Diamondbacks Designate Adam Loewen
The Diamondbacks have designated lefty Adam Loewen for assignment, per a club announcement. Arizona has also activated catcher Welington Castillo and recalled southpaw Edwin Escobar.
Loewen, 32, has seen big league action as a starter, an outfielder, and — most recently — a reliever. He struggled through six innings for the D-Backs during a brief stint, allowing ten earned runs while issuing six walks and recording only three strikeouts.
The multi-functional ballplayer had been much more effective at Triple-A this year, where he recorded a 3.52 ERA in 38 1/3 innings and racked up 9.6 K/9. On the other hand, he also handed out a troubling 28 free passes in that span, continuing a longstanding battle with control.
Loewen was taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Orioles. He showed promise as a starter in the Baltimore farm system, but was never able to stick at the major league level. Loewen switched to the position-player side in 2009, and again moved through the minor league ranks — this time with the Blue Jays. Despite posting a .306/.377/.508 slash in 585 Triple-A plate appearances in 2011, though, he earned only a brief big league cameo as a hitter that year and eventually moved back to the rubber.
Brewers Acquire Michael McKenry
The Brewers announced today that they’ve acquired veteran catcher Michael McKenry from the Braves and assigned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs. While the Brewers’ announcement didn’t specify a return, it seems likely that the Braves will get some degree of cash considerations out of the swap.
McKenry, 31, will give the Crew some additional depth behind the plate to pair with the likes of Martin Maldonado, Manny Pina and recently acquired Andrew Susac. McKenry picked up a pair of plate appearances with the Cardinals earlier this season but has spent the bulk of the season playing at Triple-A, where he’s combined to bat .292/.409/.518 in 203 plate appearances with the affiliates for the Braves, Cardinals and Rangers.
Though his time in the Majors has been limited this year, McKenry comes with a great deal of big league experience. The former seventh-round pick debuted with the Rockies back in 2010 and has appeared in each MLB season since, averaging 60 games per year from 2011-15. All told, he’s a .238/.318/.406 hitter with 29 homers in 953 plate appearances as a Major Leaguer.
Padres Acquire Luis Sardinas From Mariners
The Mariners announced that they’ve traded infielder Luis Sardinas to the Padres in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The Padres have also announced the move, adding that Sardinas has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso, and right-hander Erik Johnson has been moved to the 60-day disabled list in order to create a spot on the 40-man roster.
Cubs, Joe Thatcher Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs and veteran left-hander Joe Thatcher are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). Thatcher had been with Cleveland on a minor league deal after signing in late July but had been on the temporarily inactive list and requested his release before ever appearing in a game with the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate. The entirety of his work at Triple-A this season has come with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, where he logged a 3.60 ERA with 21 strikeouts against five walks in 15 innings. He’ll now report to the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, per Cotillo.
Thatcher, 34, has pitched at least 20 innings in the big leagues in each of the past four seasons, posting a sub-4.00 ERA in all four individual seasons and working to a combined 3.41 ERA with a 128-to-40 K/BB ratio in 124 innings. However, he hasn’t dominated opposing lefties since the 2012 season — .175/.239/.270 that year but .255/.332/.362 since — and has had to settle for minor league pacts such as this one in the past two years. Nonetheless, Thatcher is a veteran of nine big league seasons with a history of solid ERA marks, plenty of strikeouts and respectable control. His career ERA rests at 3.38, and he’s averaged 9.3 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in his 260 2/3 big league innings.
For the Cubs, he’ll represent a depth option that could help the team later this month or in the month of September once rosters expand. The Cubs have bolstered their left-handed relief options by acquiring Aroldis Chapman and Mike Montgomery in trades (complementing holdover Travis Wood), but they also lost some left-handed depth when Clayton Richard went to the Padres after being designated for assignment.
Indians Release Joe Thatcher
The Indians have released left-hander Joe Thatcher, as announced by the club’s Triple-A affiliate (Twitter link). Thatcher had signed a minor league deal with the Tribe last month.
This is the third time since last March that Thatcher has been released, and the second time Cleveland has parted ways with the veteran southpaw. Thatcher signed a minors deal with the Tribe in the offseason but was released at the end of Spring Training, then caught on with the Dodgers in late April before another release in June. He hasn’t pitched in the majors this season, as his 2016 stats consist of a 3.60 ERA over 17 innings with the Dodgers’ Triple-A team.
