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Cardinals Designate Tommy Pham For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced that they have recalled outfielder Jordan Walker from Triple-A Memphis, with fellow outfielder Tommy Pham designated for assignment in a corresponding move. It was reported yesterday that Pham had been placed on waivers, though without being removed from the roster. It seems the Cards are committed to moving on regardless of whether Pham is claimed off waivers or not.

Teams can place a player on waivers even while they are still on the roster and participating in games. We have seen this happen this year with players like Kevin Kiermaier back when he was with the Blue Jays, as well as guys like Michael A. Taylor of the Pirates, Drew Smyly of the Cubs, Robbie Grossman of the Rangers and others.

The Cards could have waited to see if Pham was claimed and then continued to play him if he passed through, but that won’t be the case now. Pham could still be claimed off waivers by tomorrow and would be postseason-eligible with his new club. But if he goes unclaimed, he will almost certainly end up a free agent. He has more than enough time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so the Cards would probably just release him in that scenario.

Little by little, the Cards are signaling that they are moving on from 2024 and turning their attentions towards the future. Prior to last month’s trade deadline, they acted as buyers, grabbing Pham, Erick Fedde and Shawn Armstrong to bolster the roster for the stretch run. But they have gone 11-15 here in August, dropping them back in the crowded National League Wild Card race. They are currently six games out and would have to pass three different clubs to get in, while also holding off the Giants, who are just half a game behind the Cards. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them just a 1.8% chance of getting in while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus have them at 1.9%.

Armstrong was designated for assignment earlier this week and is still in DFA limbo, with Pham now joining him there, so the Cards have quickly cut ties with two of their three deadline acquisitions. Fedde is still under contract for next year but Armstrong and Pham were rentals, so the club has little use for them as they have seemingly accepted that their chances in 2024 are low.

They will instead give Walker another crack at major league pitching. He has been up and down since the start of the 2023 season, showing occasional glimpses of his talents but also enduring periods of significant struggles. He hit .276/.342/.445 last year for a 115 wRC+ but his line is just .145/.228/.232 this season, wRC+ of 31. He’s spent most of his time at Triple-A this year, where the numbers have been better but not overwhelming. He has a .263/.326/.427 batting line for Memphis in 2024, which translates to a wRC+ of 94 in the strong offensive environment in the International League this year.

Though he hasn’t exactly been kicking the door down, the Cards have some motivation to get him regular run in the big leagues. Since they have been sending him back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis both last year and this year, he’s only going to have one option year remaining at the end of this season. He’s still just 22 years old and has lots of time to break out as a bonafide major leaguer, but his option status provides a little bit of a narrowing window.

During the offseason, the club could perhaps pursue offensive upgrades to try to compete in 2025. That could potentially make for a roster crunch that leads to Walker getting optioned again next year. For now, with the club outside contention, they have creating some breathing room for Walker to presumably get some significant playing time as the season winds down. Ideally, he can take some notable steps forward and solidify himself as part of the future, though he’ll be in an outfield mix that also includes Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Brendan Donovan and others.

Reds Designate Davis Wendzel For Assignment

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The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Rhett Lowder, a promotion that was previously reported, while also appointing righty Yosver Zulueta the 27th player for the double-header. In corresponding moves for Lowder, they optioned left-hander Brandon Leibrandt and designated infielder Davis Wendzel for assignment.

Wendzel, 27, was acquired from the Rangers in a cash deal at the end of July after Texas had designated him for assignment. He was sent to Triple-A Louisville, where he has slashed .233/.327/.279 in his 101 plate appearances, production that translates to a 66 wRC+.

With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror, the Reds will have to place Wendzel on waivers in the coming days. Though his recent output wasn’t great, he could garner interest based on his larger track record. Prior to the deal, he had hit .289/.384/.492 in 151 plate appearances for Triple-A Round Rock, leading to a 117 wRC+.

