Marlins Claim Brett de Geus
The Marlins have claimed right-hander Brett de Geus off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, per announcements from both big league clubs. Seattle had designated him for assignment last week when they claimed righty Jonathan Hernández off waivers from the Rangers. The Fish opened a 40-man roster spot earlier today when infielder/outfielder Nick Gordon was designated for assignment to open an active roster spot for Derek Hill, another waiver claimee.
de Geus, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the offseason and was selected to their roster in the second week of April. He spent most of the season on optional assignment, only making four appearances for the big league club.
He also pitched for the Rangers and Diamondbacks in 2021 and the combination of those different MLB stints now gives him 53 1/3 big league innings with a 7.26 ERA. His 17.1% strikeout rate is subpar but his 9.9% walk rate is passable while his 51.4% ground ball rate is strong.
That’s generally been the recipe with de Geus. He has 32 Triple-A appearances this year with a 15% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 56.6% ground ball rate. The 6.60 ERA at that level this year isn’t pretty but a .365 batting average on balls in play and 59.4% strand rate have surely helped pushed some extra runs across the plate. He spent most of last year with the Double-A affiliate of the Royals, tossing 35 1/3 innings with a 2.80 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 56.4% ground ball rate.
The Marlins have undergone a massive roster shakeup in the past two weeks. They traded away A.J. Puk, Jazz Chisholm Jr. Trevor Rogers, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, Bryan De La Cruz, Huascar Brazobán, Josh Bell and JT Chargois prior to the deadline. They brought back numerous prospects in those deals and also had open roster spots to claim Forrest Wall, David Hensley, Jesús Tinoco, Cristian Pache, John McMillon, Hill and de Geus off waivers.
de Geus will provide the Marlins with some depth in the minors who could be called upon whenever they need a ground ball specialist or just a fresh arm in general. He can still be optioned for the rest of this season and two additional campaigns. He also has just over one year of service time, meaning he could theoretically stick on the roster for a long time if he continues to justify his spot.
Marlins Designate Nick Gordon For Assignment
The Marlins are designating utilityman Nick Gordon for assignment, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Miami picked up Gordon in an offseason trade sending reliever Steven Okert to the Twins. He’s out of minor league options and thus wasn’t eligible to be sent down without first passing through waivers — which is where he’ll head now that he’s been DFA’ed and the trade deadline has passed. Miami has since announced the trade and formally added weekend waiver claim Derek Hill to its active roster.
Gordon, 28, has primarily played left field for the Fish this season but has also logged 16 games in center and another six at second base. The former No. 5 overall pick has swatted eight homers — one shy of his career-high — but carries a generally tepid .227/.258/.369 batting line in 275 plate appearances. This season’s 24.4% strikeout rate is higher than the 22.7% mark he carried into the season and miles above the 11.8% mark he showed in 93 plate appearances with Minnesota during the 2023 season.
Originally drafted as a shortstop, Gordon never saw much run at the position by the time he reached the majors in 2021. The Twins only gave him 155 innings there from ’21-’23, and the Marlins haven’t played him there for even one inning. Minnesota broke Gordon in primarily as a center fielder and second baseman, giving him ample reps at the former spot during IL stints for oft-injured center fielder Byron Buxton.
Though Gordon hasn’t lived up to that draft billing, back in 2022 he looked to have carved out a nice role as a heavily used bench/utility piece for manager Rocco Baldelli in Minnesota. He hit .272/.316/.427 (111 wRC+) with nine homers, 28 doubles, four triples and six steals in 443 plate appearances — all while splitting his time between center field, left field and the three non-first-base infield spots. Gordon got out to an awful start in 2023, however, and compounded that sluggish beginning of the year with a major injury when he fractured his tibia upon fouling a ball into his leg. That proved to be a season-ender, and he’s not yet returned to form following the offseason trade that shipped him to Miami.
