Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Rangers Promote Josh Smith, Place Brad Miller On IL, Designate Albert Abreu

By | at

The Rangers announced a series of moves today, including the news that infielder Josh Smith and outfielder Zach Reks have been called up from Triple-A.  This will be the Major League debut for Smith, a second-round pick (for the Yankees) in the 2019 draft.  To create roster space, Texas placed Brad Miller on the injured list and designated right-hander Albert Abreu for assignment.

Smith was one of the players acquired from New York in the Joey Gallo trade last July, and both MLB Pipeline (#7) and Baseball America (#9) rank Smith within the top 10 of all Rangers prospects.  The LSU has done nothing but hit during his young pro career, resulting in a quick rise up the minor league ladder.  Smith made his debut at the Triple-A level this season, and has hit .273/.382/.422 over 191 PA for Round Rock.

Smith has strong command of the strike zone for such a young player, as evidenced by his .420 OBP over 683 total PA in the minors.  As noted by Baseball America’s scouting report, Smith “did an excellent job working counts to get pitches to drive, then punished balls from gap to gap.  He rarely chases, and when he swings at pitches in the zone he almost never misses.”  He has yet to develop true power, though Smith does make lots of hard contact and could be more of an extra-bases type hitter.  Smith is also a threat on the basepaths, with 40 steals in 52 career chances.

Originally drafted as a shortstop, Smith has basically split time between shortstop, third base, and center field this year, owing to the presence of Corey Seager in the Rangers’ everyday lineup.  Both BA and Pipeline observe that scouts weren’t entirely sold on Smith’s long-term viability as a shortstop anyway, and it remains to be seen what his ideal defensive position will be, if the Rangers don’t instead use him as a multi-position type of weapon.

For now, Smith will probably see much of his time at third base, essentially taking Miller’s spot as a left-handed hitting third base option alongside Andy Ibanez.  Miller’s IL placement didn’t come with a designation, so it could be related to COVID-19, though Miller also left yesterday’s game due to tightness in his right hip.

Abreu came to Texas in another trade with the Yankees, the April swap that saw catcher Jose Trevino head to the Bronx.  A former top-100 pitching prospect, Abreu has been plagued by a lack of control, and these problems again manifested themselves during his brief stint with the Rangers.  While Abreu managed a 3.12 ERA over 8 2/3 relief innings this season, he had more walks (12) than strikeouts (9).  The DFA doesn’t necessarily mean that the Rangers are giving up on Abreu, but since he is out of minor league options, the Rangers had to designate the righty and risk losing him on waivers before outrighting him to Triple-A.

Royals Place Zack Greinke On 15-Day Injured List

By and | at

The Royals announced a flurry of roster moves this afternoon, adding four players (outfielder Kyle Isbel, right-handers Arodys Vizcaino and Jose Cuas, and left-hander Foster Griffin) to the active roster, sending three (left-hander Gabe Speier and right-handers Matt Peacock and Zack Greinke) to the injured list, and returning one (outfielder Brewer Hicklen) to Triple-A Omaha.  Of the four activated, Isbel was reinstated from the injured list, Griffin was recalled from Triple-A, and Vizcaino and Cuas were each selected from Triple-A, meaning that they were also added to the club’s 40-man roster.

Greinke is the only one of the three IL players who is going to the 15-day IL with a designated issue, implying that Peacock and Speier are on the COVID-related injury list.  Isbel had also been on the COVID list due to virus symptoms, though it ended up being a non-COVID illness that sidelined the outfielder for four days.

Greinke is suffering from a right flexor strain, and the veteran righty recently told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that he has been dealing with related soreness for “a little bit.”  While any injury in the forearm or elbow area is a red flag, Greinke added that he has been dealing with some degree of elbow problems for years, so it’s possible that a 15-day absence might be all it takes for Greinke to heal up.

The injury could explain Greinke’s lack of success in his last four starts, as the former Cy Young Award winner has a 9.50 ERA in his last 18 innings of work.  His ERA now sits at 5.05 over 51 2/3 innings, with only a minuscule 11.2% strikeout rate.  Between this lack of whiffs and a lot of hard contact allowed, there isn’t much to like about Greinke’s numbers apart from his typically excellent walk rate (4.5%).

Vizcaino is on the verge of his first MLB appearance since the 2019 season, when he tossed four innings for the Braves before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.  The veteran didn’t return to the field at all until 2021, when he tossed 7 2/3 innings with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, and Vizcaino then inked a minor league with the Royals this past winter.

