Twins Sign Ryan Wheeler To Minor League Deal
The Twins have signed third baseman Ryan Wheeler to a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com Transactions page. Wheeler, a client of CAA Sports, will report to Triple-A Rochester. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that the Twins were the first to act when Wheeler’s agents notified teams that he’d been released by the Angels, and he was quick to accept the offer.
The 26-year-old Wheeler, a former fifth-round selection by the Diamondbacks (2009), frequented the club’s list of Top 30 prospects (per Baseball America) prior to being traded to the Rockies in exchange for lefty Matt Reynolds. Wheeler peaked at No. 8 on the D-Backs’ Top 30, and he ranked 10th on BA’s list of Top 30 Rockies prospects as recently as the 2012-13 offseason. That winter, BA noted that Wheeler was a work in progress at third and likely lacked the speed to play in the outfield. Their scouting report seemed to consider him a man without a true position, questioning if he’d have the power to man first base or the glove to handle the hot corner.
Wheeler has hit at every level of the minors, however. He’s a career .306/.363/.462 batter in the minors, and BA noted that he’s able to drive the ball well to the opposite field, though sometimes at the expense of drawing walks. Wheeler has received a big league look in each of the past three seasons, including 64 plate appearances with the Rockies in 2014. His strong track record in the minors has yet to carry over to the Majors, however, as he’s batted .233/.280/.335 in the bigs.
The Twins have Trevor Plouffe playing a strong overall third base in the Majors and the slugging Miguel Sano looming in the minors. Eduardo Escobar represents a nice utility option for the club, but the lefty swinging Wheeler could eventually emerge as a bench option for the Twins with a strong minor league showing.
Joining the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate figures to carry extra meaning for Wheeler, as his younger brother Jason (a former eighth-round pick by the Twins) is currently in the Rochester rotation.
Astros Sign Jose Veras To Minors Deal
Right-hander Jose Veras is on his way back to the Astros, as the club announced (Twitter link) that it has signed the veteran reliever to a minor league contract. The Praver/Shapiro client will report to extended Spring Training, according to the team. With the minor league deal in place, the 34-year-old Veras will attempt to return to the Astros for his third separate stint in the past three seasons.
The first of those stints in Houston came in 2013, when Veras signed a one-year, $1.85MM contract and wound up thriving as the Astros’ closer. He posted an excellent 2.93 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 43 innings for Houston that season — a performance that made him a popular trade target in July. The Tigers send outfield prospect Danry Vasquez and hard-throwing-but-injured relief prospect David Paulino to Houston to acquire Veras and the club option on his contract. Veras’ performance, however, boosted the value of the option from $3.25MM to $4MM by way of incentives, and the Tigers made the somewhat surprising decision to pay him a $150K buyout, letting him hit free agency once again.
Veras signed with the Cubs in the 2013-14 offseason, but his tenure in Chicago was brief, at best. Brought on board to be the team’s closer, he instead posted a dreadful 8.10 ERA in 13 1/3 innings with the Cubs and was quickly jettisoned. That led to a return to Houston, where he again found success, notching a 3.03 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 in 32 2/3 innings.
Veras said after returning to Houston that he regretted signing elsewhere, and he said at the outset of this past offseason that he hoped to return to the Astros, which feels like “home” to him. Houston had talks with the righty this winter, but it’s not clear if an offer was ever made. He wound up signing with the Braves and being cut in Spring Training.
In his career, Veras has had no problem missing bats but does struggle with his control at times. He is the owner of a lifetime 3.91 ERA with a strong 9.3 K/9 rate, but he’s also averaged 4.7 walks per nine innings in his career. Houston will hope that it can receive a third season of positive results from the veteran righty, who could help strengthen what has already been a sound bullpen, anchored by the likes of Luke Gregerson, Pat Neshek and Chad Qualls.
Blue Jays Acquire Ronald Torreyes, Outright Jonathan Diaz
2:00pm: The Blue Jays announced that they’ve outrighted infielder Jonathan Diaz to clear a spot for Torreyes on the 40-man roster. The 30-year-old Diaz is hitless in seven plate appearances with the Blue Jays this season and has batted just .183/.284/.225 in 84 Triple-A plate appearances.
