Rangers Acquire Jake Petricka
The Rangers have struck a deal with the Brewers for reliever Jake Petricka, per a club announcement. Cash or a player to be named later will go back in return. Robert Murray and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the news (via Twitter).
Petricka, 31, signed a MLB deal with a minor-league split salary. He is optionable this season but was outrighted off of the Milwaukee 40-man roster. The Rangers have assigned Petricka to Triple-A to begin his tenure with the organization.
While he allowed only three earned runs in his eight frames of big-league action with the Brewers, Petricka managed only three strikeouts to go with six walks. He has been much better during his time at Triple-A, where he carries a 1.89 ERA with a 22:4 K/BB ratio over 19 innings.
Phillies Select Brad Miller, Designate Phil Gosselin
The Phillies announced today that they have selected the contract of recently acquired infielder Brad Miller. In a corresponding move, Phil Gosselin was designated for assignment.
Just added in a low-cost trade, the 29-year-old Miller will take his next crack at the majors as a Philadelphia reserve. The versatile performer has experience all over the field, though he hasn’t always graded well with the glove. He’ll help to balance an otherwise all-righty infield mix while also bringing much more potential pop than the man he’ll replace.
Miller produced at a just-below-league-average rate (.250/.325/.417) in forty plate appearances to open the year with the Indians. He was bumped from the roster when the Cleveland organization got back to full health and landed with the Yankees’ top affiliate. In 163 plate appearances at Triple-A, Miller carries a .294/.399/.596 batting line with ten long balls.
It’s best to temper expectations, but Miller could certainly be a useful part of the roster. He has typically produced at around a league-average rate in the big leagues, occasionally showing more power or more on-base ability but rarely putting it all together. The Phillies can hope to squeeze out some added value by utilizing Miller almost exclusively against right-handed pitching; he has a career 108-71 wRC+ spread.
Gosselin, 30, has only a .245/.260/.306 slash in fifty plate appearances this year and has never rarely done much damage at the plate in 629 career trips to the MLB dish. The former fifth-round pick does keep receiving opportunities, so teams obviously trust his glove and feel he provides competitive at-bats. Having previously been outrighted, Gosselin will have the right to elect free agency if he isn’t traded or claimed.
International Transactions: 6/13/19
Here’s the latest on some international transactions news from around baseball…
- The Blue Jays signed Cuban right-hander Yosver Zulueta and Dutch right-handers Jiorgeny Casimiri and Sem Robberse in some late additions before the end of the 2018-19 international signing period, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes. Toronto acquired an extra $1.5MM of bonus pool funds in spring trades of Kendrys Morales to the A’s and Dwight Smith Jr. to the Orioles, which accounted for these three Jays signing (Zulueta received “the majority of their spending room,” as per Davidi).
- The Orioles signed Dominican center fielder Stiven Acevedo to a contract with a $275K bonus in April, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes. Acevedo’s birthday (August 2, 2002) made him a bit of an odd man out for the first batch of signings last July 2, as other teams committed most of their pools to players who were already 16 years old. This left him available for Baltimore, who felt like Acevedo would have received a bonus of $1MM+ had he waited for the next international signing period this coming July 2. Acevedo is already 6’4″ and 185 pounds despite his young age, “with feel for the barrel, not much swing-and-miss and the chance to grow into some power,” according to Meoli. The piece is well worth a read for a full overview of the Orioles’ 2018-19 international signing endeavors, as the team has finally started to focus on the int’l market under new GM Mike Elias (and in the final weeks of former front office boss Dan Duquette’s tenure) and the O’s now seem positioned to be major players in the 2019-20 signing period. In total, the O’s spent $2.167MM since last July 2, despite a signing pool that both rose and shrunk rapidly after multiple trades and pursuits of such high-profile prospects as the Mesa brothers.
- Austin Bibens-Dirkx is no longer a member of the Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the team announced (hat tip to Rob of CPBLStats.com) Bibens-Dirkx wished to return to the United States to be with his wife as the couple expects a baby within the coming days. Bibens-Dirkx posted a 5.27 ERA over 114 1/3 innings for the Rangers in 2017-18 before signing with the Uni-Lions in the offseason. His time in the CPBL carries its share of struggles, as Bibens-Dirkx posted a 5.28 ERA and 1.26 WHIP 46 innings.
