Marlins Claim Matt Tracy
The Marlins have claimed lefty Matt Tracy from the Yankees, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. They will send Tracy to Triple-A, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. To clear space on their 40-man roster, the Marlins have announced that they’ve moved Jose Fernandez to the 60-day disabled list.
The Yankees added Tracy to their roster last week to provide help after an 19-inning game against the Red Sox. He pitched two innings and allowed three runs, none earned, last Saturday, and then the Yankees designated him for assignment.
The 26-year-old Tracy pitched 150 2/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2014, posting a 3.76 ERA, 5.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. The Marlins had shown interest in Tracy before, becoming the first team to draft him when they selected him in the 43rd round in 2010. The Yankees made him their 24th-round pick the following year.
Minor Moves: White Sox, Indians
Here’s a look at today’s minor moves..
- The White Sox signed right-hander Euclides Leyer, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). The White Sox had Leyer in their system for five years before losing him to the Reds in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In 34 appearances for the team’s Advanced-A team, Leyer pitched to a 4.53 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.
- The Indians signed minor league pitcher Perci Garner, according to Eddy (link). Garner, 26, was a former second-round choice of the Phillies but was never able to produce consistently in their farm system.
Dodgers Claim Daniel Corcino, Designate Ryan Dennick
The Dodgers announced today that they have claimed right-hander Daniel Corcino off waivers from the Reds and designated lefty Ryan Dennick for assignment. Strangely, the Dodgers had just claimed Dennick off waivers from the Reds two days ago.
The 24-year-old Corcino formerly ranked as one of Cincinnati’s top 10 prospects, according to Baseball America, but his career hasn’t taken off the way that the Reds had hoped. Though Corcino made his Major League debut last season, posting a 4.34 ERA with a 15-to-10 K/BB ratio in 18 2/3 innings, he never built on the strong 2011-12 Minor League numbers he compiled.
Corcino entered the 2013 season ranked as the No. 94 prospect on BA’s Top 100 list, but he posted a surprising 5.86 ERA that year with 6.3 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in his first taste of Triple-A. His numbers in 2014 were better, but not markedly so, and his control remained a bit troubling. BA’s scouting reports as Corcino rose through the system noted that he had some effort to his delivery and struggled to command his secondary offerings. Corcino will head to Double-A with the Dodgers, who will hope that they can work with him to refine his control and make the most of a still-youthful reclamation project.
Rays Sign J.P. Arencibia To Minor League Deal
The Rays have signed catcher J.P. Arencibia to a Minor League contract, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The veteran Arencibia, a client of CAA Sports, will head to the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham, per Topkin.
The 29-year-old Arencibia was outrighted by the Rangers last winter and elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to the Minors. He originally inked a Minors pact with the Orioles, but Baltimore cut him loose last week when he had previously been expected to join their Triple-A affiliate. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that Arencibia preferred not to head to Triple-A with Baltimore, as the O’s have a significant amount of catching depth already in their organization.
The same cannot necessarily be said of the Rays, who are currently relying on a tandem of Rene Rivera and Bobby Wilson behind the plate, with Curt Casali as the top option at the Triple-A level. Arencibia has more big league service time than any of those catching options, even Rivera, and will give Tampa a depth option with significant power but difficulty managing his strikeouts and getting on base.
Arencibia, once considered one of baseball’s top prospects, was the Blue Jays’ regular catcher from 2011-13, averaging 21 homers per season and 28 per 162 games played. However, his OBP dropped regularly in that stretch, bottoming out at an alarming .227 in 2013. Arencibia also saw his strikeout rate climb from 27.4 percent to 29 percent to 29.8 percent over that three-year stretch. He joined the Rangers last season and saw some time at first base but did little to pick up his offensive game.
From a defensive standpoint, Arencibia has been just a tick below average in controlling the running game (26 percent caught-stealing rate) and steadily improved his pitch framing. He graded above average in that latter skill in 2013 and average in 2014.
Blue Jays Designate Todd Redmond For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Todd Redmond for assignment, as per a team press release. Infielder Ryan Goins has been recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move.
Redmond had gotten off to a rough start in 2015, posting a 16.62 ERA in 4 1/3 innings of work, allowing five walks to four strikeouts in that brief stretch. Originally claimed off waivers from the Orioles in March 2013, Redmond posted league-average numbers for Toronto as a fill-in starter in 2013 and then was a solid relief arm (3.24 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 2.22 K/BB rate) over 75 innings for the Jays last season. He held right-handed batters to a .242/.287/.360 slash line last year, though lefty batters had a much heftier .834 OPS against Redmond.
As per the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker, Redmond is one of three players currently in ‘limbo,’ along with the Nationals’ Xavier Cedeno and the Yankees’ Matt Tracy.
Angels Select Adam Wilk’s Contract
Here are the latest minor transactions from around baseball, with the newest moves at the top of the post…
- Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Angels announced that they selected the contract of left-hander Adam Wilk from Triple-A. In corresponding moves, Los Angeles sent righty Drew Rucinski to Triple-A to create a 25-man roster spot and moved lefty Tyler Skaggs to the 60-man DL to create a 40-man roster spot. Wilk pitched two innings for the Halos last night, his first taste of MLB action since 2012 when he was a member of the Tigers. Wilk pitched in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2013 and for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in 2014.
Diamondbacks Promote Yasmany Tomas
The Diamondbacks have called up recent Cuban signee Yasmany Tomas from Triple-A, the club announced. Tomas had opened the season in the upper minors despite inking a six-year, $68.5MM contract to join Arizona over the offseason.
