Indians Rescind Claim Of Deolis Guerra; Michael Roth Accepts Outright
AUG. 7: The Indians announced that they have rescinded the waiver claim on Guerra after discovering a pre-existing left knee injury. He will remain property of the Pirates. Additionally, Cleveland announced that Roth has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.
AUG. 5: The Indians announced that they have claimed right-hander Deolis Guerra off waivers from the Pirates and designated lefty Michael Roth for assignment.
Guerra, a one-time Top 100 prospect whose name may sound familiar, was one of four pieces sent from the Mets to the Twins in the 2008 Johan Santana blockbuster (he ranked as the game’s No. 35 prospect at the time, per Baseball America). The Venezuelan righty’s development stalled, however, and he spent seven seasons in the Twins’ minor league system before becoming a minor league free agent this winter and subsequently signing with the Pirates.
The now-26-year-old Guerra dominated with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a 1.23 ERA with a 37-to-8 K/BB ratio in 36 2/3 innings before having his contract selected and making his big league debut. Guerra was terrific in his first seven outings, allowing just three runs with a 13-to-2 K/BB ratio in 13 innings, but he was torched in his final three appearances before being designated for assignment. In that brutal stretch, he was tagged for nine earned runs on 11 hits (three homers) in just 3 2/3 innings.
Roth, 25, hadn’t appeared in the Majors with Cleveland this season and had a 4.15 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 115 innings with the team’s Triple-A affiliate. A former ninth-round pick by the Angels, Roth was quick to the Majors, debuting in 2013 after being selected in the 2012 draft. His inexperience showed in the Majors, though, as he posted a 7.79 ERA in 32 1/3 innings from 2013-14. His work at Triple-A this season, in fact, is his first experience at that level. He’d previously jumped from Rookie ball to Double-A to the Majors.
White Sox Sign John Mayberry Jr.
Free agent outfielder John Mayberry Jr. has signed a minor league deal with the White Sox, according to a tweet from the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. Mayberry, a client of CAA Sports, was released by the Mets following the team’s acquisition of Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe.
Signed by New York to a one-year contract this winter, Mayberry struggled to a .164/.227/.318 batting line with three homers in 119 plate appearances with the Mets. Those numbers represent a stark decline from the roughly league-average (.241/.305/.429) batting line that Mayberry carried into the 2015 season.
Hitting lefties has always been the right-handed Mayberry’s calling card — career .260/.315/.517/ — but even that skill seemed to elude him during his time in Queens. Mayberry’s numbers against lefties in 2015 were better than his numbers against righties, but he still mustered just a .628 OPS.
The White Sox abruptly changed course heading into the deadline and elected not to sell off any veteran pieces, instead pursuing outfield bats such as Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton. While Mayberry quite clearly isn’t an addition of that magnitude, he does offer the Sox a veteran depth piece who could come up and help in the corner outfield versus lefties if he can get back to his old form with the Knights in Triple-A. Both Melky Cabrera and Adam Eaton have hit poorly against southpaws this season, and the team doesn’t have much in the way of Major League outfield depth beyond its starting trio (which also includes Avisail Garcia). Trayce Thompson and Leury Garcia are currently the team’s reserve options in the outfield, but Garcia has been an infielder throughout his entire pro career, and Thompson has just one Major League plate appearance.
Jose Veras Released By Astros
Lost in the shuffle of the trade deadline madness was the fact that right-hander Jose Veras was released by the Astros last week, tweets Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. The former Houston closer had been pitching for the team’s Triple-A affiliate.
Veras, 34, inked a minor league pact with the Astros back in mid-May and reported to extended Spring Training to get up to speed before joining the roster at Triple-A Fresno in June. Veras has previously served as the Astros’ closer and done a fine job, and he performed well in his second stint with Houston last year whilst working in a setup capacity. His most recent Triple-A tenure resulted in a 5.68 ERA with a 16-to-8 K/BB ratio in 19 innings, however.
With the exception of a dreadful 13 1/3-inning stint with the Cubs, Veras has delivered generally solid ERAs over the past five seasons while working as a late-inning reliever for the Marlins, Brewers, Pirates, Tigers and Astros. He has a 3.70 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 294 2/3 innings. His fastball velocity has declined somewhat in recent seasons, though he still averaged 93 mph on his heater with the Astros in 2014. Presumably, Veras will look for a fresh start with another organization.
Twins Designate Eric Fryer For Assignment
The Twins have designated catcher Eric Fryer for assignment, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on Twitter. Minnesota made a series of roster moves, including the recall of backstop Chris Herrmann from Triple-A.
Fryer, 29, has performed fill-in duties at the major league level in each of the past five seasons, never receiving more than 28 games of action (reaching that in 2014) in a single campaign. All told, he’s slashed .235/.316/.324 in just 152 turns at the plate. That line is more or less equivalent to the .654 OPS that Fryer has produced offensively over parts of five seasons at Triple-A.
Astros Designate, Option Dan Straily
TODAY: Houston has optioned Straily, the club announced, indicating that he was only designated off of the active roster for purposes of passing him through optional assignment waivers.
