Mariners Designate Taylor Motter
The Mariners have designated infielder Taylor Motter for assignment, the team announced. His 40-man roster spot will go to catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann, whom they selected from Triple-A Tacoma.
Motter has been with the Mariners organization since they acquired him from the Rays in November 2016, though he may now be on his way to another franchise. With one minor league option remaining, a club could acquire Motter in a trade or via waivers and use him as depth.
The 28-year-old Motter hasn’t impressed offensively since debuting in 2016, having recorded a .198/.269/.326 line in 390 trips to the plate. Motter brings defensive versatility, though, with major league experience at every position but catcher (including one appearance as a pitcher).
Kris Medlen Retires
Veteran right-hander Kris Medlen has retired, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports. He had been pitching in the minors with the Diamondbacks organization.
The 32-year-old Medlen only spent a few months with the Diamondbacks, who signed him to a minor league deal in January. He eventually worked his way back to the majors, earning a start in early May as the Diamondbacks dealt with injuries to Robbie Ray and Taijuan Walker. That May 4 outing didn’t go well for Medlen, who allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and four walks (with four strikeouts) across four frames in a loss to the reigning World Series champion Astros. Arizona then optioned Medlen to Triple-A, where he spent the final few weeks of his career.
Even though his last season didn’t go well, Medlen enjoyed an accomplished big league career. The California native went in the 10th round of the 2006 draft to the Braves, who initially used him solely out of the bullpen before he later worked as both a starter and a reliever with the club. Medlen debuted in Atlanta in 2009 and went on to turn in 512 2/3 innings of 2.95 ERA ball with the team through 2013, also notching 7.62 K/9, 2.12 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent groundball rate over 152 appearances (61 starts).
While Medlen offered high-end production in Atlanta, his arm health began to deteriorate with the club. Medlen missed the majority of the 2011 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, which proved to the first of two TJ procedures he’d undergo in his career. Medlen went back under the knife prior to the 2014 campaign, bringing about the end of his first Braves tenure.
The Royals took a flyer on Medlen in the wake of his second surgery, inking him to a two-year deal, but he wasn’t able to regain his old form in Kansas City. However, in the better of those years – 2015 – Medlen pitched to a respectable 4.01 ERA over 58 1/3 innings (15 appearances, eight starts) and was part of the Royals’ first World Series-winning team since 1985. Neither Medlen nor the Royals could replicate that success the next season, leading him to exit and reunite with the Braves on a minor league deal entering the 2017 campaign. Medlen didn’t return to the majors with the Braves, instead spending the season primarily with their Triple-A affiliate.
Unfortunately, thanks to injuries, Medlen’s career didn’t reach the heights it could have. Nevertheless, he still registered a more-than-respectable 3.33 ERA in 599 1/3 major league frames. MLBTR wishes Medlen the best in retirement.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mariners Select Chris Herrmann
The Mariners have selected catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann from Triple-A, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. The club sent fellow catcher David Freitas to Triple-A in a corresponding 25-man move, though the Mariners will still need to create a 40-man spot for Herrmann.
The 30-year-old Herrmann is in the Mariners’ starting lineup Sunday, which will be his first major league action of the season. He previously played in the majors with the Twins (2012-15) and Diamondbacks (2016-17), combining for a .202/.278/.344 line in 811 plate appearances. Herrmann remained with the D-backs organization through the offseason, but they released him in late March and he quickly hooked on with the Mariners on a minors pact.
Herrmann earned his promotion to the Mariners with a solid offensive showing in Tacoma, where he opened 2018 with a .266/.424/.444 line and six home runs across 177 PAs in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Freitas fared decently at the MLB level, meanwhile, with a .217/.321/.304 slash in 55 trips to the plate. But for now, he’ll cede the role of Mike Zunino‘s backup to Herrmann.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/27/18
Keeping track of Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball…
- The Yankees have outrighted left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Double-A, per a team announcement. Bollinger had a short stint with the Yankees, who selected his contract in time for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers and then optioned him afterward. The well-traveled 27-year-old will continue in Trenton, where he has logged 20 innings this season and posted a microscopic ERA (.90) with 5.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9.
