Pirates Designate Jose Tabata For Assignment
The Pirates have designated right-handed-hitting outfielder Jose Tabata for assignment, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Tabata’s struggles led to him being outrighted earlier in the year, though he made his way back to the big league roster and ultimately played in the Wild Card game.
Tabata, 26, has not lived up to the expectations that led the team to sign him to a six-year, $15MM extension in August of 2011. Over the 2012-14 seasons, he has logged only 901 plate appearances, slashing .266/.325/.375. Tabata also saw his promising early numbers on the basepaths (35 steals; 14 times caught in 2010-11) wither away (12 bags stolen, 15 times caught since).
Though Tabata’s .771 OPS in part-time duty last year raised some hope that Pittsburgh would recoup some production from its investment, he again faltered this year. Over just 186 plate appearances, he posted a meager .282/.314/.333 line.
In the end, the Pirates remain on the hook for $8.75MM over the next two years. That includes a $250K buyout for the successive club options that come with his contract. ($6.5MM for 2017, escalating by $1MM thereafter.) Though the early-career extension did not work out, neither does it constitute too serious an impediment, even to a small-payroll club like the Bucs.
Tabata’s contract has already passed through waivers once, but it is not clear that he has much of a future in Pittsburgh at this point. As things stand, the Pirates seem likely to allow Travis Snider a chance this spring to hold off youngster Gregory Polanco for the regular role, perhaps deploying a righty bat to complement those left-handed swingers. Snider, who slashed .264/.338/.438 and hit 13 home runs through 359 plate appearances, has two more seasons of arbitration eligibility remaining.
Pirates Acquire Preston Guilmet From Orioles
The Pirates have acquired minor league righty Preston Guilmet from the Orioles in exchange for cash considerations, Baltimore announced. Guilmet was recently designated for assignment by the O’s.
The 27-year-old had mixed results with Baltimore this year at the big league level. Over 10 1/3 innings, he struck out 12 against just two walks, but he also yielded six earned. The former Indians farmhand also had a cup of coffee with Cleveland. Though his earned run mark rose at Triple-A Norfolk this year, Guilmet continued to post appealing K/BB figures, striking out 10.1 and walking only 1.9 batters per nine.
As of yet, those solid minor league numbers have not yet resulted in much of a chance at the big league level. As MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth noted upon Guilmet’s DFA, that could be due to the fact that he tops out in the low 90s and is not a groundball producer.
Blue Jays Outright George Kottaras
The Blue Jays announced that they have outrighted catcher George Kottaras off the 40-man roster and officially announced the outrights of Munenori Kawasaki and Dan Johnson, both of which were made known earlier in the week.
Kottaras, 31, batted a strong .233/.351/.533 with three homers in 38 plate appearances between the Indians, Cardinals and Blue Jays this season. Two of those homers came as a member of the Indians in his first game of the season.
The journeyman catcher has always shown plus plate discipline and plus power but low batting averages, as evidenced by his .215/.326/.411 career batting line. Kottaras has struck out in 23.7 percent of his career plate appearances, but that number has jumped to 35.3 percent over the past two seasons (164 PA). Defensively speaking, he’s thrown out just 18 percent of opposing base-stealers in his career, and pitch-framing metrics haven’t been kind to him.
Kottaras and Johnson have both elected free agency, per the Blue Jays, while Kawasaki has yet to do so. Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets that Kawasaki will likely do the same thing that he did last offseason: seek a Major League deal elsewhere but return to the Blue Jays as a minor league free agent if he is unable to find one.
Octavio Dotel Retires
The man who has played for more Major League teams than anyone in history won’t be adding another to his resumé, as right-hander Octavio Dotel has decided to officially retire, reports Chris Cotillo of SB Nation’s MLB Daily Dish.
Last we heard on Dotel, the veteran reliever was looking to make a comeback in 2014, though that never wound up coming to be. Cotillo notes that Dotel tried to rehab from his most recent injury (elbow inflammation that cost him nearly all of the 2013 season) in the Dominican Republic in hopes of latching on with a new team, but the rehab was unsuccessful.
Dotel, 40, will finish his career having played for a record 13 teams in the Majors. In parts of 15 big league seasons between the Astros, Athletics, Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Mets, Rockies, Pirates, Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, Yankees and Blue Jays, Dotel compiled a 3.78 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 32.5 percent ground-ball rate. In his best seasons, Dotel averaged 94+ mph on his fastball, but he lost some of that velocity late in his career and finishes with an average of 93 mph on his heater.
Dotel never earned an All-Star nod, but he did secure a World Series ring after pitching 24 2/3 innings of 3.28 ERA ball during the regular season for the 2011 Cardinals, plus another 10 1/3 postseason frames in which he yielded three earned runs (2.61 ERA). Dotel recorded saves for nine of the 13 teams for which he played, totaling 109 in a career that earned him more than $41MM, per Baseball-Reference.com. MLBTR wishes Dotel the best of luck in his post-playing career.
Nick Punto’s 2015 Option Vests
Athletics infielder Nick Punto‘s $2.75MM option has vested, the infielder himself told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). As the switch-hitting utility man explained to Slusser, he had a fairly complicated formula that would determine whether or not the option would kick in, but he’ll indeed be back with the club next season.
