Minor MLB Transactions: 6/29/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- Infielder Danny Muno asked for his release from the Mets‘ Triple-A affiliate and had his request granted, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 27-year-old made his big league debut with New York last season and hit .148/.258/.185 in a tiny sample of 32 plate appearances. The versatile Muno, who has played mostly second in his minor league career but has quite a bit of experience at shortstop and third base as well, has enjoyed more success in the minors. He’s a career .267/.371/.387 hitter in parts of three seasons at Triple-A and has an overall .795 OPS in parts of six minor league seasons. With Muno seemingly unable to crack the big league roster in spite of injuries throughout the Mets’ infield, perhaps his camp simply felt the best move for his future was to explore other opportunities.
Rays To Designate Jaff Decker For Assignment, Activate Brandon Guyer
The Rays will designate outfielder Jaff Decker for assignment and activate fellow outfielder Brandon Guyer from the 15-day disabled list, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).
Decker, 26, was brought up from Triple-A earlier this season due largely to a deluge of injuries incurred by Rays outfielders — Kevin Kiermaier, Steven Souza and Mikie Mahtook were all on the disabled list alongside Guyer — and received 32 plate appearances with Tampa Bay. The former No. 42 overall pick (Padres, 2008) batted .138/.219/.138 in that brief sample. Decker has been a considerably better performer than that at the Triple-A level, where he owns a .264/.365/.396 batting line in 1321 plate appearances. That production has never carried over to the Majors, though, where Decker is a career .159/.267/.227 batter in 104 trips to the dish.
The flailing Rays should be quite pleased to get Guyer back into their lineup, as the 30-year-old was in the midst of a career year before landing on the DL earlier this month with a hamstring strain. In 168 PAs this season, Guyer is batting .271/.365/.472 with six homers and 11 doubles.
Cardinals Designate Eric Fryer For Assignment
The Cardinals announced today that they have designated backup catcher Eric Fryer for assignment and activated fellow backstop Brayan Pena off the 15-day disabled list.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said yesterday that the 30-year-old Fryer has been a “pleasant surprise” for his team in 2016, but a DFA has looked increasingly likely as Pena has neared the completion of a minor league rehab assignment for a knee injury. While Fryer worked in a very highly limited role in support of Yadier Molina, he’s been quite solid at the plate, slashing .368/.415/.421 through 41 plate appearances this season. He’s also prevented four of the six stolen bases attempts against him.
Fryer doesn’t come with a lengthy track record at the big league level, but he’s authored a solid .270/.347/.354 batting line in 199 Major League plate appearances across parts of six seasons between the Pirates, Twins and Cardinals dating back to 2011. Based on his .237/.328/.328 line in 935 plate appearances in Triple-A, it’s fair to expect some regression in his overall big league production, but as a mostly solid pitch-framer with a 29 percent caught-stealing rate throughout his minor league career, Fryer is certainly an appealing depth option.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that the Cardinals will attempt to get him to Triple-A Memphis, though they’ll first need to pass Fryer through outright waivers. Fryer has been outrighted in the past (meaning he could elect free agency even if he does clear), but given the paucity of quality catching options around the league, it should never simply be assumed that a backstop in the midst of a productive season will go unclaimed.
As for Pena, he’ll be making his Cardinals debut when he suits up for the first time. St. Louis signed him to a two-year, $5MM contract this offseason, but he underwent surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee in early April and has yet to be healthy enough to take the big league field. The switch-hitting 34-year-old is a lifetime .260/.300/.352 hitter at the Major League level and has compiled a more impressive .271/.313/.354 line in 982 PAs over the past three seasons with the Tigers and the division-rival Reds.
Dodgers Claim Cole Figueroa
The Dodgers have claimed infielder Cole Figueroa off waivers from the Pirates, Los Angeles announced. He has been optioned to Triple-A.
Figueroa, who’ll turn 29 on Thursday, has appeared at second, third, and short at the major league level. He hasn’t hit much in limited action at the major league level, but has produced at a .288/.356/.376 clip in nearly 2,000 turns at the plate at Triple-A.
Brewers Designate Alex Presley
The Brewers have designated outfielder Alex Presley for assignment, per a club announcement. Taking his place on the roster is utilityman Jake Elmore, whose contract was purchased by Milwaukee.
[Related: Updated Brewers Depth Chart]
Presley, 30, has bounced around quite a bit in recent years. He got a chance with the Brewers, but was only able to post a .198/.271/.293 batting line in 129 plate appearances. Presley showed promise earlier in his career with the Pirates, but has never been able to sustain success at the major league level.
As for Elmore, 29, this represents his fifth-straight season of action in the majors, each of which have come with different organizations. He’s just a lifetime .215/.277/.288 hitter but is valued for his defensive versatility and contact ability. Elmore was hitting .320/.428/.380 over 182 Triple-A plate appearances on the year, with 26 walks against 19 K’s.
Padres Claim Paul Clemens
The Padres have claimed righty Paul Clemens, Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com reports on Twitter. The 28-year-old was evidently placed on waivers by the Marlins, for whom he had been pitching.
