Braves Claim Luke Williams From Dodgers
The Braves announced that they have claimed infielder Luke Williams off waivers from the Dodgers and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. There had been no public indication that Williams lost his roster spot with the Dodgers but they evidently tried and failed to pass him through waivers in recent days. Atlanta transferred left-hander Max Fried to the 60-day injured list in order to open a 40-man roster spot for Williams. Additionally, righty Michael Soroka was also optioned to Gwinnett.
Williams, 26, was signed by the Dodgers to a minor league deal in the offseason. He was selected to their roster in mid-April but then optioned to Triple-A 10 days later. He got just 10 big league plate appearances in four games and hit .100/.100/.100 in those. He’s spent most of the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .268/.364/.452 there for a wRC+ of 93. That indicates he’s been 7% below league average at the plate but he’s stolen 11 bases while playing shortstop, third base and left field this year. Previous seasons have seen him line up at every position except catcher, giving him plenty of defensive versatility.
That type of production generally aligns with his previous seasons. He now has 141 major league games on his ledger, spending time with the Phillies in 2021 and then the Giants and Marlins last year. Combined with his brief stint with the Dodgers this year, he has a career batting line of .234/.291/.306 and a wRC+ of 67. But he’s created value elsewhere by swiping 14 bags in 20 tries and bouncing all around the diamond to fill in as needed.
Atlanta was able to easily add Williams as a depth piece since they essentially had a roster spot to burn. Fried has been on the injured list since May 6 with a forearm strain and the plan was to shut him down completely until he healed before building him back up again. It’s now been about a month since that IL placement and he’s yet to get close to a return. As of two days ago, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the lefty was throwing but still hadn’t progressed to mound work. He will still need to get to that stage before likely throwing a few bullpens, maybe some live batting practice as well, before embarking on a rehab assignment for a few weeks to build up properly.
Given the time he’s still set to miss, it was inevitable that he’d get moved to the 60-day IL once the club wanted to use that roster spot on someone else. He will be officially eligible to return after 60 days from his initial IL placement, which was in early May. That means he could technically be activated in early July but that doesn’t seem especially likely given his current progress.
As for Soroka, he just returned to the big leagues for the first time in almost three years. He twice ruptured his Achilles tendon in the interim and battled some other lesser injuries in that time as well. He was finally healthy enough to get into a decent groove this year, making eight Triple-A starts with a 4.33 ERA. That led to a couple of outings in the big leagues, though he allowed nine earned runs through 9 2/3 innings in those. He wasn’t likely to be a permanent solution in the rotation anyway, as he will likely need to have his innings managed after so much missed time. He’ll now head back to the farm to continue that progression.
Another factor potentially leading to Soroka’s optioning is the emergence of prospect AJ Smith-Shawver. He was recently called up to the majors despite being just 20 years old and having barely 100 innings pitched in the minors thus far. He entered yesterday’s game out of the bullpen and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He struck out three, walked one and didn’t allow a hit while throwing 39 pitches. It’s possible that he’ll now get a chance to make a start or two, though the club hasn’t made any official announcements in that regard.
Rays Place Brandon Lowe On Injured List
The Rays have placed infielder Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his lower back, per a team announcement. The move is retroactive to June 4. Infielder/outfielder Vidal Brujan has been recalled from Triple-A Durham to take Lowe’s spot on the roster.
Lowe, 28, sprinted out of the gates with an impressive power display early in the season, slashing .257/.368/.581 with seven homers through his first 87 trips to the plate. His OPS has plummeted by more than 250 points since that time, however, as he’s fallen into a dismal slump. Over his past 114 plate appearances, Lowe is slashing just .157/.237/.255 with a huge 30.7% strikeout rate.
The Rays held Lowe out of yesterday’s lineup with what was initially termed discomfort in his lower leg, but Lowe told reporters not long before the game that he’d also been experiencing discomfort in his back following a recent slide into third base. That issue, it seems, has proved problematic enough that he’ll be shelved for at least the next nine days. The team has not yet provided any sort of timetable for his return to the roster.
Brujan, 25, was long rated as one of the game’s top overall prospects but has yet to find any success in the big leagues. He’s seen time in each of the past three seasons but managed only a .161/.215/.233 output in 209 plate appearances. That includes a .250/.286/.250 slash in 21 trips to the plate this season. He’s been far better in Triple-A, where he sports a .268/.355/.435 batting line, 22 home runs and 79 steals in 198 games (883 plate appearances).
