Reds Designate Donn Roach For Assignment
The Reds have designated Donn Roach for assignment, according to Robert Bondy of MLB.com (on Twitter). The move will help create room for Collin Balester on the 40-man roster.
The Reds claimed Roach off waivers from the Cubs just a little over a month ago. The 25-year-old has made seven starts for Triple-A Louisville and hasn’t fared all that well. In that small sample size, Roach has a 6.00 ERA with 3.9 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. Prior to that, Roach made 15 starts for the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate and posted a 2.33 ERA with 3.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9. Roach also has 17 big league appearances to his credit the last two years.
To keep track of Roach and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Mariners Designate Fernando Rodney For Assignment
The Mariners have designated former closer Fernando Rodney for assignment, the club announced following Saturday’s loss to the White Sox. In corresponding moves, the M’s also optioned righty Danny Farquhar to Triple-A, called up southpaw Roenis Elias and purchased the contract of right-hander Logan Kensing.
Thanks in large part to a 1.42 HR/9 (more than double his career average) and his lowest K/9 total (7.6) in four seasons, Rodney posted a 5.68 ERA over 50 2/3 IP this season, a performance that cost him his job as the Mariners’ closer. It’s probably unlikely that Rodney will be claimed or traded during his DFA period given that he already cleared revocable trade waivers last week. Rodney is still averaging 94.8mph on his fastball (same as last season) so it’s possible another team could look to sign the 38-year-old veteran as bullpen depth before the rosters expand on September 1.
The Mariners are responsible for the approximately $1.5MM in salary still owed to Rodney for the remainder of the season, except for the pro-rated portion of the minimum salary should Rodney sign elsewhere. The right-hander signed a two-year, $14MM free agent deal in the 2013-14 offseason and performed extremely well in the contract’s first year, posting a 2.85 ERA, 10.3 K/9 and 2.71 K/BB rate over 66 1/3 innings en route to a league-best 48 saves. Rodney and his new agents will undoubtedly point to his 2012-14 dominance when the righty looks for a new contract in free agency this year, though obviously this year’s numbers will greatly diminish his market.
Kensing has spent the last two seasons with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, and he has a 2.30 ERA, 6.6 K/9 and 2.56 K/BB rate over 31 1/3 innings this season. Kensing has appeared in just one Major League game since 2009, pitching two-thirds of an inning for the Rockies in 2013.
Adam Rosales Elects Free Agency
AUG. 22: After clearing waivers, Rosales declined his outright assignment to Triple-A, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He will be released as a result.
AUG. 19: The Rangers have designated infielder Adam Rosales for assignment, the club announced. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Hanser Alberto. Texas needed a 40-man spot for the activation of Derek Holland.
Rosales, 32, owns a .228/.296/.342 slash over 125 plate appearances on the season. The light-hitting utilityman has filled in all over the diamond, but has logged most of his innings at second. Interestingly, Rosales’s batting line this season is a near-perfect match for the .227/.294/.342 slash that he has compiled over parts of eight big league campaigns.
Yankees Release Garrett Jones
AUG. 22: The Yankees have unconditionally released Jones, per GreedyPinstripes.com (via Twitter).
AUG. 12: The Yankees announced on Wednesday that first baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty Chris Capuano, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Additionally, the Yankees optioned righty Branden Pinder to Triple-A and recalled fellow righty Nick Goody.
This marks the second time this season that Jones, 34, has been designated for assignment by the Yankees. Acquired alongside Nathan Eovaldi in the trade that sent Martin Prado to the Marlins, Jones has batted just .215/.257/.361 with five homers in 152 plate appearances — his lightest production since a cameo with the Twins as a 26-year-old rookie in 2007.
Jones was initially designated for assignment to clear a spot on the roster for trade acquisition Dustin Ackley, but he was quickly released and re-signed to a big league deal afer Ackley landed on the disabled list.
Though his production this year has been unimpressive, Jones does have a history of solid offensive output. He batted .254/.316/.453 with 115 homers in 823 games for the Pirates and Marlins from 2009-14, and he’s a lifetime .265/.330/.473 hitter versus right-handed pitching.
