Bobby Parnell Opts Out Of Royals Contract
Right-hander Bobby Parnell has exercised an out clause in his minor league deal with the Royals and is now a free agent, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
Parnell, 32, has totaled 21 innings with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, pitching to a 4.71 ERA with 17 strikeouts against 13 walks with a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate. Opponents actually aren’t hitting Parnell all that hard (.244/.354/.305, no homers allowed), but his control issues and a poor 61.8 percent strand rate have haunted him thus far.
The former Mets closer tallied just 30 1/3 innings in the Majors over the past three seasons combined due to myriad injuries, including 2014 Tommy John surgery. Prior to that TJ operation, Parnell had risen from middle reliever to setup man to closer in Queens, pitching to a 2.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 across 213 innings from 2010-13. He’s yet to be able to approach that form in any of his comeback attempts, however, and Parnell’s once-97 mph heater was averaging a diminished (but still solid) 94 mph in his brief big league stint with the Tigers last year.
Ernesto Frieri Opts Out Of Yankees Deal
Veteran right-hander Ernesto Frieri has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Yankees, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (on Twitter). The decision to opt out seems to be a last-minute change in direction, as the Post’s Joel Sherman reported late yesterday afternoon that Frieri had not yet triggered the clause.
Set to turn 32 next month, Frieri has enjoyed a solid season with New York’s Triple-A affiliate thus far, pitching to a 3.00 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 21 innings of work. Frieri’s nine walks and 33.3 percent ground-ball rate aren’t eye-catching numbers, but even in his peak seasons from 2010-13, he was a fly-ball pitcher that struggled with his control at times.
Frieri sat out the 2016 campaign entirely, with the exception of playing some winter ball, and he struggled through both the 2014 and 2015 seasons in the Majors. However, the former Angels closer did notch 60 saves from 2012-13, and his aforementioned four-year peak stretch included a 2.79 earned run average with 313 strikeouts in just 229 1/3 innings.
Given his history of missing bats and solid efforts thus far in Triple-A, Frieri could latch on as a low-cost flyer with any number of bullpen-needy teams around the league. Speculatively speaking, the Nationals, Tigers, Twins, Rangers and Mets are among the many clubs that could be on the hunt for relief help.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/2/17
Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Reds have released left-hander Lucas Luetge from Triple-A, tweets Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The former Mariners southpaw inked a minors deal with Cincinnati this offseason and has tossed 27 2/3 innings for the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville. In that time, Luetge has recorded a pedestrian 4.55 ERA, though it’s accompanied by a much more encouraging 30-to-9 K/BB ratio. Luetge hasn’t had much big league success (4.35 ERA in 89 innings), but he has a history of missing bats in Triple-A and has held lefties to a .225/.295/.275 batting line through 45 plate appearances this season.
Rockies Release Chris Denorfia
The Rockies have released veteran outfielder Chris Denorfia from their Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, as first noted on the Pacific Coast League transactions page.
The 36-year-old Denorfia hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2015 but has shown fairly well in Triple-A in each of the past two seasons, hitting .269/.329/.408 in 42 minor league games with the Giants last season and .275/.383/.353 through 61 plate appearances with Colorado’s affiliate this year. Though he’s never been an especially powerful bat, the right-handed-hitting Denorfia has experience at all three outfield spots and has hit left-handed pitchers at a .285/.353/.419 clip in 1004 plate appearances spread across parts of 10 Major League seasons.
Blue Jays Reportedly Release Mat Latos
The Blue Jays have released right-hander Mat Latos from their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo earlier this week, according to Buffalo broadcaster Ben Wagner (Twitter link). The team has yet to formally announce the move.
The 29-year-old Latos inked a minor league deal with Toronto this offseason and has made three starts for the big league club this season, allowing a total of 11 runs on 19 hits and eight walks with 10 strikeouts in 15 innings. Latos has posted a more favorable 3.80 ERA with a 24-to-13 K/BB ratio in 26 innings with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate. While a number of players have opt-out provisions in their contract this time of year, Wagner specified in a second tweet that Latos’ release was a team decision.
