Royals Add Dillon Gee To 40-Man Roster
1:03pm: The Royals have added Gee to the 40-man, meaning he’ll stay in Kansas City, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. Roster space was created by moving Mike Minor to the 60-day DL.
10:08am: Righty Dillon Gee has informed the Royals that he will opt out of his minor league deal with the club if he is not added to the 40-man roster, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports (Twitter links). By operation of that contract clause, Kansas City will have 48 hours (beginning at midnight tonight) to decide whether to add Gee to its 40-man roster or instead allow him to return to the open market.
The Royals would be committing to a reported $2MM salary if Gee is given a roster spot. His deal also calls for incentives, the value of which depend upon whether he is used as a starter or reliever. The veteran reportedly turned down major league offers from other organizations in hopes of joining the defending World Series champs.
Gee, who’ll soon turn 30, is looking for a bounceback season after a rough 2015. He didn’t appear in the majors with the Mets after allowing 26 earned runs over his first 39 2/3 innings, as the club turned to younger options. Gee went on to throw 105 minor league frames, posting a 4.11 ERA.
Of course, he’s done a good bit more in the past and looks to be a nice back-end rotation or swingman option for the right team. All told, Gee has thrown 679 1/3 innings in the majors, working to a 4.03 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. And he’s shown well early on this spring, allowing one earned run on five hits and two walks (against three strikeouts) in his five innings of action.
White Sox Release Mike Olt
MARCH 15: Chicago has given Olt his release, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune tweets.
MARCH 7: Olt has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com tweets. He’ll remain in major league camp with Chicago.
MARCH 6: The White Sox have designated third baseman Mike Olt for assignment, the team has announced (via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, on Twitter). His roster spot was needed for the signing of Austin Jackson, which has been made official.
Olt, 27, was once a top prospect in the Rangers organization, but he’s dealt with vision issues and has not yet been able to translate his robust minor league offensive production to the major league level. Over 400 career MLB plate appearances, Olt has slashed just .168/.250/.330 with a 37% strikeout rate, though he has hit 16 home runs in that span.
Chicago gave the right-handed-hitting Olt a look down the stretch last year, but went on to acquire Todd Frazier to fulfill the team’s needs at the hot corner. Jose Abreu, of course, remains entrenched at first.
The right-handed-hitting Olt obviously was not seen as an essential part of the team’s prospective reserve corps, though he could still be retained if he clears waivers. With Jackson joining the roster, the club has a variety of options to fulfill bench bat/DH duties. Switch-hitter Melky Cabrera ought to receive regular turns at bat, regardless of whether he’s in the field, while Avisail Garcia and recent claimee Jerry Sands also could be deployed against opposing southpaws.
Mets Place Ruben Tejada On Waivers
The Mets have placed shortstop Ruben Tejada on waivers, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. He had agreed to a $3MM deal to avoid arbitration, and New York will remain responsible for one-sixth of that amount ($500K) if he is not claimed (or whatever portion of it he does not earn over the course of the season).
Tejada, 26, has settled in as a slightly below-average hitter and is capable of playing up the middle defensively. Though he’s generally graded out as an average defender at short, both UZR and DRS pegged him as a net negative there last season.
For a player that looks like a solid utility option, there’s been quite a bit of intrigue in recent months. Tejada suffered a broken leg due to a controversial take-out slide by Chase Utley during the post-season. He seemed a plausible non-tender candidate, but was offered a contract by the Mets. Then, he was awarded an extra day of service time to move up his free-agent timeline by one year (he’ll be eligible after this season).
Since that time, Tejada has seen his name enter the rumor mill, particularly with the Cardinals losing Jhonny Peralta for the first half of the year. Per Rubin, the Mets feel satisfied with their middle infield situation after adding Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker over the winter, with Wilmer Flores set to see plenty of action around the diamond.
