Minor MLB Transactions: 6/28/17
Here are the day’s minor moves…
- The Twins announced that left-hander Mason Melotakis has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A. The 26-year-old lefty was designated for assignment last week in somewhat of a surprise move, as he’s long rated as one of their better bullpen prospects and had delivered strong results between Double-A and Triple-A this season. However, the former second-rounder’s velocity is also reportedly down in recent outings, which may have contributed to the decision to designate him and the lack of a claim. Through 27 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season, Melotakis has a 2.28 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 50 percent. He’ll head back to Triple-A Rochester and hope to work his way back into Minnesota’s plans later this year.
- The D-backs announced last night that catcher Oscar Hernandez, who was designated for assignment over the weekend, has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Double-A Jackson. The former Rule 5 pick (out of the Rays’ system in 2014) has posted a woeful .197/.263/.352 slash line through 156 Double-A plate appearances this year. Hernandez is still just 23, though, and he’s considered a strong defensive backstop. He’s shut down 43 percent of attempted stolen bases against him and has received strong framing grades from Baseball Prospectus in each of the past couple of seasons.
Rays Designate Danny Farquhar For Assignment
The Rays have designated right-hander Danny Farquhar for assignment and will activate right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger from the disabled list tomorrow, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links).
The 30-year-old Farquhar tossed a scoreless inning in tonight’s game for Tampa Bay and has thrown a total of 35 frames for the Rays in 2017. In that time, he’s pitched to a 4.11 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 5.7 BB/9 and a 44.4 percent ground-ball rate. While the lack of control is obviously a problem for Farquhar, he was better not only in terms of limiting free passes but also in missing bats just one year ago. Last year with the Rays, he logged a strong 3.06 ERA with 11.7 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 35 1/3 frames.
Farquhar was a Super Two player this past offseason and avoided arbitration for the first time, agreeing to a $900K salary. If the Rays ultimately place him on waivers, that figure — of which about $467K remains — is manageable enough that he’d be a candidate to be claimed. Of course, it’s possible that the Rays also gauge trade interest in Farquhar, who has a 3.65 ERA and nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings across his past 192 1/3 Major League innings and is controllable via arbitration through the 2020 season.
Cardinals Option Aledmys Diaz
The Cardinals announced that they’ve optioned shortstop Aledmys Diaz to Triple-A Memphis and selected the contract of infielder Alex Mejia in a corresponding roster move. (Jen Langosch of MLB.com first reported the news, on Twitter). The move to option Diaz, who sandwiched a productive month of May between an ugly June and an uglier April, comes just about a month after St. Louis also optioned the struggling Randal Grichuk.
St. Louis has also released veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta over the past month, a move that was accompanied by a “no one is safe” message from general manager John Mozeliak, whose front office is clearly tired of the team’s lackluster play as of late. Diaz is hitting .260/.293/.396 on the season as a whole, but he’s collected just six hits in his past 30 plate appearances and hasn’t graded out well at shortstop, from a defensive standpoint (-9 Defensive Runs Saved, 0 Ultimate Zone Rating). More troubling, perhaps, is the fact that Diaz’s walk rate has been cut in half, while his chase rate on pitches outside the zone has soared by 10 percent (from 28.2 percent in ’16 to 38.6 percent in ’17).
The 26-year-old Diaz was a surprise breakout star last season — just months after being designated for assignment and being passed over by every other team in the league when he was on waivers. Injuries created an opportunity for Diaz last year, and he responded with a .300/.369/.510 batting line with 17 homers. The optional assignment for Grichuk earlier this year was similar to a surprising option of Kolten Wong a year prior in that both were relatively brief in nature.
Mejia, also 26, is a former fourth-round pick of the Cardinals (2012) that hasn’t hit much in the minors, but Baseball America rated him as the best defensive shortstop in the Double-A Texas League back in 2014. He’s batting .253/.309/.355 with three homers, 18 doubles and a steal through 293 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this year.
Yankees Place Holliday On DL, Outright Carter, Promote Andujar
The Yankees have announced a series of roster moves. Veteran DH Matt Holliday will go on the 10-day DL with an illness, with the club seemingly still working to determine how to treat it, while veteran first baseman Chris Carter has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.
New York has also announced that it selected the contract of third baseman Miguel Andujar. (That move was first reported by Craig Mish of Sirius XM, on Twitter.) The 22-year-old had just earned a promotion to the highest level of the minors after hitting a robust .312/.342/.494 to open the year at Double-A.
The 37-year-old Holliday has had a resurgence at the plate with the Yankees thus far, batting a terrific .262/.366/.511 with 15 homers through 276 plate appearances. That puts the longtime Rockies/Cardinals slugger just five homers shy of his total from the 2016 season and just nine shy of the combined 24 homers he swatted with the Cards in 703 PAs from 2015-16.
