Brewers Designate Colin Walsh
The Brewers have designated Rule 5 pick Colin Walsh, the team announced. The infielder’s roster spot will go to Neil Ramirez, who was claimed off waivers.
Walsh, 26, recorded just four hits in his 63 plate appearances on the year. He did pick up 15 walks, but also struck out 22 times in his first attempt at the majors. Though Walsh had survived several prior roster shakeups that could have sent him packing, Milwaukee evidently decided that he no longer was worth occupying a 25-man spot in order to keep his future rights.
Other teams will have an opportunity to trade for or claim Walsh’s Rule 5 rights. If that does not occur, he’ll be offered back to the Athletics, who employed him prior to his selection in the draft at the end of the Winter Meetings last December.
Brewers Claim Neil Ramirez
The Brewers have claimed righty Neil Ramirez off waivers from the Cubs, according to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Ramirez, who just turned 27, had been designated for assignment by Chicago.
Milwaukee is obviously in quite a different position than their division rivals. The rebuilding organization surely felt more willing to take a shot on a potentially impactful reliever who has struggled this year.
Ramirez, who was acquired as part of the 2013 Matt Garza deal, racked up 57 2/3 innings of 1.87 ERA pitching over 2014-15. He posted an impressive 10.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 in that span.
Of course, Ramirez also missed significant time last year with shoulder issues, and he hasn’t been himself thus far in 2016. While he is still running up a double-digit K rate, Ramirez is very nearly doing the same with free passes and has permitted four earned runs in 7 2/3 innings. The righty has lost over 2.5 mph on his average fastball since his debut season, though his swinging strike rate and zone percentage remain at normal levels.
Milwaukee will surely hope that Ramirez just needs to battle through a rough stretch. If he can right the ship, he’d provide the organization with another late-inning power arm. There’s contractual upside, too: Ramirez entered the year with 1.158 years of service, meaning he comes with four more years of control. Of course, that also makes him a likely Super Two candidate this winter.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/30/16
Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- Infielder Reid Brignac has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Braves after clearing waivers, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old has seen only scattered action in recent seasons, but appeared in over 200 games over 2010 and 2011 with the Rays. All told, Brignac owns a .219/.264/.309 slash line in 951 plate appearances over parts of nine seasons in the big leagues.
- The Diamondbacks optioned slugging outfield prospect Peter O’Brien back to Triple-A, the club announced. Left-hander Edwin Escobar will be called up to start today’s game. O’Brien’s latest stint with the D’Backs ended up lasting just a few days and consisted of a single pinch-hit appearance on Friday. Ranked as the No. 7 prospect in Arizona’s system, O’Brien has put up big numbers at Triple-A Reno over the last two seasons, and he already has 12 homers in 182 Triple-A plate appearance this year. Escobar was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox last month and will be making his first Major League start. His previous experience in the bigs consists of two relief innings with Boston in 2014.
- The Giants released southpaw Mike Kickham, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Kickham was originally drafted by San Francisco in 2010 and appeared in 14 games with the Giants in 2013-14, which were thus far his only tastes of the major leagues. The lefty spent 2015 bouncing between the Cubs, Mariners and Rangers organizations before signing a minor league deal with the Giants this past winter. Kickham has a 4.17 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 1.83 K/BB over 561 1/3 innings in the minors, with 100 of his 117 career games coming as a starting pitcher.
- Earlier this week, the Tigers released outfielder Nate Schierholtz. The veteran signed a minor league contract with Detroit last winter. Schierholtz has a .253/.302/.405 slash line over 2275 career PA with the Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Nationals from 2007-14. He spent the 2015 season playing in Japan, an experience Schierholtz discussed with MLBTR’s Zach Links during Spring Training.
Angels Designate Deolis Guerra, Activate Huston Street
The Angels announced a series of pitching moves today, including designating righty Deolis Guerra for assignment. Los Angeles also optioned right-hander Mike Morin, replacing those two arms with closer Huston Street — who had been on the DL — and lefty Chris Jones, who gets his first MLB call-up.
Guerra, 27, has been hit hard in two brief stints in the majors over the past two seasons. All told, he’s allowed 16 earned runs in just 22 big league frames, with a more promising 21:3 K/BB ratio. Guerra has been rather dominant at the Triple-A level of late, however.
Los Angeles will be glad to welcome back Street, who last pitched on April 23rd and has been rehabbing an oblique injury. The 32-year-old had been as effective as ever in the early going: despite recording only four strikeouts in his 7 2/3 innings of work before hitting the DL, Street had allowed only one earned run on four hits while picking up a handful of saves. Fill-in ninth-inning man Joe Smith had permitted seven earned runs over his 12 1/3 innings in May, though he also converted five of six save opportunities in the last month.
The 25-year-old Morin has shown promise at times — he carried a 2.90 ERA over 59 frames in 2014 and racked up 10.4 K/9 against just 2.3 BB/9 in 35 1/3 innings last year — but his results have lagged of late. On the year, he’s been touched for a 5.48 ERA in 21 1/3 frames, with 7.6 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.
Jones hasn’t exactly had the best of years at Triple-A since being acquired from the Orioles late this spring. He’s generally been effective there in the past, but currently owns a 6.32 ERA over 47 innings with 5.9 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
Blue Jays Designate Jimmy Paredes For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated Jimmy Paredes for assignment, the Toronto Star’s Brendan Kennedy reports (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, righty reliever Ryan Tepera was called up from Triple-A.
