Marlins Claim Austin Brice, Designate Isaac Galloway
The Marlins announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Austin Brice off waivers from the Orioles and designated outfielder Isaac Galloway for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Miami also announced its previously reported trade of Nick Wittgren to the Indians.
Brice, 26, returns to the organization for which he made his MLB debut back in 2016. The right-hander was initially a ninth-round pick by the Marlins back in 2010 and has spent part of the past three seasons in the Majors after going to Cincinnati with Luis Castillo in the Dan Straily trade, but he’s yet to find any real success. Brice saw a career-high 37 1/3 innings with the Reds last year but was knocked around for a 5.79 ERA with a 32-to-13 K/BB ratio (although, notably, six of those walks were intentional in nature).
It’s been an eventful offseason for Brice, who was claimed by the Angels back on Nov. 2. He went to Baltimore on a waiver claim two months later in early January and will now join his fourth organization since the season ended. If he heads to camp with the Fish, he’ll bring a fastball that sits 94 mph and a solid, albeit unspectacular career swinging-strike rate of 10.1 percent.
Galloway, 29, reached the big leagues for the first time in 2018 but hit just .203/.301/.391 in 74 trips to the plate. He did swat three homers and doubles apiece in that short time, but he’s never been much of a power threat in the upper minors. A career .256/.304/.393 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons, Galloway has logged more than 7600 innings in center field as a professional and has experience at all three outfield positions.
Indians Acquire Nick Wittgren
2:55pm: The Marlins have announced the trade, revealing that they’ll acquire fellow righty Jordan Milbrath from Cleveland in the deal.
Milbrath, 27, reached Triple-A for the first time last season but was hit hard in a small sample of 13 2/3 innings. He spent the bulk of the season in Double-A, where he notched a 3.42 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a gaudy 60.9 percent ground-ball rate. Milbrath’s ground-ball rate has exploded over the past two seasons — he was north of 70 percent in 2017 — though his success to date has come against younger competition. He’ll turn 28 on Aug. 1, making him a bit too old to be considered a “prospect,” perhaps, though his ground-ball tendencies still make him an intriguing bullpen candidate for the Marlins.
1:50pm: The Indians have reached a deal to acquire right-handed reliever Nick Wittgren from the Marlins, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Cleveland will send a minor league pitcher to Miami in return.
Wittgren, 27, was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment by the Marlins last week. On the surface, the righty pitched quite well, working to a 2.94 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 0.27 HR/9 and a career-best 46 percent ground-ball rate in 33 2/3 innings for the Fish. It’s unlikely that he’d be able to replicate the good fortune he had in terms of allowing home runs (one allowed; 2.7 percent homer-to-fly ball ratio), however, and the four walks he averaged on a per-nine-inning basis was the highest mark of his career.
Nonetheless, Wittgren has a career 3.60 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 127 2/3 of big league relief and still has a minor league option remaining, so the Indians will be able to shuttle him back and forth between Cleveland and their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus this season if need be. Wittgren doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging a bit better than 92 mph on his heater, and he doesn’t generate gaudy spin rate totals. However, he’s still managed solid results to this point in his career and represents a sensible addition for a Cleveland club that is facing enormous uncertainty in the bullpen while also navigating payroll concerns.
Pirates, Francisco Liriano Agree To Minors Deal
2:43pm: Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets that Liriano would earn a $1.8MM base salary if he makes Pittsburgh’s big league roster and could also earn another $1.5MM worth of incentives.
2:35pm: It’s a minor league deal for Liriano, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
2:31pm: The Pirates have agreed to terms on a contract with left-hander Francisco Liriano, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll return to Pittsburgh, where he pitched from 2013-16 before being traded to the Blue Jays in a 2016 deadline deal.
Liriano, 35, spent the 2018 campaign with the Tigers, for whom he pitched to a 4.58 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 4.9 BB/9 and a 48.3 percent ground-ball rate in 133 2/3 innings. Liriano worked as a starter in 26 of his 27 appearances last season, though he also has some experience working out of the bullpen — namely a 2017 stint with the Astros.
Pittsburgh already has numerous rotation options in house, with Jameson Taillon, Chris Archer, Trevor Williams, Joe Musgrove, Jordan Lyles and the out-of-options Nick Kingham comprising the top current options. Of that bunch, Taillon, Archer and Williams are assured of spots. Looming beyond that grouping in the upper minors is top prospect Mitch Keller, who figures to make his debut at some point in 2019.
The Pirates are thinner in terms of left-handed bullpen depth. Beyond closer Felipe Vazquez, the lone 40-man lefty option for the bullpen is former starter Steven Brault, although Tyler Lyons will be in camp as a non-roster invitee and could provide some competition if the team’s plan is to try Liriano in the bullpen.