After essentially three full years off, it’s hard to know what to expect from Vizcaino in his return to the Show, though he was a very capable bullpen arm for Atlanta in his heyday.  He has also looked quite good with Triple-A Omaha, posting a 1.76 ERA and 29.7% strikeout rate in 15 1/3 innings.  Vizcaino’s 9.4% walk rate is a little on the high side, but actually an improvement over his career 10.8% walk rate at the big league level.

The 27-year-old Cuas has finally reached the majors after a pro career that has seen him bounce around the minors and independent leagues, and change his position entirely from infielder to pitcher.  An 11th-round draft pick by the Brewers in 2015, Cuas wasn’t getting anywhere as a position player, but his fortunes changed after converting to relief pitching in 2018.  Over 126 2/3 career innings in the minors, Cuas has a 2.63 ERA, with a sidearm delivery and a sinker-slider combo that induces a lot of grounders and a good amount (22.22%) of strikeouts.

Twins Place Royce Lewis On IL, Recall Jose Miranda

By | at

11:24 AM: Less than 24 hours after replacing him on the major league roster with Royce Lewis, the Twins have recalled infielder Jose Miranda to take Lewis’ place, the team announced. The move gives Miranda another chance to establish himself in the bigs, though his path to playing time is much less clear.

First promoted in early May, Miranda has gotten off to a slow start in the majors, logging a .164/.200/.284 triple-slash in 70 trips to the plate. He’s posted a stronger .256/.295/.442 line in 95 plate appearances at Triple-A St. Paul, though he’s not yet come close to matching the combined .344/.401/.572 he posted between St. Paul and Double-A Wichita in 2021.

9:15 AM: Just one day after being recalled from the minors, Royce Lewis is going to be placed on the injured list due to a bone bruise on his right knee. The corresponding move appears to be a recall of Jose Miranda, as Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press relays that he is starting today’s game. Miranda was just optioned yesterday when Lewis was recalled. Position players normally cannot return until 10 days after being optioned, though exceptions are made for IL placements and doubleheaders. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune relays word from manager Rocco Baldelli that Lewis’s injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious, it’s just that the team needs every position on the roster for schedule reasons.

On May 20, the Twins began a stretch of playing 18 games in 17 days, thanks to tomorrow’s doubleheader in Detroit. Given that grind and a number of injuries to the pitching staff, the club is currently carrying just 12 position players on the active roster. With that short three-man bench, they can’t afford to use a spot on a player that’s going to be unavailable, even if it’s just for a few days.

Dan Hayes of The Athletic confirms the imminent IL placement, noting that the upcoming trip to Toronto is playing a factor as well. It was reported yesterday that the club expects “a few” players won’t be able to cross the border into Canada due to their unvaccinated status, which could further handcuff the team in the coming days.

Lewis started out his MLB career on a good note, but got demoted once Carlos Correa returned from injury to retake the regular shortstop duties. After his demotion, he got a bit of practice in the outfield and started in center field for the Twins yesterday before his injury. In 12 big league games so far, he’s hitting .300/.317/.550 for a wRC+ of 150.

Tigers Recall Kody Clemens, Place Robbie Grossman On IL

By | at

The Tigers have recalled second baseman Kody Clemens from Triple-A Toledo and placed outfielder Robbie Grossman on the 10-day IL with a neck strain, the team announced today. It’ll be the first taste of the big leagues for Clemens, the 26-year-old youngest son of long-dominant (and controversial) ace Roger Clemens.

Though the younger Clemens is primarily known for his bloodlines, he does come with at least a bit of prospect pedigree of his own, and the Tigers thought enough of him to place him on the 40-man roster in November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. A third-round pick by the Tigers in the 2018 amateur draft after posting a 1.170 OPS in his junior season, the University of Texas product commanded a $600K bonus and a promotion to Double-A Erie by the end of his first full professional season. His career minor league numbers (.252/.320/.444) are hardly eye-popping, but he has the positional versatility to contribute around the diamond and is off to a strong start (.283/.316/.527 with 8 home runs in 197 plate appearances) at Triple-A Toledo.

The same can’t be said for Grossman’s start to 2022, which has seen him struggle to a .199/.311/.241 triple-slash behind an elevated strikeout rate (30.5% in 2022, 21.8% for his career) and a sudden loss of power; after logging 23 homers last year and 12 in only 51 games in 2020, Grossman hasn’t yet gone deep 167 trips to the plate in 2022. He exited yesterday’s game after popping out in his first at-bat of what became a 2-1 win over the Guardians.

