Rockies, Pirates Swap Right-Handers Scahill, Carle
The Rockies announced that they have traded right-hander Rob Scahill to the Pirates in exchange for fellow righty Shane Carle. The Rockies designated Scahill for assignment last week.
Scahill, 27, totaled a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings with the Rockies this season and has pitched to a 4.42 ERA in 57 frames with the Rockies over the past three years. He’s averaged 5.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in the Majors while featuring solid life on his fastball — an average of 94.4 mph.
The Pirates selected Carle in the 10th round (299th overall) of the 2013 draft. At the time, Baseball America wrote (subscription required and recommended) that he’d previously run his heater up to 94 mph with good sink, but that velocity declined in his final college season before being drafted. He throws from a three-quarter arm slot, per BA, with a fringy slurve and changeup. Carle has pitched well in two seasons with the Pirates organization, though he’s also a college arm that has only been tested against Class-A pitching, so the numbers may be a bit deceiving. Still, he’s posted a 3.26 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 in 187 2/3 innings as a professional.
Cardinals Sign Dean Anna To Major League Deal
The Cardinals have signed 27-year-old infielder Dean Anna to a Major League contract, reports Chad Jennings of LoHud.com (via Twitter).
Anna made his big league debut in 2014 with the Yankees, appearing in 12 games and totaling 25 plate appearances. He batted .136/.200/.318 with his first Major League homer in that time, and he also picked up an inning on the mound when he spared the Yankee bullpen by pitching an inning in a 16-1 blowout (he allowed two runs on three hits — no walks though!).
Anna is capable of playing shortstop, second base, third base and the corner outfield spots, having logged at least 50 games at each of those spots in the minors. He has an excellent track record at Triple-A, where he’s a lifetime .296/.385/.432 hitter in 823 plate appearances.
Mets Sign Michael Cuddyer
3:29pm: Cuddyer’s contract is a two-year, $21MM pact, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that he’ll earn $8.5MM in 2015 and $12.5MM in 2016. Essentially, by turning down the qualifying offer, Cuddyer guaranteed himself an additional $5.7MM and a second year.
2:40pm: The Mets announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Michael Cuddyer to a two-year contract.
Cuddyer, a client of Excel Sports Management’s Casey Close, was the surprise recipient of a qualifying offer last week that caused many to believe that he would be the first to accept the offer. However, Colorado’s decision to extend the QO appears to have been a wise one, as they’ll now net a draft pick at the end of next year’s first round for their loss. The Mets, on the other hand, will forfeit the 15th pick in next year’s draft in order to bring Cuddyer to Queens.
Cuddyer, 36 in March, has long been rumored to be a target of the Mets, although last week’s QO from the Rockies was said at the time to kill their interest in 35-year-old free agent. Clearly, that was either posturing on the Mets’ behalf or something in their thinking changed. He’ll join the Mets’ outfield alongside Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson and add some punch to the middle of manager Terry Collins’ order.
The signing also allows the Mets to play Cuddyer at first base against left-handed pitching, should the team wish to platoon Lucas Duda, who is a career .212/.292/.317 hitter against southpaws. Cuddyer, on the other hand, has feasted on left-handed pitching in his career, hitting them at a .291/.378/.504 clip. Cuddyer also has extensive experience at first base.
Cuddyer is coming off a strong three-year stretch with the Rockies, and while many will point to Coors Field as a large reason for his gaudy numbers, he hit well away from the Denver launching pad as well. Cuddyer hit .307/.362/.505 as a Rockie and batted .286/.332/.463 on the road during that time. He took home the NL Batting Title in 2013 and batted .331/.385/.543 over the past two seasons. However, a trio of DL stints limited him to 49 games in 2014. Cuddyer had a hamstring strain in each of his legs and also suffered a fracture in his shoulder suffered in a dive for a ball while playing away from his natural position at third base.
