Pirates Claim Edwin Uceta, Transfer JT Brubaker To 60-Day IL
The Pirates announced this afternoon that they have claimed right-hander Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Tigers. Detroit had designated Uceta for assignment ahead of Opening Day alongside Rony Garcia, who was outrighted to Triple-A, in order to make room for Chasen Shreve and Trey Wingenter on the 40-man roster. In a corresponding move, right-hander JT Brubaker was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Uceta has been optioned to Triple-A.
Brubaker had previously been placed on the 15-day IL to open the season due to what the Pirates termed as “elbow discomfort”. No timetable was given for Brubaker’s return, but given his transfer to the 60-day IL, it’s safe to say he won’t return until at least June. Though Brubaker has been part of the Pirates rotation since the shortened 2020 season with an unimpressive career ERA of 4.99, there was reason for optimism headed into 2023, as his 2022 season featured solid peripherals that indicated he could be a quality starter going forward: despite a 4.69 ERA, he had a solid 3.92 FIP along with a 44% groundball rate, a 22.8% strikeout rate, and a 8.4% walk rate that all paint him as a roughly league average starter for the 2022 campaign. With Brubaker set to miss an extended period of time, Johan Oviedo, who the Pirates acquired from the Cardinals in last summer’s Jose Quintana deal, figures to have a more secure hold on a rotation spot.
As for Uceta, the 25 year-old right-hander has seen big league action in each of the past two seasons, but has struggled in a small sample both times. Between his time with the Dodgers in 2022 and the Diamondbacks in 2022, Uceta has posted a 6.27 ERA in 37 1/3 innings, though his 4.46 FIP indicates there may be some bad luck baked into those results. The Tigers claimed him on waivers this offseason before designating him for assignment after he posted a 4.91 ERA in camp, though he did strike out 29.2% of batters faced during his 11 innings of work this spring. Uceta has demonstrated the ability to work in either short relief or multi-inning long relief during his career and figures to serve as depth for the Pirates bullpen in Triple-A.
Giants Place Joey Bart On 10-Day IL, Recall Sean Hjelle
The Giants are placing catcher Joey Bart on the 10-day injured list and recalling Sean Hjelle from Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s Maria Guardado. Bart was previously reported to be dealing with back tightness and has been diagnosed with a mild back strain. Susan Sussler of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that Bart is expected to miss minimal time.
Though he excelled in the lower levels of the minor leagues after being picked second overall in the 2018, advancing from rookie ball all the way to Double-A in just 130 games, Bart has struggled at the major league level since his debut during the shortened 2020 season, posting a .222/.294/.351 slash line in 408 plate appearances in the the big leagues while striking out 38% of the time. While Bart figures to get another opportunity to establish himself as the long-term catcher for the Giants this season, that will now have to be put on hold while he nurses his injury.
With Bart sidelined for the time being, the Giants are down to two catchers on their active roster, with Roberto Perez being backed up by Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol. Sabol had been playing in the outfielder while the Giants were rostering three catchers with Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger on the injured list, but now figures to see more time behind the plate as San Francisco looks to figure out if he can stick on the roster long-term. That should open up playing time for the likes of JD Davis, Matt Beaty, and Bryce Johnson.
That opens the door for Hjelle to join the big league roster. Hjelle, 25, is routinely considered to be among San Francisco’s top 10 prospects. He made his major league debut last season, and though he struggled in terms of results with a 5.76 ERA in 25 innings of work, that figure is inflated by a .400 BABIP. Hjelle’s 24.3% strikeout rate, 7.0% walk rate, and 3.51 FIP all indicate his performance was much stronger than the top level results would otherwise imply. With the Giants flush in rotation options, Hjelle is likely ticketed for the bullpen, though he could be used in a multi-inning role as he was last season, when seven of his eight appearances saw him face 12+ batters.
Phillies Sign Jeff Hoffman To Minor League Contract
Right-hander Jeff Hoffman has signed a minor league contract with the Phillies, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Phillies have added him to their Triple-A roster. According to Heyman, Hoffman will make $1.3MM in the majors and has opt-outs available to him on May 1 and July 1.