He also hit 30 home runs for the Express last year and drew walks at a 14.1% clip. His .236 /.361/.477 batting line only translated to a 101 wRC+ in the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, but that may have been held back by a .259 batting average on balls in play. His BABIP corrected to .298 with Round Rock prior to the deal, roughly average, which helped nudge his wRC+ up.

At a minimum, Wendzel provides defensive versatility, with the ability to play all four infield positions. He also has a full slate of options and just a few days of service time, meaning he wouldn’t need an immediate roster spot and comes with years of club control. Despite the offensive downturn since coming to the Reds, he had been hitting pretty well at the Triple-A level in 2023 and in the first few months of 2024.

The overall package could perhaps entice some club to put in a claim. He doesn’t have a previous career outright, nor does he have at least three years of service time, so he would stick with the Reds in a non-roster capacity if he goes unclaimed.

Angels To Promote Caden Dana, Samuel Aldegheri

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The Angels announced that pitching prospect Caden Dana is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against the Mariners. The club will need to make corresponding moves to get him onto both the active and 40-man rosters. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported the news on on X prior to the official announcement. The club will also promote left-hander Samuel Aldegheri, per Jeff Passan of ESPN on X, with Aldegheri expected to pitch Friday. Like Dana, Aldegheri is not on the 40-man roster and the club will have to make corresponding moves for him.

Dana, now 20, went to Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Baseball America ranked him as the #76 player available in the 2022 draft. Even though he had not yet turned 19 years old at the time, BA noted that his fastball was already hitting the mid-90s. They suggested he could be off the board in the first two rounds but he lingered unsigned far later than that due to signability concerns related to his commitment to Kentucky.

The Angels eventually took him in the 11th round, 328th overall. They gave him a signing bonus of $1,497,500, which was a record for a player taken after the 10th round, per MLB.com. They were able to do so by giving below-slot deals to other players they drafted, saving some of their allotted bonus pool.

Dana made a brief professional debut in the months following that draft selection but got a more proper debut in 2023. He made 14 starts last year between Single-A and High-A, tossing 68 1/3 innings while allowing 3.56 earned runs per nine. His 10.7% walk rate was a bit on the high side but he also struck out 31.7% of batters faced. Here in 2024, he has 23 Double-A starts, throwing 135 2/3 innings with a 2.52 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.

Those strong results have vaulted him onto top prospect lists. BA currently has him in the #92 spot overall while MLB Pipeline has him 74th. FanGraphs lists him just outside the top 100. All outlets lists his slider as his best secondary pitch, followed by his curveball and then his changeup. Now the Halos will launch him up to the big leagues, skipping over the Triple-A level entirely.

The Angels have arguably been the most aggressive club in terms of promoting prospects in recent years and this is yet another data point in favor of that assessment. The first-round and third-round picks in 2022 were shortstop Zach Neto and right-hander Ben Joyce, both of whom were promoted to the big leagues by May of 2023. Last year’s top pick was first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who was in the bigs just over a month later. Reid Detmers and Chase Silseth were also called up the year after their draft selection. The gap from draft to debut is slightly wider with Dana, but he was selected out of high school, whereas all those other were taken out of college.

It’s also an aggressive promotion with Aldegheri, a 22-year-old, though his path to the majors far been far less traditional. He was born and raised in Verona, Italy and Matt Gelb of The Athletic profiled his unusual path to the majors back in the spring.

The Phillies signed him as part of their 2019 international class, giving him a bonus of $210K. Since then, he has continued to put up strong numbers and put himself on the prospect map, and the Angels liked him enough to acquire him in the deadline trade that sent Carlos Estévez the other way.

Between the two clubs, Aldegheri has made 19 starts this year between High-A and Double-A. He has thrown 95 1/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 33.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate. He’s not as highly regarded as Dana but has raised his stock. BA currently lists him #6 in the Angels’ system, noting that his fastball sits in the low 90s but has cutting and riding action. He complements it with a slider, curveball and changeup. FanGraphs provided a similar profile in putting him at #5 in the system, while MLB Pipeline has him in the #8 slot.

