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Twins Place Trevor Larnach On IL With Core Muscle Strain

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The Twins announced that outfielder Trevor Larnach has been placed on the injured list with a core muscle strain. Fellow outfielder Mark Contreras has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

This is yet another challenge for a Twins team that has seen its outfield and DH mix deal with a number of injuries this season. Alex Kirilloff, Kyle Garlick, Miguel Sano, Luis Arraez and Larnach himself have all missed time on the IL this year. Royce Lewis, blocked at shortstop by Carlos Correa, attempted to quickly convert himself into an outfielder in order to stay in the lineup before he, too, was sidelined by injury.

Larnach has seemed to take a step forward this year. The former first round pick made his MLB debut last year and hit a modest .223/.322/.350 for a wRC+ of 89. He’s added a bit more pop this season, slashing .231/.306/.406 for a 102 wRC+. His 10% walk rate is better than average, but it comes with a 31.7% strikeout rate, which is certainly not ideal.

After seeming to be running away with the AL Central in the season’s early going, the Guardians have caught up and made a race out of it. Cleveland’s .545 winning percentage is just barely ahead of Minnesota’s .542. With Byron Buxton dealing with a knee injury recently, the club may have to use an outfield of Max Kepler, Gilberto Celestino and Nick Gordon for the time being. The club hasn’t provided a timeline on Larnach’s absence.

Angels Designate Juan Lagares For Assignment

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Angels outfielder Juan Lagares has been designated for assignment, per an announcement from the team. His spot on the active and 40-man rosters will go to fellow outfielder Monte Harrison, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Salt Lake.

Selected to the big league roster late last month for his second stint with the Halos, Lagares has appeared in 20 games this year but managed only a .183/.210/.250 batting line. While he’s always been a defensive-minded outfielder, Lagares’ production at the plate has taken a major downturn over the past several seasons; dating back to the 2019 campaign, he carries a .222/.267/.341 output in 674 trips to the plate.

The Angels will have a week to trade Lagares, pass him through outright waivers or release him. He’d have the ability to reject an outright assignment to Salt Lake if he clears waivers.

Harrison, 26, once rated as one of the best outfield prospects in all of baseball. One of four players traded from Milwaukee to Miami in the lopsided Christian Yelich blockbuster, he made his MLB debut in 2020 but has yet to make much of an impact in the big leagues, where he’s batted .175/.230/.263 in a tiny sample of 62 plate appearances.

Harrison’s prospect sheen began to fade as he faced mounting strikeout concerns in the upper minors. He’s fanned in a whopping 35.1% of his plate appearances at the Triple-A level, including exactly 35% of his 200 trips to the plate this season. Harrison is only hitting .213/.305/.368 in Salt Lake this season, but he’s nevertheless gone 20-for-23 in stolen base attempts and will bring some speed, defense and a right-handed bat to the Angels’ bench. Scouting reports on Harrison, at his peak, praised his plus raw power, but he’s never topped 21 home runs in a single season.

Cubs Designate Jonathan Villar For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Friday that they’ve designated infielder Jonathan Villar for assignment in order to clear a spot on the active and 40-man roster for fellow infielder David Bote, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Villar, 31, signed a one-year, $6MM contract with the Cubs this winter on the heels of a solid showing with the Mets. The versatile switch-hitter produced a .249/.322/.416 batting line in Queens last year (105 wRC+) and carried a .259/.327/.408 overall batting line from 2018-21. However, the 2022 season in Chicago hasn’t gone well at all, as Villar has limped to a career-worst .222/.271/.327 output through his first 166 plate appearances.

Villar’s struggles at the plate stem from a sudden downturn in his ability to do much of anything against fastballs. He entered the 2022 season as a career .251 hitter against fastballs, but he’s seen 231 fastballs this season and posted a disastrous .119/.174/.119 batting line in his 46 plate appearances that have ended with a heater. There’s perhaps some poor luck from a BABIP standpoint (.217), but Villar has also whiffed in 43.5% of those plate appearances and posted a career-worst 18.2% swinging-strike rate against fastballs — so the poor showing can’t be blamed entirely on small samples and batted-ball luck.

The Cubs have used Villar at second base (225 innings), third base (95 innings) and shortstop (17 innings) this season, but defensive metrics are down on him at all three spots. Villar has never rated well as a shortstop, so it’s not a surprise to see sparse usage and poor ratings there. However, he’s generally been a solid enough defender at second base — at least until the 2022 season. In this year’s 225 frames, he’s posted a staggering -7 Defensive Runs Saved mark and received a similarly damning grade from Statcast’s Outs Above Average (-5).

