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Giants Designate Kevin Padlo For Assignment

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The Giants announced tonight that infielder Kevin Padlo has been designated for assignment. The move clears a spot on the team’s 40-man roster for catcher Austin Wynns, who was acquired earlier today from the Phillies.

The 25-year-old Padlo was scooped from the Mariners organization in April for cash and has spent the majority of the season between Seattle and San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliates. To his credit, the former fifth-rounder has continued to excel at the highest levels of the minor leagues. Through 22 games in Triple-A Sacramento, Padlo is hitting an excellent .275/.333/.600 with seven home runs and is a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.

San Francisco’s depth-hoarding ways have made it difficult to find room for Padlo on the team’s big league roster, however. In sporadic action with the club last month he received just 12 at-bats, collecting two base hits before being shuttled back to the minors.

Padlo is now eligible to be claimed by any team in the league seeking right-handed infield depth in the upper minors or on their bench. That outcome isn’t inevitable, but seems likely given his recent hot streak at Triple-A.  The versatile infielder is in his last option year, so any team that is awarded a claim will have to keep Padlo on their 40-man roster or risk exposing him to waivers.

Angels Select Dillon Thomas, Designate Ty Buttrey

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The Angels have selected outfielder Dillon Thomas onto the major league roster, according to a club announcement. They’ve also recalled Jack Mayfield from Triple-A Salt Lake, optioned José Suarez and placed Luis Rengifo on the paternity list. Reliever Ty Buttrey has been designated for assignment to open space for Thomas on the 40-man roster.

Thomas inked a minor league contract with the Halos over the offseason. The 29-year-old has spent the year in Salt Lake and performed quite well, hitting .295/.398/.489 with eight home runs in 211 plate appearances. Thomas has drawn walks in a strong 10.9% of his trips while striking out at a roughly league average level (23.7%). It’s his second consecutive solid year of Triple-A work, as he posted a .269/.377/.448 line with the Mariners top affiliate in 2021.

Seattle gave Thomas a brief look at the MLB level last summer, getting him into four games. The Houston native will hope for a longer stay on the roster this time around, although he does have a pair of minor league option years remaining and can be moved between Anaheim and Salt Lake.

Thomas, who has some experience in center field but has spent most of his minor league career in the corners, adds some depth while the team plays things cautiously with Mike Trout. The three-time MVP left last night’s game early with left groin tightness. It doesn’t seem to be a concern, as team trainer Mike Frostad told reporters (including Sam Blum of the Athletic) that Trout is day-to-day. Juan Lagares will get the start in center field tonight, however.

Buttrey, meanwhile, loses his 40-man roster spot after struggling in Triple-A. He’s tossed 12 1/3 innings of nine-run ball, striking out only five batters while issuing a trio of walks. Buttrey has induced grounders on almost 60% of batted balls, but he wasn’t missing enough bats to be on the radar for an MLB call. The 29-year-old frankly acknowledged after his DFA (Twitter link) that he “(has) work to do to get myself back to peak form. … The best players will play and I’m not one of them yet. We will see what happens over the next few days, if not I’ll be back in Angel Stadium when the time is right.”

It’s not especially surprising that Buttrey hasn’t been at top form to this point, as he’s making his way back after sitting out the 2021 campaign. The right-hander stepped away from the game last April, saying at the time he’d begun to lose his passion and love for the sport. After a year away, Buttrey embarked on a comeback in January, and he’s occupied a spot on the 40-man roster since April.

The Angels will now have a week to trade Buttrey or try to run him through outright waivers. He struggled to a 5.81 ERA over 26 1/3 big league frames during the shortened 2020 season, but he’d posted a 3.98 mark with a quality 27.2% strikeout rate in 2019.

Dansby Swanson Wins Arbitration Case; Braves Win Case Over Adam Duvall

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Two of the Braves’ remaining arbitration situations have been resolved. As first reported by the Associated Press, Dansby Swanson has won his case and will receive a $10MM salary. Adam Duvall, meanwhile, will make $9.275MM after losing his case. Both players will reach free agency after this season, as this was the final trip through the arb process for each.