With Lowe sidelined, the ever-versatile Rays will have plenty of options to step into the lineup in his place. Each of Taylor Walls, Isaac Paredes and the newly recalled Brujan is plenty familiar with Lowe’s customary second base. The switch-hitting Walls and the righty-swinging Paredes are both much better against left-handed pitching than against righties. Brujan, also a switch-hitter, has typically been better from the left side of the plate, and that’s especially true in 2023: .286/.380/.484 versus righties, .167/.297/.241 versus lefties. For today, with the Rays taking on Red Sox righty Brayan Bello, it’ll be Brujan drawing the start and batting eighth.
Mets Designate Tomas Nido For Assignment, Activate Omar Narvaez
11:53am: The Mets are hopeful of working out a trade involving Nido before his DFA window expires, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. They’ll have five days to do so before Nido must be placed on either outright or release waivers.
11:35am: The Mets have formally announced Nido’s DFA. Narvaez has been reinstated from the injured list in a corresponding move.
11:15am: The Mets are expected to designate catcher Tomas Nido for assignment and move to a catching tandem of young Francisco Alvarez and veteran Omar Narvaez, tweets Andy Martino of SNY. Narvaez, who’s been out since early April due to a calf strain, has played six minor league rehab games and has been trending toward a return to the big league roster.
Nido, 29, inked a two-year deal to buy out his final two arbitration seasons this offseason. That contract guaranteed him a total of $3.7MM. He’s now just 15 days shy of reaching five years of MLB service time, at which point he’d have been able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining the entirety of that guaranteed salary. However, because he’ll fall shy of five years of service if placed on outright waivers, he’d forfeit the remainder of that salary upon rejecting an assignment to the minors.
The timing of Narvaez’s return likely played a larger role in the decision to DFA Nido, but the fact that the Mets can make this move now and quite likely retain Nido because of that contractual situation was surely a consideration. It’s unlikely that another club would pick up the remainder of this year’s $1.6MM salary and all of next year’s $2.1MM salary when Nido has struggled to a .125/.153/.125 batting line through 61 plate appearances this season.
The Mets would’ve been on the hook for the majority of that money regardless, but if they can’t work out a trade, they’ll now be able to stash Nido in Triple-A as a depth option in hopes that he can get back on track. Given that Narvaez has an opt-out in his two-year contract following the current season, the possibility of retaining Nido at an affordable rate through the 2024 campaign likely holds some additional appeal.
Prior to this season — one in which he was on the injured list due to vision-related issues — Nido has been a solid, albeit glove-first backup option behind the plate in Queens. From 2020-22, the former eighth-round pick tallied an even 500 plate appearances while posting a .236/.275/.338 batting line. That was about 26% worse than the league-average hitter and about 15% worse than the average catcher, by measure of wRC+.
On the other side of the ball, Nido ranked among the game’s best. He piled up a huge 18 Defensive Runs Saved in that stretch despite logging just 1192 innings behind the plate, and he rated among the game’s top backstops in terms of pitch framing as well. After struggling with throwing out runners early in his career, Nido posted a sensational 57% caught-stealing rate in 2021 and sat at 29.8% from 2021-22. He’s just 2-for-13 in 2023 under the new rules and while dealing with his reported vision troubles. Statcast’s new Blocking Runs Above Average metric pegs Nido 22nd in MLB dating back to 2018 despite having far fewer chances than many of the names ahead of him in that cumulative metric. On a per-game basis, he’s tied for 19th in the Majors among qualified catchers (since 2018).
All told, Nido is a light-hitting, quality defensive catcher who’s signed at a generally reasonable rate. Teams tend to bypass taking on even modest sums — particularly multi-year commitments — via waivers, so the likelihood remains that if things get to that point, Nido could stick in the Mets organization. In the days leading up to when he’ll have to be placed on waivers, however, the Mets can discuss trade scenarios and perhaps offer to kick in some cash to sweeten the pot. If he hasn’t been traded within five days, that’ll be a sign that Nido is likely on waivers, the outcome of which would be known within 48 hours of his placement.
