Minor MLB Transactions: 5/15/17
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post. The latest:
- The Diamondbacks have purchased the contract of lefty Aaron Laffey, per an announcement from the Somerset Patriots. Laffey had been working for the indy ball club, throwing 22 1/3 innings of 2.82 ERA ball. The 32-year-old spent last year as a Triple-A swingman in the Nationals organization after briefly cracking the majors with the Rockies in 2015. He had compiled a much more extensive MLB track record before that, though, appearing in seven straight campaigns as a starter and/or reliever beginning in 2007. All told, Laffey carries a 4.44 ERA with 4.5 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 across 494 1/3 big league innings.
- The Marlins have outrighted infielder Yefri Perez to Double-A, per a club announcement. Perez, 26, lost his roster spot recently to make room for the addition of veteran Mike Aviles. Though he made it to the majors briefly last season, Perez is still in need of quite a bit of seasoning. He has swiped as many as 73 bases in a single minor-league season, though it’s hardly clear he’ll ever reach base enough to hold on in the big leagues. Through 123 plate appearances this year at Double-A, he’s carrying a meager .131/.283/.162 batting line.
Yunel Escobar To Miss 2-4 Weeks Due To Hamstring Strain
The Angels will place third baseman Yunel Escobar on the 10-day DL with a left hamstring strain, as per a team announcement. Escobar is expected to miss between 2-4 weeks of action with the Grade 1 strain, which is the least-serious type of such hamstring injuries.
Escobar has delivered a solid .272/.324/.411 slash line over 170 plate appearances for the Halos, buoyed by a strong first week of the season and a red-hot May. The veteran already has five homers this season, tying his total from all of last season. Escobar’s early power surge is reflected in his .139 Isolated Slugging mark, which would be the highest of his 11-year career (his previous single-season high of .136 came in 2009, when he hit a career-best 14 home runs for the Braves).
The loss of such a productive bat is a significant blow to the Angels, who already rank in the bottom-third of most major offensive categories. Mike Trout is having another incredible season and Luis Valbuena has hit well since returning from the DL, though the Halos have gotten little from regulars like Albert Pujols, Kole Calhoun, Cameron Maybin and Danny Espinosa. Despite this lack of offense and an injury-ravaged rotation, however, the Angels are staying afloat with a 19-21 record, good enough to keep pace in the tightly-packed American League.
A corresponding move will be made once Los Angeles officially puts Escobar on the DL, though it seems like the Angels will simply keep Jefry Marte on the active roster, according to Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times. Marte had just been optioned to Triple-A earlier today, though if he’s sticking around in Anaheim, he and backup infielder Cliff Pennington are the logical candidates to handle third base while Escobar is sidelined.
Ross Detwiler Opts Out Of A’s Contract, Hits Free Agency
The A’s have released Ross Detwiler after the left-hander enacted a opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the club, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter link).
Detwiler originally came to Oakland last July after a trade from the Indians, and the southpaw posted a 6.14 ERA, 4.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over 44 innings (seven starts in nine outings) in the green-and-gold. Detwiler signed a minors contract with the A’s over the winter but opted out of that deal at the end of Spring Training, only to sign a new deal with the club the next week.
Pitching exclusively as a reliever at Triple-A, Detwiler had a 7.50 ERA through 12 innings, though Slusser notes that the lefty had pitched better as of late, with just a 1.17 ERA in May. Still, it seems as if a call-up to the A’s roster wasn’t in the card, so Detwiler will now look for an opportunity elsewhere.
Best known for a productive stint as a swingman with the Nationals from 2009-14, Detwiler has struggled over the last two seasons, posting a 6.73 ERA over 107 IP with the A’s, Indians, Rangers and Braves. Never a big strikeout pitcher (only a 5.5 career K/9), Detwiler has had increased troubles allowing walks and homers for the last two years, reducing his margin of error to zero.
Athletics Release Andrew Lambo
The A’s have released outfielder/first baseman Andrew Lambo, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Lambo had been on the DL at Triple-A Nashville with a wrist injury, but had been recently cleared to play.
Lambo was limited to just 56 minor league games and one MLB game in 2016 after undergoing surgery to treat testicular cancer. The 28-year-old happily made a full recovery from that procedure and signed a new minor league deal with Oakland last October.
Originally a fourth-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2007 draft, Lambo has hit .189/.230/.295 over an even 100 career plate appearances in the majors, appearing in 60 games with the Pirates and A’s since 2013. He got off to a slow start in Triple-A this season (undoubtedly the wrist injury was a factor) but overall, Lambo has a .276/.342/.456 slash line in 3340 PA over his minor league career.
Mariners Outright Jean Machi
SUNDAY: Seattle has outrighted Machi to Triple-A, the team announced.
SATURDAY: The Mariners have announced that they’ve designated righty Jean Machi for assignment and selected the contract of fellow righty Ryan Weber from Triple-A Tacoma. Weber will start against the Blue Jays today.
