White Sox Outright Charlie Tilson
12:24pm: Tilson has elected free agency, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets.
8:11am: White Sox outfielder Charlie Tilson was outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster yesterday, per the transactions log at MLB.com. Tilson has previously been outrighted, so he’ll have the option to declare free agency and see what the market holds for him this winter.
The writing was likely on the wall for Tilson when he didn’t receive a September call-up despite a healthy finish to the season in Triple-A. Tilson appeared in 54 games with the ChiSox in 2019, hitting .229/.293/.285 with a homer and five doubles in 157 plate appearances, but he spent most of the year with Triple-A Charlotte, where he batted .288/.345/.398 in 257 trips to the plate.
At the time of his acquisition from the Cardinals — Chicago traded Zach Duke to St. Louis for him back in 2016 — Tilson was viewed as an elite runner and a potential top-of-the-order. But Tilson tore his hamstring in his MLB debut just days after being acquired by the White Sox and missed the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. He then missed the entire 2017 campaign with a stress reaction in his foot that kept him in a walking boot for a notable portion of the season.
Since that pair of leg injuries, Tilson, who swiped 46 bases as a 22-year-old in Double-A in 2015, has tallied just 20 steals (in 28 attempts) across 223 games between Triple-A and the Majors. And in 278 Major League plate appearances since returning, he’s mustered a tepid .244/.309/.288 slash line. He still drew above-average defensive marks in a tiny sample of work in center field this season, though those same metrics panned his work in right field (again, in a minuscule sample). If and when Tilson does become a free agent, he’ll likely land a minor league deal and compete for a roster spot in Spring Training with a club next season.
Orioles Claim Cole Sulser
The Orioles announced that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Cole Sulser off waivers from the Rays. Baltimore had an opening on its 40-man roster after outrighting fellow righty Chandler Shepherd yesterday.
Sulser, 29, went from the Indians to the Rays in the three-team Edwin Encarnacion/Carlos Santana/Yandy Diaz/Jake Bauers deal last offseason. The former 25th-round pick made his MLB debut with Tampa Bay this season and tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings with just five hits and three walks against nine strikeouts. That was a continuation of a strong season in Triple-A, where Sulser worked 66 innings with a 3.27 ERA, 12.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 31.6 percent ground-ball rate.
Sulser averaged 93.4 mph on his heater in his brief MLB tenure this season, complementing that pitch with an 86.7 mph slider and a much more occasional changeup. He has a decent track record of missing bats in the upper minors despite never getting an opportunity with the Indians. Sulser went unclaimed in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, but he’s managed to elevate his profile in 2019. While he’s too old to be deemed a “prospect,” given that he’ll turn 30 next March, Sulser will have all three minor league option years remaining beyond this season and looks the part of a legitimately intriguing late bloomer. The Rays, who have an extremely crowded 40-man roster, cut him loose over the weekend to get the aforementioned Diaz back on the roster in advance of this week’s AL Wild Card game.
Orioles Outright Chandler Shepherd
The Orioles announced today that righty Chandler Shepherd has been outrighted after clearing waivers. He lost his 40-man spot after starting the final game of a forgettable Baltimore campaign.
Shepherd, 27, saw his first-ever big-league action this year, taking advantage of the O’s urgent need for arms. He ended up throwing 19 innings, allowing 14 earned runs and five long balls but compiling a sturdy 17:6 K/BB ratio.
A former 13th-round draft pick, Shepherd landed with the Baltimore organization when he was exposed to waivers by the Red Sox. He wasn’t any more effective at Triple-A than he was in the majors this year, but did post a 3.89 ERA in 25 starts at the highest level of the minors in 2018.
Mets Activate Dominic Smith From 60-Day IL
The Mets have activated first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith from the 60-day injured list, as per a team announcement (via Twitter). Jeff McNeil will take Smith’s spot on the 60-day IL, as McNeil suffered a fractured wrist in last night’s game.
After a stress reaction in his left foot put Smith out of action back on July 27, he has made it back in time to add a coda onto what has already been a successful 2019 campaign. Smith has hit .278/.352/.506 with 10 homers over 196 plate appearances, with the bulk of that playing time coming against right-handed pitching. While Smith was much more successful (.882 OPS) against righties, he also managed a pretty respectable .281/.343/.406 slash line in his 35 PA against southpaws, which is a promising sign for the 24-year-old’s chances at becoming an everyday player.
Formerly a top-100 prospect, Smith’s first two seasons in the majors saw him hit only .210/.259/.406 over 332 PA. Smith faced criticisms about his conditioning (which he addressed last winter) and, with Pete Alonso on the rise as the Mets’ new first baseman of the future, there was speculation that New York could look to trade Smith since he seemingly didn’t have any other position on the diamond. Instead, Smith saw a lot of time in left field this year, though defensive metrics (-24.1 UZR/150, minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved) weren’t impressed by work.
It isn’t out of the question that Smith could be put on the trade market again, now that he has somewhat revived his stock by showing that he can hit MLB pitching. An American League team that can offer DH at-bats could be a better fit than a National League club like the Mets, plus New York also has a crowded corner outfield situation as it is. That said, Smith is still controlled for the next four seasons and isn’t arbitration-eligible until after 2020, so the Mets could prefer to keep him around as an inexpensive and useful part-timer.
