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White Sox Outright Zach Remillard

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White Sox utilityman Zach Remillard went unclaimed on outright waivers, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. A previous career outright gives him the right to test minor league free agency, but Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate announced that Remillard is back on their roster.

The Coastal Carolina product sticks with the only organization for which he’s played. A 10th-round draftee in 2016, Remillard slowly climbed the minor league ladder. He got his first big league call a year ago. Remillard played in 54 games as a rookie, turning in a .252/.295/.320 line through 160 plate appearances. The Sox outrighted him from the 40-man roster over the winter.

Remillard stuck in the organization at Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago selected him back onto the MLB roster in mid-April, but he only took five plate appearances in two games. He was designated for assignment last week when the Sox needed to clear 40-man roster space for Danny Mendick. While Mendick had been tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A, Remillard has gotten out to a .120/.224/.160 start.

The 30-year-old has a fairly modest .237/.333/.365 slash in more than 1100 career Triple-A plate appearances. He’s a versatile defender who has extensive experience at all four infield spots and in left field.

Angels Select Amir Garrett

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The Angels announced they’ve selected reliever Amir Garrett onto the MLB roster. They optioned righty Davis Daniel and placed Mike Trout on the 10-day injured list to create active roster space for Garrett and newly-signed outfielder Kevin Pillar. To open space on the 40-man roster, the Halos moved Michael Stefanic and Chase Silseth to the 60-day injured list.

Garrett inked a minor league deal with the Halos not long after Opening Day. The southpaw had been in camp with the Giants but issued seven walks in 6 1/3 Spring Training innings, leading to his release. Garrett has found his form with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake, where he has fanned 10 in 7 1/3 frames. He has walked four and allowed only two runs in the Pacific Coast League.

That was enough to get the 31-year-old (32 next month) back to the majors for what’ll be his eighth season. Garrett was a quality setup arm for the Reds early in his career. His results have been less consistent over the last couple years, largely because of scattershot control. Garrett walked over 15% of batters faced in each of the last two seasons. A near-18% walk rate led the Royals to release him last summer even though he had a reasonably solid 3.33 ERA in 27 appearances.

Matt Moore stands as the top lefty setup man for skipper Ron Washington. José Suarez has occupied a long relief role, where he has struggled to a 10.13 ERA across 16 frames. Garrett adds a third southpaw to the bullpen mix, where he’ll pitch mostly in single-inning stints.

Silseth has been sidelined since April 8 with inflammation in his throwing elbow. He has been playing catch but hasn’t progressed to mound work. Today’s transfer backdates to Silseth’s original IL placement, so he’ll be out until at least the first week of June. Stefanic, meanwhile, is out until the end of May thanks to a Spring Training quad strain. He hit .290/.380/.355 in 25 big league contests a year ago.

Angels Sign Kevin Pillar

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The Angels announced they’ve signed veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar to a major league contract. He steps into an outfield that just lost Mike Trout for at least 4-6 weeks to knee surgery. Pillar is represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.

Pillar spent last season with the Braves, where current Halos skipper Ron Washington was on staff as third base coach. He held his roster spot with Atlanta all season despite a tepid .228/.248/.416 batting line over 206 plate appearances. That’s in large part a testament to the regard with which he was held in the Braves clubhouse. Pillar signed a one-year deal with the White Sox for 2024 but turned in a .160/.290/.360 slash in 32 trips to the plate.

The Sox designated him for assignment last week when they added Tommy Pham onto the big league roster. Pillar cleared waivers and became a free agent, but it didn’t take long for him to get another MLB job. He adds a right-handed complement to Mickey Moniak, who is in line for the majority of the center field reps while Trout is on the injured list. Pillar is no longer a high-end defender in center field, but he’s capable of playing all three outfield spots.

Taylor Ward and Jo Adell will take the majority of the corner outfield reps. Moniak is off to a very slow start, hitting .143/.200/.214 in 60 plate appearances. Pillar will serve as a fourth outfielder alongside infield/outfield hybrids like Cole Tucker and potentially Luis Rengifo, who played 134 innings on the grass a year ago.

There’s no financial downside for the Halos. Pillar will only cost them the prorated $740K league minimum for whatever time he spends on the roster.

Red Sox Acquire Bailey Horn From White Sox

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The Red Sox have acquired left-hander Bailey Horn from the White Sox, per announcements from both clubs. The White Sox, who designated him for assignment in recent days, will receive cash considerations. The southpaw has been optioned to Triple-A Worcester.