The Angels are out of contention this year and will use the final few weeks of the season to get a look at a couple of pitchers they hope will be a part of their future pitching staffs, which could perhaps impact their offseason. Next year’s rotation projects to include Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning, though both are slated for free agency after 2025. Youngsters like Detmers, Silseth, Jack Kochanowicz, José Soriano and others should be in the mix. Patrick Sandoval underwent UCL surgery this summer but could be a factor by late 2025.

Dana and Aldegheri will be able to get their feet wet at the major league level but neither will exhaust rookie status this year. There are less than 45 days remaining in the schedule and the club will surely not allow them to pitch 50 innings. By keeping them in the rookie bucket going into 2025, the club will be able to have prospect promotion incentives on the table.

To combat service time manipulation, the collective bargaining agreement provides incentives for clubs to promote their top prospects. If a player has less than 60 days of service time and is on two of three top 100 lists at BA, ESPN or MLB Pipeline, the are PPI-eligible if they are promoted early enough in a season to get a full service year. If the player goes on to win Rookie of the Year, or finish in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting during their pre-arbitration years, the club gets an extra draft pick just after the first round.

That will be more of a factor with Dana, who is already on two of those three lists, though it’s at least theoretically possible for Aldegheri to sneak on, especially if he pitches well in the next few weeks. There’s also the theoretical possibility that he spends all of 2025 on optional assignment and is still a rookie going into 2026.

That will be a secondary concern. The main goal for the Angels is getting their pitchers acclimated to the big leagues and seeing how their stuff plays against major league hitters. The club’s lack of starting pitching has been an ongoing concern, partially due to a lack of development but also due to a lack of spending. Other than Anderson, the club hasn’t signed a free agent starting pitcher to a multi-year deal since Joe Blanton’s two-year pact in 2012. If Dana or Aldegheri, or both, can turn into viable big league starters, it could be a big boost to the club in the years to come.

As mentioned, it also continues a pattern of aggressive promotions. That made a lot of sense when the club had both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the roster, as it appeared they were trying to explore all avenues to put a winning team around that duo when they had the chance. Ohtani is now gone but perhaps the club is still trying to make the most of the Trout era. He has missed significant time in recent years due to injuries and is now 33 years old, but he is under contract through 2030. Perhaps this is a sign the club still wants to take a shot at contending before Trout gets even older, though that may also depend on how the young players perform, how the offseason plays out, and other factors.

Brad Keller Elects Free Agency

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Righty Brad Keller elected free agency after being waived by the Red Sox, tweets Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Boston designated Keller for assignment on Tuesday when they called up Rich Hill.

It’s a repeat of the process that played out two weeks ago. Keller elected free agency on August 13 rather than accept an optional assignment to Triple-A, the right of any player with at least five years of service time. He very quickly re-signed with Boston on a minor league contract and was called back up on Monday. Keller logged four innings of relief that night, allowing five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. Boston swapped him out for Hill the next day.

The 29-year-old Keller has split this season between the White Sox and Red Sox. He has absorbed 41 1/3 innings over 16 appearances, generally working in low-leverage relief. Opponents have tagged him for a 5.44 ERA behind nearly two home runs per nine innings. Keller’s 16.7% strikeout rate is well below average. He’s getting grounders at a strong 50% clip, but opponents have done a lot of damage when they’ve gotten the ball elevated.

Keller has never had a strong strikeout and walk profile. His calling card has been his ability to keep the ball on the ground. That translated into serviceable back-of-the-rotation numbers for the Royals, for whom he posted a 4.27 ERA over six seasons. Keller’s final season in K.C. was a disaster, as he walked a staggering 21.3% of batters faced. The Royals eventually announced that he’d been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome.

The Sox could again try to bring Keller back on a non-roster deal. He’s had some success this year in Triple-A, combining for a 3.52 ERA over 46 innings between Chicago’s and Boston’s affiliates. Keller has started nine of 12 appearances in the minors and can serve as rotation or long relief depth wherever he lands.

