Minor MLB Transactions: 4/18/17
Here are the latest minor moves from throughout the game, all from Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless credited otherwise…
- The Phillies announced on Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. He’ll fill the roster spot of Howie Kendrick, who has been placed on the 10-day DL with a right abdominal strain. Leiter, a 22nd-round pick by the Phillies back in 2013, is the son of former Major League pitcher Mark Leiter and the nephew of former All-Star pitcher Al Leiter. He opened the season in Triple-A Lehigh Valley — his first experience at that level — and has worked to a 3.38 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 across 445 1/3 innings as a pro.
Earlier Moves
- The Dodgers signed righty David Hale to a minor league deal. Hale previously inked a minors contract with the Braves during the offseason but was released during Spring Training. The right-hander spent much of 2016 pitching in the Orioles’ minor league system after being claimed off waivers from the Rockies in April. A ground-ball specialist, Hale owns a 4.48 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 1.94 K/BB rate over 178 2/3 career IP with the Rockies and Braves.
- The Marlins signed lefty Daniel Schlereth to a minors deal. Schlereth, taken by the Diamondbacks with the 26th overall pick of the 2008 draft, posted a 4.35 ERA over 93 relief IP with Arizona and Detroit from 2009-12 and hasn’t been back to the majors since, pitching for six different organizations in the last four seasons.
- The Reds released right-hander Carlos Portuondo after just one relief outing for their Double-A affiliate. Portuondo was notably acquired as part of the Brandon Phillips trade this winter, coming to the Reds along with southpaw Andrew McKirahan and $1MM in salary relief. Portuondo’s release leaves the Reds with even less to show for the former All-Star second baseman, though it was clear that the deal was a case of Cincinnati simply wanting to move on from Phillips to create room for Jose Peraza at second base.
Angels Acquire Juan Graterol, Designate Ryan LaMarre
The Angels have acquired catcher Juan Graterol from the Blue Jays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash, the teams announced Tuesday afternoon. In order to clear a spot for Graterol on the 40-man roster, the Angels designated outfielder Ryan LaMarre for assignment.
After a tumultuous five-month cycle of transactions, Graterol is back with the organization with which he spent the 2016 season. Back in November, the Halos designated Graterol for assignment when claiming Nolan Fontana from the Astros — a move that triggered a subsequent cavalcade of scenery changes for the 28-year-old catcher. Graterol was claimed by the Reds, then claimed by the D-backs before briefly landing back with the Angels following a DFA in Arizona. The Angels, though, failed in their next attempt to pass Graterol through waivers, as the Blue Jays snagged him and brought him to MLB camp. Though he didn’t make the team in Toronto, he previously stood as one of the first lines of defense in the event of an injury to Russell Martin or Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
That changed this past weekend, when the Jays once again designated Graterol for assignment upon selecting the contract of Chris Coghlan. Graterol now changes organizations for the fifth time in five months and will hope to stick on the Halos’ 40-man roster this time around. He made his MLB debut with the Angels in 2016, appearing in nine games and going 4-for-14 at the plate.
While the constant changing of teams has to be frustrating for Graterol, it’s also undoubtedly heartening that so many clubs think highly enough of him to continually place him on a 40-man roster. Graterol doesn’t possess especially gaudy offensive numbers in Triple-A, but his .281/.311/.341 batting line in parts of four seasons there is solid for a player that comes with a sound defensive reputation. Graterol has shut down 39 percent of stolen base attempts him in his minor league career and also consistently rates as a solid, if unspectacular pitch framer (per Baseball Prospectus).
As for LaMarre, the 28-year-old has experienced brief stints in the Majors in each of he past two seasons with the Reds and Red Sox. Though he’s collected just two hits in 30 Major League at-bats, he’s a .273/.340/.406 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons. LaMarre has been primarily a center fielder throughout his minor league career but does also come with some experience in both corner slots (more in right field than in left).
Red Sox Sign Blaine Boyer To Minors Contract
The Red Sox have signed veteran right-hander Blaine Boyer to a minor league deal, as per the official Twitter feed of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Boyer is represented by Moye Sports Associates.
Should Boyer make it to Boston’s MLB roster, the Red Sox will be the eighth team Boyer has suited up with, and 2017 will mark his 11th season as a big leaguer. The 35-year-old signed a minors deal with the Braves earlier this winter but was released during Spring Training.
