Royals Select Trevor Rosenthal, Designate Eric Skoglund
The Royals announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Trevor Rosenthal and designated lefty Eric Skoglund for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
As noted here at MLBTR earlier this morning, the Royals organization has been weighing how to handle the March 26 opt-out dates that were negotiated into the minor league contracts of Rosenthal and fellow righty Greg Holland. Several other clubs have agreed to push opt-out dates back until exhibition play resumes, although in Rosenthal’s case, it seems his strong spring showing was impressive enough that Kansas City opted to add him to the roster right now rather than risk him triggering the preexisting clause.
By having his contract selected, Rosenthal will lock in a reported $2MM base salary. The Scott Boras client’s deal was also reported to come with an additional $2.25MM via performance bonuses.
Rosenthal was lights out prior to the spring shutdown, hurling five shutout innings with just three hits allowed. Most importantly, he didn’t issue a walk and punched out nine hitters. For a once-elite reliever who missed 2018 due to Tommy John surgery and saw his control completely evaporate in 2019 — 42 walks, nine hit batters in 30 1/3 innings between the big leagues and the minors — that lack of free passes was a particularly heartening development. Of course, incoming Royals skipper Mike Matheny is plenty familiar with what Rosenthal brings to the table when at his best; Matheny was Rosenthal’s skipper for the hard-throwing righty’s peak seasons in St. Louis.
Skoglund, 27, has appeared in 27 games for the Royals across the past three seasons but hasn’t found much success in the Majors. In 109 innings at the big league level, Skoglund has a 6.61 ERA with 5.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 1.6 HR/9 along the way. The southpaw was solid in his first run through the Triple-A level back in 2017 — 4.11 ERA, 9.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 in 100 1/3 frames — but he’s struggled in his past two seasons with the Royals’ top affiliate in Omaha as well. Overall, Skoglund has a 4.87 ERA and a 151-to-46 K/BB ratio in 172 Triple-A innings.
The Royals still have a decision to make on Holland — who starred in the Kansas City bullpen during the club’s renaissance several years back. Like Rosenthal, Holland has seen his career take a turn for the worse following Tommy John surgery and that procedure’s arduous rehab process, but he’s looked solid in his own right during Cactus League play; in six innings he’s surrendered three runs but just five hits and a walk while racking up eight strikeouts.
Mariners Release Sam Tuivailala
March 23: Tuivailala has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, Divish tweets.
March 20: The Mariners have placed reliever Sam Tuivailala on release waivers, per a club announcement. That leaves the team with two 40-man roster openings.
Tuivailala was looking to turn in a full season after a torn Achilles shortened both his 2018 and 2019 campaigns. He hadn’t yet appeared in a spring contest when activities were halted.
Over the offseason, the M’s agreed to a $800K arbitration deal with Tuivailala. He’ll still be entitled to 45 days of termination pay, at least in theory. Just how that will be handled given the delay and near-certain shortening of the 2020 season remains to be seen.
Tuivailala, 27, has mostly been quite effective in his MLB career. Through 127 innings, he carries a 3.33 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. He enjoyed some strong results upon his return in 2019, allowing just six earned runs on 13 hits with a 27:11 K/BB ratio.
In his return last year, Tuivailala delivered his fastballs (four and two-seam) more than two miles an hour slower on average than he had previously. But he still sat just under 94 mph. This spring, however Tuivailala had been limited by shoulder fatigue. When last he took the mound, the hurler was working only in the mid- to upper-80s with his fastball, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). That lack off velocity and ongoing concerns surrounding his shoulder quite likely were the primary factors behind the Mariners’ decision.
Red Sox Acquire Jhonny Pereda From Cubs To Complete Travis Lakins Trade
The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve acquired minor league catcher Jhonny Pereda from the Cubs as the player to be named later in the January trade that sent righty Travis Lakins from Boston to Chicago. Lakins, oddly enough, is no longer even in the Cubs organization; he was claimed off waivers by the Orioles just 10 days after the Cubs acquired him. Pereda is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary for the Sox.
