Dodgers Designate Zac Rosscup
The Dodgers have designated lefty Zac Rosscup for assignment, per a club announcement. Taking his active roster spot is fellow reliever Casey Sadler. The swap clears a 40-man opening for the Los Angeles org.
Rosscup, 31, has traveled far and wide over the past several seasons. This year alone, he has appeared in the majors with three clubs. While he’s getting loads of swinging strikes, Rosscup is walking batters with alarming frequency (19 in 18 innings).
Sadler was added in a recent swap with the Rays that followed his own DFA. He has only made two appearances with the Dodgers’ top affiliate, allowing four earned runs in six innings but compiling nine strikeouts against one walk in that stretch.
Rays Designate Anthony Bemboom For Assignment
The Rays have reinstated catcher Anthony Bemboom from the 60-day injured list and designated him for assignment, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).
Bemboom, 29, made his MLB debut earlier this season after grinding through seven years in the minors. Unfortunately, in the same game that saw Bemboom collect his first two MLB hits, he also sustained a knee injury that sidelined him for two-plus months. Because he’d been on the 60-day IL, the Rays would’ve had to designate someone else for assignment in order to bring Bemboom back into the mix; instead, they opted to designate Bemboom himself now that he is apparently recovered from injury.
It’s a tough series of events for Bemboom, although if there’s a silver lining, it’s that he received MLB pay and service time while on the injured list. Tampa Bay will have a week to trade Bemboom, a career .250/.341/.381 hitter in Triple-A, or pass him through outright waivers. If he clears waivers, he can be retained without requiring a 40-man roster spot.
Mariners Activate Sam Tuivailala From 60-Day Injured List
The Mariners announced Monday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Sam Tuivailala from the 60-day injured list, thus filling one of the two vacancies on their 40-man roster. Tuivailala will join the MLB bullpen as righties Parker Markel and David McKay are optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, per the club. An additional move to fill the 25th spot on the active roster will be announced tomorrow when the M’s return from today’s off day.
It was less than a year ago that the Cardinals traded Tuivailala to Seattle in exchange for minor league righty Seth Elledge as part of a dramatic midseason roster shakeup. The Mariners were surely pleased to acquire four and a half seasons of a reliever who appeared to have established himself as a solid middle reliever, but Tuivailala suffered a torn Achilles tendon just weeks after being traded and hasn’t pitched in the Majors since.
The now-26-year-old Tuivailala allowed just one run in 5 1/3 innings with Seattle prior to his injury. In 79 1/3 innings from 2017-18, the 2010 third-round pick worked to a 2.95 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.8 HR/9 and a 49 percet ground-ball rate. For a team with baseball’s fourth-worst ERA (5.06), the return of a potential long-term option like Tuivailala will be a welcome sight.
Tigers Select Trevor Rosenthal
The Tigers announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Trevor Rosenthal from Triple-A Toledo. The former Cardinals closer signed a minor league pact with Detroit after being released by the Nationals in late June. Detroit’s 40-man roster is now full.
Rosenthal, 29, slogged through a catastrophic few months in the Nationals organization prior to being cut loose. In his return to the Majors following Tommy John surgery in late 2017, he turned in a stunning 22.74 ERA with nearly as many walks issued (15) as outs recorded (19). Rosenthal allowed 16 runs on eight hits and those 15 walks in just 6 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out five batters but also hit three and lost the handle on five wild pitches.
While one would think that Rosenthal’s promotion to the big leagues is a sign that his bout with the yips has improved, that curiously doesn’t appear to be the case. In 5 1/3 innings with Detroit’s affiliate in Toledo, he’s allowed six runs on eight hits and six walks. Rosenthal has punched out nine hitters, which is a mildly encouraging development, but he’s also plunked another hitter and thrown yet another wild pitch.
In spite of those ugly results, he’ll get another look in the Majors as he hopes to salvage his season before another offseason trip through free agency. For the Tigers, it’s a free look at a once-dominant reliever, but given the team’s rebuild and the extent of Rosenthal’s struggles, it seems likely that he’ll be on a short leash. If there’s no indication of legitimate improvement, there’s little reason for the Tigers to give those innings to someone who likely won’t be with the organization in 2020.