By designating Villar for assignment, the Cubs are effectively eating the roughly $3.4MM of his contract that has yet to be paid out. They’ll remain on the hook for that money unless another team claims Villar off waivers or acquires him in a trade — both of which seem quite unlikely, given the veteran’s struggles at the plate this year. The likeliest outcome is that Villar will be released and become a free agent. At that point, any of the league’s other 29 teams can sign him and owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on their Major League roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Cubs owe Villar.

Bote, 29, returns to the Cubs after missing the entire season to date while recovering from November shoulder surgery. The infielder separated his shoulder during a game last May, and while the injury didn’t immediately require surgery, it clearly hampered Bote at the plate. In 327 plate appearances, Bote posted a career-worst .199/.276/.330 batting line. The surgery originally came with a projected six-month recovery period, but Bote’s return comes closer to eight months out from the date of the procedure.

It’s been a rough couple of seasons for Bote, who back in 2019 signed a surprising five-year extension that came with a $16MM guarantee. It was something of a head-scratching move for the Cubs even at the time, as Bote was a part-time player who’d posted a .239/.319/.408 batting line as a rookie in 2018. The first year of the contract certainly made it look like a sound investment, as Bote slashed at a .257/.362/.422 rate and was an underrated contributor on a Cubs team that was in contention for much of the year. He’s hit just .200/.285/.353 in 472 plate appearances since that time, however, although the shoulder injury certainly offers some explanation for last year’s struggles, at least.

The Cubs owe Bote $2.5MM this season and will pay him salaries of $4MM and $5.5MM in 2023 and 2024. They also hold a pair of options, the first valued at $7MM and the second at $7.6MM.

Astros Activate Jake Meyers From 60-Day IL, Designate Dillon Thomas

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The Astros announced they’ve designated outfielder Dillon Thomas for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Jake Meyers, who is back from the 60-day injured list. Houston optioned Jose Siri to Triple-A Sugar Land to clear active roster space for Meyers.

Thomas, 29, went 0-for-2 with a walk and was a hit-by-pitch in four plate appearances during a very brief stint with the ’Stros. He’s logged just 13 total plate appearances in the Majors, also stepping to the plate nine times as a member of the Mariners a year ago. The 2011 fourth-rounder (Rockies) has split the rest of the 2022 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Angels and Astros, posting a combined .293/.395/.492 batting line — numbers that generally align with his career .277/.382/.462 output in parts of three seasons at that level. Houston will have a week to trade Thomas, pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Meyers’ return should be a boon for the Astros’ lineup. The 26-year-old made his big league debut in 2021 and impressed with a .260/.323/.438 batting line, six home runs and eight doubles in 163 plate appearances. He also turned in well above-average work in the outfield according to each of Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average.

Were it not for a shoulder injury sustained during last year’s ALDS — one that eventually required surgery after a torn labrum was discovered — Meyers could very well have been the Opening Day center fielder. Time will tell whether he’s able to approximate last year’s solid debut effort, but if he can indeed do so, there’s an opening for the former 13th-rounder to solidify himself as a long-term solution for the Astros alongside Kyle Tucker in the outfield.

For the 26-year-old Siri, the 2022 season has been a struggle. After kicking down the door to the Majors with a .318/.369/.552 batting line in Triple-A last year and subsequently hitting .304/.347/.609 in 49 big league plate appearances, Siri went from minor league signee to a viable big league outfield option. Unfortunately, he hasn’t come anywhere close to that production this season, hitting just .185/.248/.315 in 141 turns at the plate. Siri is in his final minor league option year, creating some further urgency for him to turn things around at the plate.

Pirates Designate Jerad Eickhoff For Assignment

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The Pirates announced they’ve selected reliever Austin Brice onto the MLB roster. Righty Jerad Eickhoff has been designated for assignment to open active and 40-man roster space.

Eickhoff, 31, appeared in just one game for the Pirates and was torched for 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Cubs this week. Remarkably, that’s the second consecutive big league appearance in which Eickhoff has been tagged for 10 earned runs; he also yielded 10 runs (in 3 1/3 frames) to the Braves in his final outing of the year with the Mets last season.

Those two outings have combined to help balloon Eickhoff’s career ERA to 4.50 and mark the continuation of a recent decline in Eickhoff’s overall performance. While he was a solid rotation option with the Phillies from 2015-17, pitching to a 3.87 ERA over 376 1/3 innings during that time, Eickhoff has totaled just 87 2/3 Major League innings from 2018-22 and pitched to a collective 7.19 ERA along the way. The Pirates will have a week to trade Eickhoff, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he chooses.

Brice, meanwhile, will join the big league bullpen on the heels of a sharp 3.04 ERA through 26 2/3 innings in Triple-A Indianapolis. He’s posted strong strikeout and ground-ball rates in Indy (27.2% and 50.7%, respectively), but has also issued a walk to 11 of the 114 batters he’s faced (9.6%) and plunked another three. Brice is a veteran of parts of six Major League seasons — the best of which came with the 2019 Marlins (44 2/3 innings, 3.43 ERA). Overall, he carries a lifetime 5.17 ERA in 162 big league innings.

