Giants Select Kyle Barraclough
11:29am: The Giants have announced the move, adding that lefty Andrew Suarez has also been recalled from Triple-A. San Francisco’s 40-man roster is now full.
11:21am: The Giants will select the contract of right-hander Kyle Barraclough prior to today’s game against the Cardinals, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. The veteran right-hander is already with the club in St. Louis, he notes. San Francisco has an open spot on its 40-man roster at the moment, so a 40-man move to accommodate Barraclough’s promotion isn’t a strict necessity.
It’s been less than a month since the Giants claimed Barraclough, 29, off waivers from the Nationals. Barraclough briefly served as the Marlins closer in 2018 and was a steady setup piece in the Miami bullpen from 2015-18, but he had a season to forget following last October’s trade to Washington.
In 25 2/3 innings with the Nats this year, Barraclough turned in a disastrous 6.66 ERA — due largely to the fact that he surrendered as many homers (eight) in that short sample as he did in 55 2/3 innings a year ago. In fact, heading into the 2019 season, Barraclough had only yielded a total of 15 home runs in 218 2/3 innings. Home runs are up throughout the league, of course, but Barraclough’s increase was among the most stark in the game.
With the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, Barraclough was blasted for seven runs in his first two-thirds of an inning. Those continued struggles may have aided the Giants in successfully passing Barraclough through outright waivers, but he’s righted the ship since that alarming system debut. He’s pitched five straight appearances without yielding an earned run, collecting nine strikeouts against three walks across five innings in that time.
Entering the 2019 season, Barraclough had pitched to a 3.21 ERA with 11.5 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 218 2/3 innings at the big league level. If he’s able to continue his recent momentum and convince his new organization that he can a future piece in the ‘pen, the Giants will be able to control him for another two years via arbitration. If he’s ultimately removed from the 40-man roster a second time, he’ll have the requisite service time to elect free agency at season’s end.
Rays Designate Aaron Slegers For Assignment
The Rays announced that they’ve designated right-hander Aaron Slegers for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Cole Sulser, whose previously reported selection to the MLB roster is official.
Sleger, who stands at a towering 6’10”, pitched just three innings for the Rays this season and spent the rest of the year in Triple-A Durham. The former Twins farmhand totaled 112 1/3 innings there, pitching to a 5.05 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1.76 HR/9 and a 41.5 percent ground-ball rate. While those results are unsightly, that’s been the case for the majority of Triple-A pitchers in 2019, as the adoption of the Major League ball has led to an explosion of home runs in the International League and Pacific Coast League alike.
Prior to the 2019 season, the 26-year-old Slegers carried a much more respectable 3.54 ERA through 233 innings at the Triple-A level. Slegers’ strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates in seasons past have been roughly in line with this year’s rates, but he’s never endured anywhere near this level of home run issues in the past. Slegers has a minor league option year remaining beyond 2019, so it’s possible that another club in need of some pitching depth will take a look at the big righty.
Yankees Trade J.P. Feyereisen To Brewers
The Brewers have acquired minor league right-hander J.P. Feyereisen from the Yankees in exchange for minor league infielder Brenny Escanio and international bonus pool space, per announcements from both clubs. Both Feyereisen, 26, and Escanio, 16, were eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that neither has been on a 40-man roster at any point in 2019.
New York originally acquired Feyereisen alongside Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield in the the trade that sent left-hander Andrew Miller to Cleveland back in 2016. The 2014 16th-round pick needs to be added to the 40-man roster this winter, lest he be eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft, and this trade likely signifies that the Yankees didn’t feel they had room to do so.
That’s not for any lack of performance on the part of Feyereisen; to the contrary, in fact, he’s had a terrific season with the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton. Through 61 1/3 innings, the righty has pitched to a 2.49 ERA with 13.8 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 0.88 HR/9 and a 36.7 percent ground-ball rate. That’s Feyereisen’s third tour in Triple-A, but he’s yet to receive a call to the bigs despite owning a collective 3.12 ERA and 195-to-76 K/BB ratio in 164 2/3 frames at that level.