YESTERDAY: The Astros have designated righty Dan Straily for assignment, Julia Morales of ROOT Sports tweets. He will be replaced on the roster by Asher Wojciechowski, who will receive his second shot at the major league level.
Straily, 26, came to Houston along with Luis Valbuena in the deal that sent Dexter Fowler to the Cubs. He made his way to Chicago as part of the 2014 deadline trade in which Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel headed to the Athletics.
It was in Oakland that Straily showed the most promise, contributing 191 2/3 innings of 3.94 ERA pitching in his first two big league seasons with 7.3 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9. But advanced metrics really never bought into Straily, and he’s struggled at the big league level ever since.
With Houston, Straily has made three starts, lasting 15 1/3 innings and allowing ten earned runs with 14 strikeouts and eight walks. He’s spent most of the year at Triple-A, tossing 98 2/3 frames of 3.65 ERA ball with an appealing strikeout to walk ratio (8.4 K/9 versus 1.6 BB/9).
Astros Re-Sign Joe Thatcher
The Astros announced tonight (on Twitter) that they’ve re-signed lefty reliever Joe Thatcher to a minor league contract. Thatcher, a client of Platinum Sports, had elected free agency after being designated for assignment late last month. He’ll head to Triple-A Fresno, according to the Astros.
The 33-year-old Thatcher signed a minor league deal with Houston in the offseason but made the team out of Spring Training and has enjoyed generally successful results in his first year with the Astros. He’s posted a 3.79 ERA and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings, though he’s also battled his command, yielding 5.2 walks per nine frames as well.
Typically a strong performer against left-handed hitters, Thatcher’s struggled in that department this season, yielding a .267/.389/.356 batting line across 55 plate appearances. He’ll hope to get back on track in Triple-A and resurface with Houston later this season. A strong track record suggests that’s a plausible outcome for the veteran Thatcher, who has a 3.04 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 210 1/3 innings dating back to the 2009 season.
Rangers Sign Ross Ohlendorf, Robert Coello
The Rangers announced today that they’ve re-signed right-hander Ross Ohlendorf to a minor league contract. Additionally, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweeted yesterday that the team has a minor league deal with righty Robert Coello.
Ohlendorf, 32, has logged 7 2/3 innings with the Rangers this season but was designated for assignment and briefly elected free agency before re-signing a new contract with Texas. He’ll head to Triple-A Round Rock, where he posted a 3.60 ERA with 28 strikeouts against nine walks in 25 innings of relief earlier this season. Ohlendorf has 509 1/3 innings under his belt at the big league level, having pitched to a 4.86 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9.
Coello, 30, has seen big league action in parts of three seasons with a 5.90 ERA to show for his efforts. He’s struck out 39 batters and issued 17 walks in 29 big league frames, with sabermetric stats like FIP (3.58) and xFIP (4.02) painting a much more optimistic picture than ERA. The New Jersey native opted out of a minor league deal with the Giants back in early June but hasn’t pitched since, so he’ll head to Arizona to get caught up to speed before joining a minor league affiliate (presumably Triple-A), per Wilson.
Cubs Re-Sign Clayton Richard
The Cubs have re-signed lefty Clayton Richard, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune was among those to report (Twitter links). He’ll take the place of righty Rafael Soriano, who hits the DL with right shoulder inflammation.
After recently being designated for assignment, Richard declined an outright assignment and elected free agency. Obviously it did not take long for his most recent club to bring him back, however, on a new deal.
The 31-year-old has pitched to a 4.29 ERA in 21 frames with the Cubs over three starts and one relief appearance. He’s retired nine batters by strikeout and allowed five walks in that span.
Richard came to the Cubs after throwing well early in the year at Triple-A for the Pirates. A provision in his deal required Pittsburgh either to add him to its active roster or make him available to another team willing to do so, and Chicago came calling. After once being designated off of the Cubs’ 40-man roster and optioned, Richard went through the more traditional DFA process this time around before re-signing.
Yankees Designate Danny Burawa
The Yankees have designated righty Danny Burawa for assignment, the club announced. New York needed a 40-man spot after re-signing Garrett Jones.
Burawa, 26, reached the big leagues for the first time this year, though his only appearance did not go well. He has put up 60 1/3 solid innings at the Triple-A level, however, with a 2.69 ERA. Burawa notched only 7.8 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9, but has allowed a meager 6.3 hits per nine.
Yankees Re-Sign Garrett Jones
The Yankees have re-signed first baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets. New York is expected to move a pitcher off the active roster to create space.
Jones was recently designated for assignment to clear roster space as part of the team’s acquisition of Dustin Ackley. As Curry explains, Jones elected free agency after being outrighted by the club. But with Ackley going on the DL, New York decided to bring back the veteran.
Playing in his eighth big league season at 34 years of age, Jones owns a .215/.257/.361 batting line. But he’s done much more in the past, and carries a .757 collective OPS in a career with over 3,000 trips to the plate. Jones has always maintained a sizable platoon split, and will presumably continue to see most of his action against right-handed pitching.