Blue Jays Outright Andrew Albers
The Blue Jays have outrighted lefty Andrew Albers off of the 40-man roster, the club announced (via Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star, on Twitter).
Albers, 29, has thrown just 2 2/3 innings in a single appearance at the big league level this year, allowing a single earned run while picking up one strikeout and issuing two walks. His only prior experience in the majors came in 2013 with the Twins, when he made ten starts and put up a 4.05 ERA.
The southpaw spent last year pitching in Korea. He has worked mostly at Triple-A Buffalo since returning to North America, throwing 62 1/3 innings of 4.33 ERA ball with 5.3 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
Angels Designate Kirk Nieuwenhuis
The Angels announced that oufielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to the newly-promoted Kyle Kubitza, a third base prospect who will see his first big league action.
Nieuwenhuis, 27, was not able to turn things around in brief action with the Angels after struggling earlier in the year with the Mets. All said, he’s slashed just .100/.156/.167 in 64 plate appearances. It’s still possible that the Angels will be able to stash him in the minors, though Nieuwenhuis could be headed for his third organization of the year.
Meanwhile, Kubitza will have a chance to fill in temporarily for David Freese, who is battling a seemingly minor injury. He came over to the Halos in exchange for lefty Ricardo Sanchez in an offseason deal with the Braves. The 24-year-old has put up a solid .287/.362/.452 line in 260 plate appearances in the PCL. Los Angeles will be watching closely to see whether he is ready to take over for the free-agent-to-be Freese heading into 2016.
Padres Option Jedd Gyorko
The Padres have optioned struggling infielder Jedd Gyorko to Triple-A, the club announced.
Gyorko, 26, has seen his playing time dwindle in San Diego. But it remains a surprise to see him headed back to Triple-A. After all, Gyorko is playing in just the second year on the six-year, $35MM extension he signed early last season. Most of that contract is due after this year, and it comes with a $13MM option for 2020 ($1MM buyout).
The Padres had hoped that Gyorko would take the reigns at second for the long run when they locked him up, but he’s struggled badly ever since. Since a strong rookie campaign in 2013, he owns just a .210/.280/.328 slash with 12 home runs in 574 plate appearances.
San Diego will hope that Gyorko can work out his issues in the upper minors and return to deliver value on his contract. In the meantime, the club will presumably rely on some combination of Cory Spangenberg and Yangervis Solarte at second.
The move serves to emphasize the Padres’ middle infield woes. Short and second have both checked in at (or just below) replacement level thus far, and the .500 club could be in need of a boost in both spots if it hopes to stay in the hunt.
Angels Release Zach Stewart For KBO Opportunity
The Angels have released right-hander Zach Stewart so that he can pursue an opportunity in the Korean Baseball Organization, according to a team release. Stewart has agreed to join the KBO’s NC Dinos.
The 28-year-old joined the Halos last winter as a minor league free agent. He has seen good results thus far at Triple-A, throwing 39 1/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball over eight starts and four relief appearances. It has been quite some time since Stewart has maintained a full-season earned run mark at that level.
Over 103 big league innings, all coming over 2011-12, Stewart owns a 6.82 ERA with 5.6 K/9 versus 1.9 BB/9. He saw action with the Blue Jays, White Sox, and Red Sox in that span.
A 2008 third-rounder out of Texas Tech, Stewart entered professional ball as a reliever but converted to starting and has mostly stayed in the rotation since. It remains to be seen what role he’ll have in Korea.
Minor Moves: Perry, Aardsma, Reimold
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Tigers have released righty Ryan Perry, according to the International League transactions page. Perry, 28, struggled badly this year at Triple-A amid injury issues, and the same could be said, more or less, of the prior two seasons as well. His career started with real promise — he rose quickly through the minors and tossed 124 1/3 frames of 3.69 ERA ball out of the Detroit pen back in 2009-10 — but has failed to remain on course since. The 2008 first-round pick returned to the Tigers as a minor league free agent this winter after a few seasons in the Nationals organization.
- Two veterans are headed back to the majors today, as the Braves selected the contract of just-signed reliever David Aardsma and the Orioles did the same with outfielder Nolan Reimold. Aardsma came to Atlanta after opting out of his deal with the Dodgers. He has thrown 19 2/3 solid innings at Triple-A, striking out 11.4 and walking 3.2 batters per nine en route to a 2.29 ERA. Reimold, who rejoined the Baltimore organization after departing last year, has slashed .286/.351/.389 over his 194 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.
Yankees To Sign Sergio Santos
The Yankees are set to sign righty Sergio Santos to a minor league deal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. He’ll reportedly head to Double-A.
Santos was designated by the Dodgers and ultimately elected free agency. He put up 13 1/3 innings for Los Angeles, producing a 4.73 ERA while striking out 10.1 and walking 4.7 batters per nine to go with a 46.2% groundball rate. Santos has held righties to a collective .555 OPS this year, though lefties have punished him with a .400/.409/.700 batting line.
New York’s pen has been quite good, though that is due in large part to the unbelievable contributions of Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances. The current relief corps is heavily left-handed, a rather unusual alignment that creates a window of opportunity for the former White Sox and Blue Jays hurler to step into.