The Marlins gave Gordon a decent look in the outfield but are turning things over to a younger contingent following their deadline dealings. They acquired corner outfielder Kyle Stowers from the Orioles in their trade of Trevor Rogers, and Stowers will likely step into Gordon’s slot as the primary left fielder. (Infield prospect Connor Norby, acquired alongside Stowers, could also get a look in left field if the Marlins don’t view the bat-first Norby as a long-term option at second base.) Post-deadline waiver claims of center fielders Hill and Cristian Pache further squeezed Gordon out of the picture, it seems.
Both Pache and Hill are now on the active roster. Gordon will be placed on outright waivers or released in the coming days. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors if he clears, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of this season’s $900K salary, so he’ll very likely head to Jacksonville if he’s not claimed by another club.
Padres, Austin Davis Agree To Minor League Deal
The Padres are re-signing lefty Austin Davis on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The KHG Sports client was designated for assignment after the trade deadline and elected free agency over the weekend. He’ll presumably head back to Triple-A El Paso on this new deal and continue to serve as depth for the Friars.
Davis, 31, appeared in seven games with the Padres after having his contract selected to the big league roster in late June. He yielded seven runs in seven innings, though four of those runs came home in one regrettable outing against the D-backs on July 7. Davis has spent the bulk of the season in El Paso, where he’s been sharp: 29 innings, 3.10 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate, 12.9% walk rate, 47.7% ground-ball rate, no home runs allowed. Certainly, the Padres and Davis would prefer a lower walk rate, and it’s not realistic to expect any pitcher to keep up such a lengthy stretch avoiding home runs. That said, Davis’ blend of strikeouts and grounders has been quite strong in Triple-A this year.
This brief run with the Padres was Davis’ first big league action since 2022. He’s now pitched in parts off six big league seasons. A 5.77 ERA over the life of 151 1/3 innings isn’t going to stand out (at least not for the right reasons), but Davis has continually shown an ability to miss bats, keep the ball in the yard at a respectable clip, and avoid hard contact. He’s fanned 23.7% of his career opponents, held batters to 1.18 HR/9 and yielded an average 87 mph exit velocity with just a 33.5% hard-hit rate in his MLB career.
San Diego’s aggressive deadline added Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and Bryan Hoeing to what was already a deep and talented big league bullpen. Scott joins Adrian Morejon and Yuki Matsui as lefties in Mike Shildt’s bullpen, giving the Friars’ skipper a trio of southpaw options in the majors (to say nothing of the currently injured Wandy Peralta). Davis will add an experienced lefty to the El Paso roster, one who could be among the first in line for a call should the Padres need another lefty or simply a fresh arm at some point.
Giants Release Ryan McKenna
The Giants released outfielder Ryan McKenna, who’d been with their Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s now a free agent.
McKenna joined San Francisco on a waiver claim earlier this season, coming over from the Orioles — the only organization he’d previously known. Baltimore selected McKenna with its fourth-round pick (No. 133 overall) back in 2015. He’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons, tallying 523 plate appearances with a disappointing .221/.298/.323 slash in that time. The Giants passed him through waivers late in May.
On the whole McKenna has better production in parts of four Triple-A seasons, but much of his production there came several years ago. The righty-swinging outfielder ripped Triple-A opposition apart in his first run there back in 2021, hitting .307/.423/.683 with 11 homers in only 123 plate appearances. He followed that with a strong 2022 showing in only 38 plate appearances there but spent most of the ’22 campaign as a bench player in the big leagues. He’s posted below-average numbers in Triple-A over the past two seasons as he’s frequently shuttled between the minors and the majors. Overall, McKenna is a career .253/.348/.510 hitter in 80 games at the top minor league level.
Now 27 years old, McKenna can play all three outfield spots. He’s drawn solid ratings across the board but graded out particularly well in left field. The elite speed he showed as a rookie has slipped a bit, but even though he’s no longer sitting near the top of the MLB scale, McKenna slots into the 74th percentile of runners in the big leagues, per Statcast, averaging 28.1 feet per second. He’s also displayed above-average arm strength in each of his big league seasons.