Whether the move is as much to give Grossman a bit of time away from his struggles as to recuperate an injury is unclear, but it does help manager AJ Hinch avoid entering Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Twins short-handed. Still, even with Clemens’ promotion, between Grossman’s injury, Austin Meadows’ continued vertigo-related absence, and Akil Baddoo’s recent demotion, Hinch is left with only two players (Daz Cameron and Derek Hill) on his active roster listed as outfielders, though utility-man Willi Castro has primarily played left field since Baddoo’s demotion and Harold Castro has major-league experience at all three outfield spots.

Primarily a second baseman, Clemens also has limited experience in the outfield, logging 167 minor-league innings between left and right. In the short term, that might be his quickest path to big-league playing time, though he could put pressure on Jonathan Schoop’s hold on the second base job should he prove productive. The 30-year-old Schoop, who’s consistently posted batting lines in the vicinity of his career .258/.297/.441 mark, has joined many of his Tigers teammates in getting off to a slow start to 2022, posting a mark of only a .173/.218/.286 through his first 179 trips to the plate.

Cubs Select Matt Swarmer, Place Jonathan Villar On IL

By | at

May 30: The Cubs announced the Swarmer move as part of a broader series of transactions, with various reporters relaying the slate, including Mark Gonzales. To make room on the 40-man roster for Swarmer, Ethan Roberts has been transferred to the 60-day IL. To make room on the active roster, Jonathan Villar was placed on the 10-day IL after suffering a mouth injury while working out. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune provides further context, saying that Villar had an exercise band snap back into his mouth, suffering an injury that will require significant dental work.

Furthermore, Anderson Espinoza has been recalled as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. Nelson Velazquez, whose recall was reported yesterday, has also been added.

As for Roberts, he was placed on the IL May 2 with shoulder inflammation and won’t be eligible to return until early July. While there’s no timetable on his return, it seems the club isn’t expecting him back before then, based on today’s transaction.

May 29: The Cubs are going to select the contract of right-handed pitcher Matt Swarmer, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. He will start the first game of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Brewers, making his major league debut. Swarmer isn’t on the club’s 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move will be required at some point between now and the start of the game.

It was reported earlier today that the Brewers will be promoting Ethan Small to make his major league debut in the same game, making it a battle of the debutants in tomorrow afternoon’s Memorial Day tilt. For those who like factoids, Jesse Rogers of ESPN relays that this will be the first time the Brewers have been involved in a game with two starters making their debuts, while the Cubs haven’t done it since 1944.

Swamer, 28, was a 19th round selection of the Cubs in the 2016 draft. Since then, he has quietly crept towards the majors without garnering too much attention from prospect evaluators. He’s never appeared on Baseball America’s list of top Chicago farmhands, nor on that of FanGraphs, though he did get a brief honorable mention on the FanGraphs list going into 2019. Just over a year ago, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs did focus his radar on Swarmer, complementing the movement of his slider.

Last year, between Double-A and Triple-A, Swarmer made 20 starts and four relief appearances, logging 112 2/3 innings with a 4.79 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. He seems to have taken a step forward this year, as he’s made five starts and four relief appearances, throwing 39 innings with a 2.08 ERA. He’s gotten his strikeouts up to 27.3% but is also getting more walks with a 9.1% rate. A .213 BABIP and 82.8% strand rate are surely helping to deflate that ERA somewhat, though there’s lots to like about his results nonetheless.

The Cubs’ rotation currently consists of Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly, Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks and Keegan Thompson. But thanks to tomorrow’s doubleheader and another this Saturday, they are currently in a stretch of playing 11 games in 9 days. It’s possible that Swarmer will stick around for at least a couple of start to help the club get through that gruelling stretch. They then have a couple of days off in the following week, which should allow them to return to a five-man rotation, though health and performance issues can always change plans quickly.

Brewers To Promote Ethan Small

By | at

May 30: The Brewers announced the selection of Small’s contract. The 40-man roster had a couple of vacancies, meaning no corresponding move was required in that regard. As for the active roster, Mark Mathias was optioned but then designated as the team’s 27th man for today’s doubleheader.

May 29: The Brewers are set to call up left-hander Ethan Small, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  It is the first big league promotion for Small, the 28th overall pick in the 2019 draft.  Small isn’t on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, so multiple other moves will be forthcoming to create a spot for Small before his official call-up.