Francisco Rodriguez Signs With Mexican League Team
Right-hander Francisco Rodriguez has signed with Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League, according to The Athletic’s Robert Murray and Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The man they call K-Rod hasn’t pitched in the Major Leagues since 2017, though he tossed 42 1/3 innings for the independent Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks in 2018.
The veteran reliever is still hopeful of returning to the big leagues, and it was only back in 2016 that Rodriguez recorded 44 saves for the Tigers while posting an impressive 3.24 ERA, 8.0 K/9, and 2.48 K/BB over 58 1/3 innings. That strong year gave way to a rough 2017, however, that saw him post a 7.82 ERA for the Tigers before being released, and then failing to earn another ticket to the Show after signing minor league contracts with the Nationals and Phillies that same year.
Rodriguez is now 37, and looking for one final encore in what has been an outstanding career. After making an immediate impact as a rookie to help the Angels win the 2002 World Series, K-Rod has been an effective late-game weapon for five different teams over 16 MLB seasons. His 62 saves in 2008 is still the league’s all-time single-season record, and Rodriguez’s 437 saves places him fourth on the all-time list, behind only Hall-of-Famers Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Lee Smith.
Rangers Release Nick Gardewine
The Rangers have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Nick Gardewine, according to multiple reports (including this tweet from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Gardewine had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
A seventh-round pick for Texas in the 2013 draft, Gardewine posted a 3.71 ERA, 3.12 K/BB rate, and 8.8 K/9 over 323 minor league innings, pitching exclusively as a reliever since the start of the 2016 season. He received a couple of looks at the big league level in the form of 15 total games for the Rangers in 2017-18, though he missed much of 2018 recovering from a forearm injury. Gardewine was on the minor league injured list at the time of his DFA, which helps to explain his release; injured players cannot be put through outright waivers. It’s common in these situations for players to re-sign with the organization on a minor league deal, though Gardewine of course has the option to pursue a new opportunity if he chooses.
Cubs Place Carl Edwards Jr. On 10-Day Injured List
The Cubs have sent right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. to the 10-day IL due to a left thoracic strain, according to several reports. Edwards’ 25-man roster spot will be filled by southpaw Tim Collins, who is being called up from Triple-A. The placement is retroactive to June 10, with ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers noting that Edwards hasn’t pitched since reporting the discomfort on that date.
After an ugly start to the season that led to a minor league demotion for almost a month, Edwards has pitched much better since returning to Chicago’s bullpen. Edwards has a 2.03 ERA over 13 1/3 innings since rejoining the big league roster, with opponents hitting a measly .094 against him. Without getting too carried away by a small sample size, Edwards’ three walks over 13 1/3 frames is also a positive sign, given the career 4.9 BB/9 rate the righty carried into the 2019 season.
Collins joined the Cubs on a late-spring signing, and is back up on the big league roster for the third time this season, giving Chicago a third left-handed relief option alongside Mike Montgomery and Kyle Ryan. Collins has seen action in five MLB games this year, with a 3.86 ERA over 4 2/3 innings of work.
Phillies Acquire Brad Miller
The Phillies have announced that they have acquired veteran utilityman Brad Miller from the Yankees for cash considerations.
Miller will be joining his fourth different team of the 2019 season, following an offseason minor league contract with the Dodgers, and then subsequent minors pacts with the Indians and Yankees. Miller appeared in 13 big league games for the Tribe, and has been tearing up Triple-A pitching in the Yankees’ farm system, with a massive .994 OPS over 163 PA for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
While he did hit 30 homers for the Rays in 2016, Miller hasn’t been able to provide much consistency over 2545 career plate appearances for Seattle, Tampa, Milwaukee, and Cleveland. His career .240/.313/.409 slash line grades him as an exactly league-average 100 OPS+ for his career, though he’s had notably more success against right-handed pitching. This will provide Philadelphia with a sorely-needed left-handed bat for their bench mix.
Miller isn’t known as much of a defender no matter the position, though he has experience at all seven infield and outfield positions over his seven-year career. He has exclusively worked in the infield over the last three seasons, however, so Miller could handle those duties while Jay Bruce and Scott Kingery see more time in the Phils’ troubled outfield.
With Miller now in the fold and Roman Quinn returning from the injured list this weekend, the Phillies are looking at a significant shakeup of their bench. Miller’s presence could make one of Sean Rodriguez or Phil Gosselin redundant, while Quinn could supplant Nick Williams as the primary backup outfielder.
