White Sox Outright Four Players
The White Sox announced today that they have outrighted four players. Leaving the 40-man are southpaw Manny Banuelos, outfielder Ryan Cordell, and infielders Ryan Goins and Matt Skole.
The Chicago organization noted that all four players will reach minor-league free agency at the conclusion of the World Series. Accordingly, they’ll soon hit the open market.
Banuelos, 28, made it back to the majors for the first time since his 2014 debut. But he scuffled to a 6.93 ERA in 50 2/3 frames with the White Sox.
Cordell and Skole also received somewhat longer looks in their second seasons of MLB action. The 27-year-old Cordell was given 247 plate appearances but managed only a .221/.290/.355 batting line. Skole posted a meager .208/.275/.236 output over eighty trips to the plate.
Of the group, Goins obviously has far and away the most extensive experience. The gritty, light-hitting infielder actually had something of a career year at the dish, turning in a .250/.333/.347 slash in 163 plate appearances. That translates to a personal-best 86 wRC+.
Angels Outright Five Players
The Angels announced today that they’ve outrighted five players from their 40-man roster, all of whom elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple-A. First baseman Justin Bour, righties Nick Tropeano and Luis Garcia, southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, and two-way player Kaleb Cowart are all now on the open market.
It isn’t terribly surprising to see this handful of players sent packing in advance of an offseason that could be laden with change. The three most experienced names bounced from the roster were all eligible for arbitration. MLBTR projected Bour to earn $2.9MM, Garcia to take home $2.3MM, and Tropeano to cost $1.1MM.
That trio fell shy of expectations in 2019, making the salaries untenable. Signed for lefty power, Bour hit just .172/.259/.364 in a Halos uniform. Garcia managed a 4.35 ERA in 62 innings, but carried a suboptimal combination of 8.3 K/9, 4.8 BB/9, and 1.9 HR/9. And Tropeano struggled both in brief MLB action and at Triple-A.
Del Pozo was acquired in August for a trial run, but surrendered 11 earned runs in his first 9 1/3 frames of MLB action. The 27-year-old had shown enhanced strikeout numbers this year at Triple-A, so could be an interesting target. It’s unclear what’s next for Cowart, who attempted to add pitching to his already versatile set of defensive positions. He walked nearly as many batters as he struck out in 17 appearances in the upper minors, working to a cumulative 10.19 ERA.
Twins Outright Three Players
The Twins have outrighted three players, as Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press was among those to cover on Twitter. Outfielders Ian Miller and Ryan LaMarre join infielder Ronald Torreyes in departing the Minnesota 40-man roster.
Miller is the only one of the three players who won’t have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers, though he’ll qualify for minor-league free agency soon thereafter. The speedy Wagner College product received his first MLB cup of coffee this season with the Twins, but spent most of the season at Triple-A. Over 514 total plate appearances (including his time with the Mariners organization before a mid-season swap), Miller slashed .264/.346/.431 with 35 steals and a career-high 11 home runs.
The 30-year-old LaMarre has seen time in each of the past five MLB seasons, though the former second-round pick only has 246 total plate appearances at the game’s highest level. He carries a tepid .236/.286/.338 batting line in that span. LaMarre was hitting well at Triple-A with the Braves organization before his trade in September, turning in a .311/.380/.477 slash over 455 plate appearances.
As for Torreyes, who has also appeared in each of the past five big-league campaigns, the opportunities were hard to come by in Minnesota. With a few other infield options bypassing him on the roster, he spent most of the year at Triple-A, where he slashed just .256/.289/.406 but did manage a career-high 11 long balls (as did quite a few other players this year in the suddenly offensively charged International League).
Pirates Outright Three Players
The Pirates have outrighted a trio of players, per the International League transactions page. Catcher Steven Baron and infielders Corban Joseph and Jake Elmore were all dropped from the Pittsburgh 40-man roster.
It’s not at all surprising to see this group of names exiting the premises. They’re all reliable hands to have around, but not valuable enough to hold a roster spot through the offseason. Each will have the right to elect free agency, though certainly a return to the Pirates organization can’t be ruled out.