White Sox Place Nicky Lopez On Waivers

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The White Sox have placed infielder Nicky Lopez on waivers, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN on X. There hasn’t been anything to suggest he has been designated for assignment, so he remains on the roster and can continue to play for the club while the waiver process plays out. However, the waivers are irrevocable, so he will be changing jerseys if someone does put in a claim.

Players claimed prior to September 1 are playoff-eligible for their new club. Teams out of contention will be placing players on waivers now in the hopes that someone else will put in a claim and therefore take on the remainder of the player’s contract, while giving the player the chance to play more meaningful games. Players like Michael A. Taylor of the Pirates, Drew Smyly of the Cubs, Tommy Pham of the Cardinals and others have reportedly been made available this month.

The White Sox are the team in the majors furthest from contention. Their 31-104 record translates to a .230 winning percentage, putting them in the running to finish as one of the worst clubs in the modern era.

Lopez, 29, came over to the club as part of the November trade that sent left-hander Aaron Bummer to Atlanta. He has generally served as a light-hitting utility guy in his career and that has continued during his time on the South Side. He has a line of .238/.310/.290 this year, which leads to a wRC+ of 73. That’s roughly in line with his career line of .247/.311/.314, which also leads to a wRC+ of 73.

On defense, he’s capable of playing all four infield positions and has also seen some time in left field. His grades have been strong everywhere he’s played. Oddly, he has -10 Defensive Runs Saved in just 281 2/3 shortstop innings this year, but that feels anomalous since he has been roughly league average in about 2,000 innings apart from that. Outs Above Average has given him a massive +34 ranking at short in his career, which also feels odd since that’s mostly due to a huge +25 grade in 2021, but he’s still better than par when ignoring that.

The Sox can retain him for next year via arbitration but they are likely leaning towards a non-tender at this point. He is making $4.3MM this year and would be due a raise, since the arbitration system effectively always pushes salaries northward. That’s a lot of money for a role player when the most recent offseason saw guys like Enrique Hernández, Adam Duvall, Randal Grichuk, Amed Rosario, Paul DeJong and the aforementioned Taylor sign for $4MM or less.

There’s roughly $700K remaining to be paid on Lopez’s salary this year. If any contender feels especially in need of a glove-first upgrade to their position player mix, they can grab Lopez off the wire. The priority goes in reverse order of standings, but teams outside of contention won’t have motivation to grab him.

Astros Designate Janson Junk For Assignment

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The Astros announced that they have signed outfielder Jason Heyward and optioned outfielder Chas McCormick, two moves that were previously reported. To open a 40-man spot for Heyward, right-hander Janson Junk has been designated for assignment. The club also reinstated right-hander Ryan Pressly from the injured list and optioned left-hander Bryan King.

Junk, 28, was just claimed off waivers from the Brewers at the start of this month and has been kept on optional assignment since then. He made four starts for Triple-A Sugar Land, allowing 10 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings.

Since the trade deadline has passed, the Astros will have to put him back on waivers in the coming days. He could perhaps garner interest from clubs in need of innings. He only has four major league frames on his track record so far, with an unimpressive 5.18 ERA. But from 2021 to the present, he has tossed 356 2/3 minor league innings with a 3.84 ERA. His 20.4% strikeout rate in that time is a bit below average but his 7.4% walk rate is strong and he’s also had solid ground ball rates.

He will be out of options next year but can still be optioned for the rest of the 2024 season. He has less than a year of service time and can therefore be controlled well into the future, but he will have less roster flexibility by the next campaign.

Rangers Place Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski On Outright Waivers

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The Rangers have placed outfielders Robbie Grossman and Travis Jankowski on outright waivers, reports ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Both are free agents at season’s end. Grossman and Jankowski can continue to play for Texas while on waivers, as neither was designated for assignment prior to his placement. However, outright waivers are irrevocable, so if either player is claimed when the 48-hour waiver period expires on Saturday, he’ll head straight to his new club with that team taking on the remainder of his contract.

