Minor MLB Transactions: 8/15/17
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Reds announced this afternoon that outfielder Scott Van Slyke has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers. Cincinnati designated Van Slyke for assignment last week, making it clear that his inclusion in the team’s return for Tony Cingrani was mostly a financial mechanism. Van Slyke has struggled to a .196/.280/.308 in 161 plate appearances across the past two seasons and has posted a marginal .714 OPS through 221 PAs in Triple-A as well. Van Slyke could have rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would’ve meant forfeiting the remaining $341K on this year’s $1.325MM salary. If he’s no re-added to the 40-man roster before season’s end, Van Slyke will have the opportunity to elect free agency following the season.
Earlier Moves
- Veteran righty Edward Mujica has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Tigers after clearing waivers, per a club announcement. It is not immediately clear whether Mujica has accepted the assignment; he’d have the right to decline it, or instead to elect free agency at the end of the year. The 33-year-old, an eleven-year MLB veteran, had not seen the majors since 2015 but earned a return with a strong showing at the highest level of the minors. But he was bombed for seven earned runs on 11 hits — including four home runs — in his five outings with Detroit.
- Also outrighted was Reds utilityman Arismendy Alcantara, the Cincinnati organization announced. He’s heading to Double-A, with Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer noting on Twitter that the club’s top affiliate is rather well-stocked with infielders. Alcantara, 25, has appeared in the majors in each of the past four seasons, but has struggled to a .189/.235/.315 batting line with 150 strikeouts in his 459 plate appearances. While he has intrigued at times in the upper minors with a blend of power, speed, and defensive versatility, Alcantara just hasn’t been able to turn the corner in his relatively limited opportunities at the game’s highest level — where his swing-and-miss proclivities have been exposed.
Athletics Acquire Chris Hatcher
The Athletics announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Chris Hatcher from the Dodgers in exchange for $500K in international bonus money. Hatcher’s roster spot will go to infielder/outfielder Rob Segedin, who has been activated from the 60-day disabled list, the Dodgers announced.
The 32-year-old Hatcher has struggled in each of the past two seasons with the Dodgers. However, the converted catcher had success in 2014-15 and also comes with some peripheral stats that are more promising than the 5.12 ERA he’s posted since Opening Day 2016.
Since last season began, Hatcher has averaged 10.1 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 with a fastball that has averaged 95.2 miles per hour. That velocity is down in 2017, as is his ground-ball rate, but Hatcher has also improved his control after an uncharacteristic 4.7 BB/9 rate in 2016.
Hatcher won’t cost the Athletics much, as Oakland is one of several teams that is prohibited from spending more than $300K on any single international amateur after drastically exceeding its pool last year (or the year prior). He’ll give the A’s a reliever with a fair bit of late-inning experience that can be controlled cheaply through the 2019 season. Hatcher avoided arbitration last winter by agreeing to a one-year, $1.25MM contract and will be eligible for arbitration once again in each of the next two offseasons before reaching free agency in 2019-20.
The Dodgers likely deemed Hatcher expendable not only due to his struggles but also due to the manner in which right-hander Brandon Morrow has stepped up and enjoyed a rebound campaign in Los Angeles (2.70 ERA, 11.1 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 in 26 2/3 innings). The Dodgers also deepened their bullpen at the trade deadline by acquiring lefties Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani — further crowding a bullpen mix in which Hatcher proved to be the odd man out.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mets To Release Fernando Salas
Aug. 15: The Mets have now requested release waivers on Salas, tweets DiComo. Assuming he clears waivers, Salas will be a free agent in 48 hours.
Aug. 10: The Mets have designated reliever Fernando Salas for assignment, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link). His spot will go to newly promoted first base prospect Dominic Smith.
Salas is in his second season with the Mets, who acquired him from the Angels at the end of August last year and saw the right-hander improbably turn into a key component in their run to a wild-card berth. Salas gave the Mets 17 1/3 innings of 2.08 ERA pitching last September and piled up 17 strikeouts against no walks, leading them to re-sign him to a one-year, $3MM over the winter. The wheels have come off this season, though, as the 32-year-old Salas has logged a 6.00 ERA over 45 frames.
The Mets will surely hope a taker comes along for Salas, who has less than $1MM left on his deal. Perhaps some bullpen-needy club will overlook his bloated ERA and focus on more hopeful numbers, including career-best ground-ball (45.1 percent) and swinging-strike (13 percent) rates. Salas has also yielded a lofty .379 batting average on balls in play and managed only a 64.1 percent strand rate, both of which could regress in his favor before the year’s out.
