Blue Jays Designate Gio Urshela For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated infielder Gio Urshela for assignment in order to clear space on the roster for left-hander Ryan Borucki, who has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo and will start tonight’s game.
Urshela, 26, was acquired from the Indians back in early May and has received sparse playing time in the six weeks that have followed. Urshela has appeared in 19 games with the Jays but taken just 46 trips to the plate, hitting .233/.283/.326 in that time. That’s roughly in line with his career numbers to date: a .225/.274/.315 batting line in 499 plate appearances. Urshela grades out as an above-average third baseman, though Toronto has used him more at shortstop, where defensive metrics have been less favorable (in an admittedly negligible sample of 85 innings).
Toronto will have a week to either trade Urshela or place him on outright waivers in hopes of going unclaimed and subsequently being sent outright to Buffalo. Given his defensive reputation, it’s possible that Urshela would indeed be claimed by another club. However, he’s also out of minor league options, so any team claiming him will have to carry him on the MLB roster or try to once again run him through waivers in order to get him to Triple-A.
Tigers Agree To Over-Slot Bonus With Second-Rounder Parker Meadows
The Tigers have agreed to a $2.5MM bonus with second-round selection Parker Meadows, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). His agreement had been signaled by his former high-school team as well as his older brother — Pirates outfielder Austin Meadows.
That payday goes well above the $1,625,500 slot allocation that came with the 44th overall selection. It’ll keep Meadows from attending Clemson University and instead add to the Detroit draft haul. Top overall pick Casey Mize officially joined the organization yesterday. Some savings from his signing (still a record under the new draft system) will help cover today’s deal.
Meadows is not seen as being quite as talented as his brother, but is certainly no slouch as a prospect. It seems the big knock on him is a hitch in his swing mechanics. But perhaps there’s some upside to unlock if that can be sorted. Otherwise, Meadows possesses good speed, arm strength, and defensive chops in center.
Clearly, the Tigers think they can develop Meadows into enough of a hitter to make good on his other tools. The Detroit farm system’s best assets are pitchers, so Meadows could take up an important spot in the organization’s future thinking if he progresses.
With this agreement, the Tigers have locked up all of their selections from the first ten rounds of the draft.
Brewers Release Boone Logan
TODAY: Milwaukee announced that Logan has cleared waivers, meaning the team will be on the hook for the remainder of his guaranteed salary.
YESTERDAY: The Brewers have requested release waivers on left-hander Boone Logan, as was first reflected on the team’s official transactions page. Assuming he clears, he’ll become a free agent who can explore the market in search of a new opportunity.
Logan, 33, opened the season on the disabled list due to a triceps strain and was never really able to find his footing once he was activated. Signed to a one-year, $2.5MM deal this offseason, Logan appeared in just 16 games for Milwaukee, yielding seven runs on 15 hits and 10 walks with 14 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. That certainly wasn’t the followup he was hoping for on the heels of a lackluster 2017 campaign that was also shortened by injury; Logan tossed 21 innings of 4.71 ERA ball for the Indians a year ago before a lat strain cut his season short.
Logan is still just a couple of seasons removed from a strong 2016 campaign, in which he worked to a 3.69 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 46 1/3 innings for the Rockies. He’s never had much trouble missing bats in the big leagues, averaging nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Control has long been an issue for Logan, however, as he’s also averaged more than four walks per nine frames in his MLB career. And while he’s been oft-used as a situational lefty, he doesn’t have the type of dominance against left-handed hitters that one might expect. While lefties certainly haven’t hit him well, the .238/.317/.372 slash he’s allowed to lefties in his career isn’t exactly overpowering, either.
If and when Logan becomes a free agent, any new club wishing to sign him will only owe him the pro-rated league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors. That sum will be subtracted from what the Brewers still owe him, but Milwaukee will remain on the hook for the vast majority of Logan’s 2018 salary.
2018 Amateur Draft Signings: 6/26/18
We’ll use this post to track the day’s most notable signings from the first few rounds of the draft. Scouting reports and pre-draft rankings can be found courtesy of MLB.com, Fangraphs, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (the latter two available to subscribers only) …
- Marlins second-round pick Osiris Johnson has agreed to take the exact value assigned to the 53rd overall choice, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. Johnson, a shortstop from California, will forego his commitment to Cal State Fullerton for a $1,318,500 bonus. A consensus top-100 talent, he received his highest ranking from Law, who placed the youngster 58th on his board. A cousin of both Jimmy Rollins and Tony Tarasco, Johnson is viewed as a future infielder but isn’t seen as being particularly likely to remain at short for the long haul. Still, he is said to possess great hands with excellent bat speed and projectable power at the plate. The Fish have also agreed to a just-over-slot ($645K) deal with third-rounder Tristan Pompey, per Callis (on Twitter), which would give the team agreements with all of its selections from the first ten rounds.
