Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Mets Agree To Terms With Second-Rounder Isaiah Greene

By | at

The Mets have agreed to terms on a bonus with second round selection Isaiah Greene, according to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (via Twitter). He’ll receive $850K.

The 69th overall selection used to nab Greene came with a $929,800 pool allocation. Accordingly, the New York organization will actually save some funds to apply to other drafted players.

That seems like a solid result for the Mets, given that they had to convince Greene to turn pro rather than attending the University of Missouri. The club has yet to lock up its first two selections, high school outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Mississippi State hurler J.T. Ginn.

Entering the draft, Greene was on the rise. He reached 62nd on the MLB.com board and 49th on the ranking of Baseball America. Greene is said to have strong existing hit and speed tools, real potential to stick in center field, and some power projection.

Additional Amateur Draft Signings: 6/16/20

By | at

We caught up on draft signings earlier today, but a few more trickled out this evening …

  • The Tigers have a deal with third-rounder Trei Cruz, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). A shortstop out of Rice University, Cruz will secure a $900K bonus that lands just over the slot value of $857,400. None of the major draft pundits ranked Cruz among the hundred best draft-eligible prospects, but the Detroit organization was obviously intrigued. If you’re a believer in bloodlines, you can’t do much better than this. Cruz will aim to follow his father, grandfather, and great uncles in appearing in the majors.
  • Mets fourth-rounder Matthew Dyer is on board with a $350K bonus, per MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (Twitter link). That’ll save the New York org nearly $230K to apply to other draftees. Dyer, an Arizona product, ranked 333rd on Baseball America’s final draft board. Mayo credits him with a strong throwing arm and good athleticism for a backstop.
  • The Blue Jays have added Zach Britton — not to be confused with Yankees reliever Zack (formerly Zach) Britton. This new Zach Britton landed $97,500 from the Toronto organization, freeing the club to allocate the rest of the $410,100 slot value elsewhere. Britton spent time in the outfield and behind the dish at Louisville. BA graded him just inside the top 200 prospects available for selection this year. Britton was slashing .322/.446/.542 when the season was cut short.
  • Fifth rounder Jeff Hakanson is in agreement with the Rays on a bonus, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Dollar values aren’t yet known publicly, but it seems likely to be an under-slot deal. Hakanson, a righty out of Central Florida, wasn’t ranked on any of the major boards. His slot comes with a $340K bonus pool allocation.
  • The Cardinals announced an agreement with their own fifth-round selection, Long Beach State outfielder LJ Jones IV. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo tweets that Jones has picked up a $100K bonus, meaning the Cards have another $250,300 to work with in signing other players. Jones didn’t merit mention in any rankings either, though the redshirt sophomore never really got a chance to showcase himself in college owing to injuries and the coronavirus situation.

Undrafted Free Agent Signings: 6/16/20

By | at

This year’s five-round draft left a lot of deserving players looking for deals on the open market. Here’s a roundup of some of the many recent undrafted players who have reached agreements with MLB organizations:

Giants Agree To Above-Slot Bonus With 3rd-Rounder Kyle Harrison

By | at

The Giants have agreed to a $2.5MM bonus with third-round selection Kyle Harrison, according to Marc Delucchi (via Twitter). If indeed a contract is finalized, Harrison will forego his commitment to UCLA.

That’s a big number for a player chosen with the 85th overall selection, which came with a $710,700 slot allocation. But the Giants will evidently find a way to free up some funds by inking below-slot deals with other draft choices.

Harrison, a Bay Area high school southpaw, wasn’t generally graded as a top-end prospect entering the draft. But MLB.com (63rd) and Baseball America (71st) did rate him among the hundred best players available.

The lefty will enter the San Francisco organization with high hopes given the big bonus. Reports generally frame him as a fairly polished and crafty hurler rather than a high-upside power arm. It seems evident that the Giants see a clear path to a big league rotation, if not alaso some front-of-the-rotation potential.

