Mariners Sign First-Rounder Evan White
11:42AM: White’s bonus is worth $3.125MM, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports (Twitter link). This saves the M’s $208.2K on their draft pool, money that could be made up to sign Carlson or another pick, or potentially a player selected outside of the first ten rounds.
11:12AM: The Mariners have announced the signing of 26 draft picks, including first-rounder Evan White. Financial terms weren’t announced, though the slot value for the 17th overall pick (White’s selection spot) is $3,333,200. White is represented by True Gravity.
White, 21, is a first baseman out of the University of Kentucky who was seen as a consensus top prospect in pre-draft rankings. Baseball America rated White as the 12th-best prospect available, with MLB.com (18th), Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (19th) and ESPN’s Keith Law (33rd) also chiming in with strong grades. Despite these uniformly positive grades, there is some question about whether White has enough power to stick at the first base position, though he is seen as a good hitter overall. White gets high marks for his athleticism and could be used as an outfielder in the majors, though he has displayed outstanding defensive ability at first base.
Seattle has seemingly accomplished much of the heavy lifting within their draft signings, as 11 of their top 12 picks are already under contract. The only one of their early picks who has yet to reach an agreement is Sam Carlson, a high school righty taken in the second round (with the 55th overall pick). The Mariners had an overall draft pool of $6,737,300.
Mariners Designate Dillon Overton For Assignment
The Mariners have designated left-hander Dillon Overton for assignment, the team announced. Righy Rob Whalen was optioned to Double-A and righty Max Povse had his contract selected from Double-A in corresponding moves.
[Updated Mariners depth chart at Roster Resource]
Overton came to Seattle from Oakland in an offseason trade, and the southpaw posted a 6.38 ERA and just eight strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings. Originally a second-round pick for the A’s in the 2013 draft, Overton has posted generally strong results in his minor league career, apart from a 9.33 ERA over 27 Triple-A frames this season.
The 2017 Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Povse as the eighth-best prospect in Seattle’s system prior to the season, comparing the 6’8″ Povse to Doug Fister both in terms of height and their ability to generate ground balls. Povse has been slowed by a hamstring injury this season, though he’ll still make the jump from Double-A straight to the big leagues after delivering a 3.46 ERA, 7.38 K/9 and 41.6% grounder rate over 39 innings. Povse has started eight of his nine appearances this year, so he’ll likely project as a long man in the Mariners’ bullpen.
Reds Designate Asher Wojciechowski For Assignment
The Reds have designated right-hander Asher Wojciechowski for assignment, the club announced as one of several roster moves. Righty Jake Buchanan has also been optioned to Triple-A, while right-hander Lisalverto Bonilla has been recalled from the minors and catcher Stuart Turner has been activated from the disabled list.
Wojciechowski signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati in April and was promoted to the bigs last month, where he delivered a 6.75 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 4.5 K/BB rate over 21 1/3 IP (starting four of his six appearances). This was more MLB experience than the righty has clocked in his previous seven pro seasons, as Wojciechowski’s only other time in the majors consisted of a five-game stint with Houston in 2015. Drafted 41st overall by the Blue Jays in 2010, Wojciechowski has a career 3.99 ERA over 742 minor league innings with four different organizations.
Today’s transactions represent another shuffling of the Reds’ pitching options as the team continues to look for some kind of production from the mound. Cincy’s starters have combined for an ugly 6.01 ERA this season, easily the worst in baseball. Wojciechowski had been slated to start for the Reds this coming Friday, though that spot is now undecided. C. Trent Rosencrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that Homer Bailey won’t be Friday’s starter, as the righty is still not quite yet ready to return from February surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow.
Twins Sign Royce Lewis
5:50pm: The Twins have announced the signing. Lewis’ deal is worth $6.725MM, per Heyman, who notes that it’s a record for a high school player in the new system (Twitter links).
4:34pm: The Twins have agreed to a deal with first overall draft pick Royce Lewis, Fan Rag’s Jon Heyman tweets. Lewis will receive a bonus of a bit over $6.7MM. Lewis, a high school shortstop from California, will forgo his commitment to UC-Irvine, as expected.
It was reported late last week that Lewis would soon take a physical with the Twins and that he was expected to receive a bonus slightly higher than the $6.5MM 2015 first overall pick Dansby Swanson got from the Diamondbacks, so today’s news does not come as a major surprise. It appears Lewis’ bonus will not be the biggest overall in this year’s draft, however — that honor could go to Braves No. 5 overall pick Kyle Wright, who received $7MM, or Rays No. 4 overall selection Brendan McKay, who could receive slightly more.
