Rays Claim Daniel Nava
The Rays have claimed outfielder Daniel Nava off waivers from the Red Sox, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Boston had designated the 32-year-old for assignment on July 30th.
Nava has spent most of his time in the corner outfield, though he also has appeared some at first base. The switch-hitter has been much more productive against right-handed pitching in his career, and it seems he could step into the role of just-traded outfielder David DeJesus.
Tampa Bay is placing a good bit of trust in a turn-around from Nava, as the club will owe him the balance of a $1.85MM salary (around $617K) for the rest of the year. Nava can also be controlled for two more years via arbitration, and probably won’t be in line for a significant raise.
Of course, the reason that Nava was available in the first place is that he’s scuffled badly this year while also dealing with injuries. He’s registered just ten hits, and no home runs, in 78 MLB plate appearances. Nava was already coming off of a less-than-inspiring 2014 campaign, when he saw his power output dip following an excellent 2013 (.303/.385/.445), though defensive metrics thought he had improved significantly in his outfield defense.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/4/2015
We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:
- The Giants announced today that infielder Joaquin Arias has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A (Twitter link). The versatile 30-year-old hit just .207/.207/.276 in 59 plate appearances in 2015 — the second season of a two-year, $2.6MM contract he signed to avoid arbitration following the 2013 season.
- Left-hander Aaron Laffey has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A, tweets MLB.com’s Dargan Southard. Lackey will have the option to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. The veteran lefty pitched 7 1/3 innings for the Rockies this season, allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Earlier Updates
- Red Sox infielder Jemile Weeks, Angels righty Vinnie Pestano, and Cubs outfielder Mike Baxter have all accepted their outright assignments rather than electing to test the free agent waters, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports (Twitter links). The trio of players were all designated for assignment recently as their clubs looked to free roster space for deadline acquisitions. Weeks, 28, has seen only a smattering of big league action since playing as a full-timer in 2011-12. Pestano has been a solid reliever over several full seasons, but has struggled mightily with his control this year. The 30-year-old Baxter will also head to the upper minors to serve as depth after putting up a .246/.348/.263 slash over 66 plate appearances with Chicago.
Rangers Release Wandy Rodriguez
The Rangers have placed left-hander Wandy Rodriguez on release waivers, according to the team’s executive vice president of communications, John Blake (on Twitter).
Rodriguez, 36, was designated for assignment last week. Though he’s had a pair of disastrous outings over his past six appearances (he allowed eight runs in four innings on June 24 and seven runs in one inning on July 28), Rodriguez has been a serviceable rotation option in Texas for much of the season. Through his first 11 starts this season, Rodriguez worked to a 3.20 ERA with a 50-to-23 K/BB ratio in 64 2/3 innings.
Any team will have the ability to claim Rodriguez off release waivers, although doing so would mean agreeing to pay him any of the additional $1.8MM he can earn via performance incentives. It’s more likely that Rodriguez will clear release waivers and be free to sign with any team for the pro-rated portion of the Major League minimum (for any time spent on the new team’s active roster).
Multiple teams are on the lookout for rotation depth. The Yankees recently lost Michael Pineda to a forearm strain and will be without him for the next month, at least. The Royals lost Jason Vargas to Tommy John surgery shortly before the trade deadline, and the Angels may be without C.J. Wilson for the balance of the season. It’s also possible that a rebuilding team such as the Phillies could just look to Rodriguez as a source of innings every fifth day down the stretch in 2015 as they give their mid- to upper-level arms a bit more time to develop in the minors.
Red Sox Release Ronald Belisario
The Red Sox have released reliever Ronald Belisario, the club’s Triple-A affiliate announced on Twitter. It has not been reported whether or not Belisario exercised an opt-out clause of some kind to precipitate the move.
Since joining the Boston organization in the middle of last month, Belisario has thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits but permitting three walks to go with his two strikeouts. But the results have been there all year at the Triple-A level. Including his time in the Rays organization, Belisario has tossed 36 2/3 frames of 2.70 ERA baseball at the minors’ highest level.
