Athletics To Select Seth Brown’s Contract
The Athletics are set to select the contract of first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown from Triple-A Las Vegas, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The club already has a full 40-man roster, so it’ll need to make a corresponding move.
The 27-year-old Brown will take the 25-man spot of outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who’s going on the injured list. Brown is now set for his major league debut four years after joining the Athletics as a 19th-round pick in 2015.
Currently in his first year of Triple-A ball, Brown is among many Pacific Coast League hitters who have feasted on opposing pitchers. He has mashed a whopping 37 home runs in 500 plate appearances at the level this year. The lefty-swinging Brown’s power has helped him to a terrific .297/.352/.634 batting line, which is 25 percent better than the league-average output, per FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/26/19
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- Former major league utilityman Ty Kelly retired over the weekend, he humorously announced on Twitter (h/t: Jon Heyman of MLB Network). Kelly ended his career as a member of the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake after signing a minor league contract with the organization last winter. A 13th-round pick of the Orioles in 2009, Kelly ultimately saw major league action with the Mets and Phillies from 2016-18 – a 188-plate appearance span in which he batted .203/.288/.323 and racked up time at first, second, third and all three outfield positions. The 31-year-old wrapped up his Triple-A tenure with a .268/.368/.382 line across 2,353 trips to the plate.
Tigers Sign Matt Wotherspoon To Minors Deal
The Tigers signed right-hander Matt Wotherspoon to a minor league contract, MLB Daily Dish’s Andersen Pickard tweets. Wotherspoon will join the roster at Triple-A Toledo. Detroit originally drafted Wotherspoon as a 20th-round pick back in 2013, though he chose to remain in college for another year, not turning pro until the Yankees took him in the 34th round of the 2014 draft.
The 27-year-old Wotherspoon made his Major League debut earlier this season, tossing 4 2/3 innings over two games with the Orioles without much success, as he posted a 15.43 ERA over his brief taste of the Show. He was also twice outrighted off Baltimore’s 40-man roster before being released by the O’s last week. Over 455 1/3 career innings in the farm systems of the Orioles and Yankees, Wotherspoon has a 3.62 ERA, 9.5 K/9, and 2.93 K/BB rate, though he has struggled to 5.54 ERA over 65 frames at Triple-A Norfolk this season.
A’s To Place Stephen Piscotty On Injured List
The Athletics will place outfielder Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day injured list due to a high ankle sprain, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). Piscotty was seen in the clubhouse prior to Sunday’s game wearing a walking boot on his right foot, MLB.com’s Chris Haft writes.
Piscotty originally suffered the injury back on August 17, after making a slide into second base. He missed one game but then returned to the lineup, as it seemed like the A’s hoped a light schedule (off-days on both Monday and Friday) this week would help Piscotty heal up without an IL stint. However, he’ll now head back to the injured list for the second time this season.
The outfielder has hit .252/.312/.416 with 13 home runs over 389 plate appearances this season. Despite a 41% hard-hit ball rate that ranks as the best of his career, Piscotty hasn’t been able to translate that better contact into more production at the plate, with only a .323 xwOBA (.313 wOBA), 93 wRC+ and 95 OPS+ this season, a marked dropoff from an impressive 124 OPS+/125 wRC+ performance in 2018.
Piscotty also missed all of July recovering from a right knee sprain, which allowed Mark Canha to take the bulk of playing time in Piscotty’s customary right field spot. Canha has taken that ball and run with it, posting a .275/.390/.546 slash line and 22 homers (including the two dingers he hit today in Oakland’s 5-4 loss to the Giants).
It isn’t known how long Piscotty will be out of action, though the A’s are expecting to get another everyday outfielder back within the week as Ramon Laureano is continuing his recovery from a shin fracture. Laureano’s return would move Canha from center field to right field until Piscotty is back, with Robbie Grossman and Chad Pinder holding the fort in left field. Once September 1 hits, of course, the A’s will also have the benefit of some extra depth thanks to the expanded rosters.