That profile should get McKenna a look elsewhere, albeit on a minor league deal. He’s out of minor league options, so if he’s added back to a new club’s 40-man roster at any point, he’d need to pass through waivers before he’d be eligible to be sent down.
Angels Re-Sign Adam Cimber To Minor League Deal
Less than two weeks after the Angels released Adam Cimber, the two sides have reunited on a minor league contract, according to the righty’s MLB.com profile page. Los Angeles signed Cimber to a one-year, $1.65MM free agent deal last winter, but was designated for assignment and then released in July while he was still on the 15-day injured list recovering from right shoulder inflammation.
It seems as though there might’ve been a handshake agreement on that initial DFA and release, as it freed up a 40-man roster spot for the Angels and came at no financial cost to Cimber since the team was still on the hook for the remainder of his 2024 salary. Cimber has enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, so after some time to explore his options on the open market, he has now circled back to Anaheim. On this new minor league deal, Cimber could continue to rehab or just return right to game action at Triple-A Salt Lake in something of an unofficial minor league rehab assignment.
Shoulder injuries have both limited Cimber’s participation in the last two MLB seasons, and impacted his performance to the tune of a 7.20 ERA over 45 innings in 50 appearances since Opening Day 2023. Cimber’s 149 appearances led all big league pitchers over the 2021-22 seasons, so it could be that this heavy workload finally caught up to the veteran right-hander. The Blue Jays non-tendered Cimber last offseason and the Angels inked him to that $1.65MM deal that has yet to yield many dividends.
These two rough seasons have come on the heels of five solid years of performance in 2018-22, as Cimber had a 3.20 ERA in 278 2/3 innings with San Diego, Cleveland, Miami, and Toronto. If he can get healthy, return to the majors, and get back to anything like his old form, Cimber might have an outside shot at another low-cost guaranteed big league deal this winter.
Rockies Sign Chasen Shreve To Minors Contract
The Rockies have signed Chasen Shreve to a minor league contract, as per the left-hander’s MLB.com profile page. Shreve was released from his previous minors deal with the Yankees just last Thursday, and he has now quickly landed with the ninth different big league organization of his 15-year pro career.
Shreve has seen action with seven of those teams at the Major League level, with 174 2/3 of his 356 career big league innings coming in two earlier stints with the Yankees. Minors deals with the Rangers and Yankees in 2024 didn’t lead to any time in the majors for the 34-year-old, so Shreve will look to crack the Rockies’ roster and officially appear in a game to lock in what would be an 11th MLB campaign.
For such a journeyman’s resume, Shreve has some solid results in the form of a career 3.97 ERA, 25.3% strikeout rate, and 10.8% walk rate. His most recent two seasons have been quite shaky, however, as Shreve had a 6.49 ERA in 26 1/3 frames with the Mets in 2022 and then a 4.63 ERA in 44 2/3 combined innings with the Tigers and Reds last year. A combined 3.64 SIERA over the 2022-23 seasons perhaps paints a better view of Shreve’s performance, as an uncharacteristically high homer rate in 2022 particularly hurt his numbers.
Shreve has looked sharp in his time at Triple-A this year, posting a 1.89 ERA in 33 1/3 total innings for the Rangers’ and Yankees’ top affiliates. His ability to pitch that well in the Pacific Coast League (with Triple-A Sugar Land) provides some hope that he can keep it up in another hitter-friendly environment in Albuquerque. It might not be long before Shreve is back in the majors, as the Rockies’ woeful bullpen needs all the help it can get, and the club doesn’t have a single left-hander in its relief corps.
Cardinals To Place Michael Siani On Injured List, Recall Victor Scott II
2:14pm: The Cardinals have officially announced Scott’s recall and Siani’s placement on the 10-day IL due to a right oblique strain. A timetable for Siani’s return has not yet been made clear, though Woo suggests it sounds as though his injury is “significant.”
