Marlins Acquire Chris Bostick
The Marlins have acquired utilityman Chris Bostick from the Pirates, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Pittsburgh will receive cash considerations in the deal. Bostick had been designated for assignment by the Bucs earlier this week.
Bostick’s Major League career consists of 20 games for Pittsburgh in 2017 and two games this season, with a .276/.382/.345 slash line over 34 total plate appearances. Originally a 44th-round pick for the Athletics in the 2011 draft, Bostick will be joining the fifth different organization of his pro career.
The 25-year-old Rochester native has hit .271/.337/.416 with 60 homers and 122 steals (out of 176 chances) over 3491 PA in the minor leagues, though his greatest calling card might be versatility. Bostick has spent much of his career as a second baseman, but has logged substantial time at third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions.
Blue Jays To Promote Danny Jansen, Sean Reid-Foley
9:01AM: The Jays have officially announced that Jansen has been promoted (via their team PR Twitter), with Solarte going on the 10-day DL with his right oblique injury.
8:05AM: The Blue Jays are expected to call up top catching prospect Danny Jansen, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports. Jansen will take the roster spot of Yangervis Solarte, who suffered an oblique injury in yesterday’s game and is very likely headed for the disabled list. In addition to Jansen, the Jays are also expected to promote right-hander Sean Reid-Foley for his Major League debut on Monday in a start against the Royals.
Jansen, 23, was Toronto’s pick in the 16th round of the 2013 amateur draft. Thanks in part to a pair of hand injuries, Jansen’s first few pro seasons were fairly uneventful, though he broke out as a prospect to watch after a big 2017 season that saw him rise from high-A ball to Triple-A Buffalo. Jansen has continued to impress at the Triple-A level this year, hitting .275/.390/.473 with 12 homers over 360 plate appearances, racking up nearly as many walks (44) as strikeouts (49).
This quick development earned Jansen some notice in the prospect charts, with Baseball America’s midseason top-100 prospect ranking placing Jansen 71st, while MLB.com ranked him 73rd in its own top 100. The scouting reports on both sites give Jansen more credit for his offense than his defense, citing his good contact skills, plate discipline, and power potential (which BA says could lead to 10-15 homers a year at the big league level). From a defensive standpoint, Jansen has improved to the point that he looks at least solid at many aspects of catching, though in the words of MLB.com’s report, “his catch-and-throw skills may never be better than average.”
The Jays already have Russell Martin and Luke Maile as their regular catching combo, though Martin’s ability to play second and third base will allow him to essentially take over Solarte’s infield duties while Jansen gets regular playing time behind the plate. This early audition will help the Jays determine if Jansen could be ready for the starting job as early as next season, which could make Maile an expendable piece this winter. Martin’s $20MM salary for 2019 makes him essentially unmovable in a trade, so unless the Blue Jays are willing to just eat that contract, it is more likely Martin will be kept around as a veteran mentor for the young Jansen. (Martin’s ability to play a hybrid backup catcher/infielder role could also make Toronto more apt to pass on Solarte’s $5.5MM club option for 2019.)
Reid-Foley was himself a member of top-100 prospect lists prior to the 2017 season (MLB.com 64th, Baseball America 75th, Baseball Prospectus 85th) before his stock fell posting a 5.09 ERA over 132 2/3 Double-A innings last year. He bounced back this season to pitch much better in Double-A and earned himself a promotion, with the righty then posting a 3.50 ERA, 10.3 K/9, and 3.48 K/BB rate over 82 1/3 frames for Triple-A Buffalo.
Reid-Foley was a second-round pick in the 2014 draft, and the 22-year-old has long been seen as a future member of the Blue Jays rotation prior to his hiccups in 2017. Davidi notes that the decision to promote Reid-Foley was made “after days of deliberations,” though with the Jays well out of the playoff race and short on reliable starters to eat innings for the rest of the year, it makes sense to give Reid-Foley his first taste of Major League action. With at least two rotation spots up for grabs in the 2019 rotation, a good showing over the next six weeks will give Reid-Foley a leg up on earning a job next season.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/11/18
Keeping track of the latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Reds purchased the contract of outfielder Courtney Hawkins from the independent Sugar Land Skeeters on Friday, the Skeeters announced. Hawkins, who will report to High-A Daytona with the Reds, is best known for going 13th overall to the White Sox in the 2012 draft. Now 24, Hawkins stayed with the Chicago organization into this past April, when it released him after he failed to get past the Double-A level.
