Rangers Designate Nick Goody, Select Andrew Romine
The Rangers have designated right-hander Nick Goody for assignment and selected infielder Andrew Romine, the team announced.
Goody, whom the Rangers claimed from the Indians last winter, has posted a couple of respectable seasons since he debuted in 2015 with the Yankees. He logged a 3.54 ERA/4.62 FIP with 11.07 K/9 and 4.87 BB/9 over 40 2/3 innings in Cleveland in 2019, for instance, but wasn’t able to keep that momentum going this year in Texas. As a Ranger in 2020, the 29-year-old Goody allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 14 hits and totaled 13 strikeouts against eight walks over 11 frames.
Romine, 34, signed a minors pact with the Rangers on Sept. 15. The former Angel, Tiger and Mariner has amassed 1,323 major league plate appearances, but he has hit just .235/.291/.301 and hasn’t seen action in the bigs since 2018.
Blue Jays Activate Nate Pearson, Designate Wilmer Font
5:16pm: Toronto has designated Font for assignment, Nicholson-Smith tweets.
3:39pm: The Blue Jays are activating right-hander Nate Pearson from the 10-day injured list and removing fellow righty Wilmer Font from their roster, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to report. It’s not clear what the Blue Jays will do with Font, but he’s out of minor league options, so they can’t send him down without possibly losing him.
Pearson, one of the game’s elite pitching prospects, hasn’t taken the mound since Aug. 18 because of elbow tightness. It’s obviously a relief for him and the team that he’s ready to return just over a month after that, as elbow problems often lead to far longer absences.
The 24-year-old Pearson made four appearances, all starts, for Toronto before going on the IL, but the club’s set to break him back in as a reliever, per Nicholson-Smith. Despite averaging 96.1 mph on his fastball, Pearson has struggled to a 6.51 ERA/7.65 FIP with 7.71 K/9 and 6.61 BB/9 in 16 1/3 innings this season.
Font, 30, has been a liability for Toronto in 16 1/3 innings this year. He owns a bloated 9.77 ERA (with a much more palatable 4.77 FIP) and 8.27 K/9 against 4.96 BB/9. Font has been victimized by a .448 batting average on balls in play against, though he also ranks toward the bottom of the league in several important Statcast categories.
White Sox Designate Steve Cishek, Ross Detwiler For Assignment
The White Sox on Thursday announced that they’ve designated veteran right-hander Steve Cishek and lefty Ross Detwiler for assignment. Their spots on the active and 40-man rosters will go to lefties Aaron Bummer and Carlos Rodon, who have been reinstated from the 45-day injured list.
Cishek, 34, inked a one-year, $6MM deal with the ChiSox this past winter — a pact that contained a $5.25MM salary and a $750K buyout on a $6.75MM club option for 2021 that clearly will not be picked up. Cishek’s overall numbers with the South Siders aren’t great — a 5.40ERA and 21-to-9 K/BB ratio in 20 innings — but he’s pitched pretty well since an awful start to the year. Over his past dozen outings, he’s pitched 11 2/3 innings while allowing four runs on 10 hits and five walks with 14 punchouts.
Recent uptick notwithstanding, the Sox feel that both Bummer and Rodon represent better postseason options, it seems. With four days of the regular season left, this move seems likely to put an end to Cishek’s 2020 campaign, although it’s technically feasible that he could be quickly outrighted to the Sox’ alternate site and selected back to the roster in the event of an injury.
Detwiler, 34, was an early surprise for the Sox, rattling off 12 1/3 shutout frames across his first nine appearances of the season. The well-traveled southpaw punched out 10 hitters and walked none in that time, although the complete absence of and a .138 BABIP each looked quite unsustainable. Detwiler has yielded seven runs (only five earned) on eight hits and five walks in the 7 1/3 subsequent innings — with two of those hits clearing the fence for home runs. He carries a sharp 3.20 ERA and 3.89 FIP on the season as a whole, but that’s been his only real success at the MLB level since 2014.
