Yankees Acquire Cody Asche
The Yankees have acquired infielder/outfielder Cody Asche from the Royals, per a club announcement. Cash or a player to be named later will head to Kansas City in return.
Asche had joined the Royals organization on a minors deal over the offseason. He was expected to provide a depth option there but will instead do so for the New York organization after today’s swap.
The former Phillies prospect has certainly had his chances in the majors, but carries only a .234/.293/.376 batting line over 1,349 plate appearances in his career. He did hit well last year at Triple-A, though, and performed well this spring with a .269/.412/.500 slash.
Trevor Rosenthal Does Not Expect To Sign For 2018 Season
After reporting this morning that the Marlins had agreed to a deal with right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reversed his initial report upon being informed by agent Scott Boras that no deal was in place. (Twitter links.) Indeed, to the contrary, Boras says that Rosenthal does not plan to sign a contract at all for the coming season.
It seems that Rosenthal, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, had been weighing an offer from Miami that would have allowed him to complete his rehab and potentially return later in the 2018 season. Per the initial report, Rosenthal would have earned at the league-minimum rate in both the minors and majors for any active time in the current season.
Importantly, it was unclear whether the prospective contract was a minor-league deal or a split major-league deal. In the latter situation, presumably, Rosenthal would have earned MLB service time while on the disabled list. Whatever the case, Brian Stull of St. Louis Baseball Weekly reported (Twitter link) that the Cardinals made a “similar offer,” so there were evidently multiple teams in pursuit.
Instead, Rosenthal expects to complete his rehab and showcase for the teams in the 2018-19 offseason. It seems, then, that he’ll follow the course taken previously by Greg Holland, another Boras client. Holland underwent Tommy John surgery late in the 2015 season, much as Rosenthal did a year ago. He ended up waiting until early in 2017 to sign a deal that allowed him to earn good money for the coming season and then return to the open market thereafter.
There were, of course, alternatives. Many recovering TJ patients have found guaranteed money on the open market. Drew Smyly and Michael Pineda recently took down $10MM guarantees on two-year deals, despite the expectation that both will miss most or all of the 2018 campaign. Nathan Eovaldi was promised $4MM in the prior offseason. Relievers have similarly inked two-year arrangements in prior years, with Luke Hochevar and Eric O’Flaherty representing examples (though in both cases, their rehab timelines led to expectations of significant availability in the first season of the contract).
When the now-discarded report came through this morning, though, it seemed that there were two other possibilities. Because Rosenthal currently has just over five years of MLB service, he’d remain eligible for arbitration in 2019 even if he returned late in the season. Had he joined the Miami organization on a minors pact, then, the club would effectively have picked up an option. Rosenthal had projected to earn $7.9MM in his final season of eligibility, which isn’t exactly cheap but would also be quite an appealing price tag if he can regain his former form.
Of course, Boras no doubt anticipates there could be quite a bit more earning power for a pitcher who is still just 27 years of age. Thus, it seemed possible that Rosenthal could have inked a split MLB contract. In that case, he’d have gone onto the major-league DL, where he could have accrued enough service time to qualify for free agency at the end of the campaign while also having a shot at showcasing at the MLB level late in 2018. Only the possibility of a qualifying offer — unlikely, perhaps, to be issued by a budget-conscious Marlins organization — would have clouded Rosenthal’s future open-market status. Whether or not such an arrangement would have passed muster with league and union officials, perhaps, is an open (and thus-far hypothetical) question.
In any event, that’s all academic at this point. It now seems Rosenthal will work back to full strength before he goes after his next contract. Given his age and track record, it’s conceivable that he could end up even seeking a longer-term deal than the one Holland initially signed with the Rockies.
There certainly seems to be reason to hope that Rosenthal can again be a premium relief asset. Long a quality late-inning arm, he struggled quite a bit in 2016 but bounced back last season. In his 47 2/3 innings in 2017, Rosenthal pitched to a 3.40 ERA with a career-high 14.3 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. He worked at 98.8 with his average heater and generated a 15.9% swinging-strike rate — both also personal bests, the latter by quite a significant margin over his career average.
Dodgers Designate Jesus Liranzo For Assignment
The Dodgers announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Zach Neal from Triple-A Oklahoma City and designated just-acquired right-hander Jesus Liranzo for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Righty Josh Fields was placed on the paternity list to open a spot for Neal on the active roster.
The 23-year-old Liranzo has yet to appear at the Major League level, although Baseball America ranked him 19th among Orioles farmhands this offseason. Liranzo isn’t lacking for velocity and has the upside of a quality bullpen piece, but he’s struggled with control throughout his pro career, including last season when he averaged six walks per nine innings pitched and posted an unsightly 4.85 ERA in 65 Double-A innings with the Orioles’ Bowie affiliate.