It’s been a struggle for Latos over the past two-plus seasons, as he now owns a 5.05 ERA in his past 201 1/3 innings. Injuries, beginning with left knee surgery in 2014, have played a role in his decline, as has the fact that his velocity has dipped from the 93-94 mph range to the 90-91 mph range. Latos, who has spent time with the Marlins, Dodgers, Angels, White Sox, Nationals and Jays over the past three years, will now look to join a rather remarkable seventh organization since Opening Day 2015.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/1/17
Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Tigers announced that right-hander William Cuevas, who was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo earlier this week, has rejected the assignment and instead elected free agency. The 26-year-old allowed four runs in a third of an inning in his lone appearance for Detroit this season and has made just four total MLB appearances over the past two seasons (three with Boston in addition to this year’s game with Detroit), but he does have a nice track record in Triple-A. Through 216 1/3 innings of work at that level, Cuevas has a 3.87 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9. He’ll look to latch on with another club, presumably on a minor league deal, now that he’s hit the open market.
- The Royals announced a minor roster shuffle on Thursday. Infielder and former first-round pick Hunter Dozier has been reinstated from the MLB 60-day disabled list and optioned back to Triple-A Omaha after spending the first two months of the season sidelined with a strained oblique. The Royals had a full 40-man roster, so in order to clear a spot for Dozier, they’ve recalled outfielder Paulo Orlando and placed him directly onto the Major League 60-day disabled list. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets that Orlando suffered a fractured tibia a few weeks ago when he fouled a ball into his shin.
Rangers Trade Josh Wilson To Indians, Grant Cesar Puello His Release
The Rangers made a pair of Triple-A moves on Thursday, announcing that veteran infielder Josh Wilson has been traded to the Indians in exchange for cash, while minor league outfielder Cesar Puello has exercised a June 1 out clause in his deal and been granted his release.
Wilson, 36, inked a minors pact with the Rangers back in mid-April and has gotten off to a torrid start with Triple-A Round Rock, slashing an eye-popping .329/.370/.548 with four homers and four doubles through 22 games (82 plate appearances). Obviously, that production isn’t sustainable — especially for a 36-year-old with a career .264/.325/.399 batting line in parts of 12 Triple-A campaigns — but he’ll give the Indians a versatile depth piece that has plenty of MLB experience. Wilson has seen action in parts of eight big league seasons and compiled a .229/.280/.319 triple slash while spending time at all four infield slots (mostly shortstop) and in left field.
Puello, 26, was once one of the top-regarded prospects in the Mets’ farm system and was regarded as a Top 100 prospect by Baseball America in the 2010-11 offseason. Puello had a terrific season with Double-A Binghamton in 2013, though that season was cut short by a suspension tied to the Biogenesis PED scandal. Puello’s bat never really took off at the Triple-A level after returning, as he’s now hit at a .261/.365/.403 clip through 839 career plate appearances at the minors’ top level. Thus far in 2017, he’s hit .247/.307/.420 with six homers and five steals through 179 plate appearances.
Blue Jays Designate Mike Bolsinger
The Blue Jays have designated righty Mike Bolsinger, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to fellow righty Leonel Campos, who was recalled from Triple-A.
[Related: Updated Toronto Blue Jays depth chart]
Bolsinger, 29, has logged 25 2/3 innings with the Jays this season (five starts) and posted a 5.61 ERA with a 21-to-19 K/BB ratio. That level of control issue is atypical for Bolsinger, who in seasons past has demonstrated solid if unspectacular BB/9 rates. While the righty has struggled in each of the past two big league campaigns, he’s not far removed from a nice 2015 season in which he tossed 109 1/3 innings of 3.62 ERA ball for the Dodgers, averaging 8.1 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 with a 53.1 percent ground-ball rate.