Athletics Reinstate Frankie Montas, Designate Beau Taylor For Assignment
The Athletics announced Wednesday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Frankie Montas from the restricted list now that his 80-game PED suspension has been completed. Oakland had a full 40-man roster, so catcher Beau Taylor was designated for assignment in order to open a spot for Montas’ return. Montas won’t be postseason-eligible because of that suspension, but he’ll take the ball and start tonight’s game against the Angels.
Montas, 26, hasn’t pitched since June 20 after testing positive for the banned substance Ostarine. As with virtually all players who fail a drug test, Montas claimed to have been unaware he’d taken a banned substance, blaming the positive test on a “contaminated supplement” which he “purchased over-the-counter at a nutrition store here in the United States.” Regardless of intent (or lack thereof), he served out the full 80-game ban that first-time offenders face.
It’s not clear what type of workload Montas will be able to handle, although general manager David Forst indicated earlier this month that the A’s have kept Montas stretched out with a series of simulated games. Whatever volume of innings Montas can handle, they’ll all be pivotal at this point; the A’s are in the thick of a three-team AL Wild Card race with the Indians and Rays.
If the A’s get anything close to the form Montas displayed from March until late June, then they’ll be in excellent shape for tonight’s contest. Through 90 innings earlier this season, Montas pitched to a pristine 2.70 ERA with a similarly strong 2.91 FIP and a 3.42 xFIP. He averaged 9.7 strikeouts, 2.1 walks and 0.7 homers per nine innings pitched while keeping the ball on the ground at a healthy 50.8 percent clip.
Of course, skeptics will attribute that apparent breakout to Montas’ failed drug test, and there’ll be nowhere near enough time in 2019 for him to prove that he’s capable of sustaining that level of pace post-suspension. He’ll surely have a place earmarked in Oakland’s 2020 rotation, at which point he’ll strive to continue upon this year’s breakout and distance himself from that suspension as best he can. He’ll presumably be joined by Sean Manaea and Mike Fiers in that regard. Righties Chris Bassitt, Daniel Mengden and Jharel Cotton will compete with top left-handed pitching prospects Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk for the final spots in Oakland’s rotation.
Montas, who’ll turn 27 next March, lost more than half a season’s worth of service time but will still ever-so-narrowly eek out enough service to reach two full years of big league service in 2019. As such, he’s still controlled through the 2023 season and remains on track to be arbitration-eligible following the 2020 campaign.
As for the 29-year-old Taylor, this won’t be the first time he’s been cut loose by the A’s. Oakland outrighted him off the 40-man roster following the 2018 season but re-signed him to a minor league deal, and the Athletics also designated Taylor for assignment earlier this year. He landed with the Blue Jays via a waiver claim but was eventually DFA’ed by Toronto and returned to Oakland on a second waiver claim.
Taylor is 5-for-30 with a pair of homers in a tiny sample of 36 MLB plate appearances. He’s spent parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level and batted a combined .256/.373/.385 there. He’s been about a percentage point below average in terms of caught-stealing rate for his pro career and has drawn average or better pitch-framing grades in the past few seasons.
Blue Jays Select Ryan Dull
The Blue Jays have selected the contract of right-hander Ryan Dull and recalled right-hander Yennsy Diaz for the final few games of the season, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Dull and Diaz will give the Blue Jays some extra arms to serve as reinforcements for a bullpen that has thrown 27 innings across the past three games thanks to a 15-inning marathon Monday and a series of openers being utilized. In order to make room for Dull on the 40-man roster, the Jays put Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 60-day injured list. Gurriel underwent an appendectomy this week and wasn’t expected to return before Sunday’s season finale.
This marks the latest roster move for Dull in a roller coaster couple of months. The veteran righty has bounced from Oakland to San Francisco to New York to Toronto on waivers since the beginning of August and finally cleared waivers within the past week after he was designated by the Jays. Dull didn’t appear in the big leagues with Toronto before being designated for assignment and sent outright off the 40-man roster. He’ll now have a chance to suit up as a Blue Jay and log a few extra days of big league service to close out the year, though he’ll quite likely be removed from the 40-man roster once again when the season concludes.
Angels Claim Kean Wong
The Angels announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed infielder Kean Wong off waivers from the Rays. Wong, the younger brother of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, was designated for assignment over the weekend. The Angels transferred right-hander Griffin Canning from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot for Wong on the roster.
Wong, 24, was the Rays’ fourth-round pick back in the 2013 draft and made his MLB debut earlier this month, going 3-for-14 in a six-game cup of coffee. He spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Durham, where he logged his second consecutive above-average season at the plate. After hitting .282/.345/.406 with nine homers, 23 doubles, three triples and seven steals in 2018, Wong turned in a .307/.375/.464 slash with 10 homers, 29 doubles, six triples and six steals in 2019. Offense was elevated throughout the league in Triple-A this season, but Wong’s output checked in at 16 percent better than league average, as measured by wRC+.