Conner Menez To Sign With NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters

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Left-hander Conner Menez is in agreement with the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the club informed reporters (Japanese-language link from Yahoo! Japan). Menez announced the agreement on Instagram this afternoon.

While Menez had been playing with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa, he’s been granted his release to pursue the overseas opportunity. Salary terms have not been disclosed, but he’ll surely make more with the Hokkaido-based club than he would’ve in Iowa.

Menez made the briefest of appearances with the Cubs this season. Signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, he was selected onto the major league roster in early May. He pitched a scoreless inning during a loss to the Diamondbacks a few days later, then found himself optioned back to Iowa. The Cubs designated him for assignment two weeks back upon selecting Caleb Kilian onto the 40-man roster. Menez cleared waivers and returned to Triple-A, making three more appearances before departing the organization.

The former 14th-round pick had an excellent showing in the upper minors this season. He tallied 21 innings across 11 outings, working to a 2.14 ERA with a quality 28.7% strikeout rate. That work caught the attention of the Fighters’ front office. In announcing the agreement, general manager Atsunori Inaba suggested he would step into a high-leverage relief role.

Menez has appeared in parts of four MLB seasons, spending the 2019-21 campaigns with the Giants before this year’s cup of coffee in Chicago. He’s worked to a decent 3.95 ERA through 43 1/3 innings at the big league level, but his stock took a hit when he struggled in Triple-A last season. Menez’s much better showing in Iowa gets him an opportunity in Japan’s top league. Having just turned 27 years old, he’s certainly young enough to reappear on the MLB radar a year or two down the line if he shows well in NPB.

Yankees, Aaron Judge Avoid Arbitration

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11:54am: Judge and the Yankees have agreed to a $19MM guarantee, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). That’s the exact midpoint between the filing figures, although the deal contains additional possible incentives. Judge would make an additional $250K each were he to win the AL MVP and World Series MVP awards this season.

11:35am: The Yankees and Aaron Judge have agreed to a contract to avoid arbitration, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). They’d been slated to go through a hearing this afternoon, but the last-minute settlement dodges that necessity.

Judge and the Yankees had been set to proceed through the process with the largest gap in filing figures between any player-team pairing this season. Judge’s camp had filed for a $21MM salary, while the Yankees countered at $17MM. MLB’s arbitration system doesn’t permit adjudicators to land on a midpoint; had they gone to a hearing, the arbitrators would’ve had to set Judge’s salary at either $17MM or $21MM. By avoiding the process, the parties can come together at a mutually-agreeable middle ground. That avoids any potential acrimony arising in an adversarial hearing for the face of the franchise.

This was the final season of arbitration-eligibility for Judge, who’s a few months away from his first trip to the open market. He turned down a seven-year, $213.5MM extension offer during Spring Training. Betting on himself looks as if it’ll pay off handsomely, as the slugger will be arguably the top talent available.

Judge topped MLBTR’s initial Power Ranking of the upcoming class a month ago, and he’s mashed at a .288/.369/.606 clip since that point. He enters play Friday owner of a .302/.379/.663 line overall, and his 27 home runs are six clear of anyone else in the game. He’s set to hit free agency in advance of his age-31 campaign and looks to be on track for an eight-plus year deal if he continues performing at an elite level for the season’s final three-plus months.

As most are probably aware by now, Judge’s incredible 2022 production would not have been admissible in his arbitration case. The arb process typically takes place over the offseason, with salaries decided in advance of Opening Day. Last winter’s lockout froze league business for over three months, leaving insufficient time for players, teams and arbitrators themselves to sort out all the cases during Spring Training. Hearings thus lingered into the season, but MLB and the Players Association agreed that all cases had to based on the player’s pre-2022 body of work.

Judge, of course, had a robust career track record even before this season’s MVP-caliber first half. He entered the year a career .276/.386/.554 hitter, collecting a trio of All-Star appearances and two Silver Slugger awards in the process. The Fresno State product hit .287/.373/.544 with 39 homers and 98 runs batted in last season, a platform performance that’d set him up for a lofty raise relative to his $10.175MM salary from 2021.

The resolution of Judge’s case officially closes the books on the 2021-22 arbitration class. 31 players had situations that lingered into the season, although the majority reached in-season agreements or multi-year contract extensions. Of the 13 players who proceeded to hearings this season, four won their case, according to the Associated Press.

Giants Sign Matt Hall To Minor League Deal

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The Giants signed left-hander Matt Hall to a minor league contract last week, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento, where he made his organizational debut on Tuesday.