In Grossman’s case, that’s the final 30 days of his prorated $1.5MM base salary — about $242K overall. For Jankowski, who’s on a $1.7MM base, the price would jump to about $274K. Either player would be postseason-eligible for a new team if claimed. If either goes unclaimed, he can remain with the Rangers and does not need to be removed from the 40-man roster. Waiver priority is determined based on the reverse order of MLB-wide standings and — unlike the now-defunct August trade waiver system — is not league-specific.

Grossman, 34, started the season with the White Sox but was traded to Texas just a few weeks into the year. He’s slashed a combined .225/.333/.318 between the two teams — production that’s about 9% below league-average, by measure of wRC+. That looks at his overall production this season, however, and his production is skewed by sub-par output against right-handed pitching. Against lefties, the switch-hitting Grossman has been has typically productive self: .279/.388/.430 (136 wRC+) in 103 plate appearances.

Grossman has made a career out of tormenting left-handed pitchers. He’s usually more productive against righties than he has been this season, but a strong split against lefties has been a hallmark throughout his career. Dating back to his 2013 MLB debut, Grossman’s ultra-patient approach has resulted in a .282/.382/.427 batting line versus lefties, with the switch-hitter drawing a free pass in nearly 14% of his plate appearances from the right side of the dish. A playoff contender seeking a boost against left-handed pitching could definitely have interest in Grossman’s track record and 2024 production against lefties — and the minimal acquisition cost can’t hurt his chances of being claimed, either.

No team is going to claim the 33-year-old Jankowski for his bat. He’s turned in a bleak .195/.257/.234 batting line in 167 plate appearances, rendering him as one of the league’s least productive players at the plate. That said, Jankowski is an above-average defender across all three outfield spots who ranks in the 84th percentile of MLB players in terms of sprint speed.

Jankowski hasn’t been productive at the plate this season, but he’s only a year removed from a decent showing. He hit .263/.357/.332 for the Rangers’ World Series-winning club last year — including a solid .269/.365/.333 slash against right-handed pitching. Jankowski is a typical speed-and-defense focused fourth outfielder who can provide a late-game defensive replacement and/or pinch-running weapon off the bench for a new club. He’s 8-for-9 in stolen base attempts this season and went 19-for-20 in 2023.

Cardinals To Place Tommy Pham On Waivers

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The Cardinals are going to place outfielder Tommy Pham on waivers, reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. He has not been designated for assignment and can continue playing for the Cards for now. He can also stay with them if he goes unclaimed, but the waivers are irrevocable, so he will be changing teams if any other clubs puts in a claim. He will be postseason eligible for his new club as long as he is claimed prior to September 1.

Acquired from the White Sox alongside Erick Fedde in the three-team deadline deal that sent Tommy Edman and minor league righty Oliver Gonzalez to the Dodgers, Pham returned home to the organization that originally drafted him. He debuted with a bang, hitting a pinch-hit grand slam in his return to the Cards, but the 36-year-old outfielder has since fallen into a slump. After posting a Herculean .379/.400/.759 slash in his first eight games back in St. Louis, Pham has just three hits in his past 47 plate appearances.

Even with that downturn over the past three weeks, Pham still owns a solid .254/.321/.378 slash in 374 plate appearances this season. He’s only been about 2% worse than league average at the plate this season overall, as measured by wRC+, and he’s been characteristically solid against lefties: .232/.323/.439 (115 wRC+). He’s drawn poor defensive ratings across the board, though his defensive marks have been weighed down by the White Sox playing him in center field for more than 200 innings — largely out of necessity. Pham isn’t the plus corner outfielder he once was but can still handle left field capably.

Pham is playing the current season on a $3MM base salary, and he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. Any team that claims him will owe Pham $484K for the remainder of the season before he returns to the open market this winter.

