Giants Claim Engelb Vielma
3:13 pm: Vielma has been claimed by the Giants, Darren Wolfson of KSTP News reports via twitter.
The former Twins infield prospect adds a bit of depth to a Giants team that has been in dire need of a defensively-minded backup infielder lately. Both Kelby Tomlinson and Orlando Calixte have been underwhelming with the glove this season, so if Vielma can develop even a replacement-level offensive skillset, his defensive wizardry could make him a solid utility option for San Francisco.
2:54 pm: Recently-designated Twins infielder Engelb Vielma has been claimed off waivers by an unknown National League club, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Vielma was designated for assignment by the Twins on Tuesday in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty reliever Gabriel Moya. The switch-hitting shortstop has yet play in the majors. In 314 plate appearances at AAA this year, he put up an unimpressive .206/.233/.260 batting line.
In spite of his poor hitting, it makes sense that an organization would have interest in Vielma. He has been rated as the Twins’ best defensive minor-league infielder for multiple years, and could serve as an excellent defensive replacement or utility option. It’s possible he could still carve out a path to the majors, but he’d need to make major improvements with the bat.
Vielma, a 23-year old native of Venezuela was first added to the Twins’ 40-man roster this past offseason in order to protect him from the rule five draft after he managed to get on base at a .344 clip between High-A and Double-A in 2016.
Cubs Designate Pierce Johnson For Assignment
The Cubs announced on Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Pierce Johnson for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for fellow righty Jen-Ho Tseng, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Iowa.
Now 26 years of age, Johnson once ranked as one of the Cubs’ very best pitching prospects and was considered the game’s No. 87 overall prospect by Baseball America in the 2013-14 offseason. The former No. 43 overall pick turned in a very strong 2.74 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 across two A-ball levels in 2013 in order to earn that distinction, but his star has faded since that time.
Johnson posted similarly strong ERA marks in both 2014 and 2015, but he struggled with control in ’14 and saw his strikeout rate drop drastically in ’15. The Cubs shifted him to the bullpen for much of the 2016 season in Triple-A Iowa, but Johnson responded with a 6.14 ERA and 6.1 BB/9 through 63 innings that year (albeit with a gaudy 10.7 K/9 rate).
The 2017 season was better, as Johnson pitched almost exclusively in a relief role and posted improvements in ERA (4.34 ERA), strikeout rate (12.3 K/9) and walk rate (4.5 BB/9). He has an option remaining beyond the 2017 season, so he could very well draw interest from other clubs in need of pitching depth that can afford to exercise more patience with the once touted right-hander than the Cubs can afford to at this juncture.
The 22-year-old Tseng, meanwhile, currently ranks as the Cubs’ 13th-best prospect in the estimation of Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com. Chicago signed the Taiwanese righty to a $1.625MM bonus as an 18-year-old amateur back in 2013, and he’s enjoyed success at each stop as he’s risen through their minor league ranks. Tseng split the 2017 campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, logging a combined 2.54 ERA (including a 1.80 ERA in 55 Triple-A innings). He’s averaged a combined 7.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 this season, and his ground-ball rate spiked from 39.4 percent in 90 1/3 Double-A frames to 53.1 percent in his 55 frames in Iowa.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/13/17
We’ll track the day’s minor MLB transactions here:
- The Orioles have announced that lefty Andrew Faulkner has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. Faulkner, who turned 25 yesterday, was set to participate in the Arizona Fall League for the O’s before he was designated for assignment recently. He threw 38 2/3 frames on the year at the Triple-A level, posting a 2.79 ERA but also coughing up 5.6 BB/9 to go with 8.1 K/9. The southpaw previously appeared at the MLB level with the Rangers in the prior two campaigns, carrying a 4.41 ERA in twenty appearances, but didn’t crack the bigs this year with Baltimore.
Gio Gonzalez’s 2018 Option Vests
While it’s largely a formality at this point, Gio Gonzalez is now officially under contract with the Nationals for 2018. His $12MM option vested once he reached 180 innings pitched, which he did by retiring Braves leadoff man Ender Inciarte tonight.
The option year is the final one on the extension that Gonzalez signed not long after being acquired by the Nats in advance of the 2012 season. It guaranteed him $42MM over five years, but he also will have earned another $24MM over the two option seasons.
Gonzalez has had his ups and downs, but on the whole has returned huge value to the Nats on the trade and the contract. He has provided over one thousand innings of 3.43 ERA ball over six seasons in D.C. And Gonzaez has never been more effective than in 2017. Entering tonight’s outing, he carried a sparkling 2.50 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9.
