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Yankees Activate Aroldis Chapman, Designate David Hale

By Steve Adams | August 17, 2020 at 2:51pm CDT

The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve reinstated closer Aroldis Chapman from the injured list and designated right-hander David Hale for assignment in order to create roster space.

Chapman is expected to step back into the closer’s role, pushing fellow southpaw Zack Britton back into a setup role. Chapman has yet to pitch this season after testing positive for the coronavirus in mid-July. He was cleared to resume baseball activities back on July 31, though, and has since been working to build up to game readiness. His return should only deepen an already formidable late-inning relief corps; Britton has allowed just one run through 8 1/3 frames while racking up eight saves. And Chapman himself is fresh off a 2.21 ERA and 13.4 K/9 through 57 innings last season.

Fans can be forgiven if they’ve lost track of how many times the Yankees have designated Hale for assignment at this point. The 32-year-old righty continues to post sharp numbers for the Yanks — he allowed two runs in six innings this season — but has been designated for assignment an astonishing four times in the past three years in addition to being outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster in the 2018-19 offseason. Hale has signed five minor league contracts with the Yankees since 2018.

For all the times he’s been cast aside by the Yankees, Hale keeps coming back and keeps pitching well. In 54 1/3 frames wearing Yankee pinstripes, Hale owns a 2.98 ERA and 3.54 FIP with averages of 6.0 strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.7 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The righty generates grounders at an above-average rate and has proven plenty capable of pitching multi-inning stints, so another club in need of some length in the bullpen or depth in the rotation could conceivably take a look.

The Yankees will have a week to trade Hale, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Cardinals Select Nabil Crismatt

By Steve Adams | August 17, 2020 at 1:49pm CDT

The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract off right-hander Nabil Crismatt. Fellow righty Roel Ramirez was optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move. The Cards are also bringing right-hander Jake Woodford up as the 29th man for tonight’s twin bill against the Cubs.

Crismatt, 25, was a minor league signee whom the Cardinals invited to Spring Training over the winter. He’s spent most of his career in the Mets organization and was with the Mariners organization in 2019. A starter for most of his career in the minors, Crismatt has struggled in parts of two Triple-A stints but carries a 2.82 ERA with 9.3 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 through 195 Double-A frames. Home runs have been an issue for him in the launching pad that is the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, but even in spite of the long balls, he’s averaged nearly 11 punchouts per nine frames at that level.

The Cards have had seven players make their MLB debuts since they resumed play after a team Covid-19 outbreak wiped out more than two weeks of their schedule. Crismatt will be the eighth if and when he gets into the game. He’ll also serve as rotation depth or bullpen length for the remainder of the season as the Cards work their way back toward a full-strength roster.

Tigers Promote Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Isaac Paredes

By Steve Adams | August 17, 2020 at 11:09am CDT

The future is here in Detroit. The Tigers announced this morning that the organization will promote top prospects Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Isaac Paredes this week. The left-handed Skubal is slated to start Tuesday’s game, while the right-handed Mize will take the ball Wednesday. Paredes will take the spot of fellow infielder Dawel Lugo, who is being designated for assignment.

It’s an aggressive play by a Tigers club that has dropped five consecutive games to fall under .500 (9-10) after a surprising start to the season. Skubal and Mize will make their MLB debuts in key starts against the division-rival White Sox, who have overtaken the Tigers in the standings. Detroit is currently in fourth place — but still just 3.5 games back of the AL Central-leading Twins.

In Mize, the Tigers will get their first look at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft. The former Auburn ace is considered one of the five best pitching prospects in baseball by most accounts, and his results in 2019 — his only full pro season to date — underscore just why he’s so highly regarded. The 6’3″, 220-pound Mize tossed 109 1/3 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A last year, pitching to a combined 2.55 ERA with a 106-to-23 K/BB ratio. Those numbers include a no-hitter in his debut effort at the Double-A level.

Mize, 23, is currently ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the game on MLB.com’s summer update. Baseball America and FanGraphs have him ranked 14th on their own summer lists — the same slot at which Kiley McDaniel placed Mize in his preseason rankings for ESPN. Mize draws praise for a mid-90s heater that he can run up to 97 mph, but his splitter is the pitch that generates the most love from scouts. MLB.com’s report on him places a 70-grade on the pitch (on the 20-80 scale). Mize’s slider and cutter are both considered above-average offering as well.