Now that Aaron Ashby has lost his prospect status, Small is widely considered to be the best pitching prospect in Milwaukee’s farm system — MLB Pipeline ranks Small as the Brewers’ seventh-best minor leaguer overall, while Baseball America ranks him ninth.  Both outlets are particularly fond of Small’s changeup, a 60-grade pitch that nicely complements his lower-velocity (low 90s) but high-spin fastball.  Beyond these two plus offerings, however, Small doesn’t have a primary third pitch, as his curveball and slider are nothing special and thus not prominent parts of his arsenal.

Between the lack of a third pitch and some control problems, it remains an open question about whether Small can make it as a starting pitcher or if the bullpen is his ultimate destination.  That said, Small’s bottom-line results in his brief pro career have been impressive, as he has a 1.78 ERA and 31.95% strikeout rate over 136 2/3 innings in the minors, starting all 33 of his appearances.

This includes a 1.88 ERA over 38 1/3 innings at Triple-A Nashville this year, which was enough to convince the Brew Crew that Small was ready for the majors.  With a doubleheader coming up tomorrow against the Cubs, Small might receive just the one spot start before heading back to Nashville, though Brandon Woodruff is dealing with a bad ankle.

If Woodruff has to miss his next outing or has to be placed on the injured list, it could provide Small with a longer opportunity to show that he can do against MLB hitters.  Since Freddy Peralta is also going to be missing a big piece of the 2022 campaign, Small might now take over that “sixth starter” depth role, since Ashby has moved into the rotation.

Pirates Designate Cole Tucker For Assignment

By | at

The Pirates have announced their acquisition of Yu Chang from the Guardians, which was reported yesterday. In order to create space for Chang on the 40-man roster, utility player Cole Tucker has been designated for assignment. A corresponding move on the active roster will be required once Chang reports to the team.

This potentially marks the disappointing end of the Tucker-Pirates relationship that was once so full of hope. Tucker was a first round selection of the Pirates in 2014, 24th overall. As he rose through the ranks of the minors, he was considered by Baseball America to be one of the club’s ten best prospects from 2015 to 2019.

Tucker often impressed with his defense and speed, stealing over 30 bags in the minors in both 2017 and 2018. Unfortunately, his bat never provided enough for him to earn any kind of extended look in the big leagues. This is his fourth season seeing MLB action, yet he’s never played more than the 56 games he got in his 2019 debut.

Tucker exclusively played shortstop that first season, when it was hoped that he could take the position and run with it for years to come. But after a tepid .211/.266/.361 batting line on the year for a wRC+ of just 60, the club tried transitioning him into a super utility type, slotting him in at each infield position as well as center and right field at times. He never really seemed to settle into a good home anywhere on the diamond, and the bat never did anything to justify his roster spot. He’s now played 154 games over the past four seasons with 469 plate appearances, roughly a full season’s worth. His career batting line is .211/.259/.314 for a wRC+ of just 53. He has a 6% walk rate and 27.5% strikeout rate, both of those being a bit worse than league average. Despite his speed, he only has four steals on his ledger.

The Pirates will now have a week to try and trade Tucker or put him on waivers. Despite all those struggles, Tucker is still just 25 years old and is in his final option year. Some rival team could put in a claim and send him to Triple-A for the final few months of the year and see if he can get into any kind of a groove. But he’ll be out of options next year, meaning he’ll need to keep his roster spot or else be designated for assignment again. Should he clear waivers, the Pirates can keep him in the minors without him taking up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Pirates Acquire Yu Chang

By | at

The Pirates are acquiring infielder Yu Chang from the Guardians for cash considerations, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Chang had been designated for assignment by the Guardians on Thursday.

This will be the first new organization for Chang, who has spent the entirety of his professional career with Cleveland so far. A native of Taiwan, Chang was signed as an international free agent in 2013 for a signing bonus of $500K and started playing Rookie ball before his 19th birthday. As he rose through the ranks of the minor leagues, he often hit well, especially for power. Baseball America considered him to be one of the top 30 prospects in Cleveland’s system for seven straight years from 2015 to 2021.

Unfortunately for Chang, he’s struggled to translate his skills to the major league diamonds thus far, in limited opportunities. Over the past four seasons, he’s gotten into 131 games and hit 10 home runs, producing an overall slash line of .208/.265/.372, 71 wRC+. The 26-year-old was designated for assignment last week, after exhausting his option years and his time with the Guardians.