The Mariners selected Machi’s contract just last week with the idea that he’d provide help for their bullpen. He did just that, allowing only two runs (one earned) over 7 1/3 innings, although he walked four batters and struck out just four. He also pitched 2 1/3 of those innings yesterday and therefore would probably not have been much help today, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune points out. The Mariners also plan to have fellow reliever Steve Cishek return from the disabled list in the coming days. It was the 35-year-old Machi’s first stint in the big leagues since 2015, when he pitched 58 innings for the Giants and Red Sox.
Weber will attempt to help a Mariners rotation that has lately been decimated by injuries to Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton and Drew Smyly, becoming the ninth starter to take the hill for Seattle this season. The only two healthy starters remaining from the team’s Opening Day 25-man (which itself didn’t include Smyly, who has missed the entire season thus far with elbow trouble) are Yovani Gallardo and Ariel Miranda.
The 26-year-old Weber made seven starts over parts of the 2015 and 2016 campaigns with the Braves. He had an 0.85 ERA and just 1.1 BB/9 in 31 2/3 innings with Tacoma, although with a modest 5.4 K/9.
Neil Ramirez Elects Free Agency
Reliever Neil Ramirez, whom the Blue Jays designated for assignment on Tuesday, has rejected an outright demotion to Triple-A in favor of free agency, per a team announcement.
The 27-year-old Ramirez didn’t last long with the Toronto organization, which claimed him off waivers from the Giants on May 4 and designated him less than a week later. Ramirez’s only action this year has come with San Francisco, with which he threw 10 1/3 innings and, despite racking up 18 strikeouts against four walks, allowed 15 earned runs on 16 hits.
Ramirez, once an effective option with the Cubs from 2014-15, is now primed to endure his second straight nomadic season. He was a member of the Cubs, Brewers and Twins a year ago, when his issued preventing runs first cropped up. Thanks to both a 21.1 percent home run-to-fly ball ratio and a 6.75 BB/9, Ramirez pitched to a 6.00 ERA in a combined 24 innings with those clubs.
Indians Designate Michael Martinez For Assignment
The Indians have designated utilityman Michael Martinez for assignment and selected the contract of outfielder Dan Robertson from Triple-A Columbus, per a team announcement.
[RELATED: Updated Indians Depth Chart]
The 34-year-old Martinez is in the midst of his third season as a member of the Cleveland organization, which briefly separated from in 2016 by way of a July trade with Boston. Martinez ended up returning to the Indians via waivers in August, and he went on to make the final out in the club’s Game 7 World Series loss to the Cubs. While Martinez is versatile in the field, having appeared at six defensive positions in his career (he even pitched earlier this season), he has been an especially poor offensive player in the majors. Martinez owns a .200/.246/.270 line in 592 plate appearances, though he has performed well in an extremely small sample this year (.364/.462/.455 in 14 PAs).
Robertson, 31, made his major league debut with the Rangers in 2014 and has also seen action with the Angels and Mariners, hitting .273/.322/.325 with no home runs in 298 PAs. He has been far more successful at the Triple-A level, having slashed .290/.365/.393 in 1,929 trips to the plate.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/13/17
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- A week after the Twins designated him for assignment, reliever Michael Tonkin has cleared waivers and will report to Triple-A Rochester, tweets LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune. As such, the right-hander will remain with the only major league organization he has known since going in the 30th round of the 2008 draft. Prior to his designation, Tonkin threw 11 early season innings in Minnesota and offset a 10.64 K/9 with an 8.18 BB/9, the latter of which helped lead to a 6.55 ERA.
- The Blue Jays have outrighted reliever Neil Ramirez to Triple-A Buffalo, per a team announcement. Ramirez, whom the Jays designated Thursday, came over from San Francisco via waivers on May 4 and hasn’t yet thrown a pitch with the Toronto organization. Despite piling up 18 strikeouts against four walks as a Giant this season, the 27-year-old Ramirez managed an 8.71 ERA in 10 1/3 innings with the club.
- The Athletics have outrighted outfielder Jaff Decker to Triple-A Nashville, where he began the season. The A’s added Decker to their 25- and 40-man rosters April 15, and he proceeded to hit .200/.322/.260 in a career-high 62 plate appearances before they designated him Tuesday. A former high-end prospect, the 27-year-old Decker owns a .269/.370/.410 line in 1,542 Triple-A PAs.
- The Cubs have released catcher Carlos Corporan, who joined the organization on a minor league deal in January. In his most recent action, Corporan hit a paltry .197/.246/.333 in 196 combined PAs between the Marlins’ and Rays’ Triple-A affiliates last season. The 33-year-old hasn’t cracked the majors since 2015, and has batted .218/.280/.342 in 780 PAs at the game’s highest level.