Boyer posted a 3.95 ERA, 3.5 K/9 and 1.53 K/BB rate over 66 innings out of the Brewers bullpen last season. The soft-contact and ground-ball specialist (Boyer has a 51.9% career grounder rate) has long been able to generate good results despite a lack of strikeouts, as Travis Sawchik observed in a piece for Fangraphs last January. Since making a comeback to the majors three years ago, Boyer has a 3.31 ERA over 171 1/3 innings for the Brewers, Twins and Padres, despite only amassing 88 strikeouts in that stretch.
A grounder-heavy arsenal would seem like a good fit at Fenway Park, and Boyer gives the Sox some extra relief depth. The Red Sox have three notable relievers (Tyler Thornburg, Roenis Elias and Carson Smith) on the disabled list.
Angels Acquire Parker Bridwell, Move Huston Street To 60-Day DL
6:59pm: Street was not able to stay on track due to a “mild shoulder impingement,” GM Billy Eppler tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter).
5:51pm: The Angels have acquired righty Parker Bridwell from the Orioles, per club announcements. Cash considerations or a player to be named later will go to Baltimore in return.
To open a 40-man spot, the Halos have bumped righty Huston Street to the 60-day DL. That suggests his lat strain isn’t progressing quite as hoped. At the time of his injury, about six weeks back, it was suggested that it was at least possible Street would be throwing in three or four weeks. With today’s DL swap, he won’t be eligible to return until about two months of the season have elapsed.
Bridwell, who was recently designated for assignment, will head to Double-A upon landing in his new organization. The 25-year-old reached the majors briefly last year, but evidently didn’t factor very heavily in the O’s plans.
A starter for most of his career, Bridwell spent much of 2016 functioning as a multi-inning reliever (he logged 87 total innings last year over 33 appearances). Over 83 2/3 minor-league innings, including an AFL stint, Bridwell pitched to a 3.76 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9.
Marlins Designate Tyler Moore For Assignment
The Marlins announced that they’ve reinstated third baseman Martin Prado from the 10-day disabled list and designated first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore for assignment in order to clear a spot on the active roster.
The 30-year-old Moore, long a member of the division-rival Nationals, was in his first season with the Fish after signing a minors deal in the offseason and breaking camp with the club. The right-handed-hitting Moore logged 11 plate appearances with Miami, collecting four hits along the way. In parts of five big league seasons, Moore is a .230/.282/.402 hitter. Unlike many right-handed bats that have long occupied a part-time role, however, Moore has actually fared slightly better against righties in his career.
Prado, 33, opened the season on the DL due to a hamstring strain that he sustained while playing for his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He just concluded a four-game rehab stint in the minors and will suit up for the 2017 season on the heels of a .304/.359/.417 batting line in 2016. The 2017 campaign marks the first season of a three-year, $40MM extension that Prado inked last September in lieu of testing the open market; he’d been slated to hit free agency before signing that deal but now will continue on as a leader in the Miami clubhouse through the 2019 season.
Pirates Acquire Johnny Barbato From Yankees
The Yankees announced that they’ve traded right-hander Johnny Barbato to the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Barbato was designated for assignment by the Yankees last week. THe Bucs entered the day with a pair of open spots on their 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t required. Pittsburgh announced that Barbato has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
[Related: Updated Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart]
The 24-year-old Barbato, originally acquired in the trade that sent right-hander Shawn Kelley to San Diego, struggled in his Major League debut with the Yanks last season, as he surrendered 11 runs in 13 innings of work. On the plus side, Barbato did post an impressive 15-to-5 K/BB ratio in that short time while averaging 94.6 mph on his fastball. Barbato’s numbers in Triple-A last season were solid as well: a 2.61 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate in 48 1/3 frames.
There’s no immediate room in the Pittsburgh bullpen for Barbato, as manager Clint Hurdle’s relief corps is fairly well set with Tony Watson (the current closer), Daniel Hudson, Felipe Rivero, Juan Nicasio, Antonio Bastardo, Trevor Williams and long man Wade LeBlanc providing a nice blend of both left- and right-handed options. Bastardo has gotten off to a rough start, but his $6.5MM salary probably gives him a bit of a leash to right the ship. For now, Barbato will join relievers such as A.J. Schugel and Pat Light on a Triple-A pitching staff that is fairly well stocked with depth options for the big league pitching staff (both in the bullpen and in the rotation).
