Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Marlins Acquire Stephen Tarpley, Designate Brian Moran

By | at

The Yankees have traded left-hander Stephen Tarpley to the Marlins in exchange for minor league third baseman James Nelson and cash, the two teams announced. In order to open a spot for Tarpley on the 40-man roster, fellow southpaw Brian Moran was designated for assignment. Tarpley was designated for assignment last week when the Yankees finalized their deal with Brett Gardner.

Tarpley, 26, came to the Yankees organization in the 2016 trade that sent Ivan Nova to Pittsburgh, but he’s only logged 33 2/3 innings of action in the Majors. Most of that workload came in 2019, when he pitched to an ugly 6.93 ERA with a 34-to-15 K/BB ratio in 24 2/3 innings.

Control was clearly an issue for Tarpley this past season, as in addition to his 15 walks, he plunked two hitters and unleashed five wild pitches. But he hasn’t had that type of issue finding the zone throughout his minor league tenure and has generally been a successful reliever in the upper minors. Tarpley pitched to a 1.76 ERA in 46 Double-A innings (albeit with less impressive marks of 7.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9) and is also the owner of a career 2.88 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 65 2/3 Triple-A frames. His gaudy ground-ball tendencies haven’t carried over to the Majors just yet, but Tarpley has routinely run up grounder rates north of 60 percent in Double-A and Triple-A. The lefty has a pair of minor league options remaining as well, so the Marlins can shuttle him between New Orleans and Miami as they see fit over the next two seasons.

Nelson, 22, was Miami’s 15th-round pick back in 2016. The Cisco College product turned in a big age-19 season in the Class-A South Atlantic League when he slashed .309/.354/.456 with seven homers, 31 doubles and three triples against older competition. But the past two seasons, both of which have come with Miami’s Class-A Advanced affiliate in Jupiter, have been nightmarish. Nelson has racked up 723 plate appearances but has sub-.300 marks in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage: .222/.273/.290.

The 31-year-old Moran is the older brother of Pirates third baseman Colin Moran. He made his MLB debut at the age of 30 this past season, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts through 6 1/3 frames. Moran has solid numbers in Triple-A, where he’s averaged better than 11 strikeouts per nine innings in parts of five seasons, so perhaps another club in need of some left-handed relief depth would place a speculative claim if the Fish try to pass him through outright waivers.

Diamondbacks Sign Travis Snider To Minor League Deal

By | at

Outfielder Travis Snider has agreed to a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks, per a recent announcement from Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces. Snider will head to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee to big league camp.

At this point, it’s been close to a half decade since Snider, once one of the game’s elite prospects, appeared in the Majors. Now 31 years old, Snider was the No. 14 pick in the 2006 draft and was ranked among the game’s top 10 overall prospects by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus heading into the 2009 season. However, despite some encouraging results in partial seasons — often in a platoon role — Snider has amassed just a .244/.311/.399 slash on the whole in 1971 MLB plate appearances.

Snider has bounced between the Pirates, Royals, Mets, Rangers and D-backs systems since his last MLB appearance, most recently spending the 2019 campaign in Reno. He’ll return to the Aces for a second season after posting a huge .294/.402/.497 slash with 11 homers, 22 doubles, four triples and a gaudy 15.2 percent walk rate through 368 plate appearances in 2019. The Diamondbacks’ MLB outfield consists of David Peralta, Ketel Marte and Kole Calhoun, with fleet-footed Tim Locastro penciled in for fourth outfield duties at the moment.

There’s no immediate path back to The Show for Snider, but if he repeats his ’19 performance and the Snakes suffer some injuries to their starters, perhaps his four-year grind through the minors and the independent circuit will culminate in a big league return.

Rangers Designate Kyle Bird, Jeffrey Springs

By | at

The Rangers have designated lefties Kyle Bird and Jeffrey Springs for assignment. Their roster spots were needed to make way for the now-official signings of catcher Robinson Chirinos and infielder Todd Frazier.

