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Dodgers Sign Jahmai Jones To Two-Year Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed infielder Jahmai Jones to a minor league contract, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports that it’s a two-year contract, since Jones will miss the remainder of this year after having undergone Tommy John surgery.

Jones, 25, was a second-round pick of the Angels and made his MLB debut with them in 2020. He was a highly-touted part of their system, with Baseball America placing him on their list of top Angel farmhands starting in 2016 and even ranking him #89 in all of baseball in 2018. He went to the Orioles in the trade that sent Alex Cobb to the Halos prior to the 2021 campaign. Between the two clubs, he’s gotten into 29 MLB games, hitting .176/.228/.216 in that small sample.

He’s generally fared better in the minors, however, hitting .243/.337/.431 in Triple-A last year. He walked in 11.9% of his plate appearances and stole 11 bases in just 70 games. His offense was 6% better than league average by measure of wRC+ and he was also versatile enough to play both second base and left field, along with a very brief cameo in center.

This year, his production slipped a bit, though in a small sample of 27 games, with his injury potentially playing a role there. He underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of May. Jones was on optional assignment at the time, continuing to occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. The Orioles could have added him to the 60-day IL, which would have removed him from the 40-man, though that would have also entitled him to MLB service time and pay. Instead, the club designated him for assignment and, since injured players can’t be put on outright waivers, put him on release waivers.

Though Jones won’t return this season, the Dodgers are making a long-term play with these two-year deal. In the short term, Jones can use team facilities and staff as part of his rehab, later allowing the Dodgers to add a former top prospect as a depth option.

Blue Jays Sign Jackie Bradley Jr., Designate Matt Peacock

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2:55pm: The Blue Jays have announced the signing, optioning utility player Otto Lopez to make space on the active roster and designating righty Matt Peacock for assignment to create space on the 40-man. Peacock was claimed off waivers from the Royals in July and has thrown ten innings for the Jays this year with a 5.40 ERA.

2:20pm: The Blue Jays are signing outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., reports Ezekiel Telemaco of WEEI. Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed the deal on Twitter, reporting that it’s a major league deal. The Blue Jays have a full 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move will be required.

Bradley, 32, was just released by the Red Sox last week and will now land with their division rivals in Toronto. The defensive specialist is having yet another down season at the plate, hitting .210/.257/.321 on the year. That production is 42% below league average, by measure of wRC+. The Red Sox let rookie Jarren Duran take over the center field position in recent months, with Bradley kicked to a corner. He was further nudged out of the outfield mix when they acquired Tommy Pham at the deadline, leading to Bradley’s release.

Despite that tepid offensive production, Bradley can still provide value with his glove. Defensive Runs Saved has given him a five on the year, a drop from last year’s 12 but still quite good. Ultimate Zone Rating has given him a 4.9 on the campaign so far after a 10.7 last year. Outs Above Average has given him three on the year already, after accruing four last year. That puts him in the 84th percentile among fielders across the league this season.

The Blue Jays recently put George Springer on the injured list, but acquired Whit Merrifield at the deadline for some extra outfield depth. That gives them a current outfield rotation of Merrifield, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer. It seems unlikely that Bradley would get regular playing time over those first four, given his struggles with the bat. Zimmer, however, has been used primarily as a defensive replacement and pinch runner, hitting a meager .107/.212/.240 when in the lineup this year for a wRC+ of just 28. Perhaps the Blue Jays view Bradley as a better option for that defensive replacement and pinch runner position.

Bradley has shown more promise with the bat in the past, putting up a batting line of .283/.364/.450 as recently as 2020, producing a wRC+ of 119 in the shortened season. It was on the heels on that strong campaign that the Brewers signed him to a two-year, $24MM deal. However, Bradley struggled in his first year outside of Boston, hitting just .163/.236/.261. He was traded back to the Red Sox in the offseason, along with two prospects, while Hunter Renfroe went to Milwaukee. Though Bradley hasn’t been as bad as he was last year, it was still enough to get released. The Red Sox will still be on the hook for the bulk of his contract, with the Blue Jays only having to pay the prorated league minimum, which be subtracted from what Boston pays.

Nationals Claim Jake McGee, Designate Donovan Casey

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The Nationals announced that they have claimed left-hander Jake McGee off waivers from the Brewers. Outfielder Donovan Casey was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

McGee, 36, is a veteran in his 13th MLB season, having previously suited up for the Rays, Rockies, Dodgers, Giants and Brewers. He signed a two-year deal with the Giants prior to the 2021 season, which went great for a while. He threw 59 2/3 innings for San Fran last year with a 2.72 ERA, 24.3% strikeout rate, 4.2% walk rate and 35.9% ground ball rate.