Both Bummer and Rodon will join the bullpen for a Sox club that has lost its grip on the AL Central lead, now sitting a half game back of a Twins team it topped thrice in last week’s best-of-four series. Healthy versions of Bummer and Rodon would surely help their cause. The former established himself as a breakout bullpen star for the Sox just last year, firing 67 2/3 frames of 2.13 ERA ball with a 60-to-24 K/BB ratio. That showing earned him a five-year, $16MM contract extension with a pair of club options over the winter.
Rodon, the former No. 3 overall draft pick, was once viewed as a foundational piece for the Sox’ rotation but has seen his career slowed by Tommy John surgery and shoulder troubles. Of Rodon’s 95 career appearances at the MLB level, all but three have been starts. However, given the missed time in 2020, it’s unlikely he could be built back up to take a rotation spot. He could conceivably be a multi-inning relief weapon for skipper Rick Renteria in the playoffs, but we’ll first see how he looks in his return to game action over the next four days.
Rockies Select Tommy Doyle, Place David Dahl On 45-Day IL
The Rockies announced that they’ve selected right-hander Tommy Doyle and placed outfielder David Dahl on the 45-day injured list with a right shoulder strain.
Doyle, 24, was a third-round pick of the Rockies in 2017 who posted impressive production in the minors during the previous two seasons. He reached High-A ball for the first time in 2019 and logged a 3.25 ERA/3.61 FIP with 12.0 K/9 and 3.25 BB/9 over 36 innings. Since then, FanGraphs (No. 17), MLB.com (No. 19) and Baseball America (No. 23) have ranked Doyle among Colorado’s 25 best prospects. According to FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, the hard-throwing Doyle could make it as a setup man in the majors.
This is the latest in an ever-growing line of injuries for the 26-year-old Dahl, who has missed an exorbitant amount of time since he debuted in 2016. Dahl sat out almost a month earlier this year with back problems, and he’ll now see his season end now just a week and a half after returning. While Dahl has been an above-average offensive contributor throughout his career, he had an uncharacteristically awful 2020 at the plate, hitting .183/.222/.247 with no home runs in 99 trips.
Marlins Designate Brett Eibner For Assignment
The Marlins have designated right-hander Brett Eibner for assignment and reinstated lefty Stephen Tarpley from the 60-day injured list, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets.
This is the second time this season Miami has designated Eibner, a former Royals, Athletics and Dodgers outfielder from 2015-17 who has reinvented himself as a pitcher in the past couple years. The Marlins signed Eibner to a minor league contract in early August, at which point the team was dealing with serious coronavirus concerns.
To his credit, the 31-year-old Eibner has been successful enough as a hurler to get back to the majors in 2020. But Eibner has struggled across 3 1/3 innings as a member of the playoff-contending Marlins, with whom he has yielded five earned runs on seven hits, including two homers, with four walks and four strikeouts.
Giants Release Justin Smoak
Sept. 23: Smoak has been placed on unconditional release waivers, per Jessica Kleinschmidt of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).
Sept. 21: The Giants have designated first baseman Justin Smoak for assignment, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report. They reinstated outfielder Alex Dickerson from the paternity list in a corresponding move.
This is the second time this month a team has cut Smoak, whom the Brewers designated Sept. 3 and then released on the 8th. Milwaukee signed Smoak, a three-time 20-home run hitter, to a $5MM guarantee last offseason off a so-so campaign with the Blue Jays. However, the switch-hitting 33-year-old only slashed .186/.262/.381 with five homers in 126 plate appearances before the Brewers cut ties with him.
Smoak may have been worth a low-risk shot for San Francisco, but he also couldn’t get back on track with the Giants, albeit over a small sample size of plate appearances. He wound up taking six trips to the plate and going without a hit as a Giant.
Cardinals Outright Rob Kaminsky
Left-hander Rob Kaminsky, whom the Cardinals designated for assignment Sept. 16, has cleared waivers and will remain with the organization, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Kaminsky was a first-round pick (No. 28) for the Cardinals in 2013, but he is already in his second stint with the franchise. The Cardinals traded Kaminsky to the Indians in 2015 for slugger Brandon Moss, but the Redbirds brought the hurler back before 2020 on a minor league contract.
