Padres Designate Patrick Kivlehan, Nick Noonan
The Padres have designated outfielder Patrick Kivlehan and infielder Nick Noonan for assignment, the team announced. Their 40-man roster spots were needed for the team’s wave of prospect call-ups, which were also made official.
Though he earned his first MLB promotion, hitting well in just five games of action, Kivlehan will presumably find his way to another club after a year of constant change. (San Diego was his third team in 2016.) Kivlehan spent most of the season at the highest level of the minors, posting a .254/.302/.416 slash with a dozen homers in 397 trips to the dish.
Noonan, 27, received only brief major league time this season — his first as a member of an organization other than the division-rival Giants. Over 374 plate appearances at Triple-A, Noonan has posted a .301/.338/.427 batting line.
Nationals To Sign Cuban Outfielder Yadiel Hernandez
The Nationals have agreed to a deal with Cuban outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, as Jorge Ebro of el Nuevo Herald reports. He’ll receive a $200K bonus, with Ben Badler of Baseball America adding that it comes on a minor league deal.
Hernandez, 29, has been free to sign since April, but failed to hook on with an organization until the minor league season already ended. As a result, he’ll have to wait for his first chance at competitive, regular season action until next year, though presumably he’ll be able to participate in various fall and winter activities and leagues. Hernandez last played in a full-fledged game early last year.
It’s a bit surprising that Hernandez had to wait so long and was only able to secure such a meager bonus, but perhaps his showcases haven’t been convincing. Hernandez’s age is obviously a limiting factor on his value, but teams have promised tens of millions of dollars to even older players out of Cuba. But Badler suggests that he is good enough to warrant placement at Triple-A or even to battle for a major league roster spot out of camp.
Indeed, the numbers in Cuba have shown plenty of promise. In his last Serie Nacional campaign, Hernandez put up a robust .369/.509/.535 batting line with 7 home runs over 369 trips to the plate. There obviously isn’t much power in his game — he has never hit more than ten in a single season — but he also managed 77 walks against just 47 strikeouts in that span, which seemingly suggests that he will bring an advanced approach with him to D.C.
Hernandez is viewed as being capable of playing an average right or left field, but it doesn’t seem as if there’s much hope of him lining up in center — which is where the Nats could most benefit from a left-handed bat in 2017. Still, he’ll add to the organization’s depth options next season and beyond, and the meager bonus makes this an extremely low-risk signing.
Padres Promote Margot, Renfroe, Hedges, Asuaje
With the Triple-A postseason now complete, the Padres announced late Tuesday night that they have promoted top outfield prospects Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot as well as catcher Austin Hedges, second baseman Carlos Asuaje and lefties Buddy Baumann and Jose Torres in a final wave of September call-ups. Of the bunch, Renfroe and Margot rank firmly within the game’s top 100 prospects, while Asuaje ranks as one of the Padres’ best prospects after coming to San Diego alongside Margot in the Craig Kimbrel blockbuster. Hedges, meanwhile, is a former top 100 prospect in his own right that saw his rookie status expire while struggling in the Majors last season but enjoyed a monstrous season in Triple-A this year.
Starting with Margot, the 21-year-old center fielder currently ranks 16th, 20th, 27th and 39th on the respective midseason top prospect lists compiled by Baseball Prospectus, ESPN’s Keith Law, MLB.com and Baseball America. Margot was one of the headliners of the Padres’ return for Kimbrel and demonstrated many of the reasons that he’s so well-regarded with a strong 2016 season in which he batted .304/.351/.426 with six homers, 21 doubles, 12 triples and 30 stolen bases in 566 plate appearances at the Triple-A level despite being more than five years younger than the league’s average age.
Scouting reports peg Margot as a plus defensive center fielder due to his above-average speed and strong reads, and it should be mentioned that he racked up 18 outfield assists in Triple-A this year. His hit tool draws strong reviews as well, with the only real questions regarding his skill set centering around his power (or potential lack thereof). Even if he’s not a big threat in terms of clearing the fences, though, Margot profiles as a regular that works the count, hits for average, gets on base, steals bases and plays quality defense.