Undrafted Free Agent Signings: 6/14/20

By | at

With the amateur draft limited to five rounds this year, hundreds of youngsters who would normally have been selected in a 40-round draft are now available to be signed by any Major League team for a $20K maximum bonus.  Many of these players will end up continuing (or beginning) their college careers in the hopes of being drafted in 2021 or beyond, but many will also sign in the coming weeks and months.  Baseball America has a full list of all agreements, and we’ll be highlighting some of the most notable deals here:

  • The Royals signed catcher Kale Emshoff, D1 Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reports (Twitter link).  Emshoff appeared on pre-draft prospect listings from MLB.com (146th) and Baseball America (174th), with BA’s scouting report citing his “plus-plus raw power.”  After missing all of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery, Emshoff was off to a strong start in Arkansas-Little Rock’s first 17 games prior to the shutdown.

Former MLB Hurler Dustin McGowan Takes HS Coaching Job

By | at

Once a first-round pick and top-100 prospect, Dustin McGowan has already battled back from the brink once. But he won’t be launching another effort to reestablish himself in the majors — unless, perhaps, some of the kids he’ll soon be coaching can put him up to the task.

McGowan is taking over the dugout for a local high school club in the Tallahassee area, Joey Lamar of WCTV reports. The former first-round draft pick, top-100 prospect, and ten-year MLB veteran is obviously looking to participate in the game in a different capacity rather than trying one last go at the bigs.

This is hardly a surprise, given that the 38-year-old McGowan last appeared professionally in 2017. Still, it’s nice to put a bow on a career when it becomes apparent that it has come to an end.

McGowan was long seen as an intriguing talent on the mound, having ranked among the hundred best prospects in the game (by measure of Baseball America) on four occasions. While he had his moments in the majors, he was never fully able to translate the promise into consistent productivity at the game’s highest level.

It’s impossible to ignore the role that health issues had in shaping McGowan’s career. Drafted 33rd overall by the Blue Jays in 2000, he was climbing the ladder nicely before Tommy John surgery in 2004. He bounced back to regain top prospect billing, but yet more woes arose thereafter. McGowan underwent a shoulder labrum surgery in 2008, had his knee operated on in 2009, and underwent rotator cuff work in 2010. He also required another shoulder procedure in 2012.

McGowan showed quite a bit of promise in 2007, when he took the ball 27 times and turned in a 4.08 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over 169 2/3 innings. And he was throwing well enough in the ensuing campaign … before the ball-and-socket issues arose. McGowan never again turned in significant innings from the rotation.

Though his time in Toronto ended largely in disappointment, McGowan did have one last hurrah left in the tank. In 2016, with the Marlins, he worked to a 2.82 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 over 67 frames. He came back to Miami for the 2017 season but wasn’t able to replicate the success, and we haven’t heard from McGowan since.

MLBTR wishes McGowan and his new ballclub the best of luck.

Charlie Tilson, Jake Elmore, Luis Escobar Among Pirates’ Minor League Releases

By | at

The Pirates released 39 minor league players this week, as first reported by John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com. Outfielder Charlie Tilson, utilityman Jake Elmore, right-hander Luis Escobar and infielder Sherman Johnson stand out as players with prior big league experience.

Tilson, 27, joined the Bucs on a minor league deal this winter after spending the past four seasons in the White Sox organization. Acquired by Chicago in the 2016 swap that sent lefty Zach Duke to the Cardinals, Tilson made his MLB debut shortly after that trade. However, a torn hamstring suffered in his debut game required surgery, and he’s been plagued by a series of leg and ankle injuries ever since. In 280 Major League plate appearances, the former second-round pick carries just a .246/.310/.290 batting line. Tilson was known for his speed early in his career, but the 46 stolen bases he recorded in 134 games back in 2015 dwarf the eight bags he swiped in a combined 115 games between Triple-A and the Majors last year.

The 32-year-old Elmore has the most MLB experience of the group, having appeared in 217 games and logged 527 plate appearances. Elmore is just a .215/.292/.275 hitter in that time, but he’s demonstrated substantial versatility; in 2013, the Astros used him at every position on the diamond — including catcher and pitcher. Elmore has at least 106 innings at all four infield spots, 234 innings in the outfield (including 14 in center) and has also caught 4 1/3 innings and pitched two frames (one run allowed) in the Majors.

Escobar, 24, made his big league debut last year and received 60 grades on his fastball while coming up through the minors. He averaged 95.1 mph on that heater in his 5 2/3-inning cup of coffee last year, although he also walked four batters, hit another and threw a wild pitch in that short time. Escobar’s 2019 results in Triple-A were solid, particularly considering how hitter-friendly that league was last year: 4.09 ERA, 9.3 K/9, 5.2 BB/9, 1.15 HR/9 and a 46.6 percent grounder rate. That said, it’s not exactly a huge surprise that he was cut loose; Escobar did go unclaimed on waivers back in November.