The 26-year-old Kaminsky made the first five MLB appearances of his career earlier this season and gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings. Kaminsky logged a 60 percent groundball rate over that small sample of work, and he has always posted high GB rates in the minors. Despite that, Kaminsky struggled to a 5.11 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in a 24 2/3-inning Triple-A debut with the Indians last season.
Andrelton Simmons Opts Out Of Remainder Of Season
6:01pm: The Angels have placed Simmons on the restricted list and selected infielder Elliot Soto in a corresponding move. Soto, whom the Angels signed to a minor league contract last offseason, is a former Cubs, Marlins and Rockies farmhand who has batted .272/.346/.389 in 1,323 Triple-A plate appearances.
5:29pm: Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons announced Tuesday that he has opted out of the remainder of the season.
“At this moment, I feel this is the best decision for me and for my family,” Simmons said in part to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. “We don’t know what the future holds, but we would like to sincerely thank the Angels organization and Angels fans for welcoming and making us feel at home.”
Simmons’ decision comes amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns that have caused others to opt out, though the 31-year-old has played the majority of the 2020 campaign. He spent time on the injured list with a sprained left ankle but has otherwise appeared in 30 games and slashed a respectable .297/.346/.356 in 127 plate appearances. That represents a nice bounce-back effort by Simmons, who was unable to complement his superlative defense with a decent offensive showing during an injury-limited 2019.
Of course, considering he’s a pending free agent, Simmons’ time with the out-of-contention Angels may be over. He originally joined the Angels in a trade with the Braves prior to the 2016 season, and while Simmons has been quite successful since then (15.5 fWAR in 2,281 plate appearances), the Angels haven’t gone to the playoffs since they acquired him.
Going forward, the Angels could try to re-sign Simmons or even issue him a qualifying offer before potentially losing him in free agency during the upcoming offseason. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him reach the open market unfettered. Simmons is on track to join Marcus Semien and Didi Gregorius as the best shortstops available in free agency.
Cardinals Place Dakota Hudson On 45-Day IL
The Cardinals have placed right-hander Dakota Hudson on the 45-day injured list, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. They activated righty Kodi Whitley from the IL to take Hudson’s place on their roster.
This will end Hudson’s season, though it’s not a surprising outcome for someone who suffered a right flexor tendon injury last week. The hope is that Hudson will return to health once next season rolls around, especially considering he has been an important member of the Cardinals’ rotation since his first full campaign in 2019.
While fielding-independent metrics such as FIP (4.73) and xFIP (4.55) haven’t been enamored of Hudson’s work, the bottom-line results have been highly encouraging for the 26-year-old throughout his career. So far, thanks in part to a sterling 57.3 percent groundball rate, Hudson has managed a 3.17 ERA across 241 innings and overcome weak strikeout/walk numbers (6.95 K/9, 4.44 BB/9). Hudson’s ability to induce grounders at a high clip helped him to a 2.77 ERA in 39 frames this year.
Marlins Outright Sean Rodriguez
SEPT. 22: The Marlins announced that Rodriguez has been outrighted to their alternate site after clearing waivers.
SEPT. 20: The Marlins have designated utilityman Sean Rodriguez for assignment, the team announced. Utilityman Jon Berti has been activated from the 10-day injured list to take the open roster spot, while southpaw Braxton Garrett has also been added to the roster as the extra 29th player for today’s doubleheader with the Nationals.
Rodriguez was only activated from the injured list last Tuesday, as he had spent the rest of the season out of action for unspecified medical reasons. Rodriguez appeared in four games for the Marlins, recording two hits in 13 plate appearances and playing second base and left field. The 35-year-old has now been a part of 13 consecutive Major League seasons, the bulk of which with the Rays and Pirates from 2010-18. Rodriguez inked a minor league contract with Miami last winter.
The club is essentially swapping one multi-purpose bench piece for another in welcoming Berti back into the fold. Berti hit the 10-day IL on September 10 due to a right finger injury, so he’ll return after only a minimal absence. Over two seasons with the Marlins, Berti has already appeared at six different positions, and it seems likely he’ll mostly play second base the rest of the way this season in a semi-platoon with rookie Jazz Chisholm. Beyond his versatility, Berti has also been a useful hitter for the Fish, batting .267/.350/.392 with eight homers over his 401 PA in a Miami uniform.