Blue Jays Acquire Nick Kingham
The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Nick Kingham from the Pirates for cash considerations, as announced by both teams. Ryan Tepera has been shifted to the 60-day injured list to create room on Toronto’s roster.
Kingham was designated for assignment this week, effectively ending almost a full decade in Pittsburgh’s organization for the righty. Kingham was a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft and has long been considered one of the more promising arms both in the Bucs’ farm system and in baseball as a whole, appearing on top-100 prospect lists prior to both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Tommy John surgery in 2015 delayed his progress, though he still amassed a 3.46 ERA, 3.17 K/BB rate, and 7.7 K/9 over 766 1/3 career innings in the minors, starting 142 of his 147 games.
As a big-leaguer, Kingham flirted with history when he carried a perfect game into the seventh inning during his MLB debut back on April 29, 2018. Overall, however, Kingham has struggled to find consistency in the Show, posting a 6.67 ERA that has been boosted by 25 homers allowed over 110 2/3 innings, though he has a higher strikeout rate (8.2 K/9) in the majors than in the minors, albeit over a much smaller sample size.
Though the Pirates are far from deep in starting pitching options, it seems like they were simply ready to move on from the 27-year-old Kingham, who now gets a chance on a Blue Jays team that is in even more desperate need of rotation help. The Jays rank at or near the bottom of the league in most starting pitching categories, and will need even more starters on hand to fill the void if/when Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez are both moved before the July 31st trade deadline. Kingham could get a shot in the rotation immediately (which could mean the end of struggling veteran Edwin Jackson‘s time in Toronto) or he could throw out of the bullpen as a long man until a trade or until the Jays decide a change needs to be made.
Astros To Promote Rogelio Armenteros, Derek Fisher Optioned To Triple-A
The Astros are calling up right-hander Rogelio Armenteros for his big league debut, according to the Pelota Cubana blog (hat tip to Las Mayores’ Francys Romero). Outfielder Derek Fisher is headed back to Triple-A as the corresponding move, as per several outlets. The move will be made official prior to tomorrow’s game.
Signed out of Cuba in 2014, Armenteros has a 3.35 ERA, 3.08 K/BB rate, and a 10.0 K/9 over 475 career innings in Houston’s minor league system (85 of 98 games as a starter). He hasn’t been as sharp at Triple-A this season, with a 5.00 ERA over 45 frames, though it could just be a short-term promotion. GM Jeff Luhnow said (via Mark Berman of FOX 26 News in Houston) that Armenteros is being recalled to give the Astros some extra pitching depth after going to extra innings in three of their last six games, including a 14-inning affair on Wednesday.
MLB.com rates Armenteros as the 22nd-best prospect in the Astros’ farm system, with a “tumbling changeup” that rates as his only plus pitch. Armenteros has hit 95mph on his fastball on occasion, though generally throws in the 88-92mph range, relying more on disguising his four-pitch arsenal. “He has little margin for error and survives by not making many mistakes,” as MLB.com’s scouting report puts it.
Fisher heads back to Triple-A after his latest brief stint in the majors, as he was recalled back on May 25 when George Springer hit the IL. Formerly a top-100 ranked prospect, Fisher has yet to deliver much in parts of three MLB seasons (.201/.282/.367), though with just 312 total plate appearances to his name in the big leagues, he has hardly received much of an extended opportunity to prove himself. It remains to be seen if such a chance, however, will ultimately come given the Astros’ crowded outfield picture when everyone is healthy.
Dodgers Place Corey Seager On 10-Day Injured List
The Dodgers have placed star shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain, as per a club announcement. Seager’s placement is retroactive to June 12. Taking Seager’s place on the roster is Matt Beaty, who has been activated from his own injured list stint.
Seager suffered the injury on Tuesday while running the bases, and an MRI revealed (as reported by J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group) that the strain “is either a particularly bad Grade 2 or a more mild Grade 3.” The issue is severe enough that Seager is currently projected to miss four-to-six weeks of action.
The news puts a damper on what had been a successful comeback season for Seager, who missed all but 26 games of the 2018 campaign due to Tommy John surgery. He also underwent hip surgery last August, though Seager didn’t look any worse for wear in his return to the field in 2019, hitting .278/.359/.468 with eight homers over 270 plate appearances.
Losing Seager is a blow to even the deep and versatile Dodgers lineup, though Chris Taylor is a capable fill-in while Seager is out of action. Enrique Hernandez also has experience at shortstop, and even backup catcher Russell Martin could play the position in a pinch.