Padres Designate Nabil Crismatt For Assignment
The Padres announced that right-hander Seth Lugo has been reinstated from the injured list, with fellow righty Nabil Crismatt designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Crismatt, 28, began his major league career with the Cardinals in 2020. He only appeared in six games that season and was outrighted off the roster at season’s end. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres prior to the 2021 season and has been with them since. He made the club’s Opening Day roster that year and has served as an up-and-down arm for the club in recent years, often throwing multiple innings out of the bullpen while also getting frequently optioned to the minors.
Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 148 2/3 innings over 95 appearances. He posted a combined 3.39 ERA over those two campaigns, striking out 21.6% of opponents while walking 7.3% and getting ground balls on 50.6% of balls in play.
He had exhausted his option years at that point and is now out of options here in 2023. This year, he made six appearances and struggled badly with a 10.80 ERA before landing on the injured list due to a hip strain. He returned from the IL a few days ago and tossed a scoreless inning on Friday. That dropped his ERA to 9.82 but he has now been squeezed off the roster.
The Padres will now have a week to trade Crismatt or pass him through waivers. His results have obviously been poor so far this year but it’s a small sample size and perhaps at least partially explained by the hip injury. He might garner interest based on his work in other seasons. Since he has a previous career outright, he would have the right reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if he were to pass through waivers unclaimed.
Dodgers Select Ryan Brasier
5:50pm: The Dodgers have now made it official, selecting Brasier with left-hander Bryan Hudson optioned and right-hander Andre Jackson designated for assignment in corresponding moves.
5:30pm: The Dodgers are going to select the contract of right-hander Ryan Brasier, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Corresponding moves will be required to get him onto the active and 40-man rosters.
Brasier, 35, was a late bloomer in major league terms. After a stint in Japan, he had his North American breakout in 2018 at the age of 30. He made 34 appearances for the Red Sox that year with a 1.60 ERA, striking out 23.4% of opponents against a 5.6% walk rate. He carried that over into the postseason with a 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 frames, helping the Sox win the World Series.
However, his effectiveness slid in recent seasons and his career ERA now sits at 4.45. Things have looked especially bad recently, as he had a 5.78 ERA last year and an even worse mark of 7.29 this year. Those struggles led to him getting released by the Red Sox and signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He’s pitched three scoreless innings in Triple-A in the past week.
There are some reasons to suspect that those inflated earned run figures aren’t entirely his fault. His 56.2% strand rate and .335 batting average on balls in play last year were both on the unlucky side of league averages, leading to a 3.61 FIP and 3.12 SIERA that suggest he deserved better. It was a similar story here in 2023, with a .344 BABIP, 52.8% strand rate, 4.37 FIP and 4.58 SIERA. That being said, it’s probably oversimplifying things to simply say that he’s been unlucky. His hard hit rate, which hovered between 35 and 40% for his earlier seasons in Boston, jumped to 46.5% last year and 53% this year.
The Dodgers have faced uncharacteristic struggles on the pitching front this year as the pitching staff as a whole currently has a 4.66 ERA, a mark that places them 25th out of the 30 clubs in the league. The bullpen is an even bigger concern, with the relief corps posting a collective 5.04 ERA on the season, which puts them ahead of only the lowly Athletics in that department.
Those struggles have coincided with each of Daniel Hudson, Jimmy Nelson, Phil Bickford, Tyler Cyr, J.P. Feyereisen, Alex Reyes and Blake Treinen landing on the injured list. Some of that group could soon be available to the big league club again, as each of Hudson, Nelson and Bickford are each joining Triple-A Oklahoma City for rehab assignment, per OKC’s Broadcaster/Communications Director Alex Freeman.
But for now, the club will take a flier on a Brasier bounceback, which is essentially risk-free from a cost perspective. Since the Red Sox released him, they are still on the hook for the majority of what remains of his $2MM salary. The Dodgers will pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay.
White Sox Claim Touki Toussaint From Guardians
The White Sox have claimed right-hander Touki Toussaint off waivers from the Guardians, per announcements from both clubs. He had been designated for assignment by the Guards on the weekend. The Sox already had a vacancy on their 40-man and won’t need to make a corresponding move at this time.