The first overall pick had a pool value of $7,770,700 this year, so it appears that when Lewis’ signing is complete, the Twins will save around $1M against their total draft pool of $14,156,800. Notably, they’ve already struck a deal with third-rounder Blayne Enlow for $2MM, a little over $1.2MM more than the value of the No. 76 pick. The Lewis and Enlow deals, then, will essentially balance one another out.
The Twins were reportedly interested in both Lewis and McKay with the first overall pick, and Lewis’ willingness to accept the Twins’ bonus offer was reportedly a key factor in their decision to select him. Lewis, though, did rate as one of the premium talents in this year’s draft. MLB.com rated him the No. 5 prospect available, noting that he has excellent athleticism and good range either in the infield or center field. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen rated Lewis similarly, noting his feel for hitting, projectable body and the likelihood he could become a plus center field if he’s eventually moved off shortstop. Baseball America (subscription required) noted Lewis’ plus makeup, speed and raw power.
Lewis will join a collection of young Twins talent that includes big-leaguers Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios, along with prospects Nick Gordon, Stephen Gonsalves and Enlow. Lewis only turned 18 the week before the draft and could require ample time to develop, but he’ll immediately become one of the crown jewels of the Twins’ system.
Twins Designate Adam Wilk For Assignment
The Twins have designated lefty Adam Wilk for assignment and selected the contract of righty Alan Busenitz from Triple-A Rochester, Phil Miller of the Star Tribune tweets.
Wilk joined the Twins last month as a waiver claim from the Mets and has since made three big league appearances, including a start against the Indians on Saturday. That didn’t go well for Wilk, who lasted 3 1/3 innings and allowed six earned runs on eight hits and three walks, with two strikeouts, in a 9-3 loss. The 29-year-old has struggled in general in the majors this season, having pitched to a 9.00 ERA, with 5.14 K/9 against 5.79 BB/9, across 14 combined innings with the Mets and Twins. He has been better, albeit not great, with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, logging a 4.38 ERA, 4.38 K/9 and 2.19 BB/9 in 12 1/3 frames.
The 26-year-old Busenitz, a 25th-round pick of the Angels in 2013, is now in position to make his major league debut. He’s in his first full season with the Minnesota organization, which acquired him last August in a deal involving Hector Santiago, Ricky Nolasco and Alex Meyer. Busenitz has impressed in relief in Triple-A this season, recording a 2.15 ERA, 9.82 K/9 and 2.76 BB/9 in 19 appearances and 29 1/3 innings.
Mariners Claim Pat Light From Pirates, Outright Ryne Harper
The Mariners have announced they’ve claimed righty Pat Light from the Pirates and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma. They’ve also outrighted righty Ryne Harper to Triple-A Tacoma.
The Pirates designated Light for assignment last Saturday. The reliever is a former first-round pick of the Red Sox and has tantalizing velocity, but he has long struggled with his control, as his 5.1 BB/9 this year for Triple-A Indianapolis suggests. The 26-year-old pitched briefly in the big leagues for the Red Sox and Twins last season and allowed 22 runs in 16 2/3 innings, though he did average 95 MPH with his fastball.
The Mariners selected the 28-year-old Harper’s contract late last month, then optioned him to Tacoma before he threw a pitch for them. He has pitched parts of seven seasons in the minors but has never appeared in a big-league game despite having been on a big-league roster and being part of a trade for a big-leaguer (the 2015 deal that sent Jose Ramirez to Atlanta). He has, however, fared well this season for Tacoma, posting a 3.00 ERA, 10.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 24 innings there.
Rangers Place Andrew Cashner On DL, Designate Peter O’Brien
The Rangers have announced that they’ve placed righty Andrew Cashner on the 10-day DL with a left oblique strain. They’ve also purchased the contract of veteran righty reliever Ernesto Frieri to take his place on the 25-man roster. To clear 40-man space for Frieri, they’ve designated 1B/OF Peter O’Brien for assignment.
[Related: Updated Texas Rangers Depth Chart]
Cashner’s injury is the latest for a Rangers rotation that has also recently endured injuries to Cole Hamels and A.J. Griffin, although MLB.com’s TR Sullivan tweets that the Rangers hope Cashner will only need to miss a start or two. Cashner has posted a 3.50 ERA and 49.8 GB% in 69 1/3 innings with Texas, albeit with 4.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.