Swanson and the Braves had an $800K dispute, with the team filing at $9.2MM. That came on the heels of a .248/.311/.449 showing last year, in which the shortstop started 158 regular season games. Swanson hit 27 home runs and drove in 88 runners, and he’ll be rewarded with a $4MM pay bump over that season’s $6MM salary in spite of the pedestrian batting average and on-base marks.

Duvall, meanwhile, blasted a career-high 38 homers in 146 games split between the Marlins and Braves. He only hit .228 with a meager .281 OBP, but the 33-year-old tied for fourth in Major League Baseball with 113 runs batted in. Duvall also claimed his first career Gold Glove Award for his work in right field, leading him to forego his end of a $7MM mutual option for the 2022 campaign. That was an easy call, as the Braves tendered him an arbitration contract, and he’ll make a fair bit more money than the option price even after losing at his hearing. Duvall’s camp had been seeking a $10.125MM salary, so he’ll land $1MM shy of his goal.

Of course, the differences in the 2022 campaigns for Swanson and Duvall are striking. The former is hitting at arguably a career-best level, carrying a .279/.348/.428 slash line and positioning himself well for a lucrative multi-year contract next winter. Duvall, on the other hand, has stumbled to a personal-worst .199/.260/.309 and has hit just three homers through 54 games.

The players’ respective performances this year are not supposed to play any role in the arbitrators’ decisions. The hearings are typically conducted over the offseason, but the lockout caused unsettled cases to linger into the season. Nevertheless, the cases presented are to be determined based on the players’ pre-2022 track records, their platform salaries and the performance of previous players in their respective service buckets.

Swanson and Duvall were two of five Atlanta players not to come to terms with the team before going to a hearing. The Braves won cases over both third baseman Austin Riley and reliever Luke Jackson earlier this year. Starter Max Fried still has a pending hearing, with a modest gap between the sides’ respective $6.85MM and $6.6MM filings.

Twins Reinstate Carlos Correa, Select Jharel Cotton

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The Twins announced they’ve reinstated Carlos Correa from the injured list, a bit more than a week after the star shortstop tested positive for COVID-19. Jermaine Palacios, who was selected to the majors as a designated “substitute” once Correa went on the IL, has been returned to Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding move. Minnesota also selected reliever Jharel Cotton back to the big league club, filling the spot vacated when they designated Juan Minaya for assignment last night.

Correa is back in the lineup tonight against the Yankees, although manager Rocco Baldelli will ease him in with a start at designated hitter. Minnesota’s marquee offseason pickup has overcome a slow start to carry a quality .279/.344/.407 season line into play tonight. He’s only hit three home runs, but the 27-year-old has collected nine doubles and a batting average and on-base percentage well better than the respective .240 and .311 league marks.

The virus absence was the second of the season for Correa, who also landed on the shelf with a bruised finger. That proved a brief stay, one that was welcome after initial x-rays suggested he’d potentially suffered a fracture. Correa has only appeared in 35 of the Twins’ 57 games as a result, but the club has nevertheless built a four-game lead in the American League Central. They’ll hope the two-time All-Star — who can opt out of the final two years and $70.2MM on his deal next offseason — remains in the lineup for good through the summer months.

Palacios picked up eight starts at shortstop in Correa’s absence, struggling in his first look at big league pitching. He heads back to St. Paul, where he’s posted a .262/.325/.376 line through 163 trips to the plate. Palacios will no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster, and the Twins weren’t required to run him through waivers because he’d been specifically brought to the big leagues as a virus substitute. He’ll look to earn a more lasting promotion with the Saints.

Cotton followed that path, getting called up just two days after being returned to the minors. The right-hander was selected as a substitute for the players who went on the restricted list for the team’s weekend series in Toronto, but he was taken back off the roster when that group was reinstated on Monday.