While he’s primarily been a second baseman in his minor league career, Wong has begun to see time at third base and in the outfield — mostly the corners but also 24 innings in center — over the past couple of seasons. Defensive versatility is a hallmark of the Rays organization, and familiarizing himself with multiple spots on the diamond obviously increased Wong’s chances of cracking a deep Rays roster. Now, that versatility will help in affording him more opportunities with a new organization.
Wong ranked 40th in an absolutely stacked Rays farm system heading into the season, per Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. Their scouting report pegs Wong as more of a utility option than an everyday player, but he’ll aim to prove himself capable of handling a prominent role with the club over the next few days and possibly next spring, if he survives the offseason on the Angels’ 40-man roster. The Angels control Tommy La Stella for another season and also have Zack Cozart under contract through the 2020 campaign. But La Stella might not make it back to the field in 2019 after suffering a fractured tibia in early July, and Cozart’s Angels tenure has been absolutely decimated by injuries of his own
Younger options like David Fletcher and Matt Thaiss have seen action at second and third in lieu of those injured veterans, but Wong would add another versatile candidate to the mix for playing time. As somewhat of a bonus, he brings a left-handed bat to an Angels roster where the majority of the team’s regulars hit from the right side. Wong’s contract was selected to the MLB roster for the first time earlier this month, meaning he’ll have all three of his minor league option years remaining beyond the 2019 season.
Diamondbacks To Activate Luke Weaver On Saturday
Diamondbacks right-hander Luke Weaver will return from the injured list Saturday to start in San Diego, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com tweets. Because he’s on the 60-day IL, the D-backs will need to re-add Weaver to their 40-man roster, though they currently have an opening.
Saturday’s outing will be the first since May 26 for Weaver, whom forearm and UCL issues have kept out of action for almost four months. The 26-year-old was outstanding up to that point, as he notched a 3.03 ERA/3.10 FIP with 9.82 K/9 and 2.02 BB/9 over 62 1/3 innings. That was undoubtedly the type of production the Diamondbacks had in mind when they acquired Weaver from the Cardinals last offseason as part of their return for first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
The fact that Weaver’s on his way back this year won’t impact the Diamondbacks’ playoff chances, as the 78-75 club has all but fallen out of contention. But if Weaver can end the season on a healthy note, it would give the team something to hang its hat on going into the winter. Weaver, Zac Gallen (who has thrived since joining Arizona at this year’s trade deadline), Robbie Ray (if the D-backs don’t deal him), Taijuan Walker (who should be back from Tommy John surgery and shoulder issues) and Merrill Kelly ought to give the Snakes’ rotation a solid foundation entering 2020.
Rangers Select Tim Federowicz, Transfer Joey Gallo To 60-Day IL
The Rangers have selected the contract of catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Nashville, the team announced (Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was first to report the move). They transferred slugger Joey Gallo to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man roster room for Federowicz. Gallo, on the IL since July 24 with a fractured right hamate bone, might be done for the season.
The 32-year-old Federowicz joined the Rangers in a June trade with the Indians. He then totaled 79 plate appearances and posted a subpar .169/.224/.366 line with four home runs in Texas before the team booted him from its 40-man roster on the last day of July. Federowicz wasn’t any better as a member of the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, with whom he batted .140/.190/.193 and hit a single homer in 63 attempts, but the well-traveled veteran did put up a playable line with the Indians’ top minor league club prior to the trade (.278/.353/.411, two HRs in 103 PA).
Blue Jays Claim Breyvic Valera, Designate Ryan Dull
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve claimed infielder Breyvic Valera off waivers from the Yankees and, to create room on the 40-man roster, designated right-hander Ryan Dull for assignment. Toronto claimed Dull himself off waivers from the Yankees just two days ago. He’d yet to pitch in a game for the Jays.
The Yankees claimed Valera, 27, off waivers from the Giants back in May. He appeared in a dozen games for New York and hit .219/.324/.313 in a small sample of 37 plate appearances. The well-traveled Valera has appeared with four different big league teams in the past three seasons, having also spent time with the Orioles, Dodgers and Cardinals in addition to his minor league time with the Giants organization. He was one of the five players the Dodgers sent to Baltimore in last summer’s Manny Machado blockbuster, though it was clear even at the time that Valera wasn’t considered a vital piece for that trade, in which outfield prospect Yusniel Diaz was the headliner.
Dull, 29, has bounced from the A’s, to the Giants, to the Yankees and the Blue Jays via waivers in the past six weeks alone. The righty hasn’t had success in the Majors or in Triple-A this season, but he’s only a few seasons removed from looking like a quality bullpen piece in Oakland. While Dull has been tagged for 17 earned runs through just 11 1/3 innings in the big leagues this year and also has a 5.29 ERA across three Triple-A affiliates, he was one of Oakland’s best relievers back in 2016. That year, he tossed 74 1/3 innings of 2.42 ERA ball with nearly a strikeout per frame and just 1.8 BB/9. He’s since been hampered by shoulder and knee problems, but Dull has some MLB success and a minor league option remaining, so he could still land elsewhere via yet another waiver claim. If not, he’ll be able to elect free agency at season’s end.