Minor MLB Transactions: 7/11/19
The latest minor moves from around the game…
Most Recent
- The Orioles‘ Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk announced several roster moves today, including the news that right-hander Matt Wotherspoon was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. Wotherspoon was designated for assignment last week, and this marks the second time this season that the O’s outrighted him off their 40-man roster. Now in his sixth pro season, Wotherspoon made his Major League debut earlier this year, getting hit hard for eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings for Baltimore.
Earlier Today
- Brewers right-hander Deolis Guerra cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A San Antonio, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Guerra made just one appearance with the Brewers after having his contract selected, wherein he was hammered for four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Ugly as that outing was, Guerra has been excellent in an extraordinarily hitter-friendly Triple-A environment in 2019: 2.61 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1.09 HR/9 in 41 1/3 innings of relief. It seems the well-traveled Guerra will remain in the organization as a depth piece; he had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but there’s no indication he plans to do so.
- Lost in the All-Star shuffle on Tuesday was the Indians‘ announcement that righty Chih-Wei Hu cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Columbus. Hu, 25, was originally signed by the Twins as an amateur free agent out of Taiwan but was traded to the Rays in 2015 (for Kevin Jepsen) and then to the Indians this past offseason (for minor leaguer Gionti Turner). Hu pitched 23 innings of 3.52 ERA ball with a 21-to-7 K/BB ratio for Tampa Bay in 2017-18, but he’s been rocked for a 7.95 ERA while allowing 2.96 HR/9 in 48 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year. Hu had a 4.06 ERA and solid K/BB numbers in parts of four prior seasons of Triple-A ball prior to 2019, and he’ll strive to get back to that level of performance while no longer occupying a 40-man roster spot.
Brewers Sign Shelby Miller To Minors Deal
The Brewers have signed right-hander Shelby Miller to a minor league contract, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).
After being released by the Rangers last week, Miller will now return to the National League as he tries to once again revive his career. Miller posted an 8.59 ERA over 44 innings for Texas, recording almost as many walks (29) as strikeouts (30), and eventually losing his rotation job due to his inability to his ongoing struggles.
The 44 innings represents the most Miller has pitched in the last two seasons, as Tommy John surgery and a separate set of elbow problems limited the right-hander to just 38 innings total in 2017-18. Before those two injury-ravaged seasons and his poor 2016 debut year with the Diamondbacks, Miller was considered one of the more promising young arms in baseball, coming off three impressive years with the Braves and Cardinals from 2013-15.
Miller is still just 28 years old and still averages close to 95mph on his fastball, making him a risk worth taking for the Brewers on a flier of a minor league deal. Milwaukee will owe Miller only the prorated minimum salary if he reaches the club’s MLB roster, as the Rangers are on the hook for the remainder of the one-year contract he signed last winter ($2MM in guaranteed salary, and $400K in achieved incentives).
Cardinals Place Yadier Molina On 10-Day IL; Activate Matt Carpenter
5:22pm: Molina will likely miss around three weeks and surgery won’t be required, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other media.
4:14pm: The Cardinals have announced (Twitter links) a series of roster moves in advance of their second-half opener on Friday. Catcher Yadier Molina is heading to the 10-day injured list due to a right thumb tendon strain, with an IL placement retroactive to July 8. Coming back from the IL is infielder Matt Carpenter, who has been out of action since June 29 with a lower back sprain. The Cards also sent Rangel Ravelo and southpaw Tyler Webb to Triple-A and moved Jordan Hicks to the 60-day IL, while calling up catcher Andrew Knizner and selecting the contract of left-hander Chasen Shreve from Triple-A.
This is the second time this season that Molina has missed time due to his troublesome right thumb, as the same injury also put the longtime St. Louis backstop on the IL from May 31 to June 11. It’s fair to assume that the nagging nature of Molina’s thumb problem is at least partially responsible for his lack of production this season, though Molina was also struggling prior to May 31. Overall, Molina has only a .261/.286/.368 slash line and four homers over 276 plate appearances, making him one of several veteran Cardinals who are seemingly all having down years at the same time.
