Red Sox Add Mike Kickham To Player Pool
The Red Sox announced that left-hander Mike Kickham has been added to the team’s player pool. Boston now has 50 players in their pool, ten shy of the 60-man maximum.
Kickham joined the Sox on a minors contract last December, and is looking to make it back to the big leagues for the first time since the 2014 season. The southpaw posted a 10.98 ERA over 30 1/3 innings for the Giants in 2013-14 and then bounced around the minors and the independent leagues. Kickham’s journeyman sojourn brought him to the Cubs, Mariners, Rangers, a return stint with the Giants, and (for the past three seasons) the Marlins’ farm system. A return call to the majors hasn’t come despite some decent numbers, as Kickham has a 4.06 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 7.8 K/9 over 835 1/3 career minor league frames.
Given the uncertain nature of Boston’s pitching, Kickham might have a decent shot at cracking the Sox roster. Staff ace Eduardo Rodriguez and left-handers Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are are sidelined after positive COVID-19 tests, plus Collin McHugh won’t be fully ready to pitch by Opening Day. This creates plenty of opportunity for a pitcher like Kickham to earn a roster spot as the Red Sox try to figure out how they’ll approach this dearth of arms.
Padres Release Brian Dozier
The Padres have released second baseman Brian Dozier, as per the team’s official Twitter feed. Dozier signed a minor league deal with the organization back in February, and wasn’t included on San Diego’s initial 60-man player pool at the start of Summer Camp. As per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, Dozier could opt out of his deal on July 18 if he hadn’t been added to the roster.
It seemed like the Padres had simply decided to move on from Dozier, particularly after acquiring Jorge Mateo from the A’s to further bolster the second base position (though Mateo is currently in isolation after a positive coronavirus test). Even with Mateo recovering, San Diego still has a fair amount of second base depth, with Jurickson Profar slated to start, and Ty France and Greg Garcia coming off the bench.
Parting ways with Dozier now saves the Padres the prorated $2.2MM in salary that would have been owed to Dozier had he made the active roster. Instead, the 33-year-old will try to catch on with another team as he looks to embark on his ninth Major League season.
Dozier isn’t too far removed from his days as one of baseball’s best all-around second basemen, hitting .254/.338/.476 with 127 home runs with Minnesota from 2014-17. The last two seasons haven’t been as kind to Dozier, as while he has still clubbed 41 homers, he slashed only .225/.320/.408 over 1114 combined PA with the Twins, Dodgers, and Nationals. He did generate 1.7 fWAR over 135 games for Washington as the Nats’ regular second baseman last season, helping the team make a postseason appearance that resulted in the Nationals’ first World Series title (Dozier saw only sporadic postseason action, with seven PA over eight games).
Royals’ Cam Gallagher Tests Positive For COVID-19
The Kansas City Royals announced that catcher Cam Gallagher has tested positive for COVID-19, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.
Gallagher released his own statement, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Said Gallagher, “To say this caught me by surprise would be an understatement. I played in last night’s intrasquad game and felt great, then received the news this morning that my most recent test had come back positive…” Though Gallagher is asymptomatic, his statement puts the process at the forefront, as it’s unclear if the entire Royals squad will now have to quarantine because they’ve been in contact with Gallagher. The delayed test results would seem to present a huge problem for this very reason.
The Royals have a number of players who have tested positive for coronavirus so far, with Brad Keller, Ryan O’Hearn, and Salvador Perez previously testing positive. Manager Mike Matheny also tested positive, but he was recovered by the time camp began.
This also highlights the precarious nature of the catching position during the pandemic. The Royals came to camp with 6 catchers in their player pool, but with Perez and Gallagher both out having tested positive, they’re down to Nick Dini, MJ Melendez, Sebastian Rivero, and Meibrys Viloria. Only Dini and Viloria have any experience at the major league level. The Royals will now have to continue to get ready for the season without arguably their top two options behind the plate.
Viloria steps in as the primary backstop for now. Last season, the 23-year-old appeared in 42 games, amassing 148 plate appearances. He hit .211/.259/.286 while starting 39 of those games behind the plate.
Blue Jays Add Austin Martin To Player Pool
A day after signing the fifth overall selection of this year’s draft to a significantly over-slot deal, the Toronto Blue Jays have added him to their 60-man player pool, per TSN’s Scott Mitchell.
Austin Martin received the largest signing bonus of anyone not picked first overall yesterday, and he received more good news today. Martin will presumably head to Toronto for intake testing before joining the Blue Jays’ summer camp.