Unfortunately, the wheel of fortune has swung him around in the complete opposite direction this year, as he struggled badly with the Giants before being released, signing with the Brewers, struggling some more and then getting designated for assignment. Between the two clubs, he has an ERA of 7.00 on the year, with a 12.4% strikeout rate that’s barely half of what he registered last year.

In the short term, the move is sensible enough for the Nats, as they didn’t have a lefty in their bullpen prior to this move. Picking up McGee won’t cost really them anything financially, as the Giants are on the hook for the remainder of his salary with the Nats just paying the prorated league minimum.

From the big picture, however, the move is a little curious. The Nats have made a series of high profile trades in the past year-plus, shipping out Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Josh Bell and Juan Soto, clearly signaling that they have no faith in their team’s ability to compete in the near future.

In order to grab the 36-year-old McGee, the Nats won’t break the bank, but they are risking losing Donovan Casey, a 26-year-old outfielder they just acquired last year in the Scherzer/Turner deal. Casey hit .269/.329/.430 between Double-A and Triple-A last year, with 16 home runs, 26 doubles, two triples and 22 stolen bases. He got added to the club’s 40-man roster in the offseason based on that showing and was considered the #16 prospect in the system by Baseball America coming into the year.

Casey has definitely had a down season here in 2022, hitting .219/.283/.364 for a wRC+ of just 71. He’s struck out in 32.5% of his plate appearances while walking just 6.7% of the time. Still, despite that tepid showing, it’s a bit surprising to see the Nats send him out onto the waiver wire in order to grab a couple months of a veteran reliever in a season when they’re 36-75, the worst record in all of baseball. With the trade deadline now passed, the Nats will only have the option of placing Casey on outright waivers or release waivers. He has never been outrighted before in his career, nor does he have three years of MLB service time, meaning he would be ineligible to reject an outright assignment if he clears waivers.

Yankees, Joey Gerber Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees recently agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Joey Gerber, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the organization’s complex in Florida, where he’ll presumably build into game shape before heading to an upper level affiliate.

Gerber, 25, was released by the Mariners in late June. The 6’4″ righty had dealt with a forearm strain for most of the first few months of the year, tossing a lone inning of complex ball with Seattle this season. That came on the heels of a 2021 campaign spent entirely on the minor league injured list, derailing Gerber’s attempts to carve out a role in the Mariners bullpen.

A former eighth-round draft choice, Gerber has 17 MLB appearances under his belt — all of which came with the Mariners during the abbreviated 2020 season. He tallied 15 2/3 innings of 4.02 ERA ball, averaging a decent 93.5 MPH on his fastball but only striking out 9.7% of batters faced. He’s missed bats at a much better rate in the minors, including a robust 31.3% strikeout rate in 22 2/3 frames at Double-A to close out the 2019 campaign. Baseball America had rated Gerber among the mid-tier prospects in the Seattle farm system before his recent spate of injuries, writing that his sinker-slider combination gave him a chance to be a high-leverage reliever.

It’s a no-risk dice roll for the Yankees to see if Gerber’s pre-injury form carries over after a lost season and a half. The Illinois product is still young enough to potentially carve out a middle innings role in the Bronx if he’s able to log some upper minors work over the next two months.

Reds Planning To Select T.J. Zeuch

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As the Reds are in New York to start a three-game set with the Mets, right-hander T.J. Zeuch is with the team and expected to start Wednesday’s game, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Zeuch isn’t currently on the club’s 40-man roster, though the club currently has a vacancy there. Assuming they don’t add anyone between now and Wednesday, a corresponding move will only be required to add him to the active roster.

Zeuch, 27, is a former first-round pick, as the Blue Jays selected him 21st overall in 2016. He was considered one of the top 30 farmhands in Toronto’s system from 2017 to 2019 but failed to live up to his reputation in the big leagues. From 2019 to 2021, he threw 49 innings for the Jays, putting up a 4.59 ERA with substandard strikeout and walk rates of 14.1% and 10.9%, respectively, though he did get grounders at a decent 50.9% clip.

