Yankees Sign Jake Lamb To Minor League Deal
The Yankees signed first baseman/corner outfielder Jake Lamb to a minor league deal this afternoon. He was assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he’s making his organizational debut tonight.
Lamb was let go by the Angels a couple weeks ago. The veteran left-handed hitter had signed an offseason minor league contract and broke camp with Los Angeles. He struggled over 19 games, putting up a .216/.259/.353 line before being optioned. Lamb found his stride in Triple-A, putting together a .317/.453/.498 slash over 150 plate appearances. He walked at a huge 17.3% clip against a manageable 20% strikeout rate.
Despite the big upper minors numbers, the Halos designated him for assignment and released him last month. After a couple weeks on the open market, he finds a new landing spot and will try to play his way back to the big leagues.
Lamb has now appeared at the highest level in 10 consecutive seasons. An everyday player early in his career with the Diamondbacks, he has bounced around over the past few years. Going back to the start of the 2020 campaign, Lamb has a .203/.297/.368 batting line in 434 MLB plate appearances split between seven different clubs.
Mets Designate T.J. McFarland For Assignment
The Mets are designating reliever T.J. McFarland for assignment, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday). The vacated roster spot will go to José Quintana, who is being reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
McFarland signed a minor league pact with New York over the winter. He spent the bulk of the season with Triple-A Syracuse, posting a 2.76 ERA through 32 2/3 innings. The veteran southpaw issued a few too many walks but struck out over a quarter of opponents and induced grounders at a massive 62.8% rate. The Mets added him to the MLB roster late last month.
New York only used him three times before today’s DFA. He’ll now be traded or waived within the next week. McFarland struggled to a 6.61 ERA across 32 2/3 frames for the Cardinals last season but posted a strong 2.56 mark the year before. He has always been adept at keeping the ball on the ground and had good enough minor league numbers to potentially attract interest from another club.
Quintana is tabbed for next Wednesday’s start against the White Sox, tweets David Lennon of Newsday. His club debut is still a little less than a week off, but the Mets had to activate him today. Pitchers are allotted 30 days on a rehab stint. Quintana began his minor league work on June 13, leaving New York to make the roster move a few days earlier than they’ll press the veteran southpaw into action.
Signed to a two-year free agent contract, Quintana was delayed by a Spring Training rib injury that required surgery. He posted a 2.93 ERA in 32 starts between the Pirates and Cardinals last season.
Dodgers Reinstate Chris Taylor, Transfer Shelby Miller To 60-Day Injured List
The Dodgers announced a few moves before tonight’s series opener. Utilityman Chris Taylor is back from the 10-day injured list. Los Angeles also finalized their major league contract with veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick. Outfielder Jonny Deluca was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Marisnick, reliever Shelby Miller has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Taylor returns a little less than a month after going on the injured list with a bone bruise in his knee. The utilityman and the newly-signed Marisnick add some right-handed depth to the MLB bench. Taylor is hitting .206/.275/.455 with 11 home runs over 59 games.
Miller’s IL transfer is perhaps the more significant of today’s transactions. The veteran right-hander has been on the 15-day IL since June 21 because of neck pain. Today’s move ensures he won’t return before the third week of August. Skipper Dave Roberts told the club’s beat they do expect Miller to be back this season, though it now won’t be for at least another five weeks (relayed by Juan Toribio of MLB.com).
Los Angeles signed Miller to a somewhat surprising $1.5MM major league contract in December. He has had solid results, pitching to a 2.40 ERA across 30 innings — his heaviest MLB workload in four seasons. Miller has walked 15% of opponents but struck out batters at an above-average 25.8% clip. He’ll return to free agency at year’s end.
Padres Acquire Ben Gamel From Rays
The Padres are acquiring minor league outfielder Ben Gamel from the Rays, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Tampa Bay receives cash in return, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter).
According to the transaction log at MLB.com, the veteran outfielder was assigned to Triple-A El Paso. Gamel will not immediately occupy a spot on the 40-man roster, as he’d signed a minor league pact with Tampa Bay over the offseason.
