Minor MLB Transactions: 7/17/16
Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Dodgers have released outfielder Donavan Tate, whom they signed in December, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Tate went third overall to San Diego in the 2009 draft, but the 25-year-old still hasn’t gotten past the Single-A level, having hit an ineffective .226/.331/.321 in 1,229 plate appearances. At his peak, Tate ranked as Baseball Prospectus’ 29th-best prospect and Baseball America’s 53rd overall prospect entering 2010.
- The Royals have released right-hander Matt Alvarez, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (Twitter link). Alvarez, 25, had been in the Kansas City system since 2013. He posted a 5.04 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 6.6 BB/9 in 157 minor league innings with the Royals.
- The Indians have released infielder Grofi Cruz, per Tribeinsider (Twitter link). Cleveland signed Cruz, then 16, out of the Dominican Republic for $400K in July 2012. Cruz didn’t pan out, however, batting .222/.271/.259 across a combined 498 PAs in Rookie ball and Low-A.
Nationals To Promote Reynaldo Lopez
The Nationals are promoting right-handed pitching prospect Reynaldo Lopez to the majors, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (on Twitter). The 22-year-old could take the mound Tuesday for the Nats, who haven’t announced a starter for that evening’s matchup against the Dodgers.
Lopez, a native of the Dominican Republic, has experienced a meteoric rise since signing with the Nationals for a paltry $17K in 2012. Thanks to his work this year, Lopez climbed to a personal-best 48th in Baseball America’s newly updated Top 100 Prospects list. BA ranked him 92nd after last season, a steep drop from his place (49th) following the 2014 campaign, but Lopez has since tossed 87 1/3 effective innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. The bulk of Lopez’s 2016 experience (76 1/3 frames) has come as a member of Double-A Harrisburg, with which he has posted a 3.18 ERA, 11.79 K/9 and 2.95 BB/9.
Lopez complements a mid-90s fastball that can touch triple digits with a powerful, whiff-inducing curveball and a still-developing changeup, per BA (subscription required), which notes that he has dealt with inconsistencies in his delivery and must throw more quality strikes. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, meanwhile, don’t consider Lopez one of the sport’s 100 best prospects. The two rank Lopez fifth in the Nationals’ system and laud his three-pitch repertoire, though they also cite concerns with his delivery and strike-throwing abilities. However, while some scouts view Lopez as a long-term major league reliever, Callis and Mayo believe he’s on track to serve as a starter.
In the near term, it seems the flame-throwing Lopez’s best chance to stick in Washington will be out of the bullpen, as MLBTR’s Jason Martinez alluded to Monday in the latest version of his weekly “Knocking Down The Door” feature. The Nats have been on the hunt for relief help, for one, and they have a more-than-capable group of starters with Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark, Gio Gonzalez and the soon-to-return Joe Ross, who has been on the disabled list since July 3 with shoulder inflammation.
In terms of team control, Lopez will fall short of Super Two status if he remains in the majors for the rest of the season. The most service time he could accumulate in 2016 would be 77 days. Lopez will be eligible for arbitration after the 2019 season and under control through 2022 if he does not return to the minor leagues this year.
Indians Trade Ross Detwiler To A’s
The Indians have traded left-handed swingman Ross Detwiler to the Athletics for cash considerations, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com was among those to report (Twitter link). Detwiler will head to Triple-A Nashville, tweets Ryan Lewis of Ohio.com.
Detwiler, 30, is now set to join his fourth organization over a two-year span. He logged just 4 2/3 innings with the Indians this year, surrendering three earned runs on three walks and four hits, before they designated him for assignment in April. Detwiler then accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus, where he compiled a 4.60 ERA, 5.89 K/9 and 3.02 BB/9 in 12 starts.
Previously, Detwiler racked up 58 1/3 frames for the Rangers and Braves last season, though he posted an unsightly ERA (7.25) and a similarly ugly walk rate (5.55 per nine). All told, Detwiler has thrown 534 big league innings with four different teams and recorded a 4.21 ERA, 5.54 K/9, 3.27 BB/9 and 46.3 percent ground-ball rate. Those numbers are respectable on the whole, and Detwiler’s only two years removed from putting up a 4.00 ERA over 63 innings, but it’s fair to say he hasn’t lived up to his draft stock since the Nationals selected him sixth overall in 2006.