Minor Moves: Alex White
Here are the minor moves from the day:
- The Astros have released righty Alex White, a former first-round pick (15th overall) of the Indians, according to Bryant-Jon Anteola of the Fresno Bee (via Twitter). Once a consensus top-100 prospect, the now-26-year-old was a significant part of the deal that sent Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland back in 2011. After moving swiftly through the minors with outstanding results in his first two seasons as a pro, White threw 149 1/3 innings of 6.03 ERA ball at the major league level over 2011-12. He has been unable to regain his prior trajectory, struggling in particular with heightened walk tallies.
Diamondbacks Draft Dansby Swanson First Overall
The Diamondbacks have selected Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson with the first overall pick in the 2015 Rule 4 amateur draft. Swanson ranked atop the draft prospect leaderboard compiled by Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel, also ranking second among draft prospects according to MLB.com and Baseball America, while placing third on the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law. Despite the fact that he was not seen as the consensus No. 1 talent by each of those outlets, Swanson was projected to go first overall by each, as the D-Backs are believed to have had their eye on him for quite some time.
Scouting reports peg Swanson as a strong candidate to remain at shortstop and praise both his speed and on-base skills, making him a candidate to hit at the top of a Major League batting order. While he doesn’t currently project as a major home run threat, Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis at MLB.com note that he presently has gap power and outstanding makeup. BA writes that Swanson can hit the ball to all fields, and the main question about him defensively is whether or not he has a plus arm. (Regardless, BA notes that most expect him to stay at shortstop.)
Law notes that Swanson has more power than collegiate shortstop peers Alex Bregman (LSU) and Kevin Newman (Arizona), both of whom also project as first-round picks. His colleagues Eric Longenhagen and Chris Crawford wrote a lengthier scouting report opining that Swanson could eventually develop 15 to 20 home run power to go along with his speed. Back in April, McDaniel called him a plus runner with 10- to 13-homer power that is also a plus runner — a nice No. 6-10 pick in most drafts but a more appealing commodity in this, a thin draft class.
The No. 1 overall selection in this year’s draft comes with a slot value of $8,616,900, though the Diamondbacks don’t have to spend the entirety of that sum on Swanson. In fact, based on most reports, it seems unlikely that they will. Swanson will add a top-tier prospect to a D-Backs farm system that is fronted by right-handed pitchers Braden Shipley, Aaron Blair, Touki Toussaint and Yoan Lopez. His addition gives the team a high-ceiling position player to join that quartet of promising pitchers. It is of further significance, because Swanson represents the first selection made under general manager Dave Stewart, senior vice president of baseball operations De Jon Watson and scouting director Deric Ladnier, each of whom is new to their position and to the D-Backs organization.
Braves Release Donnie Veal
JUNE 8: The Braves have released Veal, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
JUNE 1: The Braves announced today that they have designated lefty reliever Donnie Veal for assignment for the second time this season. Right-hander Cody Martin will be recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Veal’s place on the roster.
Veal, 30, was also designated for assignment by the Braves back on May 5, but he accepted an outright assignment to remain with the organization after clearing waivers. Atlanta selected Veal’s contract once again last Wednesday, but his second stint on the 40-man roster will be short-lived.
With 69 big league innings under his belt, Veal has a good bit of experience in the Majors, but his struggles with the Braves have been substantial. The former second-round draft pick (Cubs, 2005) has appeared in five games with the Braves this year and allowed runs in each of them — seven total in just 4 1/3 innings. He has a career 5.48 ERA in the Majors, but Veal comes with a track record of success in the minors. This year, he’s fired 16 scoreless innings for Gwinnett, posting a strong 13-to-2 K/BB ratio in that time.
Phillies Sign Juan Gutierrez To Minor League Deal
The Phillies announced that they’ve signed right-hander Juan Gutierrez to a minor league contract. The 31-year-old Gutierrez, a client of Godoy Sports, had recently opted out of his minor league deal with the Giants. He’ll head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for the time being.
Gutierrez joins Kevin Correia as the second player to sign with the Phillies today after opting out of his minor league deal. (Correia, however, received a big league deal.) He’ll provide the Phillies with an experienced depth piece that should have a chance to join a somewhat overworked bullpen that has relied very heavily on Jonathan Papelbon, Ken Giles, Jeanmar Gomez, Justin De Fratus and the struggling Luis Garcia. (Lefty Jake Diekman, one of their most oft-used relievers, was just optioned to Triple-A due to his own struggles.)
Last year, Gutierrez tallied a 3.96 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent ground-ball rate in 63 2/3 innings. His fastball averaged a healthy 93.5 mph, and his career mark in that regard is 94 mph. Gutierrez struggled a bit early on in the Triple-A season this year and wound up posting a 4.39 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 26 2/3 innings with Sacramento. He made a rare start on his final day with the Giants organization and fired three scoreless innings, yielding one walk and one hit with a pair of strikeouts before electing free agency. Gutierrez has a 4.49 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 286 1/3 big league innings.