- The Rockies have agreed to a below-slot bonus with 76th overall selection Mitchell Kilkenny, Callis also tweets. That choice, a supplemental second-round pick that the Colorado organization received as compensation when Greg Holland departed via free agency, came with a $787,200 allocation. After his physical showed that he’d require Tommy John surgery, though, the Texas A&M righty will settle with the Rox for $550K. MLB.com had the highest grade (83rd) on Kilkenny among outlets, calling him a high-floor hurler with a good chance of making it into a MLB rotation. Having just undergone a TJ procedure, of course, Kilkenny will get a delayed start to his professional career and may not even be able to join a Rockies affiliate until the 2020 campaign. With this move, the Colorado organization has also completed its dealmaking with the eleven players it picked in the first ten rounds of the draft.
Doosan Bears Sign Scott Van Slyke
Korea’s Doosan Bears have agreed to sign former MLB outfielder Scott Van Slyke, per a team announcement (Korean link; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). He’ll earn a $320K salary.
Van Slyke, 31, had a six-year run in the majors with the Dodgers. But his opportunities and productivity trailed off over the course of that span. All told, he carries a .242/.326/.417 slash line with 29 home runs in 869 MLB plate appearances.
Heading into the present season, Van Slyke joined the Marlins on a minors pact. It seemed he’d have a solid shot at breaking back into the majors at some point, but that hasn’t yet come to pass. He has, however, hit well at Triple-A, producing a .248/.354/.467 batting line and swatting eight long balls in 162 trips to the plate.
In that most recent work, Van Slyke has produced well against right-handed pitching at the highest level of the minors. During his time in the bigs, though, he carried yawning platoon splits, with a .146 point spread between his career OPS marks against lefties and righties.
Cubs Place Shae Simmons On Waivers
The Cubs have placed righty Shae Simmons on waivers, according to an announcement from Triple-A Iowa. If and when he clears, the organization will have an an open 40-man spot to work with.
Though the club did not specify the nature of the waivers sought, Simmons’s MLB.com player page indicates that he has already been outrighted after clearing waivers. If that’s the case, then it seems that other organizations have already passed on a chance to add a player who signed a split contract over the winter and has yet to ascend to the big leagues this year.
It’s not surprising to see the Cubs make this move with Simmons, who has yet to establish himself in the majors despite showing intriguing swing-and-miss ability at times in the minors. He has not been at his best this year, working to a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings at Triple-A while logging as many walks as strikeouts (21 apiece).
2018 Amateur Draft Signings: 6/25/18
Here are today’s most notable signings from the first few rounds of the draft. Scouting reports and pre-draft rankings can be found courtesy of MLB.com, Fangraphs, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (the latter two available to subscribers only)…
- The Mets have agreed to a $1,038,000 bonus with third-rounder Carlos Cortes, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). That handily tops the $705,300 allocation for the 83rd overall pick. The Fangraphs prospect team was far and away the highest on Cortes, rating him as the 82nd-best prospect on their list. Cortes is best known for being a switch-thrower. While that talent is of limited utility for an outfielder, he is considered a talented hitter. Despite some ups and downs over the years, Cortes has generally been productive at the plate for the University of South Carolina, though he’ll have to hit quite a bit as a pro since he’s expected to be limited to playing left field. According to the MLB.com draft tracker, the Mets have now secured contracts with all of their top ten picks.
D-backs Activate Miller, Place Buchholz On DL, Release Crichton
The D-backs announced a series of roster moves Monday, activating right-hander Shelby Miller from the 60-day disabled list, placing fellow righty Clay Buchholz on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained left oblique muscle and releasing right-hander Stefan Crichton, who’d been on the minor league disabled list due to a shoulder injury.
For Miller, this will mark his return from a 14-month absence due to Tommy John surgery. He ramped up for his return with four minor league rehab starts between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, working to a combined 4.66 ERA with a much more impressive 28-to-6 K/BB ratio.