Hoffman, the 9th overall pick of the 2014 draft, began his career as a member of the Blue Jays before being traded to the Rockies as part of the Troy Tulowitzki trade. He made his major league debut with the Rockies in 2016, but struggled to a 4.88 ERA and 6.27 FIP in 31 1/3 innings. Though he continued to see playing time in a swing role over the next four seasons, Hoffman never found his footing in Colorado, ending his time with the Rockies with a 5.68 ERA and 5.34 FIP in 230 2/3 innings. The right-hander was then traded to the Reds ahead of the 2021 season in exchange for reliever Robert Stephenson.
In Cincinnati, Hoffman’s career began to turn around. His well below average 18.8% strikeout rate with Colorado climbed to 23.3% with the Reds, though his walk rate also rose to a worrisome 12.8%. Still, in 117 2/3 innings of work with the Reds from 2021-2022, Hoffman posted a 4.28 ERA and 4.86 FIP, good for a 108 ERA+. His best performance came in last season, when the Reds began to use him almost exclusively as a reliever. In 2022, Hoffman posted the first sub-4.00 ERA of his career, with his 3.83 figure standing as 17% better than league average by ERA+.
Hoffman signed with the Twins earlier this offseason, though the club later granted him his release just before Opening Day when it became clear he would not make the club’s roster to start the season. That led Hoffman to Philadelphia, where he figures to serve as depth for the starting rotation with Ranger Suarez, Andrew Painter, Nick Nelson, and Cristopher Sanchez all opening the season on the injured list. With Matt Strahm having stepped into the rotation from the bullpen to fill the vacancy left by Suarez, Hoffman or left-hander Michael Plassmeyer figures to be the next man up should the Phillies suffer another rotation injury.
Nationals Place Corey Dickerson On 10-Day IL, Recall Stone Garrett
The Nationals placed left fielder Corey Dickerson on the injured list with a left calf strain and recalled left fielder Stone Garrett, the team announced. Dickerson left yesterday’s game due to “tightness” in his left calf and underwent an MRI earlier today that revealed the strain. Dickerson, 34 in May, previously missed a month of the 2022 season after suffering a left calf strain with the Cardinals in early June. He figured to be a regular fixture in Washington’s outfield this season alongside Victor Robles and Lane Thomas, but now the Nationals will turn to Garrett with Dickerson headed for the IL.
Garrett, 27, made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks last season, slashing .276/.309/.539 with 4 home runs in 27 games with the club, good for a wRC+ of 131. That strong production at the plate was paired with concerning underlying metrics, however, as Garrett posted an astronomical .370 BABIP while striking out in 32.1% of his plate appearances and walking in just 3.6%. Those concerns led Arizona to leave Garrett off the 40-man roster headed into the offseason, allowing him to depart for free agency and sign a major league deal with Washington. Garrett then came into camp this spring with a chance to make the team, but posted a .653 OPS in 18 spring games.
It seems unlikely Garrett will be able to replace the production of Dickerson, a career 112 wRC+ hitter who has struck out in just 20.4% of plate appearances in his 1,035 game major league career. That said, Garrett did manage an identical 112 wRC+ in 103 games at Triple-A last year. The Nationals will hope that Garrett’s considerable power can make up for his high strikeout rate, particularly against the left-handed pitchers he holds a platoon advantage over. Garrett joins Robles, Thomas, and Alex Call as outfielders on the club’s active roster, though Ildemaro Vargas, Michael Chavis, Joey Meneses, and Dominic Smith all have experience in the outfield as well.
Mariners Place Robbie Ray On 15-Day Injured List
5:44PM: Ray suffered a Grade 1 strain, Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer). The team’s plan is to shut Ray down for two weeks and then re-evaluate after that period of daily treatment, with a rough timeline of 4-6 weeks until Ray’s eventual return from the IL. Ray told media that he began to develop some flexor pain during the second inning of yesterday’s game.
3:24PM: Left-hander Robbie Ray has been placed on the Mariners’ 15-day injured list due to a left flexor strain. Southpaw Gabe Speier was called up from Triple-A to take Ray’s spot on the active roster.
Ray made his season debut last night and only lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks. Even with Ray’s history of control issues, the five walks is probably the biggest indicator that something wasn’t quite right with Ray, and he threw 91 pitches over his 3 1/3 frames of work. The Mariners have yet to publicly comment on the severity of Ray’s injury or a possible return timeline, but it would certainly seem like he’ll miss more than the minimum 15 days just out of pure caution in dealing with injuries in the forearm or elbow area.
