Minor MLB Transactions: 8/18/20
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Cardinals announced before Tuesday’s game that they selected right-hander Jesus Cruz and optioned lefty Rob Kaminsky to their alternate training site. Kaminsky will remain on the Cardinals’ taxi squad. The 25-year-old Cruz is in his fourth season with the Cardinals organization. He has generally produced very good numbers at the lower levels of the minors, but his first stint with Triple-A Memphis last season did not go well. Cruz wound up with a 6.24 ERA and a 6.4 BB/9 in 57 2/3 innings, though he did punch out 12.33 hitters per nine.
Earlier:
- The Rays have signed Dietrich Enns to a minor league contract, as announced yesterday by Enns’ independent league team in Joliet, Illinois. Enns will report to Tampa Bay’s alternate training site and MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (Twitter link) adds that Enns has been added to the Rays’ 60-man player pool. Originally a 19th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2012 draft, Enns compiled a 3.40 ERA, 2.48 K/BB rate, and 8.3 K/9 over 667 1/3 career minor league innings with the Yankees, Twins, and Padres. His lone bit of MLB experience came in 2017, when Enns tossed four innings over two games with Minnesota. Enns has mostly worked as a starter during his career and it isn’t out of the question that the Rays could deploy him in that role given how creative the club is with its pitching options, though it probably seems more likely that Enns will work as a reliever should he crack the big league roster.
Mariners Option Mallex Smith, Transfer Tom Murphy To 45-Day IL
The Mariners have optioned outfielder Mallex Smith to their alternate training site and recalled righty Art Warren, per a team announcement. The club also sent catcher Tom Murphy to the 45-day injured list, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. They now have an open spot on their 40-man roster as a result.
This continues a brutal year-plus for Smith, who had a terrific season as a Ray in 2018 but hasn’t come close to replicating that production in Seattle. In his second and last season with the Rays, Smith batted .296/.367/.406 (118 wRC+) with 40 stolen bases and 3.5 fWAR in 544 plate appearances. The Mariners surely expected similar success when they dealt catcher Mike Zunino to Tampa Bay for Smith in a five-player swap before 2019. Instead, while he did add 46 steals to his resume a year ago, Smith was a replacement-level who mustered a weak line of .227/.300/.335 (74 wRC+) over 566 trips to the plate.
This season has gone far worse for the 27-year-old Smith, evidenced by his .133/.170/.178 slash and minus-4 wRC+ in 47 PA. He wasn’t able to keep his job in right field, where the Mariners have been turning to Dylan Moore lately, but Smith will remain on their taxi squad.
As for Murphy, this continues to look as if it will be a lost year (or something close to it) for a player who enjoyed an outstanding 2019 campaign in Seattle. Murphy hasn’t been able to build on it because of the fractured metatarsal in his left foot that sent him to the 10-day IL on July 23. The Murphy-less Mariners have used a combination of Austin Nola, Joe Odom and Joe Hudson at catcher. Nola has been a bright spot as the starter, which has softened the blow of losing Murphy.
Cubs Select Hernan Perez
The Cubs have selected infielder/outfielder Hernan Perez, placed outfielder Steven Souza Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring issue and moved reliever Brad Wieck to the 45-day IL with a hamstring problem, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic was among those to report.
Perez, who most recently appeared in the majors with the NL Central rival Brewers, joined the Cubs on a minor league contract in the offseason. The 29-year-old hasn’t brought much offense to the table in the majors, where he has batted .252/.282/.387 (73 wRC+) with 45 home runs and 69 stolen bases in 1,1819 plate appearances, but has garnered significant experience at second, third, shortstop and in the outfield. He’ll give the Cubs some insurance at a time when Souza’s down and third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant is dealing with left wrist troubles. Bryant underwent an injection Tuesday and will miss a few days, Jesse Rogers of ESPN tweets.
Souza, 31, was a 30-home run hitter with the Rays in 2017, but injuries cut him down as a Diamondback the next two years and continue to trouble him now. He signed a $1MM deal with the Cubs in the offseason and has begun this year with a line of .190/.292/.429 (94 wRC+), one homer and 10 strikeouts in 24 PA.