The Yankees have prided themselves on ludicrously deep bullpens in recent seasons, and that depth hasn’t made it any easier for Feyereisen (and other potentially deserving arms) to crack the Major League roster. He’ll have a clearer path to the Majors in Milwaukee, though it’s not clear if the Brewers plan to bring him to the Majors. Even if the Brewers do promote him, the fact that the Feyereisen acquisition didn’t occur until September would render him ineligible for postseason play, should Milwaukee qualify.
The amount of bonus money acquired by the Yankees wasn’t specified, though international allotments must be traded in blocks of at least $250K. The international funds acquired here were the primary get for the Yanks, as Escanio was a relatively low-profile signing just two months ago on July 2 when this year’s international signing period kicked off. The Yankees spent the vast majority of their international pool to sign top outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez, and their lack of additional funds acquired to this point ultimately cost them the opportunity to sign another well-regarded outfield prospect: Jhon Diaz.
While it was reported on July 2 that Diaz had agreed to a roughly $1MM bonus with the Yankees, the organization needed to acquire additional pool allocations in order to make that agreement a reality. Just last week, though, Diaz signed with the Rays for a similar amount. With the Yankees having dedicated roughly $5MM of their $5.398MM pool to Dominguez, today’s deal will help them to further explore the market for remaining talent.
Orioles Activate Mark Trumbo, Designate Tom Eshelman For Assignment
The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve activated designated hitter Mark Trumbo from the 60-day injured list. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, right-hander Tom Eshelman has been designated for assignment.
Trumbo, 33, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since last August due to a knee injury that ultimately required surgical repair. He’s endured a lengthy and grueling rehab in an effort to get back to the field before his three-year, $37.5MM contract expires at season’s end. Trumbo recently acknowledged that his future in the game very much depends on how his knee responds to his return; while the veteran slugger expressed interest in continuing his playing career if he can get back to feeling the way he did a few years ago, the pain in his knee has at least made him contemplate whether he’ll be able to continue beyond the current campaign.
Trumbo was quite good in his first season with the O’s back in 2016, hitting .256/.316/.533 (122 OPS+) with a league-leading 47 home runs in an All-Star showing. That prompted the former Baltimore front-office regime to re-sign Trumbo to the aforementioned three-year pact. The first year of that deal was largely disappointing, though he was in the midst of a solid rebound in 2018 (.261/.313/.452, 109 OPS+) when his knee troubles reached their breaking point.
The 25-year-old Eshelman, meanwhile, was acquired from the Phillies back on June 10 in a deal that sent international bonus allotments to Philadelphia. Eshelman, who was drafted by the Astros when current Orioles GM Mike Elias was Houston’s scouting director, made 10 big league appearances with Baltimore and another seven in Triple-A, though the cumulative results weren’t especially impressive. The 2015 second-rounder logged a 4.70 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9 in 38 1/3 innings with Triple-A Norfolk but was lit up for a 6.50 ERA with a 22-to-11 K/BB ratio and a dozen homers allowed in 36 MLB frames. Fielding-independent metrics weren’t much more optimistic on his results — 7.33 FIP, 5.93 xFIP, 5.54 SIERA — and because post-July trades have been eliminated, Eshelman will now become available to all 29 other clubs on outright waivers.
Rays Select Cole Sulser, Recall Anthony Banda
The Rays are set to select the contract of right-hander Cole Sulser from Triple-A Durham, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). They’ll also call up southpaw Anthony Banda as a September addition to their expanded roster — marking the former top prospect’s first big league action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. Tampa Bay will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Sulser’s promotion.
Sulser will be getting his first call to the big leagues after grinding through parts of seven minor league seasons. The 29-year-old, originally drafted in the 25th round by the Indians back in 2013, joined the Rays organization as part of the three-team offseason deal that sent Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle, Jake Bauers to Cleveland and Yandy Diaz to Tampa Bay.