With third base vacated earlier today, it’s tempting to connect the dots and install Martin at the hot corner from day one. And while the Jays certainly hope the 3-year Vanderbilt star will be a quick riser – and his placement alongside Cavan Biggio, Vlad Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette is easy to dream on – Martin is still highly unlikely to see the major leagues anytime soon. His role on the 60-man player pool is almost certainly just an opportunity to get acclimated to professional ball, meet some players and coaches from the organization, and to begin the development process.
The Jays initially put together a 58-man pool, but they made three additions to the list yesterday. Add Martin to that group and they would seem to have a 62-man pool. However, teams can exceed the limit for players on the disabled list after testing positive for COVID-19. The Jays had at least one player test positive, but they also put four players on the 10-day disabled list without a noted injury (Brandon Drury, Elvis Luciano, Hector Perez and Jonathan Davis). Anything beyond that would be pure speculation.
Michael Kopech Opts Out Of 2020 Season
White Sox righty Michael Kopech has opted out of the 2020 season, per a club announcement. He was working his way back from Tommy John surgery.
In other news from White Sox camp, infielder Yoan Moncada and righty Jose Ruiz have each been placed on the 10-day injured list. Further details are not known at this time.
Kopech did not reveal his personal decisionmaking process in the announcement. Pursuant to the modified rules for the 2020 season, players have the exclusive right to opt out without penalty. Those that have a particular medical basis for the decision can retain their salary and service time; others sacrifice those things.
It’s not clear in this case whether Kopech will continue to accrue service time in the 2020 season. If not, the 24-year-old will begin the 2021 campaign with just over one full season of MLB service.
Kopech is one of the most exciting young talents in the White Sox organization. He debuted in 2018, showing big stuff but ultimately coming down with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Marlins Add Santiago Chavez To Player Pool
The Marlins announced this morning that they’ve added catcher Santiago Chavez to their 60-man player pool and placed catcher Will Banfield on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 6). No reason for the IL placement was listed.
Miami’s pool had previously been full, and teams can only exceed 60 players when players are put on the injured list due to COVID-19-related situations. Marlins general manager Michael Hill had previously revealed that four players have tested positive for the coronavirus, though he did not specify which players. Banfield’s IL placement doesn’t guarantee that he was one of the four. Players can be placed on the COVID-19 injured list if they exhibit symptoms but have yet to test positive or if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive.
The 24-year-old Chavez isn’t on the 40-man roster. The longtime Athletics farmhand spent his entire career with the Oakland organization prior to signing a minor league deal with Miami in the 2018-19 offseason. He re-signed a similar deal this past winter and will give the club some depth behind Jorge Alfaro, Francisco Cervelli, Chad Wallach, Ryan Lavarnway and Brian Navarreto. Chavez has never hit in the minors — 2018’s .635 OPS between Class-A Advanced and Double-A was a career-high — but he’s thrown out a ridiculous 48 percent of attempted base thieves in eight professional seasons.
Blue Jays Will Add Austin Martin To Player Pool
The Blue Jays plan to add No. 5 overall draft pick Austin Martin to their 60-man player pool, per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. He’ll first need to pass through intake testing for COVID-19 before he’s able to join the club in Canada. Martin is hoping to be in Toronto this weekend, tweets TSN’s Scott Mitchell.
As polished a hitter as Martin is, it seems unlikely that he’d actually be considered as a Major League option in 2020. Still, getting in some work with the Jays coaching staff and the team’s growing young core makes plenty of sense from a developmental standpoint. Martin revealed not long after being drafted that he and Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette played on the same team when they were younger, so his arrival in Jays camp will bring about a reunion for the childhood teammates.
Martin’s ultimate position on the diamond is yet to be determined. He played all over the field at Vanderbilt, with extensive time at third base and second base. Scouting reports on him leading up to the draft also suggested that he’s equipped to handle center field at the big league level. The Jays have Bichette at shortstop and Cavan Biggio penciled in at second base, although Biggio has worked in the outfield as well. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. currently lines up at third base, but many expect him to eventually move to first base and designated hitter. That could pave a path for Martin or perhaps fellow top prospect Jordan Groshans at the hot corner. Further down the pipeline, Orelvis Martinez is quite well-regarded as an infield prospect himself, though he’s yet to play above Rookie ball.
Suffice it to say, the Jays have amassed an impressive stockpile of exciting young position players. Even if Martin won’t be expected to step into the lineup alongside Bichette, Guerrero, Biggio and others in 2020, he could still force his way into the picture in relatively quick fashion. The 21-year-old logged a .368/.474/.532 slash in his NCAA career — including a ridiculous .392/.486/.604 line in 2019 and an even better .377/.507/.660 line in 69 plate appearances before the 2020 season was shut down. Baseball America already lists Martin as the No. 16 prospect in all of baseball.