Rangers Sign Bayron Lora
One of the biggest names of the 2019-20 international signing class has officially put pen to paper, as 16-year-old Bayron Lora has signed with the Rangers. (Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was among those to report the news.) The contract will be finalized when Lora, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic, passes a physical.
This isn’t a new signing, as word broke back on July 2 that Lora agreed to a deal with Texas. At the time, however, Lora was reportedly going to receive a $4.2MM bonus, and his final number ended up being a bit less, as Lora will now receive $3.9MM. The Rangers entered the July 2 signing period with a total bonus pool of $5,398,300 to spend, and immediately blew by that number on just three prospects. Besides Lara, Texas also signed young shortstops Maximo Acosta ($1.6MM) and Zion Banister ($835K) to hefty bonuses.
Some more cash was needed to finalize these signings, which was the inspiration for the Rangers’ acquisition of Nate Jones from the White Sox at the trade deadline. Texas sent two minor leaguers to Chicago in exchange for Jones, some cash considerations to help address Jones’ contract, and $1MM in international pool money, making it one of the largest trades involving int’l pool funds since the new July 2 rules were established in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Even that extra $1MM didn’t quite cover the initial three outlays, which is likely why Lora’s bonus ended up being $300K less than expected. The $3.9MM figure is still one of the largest bonuses of this year’s international class, befitting Lora’s prospect status. Lora was ranked third amongst all July 2 prospects by MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez and fifth by Fangraphs, with both sites touting the youngster’s power potential. At age 16, Lora is already 6’4″ and over 200 pounds, with what Sanchez described as “excellent bat speed.”
Padres Call Up Austin Allen, Option Eric Yardley
The Padres have announced the promotion of 25-year-old catcher Austin Allen to the active roster. Sidewinding reliever Eric Yardley will be optioned back to Triple-A El Paso after appearing in just two games with the team. This will be Allen’s third stint with the team in 2019–his first year of action in the big leagues.
Allen’s recall should not be seen as having a great impact on the already crowded picture behind the San Diego dish. While Andy Green continues to dole out something of a 60/40 playing time split between Francisco Mejia and Austin Hedges, Allen’s promotion will likely be made in an effort to bolster the team’s tepid bench group. MLB.com beat writer AJ Cassavell points out that the Padres are in “dire need of bench help”–a fairly accurate portrait, considering that manager Andy Green has recently only had Hedges, Wil Myers, and rookie Ty France to turn to in search of late-inning at-bats.
In his previous two call-ups, Allen only managed a .250/.327/.318 line, but his minor league track record bears the markings of a potentially forceful big league bat. Across five seasons and 1998 at-bats in the developmental ranks, Allen owns a .296/.354/.490 batting line–production impressive from a player at any position, let alone a catcher. It remains to be seen how he will be deployed in the field for the team moving forward; Allen does have one appearance at first base this season, but that position is entrenched by the person and contract of one Eric Hosmer.
Yardley was called upon to spin 2.2 innings of work in last night’s 11-0 nothing beating at the hands of the Red Sox, but will be summarily issued back to Triple-A after amassing a 9.00 ERA across three innings this week. His own minor league track record portends a useful arm, as Yardley’s 2.63 ERA in 61.2 Triple-A innings this year is rather impressive considering the PCL confines in which he has been pitching.
Tigers Select Willi Castro
The Tigers have selected the contract of INF Willi Castro from Triple-A Toledo, the team reports.
Castro, 22, was acquired in a Deadline Day deal last season from Cleveland in exchange for Leonys Martin. The team’s 7th ranked prospect, per FanGraphs, was decent (his 112 wRC+ ranked 51st among all players with at least 200 plate appearances in the International League this season) in 525 PAs for Toledo in ’19, slashing .301/.366/.467 as the team’s primary shortstop. MLB.com lauds the prospect’s “soft hands, actions, and arm strength” at the position while noting that the switch-hitter will need to improve on both sides of the ball to become an everyday player.
