Phillies Sign Kevin Correia To Major League Deal
2:35pm: Correia will receive a $650K base salary and can earn up to $400K via incentives, tweets ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick. The prorated amount of that salary comes out to about $427K from here through season’s end.
1:53pm: The Phillies announced that they have signed right-hander Kevin Correia to a Major League deal. Correia, a client of Damon Lapa and Scott Leventhal’s All Bases Covered Sports Management, will join the team for its series in Cincinnati.
Correia, 34, wrapped up a two-year $10MM last season that was originally issued by the Twins (though he finished the deal as a member of the Dodgers). The veteran hurler was a serviceable source of league-average innings for the 2013 Twins, totaling 185 1/3 frames with a 4.18 ERA, 4.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate. He was hit hard in 2014, though, finishing with a 5.44 ERA and a .301/.345/.473 opponents’ batting line.
That rough year led to a minor league deal with the Mariners for Correia, but he went the free agent route late in Spring Training upon learning that he wouldn’t make Seattle’s 25-man roster. Correia returned to the Giants — the organization that originally selected him in the fourth round of the 2002 draft — and pitched quite well for their Triple-A affiliate. In 37 2/3 innings there, Correia notched a 3.58 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.
In the press release announcing this move, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said: “Kevin fills a need by adding depth, durability and experience to our pitching staff. We hope that he can give us quality innings to take some heat off the bullpen.” That seems to indicate that Correia will be given a shot to hold down a spot in the starting rotation — a fact that is also evidenced by the fact that that the team optioned young righty Severino Gonzalez to Triple-A Lehigh Valley yesterday.
Correia will join Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang, Jerome Williams and Sean O’Sullivan in the rotation, though it’s fair to speculate that the starting five could look markedly different in a few months’ time. Hamels and Harang are prime trade candidates, and Correia himself could even be moved if he is throwing well at the deadline. Prospects such as Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin and Ben Lively are in the mix to get a look in the Majors this season, so Correia’s role will be to help bridge the gap to a group that the Phillies hope can help to compose their rotation for years to com.
Astros Designate Matt Dominguez For Assignment
The Astros announced that they have designated third baseman Matt Dominguez for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for top prospect Carlos Correa, whose promotion is now official.
It’s been a swift fall for Dominguez, who just one year ago was rumored to have been offered an extension worth roughly $14.5MM over five years (plus two option years for the Astros). He’s spent the entire season in Triple-A so far after serving as Houston’s regular third baseman for all of 2013-14 and much of the 2012 season as well.
Dominguez’s best season came in 2013 when he batted .241/.286/.403 with 21 homers in 152 games. Despite the lackluster OBP, Dominguez rated out well in terms of Defensive Runs Saved, leading to a 2.2 rWAR season. (Fangraphs’ version of WAR, which uses UZR in its equation, rated him at just shy of one WAR.) Dominguez’s glove has long drawn positive reviews from scouts, and he clearly has some power in his bat, as evidenced by the .168 isolated power (slugging minus batting average) mark that he posted from 2012-13.
Dominguez hit 16 home runs last year, but he saw his walk rate dip even further while his strikeout rate climbed to almost 21 percent. The resulting .215/.256/.330 batting line was enough that the Astros saw fit to acquire Luis Valbuena and sign Jed Lowrie to serve as upgrades on the left side of the infield. So far in Triple, Dominguez is batting .251/.289/.371.
Despite the struggles, Dominguez is still just 25 years of age. The former first-round pick won’t turn 26 until late August, and if a light were to turn on with another club, Dominguez could be controlled through at least the 2018 season. In fact, that number will soon jump to 2019. Dominguez entered the year with two years, 62 days of service, meaning he’d have needed 110 days of service this year to reach the three-year mark. However, there are just 119 days of the regular season remaining, so it seems unlikely that he’ll end up reaching that mark.
Because of his youth, big league track record, remaining remaining minor league options and upside, I’d personally be surprised to see Dominguez clear waivers. More likely, it seems that the Astros may try to trade him to a team in need of some help at the hot corner. The Giants have had some struggles at third base this season, as have the Tigers, White Sox and Brewers. The Indians just demoted Lonnie Chisenhall to Triple-A, though they may prefer to give Giovanny Urshela a tryout before moving on to other options.