Braves To Promote Cristian Pache
The Braves are set to promote top outfield prospect Cristian Pache, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN reports. Pache is already on the Braves’ 40-man roster, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Still just 21 years old, the Dominican-born Pache has been hailed as an elite prospect for a large portion of his Braves tenure, which began in 2016. That hasn’t changed in 2020, as Keith Law of The Athletic (No. 5), Baseball America (13), MLB.com (14), McDaniel (17) and FanGraphs (20) are among those that regard Pache as a top 20 farmhand. McDaniel writes Pache “could be a perennial All-Star if he hits his above-average offensive ceiling,” owing to the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder’s Andruw Jones-esque defensive skills, speed and increased power.
Pache spent the majority of 2019 in Double-A, where he slashed .278/.340/.474 with 11 home runs and eight steals in 433 plate appearances. His numbers dipped in his first Triple-A action, as he hit .274/.337/.411 with one homer in 105 trips to the plate. However, Pache was extremely young for the level, and he did cut his strikeout rate by 7 percent after the Braves bumped him up.
Now that he’s moving up yet again, Pache will join an Atlanta team whose outfield has been missing its top player, Ronald Acuna Jr., who went on the IL last weekend with left wrist inflammation. Fortunately, the Braves have gotten very good to great production from outfielders Marcell Ozuna and Nick Markakis this year, while Adam Duvall has performed decently. On the other hand, Ender Inciarte has endured a miserable season. That and Acuna’s injury combined to open the door for Pache, at least for the time being.
At this stage of the season, the Braves don’t worry about having to burn a year of service time in calling up Pache. Depending on how long he stays up, though, it could have an effect on future Super Two status.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Place Jose Alvarado On 10-Day Injured List
AUG. 18: Alvarado visited a doctor in New York on Monday, and the Rays will shut him down from throwing for 10 to 14 days, manager Kevin Cash announced (Twitter links via Juan Toribio of MLB.com and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Alvarado appears to have a lat strain, per Cash.
AUG. 15: The Rays have placed southpaw Jose Alvarado on the 10-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation. Right-hander Aaron Slegers was called up to take Alvarado’s place in Tampa’s bullpen.
Alvarado has a 6.00 ERA over nine innings for the Rays this season, with much of that damage stemming from a tough outing (four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning) last night against the Blue Jays. Alvarado also recorded two walks and two strikeouts during that brief appearance, upping his season numbers to a 6.0 BB/9 and a 13.0 K/9.
A return to the IL is troublesome for Alvarado considering he already missed quite a bit of time during the 2019 season. Alvarado was limited to 30 innings pitched due to an oblique injury, elbow soreness, and also attending to a family medical situation for almost a month. It’s fair to say these issues contributed to Alvarado’s career-high 4.80 ERA in 2019, as he has previously delivered much better results during the 2017-18 campaigns — a 2.79 ERA over 93 2/3 frames out of the Rays’ pen, with a 10.5 K/9, and 2.87 K/BB rate.
Rangers Select Luis Garcia, Place Juan Nicasio On Restricted List
The Rangers have selected right-hander Luis Garcia‘s contract from their alternate training site, per a team announcement. To make room for Garcia, the Rangers placed righty Juan Nicasio on the restricted list.
The 33-year-old Garcia may now get a chance to pitch in the majors for an eighth straight season. He divided 2013-19 between the Phillies and Angels, with whom he combined for a 4.17 ERA/4.29 FIP with 8.22 K/9, 4.64 BB/9 and a 55.4 percent groundball rate. At his best, the hard-throwing Garcia gave the Phillies 71 1/3 innings of 2.35 ERA/3.12 FIP ball in 2017, but he struggled mightily over the previous two seasons. As a result, Garcia had to settle for the Rangers’ minor league offer over the winter.
Nicasio, also 33 and another veteran reliever whom the Rangers inked to a minors pact, is down for “personal reasons.” He made his first two Rangers appearances Sunday and Monday, but those outings were disastrous. Nicasio combined to give up six earned runs on five hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings in a pair of Texas losses.
Marlins Announce Series Of Roster Moves
The Marlins announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, including the contract selections of right-hander Brett Eibner and lefty Brandon Leibrandt. They also optioned righties Jordan Yamamoto and Justin Shafer and infielder Lewin Diaz to their alternate training site; moved righty Mike Morin to the 45-day injured list; placed lefty Brian Moran on the 10-day IL with right knee patella tendonitis; recalled righty Humberto Mejia from their training site; and reinstated outfielder Corey Dickerson from the paternity list.
Eibner, a former Royals and Dodgers outfielder, last appeared in the majors in 2017. He switched to a two-way role thereafter and performed well enough as a pitcher in independent ball for the Marlins to recently purchase his contract from the Eastern Reyes del Tigre of the Constellation Energy League.
