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.
Angels Extend Huston Street
The Angels have agreed to a two-year extension with closer Huston Street that includes a club option for 2018, the club announced. The deal guarantees Street $18MM, including a $1MM buyout on the option year, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
Street had been representing himself in negotiations, but brought on agent Alan Hendricks to handle talks when the season started. He was set to reach the open market after the season, but will instead be controlled through his age-34 campaign. The option is valued at $10MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link). Street will earn approximately $8MM next year and $9MM in 2017, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter).
Street, 31, has long been a quality back-end arm, though his flawless early start to the year has given way to a few less-than-perfect outing of late. On the year, he owns a 3.29 ERA with an excellent 9.9 K/9 against a somewhat uncharacteristic 3.3 BB/9.
All said, Street has produced as expected since coming to the Halos via trade last year. In 2014, between the Padres and Angels, Street worked to a 1.37 ERA over 59 1/3 frames, striking out 8.6 and walking 2.1 batters per nine in the process.
Never highly reliant on velocity, Street has maintained his average fastball in the upper eighties in recent seasons. Though he has missed a few games here and there with minor issues in the last few seasons, Street has not been troubled of late with the arm issues that cropped up at times earlier in his career.
The contract looks to be a solid investment for a Los Angeles club that has benefited greatly from Street’s presence in the 9th inning. It lines up rather closely with the two-year, $18MM contract agreed to by the Red Sox and Koji Uehara just before he would have reached free agency last fall. Street is much younger, albeit somewhat less dominant in terms of his strikeout history, and also gives a potentially useful option to Los Angeles.
Street and the Angels have long been said to be discussing an extension, and it seemed as if the groundwork was laid for a deal to get done. While it is probably too much to say that the recent Josh Hamilton deal spurred this investment, it certainly did not hurt that the Halos were able to clear some space under the luxury tax going forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Claim Preston Guilmet, Place Drew Smyly On 60-Day DL
The Rays have announced that the team claimed righty Preston Guilmet off waivers from the Blue Jays (via Matt Stein of Sports Talk Florida, Twitter links). To create a 40-man roster spot, Tampa moved lefty Drew Smyly to the 60-day DL.
Guilmet was designated by Toronto on Sunday in a roster shuffle. He had worked at the Triple-A level this year, posting a 1.26 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. In the majors last year with the Orioles, Guilmet struck out twelve and walked only two in 10 1/3 innings, but surrendered six earned runs in the process.
The most impactful element of this news, of course, is the fact that Smyly is now confirmed to miss significant time with his shoulder injury. Indeed, the club says that Smyly has a torn labrum. Surgery is not yet inevitable, as a rehab option is still being explored.
Acquired last summer as a critical piece of the David Price deal, Smyly has been excellent for Tampa when healthy — he owns a 2.70 ERA with 11.3 K/9 against just 1.6 BB/9 over 16 1/3 thus far in 2015. But a labrum tear is a major concern for his future value, whether or not he goes under the knife. Just 25, Smyly took home a $2.65MM salary as a Super Two this year and comes with three seasons of future control via arbitration.
Minor Moves: Brignac, Kensing, Forsythe, Beltre
Here are today’s minor moves:
- Infielder Reid Brignac has accepted the Marlins‘ assignment to Triple-A, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Brignac could instead have elected free agency upon being outrighted. The 29-year-old produced a hit and three walks in 17 MLB turns at bat this year. He owns a .219/.266/.310 slash over 922 career plate appearances at the major league level.
- Righty Logan Kensing has signed a minor league deal with the Mariners, the club announced. Kensing, 32, worked to a 3.58 ERA last year in 88 frames at Triple-A Tacoma, registering 8.1 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9. Despite a single appearance with the Rockies in 2013, Kensing has not seen regular big league action since back in 2009. All said, he owns a 5.79 earned run average over his 161 2/3 innings in the majors.
- Catcher Blake Forsythe is headed from the Athletics to the Phillies via trade, per Nashville Sounds broadcaster Jeff Hem (via Twitter; h/t Matt Rappa of Philliedelphia.com). The 25-year-old reached the Triple-A level for the first time this year after spending each of the last two seasons at the Double-A level with the Mets and then A’s organizations. He figures to provide organizational depth behind the dish for a club that is proceeding cautiously with former top prospect Tommy Joseph, who is being monitored for concussion symptoms.
- The White Sox have released outfielder Engel Beltre, according to a tweet from Triple-A Charlotte. Beltre, 25, signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the winter. He had risen to the major league level in 2013, earning 42 plate appearances after putting up solid-enough numbers (for a speedy center fielder) in the upper minors in 2012-13. But Beltre was sidetracked by a broken leg last year, and was off to a slow start (.234/.268/.312) at Charlotte.
Braves To Sign Wil Nieves
1:24pm: The deal includes a July 1 opt-out date, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets.
11:21am: Catcher Wil Nieves has agreed to a minor league deal with the Braves, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports on Twitter. Nieves opened the year as the Padres’ backup receiver, but elected to become a free agent rather than accepting an outright assignment with the club.
Nieves, 37, contributed just one hit and one walk in 14 plate appearances before being designated by San Diego. Obviously, he never received much of a chance to make an impact, with Derek Norris receiving the lion’s share of the playing time while the club waited to see whether prospect Austin Hedges was ready. Hedges, of course, displaced Nieves.
