Rockies Sign Michael Saunders
The Rockies have signed outfielder Michael Saunders to a minor league contract, Brandon Warne of Zone Coverage reports. They’re Saunders’ first team since the White Sox released him in late June.
A former top prospect with Seattle, Saunders has been a solid major leaguer at times – including during an All-Star 2016 with the Blue Jays. Saunders’ numbers plummeted in the second half of his All-Star season, though, and he has fallen off the radar over the past couple years.
In 2017, which he opened with the Phillies after they awarded him a $9MM guarantee in free agency, Saunders managed a disastrous .202/.256/.344 batting line in 234 major league plate appearances. He struggled so badly in Philadelphia that the club released him midway through the season, leading the Canadian-born Saunders to return to the Blue Jays on a minors deal. However, Saunders was unable to rebound in Toronto or with its Triple-A affiliate.
Unfortunately for Saunders, his stock took an even greater hit in 2018. Not only did Saunders fail to reach the majors with the bottom-feeding Orioles or White Sox, but his production tanked with their minor league teams. Across 154 PAs at the Triple-A level, the 32-year-old batted .158/.273/.248.
Reds Sign Anthony Bass
The Reds have reached a minor-league deal with righty Anthony Bass, the hurler himself announced today. Brandon Warne of Zone Coverage had recently tweeted the connection.
Bass, 31, had a nice showing in brief action last season with the Cubs. Over 15 1/3 innings, he allowed just five earned runs while accumulating 14 strikeouts against three walks. He was similarly effective during his 32 Triple-A frames, over which he carried a 3.38 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. Bass also drew grounders on more than half the balls put in play against him at both levels.
Of course, Bass’s broader history — including a 4.51 ERA in 299 1/3 total MLB frames — is rather less promising. Still, it seems reasonable to presume that the Reds will give him a reasonable shot in camp at earning a MLB bullpen job. If Bass doesn’t crack the roster, he’ll be a nice depth piece to have on hand. (The opt-out opportunities in his contract, if any, have not been reported.)
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/30/18
Rounding up some minor moves from around baseball…
- The White Sox have signed right-hander Donn Roach to a minor league deal, as per the Mariners Minors Twitter account. Roach posted a 5.77 ERA over 39 innings with the Padres, Cubs, and Mariners from 2014-16, though he has also spent time with six other MLB organizations and with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization. The White Sox previously signed Roach to a minors deal last offseason, and he pitched well for Triple-A Charlotte (2.65 ERA over 95 innings, starting 15 of 16 games) before being released in July to sign with Japan’s Orix Buffaloes.
Angels Sign Alex Meyer To Minors Contract
The Angels have re-signed right-hander Alex Meyer to a minor league deal, Brandon Warne of Zone Coverage reports (Twitter link). Meyer was originally released by the club at the end of November.
2018 was a lost season for Meyer, as he spent the entire season recovering from surgery to fix a torn labrum in September 2017. While he wasn’t expected to pitch last year, Meyer’s rehab process suffered a couple of notable bumps in the road — he received a cortisone shot in late August to relieve some pain in his shoulder, and he was shut down in early November after another setback. Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group tweets that Meyer won’t be cleared to begin throwing until February, so it could still be some time before we see the 6’9″ right-hander back on the mound.
Selected 23rd overall by the Nationals in the 2011 draft, Meyer was a regular in top-100 prospect rankings in the first half of the decade, though he has yet to convert that promise into production at the big league level. Meyer has a 4.63 ERA over 95 1/3 career innings for the Twins and Angels, showing some ability to miss bats (10.1 K/9) but also struggling with control (5.9 BB/9). Meyer has started 19 of his 22 MLB games, though given his health issues, the Angels could explore using him as a reliever in the future. Meyer’s height and velocity (95.6 mph average fastball) could make him an intimidating weapon out of the bullpen, particularly if the shorter outings can add even more speed to his heater.
Beyond anything, of course, the first step is simply to get Meyer healthy and regularly throwing. The Angels have been looking for both starters and relievers this offseason, and Meyer could be an interesting wild card to address either area if he can overcome his shoulder problems.
