Minor Moves: Paterson, Nash, Parker, Cerse, Bell, Ryan
Here are the latest minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…
- Lefty Joe Paterson has reached a minor league deal with the Athletics, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Paterson, who just turned 29, had opened the year at Triple-A in the Royals organization after spending his previous seasons with the Giants and Diamondbacks. He threw 40 1/3 innings of 6.25 ERA ball for Arizona at the major league level. This season, he has tossed 12 2/3 frames at the highest level of the minors, striking out 12 and walking six while permitting eight earned runs.
- The Astros released 2009 third-round pick Telvin Nash, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Nash, 24, was repeating Double-A this year and owned a .228/.318/.456 slash with seven home runs over 130 plate appearances. Despite generally excellent power numbers and solid walk rates, Nash has been unable to avoid the strikeout. He has spent most of his time at first or in the corner outfield.
- The Cubs re-signed right-hander Blake Parker to a new minor league contract, team director of player development Jaron Madison tells Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register (Twitter link). Parker was released by the Cubs earlier this month. The righty posted a 3.68 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 3.54 K/BB rate over 73 1/3 innings out of Chicago’s bullpen from 2012-14, but he’s been limited to only 3 1/3 Triple-A innings this season due to an elbow injury.
- The Red Sox have officially signed second baseman Yoilan Cerse, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reported earlier this month that the Cuban second baseman was close to a minor league deal with Boston.
- Also from Eddy, the Padres released third baseman Josh Bell. The 28-year-old signed a minor league deal with San Diego in February but has yet to see any action in 2015. Bell appeared in 100 games with the Orioles and D’Backs from 2010-12 and has since played in the minors with the White Sox and Yankees, as well as spending 2014 in the Korean Baseball Organization.
- The Yankees moved shortstop Brendan Ryan from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL and also optioned righty Branden Pinder to Triple-A. Both moves created 25-man roster space to accommodate newly-promoted southpaw Jacob Lindgren. Ryan suffered a calf injury during Spring Training and isn’t expected back in action until early June.
Pirates Designate Radhames Liz For Assignment
The Pirates have announced that they’ve designated reliever Radhames Liz for assignment. The move clears space on the team’s roster for Charlie Morton, who will start tonight. Morton’s return bumps the out-of-options Vance Worley to the Pirates’ bullpen, and Worley will presumably be used mostly in long relief, so the Bucs no longer had much need for Liz, who they had used in a similar role.
The Bucs signed Liz to a one-year, $1MM contract last offseason after he spent 2014 in the Toronto organization and the previous three years in Korea. He showed good stuff, with a fastball that reached at times into the mid-90s, but was mostly unimpressive in the Pirates’ bullpen — he struck out 18 batters in 17 1/3 innings, but walked ten, continuing to struggle with control issues that have dogged him throughout his career.
Giants Designate Travis Ishikawa For Assignment
The Giants have designated first baseman and outfielder Travis Ishikawa for assignment, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. Ishikawa, 31, has not appeared in the big leagues this season — he opened the year on the DL with a back injury and recently finished a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento.
Ishikawa played his first four seasons in the big leagues with the Giants, then returned to them last season, when he played a memorable role in the Giants’ World Series run by hitting a walk-off homer against the Cardinals to end the NLCS. The Giants avoided arbitration with Ishikawa this offseason by signing him to a $1.1MM deal, but as GM Bobby Evans explains (via a tweet from the San Francisco Chronicle’s Hank Schulman), the Giants did not have a spot for Ishikawa on their current 25-man roster, with no time for him at first and the right-handed Justin Maxwell joining Hunter Pence, Nori Aoki, Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco in the outfield. For his career, Ishikawa has a .259/.322/.397 line in parts of seven seasons.
Minor Moves: Ka’aihue, Roe, Bianchi
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- The Nationals have released first baseman Kila Ka’aihue, according to the International League transactions page. The former Royal and Athletic was hitting .194/.314/.328 with Triple-A Syracuse after playing in Japan in 2014 and part of 2013. Ka’aihue has hit .221/.305/.382 in parts of four big-league seasons, the last of which came last year.