Skubal was drafted eight rounds later in the same draft that the Tigers selected Mize, and his ascension should be considered a feather in the cap of the Tigers’ scouting and player development teams. Also 23, Skubal himself is widely considered to be a Top 100 prospect. Those same publications list him 35th (Baseball America), 50th (MLB.com), 54th (FanGraphs) and 79th (ESPN) on their rankings, and The Athletic’s Keith Law pegged him as high as No. 24 prior to the season.

Just as Mize did, Skubal split last season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A. The 23-year-old racked up 122 2/3 innings with an outrageous 179-to-37 K/BB ratio — including a whopping 82 strikeouts in 42 1/3 frames at the Double-A level. Skubal can run his heater up to 97 mph as well, and while he doesn’t have a pitch as highly regarded as Mize’s splitter, his curveball is still said to be a plus offering accompanied by an average-or-better slider and changeup.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, the 21-year-old Paredes was a Top 100 farmhand himself at Baseball America in each of the past two offseasons (though he dropped off their list following the addition of this summer’s top draftees). He played the 2019 season at 20 years old and was one of the youngest players in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Eastern League. However, Paredes still turned in a healthy .282/.368/.416 slash (133 wRC+). Bat-to-ball skills are Paredes’ best asset, as evidenced by the fact that against much older competition, he walked nearly as many times (57) as he struck out (61).

With C.J. Cron out for the year, Jeimer Candelario has slid over to first base. That should clear a path to regular reps at the hot corner for Paredes, which is where he spent the bulk of the 2019 season playing. Paredes, acquired alongside Candelario in the trade that sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs, played shortstop for much of his early career in the minors, so he could see some time there as well if Niko Goodrum needs a day off. Alternatively, the club could opt to give Paredes and Willi Castro regular time on the left side of the infield, with Goodrum returning to the super-sub role in which he found success over the past couple seasons.

The timing of the promotions is of some note as well. Holding the trio down for even the first week of the season bought the Tigers an extra year of team control, and each of Mize, Skubal and Paredes has now been down long enough that they could fall shy of Super Two status as well. Paredes’ promotion is the only move that is official as of today. Skubal and Mize will have their contracts selected on the day of their respective starts.

If Paredes sticks in the big leagues from this point on, he’ll finish out the year with 116 days of service, which could still leave him on the fringe Super Two status. Skubal would only accrue 113 days of service, though, and Mize would log just 110. Both of those marks should leave them on the outside looking in with regard to Super Two status.

The 25-year-old Lugo,meanwhile, is could be on his way out the door in the Detroit organization. Acquired from the Diamondbacks in the trade that sent J.D. Martinez to Arizona, Lugo simply hasn’t found his footing at the MLB level. He’s received an even 400 plate appearances in parts of three seasons and saw semi-regular action last year (288 plate appearances), but Lugo has produced only a .236/.270/.358 output in that time. He’s out of minor league options, so it’s possible he’ll clear waivers given that another club would have to carry him on its MLB roster. Then again, Lugo was once a solidly regarded prospect and has the ability to play both second base and third base, so another club could take a speculative look on waivers.

The Tigers have a week to either trade Lugo, release him, or pass him through outright waivers.

Pirates, Jandel Gustave Agree To Deal

By Steve Adams | August 17, 2020 at 8:18am CDT

The Pirates have agreed to a contract with free-agent righty Jandel Gustave, Robert Murray reports (via Twitter). The agreement is still pending a physical. The Giants outrighted Gustave off the 40-man roster last weekend, but as a player who’d been previously outrighted at least once in the past — the Astros outrighted Gustave following the 2018 season — he had the right to decline the assignment in favor of free agency.

Gustave, 27, didn’t pitch in the big leagues for the Giants in 2020 but logged 24 1/3 frames with them last season. He’s tallied a total of 44 1/3 innings in the Majors between Houston and San Francisco, logging a 3.43 ERA and 3.97 FIP — albeit with a lackluster 32-to-20 K/BB ratio.