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/17/17
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles announced that right-hander Jason Garcia has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Double-A Bowie, thus removing him from the 40-man roster but keeping him in the organization. The 24-year-old righty was designated for assignment last week. Garcia was Baltimore’s Rule 5 Draft pick prior to the 2015 season but struggled in the Majors that year and in Double-A last season. While Garcia logged a respectable 4.25 ERA in 29 2/3 innings with the 2015 Orioles, he also posted an ugly 22-to-17 K/BB ratio that season. In 142 innings of Double-A work, he’s limped to a 4.82 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9. The right-hander is still fairly young, generates ground-balls at about a 46 percent clip and averages better than 93 mph on his fastball, so there’s still plenty to like in his overall skill set, though it seems clear that some additional development is needed.
Rangers Acquire Clayton Blackburn From Giants
The Rangers have acquired right-hander Clayton Blackburn from the Giants for minor league infielder Frandy De La Rosa, per announcements from both teams.
It’s no surprise that San Francisco found a taker for the 24-year-old Blackburn, who began generating interest after the Giants designated him for assignment Tuesday. Baseball America ranked Blackburn among the Giants’ 10 best prospects from 2012-15, including sixth in 2014, but his stock dropped with a disappointing 2016. In 136 1/3 innings, Blackburn logged a 4.36 ERA, 6.67 K/9 and 2.31 BB/9. That came after a far better showing in 2015, when he pitched to a 2.85 ERA – with 7.24 K/9 and 2.34 BB/9 – in 123 frames. The optionable Blackburn figures to provide starting depth for Texas, which has already sent him to Triple-A.
De La Rosa, meanwhile, has now been part of two deals since signing with the Cubs as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2013 (Chicago shipped him to the Rangers for righty Spencer Patton in 2015). At the time of the first swap involving De La Rosa, Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo noted that he has “plus speed and decent hands but lacks the consistency to play shortstop, profiling as an offensive second baseman.” The 21-year-old switch-hitter has batted .253/.317/.352 in the minors, primarily at the Single-A level.
Jeremy Guthrie Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie is now out of the Nationals organization, having elected free agency, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). The Nats designated Guthrie for assignment last Sunday.
Washington quickly jettisoned Guthrie from its 40-man roster after his unfathomably poor start against the Phillies last Saturday. Guthrie, pitching on his 38th birthday, allowed 10 earned runs on six hits and four walks over just two-thirds of an inning. That was his only appearance with the Nationals, who signed him to a minor league contract in February.
Guthrie mostly served as an innings-eating starter with the Orioles, Rockies and Royals from 2007-15, but his performance fell off dramatically with World Series-winning Kansas City two years ago and he failed to crack the majors last season. His struggles continued in 2016 in a combined 86 2/3 Triple-A innings between the Padres and Marlins organization, with whom he posted a 7.17 ERA.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/15/17
Today’s minor moves from throughout the game:
- The Rockies have signed left-hander Steve Ascher to a minor league contract. The 23-year-old was previously with the Rays, who selected him in the 17th round of the 2014 draft. Ascher has spent most of his professional career at the Single-A level, though he did ascend to Double-A last season. In 46 innings, Ascher logged a 4.30 ERA, 7.04 K/9 and 3.52 BB/9.
- The Athletics have announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Jaff Decker. To clear roster space, they’ve optioned outfielder Mark Canha to Triple-A Nashville and placed outfielder Jake Smolinski (shoulder) on the 60-day DL. Canha was off to a poor .105/.150/.158 start in 2017 after missing much of 2016 to a hip injury, and Decker (who has had prior cups of coffee with the Padres, Pirates and Rays) was batting .387/.472/.452 for Nashville.
- Astros righty Lupe Chavez has retired, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle notes. The Astros acquired the 19-year-old Chavez last August when they traded Scott Feldman to Toronto. Chavez had never pitched above the short-season leagues but had generally been successful, with a 2.19 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 107 career innings. The reason for his somewhat surprising decision to retire isn’t known.