Detwiler, who’s scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end, will try to eventually work his way back to the majors with the Oakland organization. He’ll face an uphill climb, though, as he’s not on the Athletics’ 40-man roster. At the major league level, the A’s currently have two lefties apiece in their rotation and bullpen, as their depth chart shows.
Marlins Designate Asher Wojciechowski, Sign Cole Figueroa
The Marlins have designated right-hander Asher Wojciechowski for assignment and signed free agent second baseman Cole Figueroa, per a team announcement. Figueroa received a major league contract, though the Marlins have optioned him to Triple-A New Orleans.
Wojciechowski, 27, threw a combined 18 innings between Double-A and Triple-A for the Marlins after they claimed him off waivers from the Astros in May. He was previously a highly regarded prospect for both the Astros and Blue Jays. Houston picked up Wojciechowski in 2012 as part of a 10-player trade that included J.A. Happ (going to Toronto) and Francisco Cordero (going to the Astros). The 41st overall selection in the 2010 draft, Wojciechowski ranged from seventh to 28th on Baseball America’s Top 30 prospect rankings between the two organizations from 2011-15. Wojciechowski totaled 16 1/3 innings last season in the majors, his only big league experience, and allowed 13 runs on 23 hits and seven walks against 16 strikeouts. As a minor leaguer, he owns a 4.13 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 674 innings.
Figueroa became a free agent earlier this week after rejecting an outright assignment to Triple-A from the Dodgers. Los Angeles designated the 29-year-old for assignment July 8 despite claiming him off waivers from the Pirates only two weeks prior. Figueroa has picked up just 84 major league trips to the plate, but he has produced a respectable .288/.356/.376 line in nearly 2,000 Triple-A PAs.
Astros Designate Matt Duffy For Assignment
The Astros have designated infielder Matt Duffy for assignment, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets. (Duffy is not to be confused with the Giants third baseman of the same name.) The move clears space for Cuban star Yulieski Gurriel, whose signing the Astros officially announced at Minute Maid Park today.
The 27-year-old Duffy has played sparingly for the Astros in the past two seasons, with three hits in a total of 12 plate appearances. He had a good season with Triple-A Fresno in 2015, but has struggled there this year, batting just .226/.303/.350 while playing third base, shortstop, first base and left field.
Blue Jays Extend Justin Smoak
The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve signed first baseman Justin Smoak to a two-year extension for $4.125MM per season, with a $6MM option or a $250K buyout for 2019. The value of the option can increase to $7MM with 950 plate appearances combined in 2017 and 2018, or $8MM with 1,100 plate appearances. Smoak, who is making $3.9MM this season, was scheduled to be eligible for free agency at season’s end. He is a client of the Bledsoe Agency.
[Related: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]
The 29-year-old Smoak is batting .234/.333/.402 with nine homers in 246 plate appearances, demonstrating his usual blend of low batting averages, decent power, good plate discipline and average or slightly above average first base defense. That base of skills is hardly overwhelming, and Smoak has posted just 0.1 fWAR for the season and 0.5 for his career.
From that perspective, it’s somewhat surprising that the Jays elected to extend Smoak, even at the modest total price tag of $8.5MM. Still, he could have value for an AL club as a left-handed option at first base and perhaps occasionally at DH, particularly since Smoak was rather young for an impending free agent. The extension also hedges against the possible departures of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, who are both eligible for free agency this winter. There currently seems to be a gap between what Bautista is asking and what the Jays would like to pay, and Encarnacion appears set on testing the market.
SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter) and Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reported details of the structure of the deal. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/15/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Utilityman Cole Figueroa has elected free agency from the Dodgers after clearing outright waivers, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group tweets. After bouncing from the Pirates to the Dodgers via the waiver wire, Figueroa will have a chance to choose his next opportunity. He hasn’t done much in limited chances at the major league level over the last three years, but does own a .309/.350/.447 slash over 101 Triple-A plate appearances on the season.
