Pirates Outright Josh Lindblom
The Pirates announced that righty Josh Lindblom has been outrighted to Triple-A. He had been throwing at Indianapolis already on a rehab assignment.
Lindblom, who just turned 30, threw 10 1/3 rough innings for Pittsburgh as a long reliever before hitting the DL with an oblique injury. Entering the season, he had not seen much big league action since 2013.
Pittsburgh had brought Lindblom in on a minors deal after he spent two years with Korea’s Lotte Giants. Before being called up, he was throwing fairly well at Triple-A, with 29 2/3 frames of 3.64 ERA ball and 7.3 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.
Athletics Promote Franklin Barreto
12:11pm: Barreto was not in the initial lineup, with Adam Rosales penciled in at short and Lowrie at second. But he’s now taking the latter’s place, with the club announcing that Lowrie “has been scratched.”
It’s just a slight knee sprain for the veteran, skipper Bob Melvin tells reporters including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). So, it seems there’s no reason to read anything into the move at the moment, though presumably Lowrie could be dealt at any point before the trade deadline.
9:36am: The Athletics are set to call up top infield prospect Franklin Barreto, according to a club announcement. He’ll take the roster spot opened by the team’s placement of Chad Pinder on the 10-day DL for a left hamstring strain.
Barreto, just 21 years of age, is a key piece of the A’s past and future. He came to Oakand as the prospect centerpiece of the shocking deal that sent superstar third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays back in November of 2014. Even assuming Barreto can stay on the MLB roster from this point forward, he would not be in line to achieve Super Two status; instead, he’d project to achieve arbitration eligibility after the 2020 season while reaching free agency in the fall of 2023.
Since landing with his new organization, Barreto has steadily climbed the ladder and developed into a consensus top-50 prospect leaguewide. He struggled a bit last year in his first attempt at the upper minors and in a stint in the Arizona Fall League, and hasn’t exactly dominated this year at Triple-A. Given his age, though, the A’s still obviously see room for growth — and clearly believe he’s ready now to handle duties at the game’s highest level.
Over his 309 plate appearances this year at Nashville, Barreto owns a .281/.326/.428 batting line. He has knocked eight long balls and stolen four bags, though he has also been cut down on five attempted steals and has a history of being caught on the bases.
Barreto is known as a solid defender at short, but may ultimately line up at second base or even center field in the long run. With Pinder joining the rehabbing Marcus Semien on the DL, though, it seems reasonable to anticipate that Barreto will line up at his natural shortstop position in his first taste of the majors. He could move over to second, though, once Semien returns.
This move comes as part of a wave of others for the struggling A’s, who own the worst record in the American League. Oakland is in the midst of a transition that has already seen several promotions along with the departures of veterans Trevor Plouffe and Stephen Vogt. Odds are that veteran Jed Lowrie will follow them out of town — though he’ll likely be dealt rather than designated for assignment — leaving second base open for Barreto.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yankees Designate Chris Carter
After last night’s game, the Yankees announced that first baseman/DH Chris Carter has been designated for assignment. He’ll be replaced by prospect Tyler Austin, who returns to the majors for the first time this year.
Carter was a surprising non-tender after providing the Brewers with 41 home runs last year. The streaky, strikeout-prone slugger ultimately landed in New York on a one-year, $3.5MM deal. Unfortunately for player and team, the results simply haven’t been there this year.
Through 189 plate appearances, Carter has managed eight home runs along with a 70:18 K/BB rate. He has always had a huge amount of swing and miss in his game, but in his more productive years has been able to draw a few more walks while striking out with a bit less frequency. Plus, Carter is bringing a sub-.200 isolated slugging mark that lands well shy of his .241 career average.
All said, the .204/.286/.383 slash that Carter has provided is just not enough output for the Yankees. While defensive metrics grade him as a more-or-less average defender at first, he doesn’t provide any versatility and the Yanks already have a full-time DH in Matt Holliday.
As for Austin, he has already showed some capacity for hitting in the majors after turning in a .241/.300/.458 batting line with five home runs over ninety plate appearances last season. He also struck out 36 times in that stint, and strikeouts remain the big question facing the 25-year-old.
Thus far at Triple-A, Austin has battered International League pitching to the tune of a .292/.355/.552 batting line. That’s actually shy of his output there last year, when he delivered similarly impressive power numbers while also walking at a 13.7% rate and striking out at a 25.2% clip. So far in 2017, Austin is going down on strikes in nearly three of ten plate appearances while drawing free passes less than ten percent of the time.
The hope had never been for Carter to handle regular duties at first base, but he was thrust into the role when Greg Bird struggled and then went down to injury. While Bird works back toward a hopeful return, and with the trade deadline looming, the Yankees decided to make a change. Even if Austin shows himself worthy of a roster spot, it’s possible to imagine the Yankees dabbling in the trade market — particularly if there’s a power left-handed bat available to provide a complement to the existing right-handed-hitting options. Of course, there are other needs as well — especially at third base and in the rotation — so the Yanks’ course remains unclear at this point.
Giants To Designate Bryan Morris
The Giants are set to designate righty Bryan Morris for assignment, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Lefty Steven Okert will be called up to take the open roster spot.
Morris, 30, owns an unsightly 6.43 ERA through his 21 frames on the year. He has struck out 6.4 and walked 4.7 batters per nine while showing an average fastball of just over 93 mph — well off his peak. Of course, it’s promising to see that Morris is healthy after shoulder issues ended his time with the Marlins.