The waiver claim serves as something of a birthday present for Toussaint, who turns 27 today. Once a first-round draft pick of the Diamondbacks and top 100 prospect during his time in the minors, he has yet to put it all together in the big leagues. He has a 5.33 ERA in 174 innings dating back to the 2018 season. His strikeout and ground ball numbers have been solid but control has been a frequent issue, with Toussaint walking 13.9% of batters faced in his career.
He qualified for arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player at the end of last season, but the Angels non-tendered him instead. He signed a minor league deal with the Guardians and has been pitching in relief in Triple-A. He posted a 4.06 ERA over 20 appearances, striking out 30.2% of opponents but walking 14.5% of them. He got called up to the big leagues a few days ago to serve as an emergency starter in place of Triston McKenzie. Toussaint tossed 3 2/3 innings, allowing just two earned runs despite surrendering three hits and five walks.
The Sox have decided to use their open 40-man slot to take a shot on Toussaint despite the ongoing control problems. Since Toussaint is out of options, they will need to make a corresponding move to get him onto the active roster whenever he reports to the team.
Twins Select Oliver Ortega, Designate Kyle Garlick For Assignment
The Twins announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Oliver Ortega. Fellow righty Louie Varland was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move while outfielder Kyle Garlick was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Ortega, 26, pitched for the Angels in each of the past two seasons, registering a combined 3.95 ERA in 35 outings between those two campaigns. He was designated for assignment in the offseason and claimed by the Twins, though the latter club passed him through outright waivers a few weeks later.
He’s been putting up good numbers in Triple-A so far this year, posting a 2.42 ERA through 22 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 31.8% of opponents while walking just 8% and getting grounders on 36% of balls in play. That strong work has got him back to the big leagues again, where he’ll provide a fresh arm for the Minnesota bullpen. He also has a couple of option years remaining, giving the club a bit of roster flexibility.
Varland has been working out of the club’s rotation, posting a 5.30 ERA over 10 starts. His option today seems to point towards the imminent return of Kenta Maeda, who has been on a rehab assignment of late. He had a rough start to the year, with an ERA of 9.00 through four starts before landing on the injured list with a triceps strain. He’ll hope to get in a better groove going forward, jumping into the rotation next to Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Pablo López and Bailey Ober.
As for Garlick, he has had some success in the past, primarily as a right-handed platoon specialist. He’s hit .240/.288/.510 against southpaws in his major league career, good enough for a 115 wRC+. However, he hasn’t been hitting in the majors or the minors this year. He’s hit just .210/.308/.427 in 143 Triple-A appearances for the season, including a dismal .160/.263/.300 against lefties. Those struggles surely contributed to nudging him off the roster.
The Twins will now have a week to trade Garlick or pass him through waivers. He has a previous career outright and over three years of service time, which means he could reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service time, he would have to forfeit the remainder of his $750K salary in order to do so. That’s just barely over the $720K minimum for a major league player but it’s surely much better than what he would get in Triple-A, where the minimum salary is just $35.8K.
For any clubs weighing a claim, Garlick is in his final option year, meaning he could be kept in the minors as depth for the rest of the year. He isn’t hitting much here in 2023 but has had some past success that could appeal to another club that has some question marks in its outfield.
Phillies Release Michael Plassmeyer
The Phillies announced that catcher Rafael Marchán has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, left-hander Michael Plassmeyer has been released.
Marchán has been on the injured list all year due to a fracture of his hamate bone. He’s now healthy but the club will stick with its catching tandem of J.T. Realmuto and Garrett Stubbs, which squeezes Marchán down to Lehigh Valley for the time being.
But his activation from the IL means that he needs his spot on the 40-man roster again, which has bumped Plassmeyer off his. The lefty was first added to the club’s roster last August and pitched in a couple of games, posting a 3.68 ERA in 7 1/3 innings. He’s been kept in Triple-A this year, tossing 44 innings over 10 starts and one relief appearance. He had a 6.95 ERA in that time and went on the minor league injured list three weeks ago.
Injured players are not permitted to be placed on outright waivers, per MLB rules. The Phillies could have recalled him and placed him on the 60-day injured list at the major league level in order to open a roster spot, but doing so would have meant paying him at major league rates. They seemingly weren’t willing to do that but still wanted the roster spot, so they’ve opted for the release instead.