The 31-year-old Gamel has had a strong season in Triple-A Durham with the Rays, hitting .276/.402/.463 (120 wRC+) with eight homers, 12 doubles, a triple, four steals, a huge 16.8% walk rate and a 22.8% strikeout rate in 250 plate appearances. He’ll give the Friars an experienced veteran bat who could be up in the Majors and help in a corner outfield spot sooner than later.
Gamel has seen Major League time in each of the past seven seasons, dating back to his 2016 debut with the Yankees. He’s a lifetime .253/.333/.385 hitter (97 wRC+) in just over 2200 plate appearances, and while he’s typically been light on power — career-high 11 homers, .132 career ISO — he’s drawn walks at a strong clip for the majority of his big league tenure (10.2%).
Looking at his career as a whole, Gamel’s track record against right-handed pitching is roughly average. That’s skewed somewhat by some shaky performances earlier in his career, however. Dating back to Opening Day 2021, Gamel carries a solid .255/.351/.408 slash against right-handed pitchers — about 12% better than league-average after weighting for his home park and league run-scoring environment, by measure of wRC+. During that time, he’s walked at a stout 13.9% clip in platoon matchups.
The Padres have a righty-heavy lineup and have gotten negligible production out of a thin bench group this season. Their reserve options off the bench currently include catcher Austin Nola and infielder/outfielder options Rougned Odor, Brandon Dixon and Matthew Batten. Odor is the only lefty of the bunch, and his .212/.307/.371 batting line (91 wRC+) in 150 plate appearances hasn’t been much to write home about. Gamel could be a veteran option to step into a bench spot, and if the club eventually decides to reduce struggling Matt Carpenter‘s role or move on from him entirely — the 37-year-old is hitting .173/.300/.314 — then Gamel could have a clearer path to some DH or corner outfield at-bats.
Angels Select Trey Cabbage, Outright David Fletcher
The Angels announced a number of moves before tonight’s game with the Astros. Los Angeles selected first baseman/corner outfielder Trey Cabbage, recalled infielder Michael Stefanic and reinstated Zach Neto and Matt Moore from the injured list.
In corresponding moves, the Halos placed Anthony Rendon, Jo Adell and Sam Bachman on the IL. All three placements are retroactive to July 11. The position players will be eligible to return a week from now, while Bachman is out until at least July 26. In a final transaction, infielder David Fletcher has already cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Cabbage.
On the positive side, Cabbage gets his first MLB look. The left-handed hitter was a fourth round selection of the Twins out of a Tennessee high school back in 2015. He played in the Minnesota system through 2021, topping out at Double-A. After becoming a minor league free agent, he joined the Halos.
Cabbage has spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He has demonstrated interesting physical tools, connecting on 23 home runs and stealing 24 bases in 84 games. Even in the Pacific Coast League, his .287/.358/.576 batting line is better than average. He and Adell share the league lead in homers, and he’s fifth among 68 PCL hitters (minimum 200 plate appearances) in slugging.
He’ll add a left-handed power bat to Phil Nevin’s bench. Cabbage has gone down on strikes at a lofty 31.3% clip in Triple-A and has posted elevated strikeout totals throughout his career. The swing-and-miss has kept him from reaching the majors before his 26th birthday, but the huge power production in the upper minors earns him a look.
Cabbage is the latest member of an Angels’ infield that has gone through numerous recent iterations. Injuries to Neto, Gio Urshela and Rendon led the club to acquire Mike Moustakas and Eduardo Escobar. Neto is back at shortstop tonight after a month-long absence because of an oblique strain. That pushes Andrew Velazquez to the bench, while Luis Rengifo draws in at third base.
Rendon is dealing with a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg a week ago. He told reporters the injury hasn’t healed as hoped and declined to answer when asked if he was engaged in any baseball activities (via Sam Blum of the Athletic). Adell has a left oblique strain. Bachman has inflammation in his throwing shoulder; Nevin told reporters he’ll be shut down for a brief period but isn’t expected to require a long-term absence (relayed by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
Neto’s return squeezed Fletcher off the roster for the second time this season. The Halos also ran him through waivers in April. They re-selected his contract in late June but sent him back down after 11 games. Fletcher has gotten into 19 MLB contests on the season, hitting .213/.245/.298. He’s been far better in Salt Lake, putting up a .383/.431/.478 slash with more walks than strikeouts over 197 plate appearances.