Rangers Release Steve Johnson
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post. There’s only one of note thus far:
- The Rangers have released right-hander Steve Johnson, per a club announcement. He had been hammered for eight earned runs on nine hits over 3 1/3 spring innings, though he did pick up five strikeouts in that span. The 28-year-old has seen only sporadic major league time over the past several seasons with the Orioles, and joined on with Texas on a minor league deal in hopes of a new opportunity. That will have to come with still another organization, but the rest of the league will surely take notice of Johnson’s strong output at Triple-A last season. Over 54 2/3 innings, he worked to a 2.30 ERA with 11.0 K/9 versus 2.6 BB/9.
Mariners Release Gaby Sanchez
The Mariners have announced that first baseman Gaby Sanchez has been released. The 32-year-old signed a minor league deal with the M’s in January.
Sanchez owns an impressive .291/.382/.481 line over 714 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching, which made him a possible platoon candidate alongside the lefty-swinging Adam Lind. The Mariners, however, signed another righty bat in Korean first baseman Dae-Ho Lee a few weeks after inking Sanchez. Between Lee and former top prospect Jesus Montero also competing for the right-handed platoon role, the writing was on the wall for Sanchez when he didn’t produce much in limited spring action.
Sanchez has a .254/.332/.413 slash line and 61 homers over 2271 career PA with the Marlins and Pirates from 2008-14, highlighted by an All-Star game appearance in 2011. He spent 2015 in Japan with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, posting a .720 OPS over 232 PA.
A’s Claim Andrew Triggs From Orioles
The Orioles announced that right-hander Andrew Triggs has been claimed off of release waivers by the A’s. Baltimore cut Triggs from the roster late last week to make room for the addition of Pedro Alvarez.
Triggs, 27 on Wednesday, is no stranger to trades, having gone from the Royals to the Orioles in a minor trade last April. In 2015, Triggs mowed down his Double-A competition, posting a 1.03 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9. However, it remains to be seen whether he can enjoy similar success at a higher level. Triggs only has a cup of coffee in Triple-A on his resume with the rest of his experience coming at Double-A and lower levels.
The Orioles reportedly were hoping to re-sign Triggs on a minor league deal, but Oakland spoiled those plans.
Mariners Claim Rob Brantly From White Sox
The Mariners have claimed catcher Rob Brantly off waivers from the White Sox, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin tweets. It’s not entirely clear why Chicago exposed him now, though perhaps it seemed an opportune time to attempt to pass the out-of-options player through waivers.
Brantly, 26, largely lost his chance at an active roster spot with the offseason addition of veterans Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro. In Seattle, he could challenge fellow left-handed hitter Steve Clevenger to back up Chris Iannetta behind the dish.
Since a brief but promising first taste of the majors way back in 2012, Brantly has spent most of his time in the upper minors. All told, he owns a .225/.286/.317 batting line over 392 plate appearances at the major league level. He did have his best-ever minor league season last year, carrying a .310/.335/.483 slash with eight home runs in 215 trips to the dish at Double-A and Triple-A.
Braves Release Kyle Kendrick, Chris Volstad
The Braves have released veteran right-handers Kyle Kendrick and Chris Volstad, per a team announcement. Both were in camp on minor league deals.
Kendrick was widely expected to compete for a rotation spot after inking a minors pact that would have paid him $2MM on the MLB roster. He also could have boosted the deal’s total value to $6MM through incentives. Of course, that earning capacity also probably also raised the bar for Atlanta to keep him around, though the timing of this move remains a bit surprising with several weeks left to go.
While it’s still too early to read much into spring stats — if that’s ever worth doing in a vacuum — Kendrick’s have been pretty ugly. Over 3 2/3 frames in two appearances, he has given up 14 hits, 3 walks, and nine earned runs while striking out only one opposing hitter.
Volstad’s early work has been similarly unimpressive, as he’s surrendered eight earned on eight hits and three walks while recording a single K in his 2 2/3 frames of action. He had impressive numbers at Triple-A last year with the Pirates, but will have to go looking for another opportunity this spring.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/11/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles have re-signed outfielder Julio Borbon to a minor league contract, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Borbon has taken 863 MLB plate appearances, compiling a composite .272/.318/.347 slash with 47 stolen bases. But the 30-year-old last saw the Majors in 2013 and has spent the past two seasons in the Baltimore organization at Triple-A. His numbers dipped in his second go-around with Norfolk; last year, Borbon batted just .269/.299/.321, though he contributed on the basepaths, as usual, by swiping 23 bases in 114 games despite that modest OBP.
