Reds Designate Jake Cave For Assignment
The Reds announced that they have designated Jake Cave for assignment, as John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Cave, 23, was waived days ago by Cincinnati but was not claimed by another team.
Cave was plucked from the Yankees’ roster in December’s Rule 5 draft but he did not make enough of an impression on Reds brass in recent weeks to warrant a roster spot. In 56 Spring Training plate appearances, Cave slashed .224/.309/.306. Meanwhile, in 132 Double-A and Triple-A games (mostly Double-A) last year, Cave drew attention with a .278/.339/.359 line.
In a December preview of the Rule 5 draft, MLBTR’s Brad Johnson highlighted Cave’s ability to play all three outfield positions and his plate discipline. However, injuries prevented the lefty from fulfilling his potential and he now profiles as a fourth outfield type.
Rays To Release James Loney
The Rays will release first baseman James Loney, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. In late March, the Rays informed Loney that he would not be making the Opening Day roster, so his release was widely expected. The Rays are still on the hook for the $8MM that they owe the veteran for the 2016 season and they ostensibly could not find a trade partner willing to take on a portion of that money.
Injuries slowed Loney down in 2015 and limited him to a 104-game season. In 388 plate appearances, Loney slashed just .280/.322/.357 and posted his lowest OPS since 2012. Over the years, Loney has picked up a reputation for solid defensive play at first base, but the advanced numbers show that he has declined in that area recently. In 2015, he had a -5.4 UZR/150 and his 2014 UZR/150 of -1.8 was also poor. And, while Loney has multiple double-digit home run seasons on his resume, he doesn’t offer much in the way of power.
According to Baseball Reference, Loney has earned nearly $27MM in salary over the course of his big league career. His next deal probably won’t be the most lucrative contract of his career, but he’s also not hurting for cash. Prior to signing a three-year, $21MM deal with the Rays prior to the 2014 season, Loney spent six-and-a-half years with the Dodgers and had a short stint with the Red Sox.
Angels Sign Neal Cotts
The Angels announced that they have signed Neal Cotts to a minor league deal, as Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com tweets. The left-handed reliever was released by the Astros a little over a week ago.
The 36-year-old inked a minor league deal with Houston in February that would have paid him $1.5MM if he made the team’s big league roster. Cotts began the 2015 season with the Brewers before an August trade sent him to the Twins. Between the two clubs, the veteran posted a 3.41 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 63 1/3 innings. Over the course of ten big league seasons, Cotts owns a 3.96 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. The Pro Star Management client held left-handed batters to a .186/.243/.330 slash last year and struggled against right-handers.
Nationals Release Reed Johnson
The Nationals have released outfielder Reed Johnson, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets. The Nats also cut Sean Burnett on Sunday morning, though Burnett had already decided to opt-out of his deal.
Johnson, 39, inked a minor league deal with the Nats in November. The Wasserman Media Group client missed most of the 2015 season with a calf injury and was hoping to show the Nationals what he can do when healthy in 2016. Unfortunately, he was not able to break camp this time around and likely did not want to join the team’s Triple-A affiliate. Johnson owns a career .310/.363/.464 slash line against left-handers and could be a quality outfield depth option for another team.
Mariners Designate Rob Brantly For Assignment
The Mariners announced that they have designated catcher Rob Brantly for assignment.
Brantly, 26 (27 in July), was claimed off of waivers from the White Sox roughly three weeks ago. In Seattle, Brantly was given an opportunity to vie for the backup catcher job, but the team has ostensibly decided to go with Steve Clevenger as the primary understudy to to back up Chris Iannetta. In parts of three big league seasons (392 plate appearances), Brantly has posted a .225/.286/.317 batting line. In a larger sample size of 753 Triple-A plate appearances, Brantly has slashed .261/.295/.355.
Marlins Designate Brad Hand, Cole Gillespie For Assignment
The Marlins announced that they have designated left-hander Brad Hand and outfielder Cole Gillespie for assignment. In related moves, Mike Dunn and Raudel Lazo have been placed on the 15-day disabled list and Carter Capps has been put on the 60-day DL, allowing the team to select the contracts of Craig Breslow, Dustin McGowan, and Chris Narveson.