Bird, 26, was hit hard in his MLB debut last year, surrendering five home runs and 15 walks in a dozen outings as he struggled with fastball command. But he has posted strong results in the upper minors, including a run of 2.86 ERA ball (with 10.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9) in his 34 2/3 innings last year at Triple-A. And he has shown a high-level spin rate that could hold appeal to other organizations.

As for the 27-year-old Springs, he turned in solid results in 2018 but took a bit step back in his sophomore campaign. Over 32 1/3 frames, he surrendered 6.40 earned runs per nine with 8.9 K/9 and 6.4 BB/9. While he hasn’t really shown it at the MLB level, Springs has at times carried eye-popping strikeout numbers in the minors. And he did record a 12.5% swinging-strike rate in 2019.

Padres Sign Jerad Eickhoff

By | at

The Padres have agreed to a minor-league deal with righty Jerad Eickhoff, the former Phillies hurler recently told Aaron Hancock of Indiana’s 14 News. Eickhoff adds that he received an invitation to participate in the MLB side of Spring Training.

Now 29 years of age, Eickhoff broke into the majors with aplomb back in 2015. He was again effective in the ensuing season, when he threw 197 1/3 innings of 3.65 ERA ball with 7.6 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. To that stage of his career, Eickhoff seemed like he’d be a solid rotation piece for years to come for the Philadelphia organization.

As it turned out, things would turn south from there. Eickhoff dipped in 2017, with a 4.71 ERA over 128 innings, which he accumulated while dealing with a variety of injury issues. The health problems continued in the following campaign, with a lat injury turning into numbness in his fingers that was eventually diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Eickhoff has worked hard to get on the bump as much as possible, but he has managed only 63 2/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons. And though he managed a useful 62:18 K/BB ratio in that span, Eickhoff was tagged for 19 home runs. He also struggled in minor-league work in 2019.

The Padres will try to help Eickhoff rediscover his former promise. Tamping down the persistent hand issues will obviously be a key. At worst, Eickhoff figures to function as experienced depth; perhaps there’s also a glimmer of upside remaining for him and the San Diego organization. Padres GM A.J. Preller is amply familiar with Eickhoff, having helped draft the hurler in his former capacity as assistant GM of the Rangers.

Cubs, Jason Adam Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Cubs have agreed to a deal with free-agent reliever Jason Adam, tweets Robert Murray. It’s a minor league pact with an invite to Major League Spring Training, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. Adam, who is represented by Platinum Sports, has already passed his physical.

The 28-year-old Adam posted a 2.91 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays in 2019 but was cut loose in early December. Looking beyond that ERA, however, Adam’s 3.95 FIP and 6.20 xFIP are more alarming. His 18-to-10 K/BB ratio, 25 percent ground-ball rate and .237 average on balls in play all serve as red flags as well. On the flipside of things, the spin rate on Adam’s heater landed in the 98th percentile among MLB hurlers, and he averaged a hearty 94.7 mph on the pitch. He’s also pitched to a combined 2.14 ERA in 42 innings at the Triple-A level across the past two seasons.

If Adam does ultimately make the roster, he has two minor league option years remaining, so he can be shuttled between Chicago and Triple-A Iowa if the team sees fit. He also has less than a full season of Major League service at present, so he wouldn’t even be arbitration-eligible until the 2021-22 offseason at the earliest — and more likely not until the 2022-23 offseason.

Reds Sign Nate Jones

By | at

The Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with right-handed reliever Nate Jones, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. The deal includes an invitation to big league camp. Jones would earn at a $1.5MM rate in the majors with up to a million more in incentives, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com (via Twitter).

In Jones, the Reds are getting a native of nearby Kentucky who, when healthy, has been one of the game’s most effective relievers during his career. Jones, who debuted in 2012, owns a sterling 3.12 ERA/3.38 FIP with 9.82 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 46.7 percent groundball rate over 291 1/3 innings – all of which have come in a White Sox uniform.

The problem is that staying healthy has been extremely difficult for the 34-year-old Jones, which is why the Rangers declined his $3.75MM option in favor of a $1.25MM buyout in October after acquiring him in a midsummer trade. It’s also why he’s now settling for a non-guaranteed pact a few months later. A series of injuries, including right forearm surgery last season, have held Jones to 30 or fewer innings in four of the past five years. He threw a meager 10 1/3 frames in his final season as a member of the White Sox.