Horn was a fifth-round pick by the ChiSox in the shortened 2020 draft. The Sox dealt the Auburn product to the Cubs the following season in exchange for veteran reliever Ryan Tepera. Horn pitched his way to Triple-A in the Cubs system and was added to the 40-man roster last offseason. While the Cubs were wary about losing Horn in the Rule 5 draft, they pushed him off the 40-man before Opening Day.

The Sox reacquired their one-time draftee in a deal that sent minor league pitcher Matt Thompson to the Cubs. Horn spent a couple weeks on optional assignment to Triple-A Charlotte. He got out to a rough start, allowing 13 runs over 10 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old surrendered four homers and issued 10 free passes, although he did record 15 strikeouts. The White Sox never called him up before last week’s DFA.

Boston has a few openings on the 40-man roster after recent DFAs of Pablo Reyes and Joely Rodríguez. They’ve recently subtracted Rodríguez and Joe Jacques (who was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks) from their left-handed relief depth. They’ll partially backfill the depth with Horn, who has a full slate of options and has missed plenty of bats in the minor leagues. Boston chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is certainly familiar with Horn, as Breslow had spent the past few seasons as an assistant general manager with the Cubs.

Blue Jays Place Yariel Rodríguez On Injured List

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The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Yariel Rodríguez has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to thoracic spine inflammation. Right-hander Zach Pop has been recalled as the corresponding move.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported earlier today that Rodríguez was dealing with some back soreness, which cropped up during his start for the Jays last night. He was delayed by back spasms during the spring and Francys Romero reports that the issue is similar, adding that the righty is heading to the club’s Dunedin facilities for now.

He got over those back spasms quickly but was optioned to the minors to start the year, not having had a chance to get fully stretched out yet. He made two starts at Triple-A, throwing 6 1/3 innings, before getting called up to the majors. He has been solid in four starts at the big league level so far, with a 4.11 earned run average in 15 1/3 innings.

It’s unclear how long the Jays expect him to be out of action but it will open up yet another hole in their rotation depth. They still have a strong front four in Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi but the options behind that group have been thinned. Mitch White and Wes Parsons were each squeezed off the roster and flipped to other teams. Alek Manoah and Bowden Francis are on the injured list, with Rodríguez now joining them. Prospect Ricky Tiedemann isn’t on the 40-man but he’s also hurt. A recent MRI showed no structural damage but he’s still about a week away from throwing again.

The Jays will need to figure out a fifth starter, though maybe not right away, thanks to where they are in the schedule. They have an off-day on Thursday this week, followed by two more on Monday and Thursday next week. They play six in a row from May 10 to 15 but then have another off-day on May 16. That gives them a bit of time to assess their options.

Manoah, who landed on the IL due to right shoulder inflammation, is currently on a rehab assignment but has been in poor form, with 18 earned runs allowed in 13 2/3 innings. He is starting for Triple-A Buffalo tonight and perhaps his performance will help the club make a decision about next steps. If either Francis or Rodríguez are able to return in the next two weeks or so, that could be another option, though it’s unclear if the health of either will allow for that. Paolo Espino is on the 40-man roster though he’s a 37-year-old journeyman and the Jays probably don’t want to rely on him for much more than a spot start.

For now, Pop will give the Jays another bullpen arm while they figure out their rotation plans. He has a 3.94 ERA in his big league career but struggled last year with a 6.59 ERA over 15 appearances. He’s been getting good results in Triple-A so far this year with a 1.86 ERA through 9 2/3 innings.

Diamondbacks Select Brandon Hughes

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Brandon Hughes. Fellow lefty Tommy Henry was optioned to Triple-A Reno to open an active roster spot. To get Hughes onto the 40-man, lefty Kyle Nelson was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Hughes, now 28, had a solid debut with the Cubs in 2022. He tossed 57 2/3 innings that year with a 3.12 earned run average, striking out 28.5% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.8% clip. He even moved into a leverage role, securing eight saves and eight holds that year.

But he found some struggles last year, going on and off the injured list throughout the season due to left knee inflammation. He made just 17 appearances with a bloated 7.24 ERA before eventually requiring surgery in June. He underwent a debridement procedure on that left knee and wasn’t able to return to the big league club in the final months of the season.

The Cubs non-tendered Hughes at the end of last year and he landed with the Snakes on a minor league deal. He has been getting good results in Triple-A so far, with a 1.84 ERA through 14 2/3 innings for Reno. However, those results are in spite of subpar strikeout and walk rates of 20% and 15%, respectively.

This is the second time Henry has been optioned, as he has been helping the club cover for some rotation injuries, posting a 5.40 ERA in six starts. Him being optioned today leaves the Diamondbacks with a rotation of Zac Gallen, Brandon Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery and Slade Cecconi, while Eduardo Rodríguez, Merrill Kelly and Ryne Nelson are on the injured list.