Speculating a bit further, the Angels were said to be seeking a controllable young third baseman this winter, and while they acquired Kyle Kubitza from the Braves to give them an option, it’s at least possible that Dominguez intrigues them. And, in last year’s leak of trade notes from the Astros, the Marlins were said to have expressed interest in a trade for Dominguez, though Miami does have Martin Prado at the position now.
Astros To Promote Vincent Velasquez
The Astros will promote right-handed pitching prospect Vincent Velasquez today, reports MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. He will start Wednesday’s game against the White Sox, according to McTaggart.
Velasquez entered the season ranked No. 56 on the Top 100 prospect list of ESPN’s Keith Law. He currently ranks 74th on MLB.com’s list, and he also ranked 75th according to both Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs and to Baseball Prospectus prior to Opening Day. Suffice it to say, the 2010 second-round pick is regarded as one of the most promising young arms in all of baseball.
Law says that Velasquez has the aresenal of No. 2 starter, including a 93-96 mph fastball, a plus changeup and a slider that sits 82-84 mph but still needs work, as it tends to flatten out. The consensus on Velasquez is that he may rank higher on all of these lists with a better track record of health. He missed the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery and had a pair of non-arm-related injuries in 2014 that limited him to 63 2/3 innings. McDaniel adds that his arm troubles date back even to his high school days, where he had a stress fracture in his elbow and a ligament strain during his junior year. His 2015 season didn’t begin until May 8, but in five starts at the Double-A, Velasquez has worked to a 1.37 ERA with 37 strikeouts against nine walks in 26 1/3 innings.
For the Astros, Velasquez will be the second highly touted young arm to join their rotation in the past month or so. Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., a 2012 first-rounder and Velasquez’s Double-A teammate as recently as four weeks ago, has made a nearly seamless transition to the Majors by tossing 24 innings of 1.88 ERA ball.
The need for reinforcements in Houston’s rotation is palpable. Despite the brilliant season of ace Dallas Keuchel (1.85 ERA in a league-leading 87 2/3 innings) and that excellent effort from McCullers, the Astros have a collective 4.14 ERA from their rotation, which ranks 17th in the Majors. Collin McHugh has yet to rediscover his 2014 breakout form, Scott Feldman had an ERA of 4.80 before going down for about six weeks with knee surgery, and Roberto Hernandez has a 5.18 ERA to show for his 66 innings of work. Brett Oberholtzer, Sam Deduno, Brad Peacock and Asher Wojciechowski have all made starts as well but have produced a mix of ineffective performances and injuries to this point.
McTaggart writes that Velasquez will be taking Hernandez’s spot in the rotation, so it would seem that the 23-year-old Velasquez (he turned 23 yesterday) has a chance to nail down a permanent rotation spot with an impressive performance. Presently, he’ll join Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers and Oberholtzer in the rotation, though Feldman will be back in about five weeks and presumably step back into the rotation.
Minor Moves: Taylor Jungmann, Mitchell Boggs
Here are today’s minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Brewers will call up right-hander Taylor Jungmann and he’ll make his Major League debut in a start on Tuesday, manager Craig Counsell told reporters, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jungmann was taken by the Brewers with the 12th overall pick of the 2011 draft and Baseball America ranked him as the 70th-best prospect in the sport prior to the 2012 season. Since then, Jungmann has struggled to find consistency in his pro career, including posting a 6.37 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 1.86 K/BB rate in 59 1/3 Triple-A innings this season. (Though these numbers have been posted at Colorado Springs in the Pacific Coast League, one of the more hitter-friendly environments in pro baseball.) Jungmann was ranked as the 10th-best prospect in Milwaukee’s system according to Baseball America, while MLB.com ranks him 13th amongst the Crew’s minor leaguers.