Despite Jones’ lack of contributions in recent years, it’s easy to see why the Reds are taking a low-risk chance on him. As mentioned, the results have been impressive when Jones has pitched. Moreover, although he lost 2 mph on his fastball during last year’s limited run, he was still throwing 95. And during his latest semi-extensive action, a 30-inning showing in 2018, Jones recorded a 13.6 percent swinging-strike rate that sat well above the league mean of 10.7.

Health permitting, Jones will vie for a role in a Cincinnati bullpen that hovered around average in 2019. Although the front office has been active in upgrading the team’s roster this winter, the bullpen hasn’t undergone any especially significant changes. Raisel Iglesias, Amir Garrett, Michael Lorenzen and Robert Stephenson figure to lead the unit again in 2020, but perhaps Jones will surprise and join them as one of the Reds’ key late-game options.

Brewers Sign Jedd Gyorko, Designate Jake Faria

By | at

January 14: Gyorko’s option is valued at $4.5MM with a $1MM buyout, tweets Robert Murray. That indicates that his 2020 base salary will be just $1MM. Gyorko can boost the value of that club option to $5.5MM by tallying 400 plate appearances or $7MM if he reaches 500 plate appearances.

January 10: The Brewers have added further infield depth to their bench, announcing a one-year contract with veteran Jedd Gyorko. The ACES client will reportedly be guaranteed $2MM on the deal, which contains a club option for the 2021 season. Right-hander Jake Faria was designated for assignment to create roster space, per the team.

Gyorko, 31, scuffled through the worst season of his career in 2019 when he posted a .174/.248/.250 slash through 101 plate appearances while battling injuries. However, he’s long been a solid big league hitter who can handle all four infield positions and, from 2016-18 in St. Louis, posted a combined .259/.331/.463 batting line with 61 homers in 1321 plate appearances.

Milwaukee was already set to enter the 2020 season with a vastly different infield mix than the one it carried in 2019. Mike Moustakas signed a surprising four-year deal with the division-rival Reds, while Travis Shaw was non-tendered and Eric Thames’ option was bought out. Meanwhile, they’ve acquired Luis Urias in a trade with the Padres and signed a trio of infielders: first baseman Justin Smoak, second baseman/shortstop Eric Sogard and corner infielder Ryon Healy. The Brewers will also have a full season of Keston Hiura in 2020 after he began the ’19 campaign in the minors.

Gyorko isn’t likely to be promised an everyday role but could bounce around the infield and serve as a right-handed complement Sogard or even to Smoak, a switch-hitter who’s better from the left side of the dish. He’ll give the Brewers some additional depth in the event of injuries or poor showings throughout the lineup, and if he’s able to return to his 2016-18 form, he’ll be yet another value pickup for a team that tends to limit its free-agent expenditures to low-cost and/or short-term commitments (Lorenzo Cain notwithstanding).

Faria came to Milwaukee in last summer’s Jesus Aguilar trade, but the 26-year-old was knocked around in brief MLB action, yielding 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old Faria impressed with 86 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball and nearly a strikeout per frame in his rookie season back in 2017, but he hasn’t excelled in the Majors or in Triple-A since that time.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the deal (via Twitter). Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported the contract value (via Twitter).

Angels Designate Luis Madero, Release Adalberto Mejia

By | at

The Angels announced that they’ve designated right-hander Luis Madero for assignment and released lefty Adalberto Mejia after he cleared waivers. Madero’s spot on the 40-man roster will go to the newly acquired Matt Andriese, whose trade to the Angels is now official. Mejia was designated for assignment last week.

Madero, 22, split the 2019 season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A but scuffled to the tune of a combined 5.03 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 47 percent grounder rate. Scouting reports on Madero peg his curveball as his best pitch and credit him with a low-90s heater as well. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs tabbed him as a potential fifth starter heading into the 2019 season, although that was before the the 6’3″, 185-pound righty endured a rough season.