- The Orioles have announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Chaz Roe and optioned lefty T.J. McFarland to Triple-A Norfolk. To clear space for Roe on their 40-man roster, they moved lefty Wesley Wright to the 60-day DL. The Orioles played 13 innings against the Marlins yesterday, so Roe gave them a fresh arm. He pitched two scoreless innings today. The 28-year-old had a 2.19 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 24 2/3 innings for Norfolk.
- The Red Sox have placed Shane Victorino on the 15-day DL with a calf strain and selected the contract of utilityman Jeff Bianchi. Bianchi played parts of three seasons with the Brewers from 2012 through 2014, playing second, third, shortstop and both outfield corners. He had been hitting .302/.373/.340 in 61 plate appearances for Triple-A Pawtucket.
Kyuji Fujikawa Clears Waivers, Now A Free Agent
MAY 24: The Rangers have announced Fujikawa has cleared unconditional waivers and is now a free agent.
MAY 22: The Rangers have placed Fujikawa on unconditional release waivers, tweets John Blake, the club’s executive vice president of communications. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that Fujikawa wasn’t interested in pitching at Triple-A and was therefore granted his release.
MAY 17: The Rangers have designated Kyuji Fujikawa for assignment, according to John Blake of the Texas Rangers (on Twitter). Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports the Rangers could not option Fujikawa to the minors without his consent before June 15 and the right-hander had indicated to the team he did not intend to accept such an option.
Fujikawa, 35 in July, has appeared in just two games for Texas this season and didn’t have a great amount of success. In a combined 1 2/3 innings, he allowed three earned runs. He fared a little better better in eleven combined minor-league appearances this season. In 11 outings (ten at Triple-A, one at Double-A), the veteran pitched to a 4.35 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 7.8 BB/9.
The Rangers signed the reliever back in December to a one-year deal worth $1MM plus incentives. The contract also included a club option for $2MM that can be bought out for a modest $100K. Fujikawa threw only 25 innings between 2013 and 2014, with two stints sandwiched around a Tommy John procedure and rehab. The former Cub has never been a strong ERA buy, but he does own career averages of 10.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
The Rangers now have ten days to trade, release, or outright Fujikawa to the minor leagues. The reliever is now is joined in DFA Limbo by Kevin Gregg, Nick Masset, Stolmy Pimentel, and Bruce Chen. You can keep track of everyone’s status using MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Rangers Sign Jared Burton To Minor League Contract
The Rangers have signed right-hander Jared Burton to a minor league contract, tweets John Blake, the club’s executive vice president of communications. The 33-year-old will report to Triple-A Round Rock.
The Yankees signed the client of Pro Agents, Inc.’s Dave Pepe to a minor league deal in February, but released him a month later so as to avoid paying Burton, who was an Article XX(B) free agent, a $100K retention bonus to remain in the organization. Three days later, the Yankees re-signed Burton only to release him for good May 16.
After enjoying strong seasons in 2012-13 with the Twins (particularly in 2012), Burton regressed in 2014 as his K/9 rate dipped to 6.5, his BB/9 rate rose to 3.5, and both his ground-ball rate rate (38.5%) and fastball velocity deteriorated (92.9 mph in 2012; 91.5 in 2014). Burton, however, still possesses an effective split-finger changeup (which he’s calls a “splangeup” ). Burton, who suffered a strained lat muscle during Spring Training, made only four appearances in the Yankee organization this season allowing three earned runs in six innings while striking out seven and walking four.
Cubs Return Anthony Varvaro To Red Sox
The Red Sox announced that pitcher Anthony Varvaro has been returned to the club. The right-hander was designated for assignment by the Red Sox in late April and claimed off waivers by the Cubs days later.
Varvaro, it turns out, has a torn right flexor tendon and will undergo surgery Tuesday ending his season, reports Cormac Gordon of the Staten Island Advance.com.
“The tendon is partially torn off the bone, but the elbow is stable otherwise,” the 30-year-old told Gordon. “I was worried I might need another Tommy John surgery. That’s not the case. This is the best possible outcome.”
