Tigers Release Casey Crosby
The Tigers announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Kevin Whelan and released former top prospect Casey Crosby in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
The 25-year-old Crosby has been on the shelf since mid-May, which is hardly a new sensation for the left-hander. Both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus considered the southpaw to be among the game’s Top 50 prospects following a dominant 2009 campaign at Class A (2.41 ERA, 117 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings), but injuries and command problems have caused his prospect star to dim considerably since that time.
Crosby had Tommy John surgery in 2008, has battled shoulder problems in recent seasons and also underwent elbow surgery to remove loose bodies last August. In total he’s appeared in just 74 minor league games over the past five seasons. Baseball America at various times noted that Crosby had the best fastball and best curveball in the Tigers’ system, and the publication still ranked him as Detroit’s No. 17 prospect after the 2013 campaign. He shifted the bullpen this year, but his injuries and inability to command the strike zone have halted a once-promising career for Crosby, who will now look to latch on with another organization.
The 30-year-old Whelan has had a dominant season with Triple-A Toledo this season, notching a 1.85 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 39 innings. He’s yet to allow a homer and has surrendered just 26 hits in those 39 frames. If and when he takes the hill for the Tigers, it’ll be his first big league action since a brief 2011 stint with the Yankees.
Tyler Colvin Accepts Outright Assignment
Here are today’s minor league transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…
- Outfielder Tyler Colvin has accepted his outright assignment to the Giants‘ Triple-A affiliate, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo reports (Twitter link). Colvin had the option of becoming a free agent when San Francisco outrighted him earlier this week. The 28-year-old has a .223/.268/.381 slash line and two homers over 149 PA with the Giants this season.
Minor Moves: Falu, Mills, Abreu, Kalish, Herrmann
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Brewers have outrighted infielder Irving Falu, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. They claimed him last month from the Padres, who had previously claimed him from Milwaukee, so that the Brewers finally got him through to the minors must represent a small victory. The 31-year-old has hit .289/.342/.333 in 230 plate appearances for Triple-A Nashville this season.
- The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Brad Mills and optioned infielder Ryan Goins to Triple-A Buffalo. The Jays outrighted Mills in late July. He’s posted a 1.81 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 at Triple-A this season.
- The Mets have released outfielder Bobby Abreu, according to MiLB.com. The 40-year-old was designated for assignment last week after hitting .238/.331/.336 in 142 plate appearances in his first big-league action since 2012.
- The Cubs have outrighted outfielder Ryan Kalish to Triple-A Iowa, per the team’s transactions page. The 26-year-old was designated for assignment Friday after posting a slash of .242/.303/.330 in 100 plate appearances.
- The Indians have released right-hander Frank Herrmann from their Triple-A affiliate, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The 30-year-old, the longest-tenured player in the Cleveland organization, has struggled in 28 relief outings for Columbus to the tune of a 6.37 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 5.8 BB/9 in 29 2/3 innings. Herrmann hasn’t pitched in a MLB contest since 2012 when he recorded a 2.33 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 1.9 BB/9 over 19 1/3 innings (15 games) for the Indians.
- The White Sox have released right-hander Shawn Hill from Triple-A Charlotte, according to the International League transactions page. The veteran 33-year-old pitched to a 4.81 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 58 innings for the Knights after being acquired in a minor trade with the Blue Jays back in June. Hill last saw the bigs in 2012 with Toronto, and he has a lifetime 4.69 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 242 Major League innings.
- Jason Pridie has accepted his outright assignment by the Rockies to Triple-A, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The 30-year-old outfielder, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, had the option to become a free agent since he had been outrighted previously, but chose to remain at Colorado Springs where he has hit .275/.341/.426 in 378 plate appearances.
- Cotillo also tweets Andy Marte has accepted his outright assignment with the Diamondbacks rather than electing free agency. Marte, who batted .332/.385/.513 at Triple-A this season, will return to Reno in pursuit of the Pacific Coast League batting title, Cotillo adds. Marte was DFA’ed last week and sent outright to Reno last night, but, like Pridie, had been outrighted in the past and had the option to elect free agency.
- With the Dodgers and Phillies designating Colt Hynes and Sean O’Sullivan, respectively, for assignment today, a total of six players are now in DFA limbo. As can be seen in MLBTR’s DFA Tracker, in addition to Hynes and O’Sullivan, the following players have yet to have their DFA situation resolved: Chris Young (Mets), Ernesto Frieri (Pirates), Nate Schierholtz (Cubs) and Chone Figgins (Dodgers).
Edward Creech and Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.
