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Archives for October 2016

Brewers Outright Garin Cecchini, Jake Elmore, Andy Wilkins, Sean Nolin

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The Brewers have outrighted four players, per a club announcement, leaving the team’s 40-man roster with three openings. Milwaukee has dropped infielders Garin Cecchini and Jake Elmore, infielder/outfielder Andy Wilkins, and lefty Sean Nolin from the major league slate.

None of the moves are particularly surprising. Milwaukee is preparing for another winter in which the club figures not only to protect some of its own Rule 5 draft-eligible players, but also to seek undervalued assets that don’t stick with other organizations. The club lost outfielder Rymer Liriano via waivers earlier today as well.

Of course, some of the players now leaving the 40-man were brought in with hopes they’d thrive in a new environment. That is most apparent, perhaps, in the case of Cecchini, who was once a fairly highly regarded Red Sox prospect. He never earned a major league shot in Milwaukee after hitting .271/.325/.380 over 469 plate appearances at Triple-A, with 13 stolen bases and five home runs.

The 29-year-old Elmore is no stranger to this process. He has appeared in the majors in each of the last five years, every time with a different team. All said, he has produced a miserly .215/.297/.280 batting line in 478 trips to the plate, but continues to be seen around the league as a useful depth piece given his defensive versatility.

Wilkins, 28, has also bounced around a fair bit of late. He’s still looking for his first real shot at major league playing time, but hasn’t impressed at the Triple-A level since a strong 2014 campaign with the White Sox’ top affiliate. In 2016, he posted a .235/.321/.419 batting line with a dozen home runs in 374 plate appearances in the highest level of the minors.

As for Nolin, health problems have derailed his career. He had been acquired by the A’s as part of the deal that sent Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays, but Oakland gave up on him after one year and he was claimed by Milwaukee. The 26-year-old never ended up pitching competitively for the Brewers; after trying to stave off Tommy John surgery, he wound up going under the knife late in the summer. Nolin will likely miss most or all of the ensuing campaign.

Athletics Re-Sign Andrew Lambo

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The Athletics have struck a minor league deal with first baseman/outfielder Andrew Lambo to bring him back in 2016, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports on Twitter. Lambo, 28, had elected free agency after being outrighted earlier this month.

It’s certainly great news to see Lambo sign on for another season. His 2016 campaign was cut short when he was forced to undergo surgery to treat testicular cancer. While there was never any particular reason to doubt he could recover and make it back to playing baseball, it is nevertheless a relief to see that he seems set to do just that. Indeed, Lambo has been deemed “fully recovered,” per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).

Ultimately, Lambo made only a single plate appearance at the major league level last year and has just 100 total in his career. He also didn’t perform well last year at Triple-A, slashing just .255/.321/.384 over 240 plate appearances. But Lambo posted big power numbers in the upper minors in 2013, then improved his plate discipline while maintaining the pop in 2014 before losing much of 2015 to injury.

In the aggregate, there’s reason for the A’s to hope that Lambo regains his former trajectory and provides the organization with a big league option at some point in 2017. Oakland could conceivably award him some opportunities in the corner outfield, at first base, or in a DH capacity, though he’ll surely have to earn a roster spot in camp or through his play early in the year at Triple-A.

White Sox Claim Rymer Liriano From Brewers

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The White Sox announced today that they’ve claimed outfielder Rymer Liriano off waivers from the Brewers. The addition of Liriano gives Chicago a full 40-man roster.

Liriano, 25, was long rated as one of the top prospects in the Padres’ farm system but was traded to Milwaukee last offseason. Liriano seemed to have a decent chance at getting a look with the rebuilding Brewers, but he was struck in the face by a pitch in Spring Training and didn’t recover in time to even play a game in the minors this year. His most recent work in Triple-A was impressive, though, as he batted .292/.383/.460 with 14 homers and 18 steals in 131 games back in 2015. In total, he’s a .311/.399/.483 hitter in parts of two seasons at Triple-A.

Liriano did get a brief trial run with the 2014 Padres, but he managed just a .555 OPS in 121 plate appearances and looked overmatched as a 23-year-old, striking out in nearly a third of his plate appearances. Strikeouts haven’t been a major problem for him throughout his minor league career, though, and he’ll give the ChiSox a somewhat intriguing option in the outfield this season if he’s ultimately able to rebound from last spring’s frightening injury.

