Nationals Release Ryan Raburn
According to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, Ryan Raburn was seen shaking hands with teammates and walking out of the clubhouse with a duffel bag. This likely means that the Nationals have elected to release him rather than add him to the major league roster or pay him a $100K retention bonus.
Washington re-signed Raburn to a minor-league pact after he hit .262/.304/.431 last year across 69 plate appearances. He logged just 69 plate appearances due to a strained trapezius in his age-36 season while playing average defense in the outfield.
Used largely in a platoon capacity as a lefty-crusher over the past six seasons, Raburn has managed a wRC+ as high as 153 (with the Indians in 2015) while being mostly shielded against right-handers. Raburn had told his teammates he was likely to retire if he didn’t make the team, so a .080/.179/.259 showing in camp has likely put a fork in a career as a slugger that struck fear in the hearts of opposing left-handed pitchers.
Tigers Release Alexi Amarista
The Tigers have granted infielder Alexi Amarista his unconditional release, the team’s PR account has tweeted. According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, Amarista had said just yesterday that he’d wait until the end of camp before “weighing his options”, but something seems to have changed in the past 24 hours or so. The 28-year-old had signed a minors deal with Detroit late in January.
Amarista finished the 2017 season on the Rockies’ roster, with whom he hit just .238/.269/.351 across 176 plate appearances. While he filled in at many different positions around the diamond, defensive metrics rated him poorly at each one of them. Overall, fWAR, bWAR and WARP agree that he played about a win below replacement level, which is notable considering he accrued under a third of a season’s worth of plate appearances. As such, the club decided to pay him a $150K buyout rather than pick up his $2.5MM option.
The decision for a rebuilding Detroit club to release Amarista doesn’t come as much of a surprise. It’s likely that said decision was influenced by the desire to keep number one overall Rule 5 pick Victor Reyes on the 25-man roster. The club would also probably like to give Niko Goodrum and JaCoby Jones a chance to prove themselves at the major league level.
Amarista owns just a .231/.275/.323 slash line across career 1,901 plate appearances with the Angels, Padres and Rockies. While his bat obviously doesn’t provide any value, his ability to play both middle infield positions (in addition to third base and the outfield) has kept him working at the MLB level since his 2011 debut.
Yankees Release Wade LeBlanc
The Yankees announced today that they have released southpaw Wade LeBlanc. He had signed a minors pact in mid-January.
The 33-year-old hurler has thrown 130 innings over the past two seasons in the majors, working to a 4.15 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. He threw 13 2/3 innings over seven appearances in camp this year, allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits while posting a 10:1 K/BB ratio.
LeBlanc has long posted significant reverse platoon splits, so he’s not really a lefty matchup option, but he has 79 MLB starts under his belt and made plenty of multi-inning appearances last year. Teams weighing a signing will likely view him more as a long man or swingman option.
Cubs To Release Peter Bourjos
The Cubs will release outfielder Peter Bourjos, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (via Twitter). Chicago decided not to add him to the active roster in order to keep an additional reliever.
Soon to turn 31, the fleet-footed Bourjos could still hold appeal to other organizations as a reserve outfielder — particularly those looking for a player capable of lining up in center. He posted a .317/.356/.366 slash in his 45 plate appearances this spring.
Bourjos has enjoyed some high-quality MLB campaigns in the past, but has functioned more as a light-hitting reserve in recent seasons. In his best season, a 2011 effort with the Angels, Bourjos posted a 114 wRC+ and graded as a high-end fielder and baserunner.
The output has generally declined in all areas of late. Metrics have viewed Bourjos more as a solid than a great defender in recent seasons. While he still gets high marks for his overall baserunning, Bourjos hasn’t really been a major threat to steal of late. And he owns only a .231/.288/.366 batting line over the past four campaigns.
Rangers Release Trevor Plouffe
The Rangers have released third baseman Trevor Plouffe, MLB.com’s TR Sullivan was among those to report via Twitter. He had been in camp with the team on a minor-league deal.
It’s still possible the 31-year-old will end up re-joining the organization to play at Triple-A, Sullivan notes. First, though, he’ll look into other opportunities with other teams.
Plouffe turned in a middling performance in camp, with just six base hits in his 34 trips to the plate. With the Rangers deciding to keep Jurickson Profar in the infield and otherwise carrying a full slate of healthy starters, there was no room for the veteran Plouffe.
During his seven seasons with the Twins, Plouffe was generally a solid regular at the hot corner. But he failed to make good on a one-year pact with the Athletics in 2017 and continued to struggle upon landing with the Rays in the middle of the season. He ended with a .198/.272/.318 batting line in 313 MLB plate appearances last year.
Giants Release Andres Blanco
The Giants have released infielder Andres Blanco, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). He had been in camp on a minor-league deal.