The Jays initially announced 58 players in their pool, but they’ve also had several positive COVID-19 tests, leading to several placements on the COVID-19 injured list. Such players don’t count against the player pool until they’re medically cleared to return to the team. The Jays already added four new players to their pool. It’s possible that at some point, the Jays will be over the limit and need to jettison a player via release, outright waivers, trade, etc. — but for the time being it seems they have the space to add Martin to the Summer Camp roster.
Brewers Announce 12 Additions To Player Pool
The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve added a dozen minor leaguers to their 60-man player pool. In addition to the previously reported addition of righty Dylan File, Milwaukee has added the following players:
- LHP Clayton Andrews
- RHP Phil Bickford
- RHP Antoine Kelly
- LHP Angel Perdomo
- LHP Ethan Small
- RHP Trey Supak
- C/OF Thomas Dillard
- C Mario Feliciano
- OF Tristen Lutz
- OF Corey Ray
- INF Brice Turang
Many of the prospects added today are viewed a key future pieces for the Brewers but shouldn’t be expected to contribute at the MLB level this coming season. Turang, the team’s top pick from 2018, is considered the organization’s best prospect but hasn’t above Class-A Advanced yet. Lutz, Small, Feliciano, Dillard, Bickford and Kelly have all yet to log any notable time even at the Double-A level.
The others in the bunch, though, could potentially reach the Majors for the first time in 2020. File’s quick rise through the system was already touched upon here. Perdomo, who has a strong minor league track record, tested positive for COVID-19 recently but could be a lefty option for the ‘pen assuming a full recovery. Andrews, a two-way star in college who also logged some time in center field this past season, reached Double-A in 2019 and fared well (2.59 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 9.5 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 in 31 1 /3 frames).
Supak, 24, breezed through 122 2/3 innings of Double-A ball in 2019, pitching to a 2.20 ERA and 3.14 FIP with 6.7 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 0.44 HR/9 and a 44.8 percent ground-ball rate before struggling in a much briefer run in Triple-A (30 innings). He could be a multi-inning relief piece or make some starts should the need arise. Supak’s 152 2/3 total innings last year were the 13th-most of any pitcher in minor league baseball.
As for Ray, the Brewers have had high hopes for him since selecting him with the No. 5 pick back in 2016. He’s coming off a brutal 2019 season but posted a 124 wRC+ in Double-A a season prior, hitting .239/.323/.477. Strikeouts are a significant issue for Ray, who has whiffed in 29.7 percent of his professional plate appearances (including an alarming 36.6 percent clip in 2019). But Ray also belted 27 homers in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2018 — a season that also saw him swipe 37 bases. The contact issues probably aren’t going to improve dramatically, but there’s still some intrigue surrounding someone with that blend of power and speed — particularly when they can play any of the three outfield slots.
With today’s moves now set, the Brewers have filled 58 of the 60 possible slots in their 2020 player pool. Team can still make additions once all 60 spots are filled, but doing so requires removing a current player via a transaction (e.g. trade, release, outright waivers).
Braves Add Bryce Ball To Player Pool
The Braves have added first base prospect Bryce Ball to their 60-man player pool, per a club announcement. David Lee of bravesprospects.com first reported the news.
While Ball was just a 24th-round pick a year ago, he did nothing but produce in his first action as a minor leaguer. Across a combined 263 plate appearances between the rookie and Single-A levels, the 22-year-old put together a video game-like line of .329/.395/.628 with 17 home runs. Ball now ranks as one of the Braves’ 30 best prospects at Baseball America (No. 16), MLB.com (21) and FanGraphs (22). BA calls Ball the top power hitter in the team’s farm system and writes that he as a chance to wind up as “a late-round steal.”
Considering Ball has so little minor league experience, it seems unlikely he’ll get to the majors this year. Of course, that’s if health issues don’t take a toll on too many hitters ahead of him in the Braves’ 60-man pecking order. They’ve been without one of their top players, fellow first baseman Freddie Freeman, who tested positive for the coronavirus last week. And outfielder Nick Markakis opted out of the season a few days ago because of COVID-related concerns.
Royals Sign Oscar Hernandez
The Royals announced that they have signed backstop Oscar Hernandez. He’ll receive an invitation to participate in Summer Camp.
Hernandez, 26, was cut loose recently by the Cardinals. He’s trying to find his way back to the majors for the first time since 2016.
The Diamondbacks carried Hernandez in the majors in order to secure his rights through the Rule 5 draft. But the effort was for naught. Hernandez has simply not yet developed as a hitter, carrying a sub-.600 OPS in the upper minors.