Fletcher is making $6MM this season and under contract for the same amount through 2025. The $24MM extension he’d signed two years ago has given him ample financial security but ensured the Angels can send him through waivers without losing him. No other team is going to assume that money on a claim.
The latest demotion is timed so that the Halos can keep Fletcher in the organization as a non-roster player. He entered the season 61 days shy of the five-year MLB service threshold. He has picked up around 39 more days this year. Players with over five years of service time can decline a minor league assignment while retaining their entire contract; those with between three and five years would need to forfeit their guaranteed money to do so. Fletcher certainly isn’t going to pass on the money remaining on his deal, so the preemptive outright before he gets to five service years will keep him in Salt Lake.
Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On Injured List
The Rockies placed starter Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 11, with a subluxation in his non-throwing shoulder. Colorado also selected the contract of reliever Tommy Doyle, as reported this afternoon, and recalled Michael Toglia. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Doyle, lefty Ryan Rolison landed on the 60-day IL.
Freeland suffered the injury during his final start before the All-Star Break. He disclosed the shoulder and suffered a slight tear in the labrum, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Fortunately, Freeland won’t require surgery and is expected to pitch again at some point in 2023.
The 30-year-old southpaw has been Colorado’s most reliable pitcher this season. Over 19 starts, he’s worked 103 innings of 4.72 ERA ball. He’s striking out fewer than 15% of opponents but has kept his walk rate to a quality 7.7% clip. Freeland and Austin Gomber are the only Colorado starters to work over 60 innings; the former is the only pitcher on the team to keep an ERA below 5.00 while working more than 20 frames.
Rolison, a former first round pick, could have had an opportunity to carve out a spot with that pitching staff in flux. The 26-year-old southpaw has unfortunately had serious injury concerns over the past two seasons. He missed all of last year, undergoing a season-ending shoulder procedure in June. Rolison returned from the IL at the end of May but quickly experienced renewed shoulder discomfort.
There’s now a serious question if Rolison will be able to return this season. The IL placement will prevent him from making his MLB debut until mid-September at the earliest. The only silver lining is that he’ll collect MLB service and be paid at the prorated $720K big league minimum rate for time he spends rehabbing from here forward.
Rockies To Select Tommy Doyle
The Rockies are adding right-hander Tommy Doyle to their roster today, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com and Patrick Lyons of DNVR. He’s not yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will need to make a corresponding move or moves to get him aboard.
Doyle, 27, got a cup of coffee with the Rockies during the 2020 season, logging 2 1/3 innings over three games. Unfortunately, he allowed six earned runs in that time and currently has a career ERA of 23.14. He spent all of 2021 in the minors before being outrighted off of the club’s roster at the end of that season, then spent all of 2022 on the minor league injured list.
This year, Doyle has been in Triple-A, tossing 26 2/3 innings with a tiny 1.01 ERA, striking out 27.9% of opponents and getting grounders on half the balls he’s allowed in play. He wouldn’t be able to continue keeping runs off the board at that rate with an 11.5% walk rate, .226 batting average on balls in play and 78.1% strand rate, but it’s been impressive enough to get him back into the big leagues and a chance to lower that career ERA.
The righty still has a couple of options and just 14 days of service time, allowing him to serve as an optionable depth piece for the club for the foreseeable future, as long as he continues to hang onto that 40-man roster spot.
Athletics Outright Tyler Wade
The Athletics announced a number of roster moves today, including the previously reported promotions of prospects Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof, as well as the recall of right-hander Freddy Tarnok. In corresponding moves, they placed left-hander Richard Lovelady on the 15-day injured list and catcher Manny Piña on the 10-day injured list, as well as outrighting infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade. The club already had one vacancy on its 40-man roster and the outright of Wade creates a second, making room for both Soderstrom and Gelof.