Red Sox Designate Eduardo Nunez For Assignment
The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve designated infielder Eduardo Nunez for assignment and optioned right-hander Hector Velazquez to Triple-A Pawtucket. In a pair of corresponding moves, right-hander Ryan Weber and first baseman/outfielder Sam Travis were called up from Triple-A.
Now 32 years of age, Nunez proved to be an excellent pickup for Boston when the Sox acquired him from the Giants prior to the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline. He gave the lineup a strong jolt that season, hitting .321/.353/.539 through 173 plate appearances down the stretch before his season came to a close with an ALDS knee injury that saw him helped off the field. Nunez re-signed with the Sox for a two-year guarantee, the second season of which was a player option, and simply has not been the same player.
In 676 plate appearances for the Sox over the past two seasons, Nunez has scuffled to a dismal .255/.277/.366 batting line with a dozen homers and steals apiece. His struggles and Dustin Pedroia‘s career-altering knee injury prompted the Red Sox to also trade for Ian Kinsler last summer in a move that now looks quite lopsided. Boston won last year’s World Series, so the end result of all their moves was as good as can be hoped, of course; but Kinsler didn’t hit much with Boston, and the Sox would surely like to have righty Ty Buttrey in their bullpen this season following his breakout with the Halos.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Nunez, pass him through outright waivers or release him. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and retain his salary even in the event that he clears waivers, so this seems likely to spell the end of his time with the organization. Nunez is still owed about $2.07MM of this season’s $5MM salary, making it a near certainty that he won’t be claimed. In all likelihood, he’ll soon become a free agent and be granted the ability to explore opportunities with other clubs.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/15/19
We’ll kick off the week with a handful of minor moves from around the league…
- The Mets have released right-handed reliever Arquimedes Caminero from their Triple-A affiliate, as first noted on the International League transactions log. The flamethrowing 32-year-old generated solid results with the Pirates in 2015-16 before signing on to pitch with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants in 2017-18. His return to the U.S. didn’t go smoothly, however, as he’s posted a 5.09 ERA in 17 2/3 with the Mets’ top affiliate in Syracuse. Caminero logged 15 strikeouts but also surrendered 10 free passes, continuing to display some of the control issues that plagued him during his last MLB run. In 155 big league frames, Caminero has a 3.83 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9 and a fastball that has averaged 97.6 mph.
- Left-hander Zac Curtis has been released by the Rangers, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions log. Curtis, who just turned 27, went from the D-backs to the Mariner as a lower-profile piece in the Mitch Haniger/Jean Segura for Ketel Marte/Taijuan Walker swap. He’s bounced to the Phillies and the Rangers since that swap, appearing in the big leagues with each team along the way. Curtis re-signed with Texas after being outrighted this past winter, but he’s had a nightmare season in the hitter-friendly PCL. Despite racking up 40 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings, Curtis has been hammered for an 8.90 ERA due to 25 free passes, four hit batters and a whopping 10 home runs allowed. Prior to this season, Curtis had a solid Triple-A track record, although he’d also issued 35 walks in 38 MLB innings, so the alarming control issues aren’t exactly an out-of-the-blue development.
Athletics Acquire Homer Bailey
The Oakland Athletics have closed on a deal to acquire Kansas City’s Homer Bailey, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter) that a trade was imminent. The Royals will receive minor-league infielder Kevin Merrell in return, according to an official Athletics release.
Bailey, 33, will go down as another bargain-bin acquisition for the playoff-hungry Athletics, who sit six games behind the first-place Astros, but currently slot in as the second Wild-Card team in the American League. Much like last season, when the team won 97 games and landed in the Wild Card game, the Athletics will hunt for affordable pitching help (which came in the form of Mike Fiers in 2018) to boost the club to back-to-back postseason berths. Rarely a team to make splash acquisitions, the A’s will likely remain on the periphery of the discussions surrounding marquee starters like Noah Syndergaard and Trevor Bauer. Of course, that doesn’t mean that value can’t be found elsewhere on the trade market.