He was designated for assignment and then morphed from a bluebird into a redbird, getting traded to the Cardinals in exchange for cash considerations. He never got up to the big leagues with St. Louis, throwing 38 1/3 innings in Triple-A last year with a 4.93 ERA. This year, he got another 19 1/3 Triple-A innings but registered a ghastly 11.64 ERA in that time, getting designated for assignment and then released.

The Reds brought him aboard on a minor league deal, with Zeuch having showed improved results since. Cincy first sent him to the Arizona Complex League, letting him throw four scoreless innings over three starts there, before moving him up to Triple-A. In five starts there, he’s thrown 22 1/3 innings with a 3.63 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate and 60% ground ball rate. Based on those improved results, he’ll get the call to return to the big leagues.

The Reds’ rotation had a few notable subtractions last week, as they traded both Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle prior to the deadline. Hunter Greene was also recently placed on the injured list due to a shoulder strain. That’s created the need for some extra arms next to Mike Minor, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft in the rotation. With the club well out of contention, they can use the rest of the season to evaluate some depth arms and see what they can bring to the table. Robert Dugger got to make a start on Friday, though he’s now been placed on the IL due to right shoulder pain, with Justin Dunn being recalled in a corresponding move.

Dunn, 26, has 25 MLB starts under his belt already, all coming with the Mariners. He registered a 3.94 ERA in 102 2/3 innings but poor rate stats, getting strikeouts 20.6% of the time, walks at a 15.5% clip and grounders at a 33.7% rate. His .205 BABIP in that time likely helped him produce an ERA better than he deserved, with all advanced metrics painting a less rosy picture.

He was acquired from the Mariners as part of the offseason trade that sent Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker to Seattle. It was later reported that Dunn would be out for months due to shoulder troubles, though the Reds evidently knew this at the time of the trade. The righty has subsequently returned to health and has been pitching the minors. Through seven Triple-A starts this year, he has a 6.92 ERA, 17.8% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 36.9% ground ball rate. He and Zeuch will each make their Reds debuts and try to make their respective cases for sticking in the rotation this year and beyond.

Dodgers Claim Rylan Bannon From Orioles

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The Dodgers have claimed infielder Rylan Bannon off waivers from the Orioles, per announcements from both clubs. It had not been publicly reported that Bannon had been designated for assignment, but the O’s evidently tried to pass him through waivers with the Dodgers intercepting them. Los Angeles had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, meaning no corresponding move will be required.

Bannon, 26, will now return to the organization where he began his professional career, as he was drafted by the Dodgers in 2017. He was one of the five players that went to the Orioles in the 2018 deadline deal that sent Manny Machado to Los Angeles.

In 2019, his first full season with the O’s, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .266/.345/.421 for a wRC+ of 120. He also added some versatility to his defensive game, with the primary third baseman also seeing some time at second base. Based on that strong season, he was added to Baltimore’s 40-man roster prior to the 2020 Rule 5 draft.

After the minor leagues were canceled in 2020, Bannon had a tepid showing in 2021, slashing .176/.297/.370 in 84 Triple-A games. He’s had a better showing here in 2022, though, hitting .229/.347/.407 for a wRC+ of 105 in 78 Triple-A games. He also made his MLB debut, though he got just 15 plate appearances over a four-game stretch in May.

The Dodgers recently placed Justin Turner on the injured list due to an abdominal strain. That leaves Max Muncy as the primary option at the hot corner, though he’s been battling elbow issues all season. By claiming Bannon, they’ve given themselves a little extra depth at third, bringing in a versatile player that they have a previous relationship with.

Cubs Claim Franmil Reyes From Guardians

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2:20pm: The Cubs have announced the claim.

2:10pm: The Cubs are “adding” slugger Franmil Reyes, according to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Reyes had been designated for assignment by the Guardians on Saturday. Since the trade deadline has passed, the Cubs have presumably claimed Reyes off waivers. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Reyes has indeed been claimed off waivers. The Cubs had a couple of vacancies on their 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move won’t be required in that regard.

Reyes, 27, has an impressive track record as a power hitter, though he’s enduring an unfortunate swoon here in 2022. He debuted with the Padres in 2018 and then went to Cleveland in a three-team trade in 2019 that involved six other players. From his debut through the end of the 2021 campaign, he hit 92 home runs and walked in 9% of his plate appearances. His 29.5% strikeout rate was definitely on the high side, but he still managed to hit .260/.325/.503, production that was 19% above league average by measure of wRC+.