Renfroe, meanwhile, ranked 41st on MLB.com’s list, 43rd on BP’s and 66th on BA’s. The 24-year-old was the No. 13 overall pick back in 2013, and while his arrival to the Majors took longer than some might’ve anticipated, he’s hit quite well in parts of two seasons with Triple-A, slashing a combined .310/.339/.568 with 36 homers in 154 games. Those numbers, of course, are aided somewhat by the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and it’d be encouraging to see Renfroe walk in more than four percent of his Triple-A plate appearances. But, his 20.5 percent strikeout rate isn’t through the roof, and the reports on him laud his raw power and bat speed as well as his arm strength in right field (where he fell just shy of Margot with 17 outfield assists this season). Even if his discipline never improves, Renfroe could be an power-oriented regular with an OBP in the low .300s and solid defense in right field.
Turning to Asuaje, MLB.com rates him 20th among San Diego farmhands and praises his contact skills, hand-eye coordination and gap power/line-drive stroke. Asuaje is listed at 5’9″ and 160 pounds, so the odds of him ever hitting for much power, especially playing his home games at Petco Park, are fairly long. though MLB.com’s report on him does mention his “surprising” pop and give him a chance to crack double digits in homers. The 24-year-old Asuaje was brilliant with El Paso this season, hitting .321/.378/.473 with nine homers, 32 doubles and 11 triples. He’ll be in the mix for the second base job in 2017, and even if he loses out to breakout slugger Ryan Schimpf or a returning Cory Spangenberg, Asuaje could crack the roster as a utility player. He’s appeared at third base, left field and (briefly) shortstop throughout his minor league tenure and could help the Friars at a number of positions.
Hedges didn’t receive the call-up that many (myself included) were anticipating earlier this season due largely to the fact that Derek Norris played himself out of a potential trade by hitting just .183/.253/.320. With Norris and the out-of-options Christian Bethancourt serving as manager Andy Green’s primary receivers in the bigs, the Padres left Hedges at El Paso to continue to hone his offensive skills, and he delivered in a big way, hitting .326/.353/.597 with 21 homers. That’s a critical development for a player who has long been touted for standout defense but had previously struggled to hit. Hedges batted a woeful .168/.215/.248 in 152 MLB PAs last season, and the .225/.272/.314 slash he compiled in 133 career games at the Double-A level was concerning as well. Now, with such an impressive 2016 season in his back pocket, it’s easy to envision the Padres finding a way to clear a roster spot for him in 2017.
Neither Baumann nor Torres ranks among San Diego’s top minor leaguers, but both had strong minor league seasons. Baumann posted a 3.14 ERA with a 31-to-12 K/BB ratio in 28 2/3 innings, and the 28-year-old will return to the Padres for a third stint this year. Torres, just 22, split the 2016 campaign across three minor league levels after beginning in Class-A Advanced and compiled a 2.24 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 64 1/3 innings of relief.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/20/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around Major League Baseball…
- The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Josmil Pinto from Triple-A Colorado Springs. The Brewers claimed Pinto off waivers from the Padres this offseason after San Diego claimed him from the Twins organization. The 27-year-old had an electric debut as a September call-up for Minnesota back in 2013, but he failed to hit much in 2014-15 and has long come with defensive question marks. Beyond all that, Pinto dealt with concussion issues for much of the 2015 campaign. After a poor showing in the minors in 2015 (due perhaps to the aforementioned concussion problems), though, Pinto has thrived at the Triple-A level in 2016. While Colorado Springs (and the Pacific Coast League, in general) is considered a hitter-friendly environment, Pinto’s .308/.362/.517 slash is still impressive. He could get some at-bats in the coming days while backup catcher Manny Pina is on the paternity list, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster, which was at 39 players, is now full.
Indians Designate T.J. House
The Indians have designated lefty T.J. House for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to righty Adam Plutko, whose contract was selected.
House has provided useful innings at the major league level when called upon, but hasn’t received a full shot since his promising run in 2014. He dealt with shoulder injuries last year, and hasn’t exactly had a smooth year at Triple-A.
