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Rays Reinstate Pete Fairbanks, Outright Dusten Knight

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July 20: The Rays announced that Knight has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham, as relayed by broadcaster Neil Solondz.

July 17: The Rays have announced some roster moves prior to today’s game, starting with right-hander Pete Fairbanks being reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To make room on the active roster, lefty Jalen Beeks was placed on the 15-day IL due to right lower leg tightness. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Dusten Knight was designated for assignment.

Fairbanks, 28, has emerged as a key reliever for the Rays over the past couple of seasons. Acquired from the Rangers for Nick Solak in 2019, he threw 26 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball in the shortened 2020 campaign. That came with an excellent 33.3% strikeout rate, though a walk rate on the high side at 12%. He moved up the bullpen charts enough to earn seven holds that year. He followed that up with similar results in 2021, throwing 42 2/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. Again, he was called on for important assignments, logging 14 holds and five saves.

He was expected to be a key part of the Rays’ bullpen again this year but tore a lat muscle in Spring Training. He’ll make his season debut as soon as he gets into a game. The absence of Fairbanks has been just one of many subtractions from their relief corps this year. While Fairbanks is coming off, the Rays still have four notable relievers on the 60-day IL: Nick Anderson, J.P. Feyereisen, JT Chargois and Andrew Kittredge.

With all of those options sidelined, the club has leaned on a committee approach for their high leverage innings this year. Eight different pitchers have at least one save but no one has more than six. Fairbanks should now step into the mix as well, alongside hurlers like Colin Poche, Jason Adam and Brooks Raley. Despite those bullpen setbacks, and many injuries elsewhere, the club is 50-41 and currently in possession of the top American League Wild Card spot.

Knight, 31, made his MLB debut with the Orioles last year but joined the Rays on a minor league deal in the offseason. He was selected to the big league club in April but designated for assignment one day later. After being outrighted, he was selected again in May. He’s pitched just eight innings at the MLB level this year, spending most of his time with the Durham Bulls. In 30 2/3 Triple-A innings, he has a 3.82 ERA, with a strong 25.7% strikeout rate but a 16.7% walk rate that’s double the current MLB average of 8.3%. The Rays will have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times announced the moves prior to the official announcement (Twitter links).

Zach Reks Signs With KBO’s Lotte Giants

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Outfielder Zach Reks, whom the Rangers designated for assignment Saturday, is signing with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Lotte Giants for the remainder of the season, per an announcement from the Giants (link via Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency). The Rangers didn’t formally announce the move, but Reks was released yesterday following that DFA, per his transaction log at MLB.com, paving the way for him to take this new opportunity overseas. He’ll earn $310K for the remainder of the season.

The 28-year-old Reks has seen brief big league action between the Dodgers (10 plate appearances) and Rangers (34 plate appearances) over the past two seasons. He’s hit just .205/.205/.227 in that small sample, but the former 10th-round pick has obliterated Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .331/.421/.579 batting line in 140 plate appearances this season. Overall, he’s a .290/.388/.537 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, making it at least a bit of a surprise that he never got an earnest look in either Texas or Los Angeles (or with another organization).

Reks, coincidentally, will be replacing an outfielder with a fairly similar career arc. He and DJ Peters were both Dodgers draftees — twice teammates in Triple-A Oklahoma City — who made their way to the Rangers after being designated for assignment in Los Angeles. Both received larger but still relatively brief looks in Texas before ultimately landing with Lotte in the KBO. Peters was just waived earlier this week after struggling through his KBO debut, and Reks will hope for better results than his former teammate enjoyed.

A strong couple months in the KBO isn’t likely to put Reks back on the immediate MLB radar, but it could potentially open additional opportunities with the Giants or another team in the KBO. Should he fare well in multiple KBO campaigns, it’s always possible he could follow the paths of Eric Thames, Darin Ruf and others who’ve broken in out in South Korea following nondescript MLB tenures and make his way back to the big leagues down the road. Reks will play all of the 2023 season at age 29, so there’s still ample time for him to either make that loop or to more simply carve out a lucrative multi-year career in the KBO if he plays to expectations there.