Of course, Tomas is just 24 years of age and never really settled on a defensive position over the spring, making his early-season demotion more than understandable. While he did not do much with the 23 plate appearances he saw at the Triple-A level, Tomas also got over 70 plate appearances in the spring to prepare him for the season.
Tomas has shown largely the skillset that was expected: he has immense power, but may not reach base at a productive clip. He seems to be capable of hitting big league pitching, though precisely how well remains to be seen. Baseball America listed him as the game’s 57th overall prospect based largely on his bat, noting the possibility that he’ll strike out a lot, though BA is also fairly bullish on his ability to be an average player in other respects.
The real question, it would seem, is defense. An experimental effort to play him at third did not look very promising over the spring, and fellow youngster Jake Lamb has hit his way into playing time there. First base is a non-starter with Paul Goldschmidt installed. The likeliest scenario, then, is that Tomas will play in the corner outfield, though it remains to be seen how much time he’ll get there with Mark Trumbo, David Peralta, and Ender Inciarte all in the mix.
With the move, Tomas’s service clock will start in time for him to compile a full year of MLB service in 2015. Of course, that likely will not mean much to him. Tomas is under contract through at least 2018 and possibly through 2020, as his contract contains an opt-out clause after four seasons. It’s theoretically possible, then, that Tomas could end up in an arbitration scenario, though it does seem rather unlikely.
Regardless, the timing of the move seems odd, as the D-Backs have said that they would prefer Tomas see regular playing time in the upper minors before ascending. Though it is possible that he will see consistent action in the big leagues, that will send someone else to the bench — presumably Peralta or Inciarte.
For the Diamondbacks, the allure of a lineup including the right-handed power of Tomas, Trumbo and Goldschmidt is easy to understand, but that lineup would likely lead to a defensive alignment featuring Trumbo and Tomas manning the outfield corners. A.J. Pollock‘s defensive wizardry in center field notwithstanding, that outfield defense would likely serve as a significant hindrance to an already questionable pitching staff.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dodgers Claim Ryan Dennick, Designate David Huff
The Dodgers have claimed lefty Ryan Dennick off waivers from the Reds, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. Los Angeles has designated David Huff to clear roster space for the move.
Dennick, 28, has only minimal experience at the big league level. He struggled through the 4 2/3 innings he saw last season, allowing six earned runs, including two long balls, and walking four batters while only retiring three by way of strikeout. But Dennick was solid last year at Triple-A. Over 50 frames, he put up a 2.34 ERA while striking out 7.2 and walking 3.2 batters per nine.
Huff, meanwhile, is a 30-year-old southpaw who received a spot start for Los Angeles last night. He lasted four innings, allowing four earned on seven hits and a walk while striking out a pair of Mariners hitters. Huff was actually quite effective last year after signing with the Yankees in the middle of the season, tossing 39 innings of 1.85 ERA ball for New York out of the pen.
Minor Moves: Rodriguez, Marcum, Davies, Freeman
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Yankees farmhand Wilking Rodriguez, a right-handed pitcher, has been suspended for eighty games after testing positive for a PED (Furosemide). Rodriguez made two appearances last year for the Royals in the only major league action in his career. The 25-year-old has not yet appeared for the club’s Triple-A affiliate, though he did get a few frames in big league camp this spring.
- The Indians outrighted Shaun Marcum to Triple-A, the club announced. Marcum, a veteran righty, had one outing with Cleveland before losing his roster spot. He had a nice run of success in the bigs a few years back, but has dealt with injuries in recent seasons.
- Righty Kyle Davies has been outrighted by the Yankees, the club announced. The veteran returned to the big leagues after a long absence recently, but New York dropped him from the roster after just one outing.
- The Rangers have outrighted lefty Sam Freeman, as Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Tribune tweets. Freeman was designated by Texas not long after he was acquired from the Cardinals. It could be that the Rangers had this scenario in mind all along, as Freeman will now be on stand by to provide cheap and accessible depth if and when the need arises.
Braves Release Carlos Quentin
The Braves have released outfielder Carlos Quentin, according to the team’s MLB.com transactions page. Quentin and his agents at CAA will now be able to field offers from any interested clubs.
Atlanta acquired Quentin from the Padres in the Craig Kimbrel blockbuster and promptly designated him for assignment. The Braves’ agreement to acquire Quentin boiled down to little more than financial maneuvering; his inclusion in the trade was necessary to offset some of the salary headed to the Padres with the salaries of Kimbrel and, especially, Melvin Upton Jr. The Braves will pay the 32-year-old Quentin $8MM in 2015, minus the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for as long as he’s on a new team’s active roster.
Quentin was, at one point, an All-Star and even an MVP candidate with the White Sox — he finished fifth in the 2008 voting when he belted 36 home runs — but injuries have long plagued him and reduced his ability to produce even when healthy. Quentin has appeared in just 218 games over the past three seasons, primarily due to knee problems. Those issues have caused his defense, which was never his strong suit in the first place, to deteriorate to the point where he’s best-suited for an American League club that can give him some at-bats as a designated hitter.
Teams with a need for some right-handed pop off the bench or a part-time DH figure to be interested in Quentin despite his injuries. With the exception of last year, Quentin has long posted strong numbers at the plate. From 2008-13, he batted .260/.356/.503, averaging 35 homers per 162 games played. Unfortunately for the White Sox and Padres — the two teams for which he played during that stretch — Quentin averaged just 108 games per season in those six years.