Belisario was somewhat less productive in a brief stint with Tampa Bay earlier in the year, allowing seven earned runs in eight frames. More concerning, perhaps, is that he showed a marked decreased in velocity. After averaging better than 94 mph on his fastball for his career, Belisario showed a sub-92 mph offering with the Rays.
While he also struggled to keep runs off the board last year for the White Sox, and has not posted above-average run prevention numbers since 2012, Belisario continues to fare well in the eyes of ERA estimators. He carries a lifetime 3.26 SIERA and has never ended a MLB season with a mark of over 3.46 in that metric.
It stands to reason that another organization will give the veteran a shot, particularly with the trade market now complicated by the need to pass players through waivers.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/3/2015
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Blue Jays have outrighted outfielder Ezequiel Carrera to Triple-A, Ben Nicholson-Smith reports on Twitter. The 28-year-old was recently designated for assignment after seeing his role taken by trade acquisition Ben Revere. Over 164 plate appearances for Toronto this season, Carrera owns a solid .279/.327/.374 with three home runs and two stolen bases. That represents his most significant big league action since his rookie campaign.
- Angels reliever Vinnie Pestano has also cleared waivers and been outrighted, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. The recently-designated, 30-year-old righty has tossed 11 2/3 innings of 5.40 ERA pitching on the year, though he has had more success in the past. Over 202 2/3 career frames, he’s allowed just under three earned per nine. While he’s continued to strike out better than ten batters per nine, control issues (6.2 BB/9) have limited Pestano’s effectiveness this season.
Cubs Designate Clayton Richard
The Cubs have designated lefty Clayton Richard for assignment, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com tweets. Outfielder Matt Szczur has been called up to take his roster spot.
This marks the second time that Chicago has DFA’ed the veteran since acquiring him from the Pirates earlier this year. Previously, Richard was designated off of the active roster (but not the 40-man). He was sent to Triple-A after clearing optional assignment waivers and accepting the assignment. It remains to be seen what precise transaction has taken place this time.
Richard came back up to start yesterday, twirling six innings of one-run ball, allowing only five baserunners to reach (all via base hits) and striking out three. Over 21 total innings on the season, he’s permitted ten earned runs and logged nine strikeouts against five walks. Richard has been quite strong at the Triple-A level this season, as he carries a 1.70 ERA over 69 frames.
Brandon Beachy Clears Waivers, Accepts Outright Assignment
Dodgers right-hander Brandon Beachy has cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).
Beachy, who turns 29 in one month, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Dodgers this winter after being non-tendered by the Braves on the heels of his second Tommy John surgery. He’s spent most of the season on the 60-day disabled list, but he did reach the point last month where the Dodgers felt he could join the big league rotation. After pitching to a 3.28 ERA in six rehab starts, Beachy made a pair of starts with the Dodgers, allowing seven runs in eight total innings.
Beachy will have the option to reject an assignment to the minor leagues in favor of free agency, but as a player with fewer than five years of Major League service time, he would have to forfeit the remaining $947K on his contract to do so. His deal comes with a $3MM team option that jumped to $3.5MM upon making his first start of the season and will jump another $500K upon making five and 10 total starts. A $250K buyout would be added if he were to reach 10 total innings on the season. (Contract details via Cot’s Contracts.)
Because of that, it seems rather unlikely that Beachy would test the free agent waters at this juncture, though the Dodgers’ additions of both Mat Latos and Alex Wood have obstructed his path to another look in the big league rotation for the time being. Beachy, of course, has an excellent track record in the Majors when healthy. From 2010-13 with Atlanta, he posted a 3.23 ERA, 9.2 K.9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 267 2/3 innings. Durability has been an issue since reaching the Major Leagues, however, as he’s topped 100 innings just once in his career and made 10 starts in a season just twice.