Over his 72 1/3 innings at the highest level of the minors in 2016, House carries a 3.98 ERA. That number isn’t concerning in its own right, but he may have been fortunate to limit the damage to the extent he has. House has coughed up 89 hits and 43 walks while retiring only fifty batters via strikeout. House also has spent significantly more time than ever before working from the pen (21 appearances) rather than the rotation (12 starts).
As for Plutko, 24, the 2016 season will now bring both his Triple-A and his major league debut. Over his 90 innings at Columbus, following a strong run early on at Double-A, Plutko caries a 4.10 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.
Marlins Designate Bryan Morris
The Marlins have reinstated righty Bryan Morris from the 60-day DL and designated him for assignment, per a team announcement. The 29-year-old has missed most of the year after undergoing back surgery.
Evidently, Miami decided that it would not be bringing Morris back for 2017, when he is arbitration eligible for the second time. He would have been seeking a minor raise on a reasonable $1.35MM salary this year.
Morris has done nothing but produce results at the major league level, with a 2.80 ERA over 215 career innings in the past five campaigns. And he not only has the big, mid-nineties fastball that one might associate with relief dominance, but typically generates grounders on about three of five balls put in play against him.
Look deeper, though, and the record is less impressive. Morris suffered a velocity drop this year, fell into single digits in swinging strike rate for the first time, and also lost some grounders over his 17 2/3 frames. He has never had a particularly impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio, and this season’s marks (6.6 K/9 against 5.1 BB/9) were worse than ever.
It’ll be interesting to see where Morris lands and how his career progresses from here. ERA estimators have never bought into his results, but he has succeeded over a rather lengthy span.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/19/16
Here are the day’s minor moves, each coming courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted…
- The Rays have outrighted Tyler Sturdevant to Triple-A Durham. The right-handed reliever was designated for assignment last week despite a solid 3.93 earned run average and a 14-to-6 K/BB ratio in 18 1/3 innings. That small sample represented the first Major League work of the 30-year-old Sturdevant’s career. The former Indians farmhand signed a minors pact with the Rays last offseason and had a nice run with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.66 ERA with 11.2 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 frames. Set to turn 31 this December, Sturdevant can again opt for minor league free agency this winter.
- Lefty reliever Jack Leathersich will forgo minor league free agency and re-up with the Cubs on a minors pact for the 2017 season. The former Mets reliever had a successful debut in 2015 when he posted a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings, but Tommy John surgery derailed his rookie campaign. The Cubs picked him up on waivers this past November, but he wound up being removed from the 40-man roster and re-signing a minors deal with Chicago. The 26-year-old Leathersich made it back to a minor league mound this year and tossed 23 1/3 innings of 1.93 ERA ball with a hefty 34 strikeouts, though he also issued 13 walks and hit a batter as well. Control has never been a strong point for Leathersich, but he’ll work on reining in the walks as he hopes to bring his career 15.0 K/9 rate back to the Majors at some point next season.
- Eddy’s post contains several players from teams all throughout the league that elected to skip minor league free agency and sign 2017 deals with their 2016 organizations, though Leathersich is the only one of the bunch with MLB experience under his belt.
Nats Activate Joe Ross, Designate Chris Bostick For Assignment
The Nationals have reinstated right-hander Joe Ross from the 60-day disabled list and designated infielder Chris Bostick for assignment, per a team announcement.
[RELATED: Updated Nationals Depth Chart]
Ross will take the mound Sunday against the Braves in his first major league outing since July 2. Right shoulder inflammation kept the 23-year-old out for two-plus months, thereby shortening a promising season for Ross and giving the Nationals one fewer quality rotation option in the process.
Ross made 16 starts for the Nats before succumbing to injury and produced a 3.49 ERA, 7.46 K/9, 2.45 BB/9 and 44.1 percent ground-ball rate in 95 1/3 innings. Given that Ross didn’t exceed the 60-pitch mark in recent simulated games, Washington will ease him back into the mix and won’t use him for more than three innings Sunday, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com. Barring a collapse, the Nationals – who own a nine-game lead in the National League East – will make the playoffs, but it’s unclear what Ross’ role will be in October. Manager Dusty Baker could turn to Ross as a bullpen arm next month, per Ladson.