Toronto claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles two weeks ago. He hit quite well (.267/.353/.533) over 17 plate appearances and also filled in around the diamond for the Jays, making one start each at second, third and DH while also appearing in right field for a game. As MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets, however, the Jays needed an extra reliever for their struggling bullpen and other infield bench candidates like Ryan Goins or Darwin Barney are needed with Troy Tulowitzki on the DL.
Paredes has never exhibited much defensive value despite his versatility over his six years in the majors, and he owns a .257/.294/.373 slash line over 862 PA with Toronto, Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston. The 27-year-old was originally signed by the Yankees in 2006, and notably dealt along with Mark Melancon to the Astros in the July 2010 trade deadline deal that brought Lance Berkman to New York.
Braves Sign Dale Thayer
The Braves signed righty Dale Thayer to a minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. The 35-year-old was outrighted off the Padres’ roster last summer and chose free agency, signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers during the offseason but then opting out of that deal earlier this month. Thayer is represented by O’Connell Sports Management.
Thayer is coming off a bit of a down year in 2015, though he posted a 3.19 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 3.05 K/BB over 225 2/3 relief innings with the Padres over the last four seasons. He has been effective against hitters on both sides of the plate over his career, limiting right-handed batters to a .666 OPS and left-handed bats to a .720 OPS. Thayer should have an opportunity to pitch his way into the Braves’ bullpen, given that Atlanta relievers have a combined 4.51 ERA this season, the fifth-worst such mark in the majors.
Royals Agree To Minors Deal With Joe Beimel
The Royals have agreed to a minor league deal with southpaw Joe Beimel, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’s pending a physical, but Brown notes that Kansas City has already seen an MRI of Beimel’s left arm and does not believe that health will pose an obstacle.
Beimel had previously struck a deal with the Marlins, but that accord fell apart — apparently over issues with the status of his arm. Unless something new is found this time around, though, it seems that the veteran will join his ninth major league organization.
The 39-year-old has seen action with seven teams at the big league level, including a two-year run with the Mariners from 2014-15 in which he compiled 92 1/3 innings of 3.12 ERA pitching. Of course, he had better results in the first of those campaigns, and ERA estimators viewed his results last year with particular skepticism.
Beimel was actually somewhat better against right-handed hitters in 2015, but historically he’s much stingier when facing opposing lefties. Presumably, the Royals will give him a shot to earn a LOOGY role. With Danny Duffy moving to the rotation, the club’s pen currently features only one lefty, Scott Alexander. He’s been effective in his first ten innings on the year, and has good results recently at Triple-A, but has a fairly limited MLB track record.
Mariners Reacquire Patrick Kivlehan From Rangers
The Mariners have acquired infielder Patrick Kivlehan from the Rangers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, per a Seattle announcement. To make room for Kivlehan on their 40-man roster, the Mariners moved reliever Evan Scribner to the 60-day disabled list.
Kivlehan, whom the Rangers designated for assignment Monday, will now rejoin the organization that selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. The Mariners eventually shipped Kivlehan to the Rangers last November as part of the package for center fielder Leonys Martin, who has been excellent in Seattle so far.
The 26-year-old Kivlehan has hit well in the minors, slashing .280/.345/.465 with 71 home runs in 2,125 plate appearances. He got off to a rough start this year with the Rangers organization, though, compiling a .184/.252/.262 line in 155 trips to the plate for Triple-A Round Rock.
Angels Designate Brendan Ryan For Assignment
7:18pm: The Angels have officially announced Ryan’s designation.
8:17am: The Angels will designate shortstop Brendan Ryan for assignment today, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The move will clear space for fellow infielder Cliff Pennington, who is set to return after a brief DL stint due to a hamstring strain.
Ryan signed a minor league deal with the Nationals in February, then headed to the Angels in a small trade earlier this month. With Andrelton Simmons and Pennington on the shelf, the Angels had a need for a shortstop, but even with both those players on the DL, they frequently played Gregorio Petit at short. Overall, Ryan collected 12 plate appearances, during which he failed to reach base.
The 34-year-old Ryan has hit .233/.293/.314 in parts of ten seasons in the big leagues, contributing the vast majority of his value with terrific defense. In addition to the Angels, he’s played for the Cardinals, Mariners and Yankees.
Dodgers Designate James Ramsey For Assignment
The Dodgers have designated outfielder James Ramsey for assignment, sent left-hander Julio Urias to Triple-A Oklahoma City and selected the contract of reliever Casey Fien, according to a team announcement.
Ramsey, whom the Dodgers acquired for cash considerations from the Indians last month, has never seen major league action despite going 23rd overall in the 2012 draft. The 26-year-old has slashed just .222/.285/.429 with five home runs in 138 minor league plate appearances this season. All told, Ramsey owns a .257/.350/.421 line in 1,792 minor league trips to the plate.
Urias, meanwhile, made only one start for the Dodgers after his highly touted promotion. The 19-year-old superprospect tossed 2 2/3 innings of three-run ball and allowed nine base runners (five hits, four walks) against three strikeouts in a loss to the Mets on Friday. He previously threw 41 dominant innings with Oklahoma City and has gone 27 consecutive frames in the minors without surrendering a run.
Fien, claimed off waivers from the Twins earlier this month, has racked up 251 1/3 big league innings of 4.05 ERA pitching. The 32-year-old has limited walks (1.82 BB/9) throughout his career, and he exceeded the 60-inning plateau in each season from 2013-15. Fien got off to a forgettable start for the Twins this year, however, and then yielded five earned runs in 7 2/3 innings with Oklahoma City.