Astros To Release Reymin Guduan
Sept. 7: Guduan has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent.
Sept. 5: Guduan has been placed on release waivers, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets. He’ll become a free agent if he goes unclaimed.
Sept. 3: The Astros have designated lefty Reymin Guduan for assignment. He had been on the restricted list owing to a team-issued suspension.
Details of the Guduan disciplinary situation aren’t known, but it’s obvious the relationship between him and the team has soured. The 27-year-old was suspended for the remainder of the minor-league season, which just ended, but the team decided to drop him from the 40-man rather than reinstating him and perhaps adding him back to the active roster.
Beyond those off-field issues, the results haven’t been there to this point of Guduan’s career. Despite big velocity and some swing-and-miss potential, he’s allowing nearly an earned run per inning over his 24 2/3 MLB frames. Guduan has had wavering command issues at times in the minors, with outcomes varying quite a bit from season to season. Still, there’s obviously talent there; it wouldn’t be especially surprising to see another organization place a claim.
Indians Activate Jefry Rodriguez, Transfer Danny Salazar To 60-Day IL
The Indians announced Friday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Jefry Rodriguez from the 60-day injured list. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Cleveland has transferred fellow right-hander Danny Salazar from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL.
The move puts an end to Salazar’s 2019 regular season after just one appearance, although that already looked to be the case after Salazar asked the club for some time away from the organization after exiting his latest rehab appearance early (link via MLB.com’s Mandy Bell). Salazar, who has been sidelined since Aug. 2 due to a groin strain, missed the 2018 season and much of the 2019 campaign following shoulder surgery. His future with the organization is clearly up in the air following the latest sequence of events.
Salazar, 29, always looked to have front-of-the-rotation potential based on an electric arsenal and his typically gaudy strikeout rates, but he’s only been healthy enough to make 30 starts once in the past six seasons. The 2016 All-Star posted a 3.82 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 587 1/3 innings from 2013-17 but has been rendered an afterthought in the wake of his recent shoulder woes. The Indians paid Salazar a $5MM salary in 2018 and tendered him a contract at $4.5MM for the 2019 season due to the upside he possesses, but the organization will ultimately receive just four innings of work in return for that $9.5MM investment. Salazar is arbitration-eligible again this offseason, but he’s a surefire non-tender candidate at this point.
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Rodriguez will return to the Indians after some shoulder troubles of his own. Acquired in the offseason swap that sent catcher Yan Gomes to Washington, Rodriguez started eight games for Cleveland earlier this season and worked to a 4.74 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.03 HR/9 and a 49.3 percent ground-ball rate.
Rodriguez topped out at 3 2/3 innings in his minor league rehab stint, so he’s not fully stretched back out just yet. He could function as a long reliever or perhaps make a start with the understanding that his workload would be limited, should the need arise. Cleveland has club control over the righty through the 2024 season.
Outrighted: Castillo, Hart
These are the latest players to be outrighted after being designated for assignment …
- Marlins catcher Wilkin Castillo is headed back to the Triple-A roster after being outrighted, per the PCL transactions page. The 35-year-old had returned to the majors this season for the first time since 2009, though he only appeared in two contests. An exceptionally versatile player, Castillo has spent most of his professional career behind the dish but has also lined up at every other position on the field. (Only barely. Though he has five pitching appearances, Castillo has logged just one inning in center field.)
- The Mets outrighted southpaw Donnie Hart to their top affiliate after he cleared waivers, the International League transactions page reflects. Hart, who turns 29 tomorrow, has spent time this year with the Mets and Brewers. He previously appeared in parts of three seasons with the Orioles. While Hart carries a 3.13 ERA in 89 career MLB innings, that relies heavily upon his unsustainable debut showing (one earned run in 18 1/3 innings in 2016). Though he hasn’t been much of a strikeout pitcher in the big leagues, the soft-tossing lefty does have a career 54.1% groundball rate.
Neil Ramirez Elects Free Agency
Righty Neil Ramirez has elected free agency from the Blue Jays, according to the International League transactions page. He had been outrighted by the Toronto organization but had the right to decline the assignment.