Hall is looking to pitch his way back to the majors for the first time in two years. A former sixth-round pick of the Tigers, the Missouri State product reached the big leagues late in the 2018 campaign. He made five appearances down the stretch, then tallied 23 1/3 innings through 16 outings the following season. Hall posted a 7.71 ERA in 2019 and was designated for assignment the ensuing offseason.

The Red Sox acquired Hall in a minor trade in January 2020. He spent the entire season on the Boston 40-man roster but only made four big league appearances. Hall was tagged for 18 runs in 8 2/3 innings while bouncing between the active roster and the alternate training site during the abbreviated campaign. Boston took him off the 40-man at the end of the year, and he spent most of last season with their top affiliate in Worcester after passing through outright waivers.

Hall’s struggles continued with the WooSox, where he allowed more than seven earned runs per nine innings pitched over 28 outings. That led to his release last August, but he’ll have an opportunity to get things back on track in the upper minors with San Francisco. Owner of an 11.48 ERA in 40 MLB innings, the 28-year-old has obviously yet to find success at the game’s top level.

He’s also struggled through parts of four Triple-A seasons, but Hall posted quality numbers up through Double-A to catch the attention of a few different organizations. Despite not being a hard thrower, he’s flashed promising raw spin rates on both his fastball and curveball during his past MLB looks. Hall also excelled in 28 innings with the Kansas City Monarchs of the independent American Association this season, working to a minuscule 1.29 ERA with 35 strikeouts and only eight walks to earn his way back to the affiliated ranks.

Giants Acquire Willie Calhoun From Rangers For Steven Duggar

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The Giants and Rangers have agreed to a swap of position players. The Rangers will send Willie Calhoun to the Giants in exchange for outfielder Steven Duggar, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (via Twitter). The Giants will also receive cash considerations from Texas, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).

San Francisco had a decision to make on Duggar, who needed to be added back to the 40-man roster after completing his rehab assignment. Calhoun himself just recently passed through waivers unclaimed.

The plan is for Duggar to join the active roster. The Rangers will designate Spencer Patton for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Duggar, per the team. They will need to make one more move to make room on the active roster for Duggar. Patton, 34, had made seven appearances for the Rangers, posting a 3.86 ERA/5.70 FIP across seven innings.

In Duggar, the Rangers are acquiring a player with more defensive utility than Calhoun, who never really found a defensive home. Duggar can play all three outfield spots. He had been on the injured list since April 21 with a strained oblique, however. He has appeared in each of the past five seasons for the Giants, accruing an overall line of .242/.297/.377 over 805 plate appearances with a too-high 29.4 percent strikeout rate and too-low 7.0 percent walk rate.

With Luis Gonzalez going on the injured list today, the Giants could easily have brought Duggar back to the Major League roster, so it’s interesting that they decided to move on. As a left-handed hitter, Duggar’s skill set doesn’t compliment the Giants’ current cohort of outfielders that includes Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater, and LaMonte Wade Jr., who himself is almost ready to return from the injured list. Only Slater among that group bats right-handed.

Of course, Calhoun bats lefty as well, so he’s less of a fit acquisition and more of a rehabilitation project for the staff in Triple-A. Broadly speaking, the Giants work wonders finding roles for players who have been previously unable to find a defined role on a big-league club. Players like Wilmer Flores, Darin Ruf, and Thairo Estrada are players that have found a home in San Francisco’s system. Calhoun has had his opportunities in the bigs, and while he’s no longer a prospect, the Giants are as promising a landing spot as a young vet like Calhoun can hope to find in this league. For now, the Giants can send him directly to Triple-A without adding him to their 40-man roster.

Roenis Elias Accepts Outright Assignment With Mariners

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Mariners reliever Roenis Elias has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The left-hander had the right to elect free agency but he’ll forego that opportunity and report to the Rainiers in hopes of pitching his way back onto the M’s roster.

Elias has spent the majority of the season in Tacoma, tossing 17 1/3 innings over 14 appearances. He’s allowed only seven runs in that time (3.63 ERA), demonstrating strong control in the process. Elias has walked just 6.8% of batters faced, helping to compensate for a below-average 17.6% strikeout rate.

That generally solid work earned him a pair of looks on the big league roster. The M’s first brought Elias up as a temporary COVID substitute in mid-May, then formally selected him onto the 40-man a couple weeks later. Between the two stints, the 33-year-old worked 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball. He fanned six, walked three and allowed one home run before being designated for assignment this week.

This season’s return marked the culmination of a couple seasons of injury rehab for the veteran hurler. Elias spent all of 2020 on the Nationals’ injured list battling a flexor strain in his forearm. The following spring, he required Tommy John surgery after latching on with the Mariners via minor league deal. That cost him all of last season, but Seattle signed him to a two-year minor league contract to see through the rehab process in hopes of a 2022 comeback. He’s now appeared in parts of seven MLB seasons, compiling a 3.96 ERA in just under 400 innings.

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