As for the 29-year-old Johnson, he’s an eight-year minor league veteran who received the briefest of looks with the Angels back in 2018, appearing in 10 games but going hitless in 11 plate appearances. He has at least 450 innings at all four infield positions and, while he’s never shown much power, has been a consistent on-base threat with fairly low strikeout rates in his minor league career.

Ryan O’Rourke Announces Retirement

By | at

Former MLB southpaw Ryan O’Rourke announced last night on Twitter that he’s hanging up his spikes. MLBTR wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

O’Rourke made two appearances last year with the Mets before he was cut loose. He caught on with the Twins on a mid-season minors deal but never got the call to the MLB roster.

Most of O’Rourke’s experience at the highest level of the game came in his 2015-16 stint with the Twins. Over 47 frames in 54 appearances, he worked to a 4.98 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9.

O’Rourke, a Massachusetts native and former 13th round pick, did find quite a bit of success at the Triple-A level. Through an even one hundred appearances over five campaigns, he posted a cumulative 3.29 ERA.

Rockies Release More Than 30 Minor Leaguers

By | at

The Rockies have committed to paying minor leaguers through at least the end of the month, but that doesn’t mean they’re keeping all of them. The club has released around 34 minor leaguers over the past couple months, Kyle Newman of the Denver Post reports. The most prominent member of the bunch may be right-hander Tim Melville, whose fate has been known for a couple of weeks.

Along with Melville, Baseball America has publicized the names of the minors players the Rockies have subtracted. Righty Jordan Foley was among those let go. Now 26 years old, Foley became a pro in 2014 when the Yankees chose him in the fifth round of that year’s draft. He pitched in the Yankees’ system through 2018, after which they traded him to the Rockies for fellow righty Jefry Valdez.

In 2019, his first and only season with the Colorado organization, Foley posted a 4.78 ERA/3.60 FIP with 10.03 K/9 and 4.17 BB/9 in 58 1/3 innings at the Double-A level. Foley told Newman his release “definitely caught me off guard… It sucks I didn’t have an opportunity to force their hand and earn a spot this spring. That’s the worst part about it in my mind.” 

Chris Ellis, Oscar Hernandez Among Cardinals’ Minor League Releases

By | at

Right-hander Chris Ellis and catcher Oscar Hernandez were among the 33 minor leaguers released by the Cardinals in the final week of May, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports (Twitter thread). Right-hander Johnny Hellweg was also cut loose. Jones’ thread has additional names from each level of the Cardinals’ system, though none of the bunch has any MLB experience.

Each of Ellis, Hernandez and Hellweg has had a fleeting look at the Majors. Ellis was a Rule 5 pick of the Royals in 2018 and subsequently tossed one inning in Kansas City last year before being returned to the Cards. The 27-year-old has been moved in a pair of notable trades, going from the Angels to the Braves alongside Sean Newcomb in the Andrelton Simmons swap before being flipped from Atlanta to St. Louis a year later in the Jaime Garcia deal. (The Braves also sent John Gant and Luke Dykstra to the Cards in that deal.) Ellis had a nice year between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, but he was rocked for a 7.18 ERA in 79 Triple-A frames in 2019.

Hernandez himself was once a top pick in the Rule 5 Draft, going from the Rays to the D-backs in 2014. He appeared in 22 games with Arizona but hit just .167/.239/.262 in 47 plate appearances. Now 26 years old, Hernandez signed a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp this winter. Despite a solid defensive reputation, he’s managed just a .210/.279/.336 slash in parts of three Triple-A campaigns.

Hellweg, 31, was once a rather well-regarded prospect himself. Originally a 16th-round pick by the Angels (2008), he was in the midst of a solid 2012 campaign at the Double-A level when the Halos flipped him, Jean Segura and Ariel Pena to the Brewers to rent ace Zack Greinke. He was hit hard in 30 2/3 frames with the Brewers and hasn’t pitched in the Majors since the 2013 season. Since then, he’s spent time with the Padres and the Pirates in addition to stints in the independent Canadian-American Association and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Like Hernandez, he’d inked a minor league deal with the Cards this winter.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top