Royals Release Omar Infante
JUNE 23: Infante has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Flanagan.
JUNE 21: The Royals have requested unconditional release waivers on Infante, per Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Infante, of course, figures to clear waivers with ease, as no big league club would be keen on acquiring the remainder of his salary. Once he clears (in 48 hours), he’ll be free to sign with any Major League team, at which point that team would be on the hook for only the pro-rated portion of the league minimum. (That sum would be subtracted from what the Royals owe.)
JUNE 15: The Royals have designated second baseman Omar Infante for assignment, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. His roster spot will go to lefty Brian Flynn.
Infante, 34, has been a major disappointment since signing as a free agent before the 2014 season. Kansas City still owes him the rest of a $7.75MM salary this year and another $10MM down the line, including a buyout of a 2018 option.
Technically, he could sill be claimed or traded, but both seem unlikely. Even a surprise swap would be quite unlikely to save K.C. much cash.
[RELATED: View the Royals’ new depth chart and projected lineup]
All told, Infante has provided the Royals with a .238/.269/.328 batting line with eight home runs and 11 stolen bases over 1,179 plate appearances. Though he’s been solid enough with the glove and on the bases, it hasn’t come close to making up for the offensive deficiencies. In the aggregate, he has played below replacement level.
That wasn’t the plan when the Royals added Infante, who had just wrapped up a solid 2013 campaign for the division-rival Tigers. Really, it’s a testament to how well the team has performed in the past two seasons that it was able to get by with his marginal contributions. While recent successes have moved the payroll up in the interim, Infante’s signing represented a rather significant commitment for the Royals at the time.
We’ve often discussed the possibility of the team pursuing an upgrade at second, but the final straw ultimately came from within. Surprising 27-year-old rookie Whit Merrifield supplanted Infante, with the presence of utilityman Christian Colon making him expendable.
Rockies Request Release Waivers On Jose Reyes
The Rockies announced today that they have requested release waivers on Jose Reyes, whom the team had previously designated for assignment last week. Reyes will have 48 hours to clear waivers, after which he’ll become a free agent and have the ability to sign with any club for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum. Technically, a team could claim Reyes off release waivers, though considering the $38.14MM remaining on his contract through the end of the 2017 season, he’s a virtual lock to clear and seek new employment on the open market.
There was some talk of the Rockies potentially trying to trade Reyes, but any efforts toward that end unsurprisingly came up empty. Colorado has had ample time to attempt to trade Reyes since he was arrested last Halloween and faced charges of domestic abuse from his wife (said charges were dropped in April), but the team has yet to find a taker. It seems likely that some team will ultimately take a shot at signing Reyes to what would be a minimal commitment, however, if only due to his track record as a well-above-average player on the field. Recent reports have indicated that the Mets are “warming up” to the idea of a reunion with Reyes, who is said to very much hope to return to Queens.
Whether Reyes proves to be any kind of on-field upgrade remains to be seen. Though he does have a long track record of production, as noted above, he was one of the game’s worst offensive players last season following his trade to Colorado. Despite the fact that Coors Field is notorious for inflating offense, Reyes posted just a .259/.291/.368 line in 208 plate appearances as a member of the Rockies. Overall, his combined .274/.310/.378 slash was considerably below average for a player that split his season between two of the game’s most favorable parks for offense.
Orioles Outright Paul Janish
JUNE 22: Janish has accepted the assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and will remain in the organization, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.
JUNE 21: The Orioles have outrighted infielder Paul Janish, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to right-hander Oliver Drake.
Janish has already cleared outright waivers, as Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun was among those to tweet. He’ll have three days to decide whether to accept an assignment to Triple-A.
The 33-year-old has seen scattered major league action in eight of the last nine seasons. All told, he owns a .216/.284/.289 batting line in 1,277 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. Janish had turned in a .329/.364/.356 slash in his 77 Triple-A plate appearances before being called up by Baltimore this year.
Phillies Agree To Over-Slot Deal With Kevin Gowdy
The Phillies have reached agreement on a well-over-slot bonus with 42nd overall draft pick Kevin Gowdy, per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball (Twitter links). He’ll take home a $3.5MM payday, representing a significant boost over the $1,536,200 slot value.
Gowdy is a high school righty from Santa Barbara, California. He obviously caught the attention of the Philadelphia brass, which utilized savings from its deal with top overall pick Mickey Moniak to draw Gowdy away from his commitment to UCLA.
Philly lands a player that was rated the 24th overall draft prospect coming in by ESPN.com, which credited his quality breaking ball. He could eventually grow into a bigger fastball, per the report, though it remains to be seen how he’ll fill out his frame. And Gowdy’s third offering (a change-up) is said to need further development, along with his command.
MLB.com and Baseball America weren’t quite as hopeful of Gowdy’s future, with both ranking him just inside the top forty prospects. That’s not to say that those outlets don’t see the upside; all appear to agree that the tools are there for him to develop into a quality big league starter.
