Minor MLB Transactions: 6/9/17
Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the league (all courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted)…
Latest transactions
- The White Sox released left-hander Giovanni Soto, according to the official Twitter feed of their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. Soto struggled to a 5.33 ERA over 25 1/3 relief innings in Charlotte, thanks to some uncharacteristic problems with the long ball — he allowed four homers over his 25 1/3 IP this year after giving up just 28 homers in his previous 514 career innings in the minors. It has been a busy 14 months for Soto, who has been property of five different organizations since April 2016.
- Right-hander Mike Bolsinger has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to the Blue Jays‘ Triple-A affiliate, the team announced. Bolsinger was designated for assignment earlier this week. The 29-year-old posted a 5.61 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 1.11 K/BB rate over 25 2/3 IP for Toronto this season, making five starts as a fill-in for the many injury absences on the Jays’ staff.
Earlier today
- Right-hander Miguel Socolovich was outrighted to the Cardinals‘ Triple-A after clearing waivers. St. Louis designated the 30-year-old for assignment in late May after he allowed 18 runs in 18 2/3 innings of work. The well-traveled righty has a 4.25 ERA over the life of 82 2/3 Major League innings, and he’s averaged 7.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in that time. Socolovich could’ve elected free agency but instead accepted his assignment and will hope for another crack at the Majors later in 2017.
- The Mariners have added shortstop Ryan Jackson on a minor league contract. The 29-year-old last saw Major League work with the Angels in 2015 and has struggled in his limited exposure to the big leagues, going just 2-for-33 in 39 plate appearances. He’s long been a solid performer at the Triple-A level, though, where he’s posted a collective .273/.352/.352 batting line across parts of six seasons.
- Former Giants righty Mike Broadway was cut loose by the Nationals after yielding 20 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse. The 30-year-old entered the season with a career 2.96 ERA in 127 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level but has been uncharacteristically hittable. Broadway has just 22 2/3 innings of Major League experience, all coming with the 2015-16 Giants. While the resulting 6.75 ERA isn’t pretty, he does have a track record of missing bats and limiting walks in Triple-A.
Brewers Promote Josh Hader
The Brewers have promoted top pitching prospect Josh Hader, FanRag Sports’ Robert Murray reports. Hader will begin his MLB career as a relief pitcher. Right-hander Paolo Espino was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs in a corresponding move, the team announced.
[Updated Brewers depth chart at Roster Resource]
Hader, 23, was originally a 19th-round pick for the Orioles in the 2012 draft, and he has already been part of two notable deadline trades in this career — the 2013 swap that sent Bud Norris from Baltimore to Houston, and the 2015 deal that sent Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Astros. That latter deal has already paid big dividends for Milwaukee in the form of Domingo Santana, and could continue to pay off with top prospects Brett Phillips and now Hader both making their MLB debuts this season.
From his humble draft slot and multiple organizational changes, Hader has emerged as a highly-regarded young arm. Baseball Prospectus ranked the southpaw as the 19th-best prospect in the entire sport prior to the season, with Baseball America (#33), MLB.com (#38), and ESPN’s Keith Law (#71) also touting Hader as a minor leaguer to watch. Hader has a 3.26 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 2.56 K/BB rate over 541 career IP in the minors, with 95 of his 127 games coming as a starting pitcher.
That impressive strikeout rate has come at the cost of some control (4.0 BB/9), and the 2017 Baseball America Prospect Handbook cited Hader’s control and inconsistent changeup as possible impediments to his potential. On the plus side, Hader has a unique delivery that makes it difficult for hitters to see his tough slider and a fastball that clocks in the 92-97mph range.
It’s worth noting that Hader hasn’t performed very well at the Triple-A level both this season and last, with a 5.28 ERA over 121 frames, though that could be due to Colorado Springs’ elevation and the generally hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League. Bringing him up as a reliever will allow the Brewers to ease Hader into a big league environment, while also giving the team some much-needed left-handed balance in the pen; Hader is now the only southpaw on the Brew Crew’s entire 25-man roster.
