White Sox Designate Emilio Bonifacio For Assignment
The White Sox have designated Emilio Bonifacio for assignment, as Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Manager Robin Ventura told reporters, including Kane, that the way Trayce Thompson has played since coming up played into the club’s decision to remove Bonifacio from the 40-man.
Bonifacio, 30, has struggled mightily in 2015. In 82 plate appearances for the White Sox, the veteran owns a dismal .167/.198/.192. The versatile Bonifacio has given the White Sox innings at second base, center field, left field, and third base this season, but his performance at the plate has negated his contributions as a utility player.
Bonifacio, a client of agent Gene Mato, signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the White Sox back in January. That pact included a club option for the 2015 season but he’ll instead collect on a $1MM buyout. The switch-hitting Bonifacio played second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions between the Cubs and Braves in 2014, batting .259/.305/.345 with 26 steals in 426 plate appearances along the way.
Bonifacio now joins Jose Dominguez, Chris Capuano, Brad Mills, Drew Stubbs, Garrett Jones, Dale Thayer, Taylor Lindsey, and Justin Masterson in DFA limbo. To keep track of everyone in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Rays Designate Jose Dominguez For Assignment
The Rays have designated Jose Dominguez for assignment, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). The move will make room on the 40-man roster for the return of pitcher Drew Smyly.
Dominguez, 25, came to the Rays in the November deal that sent Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore to the Dodgers. Tampa Bay also acquired minor league pitcher Greg Harris in that swap.
Dominguez received a brief taste of Major League action in each of the past three seasons – two with L.A. and one with Tampa Bay. Baseball America once ranked him 11th among Dodgers prospects, calling him a “pure power arm” whose fastball sits 97-100 mph and can touch 102. However, BA noted his erratic command and a 50-game suspension for PED use on his minor league track record in their scouting report. In 25 appearances with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate this season, Dominguez has posted a 6.26 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 6.3 BB/9. Still, he’s shown a propensity for strikeouts in the minors, averaging 9.9 punchouts per nine innings for his career.
To keep track of Dominguez and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/15/15
Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league.
- The Orioles have announced that they’re released outfielder Travis Snider, who they designated for assignment last week. When the O’s acquired Snider from the Pirates for a pair of pitching prospects last winter, there was hope that he would provide a bit of left-handed power. He was mostly a disappointment in Baltimore, however, batting .237/.318/.341. He has another year of team control remaining after this one, but his $2.1MM 2015 salary likely made a waiver claim an unattractive proposition.
Athletics Designate Brad Mills For Assignment
The Athletics have announced that they’ve designated lefty Brad Mills for assignment. They also optioned righty Aaron Brooks to Triple-A Nashville and recalled righty Dan Otero and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte.
The A’s added Mills to their roster yesterday so that he could make a spot start against the Orioles. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs, all of them coming on a homer to Adam Jones, as the Athletics lost 8-6. In parts of seven big-league seasons, Mills has a 7.97 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 79 innings. Unsurprisingly, he’s fared far better as a Triple-A innings-eater in that time frame.
Yankees Designate Chris Capuano For Assignment
The Yankees have announced that they’ve designated lefty Chris Capuano for assignment. The move clears space on their active roster for righty Caleb Cotham, who they’ve recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
If this pair of moves sounds familiar, it’s because the Yankees designated Capuano in order to promote Cotham just before the trade deadline. Since then, Capuano accepted the Yankees’ outright and then returned on Wednesday when the Yankees designated Garrett Jones.
Capuano has a 6.97 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 this season and is making $5MM on a one-year deal, so the Yankees probably aren’t too worried that he’ll be claimed. He hadn’t pitched since being promoted, and is probably being designated in favor of Cotham right now because Cotham (who’s had a strong season in the high minors) just became eligible for promotion again after being optioned on August 5.
Trevor Cahill Opts Out Of Dodgers Contract
Righty Trevor Cahill has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Dodgers, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports on Twitter. He will head back onto the open market in search of a new opportunity.
Cahill, 27, signed on with the Dodgers organization after being released earlier in the season by the Braves. He had been dealt to Atlanta from the Diamondbacks over the winter.