After Ray won the AL Cy Young Award as a member of the Blue Jays in 2021, Seattle inked him to a five-year, $115MM free agent contract in the following offseason. Ray’s first season as a Mariner wasn’t up to the level of his 2021 performance but it was still solid, as the southpaw posted a 3.71 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, and a slightly below-average 8% walk rate. Ray continued to allow a lot of hard contact, but that has been the norm throughout his MLB career.
Just three days into the 2023 season, the Mariners have already had to deal a notable rotation injury, after getting through 2022 with a remarkable run of health from its starters. While the M’s have four off-days between today and April 25, the construction of their schedule means they will need a fifth starter in Ray’s absence, though Seattle has a very qualified replacement in Chris Flexen. Trade rumors swirled around Flexen (and Marco Gonzales) for much of the offseason, though the Mariners’ decision to hang onto their starting depth is now looking wise in hindsight, especially if Ray is facing any kind of extended absence.
Speier is now set to make his first appearance in a Seattle uniform, after being claimed off waivers from the Royals last November. Speier is also the only left-handed pitcher in a bullpen stacked with right-handed relievers, so Speier’s inclusion will add some balance to the relief mix. A veteran of four MLB seasons, Speier has a 3.83 ERA over 40 career innings with the Royals, appearing in rather sporadic fashion for Kansas City since making his debut in the Show in 2019.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/1/23
The latest minor moves from around the league…
- The Guardians outrighted right-hander Jason Bilous to Triple-A. Bilous was designated for assignment in advance of Opening Day, but he cleared waivers and will now remain in Cleveland’s organization. The Guards themselves claimed Bilous off waivers from the White Sox in February after the Chicago also DFA’ed the righty off its 40-man roster. Bilous has posted some good strikeout totals but also a lot of walks and not much overall success in the upper minors, with a 5.81 ERA over 148 2/3 innings at Double-A and then a 10.23 ERA in 22 frames with Triple-A Charlotte last year.
Giants Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal
April 1: The Giants have announced the signing.
March 31: The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Gary Sanchez, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sanchez will make a salary of $4MM if he cracks the major league team, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal is pending a physical. Sanchez, a client of the MDR Sports Management, can opt out of his contract if he’s not in the big leagues by May 1. For now, he’ll head to the team’s spring facility to get some extra work in extended spring training.
Sanchez, 30, spent the 2022 season with the Twins after being traded to Minnesota alongside Gio Urshela in the deal that sent Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt to the Bronx. It was the first season Sanchez had ever spent with another organization, and while his oft-panned defensive ratings improved considerably with the Twins, his bat was nowhere near its peak levels.
In 471 plate appearances with Minnesota, Sanchez slashed .205/.282/.377 with 16 home runs and 24 doubles. His strikeout rate, while down from its peak level, was still a bloated 28.9%. Sanchez’s production against lefties, or lack thereof, was particularly problematic. In 126 plate appearances, he slashed just .165/.270/.284.
Sanchez’s peak seasons in 2016-17 and 2019 feel like a distant memory. Even with a lost 2018 season sandwiched in the middle of those three standout years, he batted a combined .247/.329/.518 over that stretch, averaging 26 homers per season (and 46 homers per 162 games played). In the three years since, he’s turned in a combined .195/.287/.394 batting line.
As previously noted, Sanchez’s glovework did appear to be on the upswing in Minnesota. Twins brass was regularly complementary of the work that he put in, and Defensive Runs Saved went from dinging him at a -10 clip in 2021 to crediting him at +1 in 2022. Sanchez also posted positive pitch-framing grades per both FanGraphs and Statcast, and his 28% caught-stealing rate was a few ticks higher than the league-average 25%. On the whole, it was arguably the best defensive showing of his career.
For the Giants, adding further depth behind the plate is sensible, given the general struggles of former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart and the lack of clear alternatives behind him. Veteran Roberto Perez opens the season as the other backstop on the big league roster, along with Rule 5 catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol. San Francisco also has veteran Austin Wynns in Triple-A. Sanchez figures to eventually join him.