1:13pm: The Cardinals are recalling center fielder Victor Scott II ahead of today’s series finale against the Cubs, according to a report from The Athletic’s Katie Woo this morning. Woo suggests that Scott will take the place of center fielder Michael Siani on the active roster as he heads to the 10-day injured list due to an oblique issue that cropped up during yesterday’s game.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Siani, 25, as he was in the midst of establishing himself as long-term option for the club in center when he exited yesterday’s game due to tightness on his right side and was sent for an MRI as noted by MLB.com’s John Denton yesterday. The results of that MRI are not yet clear, though the center fielder evidently will require at least a ten day stint on the shelf to recover. Yesterday’s shortened performance ended a fantastic hot stretch for Siani that dated all the way back to June 24. In his previous 31 appearances entering yesterday’s game, the center fielder had slashed a phenomenal .354/.391/.415, though that stretch of offensive success came with an eye-popping .492 BABIP that was clearly unsustainable.
Still, Siani’s growth as a hitter has been impressive considering the fact that he entered the month of May with a ghastly .128/.244/.179 slash line. His improved play since then has brought his wRC+ up to 79, a figure that’s still well below average but is enough to make him a viable regular in conjunction with his elite defense in center field and a strong 14-for-17 track record on the basepaths. Siani’s +15 Outs Above Average ranks second among all center fielders behind Jacob Young and fourth among all MLB players this year, while his +10 Defensive Runs Saved ties him with defensive phenoms Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael A. Taylor for sixth among all outfielders.
Taking Siani’s place on the Cardinals’ active roster is Scott, a fellow glove-first center fielder who bats from the left side. Scott made his big league debut earlier this year as the club’s surprising choice for Opening Day center fielder but struggled badly in the role with a brutal .085/.138/.136 slash line (-22 wRC+) in 21 games before he was ultimately optioned back down to Triple-A. Scott’s struggles have continued in the minors as he’s hit just .219/.302/.319 in 74 games at the highest level of the minors this year despite an impressive strikeout rate of just 14.3%.
It’s not currently clear if Scott will take over for Siani as a regular fixture in center field or will instead be used as a defensive replacement off the bench. After all, the club could utilize either Lars Nootbaar or Tommy Pham in center field and both players would be a significant offensive improvement over Scott at the position. Such a set up would likely leave Brendan Donovan to move from second base into an outfield corner to open the keystone up for Nolan Gorman, who has struggled to a .199/.272/.408 slash line (91 wRC+) in 99 games with the club this year. It’s also possible that Scott’s call-up to the majors could indicate that Siani’s injury isn’t likely to require a major absence, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested yesterday that a lengthier absence for Siani could lead the Cardinals to try and work a right-handed bat such as Luken Baker or even former top prospect Jordan Walker into their predominantly left-handed bench mix.
Orioles Outright Cole Irvin To Triple-A
The Orioles announced this afternoon that left-hander Cole Irvin has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. The move comes on the heels of Irvin being designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline last week.
The 30-year-old lefty was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies in the 2016 draft and spent the first two seasons of his career pitching out of the bullpen in Philadelphia but didn’t truly establish himself in the big leagues until he was traded to the A’s as part of a cash deal prior to the 2021 season. Upon arriving in Oakland, Irvin was moved to the rotation and quickly found some success as a back-of-the-rotation starter. In his two seasons with the A’s, the lefty pitched to middling results with a 4.11 ERA (95 ERA+) and 4.25 FIP, but did so over an impressive 359 1/3 innings of work. While that innings total may not seem like much compared to the recent past when starters would regular throw 200 innings in a season, that figure actually meant Irvin pitched the 13th-most innings in all of baseball over that two year period.
