Indians Place Andrew Miller On 10-Day DL, Purchase Contract Of Jeff Beliveau
The Indians have announced that star reliever Andrew Miller is heading to the 10-day DL with a strained hamstring. Replacing him on the active roster will be southpaw Jeff Beliveau, while fellow lefty Jack Leathersich was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot.
Miller suffered the injury in last night’s game. Its full severity is not yet known, so it’s also unclear how long he’ll be down. The 32-year-old has been in typically dominant form thus far in 2018, producing a 17:4 K/BB ratio in ten scoreless innings.
He’ll be replaced for the time being with Beliveau, who had joined the Cleveland organization on a minors deal over the offseason. The 31-year-old had a compelling but brief run in the Rays bullpen back in 2014 but has since been ineffective in limited opportunities at the game’s highest level.
That said, Beliveau did record 17 strikeouts in his 15 2/3 innings last year with the Blue Jays. And he was off to quite the start this year at Triple-A. In 8 2/3 frames over seven appearances, the former 18th-round pick has racked up 14 punchouts while permitting two hits, one walk, and no runs.
As for Leathersich, who was claimed from the Pirates late this spring, he has not shown well in his time at Columbus. The 27-year-old has recorded nine strikeouts and has allowed just three hits through five frames over seven appearances, but has also permitted six earned runs by virtue of issuing seven free passes.
Twins Claim David Hale
The Twins have claimed righty David Hale off waivers from the Yankees, per a club announcement. Hale will be placed onto the active roster, which will require a corresponding move.
Minnesota had just announced a pitching move, calling up Aaron Slegers after dropping Rule 5 pick Tyler Kinley. Now, they’ll have another new addition to the MLB roster, which could mean that Slegers will end up back on optional assignment.
Hale had been designated by the Yankees as part of their own staff tweaking (in that case, claiming A.J. Cole). The 30-year-old Hale turned in one scoreless outing at the MLB level this year but has spent most of the first month of the season at Triple-A, where he owns a 5.52 ERA with ten strikeouts and two walks over 14 2/3 innings.
Reds Activate Eugenio Suarez, Select Rosell Herrera
The Reds announced a series of transactions today spurred by the return of third baseman Eugenio Suarez from the DL. Cincinnati has also selected the contract of utilityman Rosell Herrera and optioned outfielder Phil Ervin and infielder Cliff Pennington to open active roster space.
Suarez had been rehabbing a fractured thumb that put him on the shelf after just eight games of action. He’ll look to pick up where he left off after opening the season on a .296/.424/.630 tear after signing a long-term extension over the winter.
Also coming to the MLB roster is Herrera, a 25-year-old switch-hitter who once rated as a significant prospect with the Rockies. He’ll get his first shot at the majors after joining the Reds organization on a minors deal last fall. Herrera was off to a strong start at Triple-A, posting a .311/.373/.607 slash in 68 plate appearances.
Ervin and Pennington will head down to Louisville while holding onto their 40-man spots for the time being. The former has been viewed as a quality prospect in the past but will need to wait for another opportunity after struggling with his brief chance this year. As for Pennington, who limped out of the gates after being added to the roster out of camp, it’s not immediately clear whether he has accepted the assignment. An 11-year MLB veteran, he’d have the right instead to choose free agency.
Twins Designate Tyler Kinley
The Twins announced after tonight’s game that they will designate righty Tyler Kinley for assignment, as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to report on Twitter. A corresponding move has yet to be announced.
Kinley, 27, received his first shot at the majors after being plucked from the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft over the offseason. He’ll now be offered back to the Miami organization if he clears waivers.
The Twins have not utilized Kinley much to open the year, and for good reason. In his 3 1/3 innings, he has allowed nine earned runs on nine hits while recording as many walks as strikeouts (four apiece).
Though he’s sitting at nearly 97 mph with his average fastball and keeping a decent 10.8% swinging-strike rate, Kinley has surrendered a .538 batting average on balls in play. While that would surely have trended down over time, it’s also not a complete aberration given that he has allowed hard contact at a whopping 73.3% clip.
