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.
Mets Acquire James Loney From Padres
The Mets have acquired first baseman James Loney from the Padres for cash considerations, the Padres have announced. Loney had an opt-out in his minor-league deal with the Friars, although the move that brings him to New York is a trade. The bulk of Loney’s $8MM 2016 salary will be paid by the Rays, who signed him to a three-year deal prior to the 2014 season and then released him in early April.
The Mets were on the lookout for a first baseman with Lucas Duda out for a significant stretch due to a stress fracture in his back. Loney was an obvious potential target, and many speculated from the beginning that the Mets could pursue him. That appears to be exactly what they did. Earlier this week, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Mets had at least some degree of interest.
Loney was hitting .342/.373/.424 with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. He previously played in ten MLB seasons, spending time with the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Rays, while compiling a career .285/.338/.411 line. While he’s mostly retained his ability to hit for average as his career has progressed, though, his power numbers have dwindled — he once regularly hit ten to 15 home runs a season, but last year with the Rays he hit just four while posting a .357 slugging percentage. Once a plus defensive first baseman, his fielding numbers have taken a tumble as well, with both UZR and DRS marking him as significantly worse in the last two seasons than he was in 2011 through 2013.
Given the Mets’ need, though, and the fact that the cash return the Mets will send the Padres is presumably nominal, it’s no surprise that the team pursued him despite his flaws. He’s a longtime starter who has experience and some level of on-base ability. The team can also potentially protect the lefty hitter by using Eric Campbell at first against lefty starters.
Adam Rubin of ESPN reported that Loney was headed to the Mets and that the deal was a trade (Twitter links). Jon Heyman tweeted that the Padres would receive cash considerations in return.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cardinals Designate Ruben Tejada For Assignment
The Cardinals have announced that they’ve designated infielder Ruben Tejada for assignment. Mark Saxon of ESPN.com was first to report on Twitter that the DFA was likely. Tejada’s roster spot will be taken by Matt Carpenter, who’s returning from the paternity list.
St. Louis faced a choice between cutting Tejada loose and optioning Greg Garcia. The latter may have made the decision for the team with a highly productive game tonight. He’s now blasted two home runs (among eight total hits) and drawn seven walks in just twenty-one plate appearances.
Garcia, of course, has never hit at anything close to that rate in the minors. But the 26-year-old is clamoring for a larger opportunity, and Tejada no longer really is needed for the reason he was acquired.
St. Louis inked Tejada to a $1.5MM deal after he was cut loose by the Mets, with the Cards still trying to figure out what to do with Jhonny Peralta on the DL. In the interim, Aledmys Diaz has taken over at short and Peralta is now nearing a return, reducing the need for middle infield help with Garcia, Jedd Gyorko, and Kolten Wong also all on hand.
The 26-year-old Tejada has certainly not helped his cause. In 40 plate appearances, he owns a .176/.225/.235 slash. That doesn’t inspire much confidence given that Tejada has hit at about 15% below the league average rate over his career. Plus, he’s known more as a competent than a high-quality gloveman. All that being said, capable middle infielders who are competent offensively aren’t easy to find, so it seems reasonable to expect plenty of interest from teams looking for depth up the middle.
Braves To Designate Reid Brignac
The Braves have designated infielder Reid Brignac for assignment, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. A corresponding move has yet to be reported.
Brignac, 30, has seen action in every major league season dating back to 2008, though he’s still yet to accumulate over 1,000 total plate appearances and has only cracked 100 in a single season twice. He’s a lifetime .219/.264/.309 hitter and has fallen below even that line in his 13 games this year with Atlanta. Of course, the utilityman is valued more as a depth option with a reliable glove.
Royals, Steve Tolleson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Royals have signed infielder Steve Tolleson to a minor league contract, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. The 32-year-old will report to Triple-A Omaha, he adds.