Given that performance, the Nationals will be plenty happy to fork over another twelve million bucks to Gonzalez, who’ll turn 32 in a week. That’s not to say, though, that he’s anything close to a sure thing to repeat his outstanding campaign. Gonzalez has lost quite a bit of velocity — 1.5 mph down from last year and 3.5 mph from his 2012 peak — and carries a lower swinging-strike rate (8.7%) than ever before as a National.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/12/17
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the game:
- The Red Sox have outrighted right-hander Kyle Martin, per a team announcement. He had been designated for assignment recently but will remain with the organization. Martin, 26, was regarded as a legitimate prospect entering the current season; indeed, he ranked 14th on the club’s list, per Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. Though he did reach the majors for the first time this year, Martin made only two appearances but showing a 93.5 mph average heater. Unfortunately, too, he hasn’t been quite as good at Triple-A as he was in 2016, showing declines in strikeouts (from 10.5 K/9 to 8.4 K/9), walks (from 2.8 BB/9 to 4.4 BB/9), and groundball rate (45.1% to 33.1%).
Twins Designate Engelb Vielma For Assignment
The Twins announced today that they’ve selected the contract of left-handed reliever Gabriel Moya from Double-A Chattanooga and designated minor league shortstop Engelb Vielma for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Vielma, 23, was added to the 40-man roster last offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft despite a lack of offensive track record in the Majors. The Venezuelan native has drawn praise for defensive abilities in the past, though Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote last offseason that he may not have enough bat to even profile as a utility option. Baseball America rated him 25th among Minnesota prospects in the offseason, calling him the system’s best pure shortstop but expressing similar concerns about his offense.
Minnesota put him on the 40-man last offseason after he hit .265/.344/.310 between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, but he’s taken a step back from even that modest level of output in 2017. This year, Vielma split the season between Double-A and Triple-A, where he batted .229/.273/.280 through 455 plate appearances.
The 22-year-old Moya has posted video-game numbers in Double-A this year, working to a combined 0.77 ERA with 13.4 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 with a ground-ball rate of about 41 percent through 58 1/3 innings between two organizations. Acquired from Arizona in late July for catcher John Ryan Murphy, Moya would have been added to the 40-man this winter as well, so this move will just give Minnesota an earlier chance to evaluate him for a future role.
Rangers Release Tyson Ross
The Rangers announced Tuesday that they’ve released right-hander Tyson Ross in order to clear a spot on the roster for Willie Calhoun, whose previously reported promotion to the Majors has now been formally announced. The Rangers also activated Adrian Beltre from the 10-day DL, though Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that he’s not yet ready to play. Calhoun is in the Rangers lineup tonight, playing left field and batting seventh in his MLB debut.
Ross, 30, was non-tendered by the Padres last offseason after shoulder troubles limited him to just one appearance in 2016. The right-hander spent much of the season attempting to rehab but was unable to get back to a big league mound after experiencing multiple setbacks. Ultimately, Ross was found to have the difficult-to-diagnosis thoracic outlet syndrome; he ultimately underwent surgery to alleviate the issue in October.
Texas signed both Ross and Andrew Cashner to one-year deals this past offseason, hoping that the pair of former Padres teammates could eventually solidify the final two spots in a contending rotation behind the likes of Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels and Martin Perez. Ross made his way back to the Majors early in the summer, right around the team’s projected timeline, but he’s looked like a shell of his former self through 49 innings in a Rangers uniform. In that time, Ross has more walks (37) than strikeouts (36), which has been the primary reason for his unsightly 7.71 earned run average.
The struggles of Ross and injuries elsewhere on the roster led the Texas front office to make the difficult decision to trade Darvish with just seconds to go as the non-waiver trade deadline loomed on July 31. That trade netted the Rangers Calhoun (in addition to minor leaguers A.J. Alexy and Brendon Davis), and Calhoun will now join a team that has somewhat improbably hung around the Wild Card race after trading away its ace back on July 31.
Reds Designate Barrett Astin For Assignment
The Reds announced on Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Barrett Astin for assignment in order to clear space on the roster for righty Deck McGuire, whose contract has been selected from Double-A. Cincinnati has also reinstated outfielder Jesse Winker from the 10-day disabled list and recalled right-handed pitching prospect Keury Mella, who will be making his MLB debut when he first takes the hill for the Reds.