Should Hader spent the rest of the year on the Major League roster, he’ll clock only 115 days of service time and likely fall short of Super Two eligibility (given the Super Two cutoff points of recent years). This would extend Milwaukee’s control over Hader an extra year, so the lefty wouldn’t be arbitration-eligible until after the 2020 season and couldn’t become a free agent until after the 2023 season. Given the lack of left-handed options on the Brewers’ roster, there certainly appears to be opportunity for Hader to stick in the bigs if he performs well.
Cardinals Designate Jhonny Peralta For Assignment
The Cardinals announced on Friday that they’ve designated veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta for assignment and activated second baseman Kolten Wong from the disabled list.
Peralta is playing out the final season of a four-year, $53MM contract, and while he was quite productive through the first half of that pact, his performance has cratered across the past two seasons. The 35-year-old Peralta tore a ligament in his thumb in Spring Training 2016 and never seemed to fully recover. He went on to have a second DL stint for the same thumb later that summer and finished up the ’16 campaign with a pedestrian .260/.307/.408 batting line in just 82 games.
[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]
The 2017 campaign, however, has been infinitely worse for Peralta. He’s spent time on the disabled list this year with an upper respiratory infection and, when healthy, has struggled through one of the worst prolonged stretches of his career. In 58 plate appearances this season, Peralta has batted just .204/.259/.204. As GM John Mozeliak explained, Peralta simply wasn’t going to have the opportunity to accumulate much playing time. With Jedd Gyorko taking over as the primary third baseman, Aledmys Diaz at shortstop and Wong at second base, the best Peralta could’ve hoped for would’ve been a utility role. Instead, it appears that job will go to rookie Paul DeJong for the time being.
Peralta is earning $10MM this season, so it’s all but certain that he’ll clear waivers and be formally released in the coming days. At that point, he’ll be able to sign with any club for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time spent in the Majors. The Cardinals will be on the hook for the remainder of his salary (roughly $6.29MM through season’s end), minus that pro-rated league minimum sum he’d get were he to sign with another club.
White Sox Claim Alen Hanson
The White Sox have claimed infielder Alen Hanson off waivers from the Pirates, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network and FOX Sports (via Twitter). Pittsburgh placed the former top prospect on waivers last week.
Once one of baseball’s top overall prospects, Hanson’s production trailed off upon reaching Triple-A. That didn’t prevent him from reaching the Majors, but he hasn’t performed well there, either, hitting a combined .205/.239/.261 in 92 plate appearances between the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The bulk of his time in the field as a big leaguer has come at second base, though defensive metrics such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved don’t paint a favorable picture. Hanson is out of minor league options, so if the White Sox wish to send him down at any point, they’ll have to once again expose him to waivers.
Rays Acquire Taylor Featherston From Phillies
The Rays have acquired infielder Taylor Featherston from the Phillies in exchange for cash and placed infielder/outfielder Rickie Weeks on the 10-day disabled list with a right shoulder impingement, the team announced. Tampa Bay also formally announced Kevin Kiermaier‘s placement on the DL for a hip fracture and recalled Mallex Smith from Triple-A in a corresponding move.
The 27-year-old Featherston was not on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, though it seems that the Rays may immediately be bringing him to the Majors, as Tampa Bay also moved Matt Duffy to the 60-day disabled list, thus opening a 40-man roster spot.