It remains to be seen whether Ramirez will draw any interest on the open market. With less than a month left in the regular season and the minor leagues already engaged in playoff battles, there isn’t a ton of room for opportunity.
Still, it’s possible that some team will find a need for an experienced reliever and decide to give a run to the 30-year-old. He certainly wasn’t in top form this year, working to a 5.40 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 — along with an unhealthy 2.5 homers per nine — in 25 total MLB innings. But Ramirez did punch out 51 batters on strikes in 41 2/3 frames last year and has sported a hefty 13.8 K/9 strikeout rate in minor-league action in 2019.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/5/19
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Orioles announced that infielder Jace Peterson and right-hander Tom Eshelman have been outrighted to Triple-A. Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week. Peterson had the ability to reject the assignment and become a free agent, though he opted to remain in the organization. Peterson hit .220/.269/.330 over 108 plate appearances for the O’s this season, while Eshelman debuted in the big leagues for the first time, posting a 6.50 ERA over 36 innings (10 games, four of them starts).
Braves Activate Darren O’Day
The Braves have activated right-hander Darren O’Day from the 60-day injured list. The team created a 40-man roster spot by recalling catcher Alex Jackson from Triple-A and then placing Jackson the 60-day IL himself, ending his 2019 season. Outfielder Adam Duvall was also called up from Triple-A.
O’Day is in position to make his first appearance in a Braves uniform, and his first MLB appearance of any kind since June 26 when the veteran reliever was still a member of the Orioles bullpen. O’Day underwent hamstring surgery a few days after that last outing, but was still dealt to Atlanta as part of a six-player deal at the 2018 trade deadline, as O’Day’s inclusion was largely just a salary dump on Baltimore’s part. After suffering forearm problems in Spring Training, however, O’Day has missed all of the 2019 season, and only returned to minor league action on August 23 for the first of four rehab outings.
One of the game’s most underrated relievers from 2012-15, O’Day’s numbers took a step back from outstanding in those four seasons to merely solid over the next three. While he still delivered a 3.56 ERA, 3.44 K/BB rate, and 11/4 K/9 over 111 1/3 IP for the Orioles in 2016-18, O’Day was also plagued by the long ball, as his HR/9 spiked to a 1.4 average over those three seasons. It doesn’t necessarily auger well for a pitcher entering the homer-crazy 2019 baseball season, especially one coming back after over a year’s absence.
Since the Braves do have a healthy seven-game lead in the NL East, however, the team has the flexibility to work O’Day back into the mix in low-pressure situations. If he reveals any of his old form, he could even be a darkhorse contender to earn a spot on Atlanta’s postseason roster. The Braves’ bullpen has been something of a question mark for much of the season, though the trade deadline additions of Shane Greene and Mark Melancon have helped stabilize matters (after some initial bumps). If nothing else, O’Day is hoping for a strong finish to give him some kind of jumping-off point as he enters the free agent market this winter.
Rays To Promote Kean Wong
1:39PM: The Rays have officially called up Wong, and moved left-hander Jose Alvarado to the 60-day injured list to create roster move.
8:35AM: The Rays will call up utilityman Kean Wong, The Athletic’s Josh Tolentino reports (Twitter link). Wong — the younger brother of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong — isn’t on the 40-man roster, so the Rays will have to make another move prior before the 24-year-old prospect’s contract is officially selected.
It will mark the Major League debut for Wong, who was a fourth-round pick for Tampa Bay in the 2013 draft. Originally selected as a second baseman, Wong also began to see some time as a third baseman, and then over the last two seasons has expanded his defensive repertoire to include shortstop and all three outfield positions.
This type of versatility will have Wong fit right into a Rays lineup that values multi-positional ability. Wong is also a left-handed hitter, giving a bit more balance amongst the middle infield options. Wong, Eric Sogard, and Joey Wendle all hit from the left side, while Matt Duffy, Daniel Robertson, and everyday shortstop Willy Adames are all right-handed bats.
MLB.com doesn’t rank Wong within the top 30 prospects in the deep Tampa farm system, though he punched his ticket to the big leagues with a breakout season at the plate. Wong hit .307/.375/.464 with 10 homers over 506 plate appearances for Triple-A Durham this season. The power surge is of particular note, as Wong’s previous high in slugging percentage was a .406 mark in 2018.