Pirates Claim Tommy Field Off Waivers
The Pirates have announced they have claimed infielder Tommy Field off waivers from the Angels. Field, who was designated for assignment Thursday, has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
The 27-year-old has spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake slashing .285/.351/.440 in 382 plate appearances. Defensively, he is primarily a shortstop, but has also seen time at second and third base for the Bees. Field did appear in 15 games with the Angels in 2013 posting a line of .154/.185/.154 over 27 plate appearances – his most extensive action since making his MLB debut with the Rockies in 2011 (.271/.314/.271 in 51 plate appearances).
The Pirates’ 40-man roster is now full.
Phillies Claim Jerome Williams, Designate Sean O’Sullivan
The Phillies announced that they have claimed right-hander Jerome Williams off waivers from the Rangers and designated fellow right-hander Sean O’Sullivan for assignment. Williams, who will be joining his third organization in a span of six weeks, is expected to replace O’Sullivan in the rotation and make his Phillies debut Tuesday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Gelb. The Rangers will receive $20K from the waiver claim, tweets Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News.
Williams was designated for assignment Friday by the Rangers after making a pair of starts. The 32-year-old was outstanding in his Texas debut allowing just one run and no walks over six innings against the best team in the American League, the A’s, but he was shelled by the Indians in his next start (10 runs, 13 hits, and three walks in four innings). After pitching to a 4.46 ERA in 351 innings for the Angels from 2011-13, Williams has struggled to a line of 6.71 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, and 12.0 H/9 in 28 appearances (two starts) for the Rangers and Astros covering 57 2/3 innings.
This is the second time the Phillies have designated O’Sullivan for assignment this season. Before that DFA, the 26-year-old made one start in the nightcap of a doubleheader against the Braves allowing four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. O’Sullivan regained a 25-man roster spot when the Phillies traded Roberto Hernandez and, in the lone start of his second tour of duty Thursday, surrendered three home runs to the Astros over six innings.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
Dodgers Designate Colt Hynes For Assignment
The Dodgers have designated left-hander Colt Hynes for assignment in order to clear room on the 40-man roster for the newly acquired Kevin Correia, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
Hynes, 29, appeared in 22 games for the Padres last season, surrendering 17 earned runs in 17 innings of work. He fanned 13 hitters and walked nine in that time, but while his overall numbers were rough, he held left-handed hitters in check quite well. Hynes yielded just a .156/.289/.313 batting line in 38 plate appearances against lefties, but right-handed hitters clobbered him at a .476/.522/.738 clip.
He’s spent the 2014 season at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he’s posted a 4.08 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 42 relief appearances (53 innings). He’s once again shown a platoon split, though not as drastic: lefties have batted .261/.305/.386 against him compared to a .277/.304/.479 line for right-handed hitters.
Dodgers Acquire Kevin Correia
SUNDAY: Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (via Twitter) that Correia had already cleared revocable waivers, meaning Los Angeles passed on claiming him and the Twins were free to deal him to any team.
SATURDAY: The Dodgers acquired righty Kevin Correia from the Twins for a player to be named later or cash considerations, announced the teams. The Dodgers officially placed Josh Beckett on the DL earlier today with a left hip injury, which is expected to sideline him for at least two weeks. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti acquired Roberto Hernandez from the Phillies earlier this week in response to injuries to Beckett and swingman Paul Maholm.
At the time, Colletti noted he was still trying to add another arm, and it appears that he got his man in Correia (a name that MLBTR’s Steve Adams suggested as a possibility following Colletti’s comments). “Kevin gives us an additional option as a starter or long reliever. He also supplies us with more veteran pitching depth for the stretch drive,” said Colletti in tonight’s press release.
Correia, 34 later this month, posted a 4.94 ERA, 4.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.90 HR/9, and 41.5% groundball rate in 129 1/3 innings for Minnesota. Those numbers include a disastrous April, but he’s posted a respectable, if unspectacular 4.31 ERA in 102 1/3 innings since.
The Twins signed Correia to a two-year, $10MM deal after the 2012 season, and he used his pitch-to-contact approach to generate a 4.18 ERA in 31 starts last year. The San Diego native spent the first eight seasons of his career pitching for the Giants and Padres. He picked up an All-Star nod in 2011 as a member of the Pirates.
