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Red Sox Release Raimel Tapia, Outright Matt Dermody

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The Red Sox announced that outfielder Raimel Tapia has been released, and that left-hander Matt Dermody has been outrighted to Triple-A.  Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week.

Tapia signed a minor league deal with Boston during the offseason, and after his contract was selected, Tapia locked in a $2MM salary for the 2023 season.  The Sox are still on the hook for the remainder (roughly $1.22MM) of that money owed, and that salary could be why teams passed on Tapia on the DFA wire.  An interested club can now sign Tapia to a minors contract and only owe him the prorated MLB average salary, with the Red Sox covering the rest.

The 29-year-old Tapia is hitting .264/.333/.368 over 97 plate appearances this season, roughly in line with the career .277/.318/.392 slash line he carried with the Rockies and Blue Jays from 2016-22.  Limited mostly to facing right-handed pitching this year, Tapia has a hit a strong .309/.373/.441 in 76 PA against righties, and he has seen action for the Red Sox in all three outfield positions.

Since Tapia has over five years of Major League experience, he had the right to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A and elect free agency.  It could be that Tapia planned to take this avenue anyway, so the Sox simply opted to release him after no trade possibilities emerged when Tapia was on the waiver wire.  Given Tapia’s track record as a respectable backup outfield option and his good numbers against right-handed pitching, it seems likely that he’ll catch on with another team in relatively short order.

Dermody has been outrighted before in his career, so he also had the option to elect free agency but he has instead decided to remain in Boston’s organization.  In cup-of-coffee fashion, Dermody was selected to the Red Sox roster and then DFA’ed on the same day, with a four-inning start against the Guardians on June 8 sandwiched in between the two transactions.  It marked the first Major League start for Dermody, though he has started regularly in the minors and in his non-affiliated stints in the KBO League and with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters.

That one outing gave Dermody appearances in five different MLB seasons, though 23 of his 31 career games came with the Blue Jays in 2017.  The southpaw will likely continue starting at Triple-A Worcester, where he has a 4.50 ERA over 44 innings with a 24.4% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate.

Rockies To Select Coco Montes

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12:10 PM: The Rockies have announced the full slate of roster moves surrounding Montes’s call-up, with Antonio Senzatela transferred to the 60-Day injured list to make room for Montes on the 40-man roster while Trejo was optioned to Triple-A to clear space on the active roster. Senzatela has been on the injured list with an elbow strain since early May, while Trejo heads to the minors after slashing .241/.271/.313 in 119 plate appearances for the Rockies this season.

In addition, the club announced that outfielder Charlie Blackmon was being placed on the 10-day IL with a fractured hand, with DNVR’s Patrick Lyons notes could leave Blackmon out of action for several weeks. In 242 plate appearances this season, the 36-year-old veteran has slashed .265/.347/.422, good for a wRC+ of 97. Taking Blackmon’s place on the roster is catcher Brian Serven, who has posted a wRC+ of 43 in 72 big league plate appearances since making his debut with the Rockies last season.

10:21 AM: The Rockies are selecting the contract of infielder Coco Montes, as first reported by Blake Street Banter on Twitter. The club’s 40-man roster is currently at capacity, meaning a corresponding move will be necessary to make room for Montes on the 40-man, though no such move has been announced at this point.

It’s a long-awaited day for Montes, who was a 15th round pick by the Rockies in the 2018 draft. Now in his sixth season in the Rockies organization, Montes is poised to make his big league debut after slashing an impressive .321/.401/.560 in 59 games at Triple-A this season, a line that converts to a well-above average 126 wRC+ even in the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League. In addition to that impressive slash line, Montes has cut his strikeout rate down to just 23%, which would be his lowest full-season figure since 2019. Montes has paired that reduced strikeout figure with a solid 11.7% walk rate.

While Montes didn’t hit for much power prior to reaching the PCL, with just 34 home runs in 332 minor league games below the Triple-A level from 2018-2022, Montes will nonetheless try to provide a jolt to a Rockies lineup that lost Brendan Rogers before the season and has more recently had to go without both C.J. Cron and Kris Bryant. An infielder who has plenty of experience at each of third base, second base, and shortstop, Montes figures to join an infield mix in Colorado that currently contains Ryan McMahon, Ezequiel Tovar, Harold Castro, and Alan Trejo.