- The Giants have released catcher George Kottaras, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. The 33-year-old hasn’t been to the big leagues since 2014, but does have 858 MLB plate appearances over seven season, with a useful .215/.326/.411 batting line in that span. Kottaras had seen limited action at Triple-A this year, and was hitting just .155/.290/.224.
- Meanwhile, the Giants have sold the contract of Triple-A righty Mike Broadway to Japan’s Yokohama BayStars, the Chronicle’s John Shea tweets. The 29-year-old has had brief and unsuccessful stops in San Francisco in each of the last two years. Pitching at the highest level of the minors this year, he owns a 3.94 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 over 29 2/3 frames.
Royals Sign Edward Mujica
The Royals have announced minor league deal with righty Edward Mujica. The veteran reliever was recently released by the Phillies upon his request.
Mujica will hope to work back toward the big leagues after failing to earn a call-up with Philadelphia. His new deal with Kansas City includes an opt-out opportunity on August 7th, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).
The 32-year-old has pitched in each of the prior ten MLB campaigns, compiling a 3.85 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 over 546 2/3 total innings. But his low-walk approach wasn’t effective last year, as he scuffled to an uncharacteristic 4.75 ERA with the Red Sox and Athletics.
Mujica has certainly not lost his trademark control, as he’s permitted only four free passes in 39 frames at Triple-A in 2016. He’s been reasonably effective overall at the highest level of the minors, carrying a 3.69 ERA in that span, but it wasn’t enough to convince the Philly brass to bring him back to the majors.
Triple-A Lehigh Valley director of media relations and broadcasting Matt Provence first tweeted the news.
Athletics Designate Nick Tepesch, Option Billy Burns, Promote Ryon Healy
The Athletics have made a series of roster heading out of the break, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Young corner infielder Ryon Healy is coming up to take the place of struggling outfielder Billy Burns, who has been optioned. The club designated righty Nick Tepesch to clear 40-man space.
[Related: Updated Athletics Depth Chart]
Parting with Tepesch wasn’t too difficult for Oakland, given that he was only just claimed a few weeks ago. But the 27-year-old might have provided some useful rotation depth for the organization, which would come in handy in the event that one or more starters end up being traded in the coming weeks. He might yet, of course, as it’s possible that he’ll end up in the A’s system.
Burns had been expected to hold down semi-regular duties in center field, but the 26-year-old has failed to follow up on a quality 2015 campaign. Indeed, he has been about half as productive with the bat as he was last year, putting up a meager .234/.270/.303 slash. The speedy Burns does have 14 swipes and a useful glove, but that’s not enough to compensate for such a rough go at the dish.
As for Healy, 24, this represents his first crack at the majors. He earned an early-season promotion to Triple-A after destroying Double-A pitching, and is off to a .318/.362/.505 start over his first 210 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors. Healy doesn’t offer top-flight power — he’s at 14 on the year and has never finished a professional season with more than 16 — but is certainly trending up in that regard and seems to carry a well-rounded overall bat.
Royals Release Joe Beimel
The Royals have released veteran left-handed reliever Joe Beimel from their Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, according to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter link). Beimel had signed a minors pact with Kansas City in late May.
Beimel posted a 4.30 ERA in 14 2/3 innings with Omaha, issuing eight walks against six strikeouts in his fairly brief stint with the Royals. Prior to that, he had reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with the Marlins, but Miami axed the agreement based on issues that popped up when Beimel was taking his physical.
The 39-year-old Beimel spent the 2014-15 seasons with the Mariners, where he posted a 3.12 ERA in 92 1/3 innings. He saw quite a bit of his work come against left-handed batters and held them to a paltry .226/.281/.381 batting line in that two year stretch. His struggles against righties were notable, however, as he walked more right-handed hitters than he struck out in that time. He’s best-suited as a lefty specialist, though he actually struggled with lefties in 2015 and yielded a .796 OPS against them in his brief sample of 29 minor league plate appearances this year.