Reds Outright Caleb Cotham, Yorman Rodriguez, Hernan Iribarren

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The Reds announced today that right-hander Caleb Cotham, outfielder Yorman Rodriguez and infielder Hernan Iribarren have all been outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Of the three, Cotham, 29 next week, played the most notable role in 2016. The reliever was one of four players that Cincinnati acquired from the Yankees in exchange for Aroldis Chapman, but he was unable to provide much in the way of value prior to his removal from the roster. In 24 1/3 innings, Cotham yielded 20 earned runs on 32 hits and 12 walks with 21 strikeouts, resulting in a 7.40 earned run average. All of that work came in the first two months of the season, as some inflammation in his right shoulder landed Cotham on the 15-day disabled list, and he suffered a knee injury in the minors that ultimately ended his season.

Rodriguez, 24, has been one of the Reds’ top 20 prospects in each of the past eight offseasons, per Baseball America, but a hamstring injury cost him nearly all of the 2016 season. Rodriguez appeared in just 11 games, all coming at the Double-A level, and batted .346/.370/.385. He batted .269/.308/.429 in 85 Triple-A games last season and missed significant time with a calf injury. Baseball America’s report on him from last winter noted that he’s an above-average runner with a plus arm in right field but fringe-average power and a hit tool that’s average, at best. Rodriguez was a high-profile signing for Cincinnati back in 2008 when he received a $2.5MM bonus as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela, but he was never able to deliver on that investment.

Iribarren, 32, improbably returned to the Major Leagues after a six-year absence and hit well for the Reds in a limited role. The veteran utilityman slashed .311/.311/.444 with three triples in 45 plate appearances, while spending time in center field and right field as well as at second base. Iribarren has just 74 plate appearances in the Majors but has played parts of a dozen seasons in the minors and batted .300/.359/.393 while appearing at every position on the diamond except catcher. Iribarren has even thrown 11 2/3 innings with the Reds’ Triple-A team from 2014-16, somewhat remarkably yielding only one run on four hits and two walks. However, he’s also only struck out a pair of batters and hit three men as well.

Angels Claim Abel De Los Santos, Designate Brett Oberholtzer

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The Angels announced today that they’ve claimed right-hander Abel De Los Santos off outright waivers from the Reds and designated left-hander Brett Oberholtzer for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Cincinnati originally claimed the 23-year-old De Los Santos from the Nationals this past July, and the right-hander tossed 5 2/3 innings for the Reds in the final month of the season. That marked the second season which De Los Santos received a brief cup of coffee in the Majors, as he also pitched 1 2/3 innings with the Nationals in 2015. While De Los Santos has solid numbers at the minor league level, he’s been roughed up for eight runs on nine hits and five walks in his 7 1/3 big league innings. De Los Santos tossed 20 1/3 innings in Triple-A this season and logged a 3.54 ERA with a 26-to-13 K/BB ratio, and he has a lifetime 3.03 ERA in Double-A as well. He’ll give the Halos a depth option in a bullpen that faces some uncertainty heading into 2017.

As for Oberholtzer, his removal from the 40-man roster subtracts a rotation option for the Angels. The 27-year-old struggled mightily in 2016, though, pitching to a career-worst 5.89 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 42.3 percent ground-ball rate in 70 innings between the Philies and Angels. The former Astros southpaw found himself traded to the Phillies last winter as part of the Ken Giles blockbuster, but wound up with the Angels following a waiver claim. Ultimately, his tenure in both Philadelphia and Anaheim proved to be brief.

In 324 innings as a Major Leaguer, Oberholtzer has a 4.36 ERA to go along with 6.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 39.3 percent ground-ball rate. If he clears waives, he can look for a new organization on the free agent market this winter.

Lucas Harrell, Shawn Tolleson Elect Free Agency

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Rangers right-handers Lucas Harrell and Shawn Tolleson have rejected outright assignments and been granted free agency, per a pair of announcements from the team. Both right-handers finished out the year on the 60-day disabled list and were outrighted earlier this week.