Dodgers Select The Contract Of Adam Kolarek

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The Dodgers have selected the contract of left-hander Adam Kolarek, per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, right-hander Andre Jackson was optioned to Triple-A and transferred outfielder Trayce Thompson to the 60-day injured list.

A veteran of six MLB seasons, Kolarek made his MLB debut with the Rays in 2017, struggling to a 6.48 ERA in 8 1/3 innings of work in his first taste of big league action. He turned things around after that shaky debut, however, as he posted a 3.94 ERA (109 ERA+) in 77 2/3 innings with the Rays split between the 2018 and 2019 seasons prior the being shipped to the Dodgers at the 2019 trade deadline.

Kolarek was a revelation in LA, with a 0.77 ERA in 11 2/3 innings down the stretch with the Dodgers. He followed up with another sterling performance during the shortened 2020 campaign, pitching to a 0.95 ERA in 19 regular season innings as the Dodgers stormed to a World Series championship in 2020, though Kolarek allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings during the 2020 postseason.

After being swapped from the Dodgers to Oakland ahead of the 2021 campaign, Kolarek’s dominance with the Dodgers seemed to vanish. In 26 2/3 innings of work with the A’s between the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, Kolarek struggled to a 5.74 ERA with a 5.53 FIP. That downturn in performance came primarily from struggles with control, as Kolarek walked a 10% of batters faced with the A’s compared to just 5.7% of batters faced across the 2018-2020 campaigns. With an equal number of walks and strikeouts during his time in Oakland, it was no surprise when the A’s designated Kolarek for assignment last summer.

Since then, Kolarek returned to LA on a minor league deal and has dominated at the Triple-A level in 2023, with a 2.18 ERA in 20 2/3 innings of work this season. Kolarek figures to give the Dodgers an addition left-handed option in their bullpen alongside the likes of Caleb Ferguson, Alex Vesia, and Victor Gonzalez going forward.

Headed out in favor of Kolarek is Jackson, who returns to the minors after a three scoreless innings against the Phillies yesterday. It was a solid rebound for Jackson, who posted an ugly 7.98 ERA in six games over two previous call-ups to the majors this season. Going forward, Jackson figures to continue serving as valuable, optionable depth in the club’s bullpen who is capable of delivering in multi-inning stints.

Thompson’s placement on the 60-day IL clears a roster spot for Kolarek and comes as little surprise after manager Dave Roberts noted recently that the outfielder would miss more than a month with his current oblique strain, though the injury is not expected to end Thompson’s season. After a breakout season with the Dodgers in 2022, Thompson has struggled in 87 plate appearances this season to a .155/.310/.366 slash line while logging time at all three outfield spots.

Guardians Designate Richie Palacios For Assignment

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The Guardians made a series of roster moves this morning, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Infielder Richie Palacios has been designated for assignment and left-hander Tim Herrin has been optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for right-hander Cody Morris, who was activated from the 60-day IL this morning.

A third round pick by Cleveland in the 2018 draft, Palacios made his MLB debut for the club last year, though he struggled to a .232/.293/.286 slash line (good for a wRC+ of just 65) in 54 games with the club. Those struggles came in spite of fantastic minor league numbers, as Palacios hit at an above average level at every stop on his minor league journey until his major league debut. That includes a 2021 campaign where he slashed an impressive .297/.404/.471 in 103 games split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse for Palacios in 2023, as the young infielder has failed to hit even at the Triple-A level, with a meager .217/.351/.318 slash line that’s good for a wRC+ of just 78 in 56 games with Columbus this season. Those struggles have seemingly caused the Guardians to pull the plug on Palacios, who they will now have seven days to trade or attempt to pass through waivers.

As a 26-year-old infielder with positional versatility, past success in the minors, and options remaining, Palacios seems likely to be an attractive option for infield-needy clubs on the waiver wire, though if he were to pass through waivers he would not be able to reject an outright assignment from the Guardians.