- The Braves released right-handed pitcher Mitchell Boggs, according to the International League transactions page. Boggs, 31, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta back in April but didn’t pitch all that well, posting a 6.08 ERA with 1.4 K/9 and 6.8 K/9 in 13 appearances. The veteran didn’t appear in the Majors last season and struggled greatly in 2013, but he was a reliable member of the Cardinals’ bullpen prior to that. From 2010-12, Boggs worked to a 3.08 ERA with 7.1 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 52.3 percent ground-ball rate, averaging 63 appearances and 67 innings per season. Boggs had disastrous results in a 2014 season split between the Triple-A affiliates for the White Sox and Giants, posting an 8.29 ERA with more walks (26) than strikeouts (23) in 51 innings of work.
Astros Promote Carlos Correa
The Astros have promoted top prospect Carlos Correa, according to a team press release. Correa will join the team tomorrow in Chicago for the start of a three-game series against the White Sox. Righty Jake Buchanan is being optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move, and another move is coming tomorrow to open up a 40-man roster spot.
“Carlos has performed extremely well at every level of our minor league system,” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said in the release. “We feel he has earned this promotion and look forward to him joining our ballclub. Since he is just 20 years old, we do not have unrealistic expectations of Carlos. However, his performance on the field and his maturity indicate that he is ready to contribute on the Major League level.”
Correa was the first overall pick of the 2012 draft, a slightly controversial pick at the time given that Byron Buxton and Mark Appel were generally considered to be better picks. Houston took Correa in part due to signability reasons, as he inked a below-slot contract and freed up more money for the Astros to spend on other prospects later in the draft. In four pro seasons, however, Correa has made the Astros’ strategy look doubly wise, as he has hit .313/.392/.491 with 28 homers and 54 steals (out of 70 chances) over 1256 minor league plate appearances. Preseason prospect lists saw the 6’4″, 190-pounder ranked as the third-best prospect in the sport by MLB.com and ESPN’s Keith Law, while Baseball America ranked him fourth.
The 2015 Baseball America Prospect Handbook describes Correa as “a plus hitter with plus raw power” who 30-homer potential in the big leagues, though he has yet to fully develop enough loft in his swing to fully unleash that pop. One rival evaluator cited by BA compared Correa’s opposite-field hitting ability to that of Albert Pujols, though with less power. Defensively, Correa was praised for almost everything (only his ability to turn double plays was considered average), particularly his “double-plus” throwing arm. Off the field, Correa’s “makeup is off the charts, with a natural ability to lead and a goal-oriented mindset unseen in a player who just turned 20.”
Correa hadn’t even played above the high-A ball level before this season, yet a 1.185 OPS in 133 PA in Double-A quickly earned him another promotion to Triple-A, where he posted a .266/.336/.447 line over 107 PA. While this Triple-A production isn’t quite dominant, Correa still projects as an upgrade for the Astros at shortstop. Jed Lowrie will be out until after the All-Star break following thumb surgery, and Jonathan Villar and Marwin Gonzalez have combined for -0.2 fWAR this season.
Many predicted Correa would reach the majors at some point in 2015, though the Astros’ unexpected stint atop the AL West adds a different dimension to the promotion. Correa will be expected to step in and contribute to a playoff hopeful, rather than the expected scenario of getting his feet wet in the bigs for a team most felt was still at least a season away from contending. As Luhnow noted, the Astros aren’t expecting Correa to immediately become a superstar. In fact, there’s not necessarily any guarantee that Correa will even spend the rest of the season in the majors, should he struggle and Lowrie returns as scheduled. This is just my speculation, but if Correa is playing well when Lowrie gets back, Lowrie could replace Luis Valbuena at third base — Lowrie has appeared in 83 MLB games at third, though he hasn’t played the position since 2011.
From a service time perspective, Correa is likely to fall short of eventually earning Super Two status even if he spends the rest of the year in the majors, based on recent Super Two cutoff points. Houston hasn’t been shy in calling up some of their top minor league prospects, as Lance McCullers, Preston Tucker and Michael Feliz have all made their MLB debuts in 2015.
Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan/USA Today Sports
Braves To Sign Dana Eveland
The Braves have signed left-handed pitcher Dana Eveland to a minor league contract, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter links). Eveland opted out of a minor league deal with the Red Sox last week.
Eveland, a client of Page Odle at PSI Sports Management, returned to Major League Baseball last season after spending the 2013 campaign pitching for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. His return to MLB was a successful one, as he made 30 appearances with the Mets and worked to a 2.63 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 27 1/3 innings.
