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Trayce Thompson

Cubs Select Trayce Thompson

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The Cubs announced they’ve selected outfielder Trayce Thompson to the big league roster. Jason Heyward is landing on the seven-day concussion injured list in a corresponding move. To open space on the 40-man roster, Chicago transferred outfielder Michael Hermosillo from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Thompson is back in the big leagues for the first time in three years. The right-handed hitter broke in with the White Sox in 2015 and saw some MLB time in each of the following three seasons, with his biggest workload coming with the 2016 Dodgers. Thompson hit for a fair amount of power and can cover all three outfield spots, but his overall productivity was limited by swing-and-miss issues. In 589 big league plate appearances, he owns a .206/.276/.389 mark with 22 home runs but an alarming 28% strikeout rate.

He’s split the 2021 season between the Triple-A affiliates of the D-Backs and Cubs, spending most of the campaign with Chicago’s top farm team in Iowa. Thompson has popped 21 round trippers in 358 plate appearances there but continued to punch out quite a bit. He owns a .233/.344/.492 line with a 32.4% strikeout rate with Iowa this season.

Cubs Acquire Trayce Thompson

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The Cubs have acquired outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Diamondbacks for cash considerations, per Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. Thompson is now with Triple-A Iowa.

Thompson began his professional career with another Chicago organization – the White Sox – who chose him in the second round of the 2009 draft. He climbed to the majors in 2015 and wowed over 135 plate appearances with a .295/.363/.533 line and five home runs, though that wasn’t enough for the White Sox to keep him in the fold. In the ensuing offseason, they traded Thompson to the Dodgers in a three-team deal that also involved the Reds and featured some other notable names (including Todd Frazier, Frankie Montas and Scott Schebler).

Now 30 years old, Thompson hasn’t been able to replicate the success he had during his initial MLB action. His time with the Dodgers ran out after two seasons, and he most recently appeared in the majors in 2018 with the Athletics and his first team, the White Sox. In all, Thompson has amassed 589 plate appearances at the game’s highest level and batted .206/.276/.389 with 22 home runs. Thompson has posted fairly similar numbers in Triple-A, where he has hit .229/.288/.417 with 50 long balls in 1,373 PA.

Diamondbacks Sign Jon Jay, Edwin Jackson

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The Diamondbacks have announced minor-league deals with outfielder Jon Jay and righty Edwin Jackson. The club also confirmed previously reported signings of John Hicks and Trayce Thompson.

All four veterans will be in MLB camp with the Snakes. It stands to reason that all will have some shot at earning a big-league job to open the season. The D-Backs will have a 26th roster spot to work with and could go in any number of directions to utilize it.

Jay, 34, is at his best a high-average hitter that can handle any outfield spot defensively. He’s looking for a bounceback after a rough 2019 season. While he swung a solidly above-average bat in his early days in the league, Jay has slashed just .271/.337/.348 since the start of the 2015 season. Jay would earn $1.5MM in the majors, with $1.75MM in possible incentives, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

The 36-year-old Jackson will regrettably not be competing in camp for a chance to extend his MLB record of pitching with 14 different organizations. He spent time with Arizona back in 2010. Jackson had a brutal 9.58 ERA in 67 2/3 big-league frames last year, but was able to spin 92 innings of 3.33 ERA ball in the season prior. The D-Backs won’t expect much, but can hope that Jackson represents rotation depth and perhaps a long relief option.

Diamondbacks Sign Trayce Thompson To Minor-League Deal

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The Diamondbacks signed outfielder Trayce Thompson to a minor-league contract, per a tweet from their Triple-A affiliate in Reno. He will receive an invite to MLB spring training.

Thompson, now 28, compiled 589 MLB plate appearances between 2015-18. He combined for a lackluster .206/.276/.389 line (78 wRC+) over that time. Thompson has shown some power, popping 22 home runs. Unfortunately, a career 28% strikeout rate has proven too much to overcome.

He failed to crack the majors in 2019. He instead spent the entire season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate. It was more of the same for the right-handed hitter, who slashed .219/.294/.482 with 24 homers but an unpalatable 36.1% strikeout rate.

He has MLB experience at all three outfield positions and logged playing time relatively equally across the grass in Columbus last season. If the out-of-options Thompson cracks the Diamondbacks’ roster with a strong spring training, he’d have to remain on the club’s active roster or be exposed to waivers.

Indians Release Neil Ramirez, Trayce Thompson

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Right-hander Neil Ramirez and outfielder Trayce Thompson have been granted their release from the Indians organization, per an announcement from the team’s Triple-A affiliate. Both former big leaguers are free agents and can now sign with another club.

Ramirez, 30, was with the Indians earlier this season but struggled to a 5.40 ERA and allowed five home runs in 16 2/3 innings. Ramirez notched an 18-to-9 K/BB ratio in that time and has a lengthy history of missing bats, but he’s struggled to throw strikes and command the ball within the zone throughout his career. In 171 1/3 innings as a Major Leaguer, he’s logged a 4.41 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 1.63 HR/9 and a 30.1 percent ground-ball rate.

Thompson, the younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, played 51 big league games between the White Sox and the A’s in 2018. The No. 61 overall pick by the White Sox in the 2009 draft, the now-28-year-old Thompson was a fairly well-regarded minor league talent but hasn’t found sustained success. He’s batted .206/.276/.389 in 589 MLB plate appearances and was hitting .219/.294/.482 with 24 homers, 10 doubles, three triples and eight steals in 89 Triple-A games this season. Strikeouts have increasingly become an issue for Thompson, as evidenced by this year’s 36.1 percent rate in Columbus.