This list includes Carpenter, who has a career-worst .216/.325/.381 with 10 home runs over 326 PA. While his IL stint was minimal, he and the Cards are surely hoping that this brief time off combined with the All-Star break is enough to finally get his bat moving close to the MVP-level production that Carpenter provided over the last three-plus months of the 2018 season. Carpenter only had a .739 OPS over his first 234 PA last season before exploding for a .983 OPS over his final 443 PA.
Last season’s results notwithstanding, Carpenter’s cold streak this season has lasted longer and reached deeper depths than his slow start to 2018. His power and hard-hit ball rates have both fallen significantly, while the quality of his contact has also dropped off (.324 xwOBA in 2019, as opposed to a .392 xwOBA in 2018).
Carpenter will resume his usual duties at third base, though the hot-hitting Tommy Edman retained his spot on the MLB roster after his strong performance as Carpenter’s fill-in. Knizner and Matt Wieters will handle the catching duties while Molina is out.
Royals Promote Bubba Starling
The Royals announced Thursday that they will select the contract of outfielder Bubba Starling prior to tomorrow’s game. A corresponding 40-man roster move will be announced tomorrow.
Starling, 27 next month, was the fifth overall draft pick by the Royals back in 2011. The Kansas native instantly became one of baseball’s top overall prospects, landing within the top 50 on the rankings of Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus in both 2012 and 2013. Starling’s prospect status dwindled as the former high school superstar struggled to perform up to expectations even in the lower minors.
At one point, Starling nearly walked away from the game entirely, as the Kansas City Star’s Sam Mellinger chronicled back in an excellent 2017 column. Starling, however, persevered through his lowest points in the game and will now be rewarded with his first call to the big leagues. After spending parts of three seasons scuffling in Triple-A, Starling has put together a much more palatable .310/.358/.448 slash with seven homers, 11 doubles, two triples and nine steals (in 12 attempts) through 285 plate appearances so far in 2019.
For the rebuilding Royals, there’s little reason not to take a look at Starling as they take a long-term approach to building out their roster. Kansas City has given significant roles to Hunter Dozier, Adalberto Mondesi and Nicky Lopez, with varying levels of success, as they seek to determine who can realistically be a part of the team’s next core of contending players. Both Dozier and Mondesi have resoundingly indicated that they can be part of the solution, and Starling will look to follow Dozier and Whit Merrifield in cementing himself as a late-blooming big league regular.
It shouldn’t be all that hard to find at-bats for Starling in a questionable outfield mix that has thus far received minimal contribution from offseason signee Billy Hamilton and the returning Terrance Gore. Alex Gordon has appeared resurgent in left field, while Merrifield has handled the outfield well after moving there to accommodate the now-struggling Lopez at second base. Hamilton, who had turned in a miserable .217/.284/.271 line and is a free agent at season’s end, seems to be in the most danger of losing significant playing time with Starling now in the fold. Carrying both him and Gore in reserve roles hardly seems an optimal roster construction, though Kansas City has also received negative production from veteran first baseman Lucas Duda, who has hit at an awful .157/.245/.292 pace through 102 plate appearances.
The Royals already jettisoned one underperforming veteran pickup when they released Chris Owings earlier in the year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team continue to create room for more intriguing minor leaguers as the second half of the season progresses. Beyond Hamilton and Duda, the Royals have received 90 marginal innings from Homer Bailey, who could be flipped to another team for a nominal return. Lefty Jake Diekman‘s bottom-line results have slipped of late, but a lefty reliever averaging 13.1 K/9 and nearly 96 mph on his heater will hold appeal to other teams on the trade market, even if the return won’t be particularly strong.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/10/19
We’ll track Wednesday’s minor moves throughout baseball here…
- The Rangers announced that corner infielder Patrick Wisdom has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Nashville. The 27-year-old went 4-for-26 with a double in a brief nine-game stint with Texas and has scuffled to a .199/.310/.389 slash in 259 plate appearances with Nashville this season. However, Wisdom mashed at a .288/.363/.480 clip in 421 PAs with the Cardinals’ top affiliate last season. The former supplemental-round pick has a generally solid track record in Triple-A and will stick around with the Texas org as a depth option in the event of further injuries at the MLB level.