Over a dozen seasons of big league action, Nieves owns a .241/.280/.317 slash. Nieves, who has averaged just over 100 plate appearances per season in his time in the bigs, has obviously been valued more for his defense. Last year, he rated as one of the better overall defenders, according to Baseball Prospectus.
Reds Claim Ryan Mattheus From Angels
The Reds have claimed righty Ryan Mattheus off waivers from the Angels, Cincinnati announced. Los Angeles had designated him for assignment yesterday.
Mattheus, 31, made a single appearance at the big league level for the Halos after joining the organization on a minor league deal. While it is hard to learn much from one appearance, Mattheus worked at or above his usual two-seam fastball velocity (between 93 and 94 mph). He had a nice run to start the year at Triple-A, tossing 12 2/3 frames over which he permitted just four earned runs and registered 12 outs on strikes while not issuing a single unintentional walk.
The Reds have, of course, had rather pronounced bullpen struggles, and will hope that Mattheus can add some quality innings of middle relief. He proved a useful arm for several seasons with the Nationals, working to a 2.84 ERA over 98 1/3 innings from 2011-12. Though his results have declined since, and he missed some time with injuries, metrics suggest that he was much the same pitcher.
Mattheus, known most for his sinker and strong groundball induction rates, will of course require a 40-man roster spot, though the Reds appear to have an opening already. Cincinnati recently designated veteran righty Kevin Gregg after his difficult start to the year
Minor Moves: Lendy Castillo, Anthony Varvaro
We’ll keep up with the minor moves of the day in this post:
- The Rangers have signed right-hander Lendy Castillo to a minor league pact, reports the Dallas Morning News’ Gerry Fraley (Castillo’s mention is at the bottom of his post). The 26-year-old Castillo tossed 16 innings of relief for the 2012 Cubs, yielding 14 runs with 13 strikeouts against 12 walks. He spent last year with Chicago’s Double-A affiliate, posting a 3.95 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 41 innings. However, Castillo was old for the level and also mixed in an alarming 39 walks. He hasn’t had such pronounced control problems in the past, however, so the Rangers will hope to be able to help him rediscover the ability to throw strikes while maintaining his proclivity for whiffing batters.
- Righty Anthony Varvaro has cleared outright waivers and is expected to be assigned to the Cubs‘ Triple-A affiliate, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Varvaro figures to take up residence as a handy depth option for Chicago, which recently called upon fellow former Braves reliever James Russell after he took a stint in Iowa. In his case, the 30-year-old Varvaro had worked to a 4.09 ERA in 11 frames early in the season with the Red Sox. While that is hardly dominant run prevention, and his 4.9 BB/9 were less than promising, Varvaro has put up good results with solid peripherals over the last several years and is a nice arm to have stashed.
Angels Designate Ryan Mattheus For Assignment
The Angels announced (on Twitter) that they have designated right-handed reliever Ryan Mattheus for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, whose contract has been purchased from Triple-A Salt Lake.
The 31-year-old Mattheus tossed just one inning for the Angels this season, striking out a pair and also walking one in that lone frame. He inked a minor league deal with the Angels this offseason and missed out on making the club in Spring Training. However, Mattheus pitched quite well in 12 2/3 innings with Salt Lake, yielding four earned runs (2.84 ERA) with 12 strikeouts against just one unintentional walk.
Mattheus is no stranger to the Major Leagues, as the former 19th-rounder spent the better part of three season as a member of the Nationals’ bullpen, working to a 3.60 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 142 1/3 innings with Washington. He likely didn’t do his future with the Nats any favors by spending a significant chunk of time on the disabled list in 2013 with a fractured hand that was injured when punched a locker following a poor performance.
That regrettable incident notwithstanding, Mattheus sports a fastball that sits around 93 mph and has racked up a solid 52.2 percent ground-ball rate in his career. The Angels will likely hope that he clears outright waivers and can remain in the organization to serve as a depth piece down the line.
Red Sox Designate Luis Jimenez
The Red Sox have designated infielder Luis Jimenez for assignment, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. His roster spot was needed for the activation of Shane Victorino.
Jimenez received just one turn at bat after being claimed off waivers from the Brewers. With Milwaukee, he registered one hit and one walk over 16 plate appearances.
All said, the 27-year-old has not logged much time at the MLB level, this year or in the past. But over 1,236 Triple-A plate appearances, Jimenez owns a useful .295/.327/.485 slash.
Minor Moves: Javy Guerra, Reid Brignac
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- White Sox right-hander Javy Guerra has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte, reports Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (via Twitter). Guerra was designated for assignment last week and outrighted over the weekend, but he had the option of rejecting the outright assignment in favor of free agency. Instead, he’ll suit up with the Knights in hopes of soon receiving another opportunity in the big league ‘pen with the ChiSox.
- The Marlins announced that utility infielder Reid Brignac has been outrighted to Triple-A New Orleans. The former top prospect has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, as he’s been outrighted in the past. With the Marlins, the 29-year-old Brignac collected a pair of base hits and three walks in 17 plate appearances — 13 of which came as a pinch-hitter. A former second-round pick, Brignac was at one time a consensus Top 20 prospect in all of baseball as he rose through the ranks of the Rays organization. He’s yet to live up to that potential, though he’s still been regarded well enough to receive big league playing time in each season dating back to 2008. Capable of handling shortstop, second base and third base (in addition to a brief corner outfield cameo), Brignac is a lifetime .219/.266/.310 hitter in the Majors.