Giants, Kyle Tyler Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants recently signed right-hander Kyle Tyler to a minor league contract, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. He elected free agency after being outrighted off the Padres roster for the second time earlier this month.

Tyler, 25, has had a tumultuous past few months. A former Angels draftee, he reached the big leagues with the Halos late last season. Los Angeles designated him for assignment coming out of the lockout, kicking off a series of transactions. Tyler went to the Red Sox, Padres, back to the Angels then back to the Padres on waivers within a span of three weeks. He finally stuck on the Friars 40-man roster for a couple months, but he was again designated for assignment in early June.

After passing through waivers unclaimed, Tyler was assigned outright to Triple-A El Paso. San Diego reselected him to the majors a few days later but eventually DFA him again. Tyler again cleared waivers, and the second outright afforded him the right to head to free agency rather than return to El Paso. He did so and will now try to pitch his way back to the big leagues in San Francisco.

Tyler has seven MLB appearances under his belt: five with last year’s Angels, two with the Padres this season. He’s allowed only four runs through 16 1/3 innings, but he owns a mediocre 8:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has averaged just 91 MPH on his fastball in that time. To his credit, Tyler has typically posted excellent numbers in the minors, a big reason he reached the majors only three-plus years after falling to the 20th round in the draft. He posted a 3.38 ERA with a solid 24.3% strikeout rate and a modest 7.3% walk percentage through 15 appearances (12 starts) in Double-A last season.

This year, Tyler has run into some uncharacteristic control woes at the minors’ top level. He’s walked more than one-fifth of opponents through 21 2/3 frames in El Paso. Strike-throwing had been a strength before this season, however, and the Giants will see if he can get on track in a new environment. Tyler has worked mostly in relief this season but has a fair bit of pre-2022 starting experience, so San Francisco can keep him as a depth option in either role.

Royals Release Roman Quinn, Brad Peacock

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The Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Royals, recently released three players, according to their transactions tracker (hat tip to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.) The players are outfielder Roman Quinn, along with right-handers Brad Peacock and Brandon Barker.

Quinn, 29, has gotten all of his MLB action in a Phillies uniform thus far, having played 201 games with them from 2016 to the present. He was once considered a very interesting prospect of the Phils, even cracking Baseball America’s top 100 in 2013. However, he hasn’t been able to deliver on his promise, primarily due to injuries. The 50 games he played in 2018 is still his career high.

That stop-and-start nature to his career has seemingly prevented him from ever getting into a good groove at the plate. His career batting line is .223/.300/.343. He’s still been able to provide speed and defense, however, racking up 43 steals and producing seven Outs Above Average in his limited time in the majors.

At the end of last season, he was designated for assignment by the Phils and has bounced around quite a bit since then. The Marlins signed him to a minor league deal in March but cut him prior to Opening Day. He rejoined the Phillies on a minors deal and got called up at the end of April. He was used sparingly though, garnering just 40 plate appearances in over a month, before being designated for assignment in early June.

After electing free agency, he signed a minors deal with the Royals and has been with Omaha since then. In over a month with the Storm Chasers, he was put into just seven games but hit well in that small sample. Despite a batting line of .250/.406/.500, the Royals have let him go.

Peacock, 34, has spent the bulk of his career with the Astros, pitching for them from 2013 to 2020, as both a starter and a reliever. His most effective stretch was from 2016 to 2019, as he appeared in 128 games, 42 of them starts, throwing 320 1/3 innings. In that time, he registered a 3.48 ERA, along with a 28.7% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate.

Unfortunately, injuries limited him to just 2 1/3 innings in 2020 and he wasn’t able to get things back on track last year. He signed a minor league deal with the Royals prior to this season and has thrown 38 1/3 excellent innings with the Storm Chasers. He has a 1.64 ERA on the year, along with a 27.6% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate. Despite that solid showing, the Royals have decided to cut him loose, perhaps to give his innings to younger up-and-coming pitchers.