Bostick, whom the Nationals acquired from the Rangers two years ago in a deal involving left-hander Ross Detwiler, posted differing results at two minor league levels this season. The 23-year-old fared well with Double-A Harrisburg, where he hit .290/.355/.462 in 297 plate appearances. However, he batted just .203/.261/.297 in 242 PAs with Syracuse in his first Triple-A action.
Orioles Make Three Roster Moves
The Orioles have announced a few roster moves, including placing infielder Steve Pearce on the 60-day disabled list and reinstating reliever Darren O’Day from the 15-day DL. The club has also purchased the contract of first baseman Trey Mancini from Triple-A Norfolk.
[RELATED: Updated Orioles Depth Chart]
Before sending him to the DL and ending his season, the Orioles shut down Pearce indefinitely Wednesday on account of a right flexor mass strain. Manager Buck Showalter said then that Pearce was a possibility to return later this month, but that won’t be the case. This injury could wrap up Pearce’s second tenure with the Orioles, who acquired him from the Rays prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. The impending free agent hit an outstanding .309/.388/.520 and mashed 10 home runs in 232 plate appearances with Tampa Bay this year, but his numbers dipped in Baltimore as he dealt with an elbow injury.
Pearce batted .217/.329/.400 with three homers in 70 PAs as a member of the Orioles and could end up hitting the open market, where the soon-to-be 34-year-old would try to outdo the $4.75MM deal he signed with the Rays last winter. First, though, Pearce will have to go undergo forearm surgery, which will require a four- to six-month recovery, Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic tweets.
O’Day, meanwhile, hasn’t taken a major league mound since mid-August because of a right shoulder cuff strain. While his return is a welcome one for an Orioles team with a three-game lead on an American League wild-card spot, O’Day hasn’t been as effective this year as he was in previous seasons. Injuries have been a problem, as O’Day was previously on the DL from early June until the end of July thanks to a hamstring strain. When O’Day has pitched, he has issued 4.3 walks per nine innings, more than doubling his 2015 rate and contributing to a jump in his ERA from 1.52 to 3.95. On the positive side, O’Day has posted a posted a terrific 10.87 K/9.
Mancini, whom the Orioles selected in the eighth round of the 2013 draft, has done nothing but produce since joining the organization. After hitting .280/.349/.427 with 13 home runs in 536 Triple-A plate appearances this season, he could be in line to make his major league debut. MLBPipeline.com ranks the 24-year-old as the Orioles’ fifth-best prospect and praises his offensive abilities.
Royals Designate Chien-Ming Wang For Assignment, Activate Jason Vargas
The Royals have designated Chien-Ming Wang for assignment, the team announced via Twitter. The move clears roster space for Jason Vargas, who was activated from the disabled list to start tonight’s game.
[Updated Royals roster at Roster Resource]
Wang was himself on the DL recovering from biceps tendinitis. Before being sidelined at the end of August, Wang posted a 4.22 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 1.67 K/BB rate and 49.4% ground ball rate over 53 1/3 relief innings for K.C. this season. It was Wang’s first taste of big league action since 2013, as he spent the previous two seasons bouncing around the minors with the Reds, White Sox, Braves and Mariners. Never a big strikeout pitcher even his heyday as a starter with the Yankees, Wang allowed too much contact in the form of hits and homers over the last several years, though his modest numbers in those categories this season (1.01 HR/9, 10.1 H/9) still represented some improvement. Wang also averaged 91.1 mph on his fastball, his highest velocity since 2009.
The 36-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Royals last season that guaranteed him a $1MM salary if he cracked the Major League roster. Another $250K was reportedly available for Wang to earn via relief appearance bonuses, and one would think he likely surpassed or came awfully close to unlocking those bonuses given his substantial workload.
Vargas is making his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2015. Since signing a four-year, $32MM deal with Kansas City prior to the 2014 season, Vargas has a 3.76 ERA, 2.92 K/BB rate and 6.1 K/9 over 230 innings as a Royal.