This time around, Cotton is earning a more typical promotion to the majors. He’s now longer a substitute, so Minnesota would have to designate him for assignment and try to run him through waivers were they to again look to remove him from the 40-man roster. They’ve already done so once this year, as Cotton was outrighted off the roster last month but accepted an assignment to Triple-A and has worked his way back.

The 30-year-old has appeared in six games for the MLB club this year, tossing 9 2/3 innings of two-run ball with ten strikeouts but six walks. Cotton has had a strong showing in ten outings with St. Paul, allowing four runs in 11 2/3 frames while punching out a third of the batters he’s faced. He rejoins the big league bullpen as a result, taking the place of the struggling Minaya. Cotton is out of minor league option years, so he has to stick on the MLB roster or again be exposed to waivers now that he’s reclaimed a 40-man spot.

White Sox Claim Parker Markel From A’s

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The White Sox announced they’ve claimed reliever Parker Markel off waivers from the Athletics and optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago already had a 40-man roster vacancy, so no additional move was necessary.

Oakland designated Markel for assignment this week, ending his tenure in the organization after just three big league appearances. The 31-year-old walked five batters in only three innings during that time, a continuation of some longstanding control issues. He walked an elevated 12.7% of batters faced across 19 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas prior to his call-up, and he struggled to throw strikes during his only previous MLB action back in 2019.

That said, Markel has also flashed promising swing-and-miss stuff. He’s punched out an excellent 35.4% of opponents in Triple-A this season, and he fanned batters at a nearly identical rate last year in Triple-A with the Padres. Markel averaged 95 MPH with above-average raw spin on his fastball during his brief big league look in Oakland, and his low-80s slider has promising two-plane movement.

The fastball-slider pairing has flummoxed many hitters in the upper minors, and the Sox will take a low-risk shot to add some bullpen depth. Markel still has a pair of option years remaining, so the White Sox can shuttle him between Chicago and Charlotte for each of the next two seasons if he retains his spot on the 40-man roster.

Giants Option Joey Bart To Triple-A, Acquire Austin Wynns From Phillies

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12:30pm: Wynns is indeed being selected to the 40-man roster, MLBTR has learned.

11:40am: The Giants announced Wednesday that they’ve optioned catcher Joey Bart to Triple-A Sacramento. They’ve also acquired catcher Austin Wynns from the Phillies organization in exchange for lefty Michael Plassmeyer and cash, according to announcements from both teams.

Wynns wasn’t on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, and the Giants have yet to indicate that he’ll be selected to their own 40-man. Curt Casali is now the only catcher on San Francisco’s big league roster, so they’ll either need to make a move to formally select Wynns’ contract or else call up another catcher from their minor league system. Michael Papierski is the only other catcher on the Giants’ 40-man roster.

The decision to option Bart comes on the heels of some prolonged offensive struggles for the former No. 2 overall draft pick. The now-25-year-old Bart had a fast start to the season, going 6-for-18 with a pair of homers and four walks through his first six games, but he’s fallen into a dreadful slump. Over his past 30 games (24 of them starts), Bart is hitting just .111/.256/.194 with a staggering 45.3% strikeout rate.

Given the magnitude of those struggles, it’s not a huge surprise to see Bart sent down. The Giants will hope that a return trip to Sacramento can prove to be the catalyst for a turnaround. Bart has long ranked not only as one of the Giants’ best prospects but as one of the very best prospects in all of baseball, and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has been quick to voice confidence in Bart’s long-term outlook. Zaidi tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) that the Giants “still think Joey is an everyday catcher” but felt it prudent to give him “a little bit of a reset” following such a difficult stretch at the plate.

Bart entered the season with 112 days of Major League service time, meaning he needed another 60 days on the active roster or big league injured list to reach one full year of service and remain on his same arbitration (post-2024) and free agency (post-2027). He’s already accrued 62 days, so even if he were to stick in the minors for the remainder of the season, he’s still logged enough time to cross into that one-plus service bracket.

