Brewers Designate Damien Magnifico For Assignment
The Brewers have selected the contract of right-hander David Goforth and designated right-hander Damien Magnifico for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move, the club announced via Twitter.
Goforth, a seventh-round pick for the Brew Crew in 2011, has a 6.11 ERA over 35 1/3 career innings with the club and a 3.95 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 1.65 K/BB rater over 481 1/3 frames in the minors. Southpaw Brent Suter was optioned to Triple-A yesterday, so with Goforth taking his place, Milwaukee now has an all-righty bullpen.
Magnifico made his big league debut last season, notching three innings over a three-game cup of coffee with the Brewers. The 25-year-old righty was selected in the fifth round of the 2012 draft and he has a 3.71 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 over 339 2/3 career innings in Milwaukee’s farm system.
Nationals Designate Jeremy Guthrie For Assignment
The Nationals announced that right-hander Jeremy Guthrie has been designated for assignment, and in a corresponding move, righty Matt Albers‘ contract has been selected from Triple-A to fill the spot on the 25-man roster.
Guthrie signed a minor league deal with the Nats in February and got an opportunity to start yesterday due to something of a rotation crunch (Stephen Strasburg was given an extra day of rest and Joe Ross wasn’t yet eligible to be called back up after being optioned to Triple-A). Unfortunately for Guthrie and the Nationals, the start was a disastrous one — Guthrie allowed 10 earned runs over just 2/3 of an inning in an eventual 17-3 loss to the Phillies. Adding insult to injury, yesterday was also Guthrie’s 38th birthday.
The outing was Guthrie’s first MLB appearance since 2015, as the veteran posted a 5.95 ERA over 148 1/3 innings for the Royals and didn’t make the postseason roster for the eventual World Series’ champions. Guthrie also struggled in 2016 pitching at the Triple-A level for the Padres and Marlins, posting a 7.17 ERA over 86 2/3 IP within the two organizations. Given Guthrie’s age and lack of recent effectiveness, it seems questionable whether he could catch on with another team, though a move to relief pitching seems necessary for the longtime durable starter. Guthrie averaged 201 innings per season from 2008-14 with the Royals, Rockies and Orioles, and he owns a career 4.42 ERA over 1765 1/3 innings in parts of 13 big league seasons.
Albers also signed a minor deal with Washington in February, though the Nats released him at the end of Spring Training and re-signed the righty to a new contract. Both deals were for the same terms — a $1.15MM base salary for making the MLB roster and another $600K available in incentives. Albers suffered through a rough 2016 season with the White Sox (6.31 ERA in 51 1/3 IP) but the pitch-to-contact specialist posted a 2.32 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 2.02 K/BB rate and a 59.2% ground-ball rate over 170 2/3 IP from 2012-15.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/8/17
Saturday’s minor moves:
- The Blue Jays have selected the contract of right-hander Casey Lawrence and moved right-hander Bo Schultz from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL, per a team announcement. Lawrence, who has been with the Jays organization since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2010, could now be in position to log his first major league action. The 29-year-old saw significant time at the Triple-A level last season, when he posted a 3.83 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 2.48 BB/9 in 87 innings and 15 appearances (all starts). Most of Lawrence’s work has come at Double-A, where he has pitched to a 4.23 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 410 1/3 frames (70 appearances, 65 starts).
Giants To Sign Melvin Upton Jr.
3:12pm: Upton will sign with the Giants, Feinsand reports (Twitter links). Upton’s deal will be of the minor-league variety, and he will report to Triple-A Sacramento. He is a client of Reynolds Sports Management.
As noted below, the Giants can use extra outfield depth, and Upton could conceivably play left field against lefties, pairing with Jarrett Parker. As Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets, the Giants until recently did not seem to have interest in Upton. Parker and the Giants’ other left fielders have started the season poorly, though, with Parker going 0-for-10 with six strikeouts. The Giants’ change of heart might have had something to do with those struggles.
The Giants also have Mac Williamson for the sort of role Upton might eventually occupy, although Williamson is currently on the DL with a quad injury. Another potential option, Michael Morse, is also currently hurt. The Giants also recently signed another veteran, Drew Stubbs, to bolster their supply of outfielders. The Giants had also been connected to free agent Angel Pagan, who of course is no stranger to the organization; Upton’s signing perhaps makes a reunion less likely.