The 28-year-old Baron has enjoyed three cups of coffee in the majors but doesn’t have anything approaching a statistically significant track record at the game’s highest level. The former first-rounder will surely take up another depth spot at Triple-A entering the 2020 campaign.
Joseph received brief time with three big-league clubs last year. He’s a three-year MLB vet but still hasn’t quite cracked the century mark in total plate appearances. Soon to turn 31, he’s a .294/.362/.457 hitter in 1,710 career trips to the dish at the Triple-A level.
Both of those players are on the same general track as the 32-year-old Elmore, who has circled the block a few more times but also will be viewed by the market as a depth option. He has appeared in over two hundred MLB contests over parts of six seasons, slashing a cumulative .215/.292/.275 over 527 plate appearances.
Mike Olt Announces Retirement
Corner infielder Mike Olt has announced on Instagram that his playing career is over. The former first-round pick hangs up his spikes at 31 years of age.
Olt was once considered one of the game’s thirty or so best prospects, but never quite panned out. Eyesight issues likely played a significant role in preventing Olt from reaching his ceiling.
After coming up through the Rangers system, and briefly cracking the bigs in 2012, Olt was shipped to the Cubs as part of the 2013 Matt Garza trade. He ended up taking four hundred MLB plate appearances over three seasons, slashing just .168/.250/.330.
Olt has tried to push his way back into the majors over the past four seasons but failed to gain traction. He appeared briefly in 2019 in the Atlantic League and Mexican League. MLBTR wishes Olt all the best in the future.
Hiroshima Carp Sign DJ Johnson
Oct. 25: The Rockies have formally announced Johnson’s release, and the Hiroshima Carp have correspondingly announced the signing of Johnson to a one-year contract.
Oct. 23: The Rockies have released right-hander DJ Johnson to allow him to pursue an opportunity in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports (Twitter links). It’s not yet known with which NPB club Johnson will sign.
A native of Beaverton, Oregon, Johnson ground his way through parts of eight minor league seasons before ultimately earning a call to the Colorado pen in 2018. A September cup of coffee in ’18 preceded a longer look in 2019, during which the 6’4″ righty logged a 5.04 ERA (4.45 FIP) across 25 innings of relief for the Rockies. Johnson struggled to prevent runs on the whole, and free passes were something of a bugaboo (6.84 BB/9), but he did notch 24 strikeouts in his 25 innings of work (all while featuring one of the 2019 season’s best beards, it should be noted).
In a minor league career that stretched 313 games in the Rays, Diamondbacks, Twins, Angels, and Rockies organizations, Johnson has compiled a 3.81 ERA with 442 strikeouts in 406 innings of work.
Victor Alcantara, John Hicks Elect Free Agency
Right-hander Victor Alcantara and first baseman John Hicks have elected to become free agents rather than accept outright assignments to Triple-A, the Tigers announced. Left-handers Daniel Stumpf and Blaine Hardy also chose to test the open market, as reported earlier today.
Alcantara posted a 4.85 ERA over 42 2/3 innings for Detroit in 2019, with an impressive 53.6% grounder rate that was undermined by a lack of missed bats (5.06 K/9) and a difficulty in keeping the ball in the yard (17.8% HR/FB rate) when he did allow a fly ball. Alcantara’s minor league numbers reveal more strikeouts and more walks allowed than he delivered at the MLB level, though his improved control seems to be resulting in more contact and more mistakes being taken out of the park.
Hicks seemed like an intriguing building block for the Tigers as a player who could at least split time between catching and first base, though while his bat played well for a catcher, a decrease in time behind the plate (Hicks played exclusively at first base in 2019) lessened his effectiveness. Hicks only hit .210/.240/.379 over 333 plate appearances last season, a big step down from his more respectable .262/.317/.416 slash line over 502 PA in 2017-18.
MLBTR’s arbitration projections put Hicks in line for a $1.7MM salary in 2020, which the Tigers will now sidestep. Between the projected costs for Hicks, Stumpf, and Hardy, Detroit’s projected arbitration costs have already dropped by a cumulative $4.3MM.