Frieri is set to return to the big leagues after last appearing in the bigs with the Rays in 2015. He sat out the 2016 season to work on his mechanics, signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees, then latched on with the Rangers after opting out. For the season, he’s posted a 2.86 ERA, 10.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 22 Triple-A innings, perhaps indicating he’s recovered some portion of what made him successful as a closer for the Angels in 2012 and 2013 before he struggled with the Angels and Pirates in 2014.
The well-traveled O’Brien has already been a member of four organizations in 2017, heading from the Diamondbacks to the Royals to the Reds to the Rangers in a series of minor transactions. The 26-year-old has demonstrated impressive power, with 122 career minor-league home runs, but has always had trouble with strikeouts and this year has struggled to the tune of a .167/.254/.301 line in four minor-league stops. He briefly played in the big leagues with Arizona in 2015 and 2016.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/17/17
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The Athletics have announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Michael Brady from Triple-A Nashville and optioned fellow righty Zach Neal to Nashville. Brady will provide reinforcements for an A’s bullpen that has pitched 12 1/3 innings in three high scoring games in the last three days. The 30-year-old has had a long road to the Majors — the Cal product was drafted by the Marlins as an infielder in the 24th round in 2009 before switching to pitching the following year and slowly grinding his way through the systems of the Marlins, Angels and Nationals. This season, he has a 3.67 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 over 41 2/3 innings with Nashville.
- The Twins have announced that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Adam Wilk to start the first game of today’s doubleheader against Cleveland. They’ve also announced that they’ve optioned righty Ryan Pressly to Triple-A Rochester and recalled righty Alex Wimmers to serve as today’s 26th man. The 29-year-old Wilk began the 2017 with Triple-A Las Vegas in the Mets organization, briefly pitching for the Mets before being claimed and then outrighted by the Twins. In 44 1/3 innings so far this year at the Triple-A level, he’s posted a 5.48 ERA, albeit with a fine 7.1 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9.
Rays Acquire Trevor Plouffe From Athletics
The Rays have acquired infielder Trevor Plouffe from the Athletics for cash considerations or a player to be named later, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes (Twitter links). The Rays will also receive cash in the deal, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle adding that the Rays will receive over $2MM to cover a portion of the approximately $3MM left on Plouffe’s $5.25MM 2017 salary. The Rays have moved righty Matt Andriese (hip) to the 60-day DL to clear space for Plouffe on their 40-man roster.
The Athletics designated Plouffe for assignment last week after he batted just .214/.276/.357 while striking out 29.1% of the time in 199 plate appearances this season. The 31-year-old also had a somewhat disappointing 2016 campaign with the Twins in which he hit a modest .260/.303/.420 while earning below-average marks in UZR and DRS for his defense. The Twins then outrighted him rather than taking him through the arbitration process.
Still, there’s perhaps reason for the Rays to hope Plouffe will be somewhat productive. He was a decent regular in Minnesota in 2014 and 2015, and he has decent power (with 103 career big-league home runs) and can play either infield corner. He’s also batted a solid .269/.345/.459 against lefties in his career, whereas the Rays as a team have hit a modest .227/.312/.374 against southpaws.
The Rays have established players at third (Evan Longoria), first (Logan Morrison) and DH (Corey Dickerson), but the left-handed Morrison, despite having a very strong season overall, has not hit lefties well in his career. The Rays could try to find further opportunities for Plouffe as a pinch-hitter, and he should improve their bench, which has had uninspiring options like Michael Martinez and Rickie Weeks to man the infield corners. Also, as ESPN’s Jim Bowden points out in a tweet, the Rays’ AL East rivals the Red Sox have struggled at third base this season and had interest in Plouffe last winter, and the Rays acquiring him prevents the Red Sox from acquiring him now. Plouffe is eligible for free agency after the season.
Mets Release Desmond Jennings
The Mets have released outfielder Desmond Jennings, per an announcement from the team’s Triple-A affiliate. He had been playing there on a minors deal since early April.
Jennings spent the spring with the Reds, but headed back to the open market after it was decided he wouldn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He caught on with New York despite the team’s crowded outfield depth chart.
The 30-year-old Jennings — a productive regular before knee injuries intervened — slashed .237/.301/.415 over his 229 plate appearances at Las Vegas prior to his release. He did drive eight long balls, but the once-prolific base thief was just 3-for-6 in his stolen-base attempts.
In the aggregate, Jennings didn’t do enough to convince the Mets to clear a 40-man spot to add him when a need arose at the MLB level — as just occurred when Juan Lagares hit the DL. Instead, New York promoted youngster Brandon Nimmo and sent the veteran Jennings back into free agency.