Angels Select Kevin Padlo
June 20: The Angels have officially announced the transactions, with Padlo being selected and Suarez transferred to the 60-day IL as the corresponding move.
June 19: The Angels are selecting the contract of corner infielder Kevin Padlo, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). He’ll add some depth to a team that has lost each of Zach Neto, Gio Urshela and Anthony Rendon to the injured list over the past few days.
Padlo, 26, returns to the big leagues for a third consecutive season. He has only appeared in 23 MLB contests, which has somewhat remarkably been split between four teams. A frequent depth target for clubs via waiver claims or DFA trades, Padlo has played for the Rays, Mariners, Giants and Pirates.
The former fifth-round draftee hasn’t found success in those scattered stints. He’s a .109/.163/.152 hitter over 49 trips to the plate. Padlo has a strong minor league track record, though, including a .250/.340/.477 slash in more than 1000 career plate appearances in Triple-A. Since signing a minor league deal with the Halos last offseason, Padlo has put together a .273/.396/.555 slash in 32 games for their highest affiliate in Salt Lake. He connected on seven home runs, walked at an excellent 16.4% clip and has kept his strikeouts to a tolerable 23.1% rate.
Padlo has played mostly third base in his career. Prospect evaluators have generally not been enamored with his glove at the hot corner, suggesting he’s more of a fringe defender there. He’ll add some depth at the corners for skipper Phil Nevin, joining Brandon Drury, Jared Walsh, Luis Rengifo and Michael Stefanic in what has become a mix-and-match infield out of necessity.
The Angels have an opening on the active roster after placing Rendon on the 10-day IL this afternoon. They’ll need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster before tomorrow’s series opener against the Dodgers; left-hander José Suarez stands out as a speculative candidate for a move to the 60-day injured list, since he has already missed almost six weeks and seems without a clear timetable for a return. Padlo is out of minor league options, so now that he’s rejoining an MLB roster, the Angels will have to keep him in the majors or risk losing him to another club.
Athletics Select Yacksel Ríos
The Athletics announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Yacksel Ríos. Fellow righty Chad Smith was optioned in a corresponding move. To open a spot for Rios on the 40-man roster, righty Drew Rucinski was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Ríos, who turns 30 next week, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason but was just acquired by the A’s on the weekend. It was reported at that time that he had a provision in his contract whereby Atlanta had to add him to their roster or else give the other clubs in the league the opportunity to do so, making this selection an expected development.
He has 89 games of major league experience from 2017 to 2021, posting an ERA of 5.77 in that time. He’s had to settle for minor league deals in each of the past two offseasons, however. He linked up with the White Sox for 2022 but never got called up, tossing 33 Triple-A innings with a 4.91 ERA. He’s been much stronger this year with a 2.49 ERA in 25 1/3 innings, striking out 30.3% of batters while walking 8.1%.
The A’s have had quite a poor bullpen this season, as their relievers have a collective 5.58 ERA that’s easily the worst in the majors. They’ll give Ríos a shot based on his hot start and see if he can take any of that to Oakland with him. He’s out of options but could be kept around for future seasons if he sticks on the roster all year long. In that scenario, he would cross just over the three-year service time marker and qualify for arbitration.
As for Rucinski, he was placed on the injured list just over a month ago due to a stomach illness but then subsequently was diagnosed with a low-grade MCL sprain in his right knee. Just over a week ago, manager Mark Kotsay told MLB.com that there would be a shutdown period of two to three weeks. He’ll now be officially ineligible to return until mid-July, 60 days from his initial IL placement. Since he’s still at least a week away from throwing and then will require a ramp-up period, that makes this move fairly procedural.
Orioles Select Anthony Bemboom
The Orioles on Tuesday announced that they’ve selected the contract of catcher Anthony Bemboom from Triple-A Norfolk. As was previously reported, the team designated righty Spenser Watkins for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster. Baltimore also announced that catcher Jose Godoy has been optioned to Norfolk, while righty Logan Gillaspie has been recalled in his place. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com first reported that Bemboom’s contract was being selected back to the 40-man roster.