1:37pm: The Astros announced today that infielder Ronald Torreyes has been traded to the Blue Jays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations (Twitter link). Torreyes was designated for assignment last week.
The 22-year-old Torreyes was originally signed by the Reds out of Venezuela back in 2009. The versatile 5’10”, 150-pound infielder was eventually traded to the Cubs alongsideTravis Wood and Dave Sappelt in the trade that sent Sean Marshall to Cincinnati. The Cubs eventually flipped Torreyes to the Astros in exchange for a pair of international bonus slots, and Houston added him to the 40-man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft this winter.
Torreyes has struggled at the plate in Triple-A this season after enjoying solid results at that same level in 2014. Scouting reports from Baseball America and MLB.com peg him as a potential utility infielder if everything clicks. With both Jose Reyes and Maicer Izturis on the disabled list, the Blue Jays have Ryan Goins and Steven Tolleson on their Major League roster, thinning out the team’s depth at the Triple-A level. Torreyes should be able to help in that regard and, if he can return to his 2014 form (.298/.345/.376 in 519 Triple-A plate appearances), he could conceivably play his way into consideration for his first big league call-up. Torreyes has significant experience at second base, shortstop and third base, and he’s dabbled in left field and center field as well.
Red Sox Nearing Minors Deal With Cuban Second Baseman Yoilan Cerse
The Red Sox are nearing a minor league deal with Cuban second baseman Yoilan Cerse, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). Sanchez reported back in February that the former Cuban All-Star was seeking a deal with a big league club.
The 28-year-old Cerse has nine years of professional experience playing in Cuba, so given his age and experience, he’s exempt from international signing pools. It’s unclear at this time what type of signing bonus the Red Sox and Cerse are discussing. While the lack of media attention he’s received thus far would, at first glance, appear to indicate that he’s in line for a minimal bonus, that may not be the case. The Dodgers signed right-hander Pablo Fernandez to a minor league deal in March, and, despite having received little fanfare in the U.S. media, Fernandez landed a hefty $8MM bonus.
Cerse, a 5’9″, 172-pound right-handed hitter is a career .325/.395/.468 hitter in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. He never posted particularly gaudy home run or stolen base totals in his Cuban career, topping out at 14 and 10, respectively. However, he showed an excellent knack for making contact, as evidenced by the fact that he walked exactly as many times as he struck out (242) over the life of 3187 plate appearances with los Indios de Guantanamo.
Middle infield depth isn’t exactly an area of need for the Red Sox, as they have Dustin Pedroia locked up long-term and Xander Bogaerts penciled in as the shortstop of the future. The presence of that duo, as well as third baseman Pablo Sandoval (five years, $95MM) did not deter the club from giving Cuban infield phenom Yoan Moncada a record-setting $31.5MM signing bonus, however. Boston appears intent on stockpiling talent throughout the organization — even in areas that aren’t an obvious need — which could benefit them down the line in future trade scenarios.
Phillies Outright Dustin McGowan
The Phillies announced this afternoon that they’ve outrighted Dustin McGowan to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The move will clear space on the 25-man roster for the promotion of Maikel Franco, and it also, of course, clears a spot on the 40-man roster, reducing the current total to 39.
The 33-year-old McGowan signed with the Phillies late in Spring Training after being cut loose by the Dodgers. He’s struggled to a 5.79 ERA in 14 innings with the Phils, however, with the most troubling part about his performance being an eye-popping 16 walks in those 14 frames. McGowan has battled slight control issues in the past, but never anything of this magnitude.
That McGowan was outrighted means that he’s already cleared waivers. The Phillies, then, opted to immediately place McGowan on waivers as opposed to designate the righty for assignment.
Phillies Promote Maikel Franco
The Phillies announced this morning that they’ve recalled top prospect Maikel Franco from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, giving the power-hitting third baseman a second crack at the Majors after struggling in a late-season debut in 2014. Franco, 22, rated as Baseball America’s No. 56 prospect this offseason, also ranking 55th on MLB.com’s Top 100 and 96th on the Top 101 of Baseball Prospectus.