Bart, now 26 years old, was hailed as one of the sport’s top prospects from the moment he was drafted in 2018, but in parts of three MLB seasons he’s batted .222/.294/.351 with a sky-high 38% strikeout rate. He’s been vastly better in relatively limited Triple-A action, batting .293/.358/.464 in 310 plate appearances, but he’s yet to carry any of that production over to the big leagues.
The 2023 season will be a crucial one for Bart, who’s entering his final minor league option season. The extent to which he’s able to develop will have major long-term ramifications for the organization as a whole. Sanchez gives them another short-term alternative and a possible replacement in the event of an injury, but it’s unlikely he’ll supplant Bart behind the dish anytime soon, as the Giants likely feel they need to give Bart as much opportunity as possible before determining whether a long-term switch is merited.
Padres Sign Jake Cronenworth To Seven-Year Extension
April 1: The Padres have now announced the deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that it’ll be an $80MM pact over the seven year term. As previously reported, the deal doesn’t start until 2024 though so it won’t affect the Padres’ luxury tax calculation this year. Dennis Lin of The Athletic adds that it includes a limited, eight-team no trade clause.
March 31: The Padres have reached an agreement with infielder Jake Cronenworth on a seven-year extension, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. According to Lin, the contract starts with the 2024 season. Lin notes that Cronenworth “has already passed his physical and the deal is expected to be announced on Saturday.” Cronenworth is represented by CAA Sports.
Cronenworth, 29, has proven capable of playing second base, first base, and shortstop in his big league career thus far. Though Cronenworth has by far played second base the most since coming up in 2020, the Padres’ signing of shortstop Xander Bogaerts in December pushes him to first base for 2023. Cronenworth’s new contract runs through 2030, adding further long-term stability to an infield that already has Bogaerts and third baseman Manny Machado signed through 2033. About a month ago, the Padres signed Machado to an extension, as the superstar was otherwise expected to deploy his opt-out clause after ’23.
Cronenworth was drafted by the Rays in the seventh round in 2015 out of the University of Michigan, where he pitched and played infield. In December of 2019, the Rays traded Cronenworth and Tommy Pham to the Padres for Hunter Renfroe, Xavier Edwards, and Esteban Quiroz. After he won the International League batting crown in ’19, Baseball America rated the two-way Cronenworth as a 45-grade prospect. At the time they wrote, “Cronenworth is a heady player who gets the most out of his average tools.”
The Padres asked Cronenworth to hit pause on the pitching idea in 2020, and he made their Opening Day roster in July of that pandemic-shortened season. The left-handed-hitting Cronenworth ended up getting the bulk of the Padres’ innings at second base as a rookie that year, at a time when Eric Hosmer was their first baseman and Fernando Tatis Jr. their shortstop. Cronenworth and Alec Bohm tied for second in the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Devin Williams.
The Padres signed Ha-Seong Kim in December of 2020, and talked at the time about getting Cronenworth some reps in the outfield. That didn’t come to pass, but Cronenworth did spend time in ’21 filling in for Tatis at shortstop. He also earned his first All-Star nod, and posted a 116 wRC+ on the season.
Cronenworth settled in at second base for 2022, making another All-Star team though ultimately slipping a bit to a 109 wRC+. Cronenworth’s solid defense around the infield, above-average hitting, durability, and versatility led to 4.1 WAR in each of the ’21 and ’22 seasons. With exactly three years of service after ’22, Cronenworth inked a one-year arbitration deal for 2023 worth $4.225MM.
Cronenworth’s new seven-year deal, then, buys out his final two arbitration years plus another five of free agency. The seven-year term is perhaps the most surprising element, as it will carry Cronenworth through the age of 36. Back in January, the Mets signed second baseman Jeff McNeil to an extension that also bought out two arbitration years, but that contract bought out two free agent years with an option for a third. Another point of comparison is the Rockies’ March 2022 extension for Ryan McMahon, which bought out two arbitration years and four free agent seasons.
We’ve yet to see a dollar figure on Cronenworth’s extension, but surely the competitive balance tax played a significant role in the deal. As you know, a team’s CBT payroll is calculated using the average annual values of multiyear contracts. Unexpectedly long terms and therefore lower AAVs have been a theme throughout GM A.J. Preller’s offseason. Robert Suarez got five years, Bogaerts received 11, Yu Darvish had five years added, and Michael Wacha signed what is considered a four-year deal.