Clemens made two starts for Miami this year, throwing ten innings over which he allowed seven earned earns on 11 hits and eight walks against six strikeouts. He had spent most of the year at Triple-A, pitching to a 4.30 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 over 75 1/3 frames.
Nationals Release Taylor Jordan
The Nationals have released righty Taylor Jordan, as MLB.com’s Bill Ladson tweets. His 40-man spot will go to top prospect Lucas Giolito, who’ll make his debut tonight.
[Related: Updated Nationals Depth Chart]
Jordan had been shelved after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. While that made a 60-day DL placement appear to be a viable strategy for freeing a roster spot, the club evidently decided it was time to cut ties altogether.
That’s a disappointing outcome given the promise that Jordan showed back in 2013, when he posted a 3.66 ERA over 51 2/3 innings. Over those nine starts, he ran up a 57.5% groundball rate and 5.1 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9.
Jordan was able to post over 100 solid frames last year at Triple-A, and was off to a nice start in three outings in 2016. Then came the diagnosis of another ulnar collateral ligament tear, with Jordan undergoing surgery in late May.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/27/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- Ike Davis has been outrighted to Triple-A, the Yankees announced. The first baseman was designated for assignment over the weekend after struggling in a brief stint in New York. It has been some time since Davis was an effective major league hitter, though he did hit a useful .268/.350/.437 in 163 plate appearances at the Triple-A level earlier this year with the Rangers organization.
- Cubs catcher Tim Federowicz has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Federowicz, 28, only received 27 plate appearances with Chicago and didn’t do much with the bat. With Chicago moving to activate highly-regarded prospect Willson Contreras, and already possessing two receivers in Miguel Montero and David Ross, there was no room for Federowicz. Over 298 major league plate appearances in his career, he owns a .194/.245/.297 batting line.
- The Cubs will select the contract of right-hander Joel Peralta and option left-hander Gerardo Concepcion back to Triple-A Iowa, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). Peralta, 40, inked a minors pact with the Cubs last week after he was designated for assignment and released by the Mariners. The veteran struggled with Seattle this season, logging a 5.40 ERA in 23 1/3 innings despite excellent K/BB numbers. Peralta yielded an alarming seven homers in his 23 1/3 frames, but he also carried a 28-to-7 K/BB ratio in that time, and his 20 percent homer-to-flyball ratio with Seattle was double that of his career rate, suggesting that there’s some regression in store. Because the Cubs’ 40-man roster was at 39 prior to the move, a corresponding 40-man move isn’t necessary.
- The Red Sox announced that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Mike Miller from Triple-A Pawtucket and optioned right-hander William Cuevas in his place. Boston, like Chicago, had an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary. The 26-year-old Miller was a ninth-round pick by Boston back in 2012. He’s never hit much in the minors, and that’s been especially true at the Triple-A level, where he owns a career .233/.284/.302 slash in 448 plate appearances. As the Providence Journal’s Brian MacPherson points out (Twitter link), though, he’s capable of spelling Xander Bogaerts at shortstop. Bogaerts has started 57 consecutive games, so Miller can be inserted into the lineup to give him a much-needed breather. The same is, of course, true of Deven Marrero, who is already on the 40-man roster, but he was just optioned back to Triple-A on Saturday and must spend 10 days in the minors before he’s eligible to be recalled (barring an injury on the big league roster).
Steve Delabar To Sign With Japan’s Hiroshima Carp
Right-hander Steve Delabar is headed to Japan and will sign with the Hiroshima Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Delabar was released by the Reds over the weekend.
Cincinnati cut bait on the 32-year-old veteran after he turned in eight rough innings for the club this year. He did strike out ten batters, but also walked the same number while allowing six earned runs. Delabar did show somewhat better in his 24 Triple-A frames, posting a 2.62 ERA with 9.4 K/9 but a still-troubling 6.0 BB/9.
Delabar has long shown impressive strikeout ability, as he has racked up 11.2 per nine innings in his 194 2/3 career MLB frames. And he still works at about 93 mph with his average fastball. When he keeps the walks in check, he has been a reasonably effective reliever, but Delabar last posted a sub-4.00 ERA in 2013.
Athletics Claim Nick Tepesch, Designate Eric Surkamp
The Athletics have claimed righty Nick Tepesch off waivers from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. Oakland designated lefty Eric Surkamp to clear a roster spot.
Tepesch made a spot start for Los Angeles, marking his first major league outing since 2014. He was far from dominant, but obviously showed enough for Oakland to desire his services. Tepesch has battled through injury issues, but provided the Rangers with some good innings over 2013-14 and was carrying a 3.66 ERA at the Triple-A level on the year.
As for Surkamp, 28, it’s a been a tough go thus far in 2016. He has contributed 38 2/3 innings in nine starts, surrendering thirty earned runs on 55 hits (including eight home runs) while posting an ugly 22:21 K/BB ratio. Surkamp has been rather effective at the Triple-A level — he owns a 3.56 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 293 1/3 career innings — but has never been able to translate that consistently to the big leagues.