Barker, 29, was drafted by Atlanta in 16th round of the 2014 draft. He went to the Orioles in the 2016 trade that sent Brian Matusz to Atlanta. He later went to the Marlins in the minor league phase of the 2017 Rule 5 draft, followed by some stints in Indy Ball. He signed a minors deal with the Royals last year and threw 52 innings for the Storm Chasers but has been limited by injury to just a single frame here in 2022.

Rays Claim Angel Perdomo From Brewers, Designate Cooper Criswell

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The Brewers have announced that left-hander Angel Perdomo has been claimed off waivers by the Rays. The Rays then announced the claim, with Perdomo being sent to Triple-A Durham, along with designating righty Cooper Criswell as the corresponding move.

Perdomo, 28, spent years in the Blue Jays system as a starter but maxed out at High-A in 2018. After reaching free agency, he latched on with the Brewers on a minor league deal, who have used him exclusively as a reliever since then, apart from a one-inning “opener” start in Triple-A last year. Perdomo had a decent first year in the Brewers organization in 2019, throwing 69 1/3 innings across Double-A and Triple-A. In that time, he had a 4.28 ERA, along with an excellent 35% strikeout rate but concerning 15% walk rate.

Since then, he’s been slowed down by both by injuries and the pandemic. In 2020, the minor league seasons were wiped out, though Perdomo was able to make his MLB debut, throwing 2 2/3 innings for the Brew Crew. Last year, he was limited to 31 total innings between Triple-A and the big league club, while throwing only 4 1/3 minor league frames here in 2022. That means he has just 38 innings thrown since the end of the 2019 season.

When healthy, Perdomo cooks with a high-strikeout and high-walk recipe. Since joining the Brewers, the only stop wherein he had a strikeout rate lower than 35% was the 26.3% rate in his brief 2020 showing in the big leagues. (For reference, this year’s average for MLB relievers is 23.5%.) However, that comes with healthy doses of free passes, as evidenced by his 23.5% career rate in the bigs, more than double this year’s 9.2% rate for MLB relievers. Perdomo is in his last option year, meaning the Rays can give him the rest of the season to try and get healthy and iron out those control issues, though he will need occupy an active roster spot next year or else be designated for assignment.

As for Criswell, 25, this concludes a very short stint on the Rays roster, as he was claimed from the Angels just three days ago. He was assigned to Triple-A Durham but didn’t make an appearance before today’s transaction. The righty made a very brief MLB debut last year, logging 1 1/3 innings for the Angels. The rest of the year was spent in Triple-A, where he threw 47 innings with a 6.51 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 41.8% ground ball rate. He landed on the 60-day IL at the start of this year and recently began a rehab assignment, throwing 18 innings in the minors before the Rays nabbed him on waivers. They will now have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times announced the Criswell DFA and Perdomo’s option to Durham before the official announcement from the Rays.

Tigers Outright Drew Carlton

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The Tigers have announced that right-hander Drew Carlton has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. Carlton had been designated for assignment last week.

Carlton, 26, has seen sporadic MLB action over the past couple of seasons, throwing 3 2/3 innings out of Detroit’s bullpen last year and another 8 2/3 frames this year. He has a tidy 2.92 ERA in that small sample, but with a mediocre 15.7% strikeout rate along with average-ish walk and ground ball rates of 7.8% and 39.5%, respectively.

Carlton’s numbers at Triple-A this year are more concerning, however. Despite a 2.92 ERA with the Mud Hens last year, he has a 6.91 mark here in 2022. Despite solid strikeout and walk rates of 24.2% and 4.8%, respectively, he seems to have been undone by a .341 BABIP and 54.5% strand rate, both of which are much worse than the typical averages.

