Indians Outright Tyler Olson
Here are today’s minor moves:
- The Indians announced that lefty Tyler Olson has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. Olson, 26, will go on the minor league DL with an undisclosed illness as he heads out of DFA limbo. The Indians are the third team he has played for this season. Olson received one appearance at the major league level with the Yankees but has pitched mostly at the highest level of the minors, also spending time in the Royals organization. Things haven’t gone terribly well there, as Olson owns a 5.27 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 over 41 innings on the year.
Mariners Activate Steve Cishek, Option Dae-Ho Lee
The Mariners announced a series of roster moves today, including the activation of reliever Steve Cishek from the 15-day DL. Fellow right-hander Joe Wieland was optioned to create active roster space.
Seattle also made a swap of right-handed power bats, optioning veteran Korean slugger and MLB rookie Dae-Ho Lee. He’ll be replaced by Stefen Romero, at least for the time being, though expanded rosters could spur a return.
[Related: Updated Mariners Depth Chart]
Cishek ended up needing only a brief stint on the disabled list for a hip issue that wasn’t as serious as it initially sounded. His return further bolsters a pen that has some rather compelling arms.
As for Lee, 34, the demotion serves as a chance to get back on track before the stretch run. Though it’s not typical for players of his age to be optionable, Lee only just came over to North America after spending his entire career playing in Korea and Japan.
Lee, who has been used mostly against left-handed pitching, owned an .850+ OPS as recently as July 15th. But he has fallen off since, leaving him with a .246/.308/.440 overall batting line with 13 total home runs over his first 253 MLB plate appearances.
The 27-year-old Romero will now get a shot at carving out his own role for the M’s. Though he has struggled in rather limited major league time over the last three seasons, Romero owns a .314/.371/.551 slash on the year at Triple-A, where he has launched 19 long balls in 418 plate appearances.
Brewers Designate Ramon Flores, Activate Domingo Santana
The Brewers have designated outfielder Ramon Flores for assignment, per a team announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow outfielder Domingo Santana, who is finally ready to return from the DL.
Flores, who was out of options, came to Milwaukee over the winter in the deal that sent infielder Luis Sardinas to the Mariners. He made the Opening Day roster for the Brewers, but has largely struggled thus far in 2016.
Over 289 plate appearances on the season, the 24-year-old Flores carries an anemic .205/.294/.261 batting line. Though he has played in center some, Flores hasn’t graded well there, and his bat just hasn’t shown enough life to play in the corners.
Milwaukee obviously hoped for more for the former Yankees prospect. After all, he carries an excellent .282/.376/.449 batting line over his 655 career plate appearances at Triple-A. He not only hit 16 long balls in that span, but also recorded nearly as many walks (83) as strikeouts (94). In his brief time at the major league level, though Flores has been more solid than good in the K/BB department (with about a 2:1 ratio) and has shown no pop to speak of.
Cubs Place John Lackey, Hector Rondon On 15-Day DL
The Cubs have placed right-handers John Lackey and Hector Rondon on the disabled list for precautionary measures due to arm injuries, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reported. The Cubs have the luxury of placing both pitchers on the DL to avoid risk of worsening their minor injuries and will recall left-hander Rob Zastryzny and right-hander Felix Pena from Triple-A Iowa.
[Related: Updated Cubs Depth Chart]
Lackey, 37, is dealing with shoulder soreness, while the 28-year-old Rondon has a triceps issue. Neither is believed to be serious, with Chicago acting to add some fresh arms while taking a cautious approach with two of their better arms.
The veteran Lackey has been one of the offseason’s better free agent additions, as he has already run up 158 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA pitching with 8.9 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. That strikeout-per-nine rate represents a career-best mark for the 14-year big leaguer, which is no small feat given his age. His two-year, $32MM contract looked like a solid buy upon signing, and seems an even better bargain with nearly half of it already in the books.
As for Rondon, 2016 has been another stellar campaign. Though he was bumped from the closer’s role with the addition of Aroldis Chapman, that wasn’t due to any performance issues from the former Rule 5 pick. Far from it. Over his 43 2/3 frames this year, Rondon carries a 2.47 ERA. He has compiled that mark while racking up 10.5 K/9 versus just 1.2 BB/9 — improving upon his two excellent prior seasons in both regards.
If any team can weather the loss of two such significant hurlers, it is the Cubs. That’s not necessarily due to any kind of unique pitching depth as it is the team’s likely-insurmountable 13-game lead in the NL Central. Chicago is also in excellent shape in securing home field advantage, pacing the Nationals by six games for the National League’s top record.
Rays Designate Oswaldo Arcia For Assignment
The Rays have designated outfielder Oswaldo Arcia for assignment, per Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times (links to Twitter). Arcia’s DFA stems from the fact that the Rays simply didn’t feel they had room for the out-of-options slugger on the 25-man roster upon activating him from the disabled list.