Herrin, 26, heads to Columbus after making his major league debut earlier this season. In ten appearances with the Guardians, the lefty struggled to a 6.39 ERA across 12 2/3 innings of work, allowing two home runs, five walks, and hitting a batter. Those issues with the long ball and control hampered Herrin even as he posted a solid 25.5% strikeout rate in the majors. Herrin figures to act as bullpen depth for Cleveland going forward in Triple-A, where he has posted a 3.63 ERA in 17 1/3 innings of work this season.

Those moves pave the way for the return of Morris, a 26-year-old right-hander who made an impressive big league debut with the Guardians last season. In seven appearances split between the bullpen and the rotation, Morris posted a 2.28 ERA (170 ERA+), though his 4.34 FIP indicates there may have been some good fortune in those run prevention numbers, particularly given the fact that his 12% walk rate and 35.4% groundball rate all leave something to be desired.

Still, Morris’s minor league numbers are certainly intriguing, with a career 1.68 ERA and a 37.8% strikeout rate in 80 1/3 innings of work between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. After opening the season on the injured list with a teres major strain, Morris now figures to assist the Guardians pitching staff as an option for both the rotation and the bullpen going forward, though he seems ticketed for the bullpen for the time being.

Rockies Sign Jorge Alfaro To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have signed catcher Jorge Alfaro to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.

It’s sort of a birthday present for Alfaro, who turns 30 on Sunday. He began the season on a minor league deal with the Red Sox and was assigned to Triple-A Worcester, where he put up an excellent line of .320/.366/.520 through 43 games. That production amounted to a 119 wRC+, indicating he was 19% better than league average.

He had the ability to opt out of that contract on June 1 and July 1 and exercised the first of those opt-outs, hardly a surprise given his hot start to the year. The Red Sox could have prevented Alfaro from getting away by giving him a spot on their roster but decided to stick with their tandem of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, allowing Alfaro to return to the open market.

Alfaro now finds a new home with the Rockies, an organization that has some question marks in its catching corps. Elias Díaz is the club’s primary backstop and he is having a solid season, hitting .299/.355/.459 for a wRC+ of 107. He’s also been worth three Defensive Runs Saved on defense. However, he was removed from today’s game after he was hit in the mask by a foul ball. “We were cautionary taking him out, based on a blow last night and that one today,” manager Bud Black told Patrick Lyons of DNVR. “I think it made sense to take him out. (Trainer Keith Duggar) is confident that he’s going to be fine. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

The club’s backup is Austin Wynns, who is hitting just .190/.255/.238 this year for a wRC+ of 28. Brian Serven is on the 40-man roster and currently on optional assignment with Albuquerque, though he’s hitting just .260/.289/.438 at that level for a 64 wRC+ and had a line of .130/.130/.174 in the majors earlier this year.

The Rockies will now add Alfaro into the mix amid those other options. Once a top 100 prospect, Alfaro hasn’t quite clicked in the majors despite continually crushing in the minors. He’s hit .256/.305/.396 in his major league career for a wRC+ of 89 and also received subpar marks for his defensive work.

If Alfaro can get back up to the majors, the timing will potentially be important for his future status. He currently has five years and 83 days of major league service time. Since a new “year” flips over at 172 days, he is currently 89 days shy of the six-year mark that comes with automatic free agency. If he were called up in the middle of July or later and finally had his long-awaited breakout, he would come up short of that mark and could be retained by the Rockies via arbitration for another season. It’s also possible that his new deal contains opt-outs similar to his deal with the Red Sox, though that’s not publicly known at this time.

Angels Select Gerardo Reyes

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The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Gerardo Reyes and reinstated outfielder Hunter Renfroe from the paternity list. In corresponding moves, outfielder Jo Adell was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake while right-hander Ben Joyce was placed on the 15-day injured list due to ulnar neuritis. To open a spot for Reyes on the 40-man roster, catcher Max Stassi was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Reyes, 30, was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and has been pitching for Triple-A Salt Lake so far this year. He has a 4.64 ERA through 21 1/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, striking out 32% of batters faced but walking 11%.

He has a bit of major league experience, including two games with the Angels last year as well as 27 with the 2019 Padres, undergoing Tommy John surgery in between those campaigns. He has a 7.39 career ERA at the moment, though a .329 batting average on balls in play and 54.7% strand rate point to a bit of bad luck. His 29.5% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate have led to more palatable advanced metrics like a 4.17 FIP and 3.86 SIERA.