With that decision, it seems the Giants have narrowed their utility infield competition down to two finalists among the in-house options. Kelby Tomlinson, who can still be optioned, is still under consideration along with non-roster invitee Josh Rutledge.
Blanco, a 33-year-old switch-hitter, only ended up taking 22 plate appearances this spring owing to injury. While he sported a .409 OBP in his limited action, he never really got into the competition.
Though he’s not likely to find a team willing to open an active roster spot for the start of the season, Blanco certainly ought to draw interest on minor-league arrangements. He has experience all over the infield and has had his moments at the plate. Though he had a poor season with the stick last year, Blanco posted a .274/.337/.457 slash over 523 plate appearances between 2014 and 2016.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/23/18
The latest moves from around the baseball world…
- The Mariners announced that infielder Gordon Beckham has been released from his minor league contract. Beckham had an opt-out clause in his contract for tomorrow, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets, and since the veteran wasn’t going to make the M’s roster, the release gives him some extra time to catch on with a new team. Beckham re-signed with the Mariners on a minor league deal this winter after spending 2017 in the organization, hitting .262/.313/.393 in 355 PA for Triple-A Tacoma and also appearing in 11 games at the Major League level.
Phillies Release Adam Rosales
The Phillies have released infielder Adam Rosales, according to an announcement from the team. Rosales was in camp on a minor league contract that would’ve paid him $1.75MM had he made the 25-man roster.
The versatile Rosales was competing to win a job as Philadelphia’s utility infielder, though it appears as though the team made its choice with its recent selection of Pedro Florimon‘s contract. (Ryan Flaherty, another veteran infielder signed as a non-roster invitee, was also recently released by the Phillies.) It remains to be seen whether Roman Quinn or Jesmuel Valentin will earn the fourth and final remaining spot on the bench, though MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki notes that the Phillies might forego the fourth bench spot until they need a fifth starter on April 11.
A veteran of the last 10 MLB seasons, Rosales spent last season with the Athletics (his team for much of his big league career) and Diamondbacks, hitting .225/.260/.353 over 312 combined plate appearances for both teams. Rosales has long been known more for his multi-position ability than for his hitting, though in 2016, he broke out for 13 homers and a .229/.319/.495 slash line over 248 PA with the Padres. Rosales is likely to get some looks in the coming days from teams in need of infield depth.
Pirates Re-Sign Daniel Nava To Minor League Deal
The Pirates have agreed to a new contract with outfielder Daniel Nava, The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel reports (Twitter link). As expected, the pact is a minor league deal, according to Liz Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Bucs released Nava earlier this week but it was widely expected that the two sides would work out another agreement.
It will still be some time before Nava hits the field, as he underwent back surgery in late February that carried a 10-to-12 week recovery timeline. Back and hamstring problems limited Nava to just 214 plate appearances in a part-time role for the Phillies last season, though the veteran made the most of his playing time, hitting .301/.393/.421 with four homers and displaying good plate discipline (26 walks against just 38 strikeouts). It was a solid comeback year for Nava, who bounced around between four different organizations in 2015-16 and managed just a .574 OPS over 314 big league PA.
The Pirates’ addition of Corey Dickerson dimmed Nava’s chances of regular playing time on the 25-man roster, though the 35-year-old Nava still carries value as a backup and pinch-hit option against right-handed pitching. Nava will surely be placed on the 60-day DL as he continues to recover from his surgery, so the signing won’t require Pittsburgh to make any 40-man roster moves.
Erick Aybar Opts Out Of Twins Contract
Shortstop Erick Aybar is no longer in the Twins’ spring camp, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports (Twitter link), thus indicating that the veteran has decided to opt out of his minor league contract with the team. Today was Aybar’s opt-out date for his deal, and the infielder was told yesterday that he wouldn’t be making Minnesota’s Opening Day roster.
Rather than accept an assignment to the Twins’ Triple-A team, Aybar will now again test free agent waters to see if he can find a job with another team. The 34-year-old hasn’t provided much at the plate over the last three seasons (as a member of the Angels, Tigers, Braves, and Padres), and also posted just a .636 OPS for the Twins over 33 Spring Training plate appearances. His once-solid glovework has also been on the decline, with below-average UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved totals since 2015.
Given his recent track record and the glut of other free agents still on the market, Aybar’s decision to opt out is somewhat surprising, as he could’ve potentially had a path back to the big leagues due to the Twins’ lack of middle infield depth. Jorge Polanco‘s 80-game PED suspension meant that Eduardo Escobar is now in line for regular shortstop duty, leaving Ehire Adrianza as Minnesota’s only utility infield option on the MLB roster. Third baseman Miguel Sano could also still be facing a suspension on assault charges, which would further leave the Twins thin on infielders, though Taylor Featherston and Gregorio Petit are also still in the organization on minor league contracts.