The Phillies seem intent on giving Franco a shot to become their everyday third baseman, as Cody Asche has already been sent down to Triple-A to work on transitioning to the outfield. That move, as well as Franco’s hefty .355/.384/.539 batting line in 33 Triple-A games helped pave the way for what seems to be a more serious look than the one he received in 2014. Last September, Franco split time Asche at third and with Ryan Howard at first, ultimately hitting just .179/.190/.214 in 16 contests.
Perhaps most interesting about Franco’s promotion, however, is the service time implication that comes along with it. The Cubs’ handling of Kris Bryant in Spring Training this season spurred a good deal of controversy, but the Phillies have effectively taken the same route with Franco. Last September, Franco accrued 27 days of Major League service time in his September cup of coffee. That service time means that he’d have needed just 145 days of service this season to reach the 172 days necessary to be credited with a full year of service time. The Phillies have, likely not in coincidental fashion, promoted Franco at a time when there are only 144 days of the regular season remaining. That means that he, like Bryant, will fall one day shy of a full year of service. Because of that, the earliest that Franco could be eligible for free agency would be following the 2021 season.
GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and the Phillies, of course, aren’t acknowledge that reasoning — no team would openly do so. In a similar manner to the way in which the Cubs’ front office sidestepped the service time factor, Amaro said of today’s promotion: “This was a baseball decision based on Maikel’s development and performance. We believe he is ready for the next step.”
That the Phillies waited to ensure they could delay Franco’s free agency is telling about their hopes for this promotion, however. Clearly, the Phillies believe that Franco is capable of holding down third base long-term; they’ve moved Asche to another position and, if they weren’t serious about this promotion being a long-term move, the service time considerations likely wouldn’t have factored so heavily into their thinking.
It’ll be interesting to see if Franco’s case generates anywhere near the level of drama that Bryant’s case did in late March/early April. That level of controversy admittedly seems unlikely, but Franco’s case nonetheless serves as another example that this type of service time manipulation is a relatively common practice when it comes to the game’s most highly regarded prospects. Looking at the view through the Phillies’ lens, one can hardly blame the team for being willing to give up 40 games of Franco in a rebuilding season in order to control him for an additional year (2021) when they hope to be in a better spot to contend.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Moves: Fox, Cooper, Jimenez, Swarzak
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- Infielder Jake Fox has agreed to a deal with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization, Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net reports (via Twitter). Fox was playing for the Blue Jays‘ Double-A affiliate after signing a minor league deal with Toronto during the offseason, and Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that the Jays released Fox to facilitate his move to KBO. Fox last played in the majors in 2011 and has since bounced around between the minors, independent leagues and Mexican leagues.
- ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports (via Twitter) that the Mets have signed former Blue Jays and Indians first baseman David Cooper to a minor league deal. Cooper, a former first-round pick, was batting .273/.351/.394 in 18 games for the independent Lancaster BarnStormers when the Mets brought him on board. He’ll serve as a depth piece for the organization and has been assigned to Double-A Binghamton, according to Rubin.
- Infielder Luis Jimenez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A by the Red Sox, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Jimenez, 27, received just one plate appearance with Boston and has 17 on the year between the Sox and Brewers. He’s a career .217/.253/.268 batter in 168 trips to the plate but has authored an impressive .295/.327/.485 triple slash in 287 Triple-A games throughout his minor league career — all in the Angels’ system.
- Right-hander Anthony Swarzak has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus after clearing waivers, the Indians announced (on Twitter). Cleveland designated Swarzak for assignment when they needed a 40-man roster spot for Bruce Chen. The DFA was somewhat of a surprise, given that Swarzak has produced excellent results this season after signing a minor league deal this winter. The long-time Twins swingman has tossed 13 1/3 innings, yielding five earned runs for a 3.38 ERA. Swarzak did surrender 18 hits, but those knocks come as a result of a .395 BABIP. The 29-year-old punched out 13 hitters against just three unintentional walks with the Indians and averaged 92.2 mph on his heater. Swarzak’s uptick in strikeouts may be the result of his conversion to a two-pitch pitcher, as he’s thrown nothing but four-seamers and sliders in 2015, jettisoning a two-seamer, his curve and a rarely used changeup.