Evidently, David Forst, Billy Beane and company believe that Bailey represents such a value. With the Dodgers, who acquired and immediately released Bailey in a December blockbuster with the Reds, paying the remainder of his hefty salary, the Royals snagged the veteran on a minor-league deal, meaning that the Athletics will only owe about $250K to Bailey.
Though he was maligned last season for his 1-14 record, Homer Bailey has shown some encouraging signs this year, and has posted his lowest ERA since 2014. He’s striking out 8.1 batters per nine innings, and home runs have come less often than last season. This isn’t an acquisition that can transform a pitching staff overnight, but Bailey will step in as a low-cost veteran who could pay dividends in the stretch run.
It’s been pitching that has concerned the Athletics all season, and many anticipated the team pursuing upgrades on the mound this summer. With a myriad of injuries preventing promising southpaws Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo, and A.J. Puk from contributing thus far, Oakland has had to patch together a makeshift rotation to carry them through the first half. Not to mention breakout star Frankie Montas, who won’t be eligible for postseason play after a PED suspension. And while the staff hasn’t plummeted to the bottom of the league—Mike Fiers, Brett Anderson, and Chris Bassitt have held their own—it’s hard to put much confidence in that group winning a playoff series, especially against the juggernauts of the American League.
Expect more to come from Oakland this trade season, especially on the pitching front. The front office, though garnering a reputation as frugal, can be aggressive when it senses a window for contention, and the club is in a good spot. Other veteran starters may still be in play, but it seems that with Bailey in the fold, the team’s focus will shift to the bullpen. The existing group has a solid track record between Liam Hendriks, Blake Treinen, and Lou Trivino, though consistency has been lacking in that department this season.
As for Kansas City, it seems unlikely that this is the last we’ll hear from Dayton Moore and the front office this July. The 32-61 Royals have been rumored to be open to trades involving just about anybody on the roster, with a few exceptions. Adalberto Mondesi and Hunter Dozier appear to be two cornerstones that the franchise is intent on keeping around, though a steep asking price for Whit Merrifield might make it difficult to pry him away from KC. Alex Gordon, meanwhile, may have redeemed some of his value with a renaissance season, but the veteran seems keen on playing out his career with the Royals, the franchise that drafted him.
That said, there are a number of Royals who could find themselves in different uniforms by the time the calendar turns to August, with Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jake Diekman, and Jorge Soler perhaps the most realistic trade candidates. Diekman has apparently already attracted some interest from the Nationals, and other contending clubs could be drawn to Kennedy’s resurgence as a high-leverage reliever. Of course, in the cases of Kennedy and Duffy, the Royals would likely have to eat considerable portions of their remaining contracts to facilitate a trade.
Kevin Merrell, who heads to Kansas City in this swap, was a 2017 draft selection of the Athletics in Competitive Balance Round A. Ranked by MLB.com as the Athletics’ 17th-best prospect, Merrell is touted for his speed on the bases, with questions surrounding his bat. In general, his profile keeps with the Royals’ trend of acquiring speedy athletes, and Merrell, 23, has the potential to grow into a multi-positional depth role with Kansas City. With a crop of impressive young position players and an influx of college pitchers from the 2018 draft, the team may find its way out of the rebuilding phase quicker than anticipated.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/14/19
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- Former major league first baseman/outfielder Mike Carp is attempting a comeback with the New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. This is the first mention of Carp on MLBTR’s pages since the Orioles released him in April 2016. The 33-year-old hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2014 or at the Triple-A level since 2015. A former Mariner, Red Sox and Ranger, Carp combined for a .254/.330/.414 line with 27 home runs in exactly 1,000 MLB plate appearances from 2009-14. During his best season, 2013, Carp slashed .296/.362/.523 (138 wRC+) with nine homers and 1.4 fWAR across 243 PA as a member of a World Series-winning Boston team.
Leonys Martin Signs With Chiba Lotte Marines
Outfielder Leonys Martin has signed a one-year deal with Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines, according to the Associated Press. Martin became a free agent June 29, a week after the Indians designated him for assignment.