Now back on the 40-man roster, Reyes still has an option year and could provide a depth arm with some roster flexibility going forward. He also has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained for future seasons if he can continue to hang onto his roster spot.

Joyce was removed from last night’s game due to right hand irritation and will now sit out at least two weeks. He underwent an MRI today, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, and more information on his status should be forthcoming in the near future. Joyce was just added to the club’s roster a couple of weeks ago and is known for his elite velocity. His fastball has averaged an incredible 101.5 mph so far in his short big league career. He has a 4.50 ERA through his first four innings, striking out 23.8% of opponents but walking 19%.

As for Stassi, this move is little more than a formality to open a roster spot since he has already been on the injured list for more than 60 days. He began the season on the IL due to a hip strain and has also been dealing with an undisclosed family situation. Since 60 days have already passed since his initial IL placement, he’s eligible to be reinstated at anytime. However, he hasn’t begun a rehab assignment and there hasn’t been any reporting that suggests he’s close to starting one.

Reds Sign Michael Mariot To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed right-hander Michael Mariot to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Louisville.

Mariot, 34, has 44 games of major league experience, which came with the Royals and Phillies back in the 2014-2016 seasons. He has a 5.98 career ERA in 49 2/3 innings with a 20% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 34.2% ground ball rate.

Since that time, he has been bouncing to various different organizations. He signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in March of last year and was traded to the Tigers in June for cash, though neither club called him to the majors. He made 15 starts and three relief appearances on the year, posting a 4.90 ERA in 79 innings. He struck out 16.3% of opponents while walking 9.3%. He then spent some time with the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.

For the past few months, he’s been with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball. He had a 5.06 ERA there but with 29 strikeouts and just five walks in 26 2/3 innings.

The Reds have dealt with a number of injuries to their pitching staff, with Graham Ashcraft landing on the injured list just yesterday. He joined Justin Dunn, Vladimir Gutierrez, Nick Lodolo, Connor Overton, Tejay Antone, Derek Law, Casey Legumina, Reiver Sanmartin and Tony Santillan on the list of Cincinnati hurlers currently on the shelf. It’s unclear whether they plan to deploy Mariot as a starter or reliever but he will give them some experienced non-roster depth either way. If he earns his way onto the roster, he is out of options but has just over a year of service time.

Cardinals Outright Tres Barrera

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Catcher Tres Barrera has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Memphis, reports Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. That indicates he cleared waivers after being cut from the roster last week.

Barrera, 28, was signed by the Cards to a minor league deal in the offseason. He began the year with Memphis and hit .255/.314/.532 through early May for a wRC+ of 103. He got called up to the big leagues around the same time that the club made the strange decision to shift Willson Contreras away from catching. Barrera was essentially the backup to Andrew Knizner at that time, though the club quickly returned Contreras to catching duty less than a week after stopping him from doing so. Barrera got into six games but only received two plate appearances before being placed on waivers.

Prior to joining the Cardinals, he had spent his entire career with the Nationals. He had a .231/.317/.315 batting line in the majors coming into this year but his minor league slash line is a stronger .250/.330/.392. He’s generally considered a solid defender, having positive framing marks from both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

Barrera had a previous career outright, which gave him the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. Instead, he’ll report to Memphis and try to work his way back to the big leagues. He could be called up if either Contreras or Knizner need to miss any time, though prospect Iván Herrera is hitting .301/.429/.545 in Triple-A this year.

Giants Option Joey Bart

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The Giants have reinstated Joey Bart from the injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, per Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Bart had been on a rehab assignment after going on the IL about three weeks ago due to a groin strain, but apparently the club doesn’t have room for him on the active roster right now.

Bart, 26, was the second overall pick of the 2018 draft and was once seen as the heir apparent to Buster Posey as the franchise catcher in San Francisco. However, Bart has had many chances to establish himself in the big leagues over the past few seasons without much success. This option is the latest sign that the clock might be ticking on his time with the Giants. Once he spends 20 days in the minors, he will burn his final option year and will be out of options going into 2024.