Pereda, 24 next month, had a rough year in Double-A this past season, slashing .241/.336/.305 with just two home runs and 16 doubles in 398 plate appearances. Pereda caught a third of the runners who attempted to steal against him and won a minor league Gold Glove Award, but he also turned in poor framing metrics, per Baseball Prospectus. Baseball America ranked Pereda as the Cubs’ No. 26 prospect last offseason, before the poor 2019 showing, calling him a potential backup catcher with a bit of offensive upside due to his on-base skills (while also pointing out an utter dearth of power).
Regardless of how Pereda turns out, things unfolded in a sub-optimal manner for the Cubs, who presumably hoped that they’d be able to pass Lakins through waivers and retain him without committing a 40-man roster spot to the righty. That didn’t prove to be the case, however, as the Orioles (who hold the No. 2 waiver priority) quickly nabbed him and have continued to carry him on the 40-man roster.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/22/20
Catching up on a minor move from last month…
- The White Sox signed left-hander Christian Friedrich to a minors contract, as reflected in the MLB.com transactions page. The move slipped through the cracks at MLBTR at the time. Friedrich, a former Rockies first-rounder, has a 5.37 ERA in parts of four MLB seasons (and 296 2/3 career innings) with Colorado and San Diego. He hasn’t pitched at the highest level since 2016, but as Jeff Todd of MLBTR noted last October, Friedrich performed well for the Korea Baseball Organization’s NC Dinos in 2019.
Giants Option Shaun Anderson, Steven Duggar To Triple-A
The Giants have optioned right-hander Shaun Anderson and outfielder Steven Duggar to Triple-A Sacramento, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic was among those to report. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said neither player positioned himself in spring training to make the Giants’ Opening Day roster, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle relays.
The 25-year-old Anderson got off to a respectable start as a rookie last season, but he was battered in the second half, leading to a 5.44 ERA/4.77 FIP across 96 innings. Anderson managed uninspiring strikeout and walk numbers along the way, fanning 6.56 per nine with 3.56 BB/9. While Anderson still entered the spring hoping to grab a spot in the Giants’ bullpen, he’ll have to earn his way back via the minors in 2020, if a baseball season even occurs.
Duggar, 26, endured a rough 2019 season, in part because of left shoulder issues. He wound up with a meek .234/.278/.341 batting line in 281 plate appearances, thereby offsetting quality numbers in center and right (plus-6 Defensive Runs Saved, 5 Outs Above Average, plus-1.2 Ultimate Zone Rating). As someone who was a well-regarded prospect during his younger days, perhaps Duggar will eventually emerge as the Giants’ answer in center. In the near term, though, they could turn to offseason minor league signing Billy Hamilton up the middle.
Astros Release Jared Hughes
The Astros announced that right-hander Jared Hughes has been released. Hughes requested the move, as per the opt-out terms in his minor league deal with the team.
Hughes joined the Astros last month, on a minors deal that would have paid him $1.5MM if he had made the big league roster. Hughes’ opt-out date was yesterday, and he chose to look for opportunities elsewhere since Houston didn’t put him on their 40-man roster. Hughes posted only a 6.35 ERA over 5 2/3 spring innings, which could have impacted the team’s decision (though The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan expressed surprise at Houston’s decision).
The small Spring Training sample size aside, Hughes has posted very solid numbers over nine MLB seasons and 519 career relief innings. The 34-year-old has a career 2.88 ERA despite not missing many bats (6.07 K/9) thanks to an outstanding ability to generate grounder, with a 61.5% career groundball rate. It’s a skillset that has left Hughes perhaps a bit undervalued, as he has been non-tendered, released, and claimed on waivers within the last three years, and his firmest bit of security was a two-year, $4.5MM free agent deal with the Reds in the 2017-18 offseason.
