Cubs Activate Joe Nathan, Option Adam Warren
The Cubs have made a couple of notable changes to their bullpen, activating right-hander Joe Nathan from the disabled list and optioning fellow righty Adam Warren to Triple-A Iowa, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Updated Cubs Depth Chart]
Chicago signed Nathan, a 15-year major league veteran with 377 career saves, in May and placed him on the DL as he continued recovering from 2015 Tommy John surgery. Nathan then racked up 9 1/3 innings with the Cubs’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates prior to his activation. His last extensive action came in 2014 as a member of the Tigers, with whom he threw 58 innings and recorded a 4.81 ERA, 8.38 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and 35 saves in 42 chances. Nathan was far more effective in previous seasons with the Giants, Twins and Rangers, which explains his stellar career numbers (2.89 ERA, 9.49 K/9 and 3.34 BB/9).
With closer Hector Rondon and primary setup man Pedro Strop in the fold, the Cubs won’t need the 41-year-old Nathan to be a late-game savior. But he will provide another option along with the newly acquired Mike Montgomery, Carl Edwards Jr., Travis Wood, Justin Grimm and Clayton Richard. The first-place Cubs – whose bullpen is middle of the pack in ERA (3.87, 15th) and K-BB perentage (14.3, 13th) – could further bolster their relief corps around the trade deadline, as they’re reportedly in the hunt for Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman.
As for Warren, whom the Cubs acquired from the Yankees for infielder Starlin Castro in the offseason, he certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations in Chicago. Before the Cubs demoted Warren, he pitched to a 5.91 ERA over 35 innings and walked nearly five batters per nine frames. From 2013-15 with the Yankees, he amassed terrific numbers (3.23 ERA, 7.65 K/9, 2.92 BB/9, 45.3 percent ground-ball rate) over a 287-inning sample size as both a starter and a reliever.
Blue Jays Designate Drew Storen For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated right-handed reliever Drew Storen for assignment, Barry Davis of Sportsnet was among those to report (Twitter link). To take his roster spot, the team has recalled fellow righty reliever Ryan Tepera from Triple-A Buffalo.
[RELATED: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]
Storen’s designation is the latest chapter in a disastrous 2016 for the 28-year-old. After Storen served as a reliable option for the Nationals from 2010-15, the Jays acquired him for outfielder Ben Revere in January and hoped he’d add a quality arm to their bullpen. Storen went on to throw 33 1/3 frames of 6.21 ERA ball in Toronto despite posting quality strikeout and walk rates of 8.64 and 2.7 per nine innings, while also generating grounders at an above-average clip (47.2 percent). A sky-high home run-fly ball rate (17.6 percent, well above his career mark of 8.2) and a drop in velocity helped lead to Storen’s undoing with the Jays.
Given his track record in Washington, where he picked up 95 saves and compiled a 3.02 ERA, 8.65 K/9, 2.59 BB/9 and 44.9 percent ground-ball rate, Storen seems likely to catch on elsewhere for the stretch run. If he clears waivers and signs with another team, that club would only be responsible for a prorated portion of the league minimum. Aside from that figure, the Blue Jays would be on the hook for what’s left of Storen’s pricey $8.375MM salary.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/23/16
Saturday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- Blue Jays right-hander Dustin Antolin cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo, reports Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star (Twitter link). The Jays designated Antolin for assignment Friday after he threw just two innings for them, but he previously tossed 38 frames of 2.37 ERA ball in Buffalo, where he also struck out 9.95 batters per nine innings. He offset that somewhat with a lofty walk rate, though (5.45).
- Left-hander Nick Lee, whom the Nationals designated for assignment Wednesday, cleared waivers and was sent outright to Double-A Harrisburg, tweets Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. The 25-year-old Lee put up a 4.54 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 7.6 BB/9 over 35 2/3 innings with Harrisburg this year before his designation.
Rangers Claim Matt Duffy From Astros
The Rangers have claimed infielder Matt Duffy off waivers from the Astros, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (Twitter link). Houston designated the infielder (who isn’t to be confused with the better-known Giants third baseman of the same name) for assignment last week. Texas has optioned Duffy to Triple-A.
[Related: updated Rangers depth chart at Roster Resource]
Duffy’s MLB career consists of 11 games for the Astros over the last two seasons and 12 career plate appearances. A 20th-round pick in the 2011 draft, Duffy has a very solid .286/.360/.458 slash line over 2794 career PA in the minors. Duffy has played mostly third base over his career with significant time across the diamond at first, though this season he also saw action at short and left for Houston’s Triple-A affiliate.
Mariners Place Ketel Marte On 15-Day DL With Mononucleosis
The Mariners have placed Ketel Marte on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to July 20) after the shortstop was diagnosed with mononucleosis yesterday, the club announced. Left-handed David Rollins was called up in a corresponding move. Luis Sardinas was already called up yesterday to provide infield depth, taking the roster spot left by the traded Mike Montgomery.
[Related: updated Mariners depth chart at Roster Resource]
Marte has been sidelined for much of the week with the illness, leaving utilityman Shawn O’Malley making regular starts at short, and he’ll split time with Sardinas until Marte is healthy. A return date, however, is unknown given the unpredictable status of the illness. Manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Gavin Day of the Seattle Times) that Marte had already lost six or seven pounds, so clearly once Marte is recovered, he’ll still need time to get his strength back.