Indians Place Andrew Miller On 10-Day DL
According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Indians lefty Andrew Miller is headed back to the DL with right knee inflammation. It’s the same knee issue that caused him problems last year, which is surely incredibly disheartening news to a Cleveland ballclub whose bullpen situation just seems to keep getting worse. For the time being, the Indians have recalled right-hander Evan Marshall from Triple-A Columbus.
A separate tweet from Bastian reveals that the knee has been an underlying issue “the entire time” this season, according to manager Terry Francona. That could be considered good news in the sense that it helps explain Miller’s uncharacteristic struggles this season (he’s pitched to a 4.40 ERA this season, which would be his career high as a full-time reliever). However, it’s obviously deeply concerning news considering the Tribe’s desperate need for Miller to put his health issues behind him and help shore up a bullpen with a 6.23 ERA on the season.
Though Miller’s 14.44 K/9 is right in line with his marks in recent years, it’s his 6.28 BB/9 that stands out as an alarming red flag. That’s more than double his full-season mark in any of the past four years. There’s currently no timetable for his return, but it seems likely that the Indians will proceed with extreme caution considering Miller’s value to the club in the postseason. Despite having a sub-.500 record, Cleveland is currently leading the AL Central and is considered a strong favorite to win the division for the third consecutive year.
Cubs Designate Efren Navarro, Select Chris Gimenez
The Cubs have designated outfielder Efren Navarro for assignment, tweets Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. In his stead, the club has selected the contract of catcher Chris Gimenez. Fellow catcher Victor Caratini has been optioned to Triple-A Iowa in a related move.
The move probably isn’t related to the performance of Caratini (though he’s hardly lighting the world on fire with his .264/.304/.308 batting line) as much as it is to the contract situation of Gimenez. As Muskat notes in a separate tweet, the latter had an opt-out clause in his contract that he could have used if he wasn’t on the big league roster by June 1st. Navarro, then, may simply be a casualty created by the Cubs’ desire to preserve their catching depth.
Navarro’s actually played in parts of six seasons with the Angels, Tigers and Cubs, though he’s amassed just 355 plate appearances and posted a meager 77 wRC+ during that time. That’s obviously not particularly impressive, but even a 0.4 fWAR career to date is probably better than odds would suggest for a 50th round draft pick.
Gimenez, meanwhile, is an interesting add to the MLB roster if only for his relationship with struggling ace Yu Darvish. The two played together for the Rangers during parts of two seasons, and have a close relationship with each other. Perhaps working with Gimenez could go a little ways towards helping Darvish get back on track, though that’s obviously a largely intangible factor.
Indians Designate Oliver Drake, Recall Ben Taylor
Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets that the Indians have designated right-handed reliever Oliver Drake for assignment and recalled fellow righty Ben Taylor from Triple-A to take his roster spot. Drake was charged with six earned runs in last night’s game against the Astros.
It’s the latest turn in the revolving door that’s been the Indians’ bullpen this season as they desperately search for lightning in a bottle to stabilize their relief corps. The Tribe’s bullpen currently ranks dead last in baseball with a 6.23 ERA, and have suffered many a loss at the hands of relievers who simply can’t seem to preserve leads for their stellar starting rotation. Last night’s loss may have been one of the most disheartening yet, as Indians fans watched Corey Kluber shut out Houston over 6 1/3 strong innings only to groan later as a five different relievers combined to allow four earned runs in the eighth inning and seven more in the ninth.
For Drake’s part in that nightmare, he allowed base hits to five Astros and beaned one more. All six of those players crossed the plate, and Drake managed to record just two outs. He’d been generally good for the Indians in three appearances prior to that, striking out four batters in 3 2/3 innings after being acquired from the Orioles. It’s worth noting that in his four appearances as an Indian, he owns a 12.46 ERA but a 2.65 FIP (though the microscopic sample size probably renders those numbers somewhat pointless).
As for Taylor, he’ll be up for his second stint with the Indians, having allowed just a single earned run in 3 1/3 innings so far this season while striking out five of the 13 hitters he faced. Prior to this season, Taylor had spent his entire career in the Red Sox organization. On the whole, he owns a 4.79 ERA and 4.26 FIP for his career across 20 2/3 innings.
Cardinals Activate Tyler Lyons, Carson Kelly; Place Greg Holland On DL
The Cardinals have made several injury-related moves, activating lefty reliever Tyler Lyons and catcher Carson Kelly while simultaneously moving righty reliever Greg Holland to the 10-day DL. The club also optioned catcher Steven Baron to Triple-A Memphis in a related move.