2019 saw Hughes post a 4.04 ERA over 71 1/3 innings for the Reds and Phillies, easily the highest ERA of his eight full big league seasons. A big spike in his home run total (1.6 HR/9) was the most obvious reason for that 4.04 number, though Hughes also benefited from a .228 BABIP, which particularly aided such an extreme groundball pitcher.
Hughes now heads into perhaps the most uncertain open market in baseball history, as free agents face even more questions than the average affiliated player given the league shutdown. His track record should get him some attention from other teams, particularly defensively-adept squads that could best benefit from Hughes’ grounder-heavy arsenal.
Cardinals Option Four Players To Triple-A
The Cardinals optioned outfielders Austin Dean and Justin Williams, infielder Edmundo Sosa, and righty Jake Woodford to Triple-A, as per the club’s Twitter feed.
Dean has by far the most MLB experience of the group, appearing in 98 games with the Marlins over the past two seasons. St. Louis acquired Dean in January, though Dean faced a lot of competition for an Opening Day roster spot, given the amount of outfield depth in the Cards’ camp. Dean played mostly as a left fielder in Miami with a few appearances in right field and first base, and he hit .223/.268/.388 with 10 homers over 311 plate appearances.
Williams faced a similar situation as Dean did in facing an uphill battle to win an outfield job, though Williams’ left-handed bat makes him a solid call-up possibility during the season given that Cardinals’ other outfielders are mostly right-handed hitters. A second-round pick for the Diamondbacks in the 2013 draft, Williams was dealt to the Rays in 2014 and then came to St. Louis as part of the return in the Tommy Pham trade package at the July 2018 deadline. Shortly before that deal, Williams received his lone bit of MLB experience to date — a single plate appearance on July 21, 2018.
As noted by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sosa is eligible to be sent down due to a fourth option year, as opposed to the usual three. After the Cardinals cut ties with Yairo Munoz, Sosa stood to benefit from that unusual situation, and he played well in Spring Training in his bid for a utility infield job. While at Triple-A, Sosa will be the “de facto backup” to Cardinals’ starting shortstop Paul DeJong on the big league roster, should DeJong suffer a longer-term injury. Sosa has had only a few more cups of coffee in the big leagues than Williams, as Sosa has appeared a total of 11 games for St. Louis over the last two seasons.
Indians Option Five Players To Triple-A
The Indians announced a batch of minor league options today, as left-handers Logan Allen and Scott Moss, first baseman Bobby Bradley, infielder Yu Chang, and outfielder Daniel Johnson were all optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Johnson and Moss are the only members of the quintet who have yet to reach the big leagues.
Allen is perhaps the headline name of the group, ranked in top-100 prospect listings prior to last season when he was still throwing in the Padres’ farm system. The 22-year-old southpaw was one of the key pieces of the trade package Cleveland acquired from San Diego as part of the three-team deal last summer that also brought Franmil Reyes to the Tribe and sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds (Moss also came to Cleveland in that trade, from Cincinnati).
Allen got his first taste of MLB action in 2019, posting a 6.18 ERA over 27 2/3 combined innings with the Padres and Indians. Small sample size notwithstanding, it was something of a rough year all around for Allen, as he also posted a 5.85 ERA over 80 Triple-A innings last season. Those minor league stats, of course, come with the caveat that Triple-A pitching numbers were inflated across the board in 2019, due in large part to the adoption of the livelier Major League baseball.
There was some speculation that Allen could have begun the 2020 season in the Tribe’s rotation, as Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco were both facing injured list stints for at least the opening couple of weeks. With the schedule now pushed back indefinitely, however, it seems likely that Clevinger and Carrasco will be healthy by the time the 2020 season gets underway, so Allen is now ticketed for Columbus.
Johnson was also seen as a speculative candidate to make the team, given the uncertain nature of Cleveland’s outfield. Johnson hit decently well (.267/.353/.400 over 17 PA) during Spring Training but be sent back to Triple-A for more regular playing time. Acquired from the Nationals as part of the Yan Gomes trade in November 2018, Johnson hit .290/.361/.507 with 19 homers over 547 combined PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season.