Outrighted: Quackenbush, Adams, Brothers, Ravin
Here are the latest players to be outrighted off of their teams’ 40-man rosters:
- The Reds announced that righty Kevin Quackenbush has been outrighted after clearing waivers following a recent DFA. The veteran could have elected free agency but has instead decided to remain in the Cincinnati organization, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. Quackenbush did not produce a very appealing stat line during his ten appearances with the Reds. He surrendered 11 earned runs, with a 7:6 K/BB ratio, in just nine innings of action. In over two hundred career innings at the game’s highest level, Quackenbush carries a 4.38 ERA.
- Outfielder Lane Adams and relievers Rex Brothers and Josh Ravin were all outrighted by the Braves, the club says. Both Adams and Ravin had recently been designated for assignment, so had already been removed from the 40-man. As for Brothers, a 30-year-old southpaw, he’ll lose his spot after a rough start to the season. He has issued eight walks in his six Triple-A frames — an area that has long been a challenge — and does not appear to be in the team’s immediate plans. The Braves will pay Brothers at a lesser rate in the minors under the split contract he agreed to last fall. Adams, who has been productive in limited action at the MLB level over the past two years, will remain on hand as an outfield depth piece. Ravin, who was claimed over the winter, will likely be among the first pitchers considered if a bullpen need arises.
Indians Sign Melky Cabrera
WEDNESDAY: The signing is now official. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), the contract allows Cabrera to earn $100K at 200 MLB plate appearances and then $150K apiece if he can make it to 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and/or 500 trips to the dish. The opt-out date is June 1st.
TUESDAY: Cabrera can earn at a $1MM annual rate and achieve up to another million in incentives, on Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. There’s an opt-out date as well, though full details remain unreported.
MONDAY: The Indians have reportedly agreed to a minor-league deal with veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera. Tenchy Rodriguez of ESPN Deportes Radio first tweeted the news.
Cabrera, 33, went unsigned over the just-completed offseason after a poor finish to his 2017 campaign with the Royals. But he had been an above-average offensive performer in the first half of the season and ended with an overall .285/.324/.423 slash line and 17 home runs for the year.
The switch-hitting Cabrera has turned in quality output at times with the bat, with approximately equal success against both left- and right-handed pitching, though he has rarely strung together good seasons in succession. In his thirteen total seasons at the game’s highest level, he carries a cumulative .286/.335/.418 batting line with 131 home runs. Cabrera has never been regarded highly for his glovework, though, and has also graded poorly on the bases in recent seasons.
Despite the inconsistencies, Cabrera’s most recent contract prior to this one paid him rather handsomely. On the heels of a quality 2014 effort with the Blue Jays, he inked a three-year, $42MM deal with the White Sox.
For the Indians, there’s little risk in giving Cabrera a shot at rediscovering his offensive form. While the club is pacing the AL Central, they have just three players currently sporting above-average overall work at the plate. Cabrera could provide an option as a DH or in the corner outfield, though he’ll surely need some time ramping up before he’ll be ready to join the MLB roster.
Athletics Acquire Wilmer Font
The Athletics have acquired righty Wilmer Font from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. Lefty Logan Salow will head to Los Angeles in return.
Font is out of options, so he’ll need to be added to the active roster by the A’s. He cracked the Dodgers pen to open the 2018 season but was knocked around early. Thus far in 2018, opponents have scored 13 earned runs and cracked five home runs in Font’s 10 1/3 innings of work.
That said, Font is an interesting player to take a risk on. He was lights out as a starter last year at Triple-A, carrying a 3.42 ERA with 11.9 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. The A’s will hope that Font can rediscover the form that produced those results and convert it into MLB production.
Salow was a sixth-round pick in last year’s draft who showed some swing and miss, but also some command struggles, in his first two dozen innings as a professional. The southpaw has shown well out of the gates at the Class A level in 2018, allowing just one earned run on one hit and two walks while compiling eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Rays To Select Contract Of Jonny Venters
The Rays are set to select the contract of left-handed reliever Jonny Venters from Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). It’ll be the first appearance in the Majors for Venters since way back in 2012. The lefty was a star setup man for the Braves before injuries decimated a promising career. As Topkin notes, Venters has had three Tommy John surgeries in his career — two since his Braves days — as well as a “reattachment” procedure in 2016.
Now 33 years of age, Venters burst onto the scene with the 2010 Braves, working to a combined 1.89 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and roughly 70 percent ground-ball rate in his first two big league seasons. Venters’ results took a step back in 2012, though he still turned in a strong 3.22 ERA with similar K/BB numbers and slightly diminished ground-ball tendencies in 58 2/3 innings before going down with injury.