There’s no word yet as to the nature of Holland’s injury, though he’s certainly dealing with some swelling in his ERA and walk rate. On the season, those figures stand at 9.45 and 10.15, respectively. While he’s been unfortunate in the BABIP department (.388), there’s no arguing that Holland’s pitching has been astonishingly poor; the Cardinals are surely disappointed in the early returns on his one-year, $14MM contract. On the bright side, perhaps an extended rehab stint in the minors will allow Holland to get back on track.
The swap of Holland for Lyons, then, can probably be considered somewhat of a boost to the Cards’ bullpen. Though Lyons’ surface results don’t look much better (6.17 ERA), his strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.40) looks much less disastrous than that of his right-handed counterpart. Lyons emerged as a dominant left-hander for St. Louis last season, striking out 11.33 batters per nine innings en route to a 2.83 ERA.
Kelly’s return is welcome news for a Cardinals ballclub that’s been missing both he and feature backstop Yadier Molina all week. Formerly a highly-regarded catching prospect, Kelly hasn’t yet lived up to his billing. He’s hit just .160/.222/.200 across 108 plate appearances in the major leagues. He’ll likely see plenty of playing time as long as Molina remains out, though, so perhaps this is his chance to turn his offensive reputation around.
Injury Notes: Gomez, Sanchez, Marte, Bird, Prado
Rays outfielder Carlos Gomez has been activated from the 10-day disabled list; he’d been sidelined since May 16th with a strained groin. The injury was thought to be minor at the time, and the fact that Gomez missed only the ten-day minimum leaves little room to doubt his health at this time. That doesn’t mean his performance comes without questions, though, as the veteran is slashing just .200/.252/.345 on the season. No corresponding move was required for Tampa Bay, as their roster was two men short following yesterday’s surprising trade with Seattle.
And now a flurry of other injury-related items from around the league…
- David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggests that Anibal Sanchez could be the Braves‘ starter on Tuesday following a successful rehab start on Friday. Mark Bowman of MLB.com takes it a step further by quoting manager Brian Snitker, who reportedly said that Sanchez is indeed penciled in to start Tuesday’s game. Sanchez has a 1.29 ERA in three appearances (two starts) on the season.
- Adam Berry of MLB.com writes that Starling Marte will be activated from the DL by the Pirates today if he reports to the ballpark feeling ready to play. It’d be a remarkably quick return for the 29-year-old outfielder, who has been sidelined with an oblique injury. Injuries of that type have a reputation for lingering and causing players to miss extended time. One has to wonder what Marte’s potential activation would mean for the red-hot Austin Meadows, who’s managed more homers in the big leagues thus far (3) than strikeouts (2).
- The Yankees have reinstated first baseman Greg Bird from the disabled list, optioning infielder Ronald Torreyes to Triple-A in a corresponding move. Marc Carig of The Athletic notes that the move makes plenty of sense considering the versatility of Gleyber Torres and the fact that a removal of Neil Walker from the roster isn’t reversible. Bird entered the season with plenty of hype surrounding him, but has yet to make his 2018 debut thanks to right foot surgery.
- In a move that was widely expected, the Marlins placed Martin Prado (hamstring) on the 10-day DL today, recalling J.T. Riddle from Triple-A to take his place on the roster. It’s the latest in an unfortunate series of injuries for the formerly-durable Prado, who made only 147 trips to the plate last year following eight straight seasons with at least 500 PA.
Twins Release Brock Stassi
The Twins have released first baseman/outfielder Brock Stassi, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). His roster spot at Triple-A Rochester will got to just-acquired slugger Chris Carter.
Stassi, 28, crafted a nice story when he earned a roster spot out of camp with the Phillies last year. But he failed to succeed in his first crack at the big leagues, slashing just .167/.278/.295 in his ninety plate appearances. On the positive side, Stassi drew a dozen walks to go with his 22 strikeouts.
The left-handed hitter had wielded quite a productive bat in the upper minors prior to his first taste of the majors. But he fell off badly upon returning to Triple-A last year and has carried that poor performance into 2018. Since signing on with the Minnesota organization, Stassi carries only a .211/.316/.316 slash in 133 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.