Reds Designate Frank German For Assignment
The Reds announced Monday they’ve designated right-hander Frank German for assignment and optioned righty Kevin Herget to Triple-A Louisville. That pair of moves will open the necessary roster space to select the contract of top pitching prospect Andrew Abbott, whose previously reported promotion to the big leagues has now been made official.
German has bounced around over the past few months. Originally a Yankee farmhand, he landed with the Red Sox in the trade that saw Boston assume the final year of Adam Ottavino’s contract in 2021. The 6’2″ righty made a brief major league debut with the Sox last season, appearing in five games. He’s since moved to the White Sox in a minor trade and to the Reds via waivers.
The 25-year-old will now be traded or waived again within the next week. German didn’t make a big league appearance with Cincinnati. He had a tough showing in a limited look for Louisville. He allowed eight runs in 8 1/3 frames over 10 relief outings, striking out 13 against six walks. It was a similar story with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate early in the year. German carries a 7.78 ERA in 19 2/3 minor league frames this season, offsetting a solid 28.4% strikeout rate by handing out free passes at a huge 14.7% clip.
German has run major strikeout and walk tallies throughout his minor league career. The former fourth round selection averaged 97.7 MPH on his four-seam during his brief big league look in Boston. He clearly has intriguing raw stuff but will have to dial in the strike-throwing to claim a lasting spot in an MLB bullpen. This is his first of three minor league option seasons.
Abbott takes the vacated roster spot. The University of Virginia product gets an MLB rotation look for the first time thanks to a dominant upper minors showing. Between Double-A Chattanooga and Louisville, the southpaw has worked 54 innings of 2.50 ERA ball while striking out a staggering 42.7% of batters faced.
Dodgers Sign Ryan Brasier To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers have signed former Red Sox righty Ryan Brasier to a minor league contract, Brasier himself confirmed to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Boston designated the struggling right-hander for assignment in mid-May and released him a week later. He’ll give the Dodgers some experienced bullpen depth in the upper minors.
Brasier, 35, was a vital member of the Boston bullpen during the Sox’ 2018 World Series campaign, returning from a solid stint in Japan to pitch 33 2/3 innings of 1.60 ERA relief. He added another 8 2/3 frames of one-run ball in the postseason, effectively solidifying his place in the Boston bullpen for the foreseeable future.
It’s been a roller-coaster ride for Brasier in Beantown since, however, with more lowlights than highlights. In 176 innings dating back to the 2019 season, the right-hander has worked to an unsightly 5.11 ERA. That’s skewed by particularly rough showings in 2021-22 (6.16 ERA in 83 1/3 innings), which ultimately led to last month’s dismissal.
Recent struggles notwithstanding, Brasier averages nearly 96 mph on his fastball and showed a strong 24.3% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate as recently as last season. He continued to post above-average swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates through the 2022 season. Most of those numbers dipped below the league average in 2023, though Brasier at least kept the ball in the yard at a better-than-average rate during this year’s 21 frames (albeit with concerning exit velocity and hard-contact numbers).
There’s little harm in the Dodgers taking a low-cost flier on the veteran righty, even with this year’s alarming numbers. The Red Sox are paying the remainder of Brasier’s $2MM salary, so all the Dodgers would owe him is the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. Even that’s not a given, as he’s likely headed to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the time being.
The Dodgers are, as usual, a force to be reckoned with in the National League West, sitting on a 35-25 record that puts them in a first-place tie with the upstart D-backs. If there’s one particularly notable flaw in L.A., it’s the bullpen. Dodgers relievers have combined for a 4.64 earned run average this season — the fifth-worst mark in Major League Baseball. They’ve gotten strong efforts from Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol and Caleb Ferguson thus far, and Shelby Miller has produced a resurgent 2.77 ERA as well (though with a 16.2% walk rate and .121 BABIP, making him a clear regression candidate). The rest of the relief corps has posted inconsistent or simply poor results, however, so it’s not a surprise to see the Dodgers taking a look at a veteran with some track record in a high-pressure, big-market situation.
White Sox Release Hanser Alberto
The White Sox have requested unconditional release waivers on infielder Hanser Alberto, who was designated for assignment a couple of days ago, with James Fegan of The Athletic among those to relay the information. His transactions tracker at MLB.com lists him as having been released, indicating he cleared waivers.