Given his age, Sulser unsurprisingly isn’t considered to be among the Rays’ top prospects, but he’s nevertheless enjoyed a terrific season in Durham. Through 66 innings, he’s tallied a 3.27 ERA with 12.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.55 HR/9 and a 31.6 percent ground-ball rate. Sulser is no stranger to working multiple innings, as those 66 frames have come across a total of just 49 appearances. He’s “started” four games in Durham this season, though he’s functioned as an opener on each occasion; none of those four appearances lasted more than two innings in length. Sulser will give the Rays some additional depth in the ‘pen and perhaps an option to open a game or two in front of a bulk pitcher such as Ryan Yarbrough, should the Rays feel comfortable with such an alignment.
As for Banda, who recently turned 26, he’s had mixed results since he and his newly repaired ulnar collateral ligament got back on the mound in late June. The lefty began his road back with a series of one- to two-inning stints and has since stretched himself out further. He’s totaled 33 1/3 innings with an ugly 6.09 ERA, but his results have improved over the past month, as well. Banda pitched to a 4.74 ERA with an 18-to-6 K/BB ratio in 19 August innings, and his most recent outing was his longest and arguably most successful: a five-inning effort in which he allowed a pair of runs on four hits and a walk with six punchouts.
Banda’s future with the Rays could very well be in the rotation — or at least in a Yarbrough-esque modified long relief role — but it remains to be seen how the Rays will utilize him down the stretch. They’ll surely keep a watchful eye on his workload, as the former top 100 prospect has the potential to be a significant contributor to their club in 2020 and beyond. At the very least, he’ll be a candidate to make some multi-inning relief appearances in the season’s final month. With a strong enough showing, he could even tempt the Rays into considering him for a postseason roster spot;
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/1/19
Wrapping up minor league moves from around the game…
- The Pirates outrighted Rookie Davis off their 40-man roster, as per John Dreker of Pirates Prospects. The move was made to clear 40-man space for the Bucs’ upcoming September promotions, which Dreker says will take place after Triple-A Indianapolis finishes its season on Monday. Davis will remain at Triple-A, where he has spent most of the season apart from a five-game stint on Pittsburgh’s MLB roster in May and June. Davis has a 5.64 ERA, 1.82 K/BB rate, and 6.8 K/9 over 52 2/3 IP for Indianapolis, though his season has been abbreviated by a 60-day IL stint due to forearm and hand issues. Perhaps best known for being part of the four-prospect package sent from the Yankees to the Reds in the original Aroldis Chapman trade in 2015, Davis has an 8.05 ERA over 34 2/3 Major League innings.
Mets Re-Sign Ruben Tejada
The Mets have re-signed infielder Ruben Tejada to a minor league contract, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Tejada won’t yet be part of the expanded September roster in New York, as he’ll report to Triple-A Syracuse for now.
It was only a brief separation between the two parties, as the Mets just released Tejada earlier this week. He’ll continue to provide backup infield depth at Triple-A, and is probably ticketed back to the big leagues before too long. The 29-year-old has appeared in six games for the Mets this season after signing his initial minors contract back in March. That six-game stint marked Tejada’s Major League appearance since 2017, as he spent 2018 with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate and didn’t receive a call-up, ending a string of eight consecutive years of MLB action.
Tejada was hitless over nine plate appearances in those six Mets games this season, but he has a very strong .330/.408/.476 slash line over 304 PA for Syracuse.
Notable September Callups
We’ll track the flurry of notable callups as roster expand on September 1.
Latest Moves
- The Mets promoted left-hander Daniel Zamora and right-hander Tyler Bashlor from Triple-A, and also selected the contract of second baseman Sam Haggerty. (The club posted a fun video on its Twitter account of the players receiving the news.) A 24th-round pick for Cleveland in the 2015 draft, Haggerty came to the Mets last winter part of the trade that sent Kevin Plawecki to the Indians. Haggerty began the year at low-A ball and worked his way up to the Show after posting a .907 OPS over 49 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Earlier Updates
- The Diamondbacks announced a slew of callups today. Most notably, the club has selected the contract of outfielder Abraham Almonte and recalled right-hander Jon Duplantier. Almonte, 30, has logged time as a reserve each of the past six seasons, to the tune of a career .237/.294/.367 slash (79 wRC+). Duplantier, one of the club’s top pitching prospects, has battled injury issues in recent years but offers a high-upside bullpen piece for the stretch run.