Indians Sign Trayce Thompson, James Hoyt To Minors Contracts

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The Indians have signed outfielder Trayce Thompson and right-hander James Hoyt to minor league deals, the team announced (Twitter link).  Both players received invitations to the Tribe’s big league Spring Training camp.  Hoyt, it should be noted, was re-signed after being non-tendered yesterday.

Hoyt did not appear in the majors for Cleveland after being acquired in a July trade with the Astros. He did, however, see significant time pitching out of the Astros’ bullpen in 2016 and 2017. He made 66 appearances in total, earning a 2-1 record with a 4.40 ERA. The 31-year-old right-hander definitely has a better chance of making the big league team in Cleveland, where a complete overhaul of the bullpen is taking shape.

Thompson, 27, struggled mightily with the White Sox last season. Over 130 plate appearances in Chicago, Thompson hit an ugly .116/.163/.215 with three home runs. He also appeared in three games with Oakland. A decent defensive outfielder, Thompson can handle all three outfield positions, but he’ll need to show vast improvement at the plate to have a chance at seeing big league time in Cleveland next year.

White Sox Outright Trayce Thompson

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Outfielder Trayce Thompson has cleared waivers and been sent outright to the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, James Fegan of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Thompson was designated for assignment last week when the team activated Avisail Garcia from the disabled list.

Thompson, 27, entered Spring Training with the Dodgers but has since gone to the Yankees, Athletics and now back to his original organization, the White Sox, in a series of waiver claims and minor trades. This is the first time Thompson has cleared waivers and been outrighted, and as such, he doesn’t have the option to reject the assignment.

It’s been a brutal year at the plate for Thompson, who has slashed just .117/.162/.211 and fanned 50 times in 137 plate appearances. His struggles at the dish date back to last season, and he’s never really enjoyed a prolonged run of success in the big leagues. That said, the former second-round pick did hit .249/.322/.463 with 18 homers through his first 62 MLB games with the ChiSox and Dodgers. He’s also an excellent athlete who can capably handle all three outfield spots. He’ll head to Charlotte and look for a reset of sorts in hopes of getting back on track and returning to the Majors later this season.

White Sox Activate Avisail Garcia, Designate Trayce Thompson

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve activated both Avisail Garcia and Leury Garcia from the disabled list. In order to clear roster space, infielder Jose Rondon has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte, while outfielder Trayce Thompson has been designated for assignment.

Chicago has been without Avisail Garcia since April 23 thanks to a hamstring strain that proved severe enough to sideline him for almost two months. The slightly younger of the two Garcias activated today (he turned 27 last week shortly before embarking on a minor league rehab assignment), Avisail was off to a slow start prior to his injury, hitting .233/.250/.315 with no walks and 17 strikeouts in 76 plate appearances.

Of course, he’s also fresh off a breakout 2017 season in which he raked at a .330/.380/.506 clip, hitting 18 homers, 27 doubles and five triples along the way. A .380 BABIP undoubtedly contributed to that breakout to an extent, but Garcia’s career-best hard-contact rates and a .359 xwOBA lent some legitimacy to the breakout, even if he’s likely to regress a bit from last year’s pace.

As for Leury Garcia, he’ll return nearly a month due to a sprained left knee. The South Side Swiss army knife has seen action at every position aside from catcher since debuting in 2013 (including two innings of relief pitching), though he’s settled in primarily as an outfielder over the past couple of seasons. He was hitting .262/.308/.369 with a pair of homers and nine steals at the time of his injury. The return of both Garcias should will cut into playing time for each of Daniel Palka, Charlie Tilson and Adam Engel. Matt Davidson, too, could see fewer at-bats for the time being now that there’s a more crowded mix at DH.

Thompson, meanwhile, is being designated for assignment for the fourth time since Spring Training. After being designated by the Dodgers, he made his way from the Yankees to the A’s to the White Sox — the club that originally selected him in the second round of the 2009 draft. Unfortunately for Thompson, his return to the ChiSox didn’t prove to be productive. In 130 trips to the plate back with his original team, Thompson limped to a .116/.153/.215 batting line. He did provide some heroics in his return tour, launching a walk-off homer against the Twins back in early May, but his overall lack of production proved too great to hang onto his roster spot.

The Sox will have a week to trade Thompson or run him throughout outright waivers. He’s yet to clear waivers at any point in his career, though this current lackluster showing could allow the Sox to pass him through unclaimed and outright him back to Charlotte.

White Sox Acquire Trayce Thompson

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The White Sox have announced the acquisition of outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Athletics. Cash or a player to be named later will head in return.

This move explains the team’s other just-announced transaction, as Thompson will require a 40-man spot. It’s the third time Thompson has changed uniforms since the start of April. He entered the month in DFA limbo after being dropped from the Dodgers’ 40-man and then moved to the Yankees and on to the A’s.

The result is that the 27-year-old will land back where things began for him back in 2009, when the Sox chose him in the second round of the amateur draft. He first reached the majors with the Chicago organization back in 2015 and since then has compiled a cumulative .232/.307/.440 batting line in 459 total plate appearances.

Athletics Designate Trayce Thompson For Assignment

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The Athletics have designated outfielder Trayce Thompson for assignment, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to tweet. His roster spot was needed with starter Trevor Cahill and reliever Lou Trivino coming to the majors.

Thompson has already bounced from the Dodgers to the Yankees and then on to the A’s via the waiver wire, so it’s possible he will again be on the move. If is not traded and clears waivers, Oakland will presumably look to stash him at Triple-A.

The 27-year-old outfielder only got into three games in his short time with the Athletics, striking out four times in his seven plate appearances. Thompson also struggled at the plate last year with the Dodgers and their top affiliate. He spent most of the year at Triple-A, where he slashed .212/.269/.363 with nine home runs in his 369 plate appearances.

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