Earlier updates:
- The Marlins have announced that they’ve outrighted righty Joe Gunkel, who they designated for assignment last week when they selected Steve Lombardozzi‘s contract. Gunkel has headed from the Orioles to the Dodgers (in a minor trade) and from the Dodgers to the Marlins (on a waiver claim) in the past several weeks, and he’s pitched just 17 minor-league innings so far this season as a result. The 25-year-old had a solid 2016 in the Orioles system, posting a 4.08 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and a very strong 1.1 BB/9 in 141 1/3 innings in the rotation at Triple-A Norfolk.
Rays Demote Blake Snell To Minors
The Rays have optioned left-handed starter Blake Snell to Triple-A Durham, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The club will recall reliever Ryne Stanek to take Snell’s roster spot, Topkin adds (on Twitter).
Tampa Bay elected to demote Snell after he turned in arguably his worst start of the year in a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday. The 24-year-old went 5 2/3 innings, marking the seventh time in eight starts this season that he hasn’t completed at least six frames, and yielded six earned runs on six hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. In 42 innings this year, Snell has logged a bloated 4.71 ERA with a disappointing strikeout rate (7.29 per nine innings) and a horrid walk rate (5.36).
Snell also struggled with control as a rookie last season (5.16 BB/9), but the former top prospect managed to offset that to a degree with a stellar 9.91 K/9, which helped him post a quality ERA (3.54) in 89 innings. Since then, though, Snell has lost some fastball velocity and generated fewer swinging strikes, as his rate has fallen from 10.9 percent in 2016 to 8.8 percent this year. Overall, Snell has been the weak link in a Rays rotation that has otherwise been a strength in 2017, with Chris Archer, Alex Cobb, Matt Andriese and Jake Odorizzi having recorded positive results.
With Snell returning to the minors, veteran swingman Erasmo Ramirez is likely to take his rotation spot, per Topkin, though he notes that the Rays might not need a fifth starter imminently. Snell’s demotion shouldn’t affect his long-term control, as he entered the season with 110 days of service time and is now closing in on the 172 necessary to accrue a full year. Thus, assuming Snell returns to the majors this season, he should still remain on track to reach free agency after the 2022 season.
Nationals Extend Bryce Harper Through 2018
The Nationals have announced that they’ve agreed to terms with Bryce Harper on a deal for the 2018 season. Harper will receive $21.625MM, making his 2018 salary the largest ever for a player who would have been eligible for arbitration, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes (Twitter links). Harper can also receive up to a maximum of $1M in bonuses, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links) — he can receive the full $1M for winning the NL MVP, $500K for second, $250K for third, $150K for fourth and $100K for fifth, and he can also receive $100K each for winning an All-Star berth, a Gold Glove or a Silver Slugger. Harper was already under team control through 2018, so he can still become a free agent following the 2018 campaign.
Harper’s massive 2018 salary surely provides a bit of satisfaction for his agent Scott Boras, whose love of precedent-shattering contracts is well known. Harper is making $13.625MM in 2017, his second to last season before hitting the market. His $21.625MM salary next season gives him a big raise that’s difficult to evaluate, since so few players have come anywhere near that figure during their arbitration-eligible seasons. Jake Arrieta was the highest paid arbitration-eligible player last offseason, at $15.637MM; the year before that, Aroldis Chapman made the most, at $11.325MM. That year, Josh Donaldson agreed to a two-year extension that bought out two seasons of arbitration eligibility at $11.65MM and $17MM. In 2014-15, David Price received $19.75MM from the Tigers for his last arbitration season. The year before that, Clayton Kershaw received a salary of $4MM plus an $18MM signing bonus in agreeing to a long-term deal that bought out his last year of arbitration eligibility.
Of those, the Price and Kershaw salaries stand out as the clearest precedents for Harper’s current deal. Another is Mike Trout‘s current long-term contract with the Angels. That deal is, of course, significantly different in structure and purpose than Harper’s 2018 deal, but it pays him $19.25MM for this season, which he entered with five-plus years of service time.
Harper’s $5MM 2016 salary was relatively low in part because he agreed to it following the 2014 season as part of a two-year extension that settled a grievance between with the Nats about a clause in the contract he signed upon being drafted. But Harper got a huge $8.625MM raise for 2017 (shattering MLBTR’s projection) that probably came thanks largely to his monstrous 2015 season, in which he batted .330/.460/.649 while hitting 42 home runs and winning the NL MVP award. That big 2017 salary established a baseline that led to his record-breaking deal for 2018. After somewhat of a down year in 2016 that might have been partially due to shoulder troubles, Harper has begun the 2017 season on an MVP-caliber pace yet again, hitting a ridiculous .372/.496/.717 so far.
In the past, Harper and Boras have shown intense interest in testing the free agent market rather than signing a long-term deal, and Harper’s new contract for 2018 does nothing to change that. He’ll still be eligible in the 2018-19 offseason, joining a headline-grabbing free agent class that also includes Donaldson and Manny Machado. Harper will still be just 26 at that point and could yet again set a contract record, particularly if anything resembling his current 2017 pace continues until then. Following the 2015 season, Harper suggested to a reporter that he thought he could make over $400MM on the open market.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.