Cardinals Sign First-Rounder Delvin Perez
The Cardinals have agreed to a $2,222,500 bonus with first-round draft pick Delvin Perez, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports on Twitter. That’s precisely the slot value that came with the 23rd overall selection.
Coming into the draft, Perez was viewed as a top ten pick. But his stock began to fall as word got out that he had failed a test for a performance-enhancing drug.
St. Louis ultimately struck with the last pick of the first round, and they’ll get a player with some serious upside in spite of the concerning test results. Baseball America rated him the eighth-best prospect available, explaining that he’s a speed demon and defensive whiz who still needs to refine his approach at the plate. Perez landed ninth on the MLB.com board and ESPN.com’s Keith Law ranked him 15th in the class based upon his “lightning-quick hands, a plus arm, plus range and 70 running speed.”
Perez is one of several interesting players taken by the Cards. The club saved a nice amount of cash in its deal with 33rd-overall pick Dylan Carlson, but has yet to sign its trio of college righties: Mississippi State’s Dakota Hudson (34th), Connor Jones of the University of Virginia, and UNC’s Zac Gallen.
Rangers Outright Tom Wilhelmsen, Who Elects Free Agency
The Rangers have outrighted right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen off the 40-man roster, per an announcement from executive VP of communications John Blake. Wilhelmsen declined the assignment after clearing waivers, making him a free agent.
The 32-year-old, who was acquired over the winter in the swap that sent Leonys Martin to the Mariners, has struggled badly in his first year in Texas. Over 21 1/3 innings, he has been torched for 25 earned runs on 38 hits, including seven long balls, while recording just 11 strikeouts against nine walks. Wilhelmsen’s swinging strike rate is down, but not by all that much. The real culprit is a huge amount of hard contact (39.1%).
In spite of his recent difficulties, Wilhelmsen ought to receive some attention as a free agent. He had a nice track record in Seattle, where he compiled a 2.97 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 over 312 1/3 innings from 2011 through 2015. Though his velocity is down a tick, Wilhelmsen is still averaging 94 mph with his fastball.
Notably, Wilhelmsen gave up around $1.8MM of guaranteed money to take his freedom from the organization, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains. He had been playing on a $3.1MM salary in his second-to-last season of arbitration eligibility.
Twins Designate Oswaldo Arcia
The Twins have designated outfielder Oswaldo Arcia for assignment, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was among those to report on Twitter. His roster spot will go to Danny Santana, who was activated from the DL.
[Related: Updated Twins depth chart]
Arcia only just turned 25, and isn’t long removed from being an above-average hitter in a semi-regular role. Indeed, he popped twenty home runs in 2014. But Arcia has long been considered a marginal defender, and he hasn’t been quite as productive at the plate of late.
In 114 plate appearances this year at the major league level, Arcia owns a .214/.289/.369 slash with four home runs. That comes on the heels of a 2015 campaign in which Arcia spent most of his time playing poorly at Triple-A.
All said, it’s a disappointing turn of events for both team and player. With no options remaining, Arcia needed to perform well enough to keep a roster spot this year, and that obviously hasn’t occurred.
Arcia could draw interest on the trade market or be claimed if he makes it to waivers. The question, really, is whether any team is willing to utilize a 40-man spot and put him onto an active roster. With just over two years of major league service entering the year, Arcia is playing at just over the league minimum and can be controlled for three more seasons via arbitration.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/16/16
Some minor moves from around the game…
- Righty Brandon Gomes has been released by the Cubs, as Baseball America’s Matt Eddy recently reported. The 31-year-old had thrown 167 relief innings over the last five years with the Rays, working to a 4.20 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9. He had struggled with command this year at Triple-A in the Chicago organization, however. In his 22 2/3 frames, Gomes allowed ten earned runs on 14 hits and 14 walks while striking out twenty.
