Brayan Pena Retires
Veteran backstop Brayan Pena is hanging up his spikes after a dozen seasons in the majors, with Pena tweeting confirmation. George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press recently reported on Twitter that Pena will manage a Gulf Coast League team for the Tigers.
Pena, 36, carved out a lengthy MLB career despite never producing much at the plate at the game’s highest level. Over 1950 total plate appearances, he produced a collective .259/.299/.351 slash line with 23 home runs.
It probably helped that Pena hits from both sides of the plate, something of a rare commodity for a backstop. He was particularly useful as a lefty bat, meaning he made for a solid platoon option for most regular catchers. And teams obviously believed in him behind the dish.
Pena broke into the majors back in 2005, kicking off a four-year run with the Braves during which he never once took fifty plate appearances in a given season. He was a more regular presence during a four-year run with the Royals, who picked him up via waiver claim, but saw his offensive productivity decline in each year in Kansas City.
After a nice bounceback season with the Tigers, Pena secured a two-year deal with the Reds heading into the 2014 season. He ended up receiving semi-regular playing time there due to injuries to other players, appearing in 223 games and producing a .263/.313/.339 slash. That showing led the Cardinals to give Pena a two-year, $5MM deal in the 2015-16 offseason, but he appeared in only nine games in 2016 due to a knee injury and was released after the season.
Pena had joined the Tigers organization in hopes of receiving a chance to continue playing, but primarily in order to work with the team’s young players, as Evan Woodberry of MLive.com reported this spring. With no real prospects of playing his way back to the majors in Detroit or elsewhere, it seems, the long-time receiver will turn his attention fully to the next phase of his baseball life. MLBTR wishes Pena the best of luck with his new career path.
Rays Designate Rob Refsnyder
The Rays have designated infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder for assignment, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. It seems that’s the roster move to enable the activation of center fielder Kevin Kiermaier.
Refsnyder, 27, received a forty-game trial run in Tampa Bay, his fourth-straight season with some MLB action. As before, however, he failed to produce at a convincing clip at the plate.
While Refsnyder drew walks at an excellent 17.5% clip in 103 plate appearances for the Rays, he managed only a .167/.314/.274 overall slash line. He’s a lifetime 68 wRC+ hitter in 423 trips to the plate in the majors.
2018 Amateur Draft Signings: 6/18/18
Here are today’s notable draft deals, with rankings referenced courtesy of Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs and ESPN’s Keith Law:
- The Royals have agreed to terms with competitive balance Round A selection Kris Bubic, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). Widely tabbed as a top-fifty prospect, the Stanford southpaw ended up going 40th overall. He’ll receive $1.6MM, just a bit shy of the $1,786,300 slot value at that selection. #40 is right where Baseball America ranked Bubic after watching him turn in a quality overall junior campaign in which he showed off his excellent change and increasingly useful curve. He doesn’t possess overwhelming stuff or carry it deep into starts, say the prospect hounds, but Bubic seems to be a solid bet to make it to the majors and perhaps end up working at the back of a rotation.
Nationals Acquire Kelvin Herrera
The Nationals have officially struck a deal to acquire reliever Kelvin Herrera from the Royals, making for a fascinating early swap. Outfielder Blake Perkins, third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, and righty Yohanse Morel will head to Kansas City in return.
This agreement represents a rare, mid-June strike of real consequence. We’ve already seen a few other notable trades this year, so it could be that the market as a whole will move quicker than usual — and much more rapidly than it did last year.
Herrera checked in at the #2 spot on MLBTR’s initial list of the top fifty trade deadline candidates. Beyond his excellence on the mound, Herrera’s pending free-agent status for the cellar-dwelling Royals made a trade all but inevitable. He’s arguably the most significant player to have been dealt in the month of June in recent memory — a topic we examined just last week.
The Nats will take over the $7,937,500 salary that Herrera is earning in his final season of arbitration eligibility. With 82 of the 186 service days on the MLB calendar already in the books, the Washington organization will be on the hook for something like $4.44MM.
Certainly, the high-octane Herrera looks to be a key new piece for the Nats’ pen. This deal is the latest summer bullpen swap for the organization. Last year, the Nationals added Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, and Brandon Kintzler, the same three hurlers that make up the preferred late-inning unit on the current ballclub. In prior years, the team added Mark Melancon and Jonathan Papelbon. (The latter trade was the most regrettable of president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo’s tenure. Not only was Papelbon a disaster in the second season of his deal, but the team handed quality young righty Nick Pivetta to a division rival.)
