year while walking an average 10.4% of opponents, contributing to a less inspiring 4.59 SIERA.
Carle got off to a bad start the following season, allowing ten runs on eleven hits and nine walks while striking out six. The Braves designated him for assignment after just six appearances, and he didn’t return to the majors after being acquired by the Rangers. Nevertheless, there’s no harm for the Mariners in brining him aboard as high minors depth, particularly given his solid numbers with Louisville this year.