- The Orioles have re-signed lefty Andy Oliver, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. Oliver, 28, had recently opted out of his minor league pact with Baltimore, but evidently did not find a better opportunity elsewhere. He owns a nice 2.08 ERA over 34 2/3 Triple-A frames on the year, with 8.8 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
- Veteran catcher Gerald Laird has signed a contract with the Mexican League’s Tijuana Toros, MLBTR has learned. The 36-year-old Laird signed the with D-backs prior to the 2015 season but appeared in just one game before a back injury sidelined him into late August, at which point he was designated for assignment and released. Laird enjoyed a productive season with the Braves back in 2013, when he batted .281/.367/.372 in 141 plate appearances. In parts of 13 Major League seasons, Laird is a career .243/.305/.353 hitter. He’s spent time with the Rangers, Tigers and Cardinals in addition to Arizona and Atlanta.
- The Angels announced that lefty David Huff has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 31-year-old made a pair of spot starts for the Halos this season but struggled in each and ultimately yielded seven earned runs on 13 hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He’ll have the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, though he could very well accept due to the fact that the injury-riddled state of the Angels’ pitching staff could afford him another crack at the Majors later this summer.
- Former Major League right-hander Robert Coello has been waived by the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, as Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency writes. In his place, the Heroes will sign right-hander Scott McGregor, who had been pitching for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League (Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com reported the McGregor news earlier this week). The 31-year-old Coello hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013, when he posted a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings for the Angels. He had a 3.77 ERA in 62 innings out of the Heroes’ rotation this season, but Yoo notes that control problems (42 walks in those 62 innings) led him to be waived. McGregor, a longtime Cardinals farmhand, has a career 4.78 ERA at the Triple-A level and was throwing well for Somerset this season, having posted a 3.36 ERA with a 31-to-6 K/BB ratio in 59 innings.
Dodgers Sign First-Rounder Gavin Lux
The Dodgers have agreed to terms with first-round selection Gavin Lux, Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com reports on Twitter. He’ll receive a $2.317MM bonus that lands just $700 over the slot value at the 20th overall pick.
Lux is a high school shortstop out of Wisconsin who was rated between 29th (ESPN.com) and 36th (Baseball America) among draft-eligible prospects. Ranking him 33rd, MLB.com praised Lux for his baseball intelligence and improving set of physical tools.
With the signing, Los Angeles will keep Lux from making his commitment to Arizona State University. Prospect evaluators agree that the youngster will likely be able to stick at shortstop, with the ESPN.com team explaining that it believes he’ll add enough size and strength to develop some power and arm strength as well.
Rockies Sign Multiple Top Draft Picks
TODAY: Tyler, too, has agreed to terms with Colorado, Callis tweets. He’ll receive the slot value at 38th overall ($1,701,600). MLB.com rated him the 25th-best prospect available, noting that he shows a tall ceiling when he’s on. Tyler has a big fastball with movement and a promising change to go with it, but needs to work on his breaker and clean up his command and mechanics to remain as a starter.
YESTERDAY: The Rockies have agreed to terms with second-round draft pick Ben Bowden, a Vanderbilt lefty, according to reports from MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo (links to Twitter). Bowden lands a $1.6MM bonus, which is $177,100 over the slot value for the 45th pick.
Likewise, the team has agreed to terms with third-rounder Garrett Hampson, a shortstop from Long Beach State, and high school infielder Colton Welker, who was taken in the fourth round. The latter ended up taking down a bigger payday, receiving $850K (well over is $541,800 slot value) while Hampson got $750K (just shy of the $776,700 allocation).
That results in a net $468,600 overage, but Colorado already reportedly saved $458,700 against the pool value of fourth overall choice Riley Pint. In the aggregate, then, GM Jeff Bridich still seems to have some wiggle room as he moves through the team’s harder-to-sign selections. The top unsigned pick is competitive balance selection Robert Tyler, a college righty.
Bowden rated as high as the 75th-available prospect, per Baseball America. In rating him 77th, ESPN.com labelled him a likely reliever as a pro but noted there’s a chance he could work out as a back-of-the-rotation starter. Hampson was rated 156th by Baseball America, which praised his speed and defense while calling him a high-floor player. Welker, too, only received a nod from BA; the University of Miami commit rated 168th.
Padres To Sign Edwin Jackson
The Padres have agreed to a deal with righty Edwin Jackson, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It’s a minor league pact, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets.
The 32-year-old was released recently by the Marlins, who had signed him over the winter to work from the bullpen and provide rotation depth. Jackson ultimately pitched to a 5.91 ERA over 10 2/3 frames, striking out seven and issuing six walks.