Tolleson, released by the Orioles earlier this week, is a veteran of four big league seasons and 12 minor league seasons. He most recently logged 234 Major League plate appearances with the Blue Jays between the 2014 and 2015 campaigns, hitting a combined .256/.313/.384 with three homers and five steals while seeing time at second base, third base, shortstop and in the outfield corners. Tolleson is a career .245/.299/.372 hitter in 363 PAs at the MLB level and owns a lifetime .281/.365/.401 batting line in an even 2100 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’ll give Kansas City some infield depth in the wake of yesterday’s devastating news that Mike Moustakas will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
Hector Olivera Receives 82-Game Suspension
Braves outfielder Hector Olivera has accepted an 82-game suspension, without pay, under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, the league announced earlier this afternoon. Olivera’s suspension is retroactive to April 30 and will run through Aug. 1. The time he’s served on paid leave from April 30 until now will be retroactively credited toward the suspension, and any pay he has received in that time will be revoked. All told, the suspension will cost him roughly $2.03MM of this season’s $4MM salary. Olivera has accept the punishment and will not file an appeal.
Olivera, 31, was arrested on April 13 and charged with one count of misdemeanor assault and battery. The victim reportedly called 911 the morning of the arrest and told police that she had been assaulted, and she was taken to the hospital with visible bruising. Olivera’s punishment is the strictest yet under Major League Baseball’s newly implemented policy. Aroldis Chapman received a 30-game suspension in his case due to the fact that he was not arrested and criminal charges were never filed. Jose Reyes, meanwhile, received a 51-game ban after criminal charges were reportedly dropped shortly before he faced a criminal hearing. Charges against Olivera, however, have seemingly not been dropped, which is presumably the impetus for commissioner Rob Manfred’s most aggressive suspension to date.
A year ago, Olivera was a highly touted Cuban free agent and agreed to a six-year, $62.5MM contract with the Dodgers that included a gaudy $28MM signing bonus. However, Olivera’s stay in the Dodgers organization didn’t last long, as he was traded to the Braves as part of a three-team, 13-player blockbuster that sent Mat Latos, Alex Wood and Jose Peraza to the Dodgers, with Olivera, Paco Rodriguez and Zachary Bird going to Atlanta. The Braves reportedly held quite a bit of interest in Olivera while he was a free agent, but he quickly fell out of favor in the organization due to defensive questions about his work at third base. Atlanta moved Olivera to the outfield, but he’s yet to deliver much in the way of offense since being acquired. He’s batted .245/.296/.378 in the Majors.
That, of course, is secondary to his off-field troubles. The Braves are troubled enough by his transgressions that they’ve reportedly attempted to trade him. Unsurprisingly, they’ve had little success. How much he’ll factor into Atlanta’s plans moving forward, or whether he will at all, remains to be seen.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/26/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Reds announced tonight that right-hander Steve Delabar has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers. (SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo first tweeted the move earlier this afternoon). Cincinnati designated Delabar, 32, for assignment on Sunday after he struggled through eight innings of relief at the big league level this season. Delabar, who posted a 3.49 ERA in 131 2/3 innings between the Mariners and Blue Jays from 2011-13, has struggled to rediscover that form in the seasons to follow. His 2016 work the the Blue Jays resulted in six earned runs on five hits and an alarming 10 walks in eight innings, though he did also pick up 10 strikeouts in that time. He’ll look to get back on track in Triple-A, where he excelled in 2014, 2015 and earlier this season as well.
- The Marlins announced that lefty Tim Berry, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has been outrighted to Class-A Advanced Jupiter. The former Orioles farmhand had a dreadful first run between Class-A and Double-A this year, surrendering an astounding 22 earned runs on 35 hits and nine walks with 17 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Berry showed some promise as starter in 2014 with the Orioles organization, but he struggled to repeat that success, and his troubles have continued even following a shift to the bullpen.
Earlier Moves
- The Twins have placed outfielder Darin Mastroianni on the DL and filled his roster spot by selecting the contract of left-hander Buddy Boshers from Triple-A Rochester, per a club announcement. Minnesota transferred closer Glen Perkins to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Boshers, 28, spent the 2015 season on the independent circuit but has turned in a strong showing at the Triple-A level this year, working to a 1.42 ERA with a 21-to-5 K/BB ratio in 19 innings out of the Rochester bullpen. Perkins, meanwhile, has been out since early April due to a shoulder injury and recently suffered a setback in his rehab. The earliest he could be activated would be June 10, though that seems unlikely given recent updates on his status.