Bolsinger’s Triple-A track record includes a 3.96 ERA in 307 innings with better than a strikeout per frame, respectable control (3.3 BB/9) and considerably above-average ground-ball tendencies. Bolsinger has already been designated for assignment and cleared waivers once this season, so it’s possible that history will repeat itself in that regard. Of course, even if it does, he’d have the option to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment back to Buffalo. And, it also remains possible that a club with considerable rotation deficiencies takes a chance on a change of scenery bringing about a return to the right-hander’s 2015 form.
Any club that claims Bolsinger off waivers or acquires him in a minor trade will need to add him directly to the Major League roster, as he’s out of minor league options and can’t be sent to Triple-A without first clearing waivers.
Giants To Purchase Contract Of Austin Slater
The Giants will purchase the contract of outfielder Austin Slater, according to Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. Slater, 24, was taken in the eighth round of the 2014 draft.
A corresponding move has yet to be reported, but the Giants will need to clear roster space to make way for Slater. While that could involve optioning youngster Christian Arroyo, a 40-man move of some kind will be needed regardless.
Slater has thrived in the upper minors since the start of the 2016 season. All told, he owns a .308/.381/.487 slash through 474 trips to the plate at Triple-A, with 48 walks to go with 91 strikeouts.
While the right-handed hitter can play center, it makes sense to expect he’ll find most of his opportunities in left field. San Francisco has struggled to find production from the outfield all year long.
The struggling Giants could ultimately begin cycling in more new faces, Baggarly notes, if the club can’t quickly break out of its season-long struggles. It seems that light-hitting outfielder Gorkys Hernandez is the most likely player to go to make way for Slater, though a few of other roster spots also appear to be less than secure.
Twins Shuffle Bullpen In Series Of Roster Moves
10:25pm: The Twins are selecting the contract of right-hander Alex Wimmers and recalling left-hander Randy Rosario to fill the two spots in the ‘pen, as respectively first reported by Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com (Twitter link) and Mariana Guzman of 95.7 FM radio (Twitter link).
Wimmers wasn’t on the 40-man after being previously outrighted, but the former first-round pick will receive another chance to establish himself in the Majors. Minnesota plucked Wimmers out of Ohio State University with the 21st overall pick back in 2010, and though he was touted as a polished starter that could move quickly through the minors, injuries derailed his first several seasons as a pro. Now working out of the bullpen, Wimmers has a 3.94 ERA with a 13-to-7 K/BB ratio through 16 innings in Rochester.
The 23-year-old Rosario, who will be making his MLB debut, has torn through Double-A hitters this year, logging a 1.90 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 54.8 percent ground-ball rate. As noted by Stohs, he posted an 18-to-2 K/BB ratio with just four hits and one earned run allowed in 13 2/3 May innings. MLB.com rates him as Minnesota’s No. 27 prospect, praising his upper-90s fastball but calling his slider inconsistent.
4:33pm: The Twins have designated left-hander Jason Wheeler for assignment and optioned right-hander Ryan Pressly to Triple-A Rochester, the team announced to reporters following today’s loss (Twitter link via Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN had first tweeted that Pressly would be optioned. A pair of corresponding roster moves will be announced tomorrow.
Wheeler, 26, saw his contract selected just yesterday and made his MLB debut on Tuesday. However, the former eighth-round pick struggled through a pair of relief appearances over the past two days, yielding three runs on six hits and four walks in three innings of work. Generally speaking, the Twins’ abysmal bullpen performance in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Astros (28 runs allowed) necessitated a shuffling of the pitching staff, which undoubtedly contributed to Wheeler’s quick loss of his 40-man spot.
Pressly’s significant struggles this season have been one of the primary reasons that the Twins rank last in the Majors in bullpen ERA. The right-hander had pitched to a 3.36 ERA over his past 131 1/3 Major League innings prior to the 2017 campaign and has steadily seen his fastball velocity rise over the years. Pressly is averaging nearly 96 mph on his heater this season and entered the day with a considerably above-average 13.4 percent swinging-strike rate. However, despite his knack for missing bats, Pressly has been exceptionally home-run prone and has also had quite a bit of poor fortune on balls in play (.356 BABIP). He’s yielded five homers in just 18 innings this season after surrendering eight in 75 1/3 innings last year.