Minor Moves: Obispo, Brown, Rodriguez
Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league…
- Pirates right-hander Wirfin Obispo has been outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis, MLBTR’s Zach Links reports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old was designated for assignment last week when the Bucs claimed catcher Ramon Cabrera off waivers from the Tigers. In 25 2/3 innings with Indianapolis, Obispo has posted a 3.16 ERA with 8.4 K/9, though he’s posted a fairly high 4.6 BB/9 rate as well.
- Red Sox outfielder Corey Brown has been outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket, according to the team’s transactions page. Brown, 28, was designated for assignment on Aug. 17 to create roster space for right-hander Steven Wright. He has a strong track record at Triple-A as a whole, but he scuffled a bit in 2014, posting a .226/.294/.452 batting line.
- The Yankees have signed right-hander Wilking Rodriguez, per the club’s transactions page. Rodriguez was released by the Royals after the team’s acquisition of Josh Willingham, but the 24-year-old posted solid stats between Double-A and Triple-A this season: a combined 2.36 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 26 2/3 innings. Rodriguez also made his big league debut for the Royals this year, firing two scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and one strikeout.
Angels Acquire Gordon Beckham
6:01pm: The Angels initially claimed Beckham off waivers, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (on Twitter).
5:07pm: Kay clarifies that the Angels will send a PTBNL or cash considerations to the White Sox in exchange for Beckham, not both, as he initially announced (Twitter link).
4:35pm: Angels director of communications Eric Kay announced today that the team has acquired second baseman Gordon Beckham from the White Sox in exchange for a player to be named later and cash considerations (Twitter link). The Angels can clear a 40-man roster spot for Beckham by placing the injured Garrett Richards on the 60-day disabled list. The team announced earlier today that Richards is out six to nine months due a torn patellar tendon in his left knee that will require surgery.
Beckham, 27, has struggled this season with the White Sox, hitting just .221/.263/.336 in 390 plate appearances. The former No. 8 overall draft pick hasn’t panned out the way the White Sox hoped back in 2008 as he is a lifetime .244/.306/.374 batter despite playing the majority of his games in the very hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular Field.
Park-adjusted metrics such as OPS+ (83) and wRC+ (82) suggest that Beckham has been about 17 to 18 percent worse than a league-average hitter over the course of his career, although the offensive bar for a middle infielder is considerably lower than that of a corner infielder/outfielder. While he’s hit lefties at a .309/.349/.454 clip in a small sample this season, his career split — .245/.313/.375 — is pretty even with his career mark against right-handed pitching.
Beckham will bring some degree defensive versatility to the Angels, and Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register tweets that he will come off the bench. Beckham has played primarily second base for the Pale Hose in his career, but he broke into the Majors primarily as a third baseman back in 2009 and was initially drafted as a shortstop out of the University of Georgia. Defensive metrics such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved have pegged Beckham’s glove as roughly average over the past four seasons.
The Angels will have control of Beckham through the 2015 season if they wish, as he is arbitration eligible for the final time this offseason. Beckham’s agents at Relativity Sports avoided arbitration with the White Sox by securing a one-year, $4.18MM contract this winter. He is owed roughly $913K of that figure from now through season’s end. Despite the down performance in 2014, Beckham will be in line for a slight raise, making him a non-tender candidate following the season.
That Gordon reached the Angels means he either cleared waivers earlier this month or went unclaimed by every other team in the American League, as Anaheim currently possesses the best record in the Majors.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diamondbacks Outright Bradin Hagens
The D’Backs have trimmed their 40-man roster to 39 by outrighting minor league right-hander Bradin Hagens, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
The 25-year-old Hagens made his Major League debut for the Snakes just last week, appearing in two games and allowing a run on four hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings. He’s split the majority of the season between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno, posting a combined 3.95 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 120 2/3 innings.
Twenty of Hagen’s 26 minor league appearances this year were starts, but he’s no stranger to bullpen work. The 2009 sixth-round pick spent the first two seasons of his pro career as a reliever before converting to the rotation in 2011. He split the 2012 season between the ‘pen and the rotation before returning to the rotation full time in 2013, and he’s been starting in the minors since early May this year.
Padres Designate Bobby LaFromboise For Assignment
The Padres have designated lefty Bobby LaFromboise for assignment, the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. They also reinstated Cameron Maybin from the restricted list and optioned infielder Jace Peterson to Triple-A El Paso. Maybin has finished a 25-game suspension for testing positive for amphetamines.