- Baseball America’s John Manuel tweets that the Red Sox have released right-hander Karsten Whitson. The 24-year-old Whitson was selected ninth overall by the Padres in 2010 as a high schooler, but he turned down a $2.1MM signing bonus to attend the University of Florida. Unfortunately, Whitson began to battle shoulder injuries after an excellent freshman season and ultimately wound up signing for $100K as an 11th-round pick by the Red Sox in 2014. Whitson pitched just seven innings for the Sox’ short-season Class-A affiliate in 2014 — his lone professional experience to date.
Pirates Sign David Freese, Designate Jesse Biddle
The Pirates have signed third baseman David Freese to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. The CAA client will earn $3MM on a straight guarantee without any available incentives, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on Twitter. Pittsburgh also announced that it has designated southpaw Jesse Biddle for assignment to create roster space.
Freese, who’ll turn 33 at the end of April, has settled in as a steady but unspectacular performer at the hot corner. After some strong offensive years earlier in his career with the Cardinals, he’s generally posted slightly above-average results. All told, Freese slashed a sturdy .258/.322/.401 with 24 home runs in 981 plate appearances over his two years with the Angels, who reportedly considered a qualifying offer this winter but ultimately allowed Freese to leave uninhibited. Though his line-drive and hard-contact rates both fell last year, with his walk rate continuing to trickle downward, Freese did still manage to significantly increase his ISO in 2015 as against his prior year’s work.
Much the same holds on the defensive side of the equation, as Freese has generally graded out as roughly average with the glove before and since a one-year downturn (2013, his final year in St. Louis). He is a poor overall baserunner and has had his share of injury troubles, though it’s hard to blame him for missing time recently after being struck by pitches.
It took some time for his market to thaw, but Freese will presumably step right into Pittsburgh’s Opening Day lineup. Though the team has Jung Ho Kang and Josh Harrison under contract as options at second and third, Kang has only just reached the point of straight-line running after suffering a serious leg injury last year. Indications were that Kang may be available within a month or so of the season’s start, but Pittsburgh obviously decided there was enough uncertainty to make another addition.
Even when Kang does make it back, it’s not hard to see the value of bringing in the respected veteran. It’s expected that Freese will eventually form the right-handed side of a first base platoon with John Jaso, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. He’ll also deepen the overall infield unit. Harrison took a step back in 2015, as did shortstop Jordy Mercer, and the other options on hand (glove-first shortstop Pedro Florimon, prospect Alen Hanson, utilityman Sean Rodriguez) all come with their share of questions and uncertainties.
Nevertheless, the move comes as a bit of a surprise, though MLBTR’s Steve Adams did name the Bucs as one of only six teams that made much sense as a destination for Freese as of mid-February. It is a bit unclear what Pittsburgh will do with Rodriguez and, especially, Michael Morse with Freese now under contract. The former is owed $2.5MM this year after re-signing, while the latter is largely a free-roll after he was swapped for another bad contract (Jose Tabata) last summer. Those two could still conceivably see time in the outfield, but there probably won’t be many plate appearances available there. Adding Freese also seemingly tamps down the likelihood of an early promotion for first base prospect Josh Bell.
Freese isn’t the most exciting player, but his ultimate contract still comes as a shock. Indeed, he’ll earn less than other recent players to sign, including fellow third baseman Juan Uribe, former Pirates first bagger Pedro Alvarez, and center fielder Austin Jackson.
As for Biddle, who was acquired in a DFA limbo swap earlier in the winter, Pittsburgh may be hoping tha the can clear waivers at this stage of the offseason. The one-time top prospect will be returning from Tommy John surgery and has had serious control problems, but remains an interesting project for whatever organization ends up with his rights.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.