Trekking to Asia continues a frenetic 12 months for the 31-year-old Martin. The Indians acquired Martin from Detroit at last July’s trade deadline, only to see his season end in mid-August because of a life-threatening bacterial infection. Martin overcame the illness to return to Cleveland on a $3MM salary, spending the first few months of 2019 as its primary center fielder. However, the Tribe cut the cord on Martin after an unproductive start. As part of an Indians outfield that has struggled in general this season, Martin hit a meager .199/.276/.343 (61 wRC+) with nine home runs, four steals in nine attempts and minus-0.5 fWAR across 264 plate appearances.
Although Martin’s 2019 with the Tribe went poorly, he was a 2.5-fWAR player just a year ago. It was the fourth year with at least 2.0 fWAR for the defensively adept Martin dating back to his first full season, 2013, with the Rangers. Martin has also stolen between 24 and 36 bases in four seasons, but he combined for just 11 steals during his truncated 2018-19 campaigns. He’ll take a lifetime .244/.301/.367 line (81 wRC+) with 58 homers and 126 steals in 2,792 MLB attempts overseas, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see Martin back in the majors eventually.
Red Sox Acquire Andrew Cashner
7:35pm: The Orioles are picking up exactly $1.78MM, per Rosenthal. They’ll also cover “most” of the performance bonuses Cashner could earn, according to Sean McAdam of BostonSportsJournal.com.
5:30pm: Baltimore will pay approximately half of the ~$3.36MM in guarantees left on Cashner’s deal, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The Orioles also owe Cashner $1.5MM in signing bonus money in both 2020 and ’21.
4:32pm: The Red Sox have acquired righty Andrew Cashner and cash considerations for prospects Elio Prado and Noelberth Romero, the Orioles have reported.
Cashner, 32, was famously swapped straight-up for Anthony Rizzo in a 2011 trade between the Cubs and Padres. After a breakout 2013 campaign, in which the hard-throwing righty posted a 3.09 ERA/3.35 FIP (2.6 fWAR) in 26 starts, it’s been mostly unfulfilled promise for the former first-rounder. The TCU product was smashed in the first season of a two-year, $16MM deal he signed with Baltimore prior to the 2018 campaign, with a near-league-low 5.82 K/9 against 3.82 BB/9 en route to a 0.6 fWAR season in 28 starts.
He’s been better this year, though his K rate remains among the league’s lowest and peripheral markers (4.25 FIP, 4.88 xFIP) are non-believers in the sustainability of his 3.83 ERA. Cashner’s average fastball velocity, once an eye-popping 98.8 MPH in predominant relief for the 2012 Padres, now sits at a barely-above-league average 94.0. He’s mostly scrapped the bread-and-butter sinker he featured so prominently from 2013-18, overhauling his repertoire back to the four-seam/changeup/slider mix with which he began his career. Returns have been positive: his 8.7% swinging-strike rate is his highest since transitioning full-time to a big-league rotation, and his chase rate’s bettered the standard he established from 2016-18. Cashner’s grounder-heavy repertoire should play well in Fenway Park, with any opposite-side power somewhat neutralized by the ballpark’s spacious right-field dimensions.
Our own Steve Adams offered ample justification for transitioning the righty back to a late-inning role, but it appears such a move won’t be in the short-term cards for the Bo Sox. Cashner will apparently start Tuesday’s game for Boston, with GM Dave Dombrowski noting that the move eases the undue stress the club’s bullpen has endured thus far. Cashner’s two-year deal includes a $10MM vesting option for 2020 should the righty eclipse the 187 inning mark this year, a fact of which his acquiring club is surely aware.
Boston’s rotation has been solid this season, though it’s true that the fifth spot has been a sore one. Hector Velazquez, Brian Johnson, Ryan Weber, Josh A. Smith and Darwinzon Hernandez have each tried their hands, to less-than-stellar results, and the club had no clear fill-in at the minors’ upper levels. Nathan Eovaldi is set to return soon, but the team expects to plug him straight in to its beleaguered closer’s role.
Both Prado and Romero, 17, will transition from the Red Sox Dominican Summer League affiliate to that of the Orioles. Neither are big-time bonus babies, and reports are scarce, but Orioles GM Mike Elias does have ample experience scouting in Latin America from his time with the Cardinals and Astros organizations.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.