Venters didn’t pitch with any team’s minor league affiliate from 2013-15 and tossed just 27 2/3 innings in rehab stints over the past two seasons. He’s allowed a run on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings thus far in Triple-A Durham.
Tampa Bay has an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no 40-man move will need to be made to accommodate Venters’ promotion. Righty Hunter Wood will be optioned to Triple-A to clear a spot on the 25-man roster, per Topkin. Venters will join Jose Alvardo and Ryan Yarbrough as left-handed options in manager Kevin Cash’s bullpen for the time being.
Mariners Outright Dario Alvarez
The Mariners announced that lefty Dario Alvarez has cleared waivers and been sent outright off the 40-man roster. Seattle had claimed Alvarez off waivers from the Cubs late in Spring Training.
Alvarez was already pitching for the club’s Triple-A affiliate and will remain there, as the club didn’t announce a corresponding move. The outright, then, was likely little more than a matter of timing. With the lefty struggling considerably in Tacoma — he’s issued six walks, hit three batters and committed a balk in 6 2/3 innings — the Mariners look to have seized the moment to create some additional roster flexibility. This week’s acquisition of Roenis Elias may have contributed to the move as well; had they outrighted Alvarez earlier, they’d have been without any lefty relief options on the 40-man roster in the upper minors.
The 29-year-old Alvarez is a veteran of parts of four big league seasons, during which time he’s pitched to a 5.06 ERA with terrific strikeout numbers (11.4 K/9) against some control issues (4.1 BB/9, 1.88 HR/9) in a total of 48 innings. He’ll continue to serve as a depth piece for the Mariners, should the need arise, though Elias has clearly leapfrogged him on the depth chart.
Seattle’s 40-man roster is currently at a total of 38 players, so there’s room for the M’s to make some additions — be they internal adds to the 40-man or some claims on the waiver wire.
Dodgers Select Contract Of Daniel Hudson, Option Walker Buehler
6:29pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets that the expectation is that Buehler will return to the club Saturday and serve as 26th man in the Dodgers’ doubleheader against the Giants, starting one of the two games.
5:41pm: The Dodgers announced tonight that they’ve added veteran right-hander Daniel Hudson to the 40-man roster and brought him up to the Majors. Top prospect Walker Buehler, who tossed five shutout innings for the Dodgers yesterday, was optioned to clear a spot on the 25-man roster. Los Angeles had 39 players on its 40-man roster prior to adding Hudson, so no corresponding 40-man move was necessary.
The veteran Hudson joined the Dodgers on a minor league pact back on April 2 after being cut loose by the Rays at the end of Spring Training. Tampa Bay will be responsible for paying the bulk of Hudson’s $5.5MM salary, with the Dodgers owing him only the pro-rated league minimum for time spent on the big league roster.
Hudson, 31, is coming off a mediocre season with the Pirates, during which he totaled 61 2/3 innings and averaged 9.6 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 with 1.0 HR/9 en route to a 4.38 ERA. He’s demonstrated impressive velocity since moving to the bullpen after his second Tommy John surgery, and while Hudson has shown flashes of brilliance over the past three seasons, the aggregate results have been fairly pedestrian.
Hudson opened the season with 4 2/3 shutout innings early in Triple-A, and the Dodgers will hope to catch lightning in a bottle with him in similar fashion to the manner in which they struck gold on Brandon Morrow last year. Of course, L.A. isn’t shy about quick roster turnover, so if another roster need arises, it’s also possible that Hudson’s stay with the team will be an abbreviated one.
[Related: Los Angeles Dodgers depth chart]
Buehler, 23, will head back to the minors and continue to work in the rotation, though it stands to reason that he’ll likely be back with the Dodgers later this year. The former first-rounder (24th, 2015) is generally regarded as one of the game’s elite pitching prospects but still has just a total of 36 innings at the Triple-A level under his belt (in addition to 14 1/3 MLB frames). Rich Hill tossed a four-inning simulated game today and will rejoin the rotation Monday (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times) so there’s no long-term spot in the rotation for Buehler to occupy. When Hill returns, he’ll join Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda in the starting five.