Cardinals Select Patrick Wisdom’s Contract
The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected third baseman Patrick Wisdom‘s contract from Triple-A Memphis. He’ll take the place of infielder Yairo Munoz on the Cardinals’ 25-man roster. Munoz landed on the 10-day disabled list with a right wrist sprain. To make room for Wisdom on its 40-man roster, St. Louis transferred reliever Luke Gregerson to the 60-day DL.
The 26-year-old Wisdom, whom the Cardinals chose in the first round (No. 52) of the 2012 draft, is finally in position to make his major league debut. Wisdom had been among the Redbirds’ top prospects in the few seasons after they drafted him, but his production and stock fell as he climbed the minor league ranks. To Wisdom’s credit, though, he mashed 31 home runs at Triple-A last season and returned this year to hit a solid .289/.363/.479 (119 wRC+) with 14 HRs in 405 trips to the plate en route to his first MLB promotion.
Orioles To Select Contract Of Sean Gilmartin
The Orioles will select the contract of lefty Sean Gilmartin in advance of today’s game, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report on Twitter. Fellow southpaw Donnie Hart was optioned out to make space on the active roster, the club has announced.
Gilmartin, 28, turned in a strong season with the Mets as a Rule 5 pick back in 2015. But the former Braves first-rounder fell off thereafter, allowing 19 earned runs in his next 21 innings in New York over the following two seasons.
This season, Gilmartin has appeared as both a starter and reliever in the Cardinals and Orioles systems. He’s sporting a cumulative 4.30 ERA in 60 2/3 innings at the highest level of the minors, with 6.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9, though the numbers have been better since he arrived in the Baltimore organization, though it’s hard to read too much into that brief sample.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/10/18
Today’s minor league moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Diamondbacks outrighted infielder Deven Marrero to Triple-A, as per a team press release. Marrero was designated for assignment earlier this week. After being acquired by Arizona from the Red Sox back in March, Marrero appeared in 45 games for the D’Backs this season, hitting .167/.224/.205 over 85 PA. Selected by Boston as the 24th overall pick of the 2012 draft, Marrero has been able to reach the big leagues by virtue of his excellent defense, though he has never been particularly strong at the plate even at the minor league level.
- First baseman/outfielder Brock Stassi is joining the Giants organization after it purchased his contract from the New Britain Bees, Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com notes in a tweet. The 29-year-old Stassi cracked the majors last year with the Phillies for the first time, but didn’t hit enough to stick. He also struggled earlier this year at the Triple-A level with the Twins organization. Even as his younger brother, Astros catcher Max Stassi, has enjoyed a breakthrough MLB campaign, the elder Stassi found himself out of the affiliated ranks. Fortunately, he’s now back after destroying indy ball pitching to the tune of a .361/.458/.592 batting line.
Added To The 40-Man: Ortega, Stewart, Sobotka, Kelly
There has been a fair amount of roster movement today. We’ll use this post to keep tabs on the players moving onto MLB rosters:
- After shipping out first baseman Justin Bour earlier today, the Marlins announced they would replace him by selecting the contract of outfielder Rafael Ortega. The 27-year-old Ortega got a solid shot with the Angels in 2016 but could not take advantage. He had a productive season last year with the plate at Triple-A and has been solid as well at the highest level of the minors in 2018, though he hasn’t sustained the power he showed in 2017. In the current season, he has slashed .275/.375/.404 with an impressive combination of 44 walks and 31 strikeouts over 328 plate appearances.
- The Twins will select the contract of righty Kohl Stewart, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). Chosen fourth overall in the 2013 draft, Stewart is now slated for his MLB debut after being left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft last winter. Through 108 2/3 innings this season in the upper minors, he owns only a 4.47 ERA. But Stewart has seen a real boost in his K/BB numbers over past years. He’s carrying 8.4 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 along with a 57.3% groundball rate on the season.