Red Sox To Sign Carson Smith To Minors Deal
The Red Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Carson Smith, as per Zone Coverage’s Brandon Warne (Twitter link). Smith elected free agency after being outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster following the season, but will now return to the organization in the hopes of finally making a significant impact in the Sox bullpen.
Originally acquired by the Red Sox as part of a four-player trade with the Mariners in December 2015, Smith was tabbed as a potential closer of the future in Boston following his breakout rookie season. Smith posted a 2.31 ERA, 4.18 K/BB rate, 64.8% ground ball rate, and an 11.8 K/9 over 70 innings out of Seattle’s bullpen in 2015, looking like a star reliever in the making.
Unfortunately for Smith and the Red Sox, his tenure in Boston has thus far been marred by injuries. Smith pitched just 9 1/3 total innings in 2016-17 due to Tommy John surgery, and he then managed just 14 1/3 innings in 2018 before suffering a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. The latter injury was caused when Smith tossed his glove in the Boston dugout out of frustration over a rough outing, and it led to some controversy when Smith suggested that overuse might have contributed to his issues (unsurprisingly, manager Alex Cora didn’t agree with this assessment).
That difference of opinion notwithstanding, Smith will now look to get healthy and get his career back on track in Spring Training. From Boston’s perspective, there isn’t much risk in bringing Smith back, and he still some intriguing upside given his stuff and the fact that he is under team control (via arbitration) through the 2020 season. With Joe Kelly now a Dodger and Craig Kimbrel perhaps too expensive for Boston’s liking, the Red Sox have been on the hunt for bullpen help at an affordable price. Smith can hardly be considered a candidate to replace Kimbrel or Kelly at the end of games, of course, though he does give the Sox yet another depth option to consider as they look at augmenting their current bullpen corps (Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Heath Hembree and company) with a more established ninth-inning arm.
NPB’s Yomiuri Giants To Sign Ryan Cook
The Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball have reached a deal with right-hander Ryan Cook, as per a team announcement (via The Japan Times). Cook will earn roughly $1.3MM (or 140 million yen) for the coming season.
Cook chose to become a free agent after being outrighted off the Mariners’ 40-man roster in October. The 31-year-old posted a 5.29 ERA over 17 relief innings for Seattle last season, delivering some strong peripherals (12.2 K/9, 3.29 K/BB rate) but also a bloated 2.1 HR/9 that led to his unimpressive ERA. A 3.48 xFIP and 2.97 SIERA paint a much more favorable impression of Cook’s 2018 performance.
It was Cook’s first taste of Major League action since the 2015 season, when shoulder problems limited him to just 8 2/3 innings for the A’s and Red Sox, and a variety of further injuries kept Cook on the shelf for all of 2016 and 2017. Cook spent much of that stretch recovering from Tommy John surgery, and also had to deal with nerve transposition surgery in his throwing arm, as well as torn hamstring and lat muscles. With this long layoff in mind, Cook’s 94.4 mph average fastball velocity in 2018 was a good sign, as he checked in just a touch below his 94.7 mph career average.
From 2012-14, Cook was a stalwart in the Athletics’ bullpen, posting a 2.60 ERA, 9.3 K/9, 2.66 K/BB rate over 190 2/3 innings and earning a spot on the 2012 AL All-Star roster. He showed glimpses of this form last season now that he was finally healthy, and Cook will look to further re-establish himself in Japan. It’s likely Cook would have had to settle for a minor league contract with an MLB team, so his deal with Yomiuri gives him a nice payday as well as an opportunity in a brand-new environment.
Blue Jays Acquire Clayton Richard
4:54pm: Toronto will pay half of Richard’s $3MM salary, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com suggests.
4:15pm: Both teams have announced the trade. The Blue Jays are also getting cash considerations in the deal.
3:55pm: Richard’s going to Toronto, Nicholson-Smith tweets. The Blue Jays will give up minor leaguer outfielder Connor Panas, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The 25-year-old Panas, a Toronto native whom the Blue Jays chose in the ninth round of the 2015 draft, got his first taste of Double-A action last season and hit .232/.296/.359 with nine home runs in 407 plate appearances.