Mariners Designate Christian Bergman For Assignment
The Mariners have designated right-hander Christian Bergman for assignment, per a team announcement. Bergman’s DFA is but one of several moves from the Mariners, who have also selected the contract of southpaw Andrew Albers (as was reported by MLB.com’s Greg Johns yesterday), recalled righty Sam Gaviglio from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned right-handers Casey Lawrence and Thyago Vieira to Tacoma.
Bergman, 29, has already been outrighted off the 40-man roster once this season and had only recently had his contract re-selected. The longtime Rockies hurler has logged 51 1/3 innings for the Mariners this season, working to a 4.91 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 38 percent ground-ball rate over the life of his two stints with Seattle.
Bergman and Albers are just two of the staggering 16 arms that the Mariners have used to start a game in 2017, Johns points out (on Twitter). That’s the most starters used by any single team in a season since the 2006 Royals, he adds, and the M’s certainly have to add to that eye-popping total (though they’d undoubtedly prefer to avoid doing so if possible).
Blue Jays Release Chris Coghlan
The Blue Jays announced that veteran infielder/outfielder Chris Coghlan has been given his unconditional release after being designated for assignment over the weekend.
Coghlan, 32, appeared in 36 games for the Blue Jays and totaled 88 plate appearances in 2017. However, the former National League Rookie of the Year didn’t fare too well in his short time with the Jays, as he batted just .200/.299/.267 with one homer and two doubles. Coghlan had a strong run with the 2014-15 Cubs, but he flopped following a trade to the Athletics in the 2015-16 offseason. He’d later return to the Cubs and hit well (.252/.391/.388) in 128 plate appearances down the stretch.
The versatile Coghlan is a career .259/.334/.398 hitter and has a better track record against right-handed pitching (.266/.339/.420) than he does lefties (.224/.311/.308). He’s played all three outfield spots, second base and third base in his big league career, though he hasn’t logged even a single inning in center field since 2013.
Angels Outright Damien Magnifico
The Angels announced on Tuesday that right-hander Damien Magnifico has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Double-A Mobile. Magnifico remains with the organization, but the Halos now have a vacancy on their 40-man roster.
Magnifico, 26, appeared in just one game for the Angels this season and faced only three batters, none of whom put the ball in play against the righty (two walks, one strikeout). He’s faced only 18 hitters as a Major Leaguer but has spent parts of the past two seasons in Triple-A. Magnifico posted respectable results in a tough Colorado Springs environment last year as a member of the Brewers organization, but he’s been shelled for a 7.07 earned run average in 42 Triple-A frames this season. He’s averaged nearly a strikeout per inning throughout his minor league career, but Magnifico has also battled control issues (5.4 BB/9 in Triple-A).
The Brewers originally traded Magnifico to the Orioles in exchange for international bonus money, and the O’s later went on to flip him to the Angels in exchange for fellow righty Jordan Kipper. Now that he’s made it through outright waivers, he’ll remain in the Halos organization and hope to right the ship as the minor league season draws to a close.
Mets Acquire Travis Snider, Sign Neil Wagner
The Mets have announced two minor acquisitions, with outfielder Travis Snider joining the club through a trade with the Rangers and righty Neil Wagner signing a minors deal with the organization. Both players will head to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Snider, 29, comes over in a minor swap with the Rangers. He did not need to clear waivers since he was on the 40-man roster. Cash considerations will go to Texas in return, per Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter).
Though he has not seen the majors since 2015, Snider has taken nearly two thousand plate appearances at the game’s highest level with the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Orioles. He had been playing with the Rangers’ top affiliate this year, posting a .294/.375/.435 batting line over 413 trips to the plate.
New York doesn’t have a clear need at the major league level for Snider right now, but perhaps that could change. The club has moved numerous veterans already, and may still consider swaps involving Curtis Granderson.
Wagner, too, could either function as upper-level depth or provide a fresh arm to the pen. Like Snider, he has appeared in the bigs with Toronto; he also had a brief debut stint with the A’s. Wagner hasn’t seen the majors since 2014, but was pitching well this year at Triple-A in the Rays organization. Through 44 innings, he owns a 3.07 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.
Brewers Acquire Neil Walker
AUGUST 15: Milwaukee took on $3MM of Walker’s salary, per an Associated Press report (via USA Today). New York sent just under $1.7MM in the deal to cover the rest of the obligation.
AUGUST 12: The Brewers have acquired second baseman Neil Walker and cash from the Mets for a player to be named later, according to announcements from both teams. Walker has nearly $5MM remaining on his contract, but it’s unclear how much the Mets will pay. The 31-year-old cleared waivers last week and was therefore eligible to be traded to any club.