This is Carlton’s second outright of his career, meaning he has the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency. However, it’s not yet clear if he has made a decision in that regard. If he does decide to test the open market, he could still garner interest from teams, most likely on a minor league deal, given that he just cleared waivers. He still has options and is fairly young. If any team were willing to chalk up his poor Triple-A performance to bad luck, they could see the value in adding him as a depth option that doesn’t require a roster spot.

Giants, Andrew Knapp Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Andrew Knapp, MLBTR has confirmed. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted last night that the Giants “might be” adding Knapp and sending him to Triple-A Sacramento.

This will be the fourth organization of the year for Knapp, who was in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee with the Reds but exercised an out in his deal in order to sign a Major League contract with the Pirates. Pittsburgh designated Knapp for assignment in mid-May, after which he elected free agency and inked a minor league deal with the Mariners. Seattle selected Knapp to the big league roster late last month and then designated him for assignment two weeks later. Knapp again rejected an outright in favor of a return to the market, and he’ll now head to the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento.

Knapp, 30, is plenty familiar with Giants skipper Gabe Kapler, dating back to the pair’s days together in Philadelphia. The Phillies selected Knapp with the No. 53 overall draft pick back in 2013, and he went on to spend parts of five seasons as their backup catcher (two of which were under Kapler, in 2018-19). The switch-hitting Knapp appeared in 309 games over that half-decade run in Philly, batting a combined .214/.314/.322 through 827 trips to the plate. He’s hitting just .114/.205/.143 this year, but that’s in a minuscule sample of 39 plate appearances. He’s also spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a .252/.322/.389 hitter.

Catching depth became an unexpected area of need for the Giants when Buster Posey abruptly retired on the heels of last year’s sensational rebound campaign. Posey’s age-34 season saw the former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP turn the clock back with a .304/.390/.499 batting line — his most-productive season since 2014. Posey’s decision to retire on a high note prompted the Giants to turn things over to former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart, but Bart has yet to fully find his stride in the Majors.

The 25-year-old Bart is hitting just .185/.307/.361 this season, although he recently returned from a June demotion to Sacramento and showed some improvement in 32 plate appearances leading into the All-Star break. Curt Casali, Austin Wynns, Michael Papierski an Yermin Mercedes have seen time behind the plate as well (just one inning in Mercedes’ case). On the whole, Giants catchers are hitting just .203/.303/.355 in 2022.

With Casali on the injured list due to an oblique strain, Papierski now in Cincinnati following a waiver claim, and Mercedes being more an option at first base/DH than at catcher, the Giants are light on healthy, experienced catchers. Bart and Wynns figure to continue handling the bulk of the workload for now, but Knapp will give them some additional cover in the event of further injuries.

Ender Inciarte Elects Free Agency

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Veteran outfielder Ender Inciarte, whom the Mets designated for assignment last week, rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, per Minor League Baseball’s transactions log. Inciarte, who began the season on a minor league deal with the Yankees, signed with the Mets shortly after being cut loose in the Bronx. He was in the Majors a week later but tallied only eight plate appearances over 11 games, functioning primarily as a late-inning option off the bench for Mets skipper Buck Showalter.

It’s quite a different place than Inciarte found himself just five years ago, when he was representing the Braves as an All-Star at this point in the summer. That year saw Inciarte bat .300 for the second time in three seasons and take home the second of what would be three consecutive Gold Glove Awards. A standout table-setter and all-world defender at that point in his career, Inciarte batted .300/.347/.401 with 20 homers, 78 doubles, 17 triples and 59 stolen bases in 420 games/1857 plate appearances from 2015-17.

Inciarte looked like a core piece for the Braves, who rewarded him with a five-year, $30.525MM extension in December of 2016. He won his second and third Gold Gloves in the contract’s first two seasons and also smacked 21 homers with 50 stolen bases, generally making the deal look like a wise investment.

