Athletics Acquire Ryan LaMarre
The Athletics have acquired outfielder Ryan LaMarre from the Angels in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, as per announcements from both teams. In a related move, the A’s moved right-hander Chris Bassitt to the 60-day DL to create roster space. Los Angeles designated LaMarre for assignment earlier this week when catcher Juan Graterol was acquired in a trade with Toronto. LaMarre, 28, signed a Major League deal with the Halos this winter but began the season at Triple-A.
Originally a second-round pick for the Reds in the 2010 draft, LaMarre has a .267/.345/.381 slash line over 2695 career plate appearances in the minors, plus 27 games in the big leagues with the Reds and Red Sox from 2015-16. He has primarily played as a center fielder during his career, so LaMarre provides the A’s with some versatile outfield depth at the minor league level.
The 60-day DL placement means that Bassitt can’t return to Oakland’s roster under June, even though an early return didn’t seem possible anyway given that Bassitt underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2016. The righty was reported to be making good progress in his recovery as of two weeks ago, though Bassitt is obviously still in need of a lengthy rehab stint in the minors.
Blue Jays Place Troy Tulowitzki On 10-Day DL
April continues to be a nightmare for the 4-12 Blue Jays, who have lost another regular to the disabled list. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will miss at least 10 days on account of a strained right hamstring, per the Associated Press. Tulowitzki joins third baseman Josh Donaldson, right-hander Aaron Sanchez and left-hander J.A. Happ on the shelf.
Injuries have long been an issue for Tulowitzki, who missed between 31 and 115 games in each of the previous six seasons. Tulowitzki used to make up for lost time with elite-level production as a Rockie, but his offensive performance has dropped off since he joined the Blue Jays via trade in 2015. The 32-year-old has batted a roughly league-average .251/.316/.424 in 788 plate appearances with the Jays, including a .263/.295/.386 line in 61 PAs this season, after slashing a Coors Field-inflated .299/.371/.513 in 4,415 trips to the plate with the Rockies. Tulowitzki has continued to serve as an above-average fielder, though, having tallied 16 Defensive Runs Saved and an 8.8 Ultimate Zone Rating since 2015.
The Tulowitzki-less Jays will go forth with Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney as their most experienced shortstop options. For now, they’ll use Tulowitzki’s roster spot on reliever Leonel Campos, whom they recalled from Triple-A on Saturday. They announced a couple other changes to their pitching staff, too, sending Danny Barnes to Buffalo and calling up Casey Lawrence.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/22/17
Saturday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Giants have outrighted catcher Tim Federowicz to Triple-A, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The club designated Federowicz for assignment Tuesday, and he subsequently cleared waivers. San Francisco no longer had a need for Federowicz after Buster Posey returned from the seven-day concussion DL. Federowicz appeared in two games during Posey’s weeklong absence.
- The Tigers have placed center fielder JaCoby Jones on the 10-day disabled list and selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci from Triple-A Toledo. Jones took a 90 mph fastball to the mouth from Twins reliever Justin Haley on Saturday, after which he received nine stitches and underwent a CT scan, per Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. The scan ruled out a major injury for Jones, who will nonetheless miss at least a week and a half. The 24-year-old has batted a subpar .150/.244/.300 with 18 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances this season. Jones’ absence should leave center to Andrew Romine, who has fared somewhat better despite not having drawn any walks in 40 PAs (.231/.250/.410). The 31-year-old Adduci’s only big league action came as a Ranger from 2013-14, when he combined to hit .189/.259/.242 in 148 trips to the plate. Adduci owns a respectable .283/.352/.401 line in 1,203 Triple-A PAs.
Angels Place Cam Bedrosian On DL, Select Kirby Yates
The Angels have placed closer Cam Bedrosian on the 10-day disabled list with a right groin strain, according to an announcement from the club. The Halos, as a result, have made a few other changes to their pitching staff, selecting the contract of Kirby Yates, recalling Daniel Wright and optioning Alex Meyer to Triple-A.