While Wong is far from the only Triple-A player to suddenly start mashing in 2019, it provides some evidence that he’ll be able to hit MLB pitching, which was the biggest question mark facing Wong’s prospect status. Even counting his big 2019 numbers, he still has an overall modest .287/.342/.383 slash line over 3052 career PA in the minors.
Phillies Release Drew Anderson
The Phillies announced today that they have released right-hander Drew Anderson after he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment recently.
Anderson, a 25th-round pick in 2012, has had success at times as a starter in the upper minors. But he has struggled in limited MLB action, coughing up 18 earned runs on 29 hits in 21 total frames.
It has been a rough overall campaign for Anderson, who has been sidelined since late June and was ineffective before that. Over 11 starts at the Triple-A level, he managed only a 5.77 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9.
Giants Promote Jaylin Davis
The Giants announced today that they have selected the contract of outfielder Jaylin Davis. He’ll take the 40-man roster spot of reliever Reyes Moronta, who was placed on the 60-day injured list.
Davis came to the San Francisco organization as part of the deadline deal that sent reliever Sam Dyson to the Twins. The former 25th-rounder was putting up big numbers in the upper minors at the time of the swap but was obviously deemed expendable by the Minnesota organization.
Since changing jerseys, Davis has continued to rake. Over the course of the year, he has posted well-above-average numbers at each stop: a 147 wRC+ at Double-A, 175 wRC+ in the International League, and 160 wRC+ in the Pacific Coast League.
It remains to be seen whether Davis will be able to apply his power consistently enough at the major-league level. But it’ll certainly be fun to see whether he can do so. We’ve seen other under-the-radar slugger types carry forward big upper-minors production into the bigs. If that’s the case for Davis, the Giants could have a steal. He’d have required a 40-man spot in advance of this winter’s Rule 5 draft regardless of today’s move, so there was little reason not to give him his first look now.
Yankees Release David Hernandez
The Yankees have released veteran right-hander David Hernandez, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Scranton (h/t: Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune, on Twitter).
The 34-year-old Hernandez had signed with New York on a minor league pact back on Aug. 15 after a disastrous season with the Reds, but he didn’t fare much better in his brief time with his new organization. Playing out the second season of a two-year, $5MM contract signed with the Reds in the 2017-18 offseason, Hernandez turned in a ghastly 8.02 ERA in 42 2/3 innings with Cincinnati. While he averaged a hefty 11.2 punchouts per nine innings pitched, the well-traveled righty also averaged 4.2 walks and 1.48 homers per nine frames.
More than anything, Hernandez appeared to be plagued by a gaudy .393 average on balls in play and a 54.5 percent strand rate that checked in more than 20 percent worse than his career rate. The Yankees took a no-risk flier on both of those numbers being aberrations, but Hernandez was tagged for six earned runs on five hits and eight walks through just seven innings in Scranton. He did tally 11 strikeouts, but the Yankees didn’t see enough to bring him north as a September call-up (as they did with veterans Ryan Dull and Tyler Lyons).
The release could mark the end of the season for Hernandez, although his track record should generate offseason interest. The right-hander put together terrific results just a year ago in Cincinnati when he notched a 2.53 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 0.84 HR/9 over the life of 64 innings. He missed the 2014 season due to injury but has otherwise averaged 63 appearances per season with a 3.39 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 dating back to 2011.
Hernandez hasn’t lost any zip on his fastball from recent seasons — to the contrary, his 93.6 mph average is actually up from last year’s 93.0 mph mark — and his ability to induce whiffs is as strong as ever. This year’s 14.7 percent swinging-strike rate and 35.3 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone are career-highs, in fact. Hernandez has above-average spin on his fastball, and the .065-point gap between his actual opponents’ wOBA (.380) and expected wOBA (.315), per Statcast, is the ninth-largest in the league among pitchers who’ve faced at least 100 hitters. Overall, he looks like a solid bounceback candidate, though this season’s struggles could force him to settle for a minor league contract this winter.