As for the 31-year-old Wynns, he’ll give the Giants an experienced backup option. Wynns, the Orioles’ 10th-round pick back in 2013, spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the O’s, batting a combined .216/.255/.326 in 331 plate appearances. He’s thrown out 32% of attempted base thieves in his big league career, and while his pitch-framing marks are below average, he’s been solid in terms of blocking balls in the dirt, per Baseball Prospectus.

Wynns inked a minor league contract with the Phillies over the winter and opened the season with their Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley. Despite his lackluster big league numbers and a pedestrian Triple-A track record, he’s been one of the best hitters in the Triple-A International League so far, hitting at a ridiculous .365/.504/.500 clip. Wynns has hit three homers, five doubles and drawn a walk in just under 21% of his 134 plate appearances thus far. It’s not a huge sample of playing time, but it’s hard not to be impressed by any player reaching base at greater than a 50% clip in a span of 33 games.

Wynns obviously can’t be expected to sustain that pace, but there’s little else he can do to earn himself a big league promotion. That probably wasn’t going to happen in Philadelphia, where J.T. Realmuto is entrenched as the main catcher, but Wynns has a more clear path to playing time with the Giants, even if Casali is likely to function as the starter moving forward.

In exchange for Wynns, the Phillies will pick up the 25-year-old Plassmeyer — a 2018 fourth-rounder (Mariners) who went to the Rays as part of the Mike Zunino trade and has since gone to the Giants in return for righty Matt Wisler. Plassmeyer opened the 2022 season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and has been hit hard, logging a 7.38 ERA in through 46 1/3 innings. He’s been extremely homer-prone this year in that hitter-friendly setting (2.91 HR/9) and has quite uncharacteristically walked 11.3% of his opponents.

Prior to the 2022 season, Plassmeyer looked the part of an upper-minors strike thrower who could be on the cusp of a look in the big leagues. Kevin Goldstein and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs listed him near the back of their Top 39 prospects in the Giants’ system this winter, noting that the 6’2″ southpaw has an average changeup and breaking ball to go along with outstanding command. The lack of a true plus offering and a pedestrian 89-91 mph fastball give Plassmeyer a back-of-the-rotation outlook, but if the Phils can get his once-plus command back on track, he could be a depth option in the near future.

Padres Sign Kyle Martin To Minor League Deal

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The Padres have signed first baseman Kyle Martin to a minor league contract, as first announced by Martin’s now-former team, los Guerreros de Oaxaca of the Mexican League (Twitter link). Martin, a client of True Gravity Sports, will head to their Triple-A affiliate in El Paso.

A fourth-round pick of the Phillies back in 2015, Martin was cut loose by the Phils following the 2018 season and spent the 2019-21 seasons with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent American Association. He’s since gone on a tear in Mexico, first hitting .261/.387/.572 with 17 home runs in winter ball before now posting a gaudy .364/.480/.884 batting line during the regular season. The left-handed-hitting 29-year-old has belted 18 home runs and nine doubles in just 152 plate appearances with los Guerreros, all while walking at a 17.1% clip against a 21.7% strikeout rate. The Mexican League is an extremely hitter-friendly setting, but Martin nevertheless leads the league in homers, slugging percentage and OPS.

Martin has played first base exclusively in Mexico, but he does have limited corner outfield experience, mostly coming with the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate back in 2018. Baseball America listed Martin 30th among Phillies prospects in 2016, touting his plus raw power as his most appealing tool. He hit .226/.303/.401 in parts of four seasons in the Phillies organization but didn’t advance beyond the Double-A level.

Lack of upper-minors experience notwithstanding, Martin has crushed Mexican League pitching and found similar success during his three years with Winnipeg (.284/.370/.561, 61 homers in 1032 plate appearances). It’s an intriguing power profile for the Padres to add the upper levels of their system, and one would imagine that if Martin is able to continue at anywhere near this pace in his return to affiliated ball, he’ll put himself on the radar for a potential Major League debut with San Diego.