- Right-hander Seth Simmons has agreed to a minor league contract with the Padres, MLBTR has learned. Simmons, a former D-backs farmhand, split the 2015 season between Arizona’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, working to a 2.99 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old struggled out of the gates with Arizona at the Triple-A level this season and was granted his release recently. The 27-year-old has yet to pitch in the Majors but has posted strong numbers for most of his minor league career, working a 2.97 ERA with averages of 11.6 strikeouts and 3.9 walks per nine innings. The Padres would seem to be somewhat of a logical connection, as San Diego skipper Andy Green has previously managed Simmons during his days as a minor league skipper with the D-backs.
Yankees Release Slade Heathcott
7:46pm: Jennings reports in a full column that the Yankees are not planning on attempting to re-sign Heathcott this time around. He’ll look to latch on with a new organization.
7:41pm: The Yankees announced today (via Twitter) that they’ve released former outfielder and top prospect Slade Heathcott in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for left-hander Richard Bleier, whose contract was selected earlier today. As Chad Jennings of the Journal News points out (Twitter link), the Yankees likely felt that designating Heathcott would’ve led to a waiver claim by another team, so releasing him gives the Yanks a chance to re-sign him on a new minor league contract.
Heathcott, 25, was the 29th overall pick in the 2009 draft and rated as the game’s No. 63 overall prospect (No. 2 in the Yankees’ system) heading into the 2013 season, according to Baseball America. Just 21 years old at the time, he earned those rankings on the heels of a .302/.380/.461 season at Class-A Advanced. However, his production at Double-A in 2013 failed to mirror those numbers, and he wound up missing the majority of 2014 due to injuries (which have been a recurring theme for Heathcott throughout his minor league career). This past offseason, BA rated him as the team’s No. 18 prospect, praising him as an above-average defender in center field with an above-average arm and the ability to hit to all fields. Despite that quality review, though, Heathcott hasn’t performed at the Triple-A level to date, batting just .257/.303/.334 in 368 plate appearances there (including a .230/.271/.310 line there in 97 PAs this season). He did perform well in a small sample of 30 Major League PAs last year, collecting 10 hits (including two homers and two doubles) in 25 at-bats.
Nonetheless, that package of plus defense and a solid approach at the plate could indeed pique the interest of other organizations, though it’s worth noting that the Yankees have previously non-tendered and re-signed Heathcott to a minor league contract back in 2014. Whether that’s the case again remains to be seen, but the Yankees do have a fairly crowded outfield mix. Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran and Aaron Hicks are all options at the big league level, while slugging right fielder Aaron Judge looms at the Triple-A level.
Cubs Outright C.J. Riefenhauser
Cubs left-hander C.J. Riefenhauser has cleared waivers and had his contract outrighted off the 40-man roster, the team announced on Thursday. The move drops the Cubs’ 40-man roster count to 37.
The Cubs claimed Riefenhauser, 26, off waivers from the Orioles this offseason, thereby capping off what was a whirlwind of transactions involving the left-hander over the winter. Riefenhauser began the offseason as a member of the Rays but quickly found himself traded to the Mariners in the Nate Karns/Logan Morrison/Brad Miller trade. Seattle, however, didn’t hang onto him for long, as the M’s flipped him to Baltimore alongside Mark Trumbo. Baltimore then designated Riefenhauser for assignment upon acquiring Odrisamer Despaigne from the Padres, leading to the Cubs’ waiver claim.
This time around, Riefenhauser went unclaimed, likely in part due to his struggles at the Triple-A level this year. Riefenhauser has allowed 10 runs on eight hits and eight walks in 12 innings of relief pitching for Triple-A Iowa this season. He’s punched out 12 hitters in that time as well, continuing a trend of missed bats at the Triple-A level, but the work isn’t close to the 2.86 ERA he posted in 34 2/3 innings at that level last season. Riefenhauser also has 20 innings of big league experience under his belt, although the 6.30 ERA he’s posted in the Majors is quite the departure from his career 2.66 ERA in 125 1/3 innings at Triple-A.