The 28-year-old Herrera will likely function in a set-up role in front of Doolittle, but skipper Dave Martinez will also have the choice to switch things up as match-ups dictate. Herrera has spent plenty of time as the K.C. closer and has loads of high-leverage postseason experience, so he ought to be able to function in any role that his new team prefers.
Herrera still works at about 97 mph with his fastball, though he once averaged over 99. Notably, he’s also generating swinging strikes at a quality 14.4% rate, marking a return to form after a downturn last year. Unsurprisingly, then, the results have been excellent thus far in 2018. Herrera has allowed just three earned runs in 25 2/3 innings, racking up a stellar 22:2 K/BB ratio along the way. He’s not generating quite as many grounders as he has in years past, but has tamped down on the long ball somewhat and has obviously been exceptionally stingy with free passes.
On the other side of this arrangement, the package features three interesting players that most prospect rankings did not grade among the very best in the Nats’ system. Clearly, though, the Royals felt the package was strong enough to warrant an early move. For the Nationals, shipping out that trio still leaves the club with the bulk of its highest-ranked prospects still available for the future — or, perhaps, for further deals this summer.
Depending upon who you ask, Gutierrez and Perkins each rated just outside of or just within the ten best prospects on the Nationals farm. The former is a 23-year-old third baseman who has scuffled a bit in his first attempt at Double-A this year, but is regarded as a talented corner defender who possesses a quality hit tool and some power potential. Perkins, 21, has run into some troubles at the High-A level but has an interesting blend of speed, power, and plate discipline along with up-the-middle defensive ability in the outfield. As for Morel, a reputedly live-armed 17-year-old, he’ll represent a long-term wild card in this swap.
Jon Heyman of Fan Rag first reported the deal (Twitter links), with Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweeting it was in place. Jon Morosi of MLB.com first reported the return (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rockies To Re-Sign Jairo Diaz
The Rockies have agreed to re-sign reliever Jairo Diaz to a minors deal, per Nick Groke of The Athletic (via Twitter). Diaz will head back to the team’s top affiliate.
A 27-year-old righty, Diaz has been beset with arm troubles for some time now. Tommy John surgery cost him all of 2016 and he has experienced forearm problems at the outset of the current campaign. As a result, he has turned in just thirty appearances at any level since the conclusion of the 2015 season.
The Rox designated and released Diaz recently, but he evidently did not find better opportunities elsewhere and decided to return on a new contract. When healthy, Diaz boasts an upper-nineties heater and typically generates quite a few groundballs, so he could be an intriguing asset for the Colorado organization if he’s able to get back on track.
Rangers Designate Deck McGuire
The Rangers have designated righty Deck McGuire for assignment, per a club announcement. That’s the roster move for the activation of shortstop Elvis Andrus.
McGuire was only just claimed off waivers, so the Texas organization evidently intended all along to try to sneak him back through waivers. If he clears, the 28-year-old will presumably take up a place on the depth chart at Triple-A while not occupying a 40-man spot.
Though he has seen MLB action in each of the past two seasons, McGuire hasn’t thrown enough innings to tell us much. But he does have loads of experience in the upper minors, having reached Double-A in his first season as a pro, way back in 2011. Over 335 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, McGuire carries a 5.09 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
Rangers Activate Elvis Andrus
The Rangers announced Monday that they’ve activated shortstop Elvis Andrus from the 60-day disabled list and recalled right-hander Ricardo Rodriguez from Triple-A Round Rock. Catcher Jose Trevino was optioned to Double-A Frisco in one corresponding move, while Ryan Rua was optioned to Triple-A in another. The Rangers still need to make a 40-man move to accommodate the activation of Andrus from the 60-day DL, and they’ll do so closer to game time, according to the team.
Andrus has been out since being struck by a pitch and suffering a fractured right elbow back on April 11. While the injury didn’t require surgical repair, Andrus required a lengthy period of rest and rehab leading up to today’s activation. The timing was poor for the 29-year-old impending free agent, but he’ll still have three-plus months to build his case for potentially interested teams.
Of course, Andrus is far from a lock to even reach the open market. He’s in the fourth season of an eight-year contract extension that allows him to opt out of the remaining four years. While that seemed like an impossibility after Andrus’ bat failed to develop in the first couple years of the deal, Andrus’ offense has come around in the past couple of seasons.