First baseman Eric Hosmer has turned in some of his best work since signing with the Padres so far in 2022 (.289/.349/.406), but his bat has been fading after a blistering first month of the season. Luke Voit, meanwhile, hasn’t produced as hoped as the primary designated hitter to this point (.227/.325/.371). Wil Myers has struggled mightily as the team’s primary right fielder and recently landed on the injured list, and the Padres haven’t received much production from bench bats like Matt Beaty (also on the injured list) and Jose Azocar (though Azocar has at least been roughly league-average in 77 plate appearances). Former Rangers prospect Nomar Mazara is now getting a look in right field after a big start in Triple-A. There’s enough uncertainty in the Padres’ first base/corner outfield/designated hitter mix that it’s not a surprise to see them take a no-risk look at the top slugger in Mexico.

Twins Designate Juan Minaya For Assignment

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The Twins designated right-hander Juan Minaya for assignment following last night’s game against the Yankees, tweets Dan Hayes of The Athletic. They’ll bring up a fresh arm for the bullpen today.

Minaya, 31, has spent the 2021-22 seasons with Minnesota. This marks his second DFA with the Twins, who also non-tendered him over the winter but ultimately re-signed him to a minor league deal. He accepted an outright assignment with the Twins a year ago to the date after clearing waivers, and the Twins will have a week to either trade him or attempt to pass him through waivers once more. As was the case last year, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Minaya returned from his first DFA and outright in 2021 to solidify a spot in the Minnesota bullpen over the final few months. In 40 innings last year, the right-hander pitched to an excellent 2.48 ERA with an above-average 25.7% strikeout rate and a very strong 53% ground-ball rate. Those numbers were somewhat offset by an ugly 12% walk rate, but Minaya looked the part of a solid enough middle reliever.

The Twins still moved on via non-tender, or at least it seemed that way at the time. However, despite last year’s strong showing, Minaya didn’t find a big league offer following the lockout and returned to the Twins on another minor league pact. The Twins selected him to the big league roster late last month despite a rocky showing in Triple-A St. Paul (6.06 ERA, 16 strikeouts, eight walks in 16 1/3 innings), and those struggles have continued in the big leagues. He’s yielded six runs on six hits and five walks with seven strikeouts through 6 1/3 frames — and done so while averaging 94 mph on a fastball that sat at 95.3 mph in 2021.

Minaya is out of minor league options, so any team interested in picking him up would need to carry him on its big league roster.  In parts of six MLB seasons (four with the White Sox and two with the Twins), he’s totaled 174 2/3 innings and pitched to a 3.76 ERA with a 25.1% strikeout rate, an 11.9% walk rate and a 39.1% ground-ball rate.

Injury Notes: Strasburg, Adrianza, Cobb, Mills

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The Nationals will welcome back Stephen Strasburg for his season debut on Thursday, manager Dave Martinez told reporters (including Jessica Camerato of MLB.com). The three-time All-Star is back after making a trio of minor league rehab starts, and Thursday’s outing will be his first MLB appearance in a bit more than a calendar year. Strasburg last took a big league mound at Atlanta’s Truist Park on June 1, 2021, an appearance he left with neck irritation. A little less than two months later, he underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, and he missed the first couple months of this season continuing his rehab from that procedure.

The 2019 World Series MVP has made just seven MLB starts since signing a seven-year, $245MM contract the offseason after the Nationals’ World Series title. Strasburg is making $35MM annually through 2026, an investment that looks regrettable in light of his recent health woes. The Nats are desperate for rotation help, though, and they’d welcome anything close to Strasburg’s pre-2020 form. Each of Patrick Corbin, Joan Adon, Josiah Gray and Erick Fedde has an ERA of 4.71 or higher thus far.