The 33-year-old Bemboom appeared in two games with the O’s earlier this season received just three plate appearances. He’s a career .158/.233/.268 hitter in 206 Major League plate appearances split between the Rays, Angels and Orioles, though he’s had quite a bit more success than that in Triple-A. That includes so far in 2023, when the journeyman backstop has delivered a .278/.366/.389 slash with a home run and as many walks (nine) as strikeouts in 82 trips to the plate.
Bemboom has typically served as a backup, both in the big leagues and in the upper minors. He’s generally lacking in power but carries a strong 33% caught-stealing rate (22% so far in 2023). Bemboom regularly delivers average or better marks in terms of pitch-framing and in Defensive Runs Saved. Backup catcher James McCann was recently placed on the injured list due to an ankle sprain, and Bemboom will head to the big leagues to back up Adley Rutschman.
The Orioles could have designated Godoy for assignment and kept Watkins as pitching depth, though they perhaps feel Watkins has the better chance at passing through waivers and thus remaining with the organization. They could also have kept Godoy as the backup to Rutschman, though Bemboom has more familiarity with the staff dating back to his time with the O’s last season.
Dodgers Outright Adam Kolarek
Dodgers lefty Adam Kolarek cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City following last week’s DFA, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The veteran lefty had the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, but he’s currently listed as active on the OKC Dodgers’ roster.
Kolarek, 34, was selected to the Majors earlier this month and appeared in just one game, retiring four of the five batters he faced (two via strikeout) and finished out that appearance without letting a run score. He’s also pitched to a tidy 2.18 ERA in 20 2/3 Triple-A frames this year, though he’s done with an unsightly 12-to-11 K/BB ratio in that time.
With that appearance, Kolarek has now seen big league action in each of the past seven seasons, suiting up for the Rays, A’s and Dodgers along the way. He carries a lifetime 3.73 ERA in 144 2/3 innings of work, and while his 15.6% strikeout rate is considerably worse than that of a league-average reliever, his 6.8% walk rate and especially his 63.8% ground-ball rate are outstanding. Kolarek, however, comes with the type of glaring platoon splits that have been magnified by MLB’s implementation of a three-batter minimum; in 335 career plate appearances, right-handed batters have posted a .311/.383/.490 batting line against Kolarek, as opposed to a putrid .190/.242/.259 slash by opposing lefties.
The Dodgers currently have four lefties in the big league bullpen (Caleb Ferguson, Alex Vesia, Victor Gonzalez, Bryan Hudson) and a fifth on the 40-man roster but down in Triple-A (Justin Bruihl). That doesn’t exactly leave the veteran Kolarek with a smooth path back to the Majors, but he’ll remain on hand as a depth option should the need arise.
Orioles To Designate Spenser Watkins For Assignment
The Orioles have designated right-hander Spenser Watkins for assignment, Robert Murray of FanSided reports (via Twitter). Watkins has been pitching with their Triple-A Norfolk affiliate this season and has not yet pitched at the MLB level this season, though he was recalled to the big leagues over the weekend. The O’s have not yet formally announced the move, nor the corresponding 40-man and 26-man transactions that figure to accompany it.
The 30-year-old Watkins spent parts of the 2021-22 seasons on Baltimore’s big league staff, getting hit hard in his debut campaign before stepping in as a solid rotation member for much of the 2022 season. While a rough patch at the end of last season weighed down Watkins’ numbers and left him with a 4.70 ERA in 105 1/3 frames, he pitched to a 3.96 ERA through his first 17 big league starts of the 2022 campaign.
Even at his best, Watkins doesn’t miss bats or produce grounders in droves. His 13.7% strikeout rate was tied for the lowest among the 156 pitchers who tossed at least 150 innings from 2021-22. Watkins has above-average command, evidenced by a 6.9% walk rate in that stretch, and his career 38.7% grounder rate clocks in several percentage points south of league average.
It’s been an even tougher season for Watkins in Norfolk so far, where he’s pitched to a 7.27 ERA in 26 frames with nearly as many walks (17) as strikeouts (20). Murray notes that Watkins has been tinkering with a new splitter, which perhaps helps to explain the huge uptick in grounders he’s seen (55.3%), but Watkins’ 13.4% walk rate is a career-worst and his strikeout rate hasn’t seen any gains over his prior Triple-A levels.
The Orioles will have a week to trade Watkins, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or simply release him. He’s been outrighted once in the past, so even if the O’s succeed at passing him through waivers, he’d have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.