Castro was called up to replace INF Niko Goodrum, whose most recent groin strain could be a season-ender. In 472 plate appearances for the club this season, Goodrum posted a solid 1.9 fWAR, though his strikeout rate took off on him during summer’s dog days, and the switch-hitter slashed just .215/.296/.393 against right-handed pitchers on the year.
Mets Designate Aaron Altherr For Assignment
The Mets have designated outfielder Aaron Altherr for assignment, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports.
It’ll be the fourth designation this season for Altherr, who was outrighted by New York in June after being cut loose by the Phillies and Giants earlier in the campaign. It’s been a season to forget for the 28-year-old, who’s slashed an ugly .082/.136/.164 (-22 wRC+) in 64 plate appearances. He did show signs of life in a brief stint with Triple-A Syracuse, slashing .274/.384/.565 in 73 plate appearances with the club.
It’s been a rollercoaster career for the longtime Phillie, who’s alternated sturdily productive seasons (2015, 2017) with outright dreadful ones (2016, ’18, and ’19) since his debut late in 2014. Altherr still boasts a mostly even split vs righties and lefties over the course of his big-league tenure, so he’ll mostly need to work on cutting down the strikeouts if he’s to stick as a bench option at the MLB level.
Braves Sign Francisco Cervelli
The Braves have signed catcher Francisco Cervelli to a major-league deal, the team reports.
Cervelli, 33, was granted his release Thursday by Pittsburgh to allow the 12-year-vet to join a contender down the stretch. After reportedly declaring in early July that his big-league backstop tenure, marred by persistent concussive setbacks, had come to its end, Cervelli reversed course, anchoring down on a proposed course that would again find him behind the dish as soon as he was able. He appears, after just six rehab games, to have reached that point.
The longtime Yankee backstop, who came into his own mid-decade with the Buccos after taking the reins from Russell Martin, has slumped to his worst career season in ’19, slashing just .193/.279/.248 in 123 plate appearances. Still, Cervelli’s just a year removed from a 125 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR line in just 404 PAs, so there may yet be some juice left in that tank.
He’ll look to stabilize a wobbly catching situation in Atlanta, where longtime starter Tyler Flowers has slumped miserably in the season’s second half, slashing just .188/.257/.359 in near-full-time duty. Whether or not Cervelli will receive regular time behind the dish isn’t yet clear, but a few more withered Flowers efforts and the Venezuelan could be thrust quickly into the mix.
Brewers Designate Jhoulys Chacin For Assignment, Select Cory Spangenberg
The Brewers have designated Opening Day-starter Jhoulys Chacin for assignment, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports. IF/OF Cory Spangenberg has also been selected from Triple-A San Antonio, per the team.
Chacin, 31, had hit the IL with a lat-strain a week ago after a dreadful 2019 campaign. The righty, who started some of the biggest games for the Central-winning Crew last season, pitched to a 5.79 ERA/5.69 FIP in the final year of a two-year, $15.5MM deal signed prior to the 2018 season. Chacin’s strikeout rate was actually the highest of his career, but his longstanding command woes re-appeared and he was unable to keep the ball in the park, the one trait at which he excelled so masterfully last season.
Chacin’s 3.50 ERA in ’18 was mostly a mirage – his .250 BABIP, the second-lowest mark in the NL, wasn’t going to be sustained, nor was a 0.84 HR/9 in Milwaukee’s puny Miller Park. Once an extreme sinkerballer in his Coors Field days, Chacin in recent seasons has become heavily reliant on a hard-to-identify slider, a pitch NL hitters have finally begun to figure out. The righty’s grounder rate, at 37.4%, was a career low, and he wasn’t able to throw enough strikes to compensate. Chacin’ll certainly be an intriguing buy-low option for many contenders, a number of which may have designs on inserting the hurler into some sort of righty-heavy relief role.
Spangenberg, now 28, had spent all of ’19 at San Antonio. The longtime Padre has posted some of the league’s highest strikeout rates in recent seasons, and doesn’t much appear to have mollified the issue in AAA, with a K rate still hovering near 30%. Still, he possesses an intriguing power/versaility combo off at the bench, and could conceivably fill in at a number of positions for the Crew down the stretch.