The sickness is the latest setback within a tough season for the 22-year-old Marte, who entered the year as the Mariners’ starting shortstop and looking to build on a strong 2015 rookie year. Instead, Marte has already had one DL stint due to a sprained thumb and he has hit just .273/.299/.358 over 300 PA with subpar defensive metrics. As per Fangraphs’ WAR calculation, Marte has been worth exactly 0.0 wins, making him nothing more than a replacement-level player.
These struggles made the Mariners one of the few teams who could be looking for shortstop help at the deadline, even before Marte came down with mono. Zack Cozart, Eduardo Nunez or Jed Lowrie are a few of the everyday options the M’s could pursue, though I’d argue that Lowrie is an unlikely target due to his recent lack of shortstop action and his big price tag. Seattle entered today’s action with a 49-47 record, 5.5 games behind Texas in the AL West and 4.5 games behind Toronto for the last wild card slot.
Blue Jays Designate Chris Colabello From 25-Man Roster
The Blue Jays have designated Chris Colabello off their 25-man roster now that the first baseman’s 80-game PED suspension is over and he has been reinstated from the restricted list, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (Twitter link). This isn’t a standard case of a player being designated for assignment, as Colabello is still on Toronto’s 40-man roster. As Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star notes, the move is akin to the Jays simply optioning Colabello to the minors.
Colabello was a surprisingly big contributor to Toronto’s 2015 AL East championship team, hitting .321/.367/.520 with 15 home runs over 360 plate appearances. The Jays entered the season planning to platoon Colabello and Justin Smoak at first (with Edwin Encarnacion getting the occasional start but mostly seeing DH duty), though Colabello got off to an ice-cold start, with just two hits in his first 32 PA of 2016. It’s reasonable to guess that the impending PED suspension may have been weighing on Colabello’s mind, given that he was first informed of his positive result on March 13 and was appealing the result.
In theory, Colabello’s reinstatement could help the Jays, especially given that Smoak has posted barely replacement-level numbers. GM Ross Atkins, however, was recently rather non-committal about Colabello’s role with the team, especially since Colabello won’t be eligible for postseason play under the terms of the league PED policy. While the Jays have mostly been linked to pitching upgrades on the trade deadline rumor mill, they’ve also been connected to outfielders like Melvin Upton Jr., Josh Reddick and Jay Bruce. Getting a new regular outfielder would force Encarnacion or Jose Bautista into more action at first, leaving no room for Smoak or Colabello in the everyday lineup.
International Signings: 7/23/16
Here are the latest notable signings of players within the July 2 international signing market…
- The Astros are close to finalizing a deal with 22-year-old Cuban shortstop Anibal Sierra for a $1.5MM bonus, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports. Houston has been linked to Sierra for months, though past reports suggested that Sierra would get a much larger bonus of $3.5MM. Since the Astros are already in excess of their $2.197MM international pool limit, Sierra’s deal essentially costs Houston $3MM (the actual bonus and a 100% tax on the overage). The Astros were widely expected to blow past its bonus limit in the 2016-17 international market anyway in order to stock up on young talent, though this splurge will limit them to signings of $300K or less in the next two international signing periods. Sanchez describes Sierra as possessing “an aggressive line-drive approach at the plate and good hands on defense,” and “scouts like his bat and his raw power.” Sierra is capable of playing second and third base as well as shortstop.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/22/16
Here are the day’s notable minor moves:
- The Braves have agreed to a minor league deal with backstop Michael McKenry, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (via Twitter). As Cotillo notes, that signing, along with the team’s addition of fellow veteran George Kottaras, could help bolster the team’s catching ranks if A.J. Pierzynski is traded away. McKenry was recently cut loose by the Cardinals after a brief appearance on the MLB roster. He owns a useful .238/.318/.406 slash in his 953 big league plate appearances, but evaluators don’t love his work behind the dish.
- Another catcher, Erik Kratz, has elected free agency after being outrighted by the Pirates, as Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Kratz has not produced with the bat at all this year, but does typically bring some pop to the table. The 36-year-old is a lifetime .200/.248/.362 hitter, with 24 home runs in 647 plate appearances. With plenty of organizations looking for depth, he’ll likely latch on with another organization in short order.
Rangers Designate Cesar Ramos
The Rangers have designated lefty Cesar Ramos, per a club announcement. He’ll make way for the return of fellow southpaw Jake Diekman.
[Related: Updated Rangers Depth Chart]
Ramos, 32, contributed 47 2/3 innings this year, but wasn’t as effective as he has been in recent campaigns. Fresh off of a 2.75 ERA run with the Angels in 2015, Ramos has worked to just a 6.04 ERA for Texas. His 5.1 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 2016 also fall well shy of his numbers from a year ago, and Ramos has seen his swinging strike rate dip as he has continued to lose velocity.
Phillies Designate Daniel Stumpf
The Phillies have designated lefty Daniel Stumpf for assignment, per a team announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Severino Gonzalez.
[Related: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]
Stumpf was a Rule 5 selection over the winter, meaning that he had to be kept on the active roster (or the 15-day DL) for the duration of the year for the Phillies to retain his rights. He was only recently activated after serving an 80-game PED suspension, and evidently didn’t show enough to warrant a roster spot.
It’s a short sample, but the numbers certainly weren’t there for Stumpf. He allowed six earned runs on nine hits and two walks, while recording just a pair of strikeouts, in five frames over seven total appearances on the year.