Rehabilitation is expected to last six months, so Varvaro could resume throwing in November. The Red Sox say they were unaware of how severe the injury was, so both clubs agreed that it “would be appropriate to return Varvaro to the Red Sox for placement on the disabled list in accordance with the major league rules.”
The Red Sox designated Varvaro for assignment on April 29th and the Cubs claimed him off waivers on May 3rd. Three days later, the Cubs DFA’d Varvaro and subsequently outrighted him.
Varvaro posted a 2.74 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate near 48 percent with the Braves from 2012-13. With the Red Sox this year, Varvaro appeared in nine games and totaled 11 innings. The five runs he surrendered aren’t particularly concerning, but his velocity was down from an average of 92.5 mph in 2014 to 91.1 mph in 2015. That, combined with the 14 hits and six walks he yielded in his 11 innings, likely aided in his swift exit from the Boston organization. Now, for the time being, he’s back in Boston.
Indians Designate Brett Hayes For Assignment
The Indians have designated Brett Hayes for assignment, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. In a related move, fellow catcher Yan Gomes has been activated from the 15-day disabled list.
As Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer outlined last week, the Indians had to choose between Hayes and Roberto Perez in order to make room for Gomes. Neither has hit for much in terms of average, but Hayes has shown more power in a smaller sample, whereas Perez has shown more in terms of on-base skills, walking 20 times in 104 plate appearances.
Hayes, 31, appeared in 14 games for the Indians this season. In a small sample size of 36 games, Hayes slashed .156/.229/.438 and hit three home runs. Over parts of seven big league seasons with the Marlins, Royals, and Indians, Hayes owns a lifetime .205/.250/.359 slash line. He has fared better over the years at the Triple-A level, hitting .253/.294/.420, also over a seven season period.
Hayes now joins Erik Cordier, Kyuji Fujikawa, Phil Coke, Todd Redmond, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis in DFA limbo. To keep up with the status of every player that gets DFA’d, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Padres Claim Eury De La Rosa
The Padres have announced that they’ve claimed lefty reliever Eury De La Rosa from the Dodgers and optioned him to Triple-A El Paso. To clear space on their 40-man roster, they moved righty Josh Johnson (elbow) to the 60-day disabled list. The Dodgers designated De La Rosa for assignment earlier this week.
De La Rosa, 25, continues to his fourth West division organization in six months. After he posted a 2.95 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 36 2/3 innings with Arizona in 2014, the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment in December and traded him to the Athletics. The A’s then designated him in April, at which point the Dodgers claimed him.
De La Rosa has pitched for Triple-A teams in both the Athletics and Dodgers organizations this season, striking out ten batters but walking nine and allowing eight runs, five earned, in 13 1/3 innings. Those aren’t inspiring numbers, obviously, and De La Rosa’s fastball generally doesn’t top 90 MPH, but he’s had some big-league success and can still be optioned, so it’s not surprising he’s attracted so much interest on the waiver wire.
Minor Moves: Mickey Storey, Vin Mazzaro
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The Dodgers have signed righty Mickey Storey to a minor-league deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Storey will head to Double-A Tulsa. Storey pitched in the Blue Jays system in 2014 and began his 2015 season with five dominant starts for Somerset in the Atlantic League. The 29-year-old has a career 4.19 ERA, 10.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 34 1/3 career big-league innings with the Astros and Blue Jays.
- The Marlins have announced that they’ve selected the contract of Vin Mazzaro from Triple-A New Orleans and recalled fellow righty Andre Rienzo. The two pitchers will take the places of Henderson Alvarez (shoulder inflammation) and Mat Latos (knee inflammation) on the Marlins’ active roster as Alvarez and Latos both head to the 15-day DL. The 28-year-old Mazzaro pitched in only 10 1/3 big-league innings for the Pirates in 2014 despite an effective 2013 season in the Bucs’ bullpen. He had a 3.15 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 20 innings of relief at New Orleans this season. The Marlins won’t need another starter until Tuesday, with Dan Haren, Tom Koehler and David Phelps scheduled to pitch the next three days, so Mazzaro and Rienzo will likely provide bullpen help at least until then.