The Giants opened 2023 with Bart joined by veteran Roberto Pérez and Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol as the catching corps, though Sabol is also capable of playing the outfield. Bart began the season on the IL due to a back strain, but would return 10 days into the campaign. Perez only played five games before he required season-ending shoulder surgery, subtracting him from the mix. Bart and Sabol got the bulk of the playing time for a while, but Bart hit just .231/.286/.295 for a wRC+ of 64. He cut his strikeout rate to 25%, still above average but a big drop from last year’s 38.5% rate, but drew walks in just 2.4% of his plate appearances.

Bart then required an IL stint due to a groin strain on May 19, at which point prospect Patrick Bailey was called up and has seemingly leapfrogged Bart on the depth chart, at least for the time being. Bailey has positive grades from Defensive Runs Saved and FanGraphs’ framing metric so far, though in an obviously small sample size. At the plate, he has struck out in 31.1% of his plate appearances and walked in just 3.3% of them but has nonetheless hit .298/.322/.526 for a wRC+ of 128. He surely won’t be able to maintain a .417 batting average on balls in play but the Giants will ride the hot hand and stick with him. Sabol, meanwhile, has less impressive defensive grades but is hitting a solid .248/.323/.428 on the year for a wRC+ of 107.

Bart’s rough season now gives him a career batting line of .223/.293/.342 for a wRC+ of 81. He also has a -5 DRS and a negative grade from FanGraphs’ framing metric. Though the club once thought highly enough of him to use the second overall pick in the 2018 draft on him, that was before Farhan Zaidi was hired as president of baseball operations in November of that year. Despite having Bart in hand, the current regime used their first round pick in the 2020 draft on Bailey, who has surged to the big leagues already.

Bart will now head to Sacramento and try to get in a good groove. His situation with the Giants will be interesting to monitor in the coming months, especially with the trade deadline now just over seven weeks away. They are 32-31 coming into today’s action and just a game and a half out of a playoff spot, putting them firmly in the mix to do some buying if they can stay afloat. Despite his struggles, Bart could be an appealing trade chip for a club that still believes in his previous prospect pedigree, perhaps a rebuilding club that could give him some runway to work through his issues.

That’s mere speculation and it’s entirely possible Bart sticks around. Manager Gabe Kapler said today that Bart “absolutely” still has a future in the franchise, per Danny Emerman of KNBR. But in the event that Bart is still a Giant by the spring of 2024, he will likely be out of options and competing for a roster spot with Bailey and Sabol.

Mets Designate Tommy Hunter For Assignment

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The Mets have designated right-hander Tommy Hunter for assignment and optioned lefty Zach Muckenhirn to Triple-A, per a team announcement. In their places, the club has recalled right-hander John Curtiss and left-hander Josh Walker to the big league roster.

A first-round pick by the Rangers in the 2007 draft, Hunter is a veteran of sixteen MLB seasons with a career 4.07 ERA in 917 1/3 innings of work. After posting strong numbers for the Mets during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, with a 1.78 ERA in 30 1/3 innings, Hunter has struggled during his age 36 season. In 2023, Hunter has posted a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. Some of those struggles have been thanks to an unusually low 56.8% strand rate, though Hunter has allowed far too much hard contact this season, with a 13.6% barrel rate and a HardHit rate of 45.5%. Should Hunter pass through waivers, he’ll have the option to elect free agency or stick with the Mets as bullpen depth at the Triple-A level.

As for Muckenhirn, the left-hander has allowed four runs on eleven hits and two walks in three appearances (six innings) during his limited time in the majors this season. He returns to Triple-A, where he has posted a 1.11 ERA in 24 1/3 innings of work this season, to serve as bullpen depth for the Mets going forward.

Joining the roster in the duo’s place are Curtiss and Walker. Curtiss, 30, has posted a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings of work for the Mets this season after not appearing in the big leagues in 2022 while rehabbing Tommy John surgery. Prior to going under the knife, Curtiss had posted a strong 2.86 ERA in 69 1/3 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season. Walker, meanwhile, made his big league debut for the Mets earlier this year, tossing a scoreless inning in his lone appearance.

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