It’s early in the season, of course, but Bedrosian has been the Angels’ best reliever for the second straight campaign. The 25-year-old hasn’t yielded a run or a walk over 6 2/3 innings, also striking out nine hitters. With both Huston Street and Andrew Bailey on the DL, Bedrosian has emerged as the Angels’ top game-ending option, having converted three of four save opportunities thus far. Street, Bailey and Bedrosian are the Halos’ only relievers with any real experience as closers, so it’s unclear who will take on that role for the time being. It could go to Blake Parker, who has been eminently effective across 8 1/3 frames this season (12 strikeouts, two walks, three earned runs).
As for Yates, he’ll return to the majors just under three weeks after the Angels designated him for assignment April 2. They ended up outrighting Yates on April 5, and he has since pitched six solid innings at Triple-A. The former Ray and Yankee brings 97 2/3 innings of major league experience to the table, and he has posted a quality strikeout rate (10.78 per nine) and a playable walk rate (3.78), but the 30-year-old has nonetheless struggled to a 5.25 ERA.
Angels Moving Garrett Richards To 60-Day DL
When a biceps strain forced Angels right-hander Garrett Richards to the 10-day disabled list April 7, there was optimism that he’d return quickly. Now, unfortunately for both Richards and the Halos, he’s in line to sit out at least into the summer. The Angels are moving him to the 60-day DL, per an an announcement from the team.
“His most recent assessment and exam showed mild improvement in biceps strength and also irritation of the cutaneous nerve which is contributing to his strength deficit,” stated the club.
This is the second serious arm injury for Richards since last year, when an elbow issue limited him to just 34 2/3 innings. Richards elected against Tommy John surgery, instead opting for stem-cell therapy treatment, which was successful enough that he was able to take the mound again during the first week of this season. Richards allowed no runs on three hits and a walk in his April 5 season debut against the Athletics, but his biceps strain forced him to exit after only 4 2/3 frames.
As was the case last year, Richards’ prolonged absence should be a serious blow to the Angels’ hopes of contending. The club won a mere 74 games last season and has begun 2017 an ugly 7-11. For the second straight year, the Halos’ Richards-less starting staff hasn’t fared well. Thus far, the group has posted the majors’ fifth-worst ERA (4.35) and eighth-worst FIP (4.18). Ricky Nolasco, Matt Shoemaker, Jesse Chavez, Tyler Skaggs and J.C. Ramirez have taken the mound for multiple starts, while Alex Meyer has made one.
Looking ahead, it’s possible the 28-year-old Richards’ latest issue will put his tenure with the Angels in jeopardy. The team kept Richards via arbitration at a $6.85MM cost this year, but if he’s unable to return in 2017 (or if he shows poorly upon his comeback), he could be a non-tender candidate during the offseason. Richards is due to make his fourth and final trip through arbitration next winter.
Rangers Return Rule 5 Pick Mike Hauschild To Astros
The Rangers have returned Rule 5 pick Mike Hauschild to the Astros, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. That means Hauschild cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week, and the Astros paid the Rangers $50K to have him back in their system. He has been assigned to Triple-A Fresno.
The Rangers attempted to keep Hauschild on their roster this season as a long reliever, but he allowed ten runs and a remarkable five home runs over eight innings of work (although he did have seven strikeouts against only two walks, and he averaged a solid 92 MPH on his fastball). The Rangers ultimately opted to go with veteran Anthony Bass in that role instead.
The 27-year-old Hauschild had previously established himself as a worthwhile starting depth option in the Astros’ system, posting a 3.22 ERA, 7.7 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 with a 53.9% ground-ball rate in 139 2/3 innings with Fresno last season. He was the 16th pick in the Rule 5 Draft last December.
Phillies Acquire Ty Kelly From Blue Jays
The Phillies have announced that they’ve acquired IF/OF Ty Kelly from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. To clear space on their 40-man roster, they’ve placed Clay Buchholz (who will miss the next four to six months after having flexor tendon surgery) on the 60-day DL.
The Jays designated Kelly for assignment yesterday when they added Mat Latos to their roster. Kelly had only been in the Blue Jays organization for two weeks, with the Jays claiming him from the Mets earlier this month.