- The Rays‘ September additions include a number of notable players, with Nate Lowe headlining a group of five call-ups. He’ll be joined by Peter Fairbanks and Daniel Robertson, among others.
- The Braves announced they’ve recalled utilityman Johan Camargo. Camargo was optioned after the club signed Adeiny Hechavarría to replace the injured Dansby Swanson at shortstop. Swanson’s back now, and Hechavarría is still on hand, so it’ll be a tough climb for Camargo, who’s mired in a dreadful season. He’s only a year removed from a productive age-24 campaign, though.
- The Padres will select the contract of right-handed reliever David Bednar, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter). The 24 year-old gets a little lost among the Padres’ loaded system, but he boasts a pair of plus offerings in his fastball and curveball, opine Kiley McDaniel and Eric Lognenhagen of Fangraphs. Despite a less-than-stellar reputation for his command, Bednar has dazzled in the Texas League this season, pitching to a 2.95 ERA with elite strikeout (35.8%) and walk (7.5%) numbers.
- The Indians announced today they have selected the contracts of Ryan Flaherty and James Hoyt. They’ve also recalled Eric Haase. Flaherty’s solid Triple-A work this year has earned him his seventh consecutive big league season, where he’ll serve as infield depth for the club down José Ramírez. Hoyt logged 72.2 innings with the Astros from 2016-2018 and offers right-handed bullpen depth, while Haase, 26, is a power-hitting catcher with contact issues.
- The Yankees announced they have selected left-hander Tyler Lyons. The veteran reliever just signed a minor-league contract with the organization a few weeks ago and adds depth to a loaded bullpen. Right-hander David Hale was transferred to the 60-day injured list to clear 40-man space. The Bombers also recalled right-handers Ryan Dull and Chance Adams and outfielder Clint Frazier.
- The Cardinals have selected catcher Joe Hudson, per a team announcement. The 28 year-old got into eight games last year with the Angels. He’s had a tough season offensively with Triple-A Memphis, slashing .223/.293/.411. Outfielder Lane Thomas was transferred to the 60-day injured list with a season-ending wrist injury. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that veteran backstop Matt Wieters is day-to-day with a calf strain, so the club elected to bring Hudson and Andrew Knizner aboard to bolster their catching depth.
- The Brewers announced they have selected the contract of first baseman Tyler Austin. A former Yankee, Twin and Giant, Austin has a strong minor-league track record and brings some right-handed power, but has mustered only a .220/.288/.451 line in 556 career MLB plate appearances thanks to untenable strikeout rates.
- Top Astros prospect Kyle Tucker isn’t up yet, but he will be shortly, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Houston’s additional reinforcements will be announced tomorrow, Rome adds. The 22 year-old corner outfielder has again laid waste to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and has nothing left to prove at the minor-league level, but opportunities have been few and far between in the Astros’ loaded lineup.
- Just-acquired first baseman Ryan McBroom will be selected to the Royals‘ active roster shortly, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. As Flanagan notes, the 27 year-old was likely to be added to the 40-man this offseason to protect him from the Rule V draft regardless, so there’s little harm in giving him his first taste of MLB action in the meantime. The former 15th-rounder has put up strong offensive numbers throughout his minor-league career, culminating in a .315/.402/.574 line in the Triple-A International League this season.
Twins, Marlins Complete Sergio Romo Trade
TODAY: Per Craig Mish of FNTSY Radio, the trade has been finalized with the Marlins sending cash considerations to the Twins. It had been previously reported that Minnesota would receive a player to be named later in addition to Romo and Vallimont.
JULY 27, 8:21pm: Both teams have announced the trade.
7:48pm: Righty Chris Vallimont is the minor league pitcher going to Minnesota, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. They’re also getting a player to be named later, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports.
7:33pm: Romo is indeed going to the Twins, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Twins are also getting a minor league pitcher, Joel Sherman of the New York Post relays. The Marlins will acquire first base prospect Lewin Diaz, according to Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press.