Pittsburgh should be able to give Chang more opportunities to get into a groove than he saw in Cleveland, as they have a number of position players currently on the injured list. Ben Gamel just went on the IL today, joining Roberto Perez, Jake Marisnick, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Daniel Vogelbach, Kevin Newman and Greg Allen among hitters currently out of action due to injury. Chang has played all four infield positions during his time in the big leagues but is likely to get consideration for extended time at first base. Up until yesterday, every Pirates’ game this season had featured either Tsutsugo or Michael Chavis starting at first. With Tsutsugo on the IL and Chavis day-to-day with forearm discomfort, the club has put Josh VanMeter into the starting lineup yesterday and today, who has played first before but is much more experienced elsewhere. Shortly before the trade, Mackey relayed word from assistant general manager Kevan Graves, who said the club was looking to supplement the first base situation. With Vogelbach on the IL, the club is also missing its primary DH, freeing up more at-bats for whoever the club deems most worthy.

Orioles Outright Anthony Bemboom

By | at

Today: Bemboom has accepted the outright assignment, per an announcement from the team.

May 27: Anthony Bemboom has cleared waivers and been outrighted by the Orioles to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The catcher had been designated for assignment last week as the corresponding move to the promotion of star prospect Adley Rutschman.

Bemboom was outrighted by the Dodgers last year, thus making him eligible to reject this outright assignment, like all players who already have one outright on their ledger. At this point, there’s no indication whether Bemboom has accepted or rejected, though there would be some logic either way.

If he were to opt for rejecting, he would become a free agent and look for the best opportunity around the league. However, based on his clearing waivers, that illustrates no team is currently willing to give him a 40-man roster spot and he would only find minor league deals anyway. If he were to accept, he’d likely stay third on the Baltimore catching depth chart behind Rutschman and Robinson Chirinos. The team also has Jacob Nottingham in Triple-A, though that was also the case earlier this year when Bemboom was selected to the big league roster while they waited for Rutschman to recuperate from injury. Although Nottingham is off to a blazing start in Triple-A this year, hitting .268/.417/.607, 168 wRC+.

In his 22 MLB games so far this year, Bemboom has hit .115/.207/.212, though that might be weighed down by a .147 BABIP. On the more encouraging side of things, he did walk in 10.2% of his plate appearances, something that’s not totally without precedent, as he’s often posted good walk rates in Triple-A, as well as in 21 MLB games in 2020 with the Angels, when he walked 11.7% of the time.

Pirates Place Ben Gamel On IL With Hamstring Strain

By | at

The Pirates announced that Ben Gamel has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring. The outfielder left last night’s game holding the back of his left leg. Infielder Hoy Park has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Claimed off waivers from Cleveland in May of last year, Gamel has been a bright spot on a struggling Pirates team. He started last season in a miserable funk, going .071/.235/.143 while in Ohio. After being claimed by Pittsburgh, he righted the ship and hit .255/.352/.399 the rest of the way for a wRC+ of 105. Through 45 contests this year, his line is .257/.350/.386 for a wRC+ of 113. (Those extra eight points on his wRC+ with a very similar batting line are likely due to the deadened offense around baseball so far this season, as the statistic compares a player’s production to everyone else in the league.)

With Gamel now out of action, this will put a dent in a lineup that was already facing its share of challenges. The team as a whole is hitting .223/.295/.352 for a wRC+ of 86, a mark better than just three teams in the majors (Reds, A’s, Tigers). They’ve also seen many position players head to the injured list, including essentially all of their veterans. Gamel joins Roberto Perez, Jake Marisnick, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Daniel Vogelbach, Kevin Newman and Greg Allen as non-pitchers on the shelf. That leaves the active roster as almost entirely composed of younger and still-developing players. Excluding pitchers, backup catcher Tyler Heineman is the only guy on the team who has been on the planet more than 30 years, while starting catcher Michael Perez is the only one who began this season with more than three years of MLB service time.

Gamel came into this season with over five years of MLB service time, meaning he’s heading into free agency this winter. That gives this injury implications both for him and the team. The Bucs have been in rebuilding mode for years now, meaning that any short-term asset is a potential trade chip, with Gamel certainly fitting that bill. The trade deadline is still two months away, which gives him some time to recuperate and get back on the field before then, though the severity of his injury isn’t clear at this time. For him personally, he will surely be motivated to return to the field and demonstrate his health and abilities before hitting the open market in search of free agent dollars.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top