[Related: Updated Los Angeles Dodgers depth chart]
Los Angeles only just added Liranzo in exchange for minor league left-hander Luis Ysla. It seems that their hope is that Liranzo will clear waivers and remain with the organization, though that’s hardly a given.
Neal, meanwhile, tossed 84 2/3 frames for the A’s from 2016-17, working to a 4.89 ERA with just 3.9 K/9 against a pristine 0.7 BB/9 and a 50.8 percent ground-ball rate. Neal barely averages 90 mph on his fastball, but he’s posted superlative walk rates throughout the minors, helping to compensate for his lack of missed bats. Opponents have had trouble squaring the ball up against Neal as well, as can be seen with a 26.6 percent hard-contact rate that falls well south of the league-average 31.6 percent across the past two seasons.
Angels Acquire Akeel Morris, Designate Troy Scribner
The Angels announced on Tuesday that they’ve acquired righty Akeel Morris from the Braves in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Atlanta designated Morris for assignment over the weekend. In order to clear a spot for Morris on the 40-man roster, the Angels designated right-hander Troy Scribner for assignment.
[Related: Updated Los Angeles Angels depth chart]
Initially a 10th-round pick of the Mets back in the 2010 draft, the now-25-year-old Morris overpowered hitters in the lower levels of the minors, posting gaudy strikeout totals that helped to overshadow some glaring control issues. He quickly shot up the Mets’ prospect rankings, ranking 19th and 22nd among Mets farmhands in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 offseasons, respectively. The Braves picked him up in the 2016 trade that sent Kelly Johnson to New York in what looked to be a surprisingly solid return for Johnson at the time.
Morris has continued to post solid numbers in the upper levels of the minors, as evidenced by last season’s 3.09 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and 32 percent ground-ball rate in 46 innings of Triple-A ball. The St. Thomas native also tossed 7 1/3 innings with the Braves’ big league club in 2017, allowing just a run on six hits and four walks with nine punchouts while averaging 93.1 mph on his heater. Morris is in his final option year, so the Angels will be able to shuffle him back and forth between Triple-A Salt Lake and Anaheim as they see fit this season.
As for Scribner, the 26-year-old made his own big league debut last season, pitching to a 4.18 ERA with an 18-to-10 K/BB ratio in 23 innings for the Halos. Unlike Morris, Scribner has worked primarily as a starter in the minors, spending the bulk of the 2017 season in Salt Lake, where he notched a 4.35 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 with a 36.6 percent grounder rate in 103 1/3 innings of work. The former Astros farmhand, whom the Angels acquired in March 2017 in exchange for cash, still has multiple minor league options remaining, which should enhance his appeal to clubs that are thin on rotation depth in the upper minors.
Yankees Claim Trayce Thompson
The Yankees announced that they’ve claimed outfielder Trayce Thompson off waivers from the Dodgers. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, New York transferred righty Ben Heller from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. The Dodgers had designated Thompson for assignment last week.
Thompson, 27, gives the Yankees some outfield depth with each of Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier and Billy McKinney currently on the disabled list. The brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, Trayce has spent the past two seasons with the Dodgers organization after being acquired from the White Sox in the three-team trade that sent Todd Frazier from Cincinnati to Chicago.
[Related: Updated New York Yankees depth chart]
While Thompson logged a respectable .249/.322/.469 slash through his first 397 plate appearances between the Sox and Dodgers, he struggled to a .122/.218/.265 line in a tiny sample of 55 PAs last year in the Majors. His struggles weren’t confined to the big leagues, either; in 369 plate appearances in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League, he hit just .212/.269/.363.
Thompson will give the Yankees a player who can handle all three outfield spots and has had some success both in the Majors and at Triple-A, even in light of his 2017 struggles. It remains to be seen if he can stick with the Yankees in the long term, however. He’s out of minor league options, so when some combination of Hicks, Ellsbury, Frazier and McKinney comes off the DL, it’s possible that Thompson could again find himself exposed to waivers.
Mets Place Anthony Swarzak On 10-Day DL
3:27pm: Swarzak tells reporters that he’s been diagnosed with a “mild to moderate” oblique strain (Twitter link, with video, via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo). Doctors have informed him that a best-case scenario would be a return in “a few weeks.”
8:21am: The Mets have placed righty Anthony Swarzak on the 10-day DL, according to the MLB.com transactions page (h/t James Wagner of the New York Times, on Twitter). The official cause of the placement is a “sore left oblique.”
[Related: Updated New York Mets depth chart]
While oblique injuries can be tricky, it’s notable that this one has — to this point — only been identified as soreness, rather than a strain. The Mets will no doubt exercise care in bringing Swarzak along, but perhaps his recent MRI gave cause for optimism despite the DL placement. Of course, that’s all guesswork at this point; presumably the club will provide further information later today.