Earlier Moves
- The Tigers announced that right-hander Austin D. Adams cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Toledo. Not to be confused with the Mariners reliever of the same first and last name (Austin L. Adams) the 32-year-old Adams returned to the big leagues in 2019 for the first time since 2016 but hasn’t experienced much in the way of success. In 16 2/3 innings between the Twins and Tigers, Adams has a 7.02 ERA with 14 strikeouts, 13 walks and four homers allowed. He logged an impressive 28-to-6 K/BB ratio in 18 innings with Minnesota’s Triple-A club earlier this year and has a lifetime 3.64 ERA and 10.1 K/9 at that level. Adams has previously been outrighted, so he’ll have the option of rejecting the assignment in favor of free agency, although a threadbare Tigers ‘pen that looks likely to lose Shane Greene via trade in the next three weeks could present Adams a viable path back to the Majors later in the year.
Red Sox Release Tyler Thornburg
The Red Sox have released righty Tyler Thornburg, per a club announcement (via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, on Twitter). That was the anticipated outcome after the reliever declined an optional assignment.
Thornburg will be now take to the open market in search of a bounceback opportunity elsewhere. He’s promised a $1.75MM salary from the Boston organization regardless. Other clubs can consider bringing him aboard for nothing more than the league-minimum rate of pay for whatever time he spends at the major-league level. While Thornburg hasn’t been a productive big league pitcher in quite some time, he’s still only 30 years of age and is sure to catch on with a rival team (likely on a minors pact).
The trade that brought Thornburg to the Red Sox stings quite a bit in retrospect. Travis Shaw ended up giving the Brewers two quality seasons; while he has struggled this year, the Milwaukee org also just called up the other key piece of the swap — infielder Mauricio Dubon. While he isn’t seen as a blue-chipper, the 24-year-old has handled the bat well at Triple-A and is generally viewed as a valuable prospect.
KBO’s LG Twins Sign Carlos Peguero, Place Tommy Joseph On Waivers
The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization have made a pair of moves involving former major leaguers, Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net reports. The club signed outfielder Carlos Peguero and placed first baseman Tommy Joseph on waivers.
Playing in Asia isn’t foreign to the 32-year-old Peguero, though he is new to Korean ball. Peguero spent 2016-18 with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Before that, he played parts of 2011-15 in the majors and struggled to a .194/.263/.384 line in a combined 319 plate appearances with the Mariners, Royals, Red Sox and Rangers.
Joseph’s also an ex-Ranger, having joined the team via waivers from the Phillies going into the 2018 season. Joseph ended up spending the entire season in the minors, though, which was unexpected after he was a regular for the Phillies over the previous two years. The right-handed slugger accumulated 880 trips to the plate during those seasons and piled up 43 home runs, but his overall production (.247/.297/.460 – good for a 97 wRC+) didn’t convince the Phillies to retain him, nor did it lead to a chance in Texas.
Unable to find another big league opportunity last offseason, the 27-year-old Joseph signed in Korea for $1MM. While Joseph looked like a candidate to rake in the hitter-friendly KBO, his OPS (.758) over 217 PA has fallen more than 100 points short of the league average (.866) for foreign players.
Orioles’ Josh Lucas Accepts Outright Assignment
Orioles righty Josh Lucas cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk, per a team announcement. He was designated for assignment when Baltimore claimed former A’s righty Aaron Brooks off waivers. Brooks has now been formally added to Baltimore’s big league roster, the team also announced.
It’s the second time that Lucas, 28, has accepted an outright assignment with the Orioles this season rather than head out into free agency. In two stints with the big league club, Lucas has pitched to a 5.74 ERA. To his credit, Lucas has 16 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings and has continually shown an ability to keep the ball on the ground at an above-average clip. He’s not a hard thrower, averaging 90-91 mph on his heater, but he’s nevertheless managed to be fairly stingy in terms of surrendering home runs throughout his minor league career.
