Mets Claim P.J. Conlon From Dodgers, Designate Phillip Evans
The Mets have re-claimed left-hander P.J. Conlon off waivers from the Dodgers and designated infielder Phillip Evans for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the team announced to reporters following this afternoon’s game (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Conlon has been optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Conlon’s time with the Dodgers, clearly, will prove to be abbreviated. Los Angeles only claimed him off waivers from the Mets last week, and the southpaw had yet to even pitch in a game with his new organization before being placed back on waivers. It’s nothing new for the Dodgers to claim a player and then try to run him through waivers themselves as a means of keeping him in the organization without committing a 40-man roster spot. It’s a move they’ve had a fair amount of success with in past seasons, though the Mets clearly didn’t see fit to let Conlon get away and seized the opportunity to reclaim the depth they lost last week.
Conlon, 24, allowed seven earned runs in his first two big league starts with the Mets this season, spanning just 5 2/3 innings. His struggles weren’t contained to the MLB level, either, as he posted a whopping 6.58 ERA in 39 2/3 innings spanning eight starts with Vegas this year. However, Conlon possesses solid numbers up through the the Double-A level and turned in promising K/BB numbers in Triple-A this year even while struggling with his bottom-line run prevention numbers. He’ll now return to the organization that originally drafted him and continue on as a depth piece.
As for the 25-year-old Evans, this’ll be the second time he’s been designated for assignment by the Mets in the past calendar year. He’s just 1-for-9 on the young season but hit .303/.395/.364 in a tiny sample of 38 plate appearances in the Majors last year. Evans is a career .273/.337/.445 hitter in 671 PAs at the Triple-A level and has experience at every position other than center field, first base and catcher. If he clears waivers, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, given that he was outrighted the last time he was designated by the Mets.
Athletics Select Contract Of Nick Martini, Place Matt Joyce On 10-Day DL
The Athletics announced today that they have selected the contract of outfielder/first baseman Nick Martini. He’ll take the active roster spot of outfielder Matt Joyce, who’s headed to the 10-day DL.
Soon to turn 28, Martini will get the first shot at the majors in his career. The former seventh-round draft pick signed with the Oakland organization as a minor-league free agent over the winter. He owns a .299/.417/.390 slash with 36 walks against 42 strikeouts in 216 plate appearances this year at Triple-A.
As for Joyce, he’s dealing with a lumbar issue but will have his DL stint backdated to June 3rd. The 33-year-old has to this point not hit to the standard he maintained over the prior two seasons. In 199 trips to the plate, he’s slashing .196/.308/.369 with seven long balls.
White Sox Outright Alfredo Gonzalez
The White Sox announced today that they have outrighted catcher Alfredo Gonzalez. He originally had his contract selected in late May.
Gonzalez, 25, only made it into three contests but did manage to record his first MLB hit during his brief stay with the Sox. He is a nine-year minor-league veteran who had almost no prior experience at Triple-A entering the season. Through 105 plate appearances this year with Charlotte, he produced a .169/.279/.191 slash.
Mariners Release Marc Rzepczynski
The Mariners announced today that they have released lefty Marc Rzepczynski. He had recently been designated for assignment.
It’s no surprise to see the 32-year-old clear waivers following the DFA. After all, he hasn’t performed up to the $5.5MM salary he’s promised this year. The M’s will foot that bill the rest of the way, excepting any league-minimum earnings he achieves if he can make it back to the majors elsewhere.
That said, other organizations will surely be glad to add some experienced left-handed relief depth, particularly if they have mechanical or tactical tweaks in mind to get Rzepczynski back to effectiveness. He has struggled mightily in 2018, and wasn’t very effective last year either, but has limited opposing lefties to a .222/.323/.333 batting line over his career.
Braves Place Julio Teheran On DL, Select Luke Jackson
The Braves announced that they’ve placed right-hander Julio Teheran on the 10-day disabled list due to a right thumb contusion and selected the contract of righty Luke Jackson to take his spot on the 25-man roster. Atlanta had an open spot on the 40-man, so the team didn’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Teheran, still just 27 years of age, is sporting a respectable 4.31 ERA on the season, though there’s plenty of reason to believe that he’s been fairly fortunate to maintain that mark. The right-hander’s average fastball velocity is down to a career-worst 89.3 mph, and he’s averaging a career-high 4.18 walks and 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched. Beyond that, Teheran’s chase rate and swinging-strike rate are down from his career levels, and he’s benefiting from a .225 BABIP and an 80.4 percent strand rate. Fielding-independent metrics like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all peg Teheran around 5.00 or higher.
[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves depth chart]
It’s not clear how long Teheran will miss, though there’s no indication that he’s expected to be out for a prolonged period. With off-days on June 7 and 11, the Braves can skip the fifth spot in their rotation and stick with current starters Sean Newcomb, Mike Foltynewicz, Brandon McCarthy and Anibal Sanchez. If they have to dip into their Triple-A ranks, Matt Wisler has already made three spot starts this season and could be the first line of defense to do so again. Max Fried and Lucas Sims are also starting in Triple-A and are on the 40-man roster, though they’ve been used primarily out of the ‘pen in the Majors so far in 2018.
As for Jackson, this’ll be the third time he’s been selected to the team’s 40-man roster this season. Atlanta has already outrighted Jackson on two occasions, but he’s stuck with the organization and will now embark on his third stint with the Major League team in 2018. The 26-year-old has surrendered two runs in 1 1/3 innings at the MLB level so far and posted a 4.62 ERA in 50 2/3 innings for the Braves last year. In 21 1/3 Triple-A frames so far in 2018, he’s pitched to a pristine 1.69 ERA with 34 strikeouts against 10 walks.