Alberto, 30, was signed to a minor league deal this winter and made the club’s Opening Day roster as a reserve infielder. He played each non-shortstop position on the dirt and even took the mound a couple of times. At the plate, he hit .220/.261/.390 for a wRC+ of 75, indicating he was 25% below average. That actually wasn’t too far off of his career batting line of .269/.292/.381 and 77 wRC+ but he was squeezed out of the club’s plans nonetheless.
The Sox have been shuffling their roster and lineup for most of the year as various injuries have altered their primary plans. Some players have made the most of those new opportunities, such as Jake Burger and Romy González. González is a second baseman and Burger is at least being considered as a possibility there. González bounced back from a rough start to hit .289/.298/.644 since late April while Burger is hitting .266/.314/.594 for the whole year. With those players deserving of a longer look and Tim Anderson and Elvis Andrus now returned from their respective IL stints, it seems Alberto didn’t have much of a path to playing time.
Now that he’s been released, the Sox will remain on the hook for the remainder of his $2.3MM salary for the year. That will allow any of the 29 other clubs to sign Alberto for the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster with that amount being subtracted from what the Sox pay. Alberto could perhaps serve in the weak side of a platoon role somewhere, as he’s hit .324/.343/.455 against lefties in his career. That’s continued this year, as he’s slashed .357/.400/.714 against southpaws for the season.
Athletics Release Jesús Aguilar
The Athletics announced today that first baseman/designated hitter Jesús Aguilar has been released. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
The fact that no club was willing to grab Aguilar is hardly surprising given his contract and recent performance. The A’s signed him to a one-year, $3MM deal this winter for a bit of veteran presence on a team largely consisting of younger players. However, the 32-year-old hit just .221/.281/.385 through 115 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 83. He has some third base experience but is mostly just an option at first base these days, making that production all the more untenable.
Any club who claimed Aguilar off waivers would have been responsible for the remainder of that contract. But now that none of them have done so and he’s been released, the A’s will remain on the hook for it. That will allow any of the 29 other clubs to sign him and pay him just the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the active roster, with that amount subtracted from what Oakland pays.
Despite the rough season, it’s possible that some club decides to take a chance on him with the low financial commitment. He still hit well with the platoon advantage this year, slashing .280/.362/.520 against lefties but just .167/.196/.259 against righties. He’s also not too far removed from being a solid everyday option, as he hit 22 home runs with the Marlins in 2021 and batted .261/.329/.459 for a wRC+ of 111. Perhaps a club looking for a cheap bench bat that can hit lefties will find a spot on their roster for Aguilar.
Dodgers To Place Trayce Thompson On 10-Day Injured List
June 4: These moves are now official, as the Dodgers have announced that Thompson has been placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain, with DeLuca recalled as the corresponding move.
June 3, 11:50PM: Outfield prospect Jonny DeLuca will be called up from Triple-A to take Thompson’s spot on the roster, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports (Twitter link). Los Angeles selected DeLuca to its 40-man roster during the offseason, to prevent him from being taken in the Rule 5 Draft. DeLuca was a 25th-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2019 draft, and he has posted strong numbers at every minor league stop, including a .329/.373/.571 slash line over his first 75 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. His first appearance on the field with the Dodgers will mark his Major League debut.
Baseball America (17th) and MLB Pipeline (20th) each rank the 24-year-old DeLuca within the top 20 prospects of the Dodgers’ deep farm system, with BA seeing him as “a platoon or reserve outfielder who bashes lefties and plays all three outfield spots.” DeLuca is a solid-to-decent defender, with his plus speed helping both his glovework and his base-stealing (58 swipes in 63 tries over his minor league career). Beginning his career as a switch-hitter, DeLuca seemed to unlock something after becoming only a right-handed hitter. Pipeline’s scouting report cites his strength and “raw power” at the plate, “and he’s able to drive the ball without sacrificing contact.”
10:39PM: Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson suffered an injury to his oblique during a checked swing in tonight’s game, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, but Roberts said that Thompson will be placed on the 10-day injured list.
It’s another setback in what has been a tough season for Thompson, who is batting only .155/.310/.366 over 87 plate appearances. The outfielder homered three times in his first game of the season and he had three hits against the Rays on May 28, but Thompson otherwise has only five hits over his other 79 PA, including an ugly 0-for-36 slump that was only just snapped with that big game against Tampa. Naturally, Thompson’s playing time has been reduced in the wake of his struggles, even as the Dodgers’ have been looking for extra outfield help since Mookie Betts spending more time as a middle infielder.