Jones doesn’t appear likely to remain with the Yankees. He told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch that it’d be difficult to remain with the team, as he’s hoping to find an opportunity to pick up more playing time (Twitter link). Jones could be a fit for a team with a need at first base or in right field, though he comes with notable platoon splits and grades out as a poor defender at both spots.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/22/15
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- The Rays have outrighted righty Jose Dominguez to Triple-A Durham, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Rays designated Dominguez for assignment last week. He had a handful of successful appearances with the big club this year, but struggled at Durham, posting a 6.26 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 6.3 BB/9 in 23 innings. The Rays acquired him along with pitching prospect Greg Harris in November when they traded Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore to the Dodgers.
Mets Acquire Eric Young Jr.
The Mets have announced that they’ve acquired outfielder Eric Young Jr. from the Braves for cash considerations. They have assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas.
The 30-year-old Young collected 80 plate appearances with the Braves this season and hit .169/.229/.273 before being outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he hit .248/.349/.312. Young played for the Mets in much of 2013 and in 2014 before heading to Atlanta, and he has a career big-league line of .248/.316/.329.
As those numbers suggest, Young doesn’t hit well. He can, however, play all three outfield positions, and he has 26 stolen bases against just three caught stealings between the Majors and Triple-A this year. He could, therefore, conceivably be useful on the Mets’ bench once rosters expand in September.
Yankees Designate Chris Capuano For Assignment
The Yankees have announced that they’ve recalled righty Branden Pinder and designated lefty Chris Capuano for assignment. Capuano, who turned 37 this week, has a 6.55 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 33 innings split between the rotation and the bullpen with the Yankees this season.
This marks the third time in the past month that the Yankees have designated Capuano, whose $5MM guaranteed salary has made it possible for them to move him on and off their roster without much risk. Capuano pitched two innings on Thursday, and the addition of Pinder, who hasn’t pitched since Tuesday, gives them a fresher and probably more effective arm. The Yankees also had a heavily left-handed bullpen, with Chasen Shreve, Justin Wilson and closer Andrew Miller all pitching from the left side.
Tigers Release Marc Krauss
The Tigers have released first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, Chris Iott of MLive.com reports on Twitter. Detroit needed his roster spot for the addition of just-acquired starter Randy Wolf.
Krauss, 27, opened the year with the Angels and spent time with the Rays before being claimed by Detroit. He’s struggled all season long, putting up a .141/.173/.256 batting line in 81 total plate appearances. Krauss has continued to put up good numbers in the minors, compiling 292 plate appearances of .280/.408/.423 hitting at the Triple-A level on the year.
Twins Acquire Neal Cotts
The Twins have acquired lefty Neal Cotts from the Brewers, Milwaukee announced on Twitter. Milwaukee will receive a player to be named later or cash in the deal.
Minnesota was obviously the team that won the waiver claim for Cotts, as was reported earlier today. The 35-year-old bolsters a pen that was already struggling before an injury to closer Glen Perkins further reduced its depth. And Minnesota’s other two pen lefties — Brian Duensing and Ryan O’Rourke — have not been very effective.
Cotts has looked like a pure lefty specialist this year, holding opposing lefties to a .185/.230/.346 slash while being tagged to the tune of a .847 OPS by right-handed hitters. But he’s actually posted very neutral platoon splits over his career, and was significantly better against righties last season.
Adding Cotts to a club that remains in the Wild Card hunt will tack on $721K to the Minnesota payroll this year, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press calculates (Twitter link). For the Brewers, they’ll save that amount, pick up the PTBNL (or additional cash), and open a roster spot for the just-claimed Cesar Jimenez, who may well have been added with a deal in mind.
Indians Acquire Michael Choice
The Indians have acquired outfielder Michael Choice from the Rangers, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com first reported on Twitter. Cleveland will send cash considerations to complete the deal, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
Choice, 25, was designated for assignment recently to clear space for the Rangers’ acquisition of Will Venable. Once a top-100 prospect, Choice has stumbled since heading to Texas in return for Craig Gentry before the 2014 season.
Given a chance at the big league level last year, Choice put up a .182/.250/.320 slash in 280 plate appearances. While he hit well at Triple-A that year, he’s managed only a .244/.309/.399 batting line this season at the highest level of the minors.