Minnesota has saved about $1.5MM by shipping Correia to the Dodgers. Additionally, they’ve opened a spot for new acquisition Tommy Milone, who will start Monday night in Houston. Twins GM Terry Ryan is looking beyond 2014, with his club mired in last place, and Milone will be one of two new faces in Minnesota’s rotation going forward, alongside rookie Trevor May. Colletti and Ryan matched up on a minor trade last summer as well, with the Dodgers picking up backup catcher Drew Butera for minor leaguer Miguel Sulbaran (who has since been flipped to the Yankees for Eduardo Nunez).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Moves: Marte, Pridie, Lee, Daley, Gimenez, Sizemore, Carpenter
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game:
- The Diamondbacks have outrighted Andy Marte to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Marte was designated for assignment on August 7.
- The Rockies have outrighted Jason Pridie to Triple-A. Pridie was designated for assignment on August 6.
- Diamondbacks farmhand Michael Lee has been traded to the Blue Jays and assigned to Double-A, according to the PCL’s transactions page. This season, the 27-year-old righty mostly worked out of the Diamondbacks Double-A rotation, where he compiled 4.49 ERA, 5.26 K/9, and 2.50 BB/9 over 104 innings and one-third innings. He also made two similarly effective starts in Triple-A. No word on what Arizona received in return.
Earlier
- Righty Matt Daley was has been outrighted by the Yankees, per the International League transactions page. Daley had been designated for assignment yesterday, and apparently went right onto waivers.
- Catcher Chris Gimenez of the Rangers has cleared outright waivers and is at least exploring the possibility of electing free agency, according to a tweet from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. If he does hit the open market, the Rays would have interest, says Topkin.
- The Yankees have re-signed infielder Scott Sizemore to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter). He will go right onto the Triple-A disabled list. The 29-year-old, who has not seen significant MLB action since 2011, was released just over a week ago by New York.
- Reliever David Carpenter has accepted an outright assignment with the Angels rather than electing free agency, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The 26-year-old righty — not to be confused with the Braves pitcher of the same name — was designated for assignment a week ago today. Over 49 Triple-A innings this year, Carpenter has a 2.20 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
- The Yankees have announced that they’ve unconditionally released infielder Brian Roberts, who they designated for assignment at the end of July. The Yankees also placed catcher Brian McCann on the 7-day concussion DL and recalled Austin Romine to take his place on the active roster. The Yankees signed Roberts to a one-year, $2MM deal before the season, but he hit just .237/.300/.360 in 348 plate appearances with them.
- The Marlins have selected Brad Penny‘s contract, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Penny will start tonight against Alfredo Simon and the Reds. Penny is ultimately replacing Jacob Turner on the roster (although, officially, the Marlins cleared space for Penny by optioning Edgar Olmos to Triple-A New Orleans). As MLBTR’s Steve Adams points out, it’s questionable whether Penny will be better than Turner in the short term, even before considering the years of control Turner has left. Penny did pitch well in five Triple-A starts, however. Tonight will be his first big-league appearance since 2012, and his first appearance with the Marlins since 2004.
Brad Johnson contributed to this post
Mets Designate Chris Young For Assignment
The Mets have designated outfielder Chris Young for assignment, the club announced. Matt den Dekker will be recalled to take his spot on the active roster.
Young, 30, signed a one-year, $7.25MM deal over the offseason to join the Mets. Though he had suffered through some injury and performance issues over the prior two seasons, Young seemed a reasonable bounceback candidate. After all, he demonstrated an above-average bat and good enough defense and baserunning to put up two straight seasons of four (fWAR) or five (rWAR) wins above replacement in 2010-11.
A return to form has obviously not come to pass in New York, as Young owns a .205/.283/.346 line through 287 plate appearances with eight home runs and seven stolen bases. Projection systems ZiPS and Steamer still expect Young to be an approximately league average hitter the rest of the way, but the Mets had little reason to wait on that turnaround at this point. With den Dekker lighting up PCL pitching to the tune of a .936 OPS, he’ll get a chance to audition for a big league job next year.
Minor Moves: Angel Castro, Bruce Billings
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Athletics have acquired righty Angel Castro from the Cardinals in exchange for cash considerations, St. Louis announced. Castro, a 31-year-old righty, has never seen MLB action. He owns a 4.01 ERA through 94 1/3 frames on the year at Triple-A, spending time both as a starter and reliever, and has posted 6.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9.
- Right-hander Bruce Billings, who was released by the Yankees last week, has inked a minor league pact with the Dodgers, reports MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). Billings, 28, allowed four runs in four innings for the Yanks this season and has struggled in the minors as well, posting a 5.06 ERA with a 54-to-27 K/BB ratio in 80 innings (15 starts) for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Billings’ career marks of a 4.37 ERA and 7.8 K/9 rate at the Triple-A level are noticeably better.