Thatcher’s nine-year MLB career has seen him post a 3.38 ERA, 2.97 K/BB rate and 9.3 K/9 over 260 2/3 innings with the Padres, Diamondbacks, Angels and Astros. He put good numbers (3.18 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 2.17 K/BB rate) over 22 frames with Houston last season, though he didn’t quite display his usual dominance against left-handed hitters.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/14/16
The latest minor moves from around baseball:
- The Diamondbacks have released 2014 third-round outfielder Matt Railey, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Railey batted just .136/.246/.136 without an extra-base hit in 169 A-ball plate appearances this year before his release. In his time with the D-backs organization, Railey hit .205/.324/.311 in 225 PAs. He also served a 50-game suspension last year after testing positive for an amphetamine.
- Twins left-hander Andrew Albers has cleared waivers after his Friday designation for assignment and been optioned to Triple-A Rochester, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Albers has already thrown 112 2/3 innings this year in Rochester, where he has compiled a 3.51 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. All six frames Albers has tossed for the Twins this season came in relief Thursday, when he yielded three earned runs on 11 hits in a blowout loss to Houston.
- The Dodgers have released catcher Spencer Navin, tweets J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Navin had been a member of the organization since it selected him in the 11th round of the 2013 draft. The 24-year-old hasn’t yet gotten past the High-A level and owns a .214/.324/.282 batting line in 524 plate appearances across all levels.
- The Giants have signed right-hander Connor Overton to a minor league contract. Overton previously spent time in the minors with the Marlins, who chose him in the 15th round of the 2014 draft, and the Nationals. Overton wasn’t particularly successful with either organization, though, as he posted a combined 6.19 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 across 52 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old opened 2016 with Sioux City of the American Association, an independent league, and threw 36 2/3 frames and recorded a 1.96 ERA, 11.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9, leading to his deal with the Giants.
Dodgers Designate Zach Walters For Assignment
The Dodgers have announced outfielder Zach Walters‘ designation for assignment. Walters joined the Dodgers in an April trade with the Indians, who acquired cash considerations in exchange for him and James Ramsey. Neither player has panned out for LA, though, with Walters entering DFA limbo and Ramsey now part of the Mariners organization.
Walters has spent the lion’s share of the season with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, where he has slashed .276/.326/.444 with 10 home runs in 356 plate appearances. The 26-year-old collected a mere five PAs in Los Angeles earlier this year, which pales in comparison to the career-best 137 trips to the plate he accrued with the Indians and Nationals in 2014. That year, Walters batted .181/.241/.441 with an impressive 10 homers.
Since the Diamondbacks chose him in the ninth round of the 2010 draft, Walters has hit .176/.227/.382 in 181 major league plate appearances and .265/.312/.482 in 1,663 PAs at the Triple-A level.
Marlins Place Giancarlo Stanton, Adam Conley On DL
In a pair of highly unfortunate developments for the playoff-contending Marlins, the club has placed both right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (left groin strain) and southpaw Adam Conley (left third finger tendonitis) on the 15-day disabled list, per an official announcement. To fill their respective spots on the roster, the Marlins have recalled infielder Robert Andino and recently acquired left-handed reliever Hunter Cervenka from Triple-A New Orleans. They’ve also released right-handed reliever Cody Hall.
Stanton suffered his injury on a slide that led to the final out of the Marlins’ 8-7 loss to the White Sox on Saturday. The 26-year-old, who hit his 25th home run of the season earlier in the game, was trying to stretch a single into a double on the play and slid awkwardly, hurting his groin.
This is the second straight year with a noteworthy injury for Stanton, whose 2015 season ended in June on account of a fractured left hamate bone. Stanton was hitting an excellent .265/.346/.606 with 27 homers in 318 plate appearances at the time, but he hasn’t been nearly as effective this season. Still, the star slugger has produced an above-average .244/.329/.496 batting line in 432 trips to the plate, and he remains among the sport’s premier power threats.
Losing Stanton leaves Miami without two of its three home run leaders, including first baseman Justin Bour, who hasn’t played since July 2 because of an ankle issue and isn’t progressing toward a return. Even before Stanton’s injury, the Marlins dropped eight of 11 games to begin August, though they remain within a half-game of the second Wild Card spot in the National League. But, just as they haven’t been able to come close to replicating Bour’s lost production, they won’t be able to find anyone to rival Stanton’s output. While the newest member of the 3,000-hit club, Ichiro Suzuki, has batted .319/.389/.390 in 240 PAs and represents a quality off-the-bench fill-in, the 42-year-old is a radically different player than Stanton. Ichiro hasn’t homered this year and has gone deep only twice since 2014.