The 26-year-old Mejia was unscored upon in 9 1/3 minor league innings across multiple organizations this year but was hit hard in the Majors, logging a 6.61 ERA (4.97 FIP, 5.98 xFIP) with an ugly 30-to-21 K/BB ratio in 31 1/3 innings. He did make 21 respectable starts for the Twins in 2017 (4.50 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 4.0 BB/9) at just 24 years of age, creating some optimism that he could settle in as the fourth starter he’d been projected as in the upper minors. But blister issues and a left wrist injury shortened Mejia’s 2018 season, and he wasn’t able to regain his footing in 2019. He’ll now be free to sign with any club.

Angels Acquire Matt Andriese

By | at

4:13pm: The Diamondbacks and Angels have announced the trade.

3:47pm: The Angels and Diamondbacks have agreed to a trade that will send right-hander Matt Andriese from Arizona to Anaheim, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Minor league righty Jeremy Beasley is headed to the D-backs in the swap, per Robert Murray (Twitter link). The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan tweets that it’ll be a one-for-one swap of the two right-handers. Beasley isn’t on the 40-man roster, so the trade will drop Arizona to 39 players on its 40-man.

Matt Andriese | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The 30-year-old Andriese pitched in 54 games for the D-backs in 2019, working to a 4.71 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 1.02 HR/9 and a 50.3 percent ground-ball rate in 70 2/3 frames. Andriese’s 25.5 percent strikeout rate this past year was a career-high, and his 3.72 FIP, 3.88 xFIP and 3.82 SIERA all create some reason for optimism moving forward.

Andriese doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging 92.5 mph on his fastball this past season. But he does generate above-average spin rates on both his heater and his curveball, and opponents generally struggled to barrel the ball against him this past season (6.5 percent), which helped to limit his home run rate at a time when the rest of the league was serving up long balls at a record rate.

Although Andriese has experience as a starter with the Rays and even logged 127 1/3 innings for the Tampa Bay organization back in 2016, he’s been more heavily used as a reliever in recent seasons. However, Angels general manager Billy Eppler told reporters Tuesday that Andriese will be given a chance to win a rotation spot in Spring Training (link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger).

If he doesn’t succeed, he’ll give the club a relatively affordable multi-inning relief option; Andriese settled on a $1.395MM salary for the upcoming season this past Friday. With four-plus years of Major League service time, he can be controlled through the 2021 season via arbitration.

The 24-year-old Beasley had a big season split across three levels in 2018, when he topped out at Double-A, but his 2019 was more of a struggle. In a combined 122 1/3 innings, he logged a 4.49 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9 and a 45 percent grounder rate between Double-A (108 2/3 innings) and Triple-A (13 2/3 innings). He ranked 18th among Halos farmhands over at MLB.com, where he’s described as a likely reliever who has at least opened some eyes in recent years with his perhaps unexpected success in a starting role.

Cardinals Acquire Austin Dean

By | at

The Marlins announced Tuesday that they’ve traded outfielder Austin Dean to the Cardinals in exchange for minor league outfielder Diowill Burgos. Dean was designated for assignment in Miami last week. Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio reported Dean was on his way to St. Louis shortly before the deal was announced. The Cardinals’ 40-man roster is now up to a total of 39 players.

Dean, 26, will replenish some of the right-handed-hitting outfield depth the Cardinals lost last week when trading Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to the Rays. While Dean has yet to find much in the way of big league success, he’s a career .331/.398/.546 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons and has generally handled left-handed pitching well. He still has two minor league option years remaining as well, so the Cards can shuttle him between Memphis and St. Louis as they see fit in the short term.

Burgos won’t turn 19 until later this month. He’s played in the Dominican Summer League in each of the past two seasons and moved up to the Gulf Coast League late in 2019. Overall, the Dominican native is a .263/.366/.475 hitter with 17 home runs, 24 doubles, seven triples and 10 steals in 493 professional plate appearances. He’s still years from being anywhere near the big leagues, but he’ll add an intriguing option to the lower ranks of the Miami farm system moving forward.

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