From a financial standpoint, Cuddyer’s $8.5MM 2015 salary would appear to eat up a significant portion of the payroll that the Mets have moving forward. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin noted last month that if the team made a free agent signing that pushed the payroll north of $100MM, a corresponding trade could be made to offset the increase. The Mets could move some salary by trading a veteran such as Bartolo Colon, Daniel Murphy or Jon Niese. Colon may not bring a huge return, given his $11MM salary, but moving either Murphy or Niese would likely return some legitimate talent while simultaneously dropping the club’s payroll. Murphy is projected by MLBTR contibutor Matt Swartz to earn $8.3MM, while Niese is guaranteed a $7MM salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Braves Sign Zoilo Almonte To Major League Deal
The Braves announced that they’ve signed outfielder Zoilo Almonte to a one-year, Major League contract. The team also officially announced its minor league deal with Chien-Ming Wang and added that they’ve signed lefty Donnie Veal to a minor league contract. Both Wang and Veal receive invites to Spring Training.
Almonte, 25, has seen previous big league action with the Yankees in parts of two Major League seasons. He’s batted .211/242/.282 in 149 total plate appearances in the bigs, but his Triple-A track record is far better. In 173 games at that level, Almonte has authored a .275/.333/.431 triple-slash line. He has more than 100 games of experience at each outfield spot in the minor leagues, though he’s spent more time in the corners, specifically right field, than in center.
Minor Moves: Jurrjens, Wang, Delcarmen, Burriss
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- Baseball America’s Matt Eddy has published his latest round of Minor League Transactions, and within the piece he notes that the Rockies have re-signed Jair Jurrjens to a minor league deal. Additionally, the Royals have re-signed Cuban lefty Noel Arguelles, Jordan Norberto re-signed with the Rays and Russ Canzler is back with the Phillies. Each of these is a minor league deal.
- The Braves have signed right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (on Twitter). The Braves are known to be seeking rotation depth, and Wang should provide just that. The former Yankee totaled 172 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level in 2014, posting a 4.12 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 57 walks.
- The Nationals have re-signed right-hander Manny Delcarmen and infielder Emmanuel Burriss to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson (Twitter links). Burriss, 30 in January, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2012 but batted .300/.377/.412 in 510 Triple-A plate appearances for the Nats this past season. The 32-year-old Delcarmen hasn’t seen big league action since 2010, but he, too, had a strong season at Triple-A Syracuse for the Nats in 2014. Delcarmen posted a 3.13 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings of relief.
Angels Avoid Arbitration With Vinnie Pestano
11:34am: Pestano’s deal is worth $1.15MM, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter). MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had pegged him for a $1.2MM salary.
11:24am: The Angels announced that they have avoided arbitration with right-hander Vinnie Pestano by agreeing to a one-year contract for the 2015 season.
Pestano, a client of the Legacy Agency’s Greg Genske, was acquired by the Halos in August after the team claimed him from the Indians on revocable trade waivers. The 29-year-old had to be excited by the move, as it allowed him a chance to pitch in his hometown. Pestano, an Anaheim-area native, impressed in a short sample with the Angels, allowing just one run on five hits and four walks in 9 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts. Formerly a wipeout setup man for the Indians, his stock dropped in Cleveland prior to the trade. However, he still owns an excellent 2.83 ERA with 10.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 191 big league innings.
Minor Moves: Sands, Belnome, De Los Santos
Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around MLB:
- Outfielder Jerry Sands has elected free agency rather than accept his outright assignment to Triple-A by the Rays, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The 27-year-old played just 12 games for the Rays last season (.190/.227/.333 in 22 plate appearances) before being sidelined by wrist surgery in July.
- Within the same tweet, Topkin reports the Rays have outrighted infielder Vince Belnome to Triple-A. The 26-year-old was designated for assignment, along with Sands, last Monday. Belnome, who made his MLB debut with the Rays in 2014 with 14 plate appearances in four games, has spent the past three seasons in Triple-A, but posted his worst slash at that level this year (.245/.358/.383 in 492 plate appearances).