In 114 career innings of Triple-A ball, Lucas has a 3.47 ERA with 8.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and 0.5 HR/9. Given the patchwork state of the Orioles’ roster, it seems quite possible that another opportunity in the Majors could present itself later in the year (which undoubtedly factored into Lucas’ decision to accept the assignment).
Nationals Nearing Deal With Brad Boxberger
The Nationals are nearing a deal with veteran reliever Brad Boxberger, according to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post (via Twitter). It’s said to be a minor-league arrangement.
Boxberger was released recently by the Royals, who’ll remain obligated for the remainder of his $2.2MM salary. Should the righty make it up to the majors in D.C., his new organization would pay him at the league-minimum rate, providing a bit of relief to the Kansas City club.
If it feels as if the relief-needy Nats are scooping up all the veteran relievers that have been cut loose by other teams … well, that’s not far from the truth. Fernando Rodney, Jonny Venters, and Javy Guerra all opened the season with other clubs before landing with the Nationals on minors deals and then filtering up to the big leagues. (The club also nabbed outfielder Gerardo Parra under similar circumstances.) Dan Jennings and George Kontos also opened the year elsewhere before joining the D.C. org, though both are at Triple-A at present.
This approach surely wasn’t the plan going in, but it proved necessary as the Nationals relief unit turned in calamitous results over the first few months of the season. It still doesn’t look like an inspiring assemblage of pitchers, but the D.C. pen has been a passable group more recently, allowing (though not exactly driving) a fantastic run in the standings that now has the organization set up for more substantial additions over the next three weeks.
Even as the Nats’ front office begins pursuing trade targets in earnest, they’ll seemingly continue building out the depth options. Boxberger certainly fits the same general mold as the numerous other pitchers who’ve been brought on board. A long-established MLB hurler, the 31-year-old merited a guaranteed contract after a tepid but still-useful 2018 season but then failed to hit his stride in the early going this year.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the new organization can get Boxberger back on track. Trouble is, he’s working with significantly less velocity than ever before; he’s down to 90.5 mph with his average heater this year after sitting just under 93 for his career. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Boxberger is going to offspeed offerings more than ever before, serving up his change on about one in three pitches and his slider on one of every five deliveries.
The results just haven’t been there, and neither have the peripherals. Boxberger is sitting on a 5.40 ERA over 26 2/3 innings, with 9.1 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9. On the positive side, his 11.3% swinging-strike rate isn’t far from his career average. And Statcast readings indicate that Boxberger has been a bit unfortunate. Opposing hitters have managed only 85.3 mph in average exit velocity. Boxberger is carrying a .311 xwOBA-against that lags the .329 wOBA that opposing hitters have produced.
White Sox Claim AJ Reed
The White Sox announced that they’ve claimed first baseman/designated hitter AJ Reed off waivers from the Astros. Injured pitcher Ryan Burr was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Reed, who was designated for assignment by Houston last week, has been assigned to Triple-A Charlotte.
Baseball America once rated the now-26-year-old Reed as the game’s No. 11 overall prospect, but the slugger never lived up to that billing. He’s hit just .153/.253/.244 and punched out 50 times in 150 Major League plate appearances, though it’s also worth emphasizing that Reed has never had much of a shot at regular playing time in the big leagues.
Reed’s .224/.329/.469 line in Triple-A this season has been underwhelming, but he has a lifetime .260/.351/.517 with 89 home runs in 1617 plate appearances at that level. Reed’s strikeout rate has jumped 23.7 percent in 2018 to 29.8 percent in 2019, but he’s still walking at the same strong 12 percent clip he’s managed in each of his three prior seasons in Triple-A.
The White Sox have Jose Abreu entrenched at first base, but he’s a free agent at season’s end. The South Siders also recently released Yonder Alonso, freeing up significant time at both first base and designated hitter. Reed is in his final option season, so he’ll need to make next year’s Opening Day roster or else be exposed to waivers once again. There’s little reason for the Sox not to give Reed a look, however. given his recent prospect pedigree and the potential long-term opening at first/DH. Even if the organization ultimately extends or re-signs Abreu, Reed could be given an opportunity to establish himself in an arrangement similar to the previous timeshare between Abreu and Alonso.