Tampa Bay claimed the 25-year-old Arcia off waivers from the Twins earlier this season after Minnesota designated the former top prospect for assignment. He appeared in 21 games with the Rays, tallying 61 plate appearances and batting .259/.328/.444 with a pair of home runs, two doubles and a triple. Arcia was once one of the more promising minor league outfielders in all of baseball, ranking comfortably within the league’s top 100 prospects by most measures prior to the 2013 season. He made his big league debut with Minnesota at the age of 21 that season and went on to hit .241/.302/.441 with 34 homers in 788 plate appearances over the next two seasons, showing plenty of promise in the power department. However, he’s a poor defender both by defensive metrics and by the eye test due to his limited range, and he’s struck out in nearly 32 percent of his Major League plate appearances.
Arcia’s pop may intrigue a club in search of some power to add to its bench, and he could be of appeal to a rebuilding club with a dearth of corner outfield/DH options that feels it has room to carry him on its 25-man roster, but a great deal of his prospect sheen has worn off over the past two years.
Marlins Designate Chris Narveson For Assignment
The Marlins announced today that they’ve designated lefty Chris Narveson for assignment and selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs from Triple-A New Orleans.
[Related: Updated Miami Marlins Depth Chart]
The 34-year-old Narveson, a veteran of eight MLB seasons, pitched 8 1/3 innings out of the Miami bullpen in his second stint with the Fish but allowed eight runs on 10 hits, including three homers, to go along with a 6-to-1 K/BB ratio. The majority of his career has been spent with the Brewers, but he’s also appeared with the Marlins and Cardinals en route to a 4.71 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 435 1/3 innings.
Scruggs, 28, is a longtime Cardinals farmhand that has seen brief action with St. Louis in the past two seasons, hitting .246/.295/.298 in just 61 plate appearances. He’s a much more accomplished hitter in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .271/.371/.485 across parts of three seasons, including an enormous .290/.406/.565 batting line and 21 homers through 93 games (382 plate appearances) in 2016.
Rockies To Promote Jeff Hoffman
The Rockies are set to promote top prospect Jeff Hoffman to make his Major League debut against the Cubs, as Jason Lewis of CBS Albany first reported (on Twitter). MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets that an official announcement should be expected later this afternoon.
Hoffman, 23, was the ninth overall pick by the Blue Jays in the 2014 draft and may have gone first overall had he not required Tommy John surgery during his junior year at Eastern Carolina University. Colorado acquired him as the centerpiece player in last summer’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster with Toronto, and since that time he’s only added to his prospect status. Baseball Prospectus rated him 18th among all MLB prospects on their midseason Top 50, while MLB.com ranked him 41st, Baseball America pegged him 49th, and ESPN’s Keith Law had him as an honorable mention on the fringes of his own midseason Top 50.
While Hoffman’s numbers at Triple-A Albuquerque might not immediately stand out — 4.02 ERA, 8.9 H/9, 9.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 45.1 percent ground-ball rate — the Pacific Coast League is, generally speaking, quite a hitter-friendly environment. He draws praise for a fastball that flirts with 100 mph, a power breaking ball that has plus potential and a changeup that could eventually be a plus offering as well, per the above-linked reports. His 6’5″, 225-pound frame gives him the necessary size to be a starter moving forward, and he’s made 22 starts this season without showing any red flags in what is his first full season back from the aforementioned Tommy John operation.
The Rockies will hope that Hoffman can join emerging righty Jon Gray as a second power arm atop what looks to be a suddenly intriguing mix of young starters in Denver. Beyond that pair of hard-throwing righties, the Rox have received encouraging performances from left-hander Tyler Anderson and right-hander Tyler Chatwood (though Chatwood isn’t exactly a controllable piece, as he’s slated to hit free agency following the 2017 season and is presently on the DL with a back strain). Pitching, of course, has been Colorado’s Achilles heel for virtually the entire existence of the franchise, as general managers, scouts and other executives have struggled to determine ways to build a staff that can pitch effectively at altitude. While this influx of talent hasn’t demonstrated anything over the course of a full big league season together just yet, the promise offered by this collection of Rockies prospects is arguably greater than any in its franchise’s history.
It’s not immediately clear if Hoffman will be inserted into the rotation for the duration of the season, though one would imagine that could be unlikely if only to control his innings. (He’s already at 118 2/3 after tossing a combined 104 frames last year.) However, if Hoffman is in the bigs to stay, he’ll accrue just 44 days of Major League service time, thereby allowing him to reach free agency upon completion of the 2022 season and reach arbitration eligibility upon completion of the 2019 campaign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nationals Acquire Sean Burnett From Twins
12:15pm: The Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate announced the acquisition of Burnett from Minnesota in exchange for cash considerations.