Gillespie, 32 in June, spent nearly half of the 2015 season on the Marlins’ big league roster. In 157 plate appearances, the outfielder hit .290/.333/.428 with two home runs. Gillespie has also had short major league stints over five seasons with the D’Backs, Giants, Cubs, Mariners, and Blue Jays.
Hand, 26, has spent his entire career with the Marlins organization since being selected in the second-round of the 2008 draft. Over the last five years, Hand has pitched to a 4.71 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 (43 starts, 47 relief appearances). Hand has drawn trade interest in the past, so he might not be in limbo for long.
Now that Breslow has made Miami’s Opening Day roster, he will earn $1.5MM for the 2016 season. To keep up with the whereabouts of Hand, Gillespie, and all of the other players in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Pirates Designate Florimon, Goebbert, Holdzkom For Assignment
The Pirates have designated right-hander John Holdzkom and infielders Pedro Florimon and Jake Goebbert for assignment, as Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. In related moves, catcher Elias Diaz, right-hander Jared Hughes, and infielder Jung Ho Kang have been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 25th (link). All of these moves will allow Pittsburgh to promote infielder Cole Figueroa, outfielder Matt Joyce, and left-hander Cory Luebke to active roster (link).
Florimon is regarded as a very strong defensive player and was hoping to break camp with the team as a reserve infielder. Even though he provides value with his glove, the 29-year-old’s offense leaves much to be desired. In parts of five big league seasons with the Orioles, Twins, and Bucs, Florimon owns a .199/.262/.295 slash line. In parts of three Triple-A campaigns, he has posted a stronger .252/.317/.366 slash line.
Goebbert, 28, inked a major league pact with the Pirates in November. In 2015, the first/baseman outfielder spent the season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, where he hit .294/.392/.452 with 10 home runs. Now, Goebbert will look to hook on elsewhere as a left-handed bat off of the bench, though he may have to settle for a minor league deal this time around.
As shown in MLBTR’s DFA Tracker, Michael Bourn (Braves), Emilio Bonifacio (Braves), Samuel Freeman (Rangers), and A.J. Jimenez (Blue Jays) are also in DFA limbo.
Blue Jays Sign Franklin Morales
The Blue Jays have signed left-hander Franklin Morales to a one-year, $2MM non-guaranteed contract, the club announced in a press release. The deal also contains incentives. Ryan Tepera was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
Morales, 30, was released by the Brewers earlier this week after signing a minor league deal with the team. Milwaukee had a few veterans in camp as non-roster invites and instead opted for Chris Capuano as left-handed help out of the bullpen.
With Aaron Loup beginning the season on the DL with forearm tightness, the Blue Jays were thin on southpaw relievers, as Brett Cecil was the only other lefty in Toronto’s eight-man bullpen. The Jays signed Randy Choate to a minor league deal but released the veteran LOOGY in camp, while other minor league options include Wade LeBlanc, Colt Hynes or switch-pitcher Pat Venditte.
Morales earned a World Series ring last year as an important member of the Royals bullpen, posting a 3.18 ERA, 2.93 K/BB rate, 49.5% grounder rate and 5.9 K/9 over 62 1/3 innings. He has pronounced career splits (left-handed batters have a .613 OPS against him, right-handed batters an .837 OPS) but teams have been hesitant to use Morales as a pure situational lefty since he has a durable arm. Forty-seven of his 300 career appearances have been starts, and he even made 22 starts in 2014 when pressed into extended fill-in duty with the Rockies. Since Toronto already has Gavin Floyd and Jesse Chavez available for long relief stints, Morales could be used in a more traditional LOOGY role if he cracks the bullpen.
Roster Notes: Brewers, Weeks, Abad, Phillies, Ramos, Pena
Here’s a roundup of today’s notable roster decisions….
- The Brewers announced that the contracts of right-hander Blaine Boyer and left-hander Chris Capuano have been selected. Both pitchers were told they had made the team earlier this week, and the moves are now official that Milwaukee has created some corresponding roster space. Sean Nolin and Yhonathan Barrios were both moved to the 60-day DL, while Will Smith was placed on the 15-day DL.