This season has been a complete nightmare by comparison, however. Reyes has struck out in 37.1% of his plate appearances, walked in only 5% of them and hit just nine homers. His overall batting line for the campaign sits at a paltry .213/.254/.350, wRC+ of 69. Cleveland has been using him as a designated hitter, ultimately deciding it could no longer withstand that meager output from a lineup spot that’s supposed to deliver more potency. He was optioned to the minors last week and designated for assignment a few days after that.

For a rebuilding Cubs team, it’s a logical move to take a chance on Reyes and hope that he bounces back to his previous form. He’s making $4.55MM this year, leaving around $1.5MM left to be paid out over the remainder of the campaign. He can be retained for two more seasons via arbitration and likely won’t require a huge raise due to his poor showing this year. The Cubs don’t have a dedicated designated hitter, with impending free agent Willson Contreras getting most of the time there. If Reyes successfully bounces back in any way, he could take over DH duties. He is capable of playing corner outfield, though has only trotted onto the grass for 26 total games in the past three years.

There are reasons to be optimistic Reyes could turn things around. Despite the strikeout woes and general struggles this year, he’s still in the 92nd percentile among MLB hitters when it comes to barrel percentage, 93rd in average exit velocity, 88th in hard hit percentage and 86th in max exit velocity. If he can cut down on the strikeouts even a little bit, he’s still crushing the ball with enough power that he could be a useful pickup, either sticking with the Cubs or being traded in the future.

Twins Release Tyler Duffey

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Aug. 8: The Twins have released Duffey, per the transaction log at MLB.com.

Aug. 5: The Twins have designated right-handed reliever Tyler Duffey for assignment, as first reported by Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link). Right-hander Cole Sands is being recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to take Duffey’s spot on the roster (and, seemingly, in the bullpen for now). Minnesota has yet to formally announce the move.

Duffey, a fifth-round pick by the Twins back in 2012, has had an up-and-down career in Minnesota. Debuting as a starter back in 2015, he quickly looked as though he could hold that role down for the foreseeable future, pitching to a 3.10 ERA with solid strikeout and walk rates as a rookie that year. However, Duffey was clobbered for a ghastly 6.33 ERA in 133 innings the following year and moved to the bullpen in 2017.

It took some time, but by the 2019 season, Duffey had become an indispensable member of the Twins’ bullpen. He logged 57 2/3 innings of 2.50 ERA ball and punched out a whopping 34.5% of his opponents against a 5.9% walk rate that season. From July 28 through Sept. 25 in 2019, Duffey went 26 straight appearances without allowing a run — a total of 23 2/3 innings during which he posted a scintillating 40-to-5 K/BB ratio. He followed that year with an even better showing in the shortened 2020 season (1.88 ERA in 24 innings), and while his numbers took a step back in 2021 they were still quite solid (3.18 ERA, 3.49 FIP in 62 1/3 innings).

All in all, from 2019-21, Duffey logged 144 innings with a 2.69 ERA (3.16 FIP), a 29.8% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate and a 44.4% ground-ball rate. By and large, he was an effective late-inning reliever on whom the Twins relied with regularity.

This season, however, has been another story entirely. Duffey owns a 4.91 ERA and has already yielded eight home runs in just 44 innings of work (1.64 HR/9). The fastball that averaged 94 mph in 2019 is now averaging 92.3 mph, and he’s seen his strikeout rate plummet to 21.1% while his 8.1% walk rate is more than two percentage points higher than it was during that 2019 peak.

Much as he did in 2019, Duffey had an impressive run this summer when he rattled off 15 2/3 shutout innings with a 12-to-3 K/BB ratio from June 17 through July 23, but that hot streak has been bookended by nightmarish bouts of home runs yielded in leverage spots. Duffey has yielded multiple runs in 20% of his appearances this season (eight of 40), including five different outings where he’s been tagged for three runs. Since that promising run from mid-June through late July, Duffey has yielded seven runs on six hits (two homers) and four walks with three strikeouts in a total of 4 1/3 innings.

Minnesota’s bullpen has been the team’s greatest flaw this season, and Duffey’s wild inconsistency has played a significant part in that Achilles heel. He’s earning $3.8MM in his final season of club control before free agency, meaning any club who claimed him — he can’t be traded now that the deadline has passed — would be on the hook for the remaining $1.28MM on this year’s salary. Because of that, he’ll likely go unclaimed, and even if the Twins attempt to outright him to Triple-A St. Paul, he can reject the assignment and retain the rights to that salary, as is his right as a player with five-plus years of MLB service time.