Swarzak joined the Mets on a two-year, $14MM contract over the winter, following a breakout 2017 season in which he tossed 77 1/3 innings of 2.33 ERA ball. The plan was to plug him into a high-leverage role along with fellow righties Jeurys Familia and A.J. Ramos.
For now, though, Swarzak will rest up while the Mets turn to a familiar face in Hansel Robles, who was recalled to take the open roster spot. Robles was a key part of the relief corps over the past three seasons, but stumbled in 2017. He had opened the current season on optional assignment.
Giants To Sign Jordan Schafer
The Giants have agreed to a minor-league pact with lefty Jordan Schafer, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Particulars of the agreement are not yet known.
Schafer, a former MLB outfielder, has been trying to carve out a new niche as a reliever that can, perhaps, also provide some function in the field and on the bases. He turned in a reasonably promising showing in the upper minors with the Dodgers organization in 2016, working to a 3.83 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 49 1/3 innings.
Heading into the 2017 campaign, Schafer joined the Cardinals organization in hopes of competing for a MLB job. But he ultimately required a primary repair procedure to address damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, costing him the entire season.
Schafer returned to the Cards for camp this spring, but never got much of a chance on the majors side. He was tagged for seven earned runs and recorded just two outs in his two Grapefruit League appearances.
Vance Worley Opts Out Of Reds Contract
Righty Vance Worley has exercised the opt-out clause in his contract with the Reds, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). He had inked a minors deal with the Cincinnati organization in January that would have paid him $1.5MM in the majors.
Worley, 30, had fought for a role on the Reds staff this spring but did not crack the active roster. The eight-year MLB veteran surrendered eight earned runs on 17 hits in his 11 2/3 Cactus League innings.
Once a starter with the Phillies, Twins, and Pirates, Worley has functioned mostly as a long man and fill-in starter over the past three seasons. While he doesn’t get many swings and misses, he typically draws a solid number of groundballs and has been effective at times, as his career 4.09 ERA over 667 innings attests.
Of course, Worley is coming off of a less-than-effective campaign with the Marlins in which he coughed up 6.91 earned per nine. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest poor fortune — including a 64.5% strand rate, .378 BABIP, and significant spread in batted ball outcomes (.363 xwOBA vs. .396 wOBA) — but perhaps also not much reason to expect Worley to be more than a useful depth asset to have on hand.
Rangers Sign Cameron Rupp
The Rangers have inked catcher Cameron Rupp to a minor-league deal, per a club announcement. He’ll head to Triple-A for now but can earn at a $1MM annual rate in the majors, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. Rupp is already receiving just over half a million dollars from the Phillies after he was released from his arbitration deal late this spring.
It’s not surprising to see this match, which made sense on paper and was previously suggested to be of actual interest to the Texas organization. If anything, it had seemed possible that Rupp might command a major-league roster spot upon signing, but he’ll instead settle for a minor-league placement that seems to leave him a good shot at making his way back to the majors before long.
Rupp, 29, has been a heavily used and plenty useful MLB backstop for the past three seasons. He’s not much of an on-base threat with the bat, but has good power and has carried an 86 wRC+ and swatted 39 home runs through 1,127 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.
Of course, offense isn’t everything, particularly for a catcher. Rupp had received roughly average framing grades before he turned southward in 2017. He has been solid in controlling the running game and handling balls in the dirt.
Rupp will be hoping to displace Juan Centeno as the second receiver in Texas. Centeno has a thinner track record in the big leagues, though he does offer some added platoon possibilities as a left-handed hitter. It certainly would not be surprising to see Rupp join starter Robinson Chirinos on the Rangers roster in relatively short order.
Padres To Select Contract Of Tyson Ross
The Padres will select the contract of veteran righty Tyson Ross in time for him to start today’s contest, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports on Twitter. He joined the team on a minors deal over the winter.
Ross had been reassigned to open the season, but was expected to join the MLB roster in short order once he was needed to make a start. He’ll earn a $1.75MM base salary and can also achieve up to $4.25MM in incentive pay that accrues with every fifth start.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether Ross can rediscover the form that made him such an effective hurler for the Padres in his original run with the organization. Injuries have intervened, of course, and Ross was markedly ineffective (7.71 ERA, 36 K, 37 BB) in his 49 MLB innings last year while maintaining career-low velocity readings on his four- and two-seam fastballs.
That said, Ross had quite a strong track record before his shoulder problems began. And reports were fairly promising this spring. Ross allowed five earned on ten hits in his 15 Cactus League innings, with an 11:6 K/BB ratio.