- The Diamondbacks selected Rickie Weeks‘ contract, the team announced. Weeks, looking to rebound from a disastrous 2015 season, signed a minors contract with Arizona last month. The D’Backs placed A.J. Pollock and Josh Collmenter on the 15-day DL in corresponding moves.
- The Twins selected the contract of Fernando Abad, the team announced. The southpaw signed a minor league deal with Minnesota in December after the A’s non-tendered him. Abad posted a 4.15 ERA last season, with some unfriendly advanced metrics and uncharacteristically poor results against left-handed hitters.
- The Phillies finalized their 25-man roster, announcing that they have selected the contracts of lefty James Russell, infielder Emmanuel Burriss and outfielder Cedric Hunter. In corresponding moves, Cody Asche and Michael Mariot were put on the 15-day DL retroactive to March 25, and Matt Harrison, Aaron Altherr and Mario Hollands were each placed on the 60-day DL.
- Left-hander Cesar Ramos has accepted an assignment to the Rangers‘ Triple-A affiliate to begin the season, Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake tweeted. Ramos signed a minor league deal with Texas in January after being somewhat surprisingly non-tendered by the Angels.
- Cardinals backup catcher Brayan Pena will begin the season on the DL and will require surgery to remove a body from his left knee, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes (Twitter links). That means the Cardinals will add minor-league signee Eric Fryer to their roster to serve as their backup catcher until Pena can return, which should take two to four weeks. The 30-year-old Fryer played most of last season with Triple-A Rochester in the Twins system, batting .293/.367/.360. He’s appeared in bits of five big-league seasons with the Pirates and Twins.
- Outfielder Jabari Blash, a Rule 5 pick from the Mariners, has made the Padres‘ Opening Day roster, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. The 26-year-old Blash batted an impressive .271/.370/.576 and 32 homers in a 2015 season split between Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma, then followed that with a decent spring in which he hit .204 but with four homers and eight walks in 59 plate appearances. The Padres also announced that fellow outfielder Travis Jankowski has made the team.
- The Rays have selected the contract of lefty Dana Eveland and optioned righty Andrew Bellatti and outfielder Mikie Mahtook, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes (Twitter links). The moves also mean righty Danny Farquhar has made the team. The 32-year-old Eveland pitched only briefly in the Majors last season, but got good results for three different Triple-A teams, posting a 1.95 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 55 1/3 innings.
- The Braves have announced their Opening Day roster. The Braves were already in MLBTR’s pages today as they designated Michael Bourn and Emilio Bonifacio for assignment and selected the contracts of Drew Stubbs and Alexi Ogando. In addition, they reassigned Jhoulys Chacin to Triple-A Gwinnett. The idea, via David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter), is that he’ll make one start there and then join the Braves when they need a fifth starter, which should be April 12. Notable names who made the team include righty Dan Winkler, a 2014 Rule 5 pick, along with rookie righties Jose Ramirez and John Gant.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/2/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league:
- The Angels announced that outfielder Todd Cunningham has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the roster (hat tip to Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times). The Halos claimed Cunningham off waivers from the Braves in October, and the switch-hitting outfielder couldn’t simply be sent to the minors since he is out of options. Cunningham hit .221/.280/.267 over 93 PA with Atlanta in 2015.
- The Tigers released catcher Rafael Lopez, MLive.com’s Chris Iott reports (Twitter link). Lopez has a .278/.366/.390 slash line over 1552 minor league PA, and his big league experience consists of seven games with the 2014 Cubs.
- The Tigers have released outfielder John Mayberry Jr., Chris Iott of MLive.com tweets. They had signed Mayberry to a minor-league deal in January. Mayberry collected 119 plate appearances for the 2015 Mets, batting .164/.227/.318 while playing left and right field. He was little more impressive this season in Spring Training, posting a .119/.213/.238 line in 47 plate appearances.
- The Rockies have released 2010 first-round pick Kyle Parker, Thomas Harding of MLB.com notes. The 26-year-old Parker played briefly with the Rockies in 2014 and 2015, compiling a total .182/.217/.295 line while playing outfield and first base. The Rockies had outrighted him over the winter, then brought him to camp as a non-roster player.