As for the 25-year-old Sands, he’s been rocked for 16 runs in 16 1/3 Major League innings during this season’s debut, but he has a better minor league track record. Like Duffey, he’s a former fifth-round pick (Florida State University, 2018) with a history of solid minor league performances. While it’s true that Sands has been hit hard in St. Paul this season (5.59 ERA in 48 1/3 frames), he posted a brilliant 2.46 ERA through 80 1/3 Double-A frames last year and also notched a sub-3.00 ERA in his first full pro season with the Twins back in 2019.

Sands has worked primarily as a starter in his career, so it’ll be intriguing to see if, similar to Duffey earlier in his career, Sands’ stuff will play up in the ’pen and allow him to seize a role there moving forward. Alternatively, he could simply operate in a long relief role until lefty Jovani Moran returns from the injured list and then head back to St. Paul where he’d continue working as a starter and serve as rotation depth both this year and next.

Pirates Release Yoshi Tsutsugo

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Aug. 8: The Pirates released Tsutsugo over the weekend, per the team’s transactions log at MLB.com.

Aug. 3: The Pirates have designated first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo for assignment and recalled infielder Tucupita Marcano to take his spot on the roster, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Tsutsugo, 30, returned to the Bucs on a one-year deal after a big finish down the stretch with them in 2021. The former NPB slugger wasn’t able to replicate the production he gave Pittsburgh last August and September, however, limping to a .171/.249/.229 slash with just two homers and four doubles in 193 plate appearances this season. As the Pirates increasingly turn the roster over to younger talents who they hope will comprise their next competitive core, however, Tsutsugo increasingly looked as though his time with the team was dwindling.

With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the only options for the Bucs now are to place Tsutsugo on outright waivers or release waivers. Given that he’s still owed about $1.4MM of this season’s $4MM salary, he’ll assuredly go unclaimed on waivers either way.

The 22-year-old Marcano, acquired from the Padres alongside Jack Suwinski in last year’s Adam Frazier trade, will get another opportunity to establish himself at the game’s top level. He’s hit just .229/.280/.357 with the Pirates this year, but that’s been in just 78 plate appearances. Marcano is sitting on a .319/.417/.475 slash that he’s put together between Double-A and Triple-A while appearing at four defensive positions (second base, shortstop, third base, left field).

Braves Option Ian Anderson

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The Braves announced a series of roster moves today, recalling right-hander Huascar Ynoa and selecting catcher Chadwick Tromp. To create room on the active roster, they’ve optioned righty Ian Anderson and outfielder Guillermo Heredia.

The most noteworthy of these moves is the demotion of Anderson, who has been entrenched in the rotation for quite some time. First called up to the big leagues in August of 2020, he made six starts in the shortened season and registered a 1.95 ERA. That was impressive enough for Anderson to earn a spot in the club’s postseason rotation, as he made four more starts in the playoffs with a 0.96 ERA, as Atlanta reached the NLCS.

Last year, Anderson seemingly proved he wasn’t a short-season fluke by pitching well over a full campaign. Though he did make one trip to the IL, Anderson made 24 starts in 2021 with a 3.58 ERA, then made four more postseason starts with a 1.59 ERA, helping Atlanta win the World Series.

The 24-year-old has taken a step back here in 2022, however, currently sporting a 5.11 ERA on the year. His 29.7% strikeout rate in 2020 fell to 23.2% last year and is down to 19.8% here this year. His 11.3% walk rate is also a career high and his 47.4% ground ball rate a career low. It’s possible there’s some bad luck involved, as his .318 BABIP on the year is much higher than in past seasons, but there’s also a lot of blue on his Statcast page, with batters clearly making some good contact against him. With the emergence of rookie Spencer Strider and the acquisition of Jake Odorizzi, it seems Anderson’s struggles have bumped him from the front five. He’ll join the Gwinnett Stripers and try to get things back on track.

The move isn’t likely to have a huge impact on Anderson from a service time perspective, at least in the short term. He came into this season with one year and 94 days of service time and has added around 120 more days here in 2022. Even if he were to spend the rest of the season in the minors, he’d finish the campaign somewhere around 2.025. That would still put him on track to reach arbitration for the first time after 2023 and free agency after 2026, though future optional assignments could also alter that timeline.

The recall of Tromp was required due to a leg injury sustained last night by Travis D’Arnaud. Although X-rays were negative, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, D’Arnaud will likely be unavailable for a few days. That leaves William Contreras as the primary catcher, with Tromp stepping in as the backup.

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