Indians Designate Carlos Moncrief
The Indians have designated outfielder Carlos Moncrief for assignment, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. That move, along with a 60-day DL transfer for lefty T.J. House, created roster space for the team to add Michael Martinez and lefty Giovanni Soto to the 40-man roster.
Moncrief, 26, has not yet reached the majors. He’s slashed a somewhat disappointing .227/.346/.367 this year while splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, with the better half of the results coming at the lower level. Moncrief put up a more robust .271/.328/.431 batting line in 2014, all of which was spent at the highest level of the minors.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/3/15
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- Two recently-designated Padres lefties have cleared waivers and received outright assignments, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Caleb Thielbar and Chris Rearick will both remain in the San Diego organization. The 28-year-old Thielbar has not received many innings at the big league level after two strong campaigns with the Twins. And Rearick will, it appears, end up back where he started before a recent flurry of claims, DFAs, and outrights.
- Another left-handed reliever, James Russell of the Cubs, has also been outrighted, per MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (via Twitter). Russell’s return to Chicago has not gone quite as well as hoped, as he’s worked to a 5.29 ERA in 34 frames with 5.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9.
- The Yankees announced today that they have outrighted infielder Cole Figueroa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yanks designated Figueroa, 28, for assignment earlier this week to make room for a series of September call-ups. He went 2-for-8 in a pair of games with New York at the big league level in 2015 but has spent most of the season at Scranton, where he’s batted .291/.361/.368 in 492 PAs. Figueroa can elect minor league free agency this winter.
Dodgers Designate Andy Wilkins
The Dodgers have designated first baseman Andy Wilkins for assignment, the club announced. His 40-man spot was needed for the activation of top prospect Corey Seager, who’ll start tonight at shortstop.
Wilkins, 26, was acquired from the Blue Jays back in early May. He received a brief call-up last year with the White Sox, but has spent most of his time over the last several seasons in the upper minors. Since coming to the Los Angeles organization, Wilkins has slashed .249/.307/.472 while contributing 18 home runs at the Triple-A level.
Tigers Outright Josh Zeid
The Tigers announced today that they’ve outrighted pitcher Josh Zeid off the 40-man roster in order to clear space for left-hander Kyle Lobstein, who has been activated from the 60-day disabled list (Twitter link).
Zeid, a 28-year-old right-hander, was initially a 10th-round draft pick of the Phillies back in 2009. He went from Philadelphia to Houston in the initial Hunter Pence trade (alongside Domingo Santana, Jarred Cosart and Jon Singleton) and was ultimately picked up by the Tigers on waivers from Houston.
In 65 innings at Triple-A this season, Zeid has worked to a 4.71 ERA with a 57-to-39 K/BB ratio in 65 innings. His overall Triple-A track record is better than that, however, as he has a lifetime 3.96 ERA in 127 1/3 innings there. Zeid also has a fair amount of MLB experience as well, having tallied a 5.21 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 48 1/3 innings from 2013-14 as a member of the Astros.
Dodgers To Promote Corey Seager
10:15am: Part of the reason for Seager’s recall is that fellow shortstop option Jose Peraza is dealing with a sore hamstring that will sideline him for three to five games, leaving the team with no backup shortstop, tweets Rosenthal. Kiké Hernandez, another option, is still on the disabled list with his own hamstring injury.
9:05am: The Dodgers are calling up top infield prospect Corey Seager, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Seager is ranked by many as the game’s top overall prospect.
The 21-year-old Seager is the younger brother of Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager and is a former first-round pick (18th overall in 2012). Seager has steadily risen up prospect charts over the course of his pro career and currently ranks No. 1 overall per Baseball America, ESPN’s Keith Law and Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel. MLB.com ranks him second in the game, placing him behind only Minnesota’s Byron Buxton.
Seager has split the 2015 season between Double-A and Triple-A, where he has accumulated a combined .292/.343/.486 batting line with 18 homers, 36 doubles and three triples on the season. Though he’s spent much of his career at shortstop, Seager has played some third base this season, and all of the prospect rankings above mention that he seems likely to eventually transition to the hot corner due to his size (6’4″, 215 pounds). MLB.com notes that he has the arm and instincts to handle shortstop but lacks the quickness one would typically expect out of a shortstop.
For the remainder of the 2015 season, however, Seager could get looks at both shortstop and third base. Jimmy Rollins has struggled with the bat for most of the season (though he’s been better of late, slashing .262/.313/.436 over an admittedly arbitrary sample of his past 37 games), and Justin Turner is presently dealing with an injured finger. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets, the Dodgers’ previous mentality had been that they wouldn’t promote Seager unless he had a spot to play, so perhaps Turner’s hand is worse than they’ve let on, or the team simply had a change of heart.