While Miller’s first season with the D-backs following the infamous Ender Inciarte/Dansby Swanson trade was an unequivocal disappointment, the righty was displaying some signs of a rebound last season at the time of his injury. Miller only made four starts last season and pitched just 22 innings, but he notched a solid 4.09 ERA with 20 strikeouts against 11 unintentional walks. More heartening, perhaps, was the fact that the lost life on his fastball had been rediscovered; after averaging a career-low 93 mph on his heater in 2016, he averaged 94.9 mph in 2017 prior to undergoing surgery.
[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]
Miller’s return could prove to be critical for a D-backs rotation that has lost Taijuan Walker for the season and is currently without left-hander Robbie Ray (who, like Buchholz, is dealing with an oblique injury). Ray is on a minor league rehab assignment right now, and a starting five that includes him, Zack Greinke, Patrick Corbin, Zack Godley and a healthy Miller could prove formidable if Miller is closer to the pitcher who notched a 3.57 FIP in 2017 than he is to his 2016 form (6.15 ERA, 4.87 FIP).
Buccholz’s injury is hardly insignificant itself. After the Royals decided not to give him a look in the Majors earlier this year, he signed a minor league pact with the D-backs and has been something of a savior to their injury-plagued staff. Through seven starts and a total of 38 2/3 innings, Buchholz has compiled an outstanding 2.56 ERA with a 31-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate.
As for Crichton, the D-backs acquired him back on April 2, sending a player to be named later or cash to the Orioles. He ultimately never pitched in the Majors for the D-backs, and he was hit exceptionally hard in Triple-A before landing on the disabled list. In 16 innings there, Crichton logged a disastrous 10.13 RA with 17 strikeouts against eight unintentional walks and four home runs. That said, the 26-year-old was nothing short of excellent in Triple-A last year. In 47 2/3 there last season, a healthier Crichton notched a tidy 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.
White Sox Outright Trayce Thompson
Outfielder Trayce Thompson has cleared waivers and been sent outright to the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, James Fegan of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Thompson was designated for assignment last week when the team activated Avisail Garcia from the disabled list.
Thompson, 27, entered Spring Training with the Dodgers but has since gone to the Yankees, Athletics and now back to his original organization, the White Sox, in a series of waiver claims and minor trades. This is the first time Thompson has cleared waivers and been outrighted, and as such, he doesn’t have the option to reject the assignment.
It’s been a brutal year at the plate for Thompson, who has slashed just .117/.162/.211 and fanned 50 times in 137 plate appearances. His struggles at the dish date back to last season, and he’s never really enjoyed a prolonged run of success in the big leagues. That said, the former second-round pick did hit .249/.322/.463 with 18 homers through his first 62 MLB games with the ChiSox and Dodgers. He’s also an excellent athlete who can capably handle all three outfield spots. He’ll head to Charlotte and look for a reset of sorts in hopes of getting back on track and returning to the Majors later this season.
Athletics Designate Liam Hendriks For Assignment, Select Edwin Jackson
10:35am: The A’s have announced Hendriks’ DFA. His roster spot goes to right-hander Edwin Jackson, who has formally been selected from Triple-A Nashville. Oakland also activated lefty reliever Ryan Buchter from the DL and optioned outfielder Nick Martini to Triple-A in his place.
10:09am: The Athletics will designate right-handed reliever Liam Hendriks for assignment today, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Hendriks, 29, once rated as one of the better pitching prospects in the Twins’ minor league system but never cemented himself in the big leagues with Minnesota. After unsuccessful stints with the Orioles and Royals, he landed with the Blue Jays, however, and broke out as a quality bullpen piece in 2015. The A’s made a nice trade in sending right-hander Jesse Chavez to the Jays for Hendriks in the 2015-16 offseason, and he delivered two seasons of solid relief in Oakland. In all, from 2015-17, Hendriks notched a 3.63 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 in 193 1/3 innings in that time.
The 2018 season, however, has been an ugly one for the Australian-born Hendriks. He missed more than a month due to a right groin strain, and he hasn’t performed well when healthy. In 11 innings this season, Hendriks has allowed nine runs on 17 hits and seven walks with a dozen strikeouts. He’s allowed three home runs en route to that ugly 7.36 ERA.
Hendriks’ average fastball velocity is down two miles per hour this season (from 94.7 mph in 2017 to 92.7 mph in 2018), though he’s regained some of that missing heat since being activated from the disabled list earlier this month. He’s earning $1.9MM this season and is controllable for another year via arbitration to any club that either claims him off waivers or swings a trade to acquire his services.