Over his 34 1/3 frames with Oklahoma City on the year, Cahill worked to a 5.24 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. Needless to say, he never received an opportunity at the big league level with Los Angeles.
Cahill’s difficulties this season continue a rough stretch of results. Since the start of the 2014 season, and covering his time earlier this year with Atlanta, Cahill has put up 137 innings of 5.98 ERA pitching at the major league level.
While Cahill is playing on a $12MM salary this year, the Dodgers never picked up any piece of that in signing him. Instead, the Diamondbacks ($6.5MM) and Braves ($5.5MM, plus his $300K option buyout for next year) are paying the balance.
Orioles Designate David Lough For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they’ve designated outfielder David Lough for assignment and recalled catcher Steve Clevenger from Triple-A Norfolk.
Though defensively gifted, the 29-year-old Lough struggled to a .202/.243/.318 batting line with four homers in 139 plate appearances this season. Lough has posted nice numbers against right-handed pitching in the past, which, paired with his plus glove-work, has made him a nice platoon option in the corner outfield. Unfortunately, he mustered just a .553 OPS against right-handed pitching this season, which contributed to today’s departure from the 40-man roster.
Lough entered the season with one year, 169 days of big league service time and reached two full years just three days into the 2015 campaign. He’s since accrued 128 days of service (he’ll also get service for any time spent in DFA limbo). Any team claiming him off waivers could control him through the 2019 season, but if he ends the season on a big league roster, he’ll probably be arbitration eligible as a Super Two player.
Clevenger, also 29, will return to the Orioles for his second stint this season. He collected five hits in 11 at-bats his first time around with the club and has enjoyed a solid overall season at the Triple-A level. In 301 plate appearances with Norfolk this season, Clevenger has slashed .305/.375/.393 with four home runs and a nearly even strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’ll give the O’s a second healthy catcher on the roster, as Matt Wieters is currently dealing with a hamstring issue, though he’s not on the disabled list at this time.
Braves Claim Danny Burawa From Yankees
The Braves announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Danny Burawa off waivers from the Yankees (Twitter link). Burawa will head to Triple-A Gwinnett for the time being.
The 26-year-old Burawa made his big league debut with the Yankees this season, yielding four runs in two-third of an inning. He’s had a nice season at the Triple-A level, however, notching a 2.55 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 49 1/3 innings. Baseball America ranked Burawa 31st among Yankees farmhands this offseason, and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs mentioned him in his writeup of the Yankees’ system as well. The 6’2″, 210-pounder can run his fastball up to 96 mph but is inconsistent with his slider and splitter — both of which look like above-average offerings on occasion.
A’s Designate Taylor Thompson For Assignment
The Athletics announced on Friday that they have designated right-hander Taylor Thompson for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Brad Mills, whose contract will be selected from Triple-A so that he can start tonight’s game.
The 28-year-old Thompson hasn’t pitched in the Majors this year and has just 5 1/3 big league innings total throughout his career, all of which came with the White Sox in 2014. He’s spent most of the season on the 60-day DL due to a shoulder strain, though he was recently activated and began pitching at Class-A Advanced before moving up to Triple-A. The results haven’t been great, as Thompson allowed seven runs in 8 2/3 innings with a 10-to-5 K/BB ratio.
Braves Sign Edwin Jackson To Major League Deal
The Braves announced that they have signed right-hander Edwin Jackson. The Legacy Agency client will receive a Major League contract, and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that he will step directly into the big league bullpen. The Cubs released Jackson earlier this year.
Jackson, 31, was released midway through the third season of a four-year, $52MM contract signed prior to the 2013 campaign. The contract went south for the Cubs almost immediately, as Jackson’s first year with Chicago resulted in a 4.98 ERA over 175 1/3 innings. Things worsened for Jackson in 2014, when he finished the season with a sky-high 6.33 ERA in 140 2/3 innings.
Jackson spent the 2015 season as a reliever with the Cubs, working to a solid 3.19 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent ground-ball rate. A good deal of that work came in low-leverage situations, but the results were positive nonetheless, and his fastball velocity remained very solid, averaging 94.2 mph upon moving to a relief role.