Despite his performance, Eveland wound up settling for a minor league deal with the Red Sox this past offseason. The 31-year-old pitched rather well in 23 1/3 innings at Triple-A Pawtucket this season, compiling a 1.54 ERA with 20 strikeouts and three walks.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted at the time of his signing with Boston, Eveland replaced his four-seamer with a two-seam fastball and more sliders than ever last season, and the results were positive. Now with a different team, he’ll look to bring that mix of pitches to the big league level once again.
The Braves signed another veteran on a minor league pact less than 24 hours ago when they inked David Aardsma.
Reds Release Matt Magill
The Reds (on Twitter) announced that they have released right-handed pitcher Matt Magill to create space on the 40-man roster. In a related move, right-hander Nate Adcock has been promoted to the active roster.
Magill underwent Tommy John surgery in May, ending his season. The 25-year-old’s Major League career consists of six starts for the Dodgers in 2013 that saw him post a 6.51 ERA, 26 strikeouts, and 28 walks over 27 2/3 innings.
A 31st-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2008 draft, Magill owns a 3.99 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 over 700 2/3 minor league innings. He was traded from Los Angeles to Cincinnati in December in exchange for outfielder Chris Heisey. This year, Magill made three starts for Triple-A Louisville and pitched to a 7.90 ERA and 8.6 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Frieri, Veal
Here’s a look at the latest outright assignments..
- The Rays outrighted Ernesto Frieri to Triple-A Durham, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Frieri signed a one-year, $800K deal to join the Rays this winter but was designated for assignment last week. The 29-year-old worked to a 4.63 ERA over 23 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay, striking out 7.3 and walking 4.2 batters per nine.
- The Braves sent left-handed reliever Donnie Veal outright to their Triple-A affiliate, according to the transactions page. Veal, 30, was also designated for assignment by the Braves back on May 5 and accepted an outright assignment to remain with the club. 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 he has a track record of success in the minors.
- To keep up with the status of players who are designated for assignment, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Minor Moves: Santos, Solano, Sands, Hester
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- Reliever Sergio Santos has cleared waivers and will elect free agency, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The Dodgers designated Santos for late last month after the former White Sox closer struck out 15 batters and walked seven while allowing seven runs in 13 1/3 innings this season.
- The Marlins have announced that they’ve outrighted catcher Jhonatan Solano to Triple-A New Orleans. The designated him for assignment yesterday. The 29-year-old has a career .184/.222/.301 line in 108 career plate appearances with the Nationals and Marlins, hitting a somewhat better .241/.286/.346 in about two seasons’ worth of plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
- The Indians have announced that outfielder Jerry Sands has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus. Last week, the Indians designated Sands for assignment for the second time this season. The 27-year-old Sands has hit 9-for-27 with a home run and two doubles for the Indians this year. Perhaps more representative is his .257/.385/.473 at Triple-A, a line consistent with the strong minor-league performances he’s posted throughout much of his career.
- The Phillies have released catcher John Hester, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets, noting that Hester had surgery on his meniscus this spring but is now healthy. The 31-year-old has played in ten minor-league games this season. He spent 2014 with Triple-A Salt Lake in the Angels organization, batting .261/.338/.411. He has a career .216/.294/.351 line in 232 big-league plate appearances spread over four seasons with the Diamondbacks and Angels.
Diamondbacks Designate Jordan Pacheco
The Diamondbacks designated C/IF Jordan Pacheco for assignment, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. The move clears space for third baseman Jake Lamb, who returns from the disabled list.
The Diamondbacks claimed Pacheco from the Rockies last season, then outrighted him and signed to a minor-league deal over the winter. He’s been one of many catchers who’ve suited up for the D-backs (who’ve also used Tuffy Gosewisch, Gerald Laird, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and now Welington Castillo at the position), but Pacheco doesn’t have a strong defensive reputation and was hitting just .242/.333/.333 in 78 plate appearances. Pacheco can also play the corner infield spots, but with Saltalamacchia and Castillo at catcher and Lamb returning, there weren’t many opportunities available to him at any position.