- As part of a series of pitching moves, the Braves purchased the contract of righty Chad Sobotka. He and lefty Chad Bell will join the active roster as the team has optioned down relievers Wes Parsons and Adam McCreery. Sobotka is a 25-year-old reliever who came to the Atlanta organizatino as a fourth-round pick in 2015. He had already climbed to Triple-A for the first time after dominating performances at High-A (2.21 ERA, 28:7 K/BB in 20 1/3 innings) and Double-A (2.89 ERA, 37:13 K/BB in 28 innings). He has been giving out too many free passes so far at the highest level of the minors (eight in 6 1/3 frames) but has still been getting strikeouts and keeping runs off the board.
- The Giants announced that they selected the contract of righty Casey Kelly, bumping Johnny Cueto to the 60-day DL as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Kelly, a first-round pick way back in 2008, has seen brief MLB action in parts of three seasons. He owns only a 4.78 ERA in his 130 Triple-A innings this year, with 7.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
Padres Designate Phil Hughes, Select Jacob Nix
The Padres announced that they have designated right-hander Phil Hughes for assignment. He’ll step aside in favor of young starter Jacob Nix, whose contract was selected.
Acquired earlier in the season in a swap that netted the Friars an extra draft choice, Hughes struggled quite a bit during his brief time in San Diego. In 16 appearances, the former starter allowed 14 earned runs on thirty base hits — including seven long balls.
Hughes did manage 24 strikeouts against just five walks in his 20 2/3 innings with the Pads, but he has missed bats less than he has missed barrels when opposing hitters have made contact. On the season as a whole, the 32-year-old is allowing a whopping 54.1% hard-hit rate. Indeed, Statcast even suggests Hughes has been fortunate, charging him with a .454 xwOBA-against that dwarfs the (already-hefty) .404 wOBA figure that batters have actually produced.
Needless to say, a run of recent injuries has taken quite a toll on a pitcher who had reemerged with the Twins after ending his tenure with the Yankees. Under the terms of the agreement that brought Hughes to the Padres, the organization is responsible for $7.25MM of the remaining salary owed to the righty under his extension with the Twins. The Minnesota org is still on the hook for a chunk of the $13.2MM he’s playing for this year and the balance of the same amount for 2019. While the Twins’ obligations are fixed, the Padres can still save some cash (albeit only a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary) if Hughes ends up pitching for another club.
Nix was also a high-school star in California, but he’s ten years Hughes’s junior. He famously saw a deal with the Astros torn up when they failed to sign 1-1 pick Brady Aiken back in 2014, though he reached a settlement with Houston and ended up back in the draft in the ensuing winter. Nix went to the Padres in the third round.
Now in his third full season as a professional, Nix has taken a step forward in the results department. Though he has been limited to ten starts in the upper minors this year due to injury, his most recent outing was his first at the Triple-A level. Through 58 2/3 innings in 2018, Nix has allowed just 39 base hits and owns a sparkling 1.84 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.
Athletics Designate Chris Hatcher
The Athletics announced today that they have designated righty Chris Hatcher for assignment. That’ll create space for just-acquired reliever Fernando Rodney.
Meanwhile, the Oakland organization has outrighted southpaw Jeremy Bleich after he cleared waivers. Bleich had recently been designated himself.
Hatcher still works in the mid-nineties with his fastball, but he carries a 4.24 ERA with even worse peripherals on the year. He’s sitting at 7.4 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9, while generating a 7.5% swinging-strike that sits well below his recent levels.
Tigers Sign Zach McAllister, Designate Jacob Turner
The Tigers announced today that they have signed a MLB pact with righty Zach McAllister. To create roster space, the club designated fellow right-hander Jacob Turner.
McAllister just wrapped up a lengthy tenure with the Indians, who released him after designating him for assignment. Now he’ll head to the division-rival Tigers to finish out the year before reaching free agency at season’s end.
The 30-year-old hurler has overseen declines in both his peripherals and his results this season. McAllister provided the Indians with 183 1/3 innings of 2.99 ERA ball from 2015-17, but his fortunes have turned. Through 41 2/3 frames in 2018, he has coughed up seven long balls and is allowing 4.97 earned runs per nine with 7.3 K/9 versus 2.2 BB/9.
Turner, of course, is a former first-rounder turned journeyman who found his way back to Detroit recently. He was shelled in a recent start, lasting only one inning. In eighty frames this year, he carries a 4.50 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.