A back strain cost him more than two months of the 2019 season, however, and he injured his hamstring not long after returning from that first lengthy stay on the injured list. He posted respectable but diminished numbers at the plate that season, but Inciarte’s bat completely cratered in 2020 and hasn’t yet rebounded. He’s turned in just a .197/.262/.271 slash line since Opening Day 2020, and while that’s a small sample of 228 plate appearances, Inciarte hasn’t fared well in Triple-A, either. He’s also dealt with further hamstring issues along the way.

A team needing some defense in center field and/or some speed off the bench could take a look at Inciarte, but it seems likelier he’ll find a new organization on a minor league contract after the All-Star break. At 31 years old, it’s possible Inciarte could get healthy and reemerge as a viable big league outfielder. He still has average or better defensive ratings dating back to 2019, but they don’t stack up with the elite rates he posted prior to the back and hamstring injuries that began in that 2019 campaign.

Reds Activate Mike Moustakas From COVID-IL

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The Reds made a pair of transactions on the first day of the All-Star break, including activating infielder Mike Moustakas from the COVID-related injured list.  Infielder Max Schrock was optioned to Triple-A yesterday, so there was already an open spot on Cincinnati’s active roster.

Moustakas was only placed on the COVID-IL on Thursday, so the veteran will make a relatively quick return in time to start the second half.  This marks the third time Moustakas has been on the COVID-related IL this season, with his other two stints lasting a week and just a single day, respectively.  A right biceps strain also sent Moustakas to the regular injured list for just a minimum 10-day stretch in April.

While none of these absences are as serious as the heel problems that limited Moustakas to only 62 games last season, the Moose’s 2022 campaign has unfortunately looked a lot like his 2021 campaign — missed time, and a lack of pop at the plate.  After Moustakas hit only .208/.282/.372 over 206 plate appearances last season, he has a similar .210/.298/.337 slash line in his first 235 PA this year.  There isn’t much to like about Moustakas’ advanced metrics either, as his .287 xwOBA is among the worst in the league.

With the Reds looking to cut payroll, a healthy and productive Moustakas (owed roughly $25.3MM through the end of the 2023 season) might have made an interesting trade chip.  Moustakas was still an above-average hitter as recently as 2020, and he was even an All-Star in 2019 as a member of the Brewers.  However, his ongoing struggles makes it very unlikely that another team would take on his contract outside of a pure salary-dump scenario, or another swap involving an undesirable contract.  Theoretically, a team could offer to take on Moustakas as a sweetener in trade talks for Luis Castillo, though the Reds would probably prefer to get the maximum prospect return for Castillo rather than dilute the package just to cut salary.

Giants Acquire Alex Young From Guardians

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The Giants have acquired left-handed pitcher Alex Young from the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Guardians had designated him for assignment last week. He has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. In order to open a spot for Young on the 40-man roster, fellow lefty Aaron Fletcher has been outrighted to Sacramento.

Young, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks in July of last year. He threw 10 1/3 innings for Cleveland last year but has only logged one third of inning here in 2022. In 32 Triple-A frames on the year, he has a 3.66 ERA, which might not be eye-popping, though his rate stats are excellent. He has a 35.6% strikeout rate, well above the 22.3% MLB average. His 5.3% walk rate and 52% are also a few ticks better than league-wide marks. The reason those haven’t translated into a pristine ERA, however, is a whopping 23.8% HR/FB rate, more than double the 11.4% MLB average. The Giants will get him some work in Sacramento and hope to find a way to limit those long balls.

It seems the Giants were intrigued enough by those minor league numbers to consider him a better use of a roster spot than Fletcher. The 26-year-old was just claimed off waivers from the Pirates last week. Though there hadn’t been any public indication of a subsequent roster move, they evidently passed him through waivers in recent days. He made his MLB debut in 2020 and has logged 19 2/3 total innings at the big league level with an unsightly 9.15 ERA. His Triple-A ERA is a much more pleasant 1.45 this year, despite a meager 11% strikeout rate. He’s typically posted high ground ball marks, though, as evidenced by his 55.2% rate in Triple-A this season. He will stay in the Giants organization as depth, but without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

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