The opposite held true for the much younger Carter, who signed a one-year deal to spend his age-30 season with the Yankees this past offseason. Though Carter led the National League in homers last year, he was non-tendered by the Brewers and found just a $3.5MM guarantee from the Yankees. Carter never recovered from a slow start to the year and ultimately was hitting just .204/.286/.383 with eight homers but a sky-high 70 strikeouts in 189 plate appearances (37 percent strikeout rate).
Andujar, just 22 years of age, will be making his big league debut for the Yanks and, in many regards, also auditioning for a longer-term role with the club. After tearing through Double-A pitching at a .312/.342/.494 pace to open the season, Andujar didn’t miss a beat during a quick Triple-A stop, where he slashed .308/.379/.462 in seven games prior to this promotion. He currently ranks ninth among Yankees farmhands, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. ESPN’s Keith Law pegged him 10th headed into the year, while Baseball America rated him 12th and Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen had him 11th. Andujar draws praise for above-average defense at the hot corner and strong contact skills.
Mariners Outright Pat Light
The Mariners have outrighted right-handed pitcher Pat Light, per a club announcement. That opens a 40-man roster spot, though it’s not immediately clear whether the team has plans for how to use it.
Seattle claimed the 26-year-old Light off waivers from the Pirates just under two weeks ago, though his stay on the 40-man was brief. Light has gone from the Red Sox to the Twins (in exchange for Fernando Abad) to the Pirates (for cash) to the Mariners all in a span of roughly 11 months.
It’s not hard to see the appeal of Light, who runs his fastball up to the upper 90s and averages nearly 95 mph on the pitch. He’s had no trouble missing bats in the minors and turned in a tantalizing 2.37 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 in 38 Triple-A frames last season. However, control problems have plagued the hard-throwing Light throughout his career (63 walks in 99 Triple-A innings), and he’s posted particularly unremarkable numbers in Triple-A this season. Through 28 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Pirates and Mariners, Light has a 4.82 ERA with a greatly diminished 6.4 K/9 rate and a still-problematic 5.8 BB/9 rate.
Blue Jays Sign Michael Saunders
The Blue Jays have signed outfielder Michael Saunders to a minor-league deal, per a club announcement. He had been released recently by the Phillies, who’ll pay all but a pro-rated portion of his $8MM salary for the rest of the season.
Saunders, 30, struggled badly after landing in Philadelphia over the winter. He ended his tenure there with 214 plate appearances of .205/.257/.360 hitting and six home runs. The Phils will also owe Saunders a $1MM payment to buy out his $11MM club option for 2018.
Toronto is obviously quite familiar with the veteran outfielder, as he posted a strong year therein 2016. Finally healthy for a full season, Saunders turned in a .253/.338/.478 batting line with 24 long balls over 558 plate appearances. Of course, he also fell off quite a bit in the second half after earning his first All-Star Game berth.
For the time being, Saunders will head to Triple-A. But it’s not hard to imagine him arriving back in the majors before too long. The Jays currently feature a corner outfield mix consisting of right-handed hitters Jose Bautista and Steve Pearce along with the lefty bats of Ezequiel Carrera and Ian Parmley. Adding Saunders to the mix could potentially allow the Jays to utilize Pearce at second base on occasion as well.
Giants Promote Jae-Gyun Hwang, Place Conor Gillaspie On DL
TODAY: Conor Gillaspie will hit the DL in a corresponding move, with the team announcing the purchase of Hwang’s contract. It seem a 40-man move will also be needed, though that hasn’t been announced (and could conceivably involve shifting a player to the 60-day DL.)
YESTERDAY: The Giants are promoting infielder Jae-gyun Hwang from Triple-A Sacramento, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter). The former Korea Baseball Organization star signed a minor league deal with San Francisco this offseason and was likely to exercise a July 1 opt-out clause if he was not brought up to the Majors in the next few days.
Through 279 Triple-A plate appearances, Hwang was hitting at a strong .287/.333/.476 clip with seven homers, 19 doubles, four triples and five steals (in five attempts). While that’s a fair ways off the eye-popping .335/.394/.570 batting line that Hwang posted in his final season in Korea, the 29-year-old’s very solid Triple-A performance certainly seems to merit a look at the big league level.
Eduardo Nunez has handled the majority of the Giants’ third base responsibilities in 2017, but he’s currently on the DL with a minor hamstring issue. Third base has been Hwang’s primary position, but he’s also played first base in the minors and seen a couple of games in left field. With veteran Aaron Hill recently being cut loose, there’s a bench opportunity for Hwang to claim, at the very least, and it’s possible that he could be entrusted with a larger role if the Giants ultimately trade Nunez.
Cubs To Designate Miguel Montero, Promote Victor Caratini
The Cubs have decided to designate veteran catcher Miguel Montero for assignment, according to ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers (via Twitter). Chicago is set to promote young receive Victor Caratini in his place, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets.