Punto, who turns 37 next month, signed a one-year, $3MM contract that guaranteed him $2.75MM in 2014 in addition to a $250K buyout of the aforementioned $2.75MM option. All told, the Jeff Caulfield client will end up earning $5.5MM over his two seasons with the A’s — a figure that is in line with contracts inked by other veteran utility types such as Willie Bloomquist (two years, $5.8MM) and Skip Schumaker (two years, $5MM).
The defensively versatile Punto has never hit much, but he struggled through one of his worst offensive seasons to date in 2014, batting .207/.296/.293 in 224 plate appearances. However, he did help the A’s by logging 363 quality innings at second base, and he also filled in at shortstop (118 2/3 innings) in addition to brief cameos in right field and at third base.
Originally drafted by the Phillies, Punto was sent to the Twins along with Carlos Silva and Bobby Korecky in a trade for Eric Milton back in 2003. After a seven-year stretch with Minnesota, he’s bounced around to four other teams: the Cardinals, Red Sox, Dodgers and A’s. In 3734 career plate appearances between the six teams mentioned, Punto is a .245/.323/.323 hitter that has logged more than 2400 innings at shortstop, second base and third base with positive defensive marks at each.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rangers Designate Wilmer Font For Assignment
The Rangers have designated righty Wilmer Font for assignment, according to executive VP of communications John Blake (via Twitter). The move makes room for the club’s claim of fellow right-hander Alfredo Figaro.
Font, 24, enjoyed a cup of coffee in both 2012 and 2013, but has no substantial MLB experience. After a strong minor league campaign last year, he was somewhat less successful in 2014. Over 31 innings at Double-A, he threw to a 3.48 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.
Surgery to remove bone spurs in Font’s pitching elbow reportedly put an early end to his season. That procedure was not expected to prevent him from being ready for the coming spring.
Rangers Claim Alfredo Figaro; Brewers Outright Matt Pagnozzi
The Rangers have claimed righty Alfredo Figaro off waivers from the Brewers, Milwaukee announced via Twitter. The Brewers also outrighted catcher Matt Pagnozzi, per the release. With the moves, Milwaukee’s 40-man roster has two open spots.
Figaro, 30, threw 8 2/3 innings at the major league level for the Brewers this year, allowing seven earned runs while striking out eight and walking one. He saw much more extensive action last year, starting five games and making 25 relief appearances for Milwaukee. Over 74 total innings, Figaro registered a 4.14 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9. The righty had previously seen minimal action with the Tigers, but spent the 2011-12 seasons playing in Japan. Figaro will be controllable at the league minimum next year.
Pagnozzi, the nephew of long-time big leaguer Tom, is a 31-year-old journeyman who has yet to see more than 44 plate appearances in a given season. He has, however, seen time in parts of five MLB seasons with five different clubs. Over his eight seasons at the Triple-A level, Pagnozzi owns a .228/.306/.341 slash.
Blue Jays Outright Munenori Kawasaki, Dan Johnson
The Blue Jays have outrighted infielder Munenori Kawasaki and first baseman Dan Johnson, according to the team’s official transactions page.
Kawasaki, 33, batted .258/.327/.296 in 274 plate appearances in his second season with the Blue Jays. The Japanese infielder’s outgoing nature and quirky sense of humor have made him popular with both fans and teammates, but he hasn’t hit much in either of his two seasons in the Majors. He does grade out as a solid defender at shortstop, and both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved gave positive reviews to a small sample of work at third base this season.
The 35-year-old Johnson saw some action with Toronto this season as a replacement for the injured Adam Lind. The AL East veteran (he’s also been with the Rays, Orioles and Yankees) batted .211/.333/.342 with a homer in 48 trips to the plate. Johnson posted yet another gaudy OBP total at Triple-A, slashing .232/.381/.434 with 18 homers in 459 PA. In parts of 11 seasons at the Triple-A level, the former seventh-round pick is a .281/.401/.509 hitter, so he should be able to find a home rather easily this winter if he wishes.
White Sox Outright Frank De Los Santos
The White Sox announced that they have outrighted left-hander Frank De Los Santos to Triple-A, dropping their 40-man roster to 39 (Twitter link).
Chicago acquired the 26-year-old De Los Santos from the Rays last September in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. In his first season with the ChiSox, De Los Santos posted a 4.84 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 44 2/3 innings at Triple-A Charlotte. In parts of eight minor league seasons, the Dominican hurler has a 4.09 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 657 1/3 innings.
Many teams figure to follow suit and begin outrighting players over the coming weeks as they perform some 40-man roster maintenance to gear up for the offseason.
Mariners Designate Corey Hart For Assignment
The Mariners have re-instated Jesus Montero to their 40-man roster and designated pending free agent Corey Hart for assignment in order to make room, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter link).
Because Hart is a pending free agent, the move is a largely procedural one; he’d have been off the team’s 40-man roster following the postseason anyway and wasn’t a candidate for a qualifying offer base on a down season. The former Brewer batted just .203/.271/.319 in his lone season with the Mariners — a clear disappointment for a team that was undoubtedly hoping to have secured something closer to the .279/.343/.514 batting line he posted from 2010-12 in Milwaukee. Anything close to that production would’ve made his $6MM base salary a bargain, but Hart was a known risk after missing all of 2013 due to a pair of knee surgeries.