From a service time standpoint, Seager currently would project to be a free agent after the 2021 season and would not be in line to achieve Super Two designation along the way. Of course, that assumes that the Dodgers will keep him in the Major Leagues from this point forth. Seager could certainly struggle in the Majors in his first cup of coffee, prompting further minor league time. The Dodgers could see long-term benefit from keeping him in the minors a bit longer, as delaying his 2015 debut into mid-May would buy the team an additional year of control over Seager by delaying his free agency until after the 2022 campaign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres Designate Chris Rearick For Assignment
The Padres announced that they have once again designated left-hander Chris Rearick for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. Rearick’s 40-man roster spot will go to catcher Rocky Gale, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A El Paso.
The 27-year-old Rearick has been on a DFA roller coaster as of late. San Diego initially designated him for assignment on Aug. 21, after which the Rangers claimed him. However, Texas designated Rearick just days later, at which point the Padres re-claimed him off waivers. That claim was on Aug. 30, but he’s once again been designated just 72 hours later.
Rearick made his big league debut with the Padres this season, appearing in five games and allowing four runs in three innings of work. Rearick has also struggled at the Triple-A level this season, working to a 5.23 ERA with more walks (30) than strikeouts (28) in 43 innings. Lefties have hit Rearick considerably harder than righties, though both have squared him up quite often, it would seem. Those struggles notwithstanding, Rearick has already had at least two teams feel that he’s worthy of a 40-man roster spot, so there’s at least a chance that he’ll yet again be claimed on waivers for what would be the third time in a span of about two weeks.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/2/15
Here are the day’s minor moves …
- The Pirates have selected the contract of infielder Pedro Florimon, the club announced. Florimon, 28, was outrighted recently after seeing 15 games of action with the big league club. He required a 40-man spot, which was opened when the Bucs placed righty Deolis Guerra on the 60-day DL. Though he’s compiled only a .201/.264/.297 batting line in his 713 career MLB plate appearances, Florimon possesses a highly-regarded glove and figures to provide a defensive option for Pittsburgh down the stretch.
Reds Designate Dylan Axelrod For Assignment
The Reds have designated right-hander Dylan Axelrod for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for catcher Ramon Cabrera, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.
Axelrod, 30, has been up and down with the Reds over the past two seasons, notching a combined 4.70 ERA with a 32-to-12 K/BB ratio in 30 2/3 innings (with three of those walks being of the intentional variety). Prior to that, he spent much of the 2013 season in the White Sox’ rotation. All told, Axelrod has thrown 228 2/3 innings in the Majors, resulting in a 5.27 ERA. He does have a nice Triple-A track record, having compiled a 3.46 ERA with nearly three times as many walks as strikeouts in 421 1/3 frames.
The 25-year-old Cabrera has a .290/.343/.353 batting line in 351 plate appearances at Triple-A this season — numbers that are very similar to his career rates at that level. He’ll be making his Major League debut the first time he gets into a game for the Reds.
Angels Designate Alfredo Marte, Drew Rucinski
The Angels announced that they’ve designated outfielder Alfredo Marte and right-hander Drew Rucinski for assignment in order to clear space on their 40-man roster for September callups (Twitter link). Among that wave of September moves is left-hander Wesley Wright, whose contract has been selected to the 40-man roster.
Marte, 26, has spent most of the season at the Triple-A level, where he’s posted a strong .313/.377/.465 batting line, albeit in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He received eight plate appearances with the big league club in 2015 and has spent time in the Majors in each of the past three seasons, totaling a .181/.249/.284 line in 170 plate appearances.
Rucinski, also 26, made four appearances (one start) for the Halos this season and allowed six runs on 10 hits and six walks with four strikeouts in seven innings of work. After an outstanding season in Double-A last year, Rucinski was hit hard at the Triple-A level in 2015, posting a 5.76 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 106 1/3 innings.
Wright, 30, began the season with the Orioles after agreeing to a one-year, $1.7MM free agent contract. He spent the 2014 season with the Cubs and enjoyed good success as a member of the Chicago bullpen, making him a somewhat surprising non-tender. Last year, Wright pitched to a 3.17 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 52.1 percent ground-ball rate while holding opposing lefties to a .273/.321/.273 batting line. He battled shoulder woes earlier in the season which limited him to 1 2/3 innings with Baltimore. He signed a minor league deal with the O’s in late July.
Giants Designate Justin Maxwell For Assignment
The Giants announced that they have designated outfielder Justin Maxwell for assignment in order to clear space on the 40-man roster for September callup Nick Noonan.
Maxwell, 31, batted .209/.275/.341 in 274 plate appearances with the Giants this year. He’s soaked up a number innings in the outfield as San Francisco has dealt with injuries to its entire starting outfield — Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan and Nori Aoki. Maxwell is capable of playing all three outfield spots and is a particularly good defender in the corner outfield positions. As Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets, the move is at least somewhat surprising, as the team could’ve transferred Tim Lincecum to the 60-day disabled list. Lincecum has been on the DL since late June.