Liriano was a mainstay alongside Gerrit Cole in the Pirates’ rotation over the course of that 2013-16 run and, at one point, was one of the organization’s most successful reclamation projects. The southpaw burst onto the scene as both a Rookie of the Year and Cy Young candidate with the Twins in 2006 but saw his stock drop substantially following Tommy John surgery. The Pirates organization helped Liriano reestablish himself, resulting in a 3.26 ERA over his first 510 innings with the Buccos. He’ll look to rediscover there once again if he’s able to crack the 25-man roster in camp.
The initial version of this post mistakenly listed the Padres as the team to sign Liriano. MLBTR apologizes for the error.
Athletics, Jerry Blevins Agree To Minor League Deal
The Athletics are in agreement on a minor league contract with left-hander Jerry Blevins, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He’d earn a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle had reported just minutes prior that Blevins and the A’s were close to a deal. With this deal, the Excel Sports client will be returning to Oakland for a second stint after breaking into the Majors with the A’s and spending the 2007-13 seasons there.
Since departing the A’s, the now-35-year-old Blevins has spent the past five seasons in the National League East — one with the Nationals and four with the Mets. While the 2016-17 seasons were both strong ones for Blevins — 2.87 ERA, 12.0 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 — the 2018 season was a rough one. Blevins limped to a 4.85 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 1.27 HR/9 and a career-worst 21.8 percent ground-ball rate.
Despite last season’s unsightly results, Blevins has a long track record of overwhelming left-handed opponents, having held them to a .206/.264/.306 slash through the other 11 seasons of his career. In all, he has a career 3.52 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 463 Major League innings.
Left-handed relief is a clear area of need for the Athletics, making Blevins a logical addition for VP of baseball operations Billy Beane, GM David Forst and the rest of the Oakland front office. At present, Ryan Buchter is not only the sole left-handed bullpen option on the 40-man roster — he’s the only healthy left-handed pitcher on their 40-man roster at all. The A’s, however, have several other non-roster invitees to big league camp in the form of Kyle Crockett, Dean Kiekhefer and Kyle Lobstein — each of whom will compete with Blevins to earn a spot in manager Bob Melvin’s relief corps.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/3/19
Rounding up the latest in minor moves from around the game . . .
- The Braves have reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with veteran reliever Ben Rowen. Rowen, an extreme submariner, is the owner of a rare high-grounder, low-walk profile, and has turned in a number of impressive seasons at the AAA level. The 30-year-old’s last big-league appearance came in 2016 with Milwaukee, for whom he made three late-season appearances. The Virginia Tech-product debut also threw 8 innings for the 2014 Rangers, but has mostly made his way around the International and Pacific Coast Leagues over the last six seasons. In 245 career innings at the Triple-A level, the 6’4 righty has pitched to a stellar 3.08 ERA, allowing just 0.44 homers per nine. He figures to be a candidate for the Peter Moylan role at the front end of the Atlanta bullpen, and should make a nifty righty specialist if the club can spare the roster space.
Astros Avoid Arbitration With Chris Devenski
The Astros and reliever Chris Devenski have settled on a $1.525MM salary for the 2019 season, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Per Rosenthal, the deal also includes a club option for $2.625MM in 2020, which can increase to $2.725MM if the righty appears in 50 or more games in 2019. The salary will increase to $2.825MM if he appears in 60 games, and $2.925MM if Devenski, represented by MVP Sports Group, makes 68 appearances.
Devenski had originally asked for $1.65MM in his first arbitration-eligible season, with the club filing at $1.4MM.
The 28-year-old Devenski broke out in 2016, posting an absurdly high (for a reliever) 2.8 fWAR in just 48 appearances. His once-dominant changeup, though, has become far more hittable of late – AL hitters teed off on the righty last season, smashing nine homers in just 47.1 IP and making hard contact nearly 34% of the time. Devenski did continue to strike batters out, whiffing 9.7 men per nine after a career high of 11.6 K/9 in 2017.
He’ll likely fill a long role in a deep Astro bullpen that includes stalwarts Roberto Osuna, Ryan Pressly, Hector Rondon, and Will Harris, with the Houston analytic team surely on the prowl for ways in which the unorthodox righty can keep more balls on the ground.
Cubs Sign Christian Bergman
The Cubs have signed right-handed swingman Christian Bergman to a minor league contract, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
The 30-year-old Bergman was a member of the Mariners over the previous two seasons, though he spent the majority of that period with their Triple-A affiliate. Bergman pitched to a 5.00-plus ERA in both the 2017 and ’18 seasons in Tacoma, where he combined for 227 2/3 innings and 42 appearances (41 starts). Overall, Bergman – who’s also a former Rockie – owns a 4.66 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 376 2/3 frames at the minors’ highest level.
While Bergman has seen major league action in each season dating back to his 2014 debut, he had difficulty preventing runs in all five of those campaigns. In 215 2/3 innings, 14 of which came in 2018, the soft-tossing Bergman has managed just a 5.59 ERA/5.09 FIP with 5.43 K/9, 2.04 BB/9 and a 37.1 percent groundball rate.