They will need a fifth starter but not right away. They have an off-day on Thursday and another on Monday, therefore allowing them to use just four starters until next weekend, if they so choose. Manager Torey Lovullo said that Ryne Nelson recently threw a sim game of five innings and 75 pitches, per Alex Weiner of AZSports. That perhaps suggests he’s not far off from a return to the club. But for now, Hughes will give Lovullo another bullpen lefty alongside Joe Mantiply, Andrew Saalfrank and Logan Allen.

As for the other Nelson, Kyle was placed on the 15-day injured list a week ago due to left shoulder inflammation. It’s unclear how long the club expects him to be out of action but this transfer means he’s ineligible to be reinstated until mid-June.

Brewers Promote Tyler Black

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4:05pm: The Brewers have made it official, announcing they have selected Black’s contract. Miley was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot while Miller was optioned to make room on the active roster.

1:35pm: The Brewers are expected to call up infield prospect Tyler Black today, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Black is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary, though Wade Miley could easily be transferred to the 60-day injured list since he is going to miss the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery. Another move would still be necessary to get Black onto the active roster.

Black, 23, was selected by the Brewers with the 33rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, earning huge amounts of praise for his plate discipline. He spent 2022 in High-A, walking more often than he struck out. He was limited to 283 plate appearances in 64 games due to a fractured scapula but drew 45 walks while getting punched out 44 times, leading to respective rates of 15.9% and 15.5%. He only hit four home runs but his .281/.406/.424 batting line translated to a 137 wRC+.

He got over his injury and returned to the field last year, playing 123 games between Double-A and Triple-A. He walked in 15.8% of his trips to the plate on the year while striking out at a 17.9% rate, hitting 18 home runs in the process. He hit a combined .284/.417/.513 between the two levels for a 145 wRC+. He returned to Triple-A this year and has produced a batting line of .303/.393/.525 so far.

Though the plate discipline is his most standout tool, he also has some speed to offer. He stole 13 bases in his injury-shortened 2022 campaign before swiping 55 bags on 67 tries last year. He’s tallied another three in the early going here in 2024.

Defensively, he’s more of a question mark. He was a second baseman in college and the early parts of his minor league career, spending some time in center field in 2022 as well. But since the start of last year, he’s been exclusively on the infield corners, primarily at third.

Regardless of the defensive question marks, the strong offense and the speed are enough for him to be considered one of the best prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him as their #73 prospect. MLB Pipeline has him at #42, ESPN at #51 while Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #44 spot. Though for a dissenting opinion, Black doesn’t crack the top 100 at FanGraphs and Eric Longenhagen put him at just #10 in the Brewers’ system last month. Longenhagen expresses concern that Black won’t stick at third base and will eventually end up at first, where his contact-over-power approach will be insufficient.

Given the current Milwaukee infield alignment, it would seem that Black probably has a better path to playing time at first base for now. Joey Ortiz has been the regular at third and is hitting a strong .279/.392/.426 so far this year, 134 wRC+. First base has been split between Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers, though the latter hasn’t been performing especially well. Bauers is hitting .200/.250/.383 while striking out in 37.5% of his trips to the plate this year.

Both Bauers and Black are left-handed hitters, so it seems Bauers is the player most likely to lose playing time with Black promotion. Bauers is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment if he is to be squeezed off the roster. Though if the Brewers want to keep him around as a bench bat, they could option someone like Joey Wiemer, Oliver Dunn or Owen Miller.

It’s late enough in the season that Black can’t earn a full year of service time, at least not the traditional way. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs 172 days in the big leagues, or on the major league injured list, to get to the one-year mark. Since we’re over a month into the 2024 campaign already, Black can’t quite make it to that line.

The current collective bargaining agreement contains measures to disincentive service time manipulation, by rewarding clubs for promotion top prospects while also allowing such players a path to getting one year of service even if held down. If a player is on two of the three top 100 lists at BA, MLB Pipeline or ESPN, they are considered eligible for the prospect promotion incentive, which applies to Black since he’s on all three.

Had the Brewers promoted Black earlier in the year, they could have earned themselves an extra draft pick depending on how he performed in awards voting, but that won’t be in play now. Black will be able to earn a full service year if he can finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting, the other new measure in the CBA, though he will have an uphill battle in achieving that. Players like Shota Imanaga Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jared Jones, Jackson Merrill, Masyn Winn and others have already had a head start of over a month to rack up stats while Black is just getting started.

Even if he comes up short of the one-year mark here in 2024, he would be in line for Super Two status after the 2026 campaign if he can stay up in the big leagues from this point forward. He would be able to go through arbitration four times instead of three before being slated for free agency after 2030, though future optional assignments could delay either of those trajectories.