7:28pm: The Twins are “deep into talks” to acquire Marlins reliever Sergio Romo, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. A deal’s likely to be completed.
The 36-year-old Romo served his purpose for the rebuilding Marlins, who signed him for $2.5MM in free agency last winter with the intent of eventually trading him. A former Giant, Dodger and Ray, the three-time world champion continued his effectiveness in Miami, where he notched a 3.58 ERA/3.88 FIP with 7.88 K/9 against 3.11 BB/9 in 37 2/3 innings. Romo also converted 17 of 18 save attempts.
Romo’s velocity maxes out in the mid-80s, making him one of the game’s least imposing hurlers, and he only induces ground balls at a 36.4 percent clip. However, Romo has long shown a penchant for forcing a boatload of infield pop-ups, having done so 14 percent of the time this season, and generating a large amount of soft contact. Romo ranks near the top of the league in hard-hit rate and exit velocity against, according to Statcast, which credits him with an even better expected weighted on-base average against (.276) than the .282 wOBA hitters have mustered off him this year.
Based on his career production and the numbers he has totaled this season, Romo should be a welcome pickup for the Twins, who’ve been in the market for bullpen help for weeks. And his addition shouldn’t preclude them from finding more late-game aid in the coming days. The Twins’ bullpen entered play Saturday ranking better than average in K/BB ratio (ninth) and FIP (11th), but the unit’s closer to middle of the pack in ERA (14th). Moreover, the Twins have jettisoned a handful of notable relievers – Mike Morin, Matt Magill, Adalberto Mejia and Blake Parker – since last week. Those four combined for just over 100 innings of work as part of Minnesota’s relief corps this season. Of their remaining arms, only closer Taylor Rogers and setup man Ryne Harper have recorded easily above-average numbers over a large sample of work.
In Diaz, 22, the Twins are parting with a player they originally signed out of the Dominican Republic for $1.4MM in 2013. Baseball America (subscription required) just ranked Diaz as the Twins’ 10th-best prospect earlier this month. BA lauds Diaz’s defensive ability at first, though it’s worth pointing out he has also excelled on the offensive side in 2019. After opening the season on a tear at the High-A level, Diaz advanced to Double-A for the first time and has since slashed .309/.348/.602 (165 wRC+) with six home runs in 135 plate appearances.
Also 22, Vallimont joined the Marlins as a fifth-round pick just last year. Back then, BA highlighted Vallimont’s fastball – which can hit 96 mph – and “wipeout slider.” More recently, the outlet rated as him as Miami’s 27th overall prospect. Vallimont has produced terrific results this year between the Single-A and High-A levels, where he has combined for a 3.16 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 105 1/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays, Blue Jays Complete Eric Sogard Trade
The Rays and Blue Jays have completed the July 28 trade that sent infielder Eric Sogard to Tampa Bay. Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports that the two players to be named later are minor-league pitchers Curtis Taylor and Edisson Gonzalez, who will both join the Toronto organization and finalize the deal.
Taylor, 24, is a former fourth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2016 draft. He was sent to the Rays in the trade that brought Brad Boxberger to Arizona. In 15 games with the Rays’ Double-A affiliate, he has posted a 3.06 ERA over 17 2/3 innings of work. Across two seasons at Double-A, he has struck out 90 batters in 78 1/3 innings, good for a 2.53 ERA. However, Taylor has not pitched since May after he was shut down with elbow pain. As Scott Mitchell of TSN notes, there’s a possibility that Taylor could undergo Tommy John surgery if he suffers a setback, though there is no indication that’s the case. Otherwise, the right-hander should be available to pitch for the Blue Jays in the spring.
Notably, Taylor is eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft this winter, meaning that he will need to be added to Toronto’s 40-man roster if he is to remain in the organization. It’s likely part of the motivation for the Rays, who have considerable depth and little room to add to the roster, parting ways with Taylor.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, was signed as an international amateur from Panama in 2016. Now 19 years old, Gonzalez has spent his first three professional seasons between rookie ball and Low-A ball toggling between starting and relieving. In 158 2/3 innings as a professional, he’s struck out 187 batters to go with a posted a 2.72 ERA.