Blaine Hardy Elects Free Agency
4:21PM: Hardy has indeed officially elected to become a free agent, as per a team announcement.
1:50PM: The Tigers have placed left-hander Blaine Hardy on outright waivers, as per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link). The move all but officially ends Hardy’s tenure in the Motor City, as he will become a free agent if he goes unclaimed on the waiver wire. On his personal Twitter feed, Hardy bid his farewells to the Tigers organization, fans, and the city of Detroit after seven seasons in the fold.
Hardy posted a 4.47 ERA, 2.23 K/BB rate, 48.5% grounder rate and 5.9 K/9 over 44 1/3 relief innings in 2019, just about all the while battling left flexor tendinitis. The elbow issues resulted in a two-week injured list stint early in the season, and then Hardy’s year came to a premature end after he received a platelet-rich plasma injection in mid-August.
The abbreviated campaign was expected to result in a non-tender for Hardy, who was projected to earn $1.8MM via the arbitration process this winter. The early release will give the 32-year-old a bit of an early jump on the rest of the market as he looks for a new contract. While Hardy’s tweet sounded like a pretty definitive end to his time in Detroit, a return (at a lower price) probably shouldn’t be entirely ruled out, given how the rebuilding Tigers will be looking for low-cost pitching answers in both the rotation and bullpen.
Hardy has a 3.73 ERA, 2.25 K/BB rate, and 7.1 K/9 over 289 2/3 career innings, all in a Tigers uniform. He has worked as a reliever in all but 13 of his 233 career games, though all of those starts came in 2018, perhaps making him more attractive to a new team looking to add a swingman or a “featured pitcher” (behind an opener) to its 2020 pitching mix.
Cesar Puello Elects Free Agency
3:15PM: Puello has elected free agency, the Marlins announced.
6:48AM: The Marlins outrighted well-traveled outfielder Cesar Puello to Triple-A New Orleans on Wednesday night, per the Pacific Coast League transactions page. As a player who has been outrighted previously, Puello will have a chance to elect free agency.
Puello, a 28-year-old Dominican, has worked in the Mets, Angels, Rangers, Rays, Diamondbacks, Giants, and Marlins organizations over the course of his twelve-year stateside playing career. Though he’s logged a respectable .290/.372/.431 batting line over the course of 3000-plus minor league at-bats, Puello did not debut in the bigs until 2017. This past season marked his longest exposure to major league pitching. His early-season appearances with the Angels saw him in hot form, with a .350/.500/.683 line in a twelve game sample, before a June trade sent him to the outfielder-needy Marlins. Puello never got it going in Miami, and he wrapped up 2019 with a cumulative .248/.356/.384 slash (104 wRC+) in 147 plate appearances.
Puello was one of thirteen players handed suspensions in 2013 due to their link to the Biogenesis scandal. Then a top-50 prospect with the Mets, Puello was forced to miss 50 games that year owing to his involvement with the Florida clinic accused of providing PEDs to ballplayers.
Tigers Designate Daniel Stumpf
The Tigers have designated left-hander Daniel Stumpf for assignment, The Athletic’s Emily Waldon reports (Twitter link). Stumpf has already cleared waivers, and MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports that Stumpf will opt for free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Tigers’ minor league system.
Originally a Rule 5 Draft pick in 2016, Stumpf posted a 4.37 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 2.13 K/BB over 105 innings out of the Tigers’ bullpen over the last three seasons. Stumpf’s 2019 performance (over 29 IP) came quite close to those numbers, putting him in line for a projected $800K salary for 2020 in his first trip through the arbitration process.
Despite that modest sum, the Tigers will still be moving on to create more room on their 40-man roster, Beck notes. He also observes that the incoming three-batter minimum rule (that will be instituted for the 2020 season) is a notable factor in Stumpf’s future effectiveness, which could be a story we see repeated for a number of specialist pitchers over the course of the offseason. While Stumpf hasn’t exactly been used solely as a lefty-only reliever over his career, he does have some wide career splits — left-handed batters have only a .687 OPS (in 229 PA) against Stumpf, while righty batters have crushed him to the tune of a .952 OPS (264 PA).