The Cardinals are seven games back in the Wild Card hunt and even further buried in the National League Central. Both FanGraphs and PECOTA give St. Louis scarcely more than a 1% chance of reaching the playoffs. We’ve seen teams erase larger leads in September in the past, but it seems charitable to even call a playoff berth a “long shot” at this point. Even if the Cards like their chances more than those odds would indicate, the team surely recognizes the slim nature of their playoff hopes and will give Pham a chance to chase down a ring in the event that another club wants to add a veteran right-handed bat to its bench mix for the regular season’s final four weeks.

Rockies Outright Antoine Kelly

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The Rockies announced Thursday that left-hander Antoine Kelly passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. The team did not make a corresponding transaction, nor had Kelly previously been designated for assignment. His outright drops Colorado’s 40-man roster to a count of 39 players.

Kelly, 24, was claimed off waivers out of the Rangers organization back on July 15. The 2019 second-rounder went from Milwaukee to Texas in 2022’s Matt Bush trade. He had a breakout 2023 showing in the Rangers’ system, splitting the year between Double-A and Triple-A while working to a combined 2.04 ERA with 11 saves, a 32.1% strikeout rate and a 9.3% walk rate.

That performance had Kelly looking as though he could be on the cusp of joining the Rangers and carving out a permanent place in the bullpen. Had he continued on that trajectory, perhaps that’d have been the case. However, Kelly missed time with a forearm injury this season, and his control has been nonexistent when healthy. He’s posted a staggering 10.98 ERA in 19 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, and he’s walked more batters than he’s fanned. A woeful 25.4% of Kelly’s opponents have reached via base on balls, compared to a 23.7% strikeout rate. He’s also plunked a pair of hitters and thrown five wild pitches.

There’s little doubt that when healthy and at his best, Kelly had the look of a viable big league reliever. He’s never demonstrated plus command, but in the past, his strikeout rate and an above-average ground-ball rate have helped to offset a walk rate that was a tick or two higher than average. This year’s injury-marred and walk-riddled season has clearly thrown the lefty’s future outlook into question. For now, he’ll stick with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate and look to get back on track without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

As for the Rox, they now have a vacancy if they wish to claim any of the recently DFA’ed players or veterans who’ve been placed on outright waivers as teams look to shed salary. Colorado isn’t likely to claim anyone who’s a free agent at season’s end, but speculatively speaking, they could potentially consider taking a look at someone who’s signed/controlled beyond the current season. At the moment, only the Marlins and White Sox have waiver priority over them.

Vinny Nittoli Opts Out Of Mets Deal

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Right-hander Vinny Nittoli opted out of his minor league deal with the Mets and is once again a free agent, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll head back to the open market and continue his 2024 tour of the league.

The Mets were the fourth organization to sign Nittoli this season alone. He began the year in the A’s system after signing a minor league contract over the winter. After being selected to Oakland’s big league roster and later designated for assignment, Nittoli elected free agency and has since signed a minor league deal with the Orioles, a big league deal with the Cubs and a minors pact with the Mets. The Cubs cut ties with Nittoli before he got into a game with them, but he did also pitch for the Orioles in addition to some work with the A’s.

In 12 innings this year, Nittoli carries a 1.50 ERA, 17.4% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. He’s only pitched a total of 18 2/3 major league innings overall, during which time he’s logged a 2.41 ERA. Nittoli’s primary pitch this season has been a cutter that’s sat in the 89-90 mph range, and he’s paired that with a slider and occasional curveball. He’s been sharp in Triple-A as well, pitching 30 innings of 3.60 ERA ball between the A’s, O’s and Mets. During that Triple-A run, Nittoli has fanned a hefty 33.9% of his opponents against a 9.4% walk rate.

Nittoli can now look to latch on with another club, and if he’s with a new organization on or before Aug. 31, he’d be a postseason-eligible depth piece. He might not get an immediate look in the big leagues, although with rosters set to expand from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, it’d be easier for a new club to give him a look at the MLB level.

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