Astin, 25, was acquired along with fellow righty Kevin Shackelford in the 2014 trade that sent reliever Jonathan Broxton from Cincinnati to Milwaukee. The former third-rounder out of Arkansas enjoyed a terrific 2016 campaign in Double-A (2.26 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 in 103 1/3 frames) but has posted an ERA north of 6.00 in both Triple-A and a brief Major League stint this season.
In eight big league innings, Astin allowed six runs on nine hits (two homers) and seven walks with just a pair of strikeouts. Astin does have a pair of options remaining beyond the 2017 campaign, so a club that is intrigued by his quality 2016 output could conceivably claim him, bring him to camp next year and option him without first needing to expose him to waivers.
The 28-year-old McGuire is a known name to some thanks to his No. 11 overall selection out of Georgia Tech by the Blue Jays back in the 2010 draft. He’s yet to live up to that draft billing, struggling greatly in Triple-A for the Jays, Athletics, Dodgers and Cardinals before landing in the Reds organization this past winter.
While McGuire spent the year in Double-A rather than the minors’ top level, he notched a strong 2.79 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 with a 38.8 percent ground-ball rate through 168 innings (27 starts). McGuire has never made it to the Majors, so this call-up represents a payoff after seven minor league seasons working toward that end.
As for Mella, the 24-year-old as billed as the centerpiece in the 2015 trade that sent right-hander Mike Leake to San Francisco, though left fielder Adam Duvall, who was also in the deal, has since proven to be a high-quality return on his own. Mella ranks 21st among Reds farmhands, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and has pitched to a 4.30 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate through 134 innings for Double-A Pensacola in 2017.
Royals Claim Mike Morin, Designate Onelki Garcia
The Royals have claimed righty Mike Morin off waivers from the Angels, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports on Twitter. To create space on the 40-man roster, the club designated southpaw Onelki Garcia for assignment.
Morin had been designated for assignment recently by the Halos. The native Kansan has struggled through 14 1/3 MLB innings this year, allowing 11 earned runs on 21 hits. But Morin has posted solid strikeout-to-walk ratios (8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9) in 164 1/3 total frames in the majors over the past four seasons. And he was more effective this year at Triple-A, carrying a 3.20 ERA while also frequently working multiple innings (he compiled 39 1/3 frames in just 22 appearances, including one start).
For now, Morin will join a bullpen mix that’s already loaded with arms due to September call-ups — assuming, at least, that he’s activated. My calculations show that Morin has likely accumulated around 68 days of MLB service this year — owing, especially, to a DL stint early in the season — after entering the year with 2.110 on his ledger. That would suggest he has already passed three full years of service, which would make him eligible for arbitration this fall.
As for the 28-year-old Garcia, who spent last year pitching in Mexico, he made only two MLB appearances on the year and has just five total at the game’s highest level. He spent most of the year working at Triple-A, where he posted a 4.75 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 over 85 1/3 innings.
Mets Acquire Eric Hanhold To Complete Neil Walker Trade
The Mets announced that they’ve acquired minor league right-hander Eric Hanhold from the Brewers as the player to be named later in the August trade that sent second baseman Neil Walker to Milwaukee.
The 23-year-old Hanhold, Milwaukee’s fifth-round selection out of the University of Florida in 2015, spent the 2017 campaign pitching for the Brewers’ Class-A Advanced affiliate. In 30 appearances (three starts, 27 out of the bullpen), he totaled 64 innings with a 3.94 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a whopping 58.6 percent ground-ball rate. Hanhold didn’t rank among the top 30 prospects in a deep Brewers farm system (per MLB.com), but Baseball America wrote at the time of the draft that he featured a 90-94 mph heater that could touch 95 with downhill plane and heavy sink (subscription required and recommended). His go-to breaking pitch is a slider, per that report, though he also broke into pro ball utilizing a changeup as a third pitch.
Hanhold continues a trend for the Mets, who have turned a number of veteran free agent on expiring contracts to a crop of fairly hard-throwing relief prospects that are reasonably close to Major League readiness. Right-handers Jamie Callahan and Jacob Rhame, acquired in the respective Addison Reed and Curtis Granderson trades, have already been added to the big league roster. In addition to Hanhold, Callahan and Rhame, the Mets have added minor league relievers Drew Smith, Stephen Nogosek, Gerson Bautista and Ryder Ryan in trades of Walker, Granderson, Reed, Lucas Duda and Jay Bruce.
To this point, the trade has paid dividends for the Brewers, as Walker has .268/.388/.465 with three home runs and five doubles through his first 85 plate appearances in a Milwaukee uniform.