Athletics Claim Danny Valencia
The Athletics have claimed infielder Danny Valencia off waivers from the Blue Jays, the A’s announced (on Twitter). Valencia was claimed from outright waivers as opposed to revocable trade waivers, so no trade will need to be worked out.
Valencia, 30, was a surprise casualty of the Blue Jays’ flurry of trade deadline activity, as the team designated him for assignment late last week in spite of excellent numbers at the plate. The right-handed-hitting Valencia is hitting .296/.331/.506 with seven homers in 173 trips to the plate this season.
Throughout Valencia’s career, most of his production has come versus left-handed pitching (a very robust .326/.368/.497 batting line), but he’s actually recorded better numbers versus right-handed pitching in 2015. Valencia has seen most of his action at third base throughout his career — he was the Twins’ regular third baseman for two and a half seasons and finished third in the 2010 AL Rookie of the Year voting — but he’s played some left field, first base and second base over the past couple of seasons as well. As a player that has notable platoon splits and the ability to bounce around the diamond a bit, he fits the quintessential Athletics mold.
Valencia will have four-plus years of service time at season’s end, meaning he can be controlled through the 2017 season. Valencia and his representatives at MVP Sports won an arbitration hearing against the Blue Jays this winter, resulting in a $1.675MM salary. He’s owed about $577K of that sum through the end of the year. The Athletics had top waiver priority in the American League, so the first team that had the option of picking up Valencia is the team on which he ultimately landed.
Blue Jays Claim Ben Rowen From Cubs
The Blue Jays announced today that they have claimed right-handed reliever Ben Rowen off waivers from the Cubs and assigned him to Triple-A Buffalo.
Rowen, 26, has made his way around the league over the past half-year or so. Signed to a minor league deal by the Dodgers this winter, Rowen was traded from L.A. to the Orioles in the trade that sent a Competitive Balance draft pick and Ryan Webb to the Dodgers. Despite outstanding minor league numbers, the O’s didn’t feel they had a roster spot for Rowen, and he was released from his contract, after which he inked a minors pact with the Cubs. Chicago selected his contract to the big league roster last week, but he didn’t get into a game with the Cubs before being designated for assignment.
The addition of Rowen to the Blue Jays organization makes particular sense for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Blue Jays bullpen has been shaky for much of the season, although activity at the trade deadline has helped to shore up the relief corps. (Aaron Sanchez should be pitching out of the bullpen full-time for the rest of the season, Mark Lowe‘s addition adds a power arm, and LaTroy Hawkins will add stability as well.) Additionally, Rowen has outstanding Triple-A numbers and a sidearm delivery that generates a huge amount of ground-balls — undoubtedly an appealing trait to a team in a homer-friendly park like the Rogers Centre.
In 46 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015, Rowen has posted a 1.93 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9. Minor League opponents batted a paltry .235/.267/.302 versus Rowen this season, so at the very least one can imagine that he’d be an option for the Blue Jays in September when rosters expand. However, strong enough numbers with Buffalo could also prompt the Jays to make a move prior to that cutoff.
Cubs Option Yoervis Medina
AUG. 3: The transactions page has been updated to reflect that Medina was not designated for assignment but instead optioned to Triple-A. MLBTR has confirmed that Medina was optioned and remains on the Cubs’ 40-man roster.
AUG. 2: The Cubs have designated pitcher Yoervis Medina for assignment, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Medina, who turned 27 last week, came to the Cubs in the May deal sending Welington Castillo to the Mariners.
The right-hander has tossed a combined 21 innings for the Cubs and Mariners this season, adding up to a 4.71 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in a small sample size. In 20 Triple-A appearances, the hurler has posted a skyhigh 7.03 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9. Medina struggled in Triple-A Iowa and, at this time, doesn’t seem like a candidate to receive tremendous outside interest.
Earlier today, the Cubs also designated Taylor Teagarden for assignment. To keep up with all of the players in DFA limbo, check out the MLBTR DFA Tracker.