Leibrandt also isn’t far removed from joining the Marlins, who inked the ex-Phillies farmhand to a minors pact earlier this month. Most recently a member of the independent Somerset Patriots, the 27-year-old has never pitched in the bigs. He did enjoy a productive season in Triple-A ball in 2018, though, before succumbing to Tommy John surgery.
Orioles Place Jose Iglesias On 10-Day Injured List
The Orioles have placed shortstop Jose Iglesias on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to August 16) due to a left quad injury, the team announced. Infielder Ramon Urias has been called up from the alternate training site to take Iglesias’ spot on the Baltimore roster.
Known as a defensive specialist over his eight seasons prior to 2020, Iglesias has almost doubled his 84 OPS+ from 2011-19 with a whopping 166 OPS+ through 58 plate appearances this season. Small sample size notwithstanding, Iglesias’ .400/.414/.564 slash line has been a key reason why the surprising Orioles are keeping pace in the playoff race with a 12-10 record.
Despite his production, Iglesias has been bothered by his quad all season. He hasn’t played since last Saturday, so clearly the Orioles felt an IL stint was necessary to get the veteran shortstop fully recovered.
Andrew Velazquez has been filling in at short in Iglesias’ absence, and Urias could also help in this regard given his experience at all four infield positions. A longtime veteran of both the Mexican League and 298 minor league games in the Rangers’ and Cardinals’ farm systems, the 26-year-old Urias is on the verge of his first Major League appearance. Urias hit .263/.369/.424 with nine homers over 375 PA with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019.
Yankees Sign Jordy Mercer To Minors Contract
The Yankees announced infielder Jordy Mercer has been signed to a minor league contract and assigned to the club’s alternate training site. Mercer and minor league catcher Wynston Sawyer have both been added to New York’s 60-man player pool, with Sawyer joining Mercer at the alternate camp.
Mercer appeared in three games for the Tigers this season before deciding to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment on August 6. He’ll now join a Yankees team in need of some second base depth since DJ LeMahieu‘s is expected to spend two or three weeks on the injured list due to a sprained left thumb. Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada are New York’s current second base options on the active roster, and it isn’t out of the question that Mercer could also serve as a backup shortstop to Gleyber Torres.
Best known for his long stint as the Pirates’ starting shortstop, Mercer has a .257/.315/.387 slash line over 3276 career MLB plate appearances with Pittsburgh and Detroit. Fielding metrics have taken a dim view of Mercer’s shortstop glovework in recent years, though that could be a moot point if he ends up playing second base for the Yankees. (For what it’s worth, Mercer has a +4.4 UZR/150 and +3 Defensive Runs Saved as a second baseman, though only over 286 2/3 career innings at the position.)
Padres Promote Adrian Morejon
As expected, the Padres have called up left-hander Adrian Morejon from their alternate training site. The team made this announcement in advance of Morejon’s scheduled start against the Rangers this afternoon. Righty Luis Perdomo was optioned to the alternate training site to create roster space.
This will be Morejon’s second stint in the big leagues, and there isn’t really anywhere to go but up after he posted a 10.13 ERA through eight innings and five appearances (two of them starts) in 2019. A bothersome shoulder may have been partially to blame for Morejon’s issues, as he was sent to the injured list last August and was eventually shut down for the season.
Of course, Morejon is hardly the only player to have an underwhelming MLB debut, and the southpaw is still considered one of the sport’s more intriguing pitching prospects. He has been a staple of top-100 prospects lists for the last few years, with Keith Law (72nd), Baseball Prospectus (75th) and Baseball America (89th) all including Morejon on their pre-2020 rankings. Morejon was the headliner of the Padres’ spending splurge in the 2016-17 international signing period, as the Cuba native signed for an eye-opening $11MM bonus.
It wasn’t too long ago that Perdomo was holding down a spot in San Diego’s rotation, as the right-hander amassed 310 1/3 innings for the Friars in 2016-17, starting 49 of 64 games. Injuries hampered the groundball specialist in 2018, however, and Perdomo has been since used primarily as a reliever while yo-yoing between the majors and Triple-A. Perdomo did post a solid 4.00 ERA, 3.06 K/BB rate, 60.6% grounder rate, and 6.9 K/9 over 72 innings in 2019, though he had had a rougher go of things this season (8.10 ERA over 10 innings).