Blue Jays, Luke Scott Agree To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays have signed first baseman/outfielder Luke Scott to a minor league contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The Page Odle/PSI Sports Management client will report to Triple-A tomorrow, he adds.
Scott, 36, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since a 2013 stint with the Rays. He spent part of the 2014 season playing with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, slashing an impressive .267/.392/.505 with six homers in 33 games. He opened the season in the Mexican League, enjoying similar success with a .292/.400/.519 batting line and seven bombs in 28 games.
At his best, Scott would offer plus left-handed power and a keen eye that resulted in healthy walk rates. He’s a career .258/.340/.481 hitter in 3193 big league plate appearances, with his most impressive work coming from 2006-10 with the Astros and Orioles, when he posted a 126 OPS+, indicating that he was 26 percent better than a league-average hitter after accounting for park factors.
Scott was never known for his defense, but both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved give him slightly positive marks for his career work in left field. Of course, it seems doubtful that he’d still be capable of playing an average or better corner outfield. Even in his 2013 stint with Tampa, he logged just 21 innings in the outfield, and he hasn’t seen any significant Major League time there since 2011 with Baltimore. Presumably, Scott will hope to slug his way to the big league roster and stick as a bench bat, or part-time DH/first baseman. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where he hits well enough to challenge Justin Smoak for his spot on the roster.
Rangers Designate Stolmy Pimentel For Assignment
The Rangers have purchased the contract of left-hander Sam Freeman from Triple-A Round Rock and designated right-handed reliever Stolmy Pimentel for assignment, executive VP of communications John Blake announced (on Twitter).
The 25-year-old Pimentel has worked to a 3.97 ERA with a 7-to-3 K/BB ratio in his 11 1/3 innings with the Rangers since being claimed off waivers from the Pirates. Despite the lack of punchouts, Pimentel sports a swinging-strike rate of 10.9 percent this season and 12.9 percent in his career — both of which are considerably higher than the league average of about nine percent. He’s also racked up a 48.6 percent ground-ball rate and averaged 92 mph on his heater (though that mark is admittedly down from his 2014 average of 93.3 mph), making him a relatively intriguing bullpen piece for teams looking for middle relief help.
In a small sample of work this season, Pimentel has showed a pronounced platoon split, yielding a .443 OPS to righties but a 1.071 OPS to lefties (again — in just 14 plate appearances). His splits have been less notable throughout his brief, 53 1/2 inning Major League career, however. I’d imagine that Pimentel will generate some interest from other clubs in the 10-day window that Texas has to trade him or attempt to outright him to Triple-A.
Giants, Tommy Hanson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants have signed right-hander Tommy Hanson to a minor league contract, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The former Braves and Angels right-hander is a client of the Legacy Agency.
Hanson, now 28, once ranked among baseball’s top pitching prospects and briefly looked the part of a budding ace in Atlanta prior to succumbing to injuries. Hanson finished third in the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year voting, and between the ’09-’10 campaigns, he worked to a stellar 3.16 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate just north of 41 percent.
Shoulder problems began to plague Hanson in the 2011 season, however, and a Spring Training car accident in 2012 also resulted in a concussion. The Braves would ultimately flip Hanson to the Angels in exchange for setup man/closer Jordan Walden after Hanson worked to a 4.48 ERA with significantly diminished velocity in 2012.
The 73 innings that Hanson tossed in an Angels uniform in 2013 were the last he’s thrown in the Majors. Since that time, he’s signed minor league pacts with the Rangers and White Sox but has not surfaced at the Major League level. He may have a chance to do just that with San Francisco, if he can prove healthy, as the Giants have been beset by injuries to this point in the 2015 season.
Matt Cain has spent the entire season on the disabled list to this point, and Jake Peavy has been sidelined as well. The Giants have primarily relied on Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong and Chris Heston in their rotation. Vogelsong, however, has posted just a 5.67 ERA, while Lincecum’s somewhat surprising success has come in spite of an average of 87.5 mph on his heater. The Giants, of course, also have swingman Yusmeiro Petit as a potential rotation reinforcement, should further need arise.