- The Brewers have released left-hander Miguel De Los Santos, according to the team’s transactions page. The Brewers claimed the 26-year-old off waivers from the Rangers two years ago, but he never threw a pitch for the organization because of shoulder surgery and visa issues. Baseball America ranked De Los Santos 29th among Texas prospects before the 2012 season with the best changeup in the Rangers’ system.
- Eric Stults (Padres), Donn Roach (Padres), Rob Scahill (Rockies), and Roger Kieschnick (Angels) are the players remaining in DFA limbo, per MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Yankees Re-Sign Chris Young
SUNDAY: The Yankees have officially announced the deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets Young can earn $6.325MM if he achieves all of his incentives.
SATURDAY: Pending a physical, the Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $2.5MM deal with free agent outfielder Chris Young, tweets Sweeny Murti of WFAN. Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish was the first to report the contract length, while Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter) was the first with the value. The contract also contains incentives which are unknown at this time. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (also Twitter), the offer was originally extended by the Yankees nearly a month ago. Per Nightengale, he could earn nearly $5MM if he’s a regular in the lineup.
As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd wrote yesterday, Young struggled with the Mets to the tune of .205/.283/.346 over 287 plate appearances. After latching on with the Yankees, Young improved his production with a .282/.354/.521 in only 79 plate appearances. Beyond noting the small sample performance, Young’s time in the Bronx carries several warning signs related to his batted ball profile and swinging strike rate. It would be hasty to suggest he made lasting improvements with the Yankees.
It is presumed Young will serve in a backup capacity behind Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and Carlos Beltran. That trio has quite the injury history, so it is possible he’ll see frequent action. The 31-year-old’s last successful season was in 2012 when he posted a .231/.311/.434 line with 10 UZR. Since then, he’s posted 0.4 WAR in two consecutive seasons, marking him as slightly better than replacement level.
Pending further moves, the right-handed Young can probably expect to see time against tough lefty pitchers since both Ellsbury and Gardner bat left-handed. Beltran could also spend considerable time as the designated hitter, especially if Alex Rodriguez is unable to contribute.
Angels Sign Jeremy McBryde, Designate Roger Kieschnick
The Angels have signed righty Jeremy McBryde to a major league deal, the club announced on Twitter. He will make the MLB minimum salary, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, outfielder Roger Kieschnick has been designated for assignment.
McBryde, 27, has yet to crack the big leagues after eight years of minor league action. He spent his first seven campaigns with the Padres before joining the Athletics last year, advancing to Triple-A for the first time. He was impressive at that level, tossing 65 innings of 2.22 ERA ball and posting 9.1 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. As Angels director of communications Eric Kay points out on Twitter, McBryde was largely unhittable for right-handed batters last year, striking out 46 and walking just three of the 135 he faced.
Kieschnick, meanwhile, is a 27-year-old who slashed .260/.317/.461 last year at Triple-A for the Diamondbacks and owns a career .847 OPS at that level. The left-handed-swinging Kieschnick has 136 plate appearances over the last two years in the big leagues, but did not do much in that limited sample. The Halos claimed him exactly one month ago, but apparently found a better use for his 40-man spot in McBryde.
Pirates Claim Jake Elmore
The Pirates have claimed infielder Jake Elmore off waivers from the Reds, the teams have announced.
The 27-year-old Elmore went to Spring Training with the A’s last season but wound up being claimed off waivers by the Reds in August. He picked up 12 plate appearances over five games with Cincinnati and is a lifetime. .221/.288/.291 hitter in 221 plate appearances at the big league level.
Elmore spent most of last season at the Triple-A level where he batted .281/.376/.345. He’s a lifetime .313/.407/.422 hitter in 1136 plate appearances at the Triple-A level and holds the distinction of having appeared at all nine positions on the diamond with the Astros’ Major League team over the course of the 2013 season, including an evening where he appeared as a pitcher and a catcher in the same game (Aug. 19, 2013).