Conley, meanwhile, hasn’t thrown more than five innings in a start since July 27. He logged four frames Saturday and gave up five earned runs on five hits and four walks. Conley then revealed that he has been dealing with soreness in his pitching hand that has sapped him of velocity, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
Like Stanton, Conley will be difficult for Miami to replace. Aside from ace Jose Fernandez, Conley has perhaps been the Marlins’ best starter. The 26-year-old has recorded a 3.94 ERA, 8.42 K/9 and 4.21 BB/9 across 130 1/3 innings this season. He’ll now join southpaw Wei-Yin Chen as the second key member of their rotation to hit the DL, leaving them with Fernandez, Tom Koehler, Andrew Cashner and David Phelps. The only one of those four who inspires confidence is Fernandez, but the Marlins are keeping an eye on his innings and are skipping his originally scheduled Sunday start.
Jose Urena, Justin Nicolino and Kendry Flores are potential Conley replacements in New Orleans, though the former two have performed poorly in extensive major league action this year. Depending on the severity of Conley’s injury, then, the Marlins seem like candidates to scour the market for a potential August trade. Otherwise, their iffy-at-best rotation could help cost them a playoff spot.
Nationals Release Jonathan Papelbon
The Nationals have officially announced that they’ve released former closer Jonathan Papelbon, making him a free agent. The Nats had initially told Papelbon they intended to designate him for assignment, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes (Twitter links). Papelbon instead requested to be released, since the process of being designated for assignment could result in him being in DFA limbo for up to ten days. The Nationals agreed, although they waited for much of the day Saturday to make the move official. Papelbon’s release clears space for Reynaldo Lopez, who will start tonight against the Braves.
The 35-year-old Papelbon has had a hard time this year, with a 4.37 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 35 innings, and his struggles had deepened recently — he allowed a total of nine runs in his last five outings, and he hadn’t pitched in a week. Those struggles coincided with the Nats’ recent addition of Mark Melancon to replace him at closer, and Melancon has had great success so far in Washington. Also, while Papelbon pitched well in previous seasons despite steadily declining velocity, his average fastball continued to slow this year, dropping to 90.9 MPH five years after peaking 95.0 MPH in 2011.
The release ends Papelbon’s tenure in Washington, which began just over a year ago when they acquired him (with cash) from the Phillies for a minor leaguer. His on-field performance was satisfactory down the stretch for Washington last year, although he was involved in an ugly incident near the end of the season in which he choked teammate Bryce Harper in the dugout.
After struggling in 2016, Papelbon would have had little or no trade value, given his performance, his salary ($13MM for the year) and his dodgy clubhouse reputation. He’s due for free agency this winter. The Nationals surely gauged trade interest before releasing him, but it’s easy to imagine that there wasn’t much.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick was first to report that the Nationals were likely to make a move with Papelbon, and that he had asked to be released (all Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/7/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game:
- The Orioles have released left-hander Tom Gorzelanny, according to Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic (on Twitter). Gorzelanny’s tenure with Baltimore, which signed him to a minor league deal on July 24, was a short one. The 34-year-old worked six innings for their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk and allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits and five walks. Gorzelanny, who spent some time with Cleveland this year before it designated him for assignment in June, tossed 39 1/3 frames of 5.95 ERA ball last season in Detroit.
Earlier updates:
- The Twins will select the contract of lefty Ryan O’Rourke, 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets. The 28-year-old O’Rourke has reestablished himself nicely since being outrighted in May, posting a 1.93 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 28 innings for Triple-A Rochester. As Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com points out (on Twitter), O’Rourke has been brilliant since the beginning of July, allowing just one walk and no runs over that time frame. The Twins cleared space for O’Rourke yesterday when they designated fellow southpaw Andrew Albers for assignment.
- The Padres have selected the contract of hard-throwing righty Brandon Morrow, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. To clear space, they’ve optioned lefty Buddy Baumann to Triple-A El Paso and placed infielder Cory Spangenberg (quadriceps) on the 60-day DL. The 32-year-old Morrow has pitched more than 80% of his 768 2/3 career big-league innings as a starter, but he’s set to relieve for the Padres after being out of the big leagues for over a year due to shoulder trouble. He had a 6.43 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 21 innings for El Paso, although he fared significantly better than that in five starts in the big leagues last season.