Strasburg makes his season debut a couple days after infielder Ehire Adrianza, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list before today’s game. The Nats already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, and Lucius Fox was optioned out in a corresponding move. Adrianza signed a $1.5MM deal over the winter but suffered a Spring Training quad strain that cost him the first couple months of the season. The switch-hitting utiltiyman had a .247/.327/.401 showing as a part-time player for the Braves last year.

The latest on some other injury situations around the game:

  • The Giants placed starter Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 4, with a neck strain. San Francisco recalled Sam Long to take the veteran righty’s spot on the active roster. It doesn’t seem the organization’s particularly concerned about Cobb’s status, as manager Gabe Kapler told reporters the team is hopeful he can return when first eligible for next weekend’s series in Pittsburgh (via Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic). Signed to a two-year, $20MM guarantee over the offseason, Cobb has had a strange first season in the Bay Area. He owns career-best marks in both strikeout percentage (28.7%) and ground-ball rate (65.4%), but he’s nevertheless posted a 5.73 ERA through his first eight starts.
  • Alec Mills made his season debut this evening, as the Cubs reinstated him from the 60-day injured list before tonight’s matchup against the Orioles. Chicago had a temporary extra 40-man roster spot after placing reliever Chris Martin on the restricted list over the weekend. Martin has been on bereavement leave for more than the allotted seven days, and he won’t count against the 40-man roster for any additional time he needs to spend away from the team. Mills tossed 119 innings for the Cubs last season, working to a 5.07 ERA while starting 20 of his 32 appearances. The 30-year-old doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, but he fills up the strike zone and induced grounders on a bit more than half of batted balls last year. He missed the first two months of the season with a lower back strain.

Outrighted: Menez, Hall, Blanco

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We’ll track some recent DFAs who’ve cleared waivers here (and update with any others throughout the day)…

Latest updates

  • Royals outfielder Dairon Blanco cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A Omaha. It’s the first career outright for the 29-year-old, so he doesn’t have the right to refuse the assignment. Blanco appeared in five games with the big league club after being selected to the majors last month, when Kansas City lost starting center fielder Michael A. Taylor to the COVID-19 injured list. Taylor returned last Friday and the Royals designated Blanco for assignment. He’ll return to the Storm Chasers, with whom he has a .263/.381/.442 line through 31 games this year, and try to play his way back to the majors.

Earlier news

  • Lefty Conner Menez went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Iowa, according to the Cubs. The 27-year-old southpaw pitched just one inning upon being called to the Majors last month but has a solid track record in parts of three seasons with the Giants. A former 14th-round pick, Menez sports a 3.95 ERA and 24.9% strikeout rate in the big leagues, though he’s also walked nearly 11% of his opponents and has been quite homer-prone (1.66 HR/9). In parts of four Triple-A seasons, he carries a 4.96 ERA and has walked 12% of his opponents, both of which surely contributed to him clearing waivers. Menez has yet to allow a homer in 17 1/3 Triple-A frames this year, however, while pitching to a 2.08 ERA with a 28.3% strikeout rate. If he continues producing anywhere near that level, he could find himself with another big league opportunity in Chicago.
  • Brewers catcher Alex Hall cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to the team’s Class-A Advanced affiliate, as indicated on their transactions log at MLB.com. The 22-year-old Hall signed out of Australia as an amateur back in 2017 and has spent the bulk of his Brewers tenure in the lower levels of the team’s system. Hall was selected to the big leagues in emergency fashion when catcher Omar Narvaez was scratched from the Brewers’ lineup following a positive Covid-19 test. Backup Victor Caratini got the start that day, but the Brewers didn’t have time to summon Alex Jackson or another catcher from their Triple-A club in Nashville. The proximity of their High-A club — located in Appleton, Wisc. — wound up getting Hall his first few days of big league service time. He’ll head back to that level, where he has a .275/.333/.451 slash in 15 games, and continue working toward a more permanent addition to the 40-man roster.
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