Reds Outright Jordan Pacheco, Who Elects Free Agency
The Reds have outrighted infielder/catcher Jordan Pacheco, per a club announcement. He declined an assignment after clearing waivers, instead electing free agency.
Pacheco’s roster spot was needed as the club executed a series of moves relating to their pitching staff. Veteran righty Alfredo Simon was placed on the 15-day DL, while Michael Lorenzen was activated from the 60-day DL.
[Related: Updated Reds Depth Chart]
Cincinnati wasn’t getting much from Pacheco, who is valued most for his unusual ability to play behind the dish as well as elsewhere in the infield. He wasn’t seeing action at catcher for Cincinnati, and over 51 plate appearances had recorded only eight hits without a single walk while going down 14 times via strikeout.
Pacheco has seen action in six MLB seasons, including this one. Through 1,149 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, he owns a .272/.310/.365 slash line.
Dodgers Claim Layne Somsen
The Dodgers have claimed righty Layne Somsen off waivers from the Yankees, per a club announcement. New York had claimed him from the Reds earlier in the year but designated him for assignment when a roster need arose.
[Related: Updated Dodgers Depth Chart]
Somsen, 27, did not even reach professional ball until his age-24 season, but has moved steadily up the ladder since. He was knocked around in two appearances at the major league level this year, but has shown an interesting arm in the minors. After posting quality results at each stop along the way, Somsen owns a 1.44 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 across his 25 Triple-A frames on the year.
White Sox Claim Juan Minaya
The White Sox have claimed righty Juan Minaya off waivers from the Astros, Chicago announced. He had been designated for assignment last Tuesday.
[Related: Updated White Sox Depth Chart]
The 25-year-old Minaya hasn’t yet reached the majors, and won’t do so immediately for the White Sox — who optioned him to Triple-A. He has scuffled a bit at that level this year, with a 3.91 ERA over 25 1/3 innings, but turned in a strong season at the highest level of the minors in 2015. In 54 2/3 frames last season, Minaya worked to a 2.80 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/22/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Third baseman Casey McGehee has been optioned to Triple-A by the Tigers after clearing waivers, the club announced. He accepted the assignment after being designated recently, with the club electing not to remove him from the 40-man roster. After a single plate appearance during a brief pit stop in Detroit, the 33-year-old will remain available should another need arise at the major league level. McGehee is off to a strong start at Triple-A, with a .323/.370/.440 batting line through 270 plate appearances.
- The Twins have released lefty Dan Runzler, per an announcement from the club’s Triple-A affiliate. Now 31, Runzler showed promise early in his career with the Giants but could never sustain enough control to stick at the major league level. Between 2009 and 2012, he put up 72 1/3 innings of 3.86 ERA pitching from the pen, with 9.7 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9. Runzler was carrying an 18:16 K/BB ratio in his 21 2/3 Triple-A frames at Rochester, with 14 earned runs charged to his ledger.
Astros Sign First-Rounder Forrest Whitley
The Astros have announced the signing of first-round draft choice Forrest Whitley, via MLB.com. He’ll receive a $3.148MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). Whitley was taken 17th overall, which came with a $2,504,200 slot allocation.
A high school righty hailing from Texas, Whitley was a consensus top-twenty prospect entering the draft. MLB.com had him highest on its board, ranking him 12th on the basis of his outstanding results in a competitive environment and promising set of pitches. The towering hurler brings a mid-nineties fastball, power curve, and improving change-up.
ESPN.com ranked Whitley the 13th-best draft prospect available, while Baseball America was also quite bullish on his outlook in placing him 18th. None of the outlets really expressed any concerns, though the ESPN.com team suggested that there’s less to dream on than may be the case for other top young arms. As they put it, Whitley has “a fourth starter’s arsenal and a workhorse build,” but “there’s no projection here and Whitley has some stiffness and effort to his delivery.”
After several years worth of drafts in which the club was among the first in line and carried deep draft pockets, Houston fell back in the order due to its successful 2015 season. The resultant maneuvering was certainly less interesting as a result, as the team has thus far agreed to at-slot deals with second-rounder Ronnie Dawson and third-round pick Jake Rogers, but the organization also managed to avoid intrigue this time around. None of the team’s other reported signings have skewed too dramatically from the mean, though the ‘Stros managed to stash some savings in order to add to the pile of cash headed Whitley’s way.
Mariners Acquire Wade LeBlanc
The Mariners have acquired southpaw Wade LeBlanc from the Blue Jays, per an official announcement from Seattle. A player to be named later or cash will head back in return.
LeBlanc isn’t going directly onto the 40-man, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). But he is expected to be activated to take a start on Friday, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune tweets.
[Related: Updated Mariners depth chart]
The 31-year-old lefty didn’t crack the majors last year, ending a seven-year run in which he spent at least some time in the bigs. Instead, he pitched in Japan — an experience that he was kind enough to share with me on the MLBTR Podcast.
LeBlanc returned to affiliated ball this year with the Blue Jays organization, signing a minor league deal. He has shown quite well thus far at Triple-A, spinning 89 2/3 innings of 1.71 ERA ball with 8.5 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.