Wade, 28, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and has twice now been selected for brief stints with the big league club before being outrighted. He was with the A’s for about two weeks in April, in addition to joining the club for the past four weeks or so. He’s managed to get into 26 games this year and take 55 trips to the plate, hitting .255/.309/.314 in those for a wRC+ of 81.
He’s never been able to hit much at the big league level, as shown by his career batting line of .217/.293/.300 in 709 plate appearances. His best attribute is his versatility, as he’s lined up at all three outfield spots in his career and the three infield positions to the left of first base. He also brings a speed element, having stolen 42 bases in his career, including succeeding in all four of his attempts this year.
Wade was once an intriguing prospect while with the Yankees but his lack of offensive output has limited him to bench/utility roles thus far. This is the second time this year he’s passed through waivers unclaimed. Players with previous career outrights or more than three years of major league service time have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. Wade qualifies on both counts though he accepted an outright assignment to Las Vegas earlier this year.
Ryan Tepera Expected To Opt Out Of Rangers Deal
Veteran reliever Ryan Tepera has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Rangers and is expected to become a free agent, MLBTR has learned. He’d signed there on a minor league pact in mid-June after being released by the Angels.
Signed by the Halos to a two-year, $14MM contract in the 2021-22 offseason, the now-35-year-old Tepera had a solid first year in Anaheim, pitching to a 3.61 ERA with 17 holds, six saves, a 20.3% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in 57 1/3 innings. Things went off the rails in year two of the contract, as he was hit hard in 8 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment and released. Tepera yielded seven earned runs on 15 hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts during those 10 2/3 innings, and his average fastball had dipped to a career-low 91.8 mph.
It’s been the opposite with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, however. The veteran righty has rattled off eight scoreless innings, punching out a whopping 37.9% of his opponents against a 10.3% walk rate. He’s picked some of that velocity back up, with his heater now back up to 93 mph — the same level at which it sat from 2020-22, when Tepera tossed 139 1/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball between the Cubs, White Sox and Halos.
It’s at least mildly surprising that the Rangers apparently don’t feel they have a big league spot for Tepera, given that performance and his broader track record. In parts of nine big league seasons, he’s tallied 363 1/3 innings of 3.59 ERA ball, regularly working in leverage roles — particularly in recent seasons. The Rangers recently acquired Aroldis Chapman to shore up the back end of their bullpen and have also brought familiar faces Ian Kennedy and Matt Bush back to the organization on minor league deals, but given this year’s struggles from expected contributors like Joe Barlow, Jonathan Hernandez, Taylor Hearn and John King, there’s still some need for relief pitching in Arlington. Of course, Texas GM Chris Young is very likely still in the market for additional relief pitching.
However things play out in Texas, it appears Tepera won’t be a part of the solution at this time. He’ll hit the market in search of another opportunity. With upwards of half the league in the market for bullpen help, a nice showing in Triple-A and a strong track record, he ought to draw interest from multiple clubs as he looks for a return to the big leagues. The Angels are on the hook for the remainder of Tepera’s $7MM salary for the current season, so any team that signs him would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.
Tigers Release Jonathan Schoop
July 14: The Tigers announced that Schoop has now cleared waivers and been granted his release.
July 12: The Tigers have released Jonathan Schoop, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. Once he clears release waivers, he’ll be a free agent.
This was the expected outcome when Detroit designated the veteran infielder for assignment on Friday night. Schoop’s offensive struggles — he’s a .204/.248/.311 hitter going back to the start of 2022 — meant he was never likely to attract trade interest. He’s making $7.5MM this season (a little more than $3MM of which is still to be paid out), which no club is going to assume via waiver claim.
After hitting the market, the 31-year-old should be able to find some interest around the league. He’s a former All-Star who rated as a Gold Glove caliber defensive second baseman a season ago. Schoop’s offense has evaporated the past couple years, but he’s a career .254/.293/.428 hitter through parts of 11 big league campaigns.
Given his struggles at the plate, Schoop might be limited to minor league opportunities for now. If he cracks another team’s MLB roster this season, that club would pay him the prorated amount of the $720K league minimum salary for however long he’s in the majors. Detroit will remain on the hook for the rest of the contract.