Cronenworth’s new extension doesn’t affect the Padres’ 2023 payroll, which at an estimated $276MM currently sits above the third tax tier of $273MM. Should the team end 2023 above $273MM, their top draft pick in 2024 will be pushed back ten spots – in addition to the tax penalties owed as a third-time payor.
Cronenworth joins Machado, Bogaerts, Darvish, Tatis, Suarez, and Joe Musgrove as Padres signed through at least 2027. Before accounting for Cronenworth, but including Nick Martinez and the aforementioned six players, the Padres’ 2025 CBT payroll exceeds $137MM. Kim, the Padres’ current second baseman, is signed through 2024.
A pair of big-name Padres are still on one-year arbitration deals: Juan Soto and Josh Hader. Regarding Soto, slated for free agency after 2024, Lin writes, “there have been no indications that the Padres have engaged the star outfielder in serious talks about a potentially record-setting extension.”
In a March article for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, MLBTR’s Steve Adams laid out a Hader extension scenario that would reduce this year’s luxury tax hit, writing, “If the Padres want to keep threading the creative contract needle, offering Hader the longest (if not the largest) contract ever signed by a reliever would probably only qualify as the fourth- or fifth-craziest move they’ve made over the past calendar year.”
Yankees Designate Estevan Florial For Assignment
The Yankees announced they’ve designated outfielder Estevan Florial for assignment to make room for right-hander Colten Brewer to be added to the big league roster.
It seems highly unlikely that Florial, once one of the game’s top prospects, passes through waivers unclaimed, so this is almost certainly the end of his tenure in the Bronx. The Yankees could look to trade him before he’s exposed to waivers, and given he’s still only 25 and has hit well in the minors, it’s likely teams – particularly rebuilding ones – would have interest in taking a flier on the outfielder.
Signed by the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic, Florial rose through the minors as a toolsy outfielder in the Yankees’ system. Last year at Triple-A, Florial slashed .283/.368/.481 with 15 home runs across 461 plate appearances, swiping 39 bags in the process. Unfortunately, those strong numbers in the top level of the minors haven’t translated to the big leagues, and Florial has hit just .185/.302/.278 over 63 plate appearances, striking out in exactly one third of those appearances.
In Florial’s defense, he’s never really been given an extended run in the majors to settle in, and so it’s entirely possible that a rebuilding team with less urgency could afford Florial some regular game time to find his groove.
With an off day immediately following Opening Day, the Yankees had obviously felt comfortable running a pitcher short and carrying three outfielders – Florial, Aaron Hicks and Franchy Cordero – on their bench. But with the team back in action today something had to give, and they’ll evidently remove Florial from the roster to make room for Brewer.
Brewer, 30, had been acquired from the Rays in exchange for cash last week, where he’d been in camp on a minor league deal. Brewer tossed 91 innings of relief for the Padres and Red Sox between 2018-21, working to a 5.04 ERA with a 20.3% strikeout rate and a 13.4% walk rate. He spent last season with the Royals on a minor league deal, but after working to a 4.76 ERA at Triple-A he was released in August after failing to crack the big league roster.
Nationals Sign Kevin Plawecki To Minor League Deal
The Nationals signed veteran catcher Kevin Plawecki to a minor league deal, per Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. Plawecki, 32, spent camp with the Pirates but was released when he failed to make the Opening Day roster.
Plawecki is coming off a 2022 season in which he hit .220/.286/.286 with eight doubles in 186 plate appearances for the Red Sox and Rangers. That a bit south of his career line of .235/.313/.341 amassed over eight big league campaigns. He was generally regarded as a decent defensive-minded backup earlier in his career, but his framing and blocking numbers have declined a bit in recent years and sit more around the league average these days.
The Nats have Keibert Ruiz as their long-term catcher in the big leagues with Riley Adams backing him up. There’s no indication yet that the Nationals are planning to alter that catching duo, but should they look to move Plawecki on to the big league roster he’s known as a strong clubhouse presence and provide a useful veteran presence on a rebuilding Nationals team.