LaFromboise made ten appearances with the Mariners in 2013, but he’s only pitched for El Paso so far in 2014, posting a 4.75 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 53 innings of relief. The Padres claimed him from the Mariners in April.
Minor Moves: Joe Gardner
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- The Braves have signed righty Joe Gardner to a minor league deal, according to MiLB.com. Gardner is best known as one of the four players the Rockies sent the Indians for Ubaldo Jimenez in 2011 (with Drew Pomeranz, Alex White and Matt McBride being the others). Now 26, Gardner has spent part of the 2014 season with Double-A Tennessee in the Cubs system and part of it with the independent Lancaster Barnstormers, for whom he posted a 2.51 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 43 innings.
White Sox To Release Charlie Leesman
AUG. 20: The White Sox have requested unconditional release waivers on Leesman, tweets Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune.
AUG. 16: The White Sox have designated lefty Charlie Leesman for assignment in a flurry of roster moves, Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago tweets. The White Sox also activated Avisail Garcia, moved Moises Sierra (oblique) to the disabled list, promoted Eric Surkamp and moved Javy Guerra to the bereavement list. Garcia, the key return in last year’s Jake Peavy trade, has not played in the big leagues since April due to a labrum injury. His surgery was previously believed to be season-ending, so he’s coming back ahead of schedule.
Leesman, 27, has only appeared in one game for the White Sox this season, an April start in which he only averaged 86.5 MPH on his fastball. He has, however, proven to be a good pitcher at the Triple-A level. He performed well at Triple-A Charlotte in 2012 and 2013 and has pitched 68 innings there this season, posting a 4.10 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.
Minor Moves: Brown, Leroux
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Red Sox announced that Corey Brown has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket. Brown, 28, saw action in three games and made just one plate appearance in this year’s stint with the Red Sox. Brown has spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A Pawtucket, where he posted a slash line of .226/.294/.452.
- Righty Chris Leroux has accepted an outright assignment with the Yankees rather than electing free agency, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Leroux, 30, was recently designated and outrighted for the third time this season.
Indians Extend Scott Atchison
The Indians have agreed to a one-year, $1MM extension with righty Scott Atchison, the club announced via press release. According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (via Twitter), Atchison will earn $900K next season. The deal includes a $1MM club option for 2016, which comes with a $100K buyout.
Atchison, 38, has produced very solid results this year out of the pen since signing with Cleveland on a minor league deal. He owns a 2.95 ERA with 6.1 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9, and has held opposing hitters to a paltry .218/.251/.342 line. The result is a surprisingly dominant 0.964 WHIP, the second time in three years that he’s been charged with less than one baserunner per inning. ERA estimators largely agree with the result, as Atchison has a 3.22 FIP, 3.17 xFIP, and 2.76 SIERA on the year. Remarkably, Atchison has run up his average fastball to a career-best 92.2 mph this season.
Despite his age, Atchison was set to qualify for arbitration next year for the final time after entering the season with just under five years of service time. Presumably, Cleveland was interested in cost certainty, and perhaps also sought something of a discount. (Coming off a less successful 2013, Atchison projected to earn $1.3MM through arbitration before being non-tendered.) For Atchison, the deal protects him from a late-season injury or potential non-tender situation. And the contract does extend team control by one season through the function of the option.
The deal is somewhat reminiscent of recent late-season, one-year extensions reached with veterans like Greg Dobbs (Marlins, 2013), Chad Tracy (Nationals, 2012), and Mark Kotsay (Padres, 2012). Several hurlers, too, have inked such deals, such as Tim Byrdak‘s 2011 extension with the Mets and Livan Hernandez‘s 2010 contract with the Nationals. Each of those guarantees came in under $1.5MM, though none contained an option year.
Reds Outright Chad Rogers
Here are the minor moves from the day …
- The Reds have outrighted right-hander Chad Rogers off the club’s 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Rogers, 25, has yet to see MLB action. He moved to a relief role this year after spending much of his career as a starter, but has struggled thus far in 2014. Over 45 2/3 innings, Rogers owns a 4.53 ERA but has walked as many batters (5.7 per nine) as he has struck out. All of those marks are career-worsts.
Blue Jays Claim Matt Hague From Pirates
The Blue Jays have claimed first baseman Matt Hague off waivers from the Pirates, Toronto announced via press release. Hague has been optioned to Triple-A.
Hague, 28, has only limited MLB experience but was swinging well this year at Triple-A Indianapolis, slashing .267/.365/.448 with 14 long balls over 386 trips to bat. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment (and ultimately exposed him to waivers) to make roster space for the acquisition of reliever John Axford.