Once a Rule 5 pick by the Angels out of the Rockies organization, Featherston has spent parts of two seasons in the Majors. However, in that time, he’s struggled to an unsightly .156/.207/.233 slash in 197 plate appearances. The defensively gifted shortstop, however, was off to a considerably better start with Philadelphia’s Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley this season, hitting .270/.370/.394 with three homers and eight doubles. He’s also a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. Featherston has appeared at shortstop, second base and third base in the Majors, and he’s also seen action in left field and at first base in Triple-A this year.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/8/17
Here are the day’s minor moves from around baseball…
- Free agent outfielder/first baseman Andrew Lambo signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League earlier this week, the team announced. Now 28 years of age, Lambo was once a well-regarded prospect with the Dodgers and appeared in parts of four big league seasons with the Pirates and A’s. A battle with testicular cancer limited Lambo to just one plate appearance during his time with Oakland, and the A’s cut him loose earlier this year while he was working his way back from a wrist injury. Lambo has just a .189/.230/.295 triple slash through 100 Major League plate appearances, but he’s logged a considerably more productive .258/.324/.453 line in just over 1000 Triple-A plate appearances. During his best seasons, the left-handed-hitting Lambo has absolutely clobbered right-handed pitchers, so a healthy run in the Atlantic League could certainly get him another look in affiliated ball.
Cubs Place Kyle Hendricks On DL, Select Contract Of Seth Frankoff
6:22pm: Left-hander Brett Anderson has been moved to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the roster for Frankoff. There’s been no setback for Anderson, ESPN’s Chicago’s Jesse Rogers notes (Twitter link). However, Anderson’s already been on the shelf for roughly a month and wouldn’t be ready to return within 60 days of his initial DL placement.
4:23pm: The Cubs have place right-hander Kyle Hendricks on the 10-day disabled list due to tendinitis in his right hand and selected the contract of fellow right-hander Seth Frankoff from Triple-A, the team announced to reporters (Twitter links via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune).
Left-hander Mike Montgomery will start tomorrow in place of Hendricks, whose DL stint is expected to be rather minimal, per Gonzales. The team will announce a corresponding 40-man roster move before tonight’s game but did not provide one at this time.
Hendricks, 27, was one of the front-runners for the NL Cy Young Award last season and finished third on the ballot, but he’s been unable to replicate last season’s magical performance to date. Through 61 2/3 innings this year, he’s pitched to a 4.09 ERA while both his K/9 rate (7.4) and BB/9 rate (3.1) have trended in the opposite direction relative to last year’s excellent marks (8.1 and 2.1, respectively). Hendricks has seen his fastball velocity plummet from 87.6 mph all the way to 85.6 mph in 2017, and he’s seen significant declines in his swinging-strike rate as well as his rate of throwing first-pitch strikes. It’s not clear if the current hand issue how significantly, if at all, the current hand issue has impacted him this year.
As for the 28-year-old Frankoff, he’ll make his MLB debut the first time he steps onto the mound. The longtime A’s farmhand spent the 2016 season with the Dodgers and is in the midst of his first season with the Cubs organization. A former 27th-round pick (2010), Frankoff had a nice year in the Dodgers’ minor league ranks in 2016 and is enjoying the best season of his pro career with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate so far. In 11 games (nine starts, two relief appearances), he’s totaled 55 1/3 innings of 2.77 ERA ball with 9.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 53.7 percent ground-ball rate. Though he’s worked primarily as a starter in Iowa, he’ll head for the Cubs’ bullpen for the time being.
Phillies Select Casey Fien’s Contract
The Phillies have announced the addition of reliever Casey Fien to their 25- and 40-man rosters. Fien will take the place of fellow reliever Joely Rodriguez, whose designation for assignment is now official.
Philadelphia acquired the 33-year-old Fien in a cash trade with Seattle last month, which came after the Mariners outrighted him. The right-hander signed a $1MM deal with the Mariners over the winter and then posted disastrous results in six innings with the club, allowing 10 earned runs on nine hits and four walks, with six strikeouts. Fien also struggled in the majors last year across 39 1/3 innings with the Twins and Dodgers, combining for a 5.49 ERA despite logging 8.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.