Recently Optioned Players Of Note
In case you haven’t noticed, transactions aren’t exactly plentiful since the league shut down Spring Training. There have still been a few batches of moves in the past few days, however, with a trio of Central Division clubs sending some players to their minor league ranks.
- The Brewers optioned corner infielder Ryon Healy to Triple-A, per the MLB.com transactions log. The 28-year-old slugger’s 2019 season with the Mariners came to an end when he underwent August hip surgery, and he opted for free agency in the winter when Seattle removed him from its 40-man roster (as was his right as a player with three-plus years of service time). Healy signed a one-year deal with the Brewers and, assuming he’s healthy, should factor into Milwaukee’s mix at both corner-infield slots and as a right-handed bench bat. He notched a .282/.313/.475 slash through 888 plate appearances with the A’s in his first two big league seasons but never matched that production in Seattle (.236/.280/.423 in 711 plate appearances). Healy was healthy enough to play in 10 spring games, but he went 4-for-23 with a walk and seven strikeouts in 24 trips to the dish, which didn’t exactly help him stand out from a crowded group of infield options. Milwaukee also optioned catcher David Freitas and infielders Mark Mathias and Ronny Rodriguez.
- Catcher Zack Collins was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte by the White Sox. The former No. 10 overall pick out of Miami, Collins is now blocked long-term by Yasmani Grandal at catcher. James McCann‘s presence on the roster eliminates the possibility of Collins serving as a backup, and the organization would surely prefer him to get everyday at-bats rather than toiling away on the bench anyhow. Collins could potentially see some increased reps at first base down the road, particularly if Jose Abreu transitions to more of a DH role in 2021 and beyond. Collins struggled with a .186/.307/.349 slash in 102 MLB plate appearances in his debut last season, also striking out at an alarming 38.2 percent clip. But he ripped Triple-A pitching apart with a .282/.403/.548 slash, 19 home runs and a massive 17 percent walk rate in 367 trips to the plate with Charlotte. Chicago also optioned fellow catcher Yermin Mercedes and right-handed reliever Jose Ruiz to Triple-A.
- The Tigers announced this week that catcher Jake Rogers was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. That move shouldn’t come as a surprise, particularly after Detroit signed longtime Yankees backstop Austin Romine earlier this winter. The Tigers hope that Rogers can be the catcher of the future, but he floundered in 128 big league plate appearances upon debuting last year. Rogers is only 24 and only had 191 career plate appearances in Triple-A when he was summoned to the Majors last year, so there’s still plenty of hope — particularly considering the manner in which he ripped through Double-A competition last year (.302/.429/.535 — 179 wRC+). Tigers general manager Al Avila suggested this winter that Rogers needs some more seasoning in Triple-A, though, so he’ll get that while Romine and Grayson Greiner comprise the catching tandem at the MLB level.
Recent Optional Assignments Of MLB Veterans
We don’t cover option decisions as a matter of course, especially during Spring Training. But … it’s a quiet news stretch when it comes to baseball transactions. And in some cases, we have seen recent decisions on optional assignments that reflect teams’ intentions on their (eventual) Opening Day rosters. After all, players optioned in mid-March were obviously not seen as having a real shot at an active roster spot.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of players optioned over the past week, per the MLB.com transactions page, featuring those with prior big league experience:
- Jaime Barria, Anthony Bemboom, Taylor Cole, Jose Quijada & Kyle Keller (Angels)
- Aaron Barrett, Kyle McGowin & Jake Noll (Nationals)
- Adbert Alzolay, James Norwood & Colin Rea (Cubs)
- Ronald Bolanos & Adrian Morejon (Padres)
- Joe Palumbo & Kolby Allard (Rangers)
- Jose De Leon (Reds)
- Braden Bishop & Nick Margevicius (Mariners)
- Meibrys Viloria (Royals)
- Alex Jackson (Braves)
- Seby Zavala (White Sox)
- Corey Oswalt (Mets)
- John Schreiber (Tigers)