There might have been more buzz about Walker at the July trade deadline had he not just recently come back from a six-week stint on the DL with a partial hamstring tear. The Yankees reportedly had a deal in place to acquire Walker then, but it fell apart for medical reasons. Walker hit poorly in the week immediately following his return, but has had success lately, batting 7-for-18 in his past five games.
Injury aside, Walker is having a fairly typical season in 2017, batting .264/.339/.442 with his set of unspectacular but well-rounded offensive skills. He’s graded as approximately average defensively thus far this year, with UZR marking him as a bit better than most and DRS indicating he’s a bit worse. He’s making $17.2MM after accepting the Mets’ qualifying offer last winter and is eligible for free agency at season’s end.
Walker bolsters a Brewers infield that currently features Eric Sogard at second base. Sogard has batted a robust .283/.392/.405 this season, although that sort of offensive production is atypical for him, and he’s hit .108/.214/.108 in 43 plate appearances while battling injury over the past month. Another Brewers second baseman, Jonathan Villar, is in the midst of a disappointing .222/.281/.346 season after a 2016 breakout. The Brewers’ offense as a whole has been one of baseball’s worst since the start of the second half, with their 91 runs in that span placing ahead of only the Rays. That span has roughly corresponded to the team’s recent slide in the standings — the Brewers are 9-18 since the All-Star break. The team had apparently targeted second base as a potential area they might upgrade, with previous reports connecting them to Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler.
With Walker gone, the Mets will surely continue to give rookie Amed Rosario the bulk of the playing time at shortstop. Some combination of Asdrubal Cabrera and Wilmer Flores will likely man second and third.
FanRag’s Jon Heyman first tweeted that the teams had agreed to a Walker trade. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was first to report that a deal was close (on Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted that New York would include cash in the trade. Mike Puma of the New York Post noted (via Twitter) that the Mets would receive a player to be named later. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mariners To Select Contract Of Andrew Albers
The Mariners will select the contract of just-acquired lefty Andrew Albers, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). He’ll step into the rotation spot that opened when James Paxton hit the DL.
It’s not yet known how the M’s will clear roster space, but corresponding moves will need to be made before the scheduled start tomorrow. Albers is not on the 40-man roster, as he was playing on a minor-league deal when Seattle dealt for him on Friday.
Albers has not yet made an appearance, so his first work in his new organization will come at the major league level. The southpaw has seen the majors in the past, though only for 79 2/3 total innings, most of which came back in 2013.
That said, Albers has been quite good this year for the top Braves affiliate. He owns 2.61 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 over his 120 2/3 innings. The soft-tossing control artist also owns a solid 46.1% groundball rate.
Needless to say, it’s hard to land pitching in August, so the M’s will hope their creative solution pays dividends. Albers was not on a 40-man roster and therefore did not need to pass through waivers to be traded.
Astros Place Brian McCann On DL, Designate Jordan Jankowski
The Astros have placed catcher Brian McCann on the 10-day DL and designated righty Jordan Jankowski for assignment, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter links). Jankowski will lose his 40-man spot to allow the club to select the contract of Max Stassi, who is needed to fill in for McCann.
It isn’t yet known what kind of absence McCann is facing, though it doesn’t sound like there’s too much cause for concern. The veteran backstop is said to be dealing with right knee soreness. Given Houston’s commanding position in the AL West standings, some down time for McCann won’t likely hurt.
In McCann’s steady, the 26-year-old Stassi will get his first MLB time in 2017. He has appeared very briefly in each of the four prior campaigns; while it seemed he’d get a longer look in 2016, that failed to come about due to an injury and Stassi ended up losing his 40-man spot.
Thus far in 2017, Stassi has turned around what had been a lengthy offensive malaise. Through 287 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, he’s slashing .266/.383/.473 with a dozen home runs and greatly improved plate discipline (13.2% walk rate against a 23.3% strikeout rate).
Jankowski will not control his fate. He’ll either end up with another organization (via trade or claim), land back at Triple-A Fresno after being outrighted (without right of refusal), or be set onto the open market (if the ‘Stros don’t wish to keep him).
Thus far in 2017, the 28-year-old Jankowski has failed to carry a sub-4.00 ERA for the first time as a professional. Through 40 1/3 innings at Triple-A, he owns a 5.13 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9. Jankowski did earn his first MLB call-up, though he was knocked around in 4 1/3 innings, and could intrigue other organizations with his history of big strikeout numbers.