Chicago is making the move the morning after Montero allowed the Nationals to run wild on the basepaths — and then blamed it on starter Jake Arrieta. While both surely have their share of the blame for the seven swiped bags, Montero’s public comments were clearly not taken well by the organization.
Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo didn’t mince words on the topic. This morning, in an interview on ESPN 1000 (Twitter link), he described the situation like this: “When you point fingers you’re a selfish player. We have another catcher that throws everyone out.”
With the Cubs trying to right the ship after a middling start to the year, the organization will now part with a player who was performing at a high level with the bat — despite the ongoing questions about his abilities behind the dish. Through 112 plate appearances, he carries a .286/.366/.439 batting line with four home runs.
As a left-handed-hitting backstop with a history of strong power production, Montero ought to draw interest. But he’s also earning a hefty $14MM salary in the final year of his deal, so the 33-year-old isn’t going to be claimed. Instead, it seems reasonable to expect he’ll either be traded (with the Cubs holding onto a big chunk of change) or allowed to test the open market.
Chicago will now sport a youthful and talented backstop pairing, with the 23-year-old Caratini joining 25-year-old Willson Contreras. The switch-hitting Caratini has enjoyed a breakout year thus far at Triple-A Iowa, slashing a robust .343/.384/.539 with eight home runs over 271 trips to the plate.
Though Caratini is certainly an interesting player who could hold down the reserve role the rest of the way, today’s move also opens at least some possibility that the Cubs will explore the trade market this summer (or look at an option such as current free agent Derek Norris). Even if a significant addition isn’t pursued, Chicago might look into adding another veteran. Perhaps it’s even possible that Kyle Schwarber could return to more regular duties behind the dish once he’s called back up, though undoubtedly the Cubs will also want to continue protecting his knee and allow him to focus on getting right at the plate.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/27/17
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post:
- The Marlins have outrighted infielder Christian Colon to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, per a club announcement. The 28-year-old Colon was a waiver claim from the Royals just over a month ago but struggled at the plate in his brief time with Miami. Through 38 plate appearances, the former No. 4 overall draft pick batted just .152/.243/.182 with a double and seven strikeouts. He’ll provide the team with some infield depth.
- Right-hander Alex Wimmers has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester from the Twins, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The former first-rounder has moved to the bullpen in recent seasons and had some success in Triple-A but not much in the Majors. He threw 7 1/3 inning with Minnesota this year and walked more batters (nine) than he struck out (eight). He does have a more respectable a 3.72 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9 in 67 2/3 career innings at Triple-A, though.
- The Rays have selected the contract of left-hander Adam Kolarek, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who is out with a hip fracture, was moved from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL to clear a spot on the 40-man for Kolarek, who will be making his MLB debut. The 28-year-old Kolarek, a longtime Mets farmhand, is in his second season with the Rays organization and has excelled with a 1.36 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a ludicrous 77 percent ground-ball rate through 33 frames with Triple-A Durham this year. Kolarek is no stranger to gaudy ground-ball rates, as he induced worm burners at a 68.7 percent clip in 41 1/3 innings with Durham in 2016 as well.
- According to a club announcement, the Rockies selected the contract of outfielder Mike Tauchman from Triple-A Albuquerque and moved David Dahl to the 60-day disabled list to create a roster spot. The former 10th-rounder is enjoying a strong season, hitting .313/.377/.529 with 10 homers and 11 steals through 298 plate appearances, albeit in a very hitter-friendly setting. Tauchman, 26, isn’t considered to be one of the Rockies’ best prospects, though Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen did mention him briefly in looking at the Rockies’ farm prior to the year, noting that he possesses good contact skills and is an above-average defender that lacks power.
Rays Release Derek Norris
JUNE 27: Norris has been released after clearing waivers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
JUNE 23: The Rays have designated catcher Derek Norris, according to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). He’ll make way for Wilson Ramos, who’ll be activated from the 60-day DL, while Jesus Sucre will continue on as the team’s reserve backstop.
Norris, 28, was added just before the start of the season after he was released by the Nationals — who had themselves acquired him early in the offseason when Ramos hit the open market. Ramos ended up signing an incentive-laden deal with the Rays, who knew he’d miss the bulk of the first half while completing the rehabilitation of a torn ACL.
While Norris helped bridge to Ramos, and ended his run with the Rays with a bang by hitting his ninth homer tonight, he had struggled at the plate. Largely matching a messy 2016 effort, Norris has managed only a .188/.242/.347 slash in his 198 plate appearances on the year. Still, he figures to draw plenty of interest elsewhere given his past success at the plate and excellent pitch-framing reputation.
The Rays are surely pleased to be getting Ramos back now. If he can provide anything like the production he carried last year — .307/.354/.496 with 22 home runs in 523 plate appearances — he’ll be quite a bargain. With Tampa Bay in fairly solid position to contend at least for a Wild Card, Ramos may deliver a significant boost in advance of the deadline.