Rangers Release Tim Lincecum
The Rangers have granted right-hander Tim Lincecum his release, as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan was among those to tweet. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first broke the news that the team had decided not to promote Lincecum to the big leagues, leaving him with the choice of accepting a Triple-A assignment or granting him his release (Twitter link).
Texas signed Lincecum to a one-year, Major League deal that came with a $1MM guarantee back in March, but blister issues slowed his path back to a mound. He’s been ramping up after missing much of the early portion of the season, but things haven’t gone especially well in Triple-A Round Rock. Lincecum has totaled 12 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, yielding eight earned runs on 14 hits and nine walks with 10 strikeouts in that time.
Now, the 33-year-old former Cy Young winner will have to explore other options as he seeks to return to the Majors for the first time since a brief, ill-fated tenure with the Angels in 2016. Lincecum endured a precipitous decline during which he saw his fastball velocity plummet before ultimately requiring a major hip surgery that has prevented him from since reestablishing himself at the big league level. He’d been working exclusively as a reliever with the Rangers organization, and it seems likely that he’ll continue on that path if he ultimately latches on with a new organization.
Rangers GM Jon Daniels had nothing but praise for the amount of effort Lincecum put into his comeback attempt, telling reporters (Twitter link via Sullivan): “Despite good intentions and a lot of hard work, we didn’t feel it was the right move to bring Tim up here.”
Indians Option Bradley Zimmer, Activate Lonnie Chisenhall
The Indians announced on Tuesday that they’ve activated outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall from the 10-day disabled list and opened a roster spot by optioning struggling center fielder Bradley Zimmer to Triple-A Columbus.
[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]
Zimmer, 25, has turned in quality contributions on the bases and in the outfield this season, but he’s had a dreadful time at the plate, batting just .226/.281/.330 with a pair of homers in 114 trips to the plate. Those struggles are largely a continuation of a poor 2017 second half for the former first-rounder. Zimmer debuted and hit .285/.339/.450 prior to the All-Star break last season before fading badly down the stretch with a .196/.275/.318 line to close out the season. Zimmer struck out at a 33.5 percent clip in the second half last season, and he’s posted an even more alarming 38.6 percent strikeout rate in 2018.
As for the 29-year-old Chisenhall, he’ll return from a calf strain that has held him out of action since landing on the disabled list way back on April 8. He’s made just 21 plate appearances this season in what is likely the most important campaign of his big league career. Chisenhall, who hit .288/.360/.521 in 270 PAs last season, is set to hit free agency for the first time following the 2018 season. While durability appears to be a legitimate concern for him, he’s been productive at the plate in three of the past four seasons and will look to rebuild his stock as best he can in the four months between now and season’s end.
Cardinals Activate Carlos Martinez, Yadier Molina
The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves today. In particular, the team has activated both ace Carlos Martinez and veteran backstop Yadier Molina from the disabled list.
Additionally, the Cards have selected the contract of righty Preston Guilmet, who had been pitching at Triple-A on a minor-league deal. To clear roster space the club designated catcher Steven Baron. Opening up active roster space meant optioning catcher Carson Kelly and righty Mike Mayers while shifting infielder Greg Garcia to the paternity list.
Though they have played well, the Cards sit in third place in a highly competitive NL Central division. They’ll gladly welcome two of their best players back into the fold.
Of added interest here is Guilmet, who had an opt-out chance on June 1st. Perhaps he and the team worked out a delay to allow these other roster situations to ripen. In any event, the 30-year-old is back in the big leagues for the first time since 2015.
Guilmet, who pitched last year, has been an absolute force thus far in 2018 at Triple-A. He has permitted just three earned runs on a paltry nine hits over 29 innings through 21 appearances. Along the way, he has issued only five walks while ringing up 35 opposing hitters on strikes.
Reds Activate Anthony DeSclafani, Release Kevin Shackelford
The Reds announced today that they have activated righty Anthony DeSclafani from the 60-day disabled list. Clearing the way for his long-awaited return, the organization optioned righty Jackson Stephens and released right-hander Kevin Shackelford.
DeSclafani’s return to action tonight represents the culmination of a lengthy rehab effort. The 28-year-old had been a noted success story for the Reds after coming over in the pre-2015 Mat Latos swap, working to a 3.74 ERA in 308 frames over his first two seasons in Cincinnati.
Successive injuries, however, put DeSclafani on the shelf. He was working back from a long absence owing to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament when he suffered an oblique strain.
In between those injuries, DeSclafani agreed to avoid arbitration with the Reds for $860K. That rate of pay obviously reflects the right-hander’s absence, but does also increase his potential value if he can get back to something approaching his prior form.
Thus far in 2018, DeSclafani has thrown 19 1/3 innings in the high minors on a rehab assignment. Though he has surrendered ten earned runs on five long balls, he’s also maintaining a healthy 22:3 K/BB ratio.
As for Shackelford, he sported an impressive 16.1% swinging-strike rate and 58.0% groundball rate in 30 2/3 MLB innings last year, though he also allowed a few too many long balls and a 4.70 ERA. But he struggled in limited action this and is now headed for elbow surgery, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter).
Mets Designate Buddy Baumann
The Mets have designated lefty Buddy Baumann for assignment, per a club announcement. Also departing the active roster is righty Gerson Bautista, who was optioned to Triple-A.
These moves will create the roster space needed for the Mets to activate Todd Frazier and Anthony Swarzak. We covered their activations from the DL earlier today.
Baumann, 30, was hit hard in his three appearances this year with the Mets. He has shown swing-and-miss ability at the game’s highest level, but has yet to fully establish himself in the majors. In 14 Triple-A innings this season, Baumann has allowed only a pair of earned runs on seven hits, with 18 strikeouts and ten walks.