Unlike 2012-15, when he pitched to a 3.54 ERA over 223 2/3 innings with the Twins, home runs have been problematic lately for Fien. He gave up homers on 24.5 percent of fly balls last year and has yielded them at a 50 percent rate during his small sample of big league work this season. That could be an issue in the Phillies’ hitter-friendly confines, but there’s little harm in giving Fien an opportunity to reestablish himself in the majors. The 21-36 Phillies are already out of the playoff race, after all, and their bullpen has produced the majors’ seventh-worst ERA (4.74). Fien, for his part, fared well with their Triple-A affiliate before his promotion, throwing nine homer-less innings of two-run ball and adding 11 strikeouts against two walks.
Dodgers Designate Justin Marks, Select Fabio Castillo
The Dodgers have designated left-hander Justin Marks for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Fabio Castillo, whom they subsequently optioned to Triple-A, per a team announcement.
Marks joined the Dodgers last month as a waiver claim from the Rays, with whom he threw 10 1/3 innings from 2016-17 and gave up two earned runs on nine hits and 10 walks (against seven strikeouts). The 29-year-old has fanned 11 hitters in 10 frames as a member of the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate this season and allowed five earned on 11 hits and four walks. Since going to the Athletics in the third round of the 2009 draft, the majority of Marks’ work has come at Triple-A, where he owns a 4.82 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 across 444 2/3 frames.
Castillo, 28, is in his first year with the Dodgers organization. The former Korea Baseball Organization and Mexican League hurler has spent the majority of the 2017 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City and posted a 3.65 ERA, 9.24 K/9 and 2.43 BB/9 across 37 innings and nine appearances (seven starts). Castillo, formerly a member of the Rangers, Giants, Reds and Padres organizations, has never pitched in the majors.
Astros Promote Francis Martes
The Astros have promoted their top pitching prospect, right-hander Francis Martes, reports Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Martes will initially work out of the Astros’ bullpen, Kaplan adds. With Houston already at the 40-man limit, it’ll need to drop someone in order to make room for Martes.
The Astros are the second major league organization for the Dominican-born Martes, who originally signed with the Marlins as an international free agent in 2012. Martes joined the Astros in 2014 as part of a trade involving Jarred Cosart and Jake Marisnick, among others, and has since blossomed into a high-end prospect. In its most recent prospect rankings, MLB.com places Martes 15th. Meanwhile, Baseball America (17th), FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (18th), Baseball Prospectus (28th) and ESPN’s Keith Law (37th) also have high hopes for the 21-year-old.
Unlike last season, when he handled Double-A with a 3.30 ERA 9.41 K/9 and a 43.9 percent ground-ball rate across 125 1/3 innings, Martes has struggled to produce positive results this year. In his first taste of Triple-A action, Martes has pitched to a 5.29 ERA over eight starts and 32 1/3 frames. Along the way, Martes has struck out an impressive 10.58 batters per nine, but his walk rate has shot from 3.38 last year to 7.79 this season and his grounder mark has dropped to 39.4 percent.
Despite his subpar output this year, Martes’ stuff could pave the way for him to immediately hold his own out of the Astros’ already loaded bullpen. Martes has two above-average pitches – a 93 to 96 mph fastball that can reach the high 90s and a quality curveball – per MLB.com, which notes that he also possesses an improving changeup and a developing slider.
It’s unclear if Martes will get an opportunity to start in the majors this year, but he could figure into the mix at some point if the Astros don’t get more from their complementary rotation pieces. While Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. have thrived in 2017, the rest of the Astros’ starters have battled injuries and/or ineffectiveness. Nevertheless, the team is a major league-best 42-18 and has already established a 12-game lead in the American League West. Now, a Houston club with no shortage of young talent will get a look at yet another potential long-term cog.
With regards to service time, Martes should fall short of Super Two eligibility if he spends the rest of the season with the Astros. As a result, he wouldn’t make a trip through arbitration until after the 2020 season or qualify for free agency until the conclusion of the 2023 campaign. But Martes’ promotion could be a short one to aid a bullpen that Kaplan notes is currently “taxed.”