Gustave has found success due in no small part to limiting home runs in the big leagues (just three allowed). A 0.60 HR/9 mark is difficult to sustain in any environment but seems particularly tough to continue at a time when 15 percent of fly-balls are clearing the outfield fence, league-wide, for a second straight season. Gustave, by contrast, has seen just seven percent of his fly-balls in the Majors turn into home runs. To his credit, he’s also been quite adept at avoiding the long ball in the minors (0.39 HR/9), so perhaps he can continue the trend.

Last season, Gustave averaged a healthy 96.1 mph on his fastball and paired that with a well above-average spin rate. Gustave has generally posted average or better ground-ball rates in the minors and averaged a bit shy of a strikeout per inning. Details of his arrangement with Pittsburgh aren’t clear yet, and the club hasn’t formally announced the move. Given that Gustave went unclaimed on waivers a week ago, it seems likely to be a minor league pact that adds him to the 60-man player pool and sends him to the Pirates’ alternate training site.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/16/20

By Mark Polishuk | August 16, 2020 at 9:55pm CDT

The latest minor moves from around the game…

The Giants outrighted infielder Abiatal Avelino off their 40-man roster and assigned him to their alternate training site. (Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report the transaction.) Avelino cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. The 25-year-old Avelino recorded 19 plate appearances over 10 games with the Giants in 2018-19, and was originally acquired from the Yankees as part of the Andrew McCutchen trade in August 2018. Avelino has been touted for his defensive ability as a middle infielder, and his bat hasn’t been unproductive over 3201 minor league plate appearances — .272/.328/.385 slash line with 43 homers, plus 189 steals from 245 attempts.

Mets Designate Brian Dozier For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | August 16, 2020 at 11:05am CDT

The Mets have designated second baseman Brian Dozier for assignment, per various reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Right-hander Franklyn Kilome has been recalled to replace Dozier on the active roster.

Dozier’s time in Queens could have come to an end after just 16 plate appearances across seven games. The 33-year-old has now been cut loose by both the Padres and Mets over the past few months, but he managed a solid season with the Nationals just a year ago. Dozier hit .238/.340/.430 (99 wRC+) in 482 plate appearances in Washington last season. Speculatively speaking, the Nats could look back into a reunion with Dozier in the wake of Starlin Castro’s recent broken wrist, although Washington has quite a few internal options who could be relied upon to fill that void.

The Mets are dealing with an injury to one of their second base options as well. Jeff McNeil hasn’t played since leaving Thursday’s contest after running into the outfield wall. Fortunately, McNeil is available off the bench today, manager Luis Rojas says (via Tim Healey of Newsday). That seemingly bodes well for McNeil’s chances of returning to the starting lineup in short order.

Orioles Designate Chandler Shepherd

By Anthony Franco | August 16, 2020 at 8:54am CDT

The Orioles are designating right-hander Chandler Shepherd for assignment, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). The move clears roster space for John Means, who was activated from the injured list. (Means was placed on the IL while progressing through standard COVID-19 protocols after briefly stepping away from the team on bereavement leave).

Shepherd was just selected to the roster on Friday but didn’t get into a game. The 28-year-old only has 19 MLB innings under his belt, all with the 2019 O’s. Those didn’t go well, but he’s put together a solid minor-league track record. Shepherd is out of options, meaning Baltimore had either to keep him on the active roster or expose him to waivers if they wished to keep him in the organization.

Mets Add Francisco Alvarez, Matthew Allan To 60-Man Player Pool

By Mark Polishuk | August 15, 2020 at 7:56pm CDT

The Mets have added two of their top prospects to their 60-man player pool, as the team announced that catcher Francisco Alvarez and right-hander Matthew Allan will head to the alternate training site in Brooklyn.

Joining the player pool allows Alvarez and Allan to be eligible for a big league call-up, though such a promotion would seem a bit unlikely given how both players only began their pro careers last season. Alvarez appeared in 42 games in rookie ball in 2019, while Allan pitched just 10 1/3 innings in rookie ball before making one appearance for the Mets’ lower A-ball affiliate.

It should be noted that being added to the player pool also makes Alvarez and Allan eligible to be traded prior to the August 31 deadline. However, The Athletic’s Tim Britton tweets that the Mets “aren’t looking to move” either prospect, and that today’s transaction was only made help the two youngsters continue their development.