3:35pm: The Blue Jays are close to acquiring left-hander Clayton Richard from the Padres, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports. Richard has been in limbo since the Padres designated him for assignment on Dec. 20.
The 35-year-old Richard has been a useful starter at times since his major league career began with the White Sox in 2008, but he’s now coming off an ugly season. Over 158 2/3 innings and 27 starts in San Diego, Richard pitched to a 5.33 ERA/4.68 FIP with 6.13 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 before undergoing season-ending left knee surgery in late August. On the bright side, Richard posted an excellent groundball rate (56.8 percent), which has been a staple throughout his time in the majors.
Needless to say, Richard – who’s owed a guaranteed $3MM in 2019, the last season of a two-year contract – wouldn’t be a particularly exciting acquisition for Toronto. If healthy, though, he could eat innings for a retooling Blue Jays team which may have multiple questions in its rotation next season. The Jays look to have four-fifths of their rotation set with Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Ryan Borucki and the just-signed Matt Shoemaker in the fold. However, Stroman has frequented trade rumors throughout the offseason, Sanchez battled injury and performance issues from 2017-18, and Shoemaker was neither healthy nor especially effective with the Angels over the previous couple years.
Diamondbacks Acquire Robby Scott
The Diamondbacks have acquired left-hander Robby Scott from the Reds for cash, according to an announcement from Cincinnati. The Reds designated Scott for assignment on Dec. 21, ending a brief run with the club that began when it claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox on Dec. 10.
The 29-year-old Scott racked up a solid chunk of innings in Boston in 2017, when he totaled 35 2/3 frames and put up a respectable 3.79 ERA with 7.82 K/9, 3.28 BB/9 and a 42.6 percent groundball rate. Scott only managed a 5.32 FIP that year, though, and was barely a factor last season for the Red Sox’s World Series-winning team, with whom he threw a mere 6 2/3 innings and allowed six earned runs on 10 hits and five walks (with eight strikeouts).
While Scott hasn’t been that successful in the majors, he has recorded a 3.21 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 165 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Now a member of the Arizona organization, Scott will reunite with general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo, who are both familiar with the hurler from their days with the Boston franchise.
Blue Jays Designate Oliver Drake
The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Oliver Drake for assignment to make room for newly acquired southpaw Clayton Richard, per a team announcement.
Drake only lasted a few weeks on the 40-man roster in Toronto, which claimed him off waivers from the Rays on Nov. 26. By now, the 31-year-old Drake is used to short-lived stints on major league rosters. Drake saw action with a record five teams (including the Blue Jays) in 2018, and has pitched for a total of seven clubs since debuting with the Orioles in 2015.
Over 137 1/3 major league innings, including 47 2/3 last season, Drake has offered signs of encouragement. While Drake does own a below-average ERA (4.59), he has notched 9.9 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9, generated ground balls at a 47.3 percent clip and recorded a 3.48 FIP/3.63 xFIP. And Drake has been dominant at the Triple-A level, where he has posted a 1.80 ERA with 12.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 across 110 innings. Perhaps yet another major league team will take a chance on him via waivers, then.
Minor Transactions: 12/29/18
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization have re-signed outfielder Mel Rojas Jr. to a one-year, $1.6MM deal, per the Korea Joongang Daily (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). The 28-year-old, who’s the son of former major league pitcher Mel Rojas, had been seeking a big league job earlier this offseason, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported. Rojas has already been a member of two MLB organizations – Pittsburgh, which used a third-round pick on him in 2010, and Atlanta – but didn’t crack the bigs with either club. While the switch-hitting Rojas only registered a .701 OPS in 3,369 combined plate appearances in those teams’ systems, his production has skyrocketed in Asia. Since immigrating to the KBO prior to 2017, Rojas has slashed .303/.377/.579 with 61 home runs – including 43 last season – across 1,012 PAs.