Astros Designate Joel Kuhnel For Assignment

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The Astros announced to reporters, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic, that Joey Loperfido has been officially added to the roster. His imminent promotion was reported over the weekend. In corresponding moves, the club placed infielder Grae Kessinger on the 10-day injured list due to right shoulder discomfort and designated right-hander Joel Kuhnel for assignment.

Kuhnel, 29, was acquired from the Reds in a cash deal in June of last year. He was designated for assignment in the offseason and eventually elected free agency, but returned to the Astros on a minor league deal and was selected back to the roster a few weeks ago. He made just one appearance, allowing four earned runs in two innings, before being optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land.

He currently has a 6.30 earned run average in 85 2/3 innings at the major league level. His 19% strikeout rate is below average but his 6.3% walk rate and 52.2% ground ball rate are both quite strong. He’s been in decent form in Triple-A this year, with a 3.18 ERA in 11 1/3 innings, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Kuhnel or try to pass him through waivers. He still has an option and could therefore be kept in the minors by any club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency as a player with a previous career outright.

Pirates Acquire Keiner Delgado From Yankees

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The Yankees have traded infielder Keiner Delgado to the Pirates as the player to be named later in the JT Brubaker trade from last month, per announcements from both clubs. The infielder wasn’t on the 40-man roster of the Yankees and therefore won’t need to go on the roster of the Pirates.

Last month, the Bucs sent the right-handed Brubaker to the Yankees, along with international bonus pool space, for a player to be named later. Brubaker has not yet pitched for the Yanks as he is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery and on the 60-day injured list.

Delgado, 20, was signed by the Yankees as an international amateur out of Venezuela in 2021. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2022, taking 238 plate appearances over 52 games. He drew walks at an incredible 24.4% rate while striking out just 11.8% of the time. He hit just three home runs but slashed .310/.504/.506 for a wRC+ of 178 while stealing 34 bases.

Last year, the Yanks moved him to the Complex League, where he got another 239 plate appearances. He again walked more than he struck out, 15.1% rate to 13% rate, while more than doubling his home run tally by hitting eight on the year. He finished the year with a line of .293/.414/.485 and 36 stolen bases. Defensively, he’s played a bit of second base, third base and shortstop.

Coming into 2024, Delgado was ranked the #22 prospect in the Yankees’ system by Baseball America, #20 by MLB Pipeline and #22 by FanGraphs. The most bullish prospect evaluator seems to be Keith Law of The Athletic, who had Delgado all the way up in the #7 spot a couple of months ago. Law praises the switch-hitter’s work from both sides of the plate and adds that there’s a chance Delgado could stick at shortstop, while other evaluators seem to think he will most likely end up at second base or in a utility role.

He will now move over to the Pirates’ system and will be a long-term project for them, given his youth and that he has yet to even crack full-season ball. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the 2025 season, per FanGraphs.

Twins Designate Matt Bowman For Assignment

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The Twins announced that right-hander Jhoan Duran has been reinstated from the injured list, as had been reported on earlier this week. In a corresponding move, right-hander Matt Bowman has been designated for assignment.

Bowman, 33 next month, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. He was added to the 40-man roster just over two weeks ago, after throwing six scoreless frames in Triple-A, and has since pitched 7 2/3 innings over five appearances in the majors.

He only allowed two earned runs in that time, which is why his earned run average looks nice right now at 2.35. However, the underlying metrics have been less impressive. He has six strikeouts and four walks, leading to respective rates of 19.4% and 12.9% thus far. His 57.9% ground ball rate is strong but he wasn’t going to maintain a .056 batting average on balls in play nor a 90.9% strand rate. That’s why his 5.64 FIP and 4.38 SIERA are much higher than his ERA in this small sample.

Since Bowman is out of options, the Twins had to remove him from the 40-man roster entirely in order to open an active roster spot for Duran. They will now have one week to trade Bowman or pass him through waivers. If the latter scenario were to come to pass, he has over three years of service time, giving him the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency instead. However, he doesn’t have five years of service, meaning he would have to forfeit the remainder of this $925K salary to return to the open market.

Elbow injuries, including Tommy John surgery, prevented Bowman from pitching in official game action from 2020 to 2022. He was able to return to the mound last year, tossing 58 2/3 innings for the Triple-A club of the Yankees with a 3.99 ERA. He struck out 22.6% of batters faced in that time while giving out walks at an 11.7% rate and getting grounders at an 51.9% clip. He also tossed four innings for the Yanks in the majors but was outrighted after the season, which allowed him to sign with the Twins.

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