That ability to eat innings, his league minimum salary, and a relatively low acquisition cost seemingly made Irvin something of a perfect acquisition for an Orioles team that entered the 2023 season in desperate need of some certainty in the rotation following a 2022 campaign where they surprised with an 83-79 record and appeared ready to take another step toward contention despite the club’s intention of keeping payroll additions to a minimum until their vaunted positional core was fully in place at the big league level. Given how well the sides matched up and Oakland’s plan to trade everything on the roster that wasn’t nailed down, it was hardly a surprise when the Orioles acquired Irvin in a deal where they shipped infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to Oakland in exchange for both the lefty and pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky.
As good a fit as Irvin seemed to be on the surface when he was brought in by Baltimore, however, things have not gone that well since he landed with the club. The lefty was optioned to Triple-A just three starts into his tenure as an Oriole after struggling to a 10.66 ERA in those appearances and wouldn’t return to the big leagues until he was called up to be a swing man in mid-June of last year. His solid performance (3.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP in 64 1/3 innings) earned him an arbitration-level contract with the Orioles this winter, who offered him $2MM to act as depth for their young rotation.
The depth Irvin provided proved to be a much-needed asset for the Orioles throughout the first half this year as their rotation battled injuries to each of Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means, Tyler Wells, and Dean Kremer throughout the early months of the year. Each of Bradish, Means, and Wells ended up requiring UCL surgery by the end of June, and those numerous injuries kept Irvin as a fixture in the Baltimore rotation throughout the first half. After a shaky start to the year, Irvin settled in to post a strong 1.88 ERA and 3.49 FIP in ten appearance (eight starts) from mid-April through early June.
Things took a turn for the worse from there, however, as Irvin had been lit up to the tune of an 8.72 ERA and 6.11 FIP in his final 32 innings with the Orioles. Those struggles led him to be moved to the bullpen in early July, but the Orioles pulled the plug when the lefty continued to struggle in a multi-inning relief role. Now that he’s with the club in Triple-A, Irvin figures to serve as a non-roster depth option for the club down the stretch, backing up a rotation mix that currently features Rodriguez, Kremer, and ace Corbin Burnes alongside deadline additions Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers. An injury to any of those pieces or long reliever Albert Suarez could provide Irvin an opening to return to the majors this year but he’d have to leapfrog youngsters Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster, on the depth chart in order to do so.
Tigers Select Brant Hurter
TODAY: The Tigers have officially announced the selection of Hurter’s contract. Left-hander Sean Guenther was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Hurter on the active roster.
AUGUST 3: The Tigers are planning to select left-hander Brant Hurter to pitch in tomorrow’s game against the Royals, AJ Hinch told reporters (including The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen) earlier this afternoon. Hurter is not yet on the 40-man roster, but the Tigers still have a space open after shipping Mark Canha, Jack Flaherty, and Andrew Chafin out on the day of the trade deadline so a corresponding move will only be necessary to add the southpaw to the club’s active roster.
Hurter, 26 in September, was a seventh-round pick by the Tigers in the 2021 draft out of Georgia Tech. Hurter reached the Double-A level in his first professional season back in 2022 and went on to dominate the level in 2023, with a 3.28 ERA in 118 innings of work across 26 starts. He struck out an impressive 26.7% of batters faced while walking just 6.6%, but the lefty has not been able to carry that success in Double-A over to his first taste of Triple-A action this year. In 19 appearances (18 starts) at the highest level of the minors in 2024, Hurter has been lit up to the tune of a 5.80 ERA in 71 1/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate has dropped to 21.7% while his walk rate has crept up slightly to 7.1%. Perhaps more notably, Hurter has struggled to keep the ball in the park as often as he did last year, allowing more home runs already this year than he did last year despite a nearly 50-inning gap in terms of volume.
As he prepares for his MLB debut tomorrow, Stavenhagen notes that Hinch made clear that he will not be starting the game and will instead act as a bulk arm following an opener. While Hurter has generally been used as a typical starter in the minors to this point in his career, he did have some success as a bulk pitcher earlier this year, when he threw six scoreless innings at Triple-A against the Reds’ Louisville affiliate after coming in as a reliever in the third inning.