Dating back to 2016, he’s hitting .301/.352/.459 with 30 homers, 78 doubles, 11 triples and 49 steals (in 68 attempts). At season’s end, he’ll have to decide whether to test free agency or forgo the opt-out provision to play out the final four years and $58MM in guaranteed money on his contract.
Phillies Option Hector Neris
The Phillies announced that they’ve optioned right-hander Hector Neris to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and selected the contract of lefty Austin Davis from Double-A Reading. Neris has spent the better part of the past two seasons serving as Philadelphia’s closer.
While Neris was dominant in a setup role in 2016 and pitched similarly well in his first season as the Phillies’ closer in 2017, the 2018 campaign has been disastrous for the 29-year-old. His season-long struggles culminated yesterday in a meltdown that saw Neris yield four runs on four hits, including two homers, in just two-third of an inning.
That latest hiccup sent Neris’ ERA soaring to an even 6.00, though his struggles have been ongoing for a considerably longer period of time; Neris has been scored upon in five of his past eight appearances and in nine of his 30 games pitched on the season overall.
The demotion will provide Neris with a lower-pressure setting in which to work to correct his struggles, and service time won’t be a consideration with regard to determining the length of his stay in Lehigh Valley. Neris entered the year with two years, 104 days of Major League service, so he’s already cleared three years of service time and remains on track to be arbitration-eligible following the current season. He’ll still be controllable through the 2021 campaign, regardless of whether his optional assignment lasts for three weeks or three months.
It’s not clear who the Phillies will utilize as their closer in the interim. Seranthony Dominguez, Edubray Ramos and Victor Arano would each figure to be among the leading candidates, as they’ve all been dominant so far in 2018. If the Phillies prefer to save those tantalizing arms for higher-leverage spots while turning to a more veteran option to enter with the bases empty in the ninth inning, though, Tommy Hunter is on hand to potentially fill that role.
Indians Sign Marc Rzepczynski
The Indians announced that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski to a minor league contract. The southpaw, who’d recently been released by the Mariners, has been assigned to Triple-A Columbus.
This’ll mark the second stint with the Indians for Rzepczynski, who pitched for Cleveland from 2013-14 before being traded to the Padres in exchange for outfielder Abraham Almonte at the 2014 non-waiver trade deadline. Since that time, the well-traveled lefty has bounced from San Diego to Oakland to D.C. to Seattle.
[Related: Cleveland Indians depth chart]
Rzepczynski, 32, parlayed a solid 2016 season between the A’s and Nationals into a two-year, $11MM contract with the Mariners. And while he performed reasonably well in the first season of that deal, Rzepczynski struggled enormously in 2018 before being cut loose earlier this month. Nicknamed “Scrabble” due to his spellcheck-busting last name, Rzepczynski posted a 4.02 ERA in 37 1/3 innings for Seattle in 2017, though his 25-to-20 K/BB ratio lefty plenty to be desired. This year, he allowed 11 runs (eight earned) on 13 hits and nine walks with 10 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings.
Rzepczynski has long been tough on opposing lefties, though, limiting same-handed opponents to a paltry .225/.295/.303 slash through 852 career plate appearances. For a Cleveland club whose bullpen has been among the worst in the Majors this season, he’ll add a veteran depth option that can at least be utilized in situational matchups. That could be all the more important for the Tribe in the near future, as Cleveland currently has both Andrew Miller and Tyler Olson on the disabled list.
The Mariners remain on the hook for the bulk of the $5.5MM salary that Rzepczynski is earning this year. Cleveland will only owe him the pro-rated league minimum for any time he spends at the big league level. That sum, subsequently, would be subtracted from what the Mariners owe him through season’s end.
Twins Release Taylor Featherston
The Twins have released infielder Taylor Featherston, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester (h/t: Twins Daily’s Seth Stohs, on Twitter).
Featherston, 28, appeared in the Majors each season from 2015-17, providing strong defensive value around the infield but struggling with the bat. In 244 plate appearances between the Angels, Phillies and Rays, he’s managed just a .160/.221/.256 slash line. He’s also received plus ratings at second base, shortstop and third base from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating.
A former Rule 5 pick (the Cubs selected him out of the Rockies organization in 2014 and promptly traded him to the Angels for cash), Featherston has struggled in Triple-A this season to a considerably greater extent than he ever has in prior seasons. Through 213 PAs with the Red Wings, he’s hitting just .167/.270/.278 with four homers, four doubles, two triples and seven steals (in eight tries).