2:50pm: Free agent outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. is likely to sign with a National League team today, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. The Blue Jays released Upton last week after telling him he wouldn’t make their club out of Spring Training.
The identity of the signing team isn’t currently known. Speculatively, the Giants could use a bit of extra depth, and the right-handed Upton could be a fit, with left-handed Jarrett Parker in left field. If Upton and the Braves might have interest in a reunion, that club has been known to have interest in bench help, and they have left-handed Nick Markakis in right. The Padres have a very young outfield and presumably have memories of Upton’s previous tenure there; they might see him as a stabilizing presence. Upton might also be a decent short-term fit in Colorado, where lefty Gerardo Parra is playing left while David Dahl nurses a rib injury.
Of course, Upton could also potentially sign a minor-league deal elsewhere and wait for an opportunity. But he might be able to find a situation where he can play right away, or close to it. He hit poorly down the stretch last year with the Blue Jays, but as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe pointed out earlier today, Upton previously having revived his career in San Diego might convince interested teams to gamble on his upside. He seems likely to generate more interest than the typical minor-league free agent. The Padres are also paying the bulk of his remaining salary, so interested teams won’t have to worry much about his cost.
Nationals Select Jeremy Guthrie’s Contract
The Nationals have announced that they’ve selected the contract of veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie, as expected. They’re cleared space for him on their active roster by optioning outfielder Michael Taylor to Triple-A Syracuse. Guthrie will start tonight against the Phillies.
Guthrie, who turns 38 today, last appeared in the big leagues in 2015, when he struggled with the Royals. He pitched in the Marlins and Padres farm systems last season and struggled, posting a 6.60 ERA or higher at each stop. Nonetheless, the Nationals signed him to a minor-league deal, and he posted a 2.41 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings this spring. The Nationals are giving Stephen Strasburg an extra day of rest after his start Monday, and they can’t promote Joe Ross back to the big leagues yet after optioning him to Triple-A on Sunday. So Guthrie will get Saturday’s start after being out of the Majors for over a year.
Guthrie, a first-round pick in the 2002 draft, eventually blossomed into a solid mid-rotation starter with the Orioles. Never a strikeout artist, his calling cards were decent control and durability — he’s pitched at least 200 innings in a season five times in his 12-year big-league career, posting a 4.37 ERA, 5.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 over nearly 1,800 Major League frames.
White Sox Sign Ryan Raburn To Minor-League Deal
The White Sox have signed corner outfielder Ryan Raburn to a minor-league deal, Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com tweets. Raburn is a CSE client.
The Reds released Raburn late in Spring Training. He was subsequently connected to the Braves, but it appears he has selected the White Sox instead. The 35-year-old batted a modest .220/.309/.404 for the Rockies last season, failing to provide much offense despite the advantage of Coors Field. The White Sox, though, probably feel more intimately familiar with Raburn’s play from the prior seasons of his career, all of which was spent in the AL Central with Detroit and Cleveland. Raburn batted a terrific .301/.393/.543 for the Indians in part-time duty in 2015, continuing a recent pattern in which he’s alternated great seasons with poor ones.
The White Sox could potentially provide opportunities for Raburn down the line. He mostly played left field last season, but he has also played right in the past, and the White Sox’ current right fielder, Avisail Garcia, has had three straight underwhelming seasons. The White Sox also aren’t especially strong at DH, where recent minor-league signing Cody Asche currently tops their depth chart.
Reds Select Bronson Arroyo’s Contract
The Reds have announced that they’ve selected the contract of veteran righty Bronson Arroyo, as expected. To clear space for Arroyo on their active roster, they’ve optioned righty Barrett Astin to Triple-A Louisville.
The 40-year-old Arroyo will take the mound today for the Reds in his first big-league action since 2014, joining an uncertain Cincinnati rotation that also includes Scott Feldman and Brandon Finnegan along with a variety of young arms. (The team’s rotation schedule is uncertain after Feldman pitches Sunday and Finnegan on Monday; Amir Garrett and Rookie Davis have also started for the Reds so far this season.) Arroyo signed a minor-league deal with his old team in the offseason after missing most of the last two seasons after having Tommy John surgery and dealing with rotator cuff tears. Arroyo’s return to the Majors at age 40 after such significant injury issues suggests serious perseverance.