Alvarez was rated as a top-100 prospect in preseason rankings from The Athletic’s Keith Law (who had Alvarez 48th), MLB.com (63rd), Baseball America (67th), and Baseball Prospectus (88th). Signed to a $2.7MM bonus during the 2018-19 international signing window, Law praised Alvarez’s well-rounded hitting potential and described his swing as “arguably the best in the Mets’ system.” Defensively, Alvarez is unsurprisingly a little raw considering he is only 18 years old, though MLB.com’s scouting report cited his athleticism, “accurate, plus arm strength” and “energy level and willingness to learn” as reasons why Alvarez could eventually become at least an average defender behind the plate.

A third-round pick in the 2019 draft, Allan was heavily targeted by the Mets, who signed several other picks to underslot deals to free up enough pool money for a $2.5MM bonus for the righty. The strategy paid off, as Allan opted to join the Mets rather than pitch at the University Of Florida. Allan already boasts a strong fastball (in the mid-90’s range) and curveball, and is widely seen as a future rotation member, perhaps even a front-of-the-rotation type if all goes well.

Dodgers Place Will Smith On 10-Day IL, Promote Keibert Ruiz

By Mark Polishuk | August 15, 2020 at 7:08pm CDT

The Dodgers have placed catcher Will Smith on the 10-day injured list due to neck inflammation. Top catching prospect Keibert Ruiz has been recalled from the Dodgers’ alternate training site and is in line to make his Major League debut.

Smith’s neck issues led to an early exit from the Dodgers’ 6-0 win over the Padres last Wednesday, though the problem initially arose after a collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. over a week ago. The injury doesn’t seem overly serious, as manager Dave Roberts told MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick and other reporters yesterday that Smith was feeling “not pain, but really the stiffness moving his head side to side,” yet an IL stint will allow the catcher to fully recover and also allow Los Angeles to add depth behind the plate. Ruiz will join Austin Barnes as the only catchers on the active roster, and given Ruiz’s potential, it’s fair to wonder if L.A. will give him a solid amount of playing time.

Ruiz has been a regular on top-100 prospect lists for the last three seasons, entering 2020 rated 73rd by MLB Pipeline, 79th by Baseball Prospectus, 81st by Baseball America, and 91st by Fangraphs. The 22-year-old has hit .299/.351/.420 over 1580 career plate appearances in the minors, though he only has 40 Triple-A plate appearances to his credit. The lack of Triple-A playing time was due to both a finger injury and rather a lackluster .659 OPS over 310 PA for the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate.

Baseball America’s scouting report (subscription required) mentions that Ruiz “struggled with motivation” after not starting the season at Triple-A, and his production notably picked up once he did get promoted. The switch-hitting Ruiz’s “elite-hand eye coordination and ability to manipulate the barrel give him the foundation of a plus hitter, and he almost never swings and misses,” according to BA, though Ruiz is also hampered by a lack of aggressiveness at the plate and a frequency to fall behind in counts. Ruiz has shown some good defensive potential, though Fangraphs’ report notes that scouts became more “mixed” on his ability behind the plate during the 2019 season.

Orioles Place Austin Hays On 10-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | August 15, 2020 at 6:31pm CDT

The Orioles announced that outfielder Austin Hays has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a non-displaced rib fracture. Outfielder Cedric Mullins was recalled from the Orioles’ alternate training site, and righty Jorge Lopez will also join the team after being activated from the injured list (Lopez was undergoing intake testing for COVID-19 after being claimed off waivers from the Royals last week).

O’s manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that Hays may have suffered the injury after crashing into the wall while making a catch in a game during the Orioles’ series with the Phillies last week. Hays was already dealing with some sore ribs after being hit by a pitch earlier in the season, though Hyde believes the outfielder will require only the minimum 10 days off.

The injury continues that has been a rough 2020 season for Hays, who has batted only .203/.273/.246 through his first 77 plate appearances. Long a top prospect in Baltimore’s farm system and even a top-100 ranked prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2018 campaign, the O’s were hopeful that Hays could establish himself as an everyday player this season. Expectations were high after Hays hit .309/.373/.574 over 75 PA during a September call-up in 2019.

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