Kelly is 28 and has just 72 big-league plate appearances to his name, but it’s not hard to see why he continues to draw interest on the waiver wire — he has nearly as many minor-league walks as strikeouts and a career .381 minor-league OBP, and he played every position but pitcher and catcher for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate last year. (He spends most of his time at second and third and in left, however.) The Phillies’ immediate plans for him aren’t yet clear, though it’s worth noting that left fielder Howie Kendrick‘s recent abdominal strain might have been a factor in their pursuit of Kelly.
Tigers Place Miguel Cabrera On 10-Day DL
The Tigers have announced that they’ve placed first baseman Miguel Cabrera on the 10-day DL with a right groin strain. To take his place on the active roster, they’ve recalled catcher John Hicks from Triple-A Toledo, perhaps with the idea that he could back up James McCann behind the plate while Alex Avila takes over for Cabrera at first.
Cabrera left yesterday’s game as a result of the groin strain and, as MLB.com’s Jason Beck and other reporters have noted on Twitter, had an MRI today. It’s not yet clear how long he’ll need to be out. Obviously, an extended absence would be a significant blow to the Tigers. Cabrera made his seventh straight All-Star game in 2016 while batting .316/.393/.563 and swatting 38 home runs. The former Triple Crown winner and two-time MVP currently has 449 career homers, second only to Albert Pujols among active players. Cabrera’s present stint on the DL is his first since July 2015, when he missed about six weeks due to a calf strain.
Marlins Outright Tyler Moore
The Marlins have outrighted first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro was among those to tweet. He was recently designated for assignment.
While the return of Martin Prado changed the roster calculus for the Fish, there’s still a need for a righty bench bat to pair with Justin Bour at first. (Bour is hitting just .167/.270/.315 and has a poor track record against left-handed pitching.) That could mean Moore will return to the majors at some point this year.
The 30-year-old slugger saw only 11 plate appearances before he was designated for assignment and failed to make it to the majors last year, so there’s not much of a recent track record to go on. From 2012 through 2015, he slashed .228/.281/.401 and hit 24 home runs in 660 plate appearances with the Nationals, so there’s plenty of pop in the bat. But Moore hasn’t reached base enough and offers little in the way of defensive value, limiting his usefulness.
White Sox Select Mike Pelfrey, Place James Shields On 10-Day DL
The White Sox have swapped out veteran hurlers with a roster move today, placing James Shields on the DL and selecting the contract of Mike Pelfrey, as JJ Stankevitz (Twitter links) and Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link) report. Shields is dealing with a lat strain, though GM Rick Hahn says it’s not believed to be serious.
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While the prognosis looks good, it’s unfortunate timing for the 35-year-old Shields. He has turned in three impressive starts thus far, allowing just three earned runs on only nine hits over 16 2/3 innings while recording 16 strikeouts against ten walks.
There’s some sample-size noise here, to be sure. Shields has stranded literally every runner to reach base against him — he has allowed three solo homers — and is benefiting from a .150 BABIP. At the very least, though, it’s encouraging that he has been able to generate some soft contact and get some results after a brutal 2016 season.
Shields would seem a plausible trade chip this summer if he’s able to return to health. There’s little reason to expect he’ll keep up anything approaching his first three outings, but there’d surely be interest in the respected veteran if he can return to the form he showed in 2015, when he gave the Padres over 200 innings of 3.91 ERA ball. There’s still the matter of salary, of course; Shields is under contract for 2017 and 2018 at $21MM apiece, though the Padres are on the hook for $22MM of that. (Chicago also owes him a $2MM buyout on his 2019 club option.)
The 33-year-old Pelfrey, meanwhile, landed in Chicago when the Tigers cut him loose late in camp. He has not been very successful in his two Triple-A outings thus far, lasting just six total innings while coughing up five earned on ten hits. But Pelfrey has long logged serviceable frames at the MLB level, and he’ll look to get back on track while providing the rebuilding organization some innings — at the league-minimum salary — while they wait for Shields to return.