Before his injuries, Arroyo was a prolific innings-eater, pitching 199 or more innings in a remarkable nine straight seasons from 2005 through 2013. It remains to be seen if he can sustain anything resembling that kind of durability now, of course, given his age and health record. He made the Reds’ rotation after pitching 7 2/3 innings while allowing four runs and striking out six this spring, although the team waited to place him on their roster so that he could pitch a minor-league start last week.
Mets Select Paul Sewald, Designate Ty Kelly
The Mets have announced a roster swap, selecting the contract of righty Paul Sewald. He’ll take the spot of infielder Ty Kelly, who was designated for assignment.
Sewald, 26, threw to a 3.29 ERA over 65 2/3 innings last year at Triple-A. He racked up a healthy 11.0 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in his first attempt at the highest level of the minors. Sewald was also rather impressive this spring, when he allowed just seven hits and four earned runs in 14 1/3 innings, with a 12:5 K/BB ratio.
As for Kelly, he’ll make way for another pen arm as the club attempts to keep its rotation fresh. The 28-year-old reached the majors for the first time last year, slashing .241/.352/.345 in his 71 plate appearances. He spent most of the year at the hitter-friendly confines of Triple-A Las Vegas, where he batted an excellent .328/.409/.435 with 38 walks and just 42 strikeouts over 316 trips to the plate.
Nationals To Select Contract Of Jeremy Guthrie
The Nationals are set to select the contract of veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). As had been expected, he’ll make a start against the Phillies tomorrow, though it’s not yet clear what his role will be thereafter.
Entering camp, Guthrie seemed a longshot to make the talent-laden Nats roster. After all, he struggled badly in 2015 and did not suit up last season. But Guthrie reportedly showed up with a big fastball and turned in a nice spring stat line.
Over 18 2/3 innings, he allowed just five earned runs on a meager ten hits while racking up 15 punchouts to go with five walks. Whether or not he can carry that success into the regular season in his age-38 campaign remains to be seen, but it could be interesting to see how the longtime starter fares in a relief role. To this stage, over a dozen MLB seasons, Guthrie has entered from the pen only 33 times.
The Nats have long been expected to turn over the fifth starter’s role to Joe Ross, who owns a 3.52 ERA over the first 181 2/3 innings of his young career. But he was optioned to open the year, allowing the club to better utilize that roster spot to begin the season. That also meant Ross couldn’t be recalled for tomorrow’s outing, since he’s required to spend ten days on optional assignment.
A corresponding move has yet to be announced, but the obvious approach would be to option one of their reserves — infielder Wilmer Difo or outfielder Michael Taylor, most likely. Things get trickier after that, though. Washington could simply outright Guthrie after the start. It could move him to the pen and bump another reliever when it’s time to call upon Ross — though unless there’s a DL placement needed that’d likely mean placing the out-of-options Enny Romero on waivers. Or, that pen placement could be facilitated by optioning whichever reserve (Difo or Taylor) doesn’t lose his spot tomorrow. Perhaps there’s at least some possibility, too, that the club could hold Ross back in Triple-A and allow Guthrie to keep a rotation spot for some time.
It’s hard to know just how the team will proceed at this part; it could be dependent at least in part upon how Guthrie performs, and the plan could always change as circumstances dictate. The most likely course, it seems, would be for the optionable position players to head back to Triple-A for regular playing time to make room for Ross, leaving Guthrie to function in a swingman role. Baker could utilize him much as he did Yusmeiro Petit in 2016, when Petit threw 62 innings over 36 relief appearances and one start.
Orioles Acquire Miguel Castro, Designate Joe Gunkel
The Orioles have acquired righty Miguel Castro from the Rockies, per a club announcement. A player to be named or cash will head back in return. To clear a 40-man spot, Baltimore designated righty Joe Gunkel for assignment.
The 22-year-old Castro has long been seen as an intriguing talent, but was designated recently by the Rockies. He made it to the majors in his age-20 season, then was dealt to Colorado as part of the deal that sent franchise star Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays.
While the Rox plugged Castro into the MLB pen in each of his two seasons with the organization, where he showed a 96 mph fastball, the results simply haven’t been there since he arrived. All told, he owns a 6.12 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 through 32 1/3 frames in the majors. Castro was also bombed in the minors last year and during his spring action in 2017.
Adding Castro may mean losing Gunkel, a 25-year-old starter. He spent most of last year at Triple-A, where he worked to a 4.08 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against a meager 1.1 BB/9. Gunkel went to Baltimore in the trade that sent Alejandro De Aza to the Red Sox in June of 2015.