With a rotation mix that currently features only four pitchers (Tarik Skubal, Kenta Maeda, Bryan Sammons, and Keider Montero), it would hardly be a surprise if a strong showing from Hurter tomorrow earned him a more extended look in the majors as the club tries to piece together a rotation, whether that be in a proper starting role going forward or simply as a bulk arm. The club’s rotation depth took a massive hit in recent weeks between the deal that shipped Flaherty to L.A. and recent injuries to Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Matt Manning. There was some suggestion prior to the All-Star break that right-hander Beau Brieske could be considered for a rotation role in the second half, though that has not yet come to pass as he’s remained in a multi-inning relief role out of the bullpen.
Guardians Select Connor Gillispie
The Guardians announced a series of roster moves this morning, headlined by the club selecting the contract of right-hander Connor Gillispie. The club also recalled righty Eli Morgan. In corresponding moves, rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo and right-hander Xzavion Curry were optioned to Triple-A.
Gillispie, 26, was a ninth-round pick by the Orioles back in 2019. He reached Double-A in Baltimore before being selected by the Guardians in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft this past winter. He’s swung between the rotation and bullpen for Cleveland at the Triple-A level since then, and he’s done so with decent numbers. In 89 2/3 innings of work across 20 appearances (11 starts), Gillispie sports a 4.01 ERA with somewhat concerning peripherals. The righty’s decent 23.3% strikeout rate is paired with an elevated 10.5% walk rate and a shocking number of home runs. As a fly ball pitcher who has seen 17% of his balls in the fly balls leave the yard for homers, Gillispie has surrendered a whopping 19 homers so far this season.
It’s not yet clear what role Gillispie will fill with the Guardians now that he’s on the big league roster, though it’s perhaps worth noting that the club has not yet announced a starting pitcher for tomorrow’s game against the Diamondbacks. Gillispie last pitched on July 26, meaning he’s had more than a week of rest since his last outing and should be able to provide length for Cleveland whether he winds up pitching out of the bullpen or the rotation, although the Guardians are surely hoping he can get his issues with the long ball under control in the majors.
Cleveland’s rotation currently features just four arms (Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Ben Lively, and Carlos Carrasco) but the move to option Curry also leaves room for a fresh long relief arm in the bullpen. Veteran right-hander Alex Cobb figures to join the rotation picture at some point in the near future for the club after being acquired from the Giants at the trade deadline, but he made what should be his final rehab starts in the minor leagues last night and won’t be available for a few more days.
Also joining the club’s active roster is Morgan, who has pitched to excellent results when in the majors despite middling peripherals. The right-hander sports a sparkling 1.98 ERA and 2.80 FIP in 13 2/3 innings of work at the big league level this year but has gotten by despite a paltry 17.9% walk rate thanks to an elevated 75% strand rate and zero home runs allowed in the majors so far this season. His numbers at Triple-A have been solid as well, however, as he’s posted a 2.70 ERA with a more palatable 22.9% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 innings of work in the minors. Prior to this year, Morgan has been a valuable reliever for the Guardians since converting to the bullpen full time with a 3.69 ERA and 3.73 FIP in 134 innings over the past two years.
Making room for Morgan and Gillispie on the 40-man roster are Cantillo and Curry, both of whom are headed to Triple-A for the time being. Cantillo, 24, looked good in eight appearances (seven starts) at the highest level of the minors this year before being promoted to the majors last week, but he’s struggled to a 7.36 ERA across two starts in his first taste of big league action. He’ll take that experience back to the minors and prepare for his next opportunity to establish himself properly as a major leaguer. As for Curry, the 26-year-old impressed last year with a 4.07 ERA in 95 innings as a multi-inning reliever and swing man for the Guardians but has struggled in a similar role this year with a 5.84 ERA and 5.20 FIP in seven appearances, including four starts. He’ll head to Triple-A to act as a versatile depth option for the time being, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get another shot to re-establish himself later this year.