Perhaps a dropoff was inevitable given how Thompson’s 2022 numbers greatly outpaced his otherwise modest careers, but it is still count as a letdown that he wasn’t able to continue his seeming breakout. After Los Angeles acquired Thompson in a cash transaction with the Tigers in June 2022, Thompson became an unexpected contributor, hitting .268/.364/.537 over 239 PA for the Dodgers last season.
Luke Williams, Yonny Hernandez, and top prospect Michael Busch could all be candidates for another look in the majors to replace Thompson. The Dodgers have enough multi-position players that they don’t necessarily need to replace Thompson with another outfielder, but Williams does have some outfield experience. This trio are all on the 40-man roster, so L.A. would have to make another corresponding move if it wished to replace Thompson with someone who isn’t currently on the 40-man.
Reds To Select Andrew Abbott
The youth movement in Cincinnati continues as the Reds are on the cusp of selecting the contract of left-hander Andrew Abbott, who will make his big league debut tomorrow in a start against the Brewers. The club announced this morning that Abbott had been added to the taxi squad, and details surrounding Abbott’s coming promotion have continued to emerge throughout the morning.
In a session with the media this morning, manager David Bell confirmed the club will go with a six-man rotation for the time being, with Hunter Greene‘s next start, originally scheduled for Tuesday, getting pushed back to next Sunday against the Cardinals due to hip stiffness, as relayed by C. Trent Rosencrans of The Athletic. Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer adds that Bell made clear that Abbott’s call-up is not a spot start, though the club won’t stick with a six-man rotation long term. After Abbott’s start tomorrow, Luke Weaver will start on Tuesday in Greene’s place, followed by Brandon Williamson, Graham Ashcraft, and Ben Lively. Abbott will then get a second start on Saturday before Greene takes the ball on Sunday.
Abbott, who just celebrated his 24th birthday this past Thursday, is ranked 95th in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospect list. A second round pick by the Reds in the 2021 draft, Abbott has dominated the upper minors this season, with a 2.50 ERA in 10 starts (54 innings) split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. In 15 2/3 innings at Double-A this season prior to his promotion to Triple-A, Abbott struck out a ridiculous 64.3% of batters faced. His phenomenal strikeout numbers have continued in Triple-A as well, as he’s punched out 34.8% of Triple-A batters in 38 1/3 innings of work.
Abbott is now tasked with joining the big league club and providing a boost to the Reds, who are in third place in the NL Central despite a weak 26-32 record. While the club’s overall record certainly leaves something to be desired, the club has seen improvement in recent weeks as they’ve made way for young prospects to make an impact on the club, highlighted by the performance of shortstop Matt McLain.
Pirates Select Chase De Jong
The Pirates have selected the contract of right-hander Chase De Jong, per a team announcement. To make room for De Jong on the active roster, Yerry De Los Santos has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. No corresponding 40-man roster move was necessary to accomodate De Jong, as the Pirates had open space on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 38.
A second-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2012 draft, De Jong has fashioned a career for himself as a journeyman reliever since his big league debut with the Mariners in 2017, when he posted a 6.35 ERA in 28 1/3 innings of work. Following his time in Seattle, De Jong joined the Twins and Astros organizations before arriving in Pittsburgh on a minor league deal in January of 2021. Since then, he’s pitched to a 2.70 ERA in 43 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level while posting a 4.33 ERA 124 2/3 innings of work at the big league level.
That includes a brutal start to his 2023 campaign, where De Jong posted a 10.61 ERA in 9 1/3 innings of work with identical 10.6% strikeout and walk rates. That led the Pirates to designate De Jong for assignment last month, though he eventually accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, paving the way for today’s return to the roster. De Jong figures to join Angel Perdomo and Yohan Ramirez in covering the middle innings for the Pirates going forward.
As for De Los Santos, the 25-year-old returns to Triple-A just one day after being recalled to the roster for his 2023 debut. De Los Santos recorded two outs for the Pirates in yesterday’s game while recording a strikeout and a walk. He’ll return to Indianapolis and act as bullpen depth going forward.