11:51am: The Nationals have agreed to a deal to acquire left-hander Sean Burnett from the Twins, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The veteran southpaw had been pitching for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate prior to the trade. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that it’s not clear what the return will be, but it doesn’t sound like the Nats gave up a player, which would indicate that some presumably nominal cash considerations are going back to the Twins.
Burnett, 34 next month, has split the season between the Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers, Braves and Twins, working to a 1.91 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in 42 1/3 innings. Left-handers, in particular, have mustered a pitiful .164/.203/.236 batting line against Burnett in Triple-A this season.
Cotillo adds that Burnett is bound for Triple-A with the Nats as well, so he won’t have his contract selected to the big league roster right away. However, the Nationals currently have Oliver Perez as the lone southpaw in their bullpen, and he hasn’t been pitching well as of late, so it’s certainly quite plausible that Burnett could return to the Nationals’ big league roster, where he spent parts of four seasons from 2009-12. During that stretch, Burnett logged an outstanding 2.81 ERA in 201 2/3 innings of relief.
Astros Request Release Waivers On Carlos Gomez
The Astros have requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Carlos Gomez, who had recently been designated for assignment, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Though Houston was said at one point to be likely to reach a deal to trade the former star, he’ll instead hit the open market in 48 hours, assuming no team claims the $2.21MM he is owed through season’s end.
With the move, Gomez’s disappointing tenure with the Astros officially ends. Acquired to provide a major boost to the organization just over one year ago, he ultimately contributed a meager .221/.277/.342 batting line in 486 plate appearances.
That represented an unbelievable fall-off given the 30-year-old’s recent track record. Though his numbers were down a bit early in 2015, he was coming off of a two-year run in which he slashed .284/.347/.491 and launched 47 home runs with 74 steals in 1,234 plate appearances. That was all the more impressive given Gomez’s excellent defensive metrics in center.
All told, at the time of the deal, he seemed to be one of the better all-around players in all of baseball. With one more year of control (2016) then left on Gomez’s highly affordable contract at the time, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow elected to part with four quality prospects to add Gomez and righty Mike Fiers.
It remains to be seen what will come next for Gomez, who not long ago seemed set for a monster contract in free agency after the present season. Instead, he’ll hit the open market early. The Cardinals and Mets had been said to have interest in his services, but recent reports have downplayed the likelihood of those landing spots. However with Giancarlo Stanton out for the year, the Marlins have been said to have interest and do appear to make for a good match.
Teams eyeing Gomez will probably be able to hang their hat on his still-useful outfield glove, which has fallen in defense metrics but remains playable in center. A signing, though, would mean a roll of the dice on his fading bat. Of course, once he clears release waivers Gomez can be had for nothing but the pro-rated portion of the league minimum — which amounts to roughly $125K — as Houston will cover the remainder of his $9MM salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Joakim Soria, Eric O’Flaherty Clear Revocable Trade Waivers
Royals right-hander Joakim Soria and Braves lefty Eric O’Flaherty have cleared revocable trade waivers, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. As such, either player is free to be traded to any other club.
That Soria, 32, went unclaimed is hardly a surprise considering the fact that he’s just four and a half months into a substantial three-year, $25MM contract signed as a free agent this offseason. Soria, though, has hardly performed like a $25MM pitcher, pitching to a pedestrian 4.03 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 52.9 percent ground-ball rate. While the strikeouts and grounders are impressive, Soria has demonstrated the worst control of any healthy season he’s had in his career this year and is allowing hard contact at a career-high rate of 29.3 percent, per Fangraphs. The frequency with which opponents are barreling up his offerings has led to a career worst 1.4 HR/9 rate.
Soria is earning $7MM this season in the first year of the slightly backloaded deal, meaning he still has $19.72MM remaining on his pact from now through the end of the 2018 season (including the buyout of a 2019 option). While his performance to date hasn’t been encouraging, the Royals may be able to find a taker if they’re willing to eat some of that contract, though they could also simply hope for a better performance in 2017. Soria is, after all, still missing bats and keeping the ball on the ground, as previously mentioned, and his 92.8 mph average heater is actually the best of his career.
The 31-year-old O’Flaherty is more affordable than Soria, with a $1.75MM base salary on the minor league deal he signed this winter, but his performance has been considerably worse. His ERA to date sits at a decidedly unappealing mark of 6.91, and while his 54 percent ground-ball rate is promising, his 22-to-11 K/BB ratio (plus two hit batters and three wild pitches) is less inspiring. While some might hope that O’Flaherty could at least be relied upon as a lefty specialist, he’s allowed same-handed opponents to bat .284/.329/.439 against him. The Braves were able to find a taker for Erick Aybar, so perhaps there’s hope that he could be moved, but even Aybar had a solid three or four weeks of production under his belt prior to being flipped (in a trade that saw the Braves take some salary back in the form of Mike Aviles). O’Flaherty has surrendered six earned runs in his past six innings, issuing more walks (six) than strikeouts recorded (five) in that time.
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