Padres Agree To Terms With MacKenzie Gore
The Padres are set to announce the signing of third-overall pick MacKenzie Gore tomorrow, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Once the signing is official, Gore will receive a $6.7MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter link).
That payday lands just over the $6,668,100 slot value that came with the Friars’ top selection. Gore’s signing represents the last unfinished business from the first ten rounds of the draft for San Diego.
In Gore, the Padres landed a much-hyped left-handed prep pitcher. He drew consensus top-five pre-draft billing, with Fangraphs’Eric Longenhagen ranking him highest at third on the board.
Diamondbacks Designate Oscar Hernandez
The Diamondbacks have designated catcher Oscar Hernandez for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed so that the club could select the contract of righty Rubby De La Rosa, who’s headed back to the majors. Righty J.J. Hoover is headed for a DL stint owing to shoulder inflammation.
Arizona picked up Hernandez through the Rule 5 draft, plucking him from the Rays and then managing to secure his rights despite letting him into only 22 MLB games. The youngster understandably didn’t hit much; he had never previously played above the Class A level.
Now nearing his 24th birthday, Hernandez will either be traded or exposed to waivers. Though his calling card is his defensive work behind the dish, he’ll obviously need to show some life with the bat to make it back to the majors. Through 156 plate appearances at Double-A this year, Hernandez carried a sluggish .197/.263/.352 batting line.
Tigers Release Francisco Rodriguez
The Tigers announced today that they have released veteran righty Francisco Rodriguez. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Bruce Rondon.
Detroit also announced that it has selected the contract of outfielder Matt Den Dekker. He’ll take the spot of Alex Presley, who’s headed to the 7-day concussion DL.
Rodriguez, now 35, was acquired from the Brewers before the 2016 season with one more year and an option left on his free-agent contract. He had shown signs of deterioration last year, but still gave the Tigers 58 1/3 innings of 3.24 ERA ball. That showing led the Tigers to pick up the extra year at $6MM, rather than spending $2MM on a buyout.
After years of mostly steady production, the veteran righty has fallen off badly thus far in 2017. Over 25 1/3 innings, he owns an unsightly 7.82 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. Opposing hitters are driving home runs at a rate of more than one per every three innings, offering at pitches outside of the zone just 20% of the time (lowest in K-Rod’s career), and hitting grounders at only a 30.1% clip.
While the signs aren’t promising, that’s not to say other organizations won’t at least take a look at Rodriguez. He has a lifetime 2.86 ERA, was dominant as recently as 2015, and even in his diminished state has managed a 9.6% swinging-strike rate — though that’s well off his 12.4% career average. At this point, though, it seems likely that Rodriguez will need to spend some time at Triple-A working out the kinks before being asked to face major leaguers.
Red Sox Sign Jhonny Peralta
The Red Sox have agreed to a minors deal with veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet. He’ll report to Triple-A for the time being, where he’ll line up at third base and attempt to give the organization another option at that area of need.
Boston has struggled to find a solution at the hot corner this year. The ineffective Pablo Sandoval, currently on the DL with an inner-ear infection, seems likely to undertake a rehab assignment and join Peralta at Triple-A. It remains to be seen how the club will ultimately handle things at the major league level when both are ready, and a deadline move still seems plausible as well.
Peralta, 35, was cut loose recently by the Cardinals after a rough start to the season. He failed to record an extra-base hit in 58 plate appearances while reaching base at a meager .259 clip. Once a quality defender at short, in spite of limited ranger, Peralta has also seen his defensive ratings slip in recent years.
Previously, of course, Peralta was long an everyday regular. That included a run with the Tigers, then run by current Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Boston also added former Detroit stalwart Doug Fister today. Boston will only owe Peralta a pro-rated portion of the league-minimum salary for any time he spends in the majors, with the Cards responsible for the rest of the $10MM he’s owed in 2017.
Royals Designate Chris Young, Announce Neftali Feliz Signing
The Royals have announced that veteran righty Chris Young has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to reliever Neftali Feliz, whose previously reported signing is now official.
Young, 38, is in the second year of the free-agent deal he signed to return to Kansas City before the 2016 campaign. He’s promised a total of $11.5MM under that contract, which included an option for 2018 that obviously won’t be picked up.
The results have been rather ugly since the sides put pen to paper. Though Young was surprisingly effective in his 2015 run with K.C., he has scuffled to a 6.52 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 over his 118 2/3 innings over the past two seasons.
Marlins Designate Christian Colon For Assignment
The Marlins announced on Friday that they’ve reinstated third baseman Martin Prado from the disabled list and designated infielder Christian Colon for assignment to clear a spot on the active roster.
Colon, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Royals a bit more than a month ago but struggled at the plate in his relatively 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.
Though he’ll always be remembered fondly in Kansas City for some postseason heroics — including a 12th-inning, game-tying single against the A’s in 2014 and a 12th-inning, go-ahead RBI single against the Mets in the 2015 World Series — Colon’s bat simply hasn’t panned out in the Majors as hoped. Through 386 big league plate appearances, he’s a .252/.315/.315 hitter. He does have a bit of defensive versatility, having played second base, third base and shortstop, and his Triple-A numbers are solid (.288/.349/.393), so it’s possible that another club scoops him up as a depth option.