Mets Sign Arismendy Alcantara To Minors Deal
In a move that slipped through the MLBTR cracks, the Mets have reportedly agreed to a minor league contract with IF/OF Arismendy Alcantara.
Alcantara, 27, spent much of 2018 in the Mexican League after being designated for assignment by Cincinnati in late 2017. The versatile Dominican, who’s appeared at six positions during his four-year MLB tenure with the Cubs, A’s, and Reds, figures to be in the utility mix for a Mets club that’s been on a depth-piece binge for the better part of the offseason.
The 5’9 switch hitter burst onto the national prospect landscape after a strong 2013 showing for Chicago’s AA affiliate, slashing .271/.352/.451 with 31 steals in 133 games. A solid follow-up the next season left the then-22-year-old poised to become the charter MLB member of Chicago’s burgeoning minor-league crop, but big-league pitching soon stopped him in his tracks. Alcantara slashed just .205/.254/.367 in his first stint with the Cubs, and never seemed to regain his upper-minors mojo in subsequent demotions to AAA.
The Cubs quickly soured on the switch-hitter: a June 2016 trade sent Alcantara to Oakland, where he received scant opportunity with the parent club. The Reds picked him up the following year, where he scuffled through an injury-riddled campaign before being jettisoned in late summer. Alcantara did show promise in last year’s Mexican League stint, and still boasts considerable upside, given his both-sides power and ability to hold down multiple defensive forts, if he can somehow recapture his mid-decade form.
Reds Sign Tim Adleman To Minor League Deal
The Reds and righty Tim Adleman have reportedly agreed on a minor league deal. The contract does not include an invitation to big-league camp, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com tweets.
Adleman, 31, spent last season with the KBO’s Samsung Lions, pitching to a 5.05 ERA with 137 K (54 BB) in 171 IP. Before heading to Korea, Adleman appeared in 43 games (33 starts) with Cincinnati from 2016-17, posting a career 4.97 ERA in 192 IP.
In his short big-league stint, the longtime minor-leaguer (who even spent part of the early decade in the Independent Leagues) didn’t really seem to belong – his middling fastball (90.5 career average MPH) was mostly allergic to missing bats, and his secondary stuff offered little in the way of relief. Adleman’s 1.97 career HR/9, no doubt inflated by the Pony League-esque confines of Great American Ballpark’s right field, plus his utter inability to keep the ball on the ground, ranked among the league’s highest during that span, and the Georgetown product again struggled with the gopher ball in his cross-pond foray.
Cincinnati’s rotation, which has added Tanner Roark, Alex Wood, and Sonny Gray in recent weeks, doesn’t figure to have a spot up for grabs, and the team’s depth pieces – Cody Reed, Sal Romano, Tyler Mahle, Brandon Finnegan, Robert Stephenson, Matt Wisler, and Lucas Sims among them – would all figure to rank above Adleman in the next-man-up queue. Still, it’s possible the 31-year-old could find his way into the Cincinnati bullpen as a long man, and the organizational familiarity certainly may work in his favor.
Giants Sign Brandon Beachy To Minors Deal
Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Giants have signed righty Brandon Beachy to a minor league pact. Beachy had been out of affiliated ball since 2015, when he made two late-season starts for the Dodgers.
The 32-year-old Beachy was an early-decade stalwart for the Braves; after a circuitous route to the majors, which saw the Indiana-born product go undrafted following a decorated career at little-known Indiana Wesleyan University, the then 23-year-old broke in with Atlanta during the club’s Wild Card run in 2010. In four injury-marred seasons with the club, Beachy posted a stellar 9.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 46 games (all starts) on the way to an excellent 3.23 ERA/3.34 FIP.
Beachy’s career was derailed after a 2012 Tommy John surgery and numerous setbacks in the subsequent rehab. Since returning to the big-league hill for five cameo appearances in 2013, and a second Tommy John that wiped out his 2014, Beachy has appeared in just 14 professional games, most of which came with the AAA-Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2015, the first in the four-year GM tenure of current Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi. After signing a one-year, $1.5MM pact with Los Angeles prior to the 2016 season, the 6’3 righty’s campaign was derailed by a recurring bout with elbow tendinitis; after the injury failed to progress in the way he’d hoped, Beachy left the team (and organized baseball) for the remainder of that season and the next.
He did attempt a 2018 comeback with the unaffiliated New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League, striking out a dozen men in just twelve appearances, though attendant scouting reports are predictably scarce. The Giants, though, whose upper-minors starting-pitching depth has been scraped clean of anything resembling a big-league track record, are perhaps a better spot than any for a longshot reclamation project, and should give the aging righty ample opportunity to prove his tank isn’t set permanently on empty.