The Cubs are still paying Jackson under his four-year, $52MM free agent contract. That’s offset, but not by much, to account for Jackson’s earnings with other organizations. Miami is obligated for a league-minimum hit after inking Jackson to a major league deal. San Diego will also pay Jackson at the lowest possible rate for whatever time he spends in the majors.
Giants, Jean Machi Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants and right-hander Jean Machi have agreed to a minor league contract, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News tweeted earlier that the two sides were close to finalizing a deal.
Machi, 34, is a familiar face for Giants fans, having spent pasts of the 2012-15 seasons with San Francisco. Machi was particularly effective from 2013-14, logging a combined 2.49 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 119 2/3 innings for the Giants in that span. He struggled through 35 innings with the Giants in 2015, though, and ultimately wound up being claimed off waivers by the Red Sox. His results in Boston — a 5.09 ERA in 23 innings — weren’t any better.
Machi signed a minor league pact with the Cubs this offseason and had been pitching reasonably well with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate, but he was released last week and then encountered some legal trouble. As the Des Moines Register’s Tommy Birch reported, Machi was arrested for public intoxication and public urination at roughly 2:00am last Thursday morning.
White Sox Release Mat Latos
JUNE 16: The White Sox announced today that they’ve requested waivers for the purpose of granting Latos his unconditional release. Assuming no team claims the remainder of his salary, he’ll officially be a free agent once he clears in 48 hours.
JUNE 9: The White Sox have designated right-hander Mat Latos for assignment, according to Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link). Hayes tweets that Latos’ roster spot will go to 2013 second-round pick Tyler Danish — a 21-year-old right-hander with a 4.42 ERA, 5.6 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings (12 starts) for Double-A Birmingham this season.
Latos, 28, has been in the Chicago rotation since Opening Day after signing a one-year, $3MM contract this offseason. However, after a brilliant start to his 2016 campaign, he’s fallen into a prolonged slump, thus prompting today’s DFA. Over his first four starts to the season, Latos worked to a pristine 0.74 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. That production, though, was propped up by a clearly unsustainable .167 BABIP and 97 percent strand rate. Beyond that, Latos was sporting a meager 13-to-7 K/BB ratio through that four start run while displaying the lowest average fastball velocity of his career.
Regression for Latos wasn’t exactly difficult to see, though the extent of his decline was nonetheless fairly surprising. Dating back to April 30, Latos has a 7.25 ERA with nearly as many walks (18) as strikeouts (19). His deteriorated heater and diminished ability to miss bats (which are likely related) rendered Latos ineffective for much of the 2015 season, and that looks to have carried over into the 2016 campaign as well.
The Sox will have 10 days to trade Latos, outright him or release him, though even if he clears outright waivers he’d be able to reject an outright assignment and retain the remainder of his $3MM salary (approximately $1.89MM) in favor of testing the waters of free agency.
As for Danish, he entered the season ranked as Baseball America’s No. 9 prospect in the White Sox’ system. Danish was the youngest pitcher in the Double-A Southern League last season and, per BA, has the best changeup in Chicago’s minor league system. BA added that he gets “ferocious” sink on his fastball and projects as a back-of-the-rotation arm that can generate plenty of ground-balls.
Cubs To Designate Tim Federowicz For Assignment
The Cubs will designate catcher Tim Federowicz for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for top catching prospect Willson Contreras, who will be promoted from Triple-A prior to tomorrow’s game. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune first reported (via Twitter) that Federowicz would be involved in the corresponding move for Contreras, and the Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer tweeted that he’d be designated for assignment.
[Related: Updated Cubs depth chart]
Federowicz, 28, has appeared in 13 games for the Cubs this season and batted .192/.222/.269 in a small sample of 27 plate appearances. He joined the Cubs on a minor league contract this offseason and has spent the past month-plus in a fairly limited role, starting just six games since being recalled from Triple-A on April 28. The longtime Dodgers farmhand and former Padre is a career .194/.245/.297 hitter in 298 big league plate appearances, though he’s had considerably more success in the minors, authoring a career .308/.382/.527 slash line in parts of six Triple-A seasons (1128 PAs).