The drop-off for Tolleson is somewhat startling. Entering the season, the 28-year-old had established himself as the Rangers’ closer after turning in a terrific 2014 season in a setup role and stepping into the ninth inning in a similarly excellent 2015 season. From 2014-15, Tolleson tossed 144 innings and logged 35 saves, averaging 9.1 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 with a 41.4 percent ground-ball rate. The 2016 season, however, yielded dreadful results, as he limped to a 7.68 ERA with a dramatically diminished 7.2 K/9 in just 36 1/3 innings. Tolleson was at one point optioned to the minors, and his season came to a close on Aug. 23 when a back injury landed him on the 60-day disabled list.

Tolleson’s bottom-line results were awful, but there’s also reason to express optimism. He maintained his velocity, averaging 93 mph on his heater, and his control (2.5 BB/9) was once again solid. Furthermore, he recorded a career-best 52 percent ground-ball rate. The primary reasons for Tolleson’s downfall were a .372 BABIP and, more alarmingly, a 24.2% homer-to-flyball rate that resulted in an average two home runs per nine innings pitched. While those numbers aren’t appealing, a HR/FB rate at that level is almost certain to regress in future seasons. And Tolleson will pitch all of next season at the age of 29, so there’s little reason to assume that his sudden and rapid decline was related to his age. A team that signs Tolleson would be able to control him for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons, as he’s still arbitration eligible.

Harrell, meanwhile, joined the Rangers in a fairly curious summer trade with the Braves. The Rangers shipped prospect Travis Demeritte to Atlanta in exchange for Harrell and left-hander Dario Alvarez (who remains in the organization), and the returns on Harrell weren’t pretty. The 31-year-old, who spent the 2015 season pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization, made just four starts for Texas and surrendered 11 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings before he, too, incurred a season-ending injury (groin strain). All told, he finished up the season with a 4.21 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 and a 44.3 percent ground-ball rate in 47 innings of work between the two teams. Harrell should find interest as a depth option this winter, though given his rocky 2016 and lack of a track record — 4.77 ERA in 448 2/3 innings — it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be promised a rotation spot anywhere heading into the 2017 season.

NL Central Notes: Schwarber, Hernandez, Cardinals, Pirates

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Kyle Schwarber has been informed by doctors that he cannot play in the outfield during the World Series, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes. The young Cubs slugger, whose remarkable recovery from a torn ACL and LCL  has been one of the most notable narratives of the postseason, will be limited to a pinch-hitting role while the series is played under NL rules at Wrigley Field. “It’s not disappointing at all,” Schwarber said. “It was a long shot at the most. Obviously, I want to be out there with my teammates, but facts are facts. I just can’t physically do it. I’ll be ready any time during the game to be out there to pinch-hit.” Schwarber, of course, remains a threat for the Cubs even in that limited role. Despite the lengthy layoff, he went 3-for-7 with a double (which was nearly a home run) in the first two games of the World Series while serving as a DH in Cleveland.

More from the division…

  • Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper has posted a review of Reds righty Ariel Hernandez, who was just added to the club’s 40-man roster. He’d have been a sure Rule 5 pick otherwise, Cooper explains, because he delivers not only an upper-nineties heater but also a devastating curveball. Hernandez has taken a winding road to get to this point, nearly leaving the game and battling through persistent control problems until Cincinnati plucked him from the Diamondbacks last winter in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that commissioner Rob Manfred would not commit to any type of deadline regarding MLB’s investigation into the Cardinals’ unauthorized accessing of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, Ground Control. Manfred reiterated that the goal of the investigation is to be as thorough as possible and called the process “ongoing” but declined further comment. As Goold notes, though, the Cardinals are entering the offseason under the impression that they’ll be able to conduct business as usual. Nonetheless, it seems inevitable that the Cards will face some degree of penalization, with the loss of draft picks and/or significant international signing restrictions among the speculated means of league-imposed discipline.
  • The Pirates got away from their focus on ground-ball pitchers a bit in 2016, but manager Clint Hurdle tells MLB.com’s Adam Berry that keeping the ball on the ground will remain a “cornerstone” for the Pirates’ pitching staff moving forward. “We tried some outliers this year to attack it a different way,” said Hurdle of the team’s disappointing 2016 run. As Berry explains, the Pirates are likely to target a veteran starter to join the rotation alongside the likes of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl this winter, and it would seemingly stand to reason that a pitcher who is proficient in inducing grounders would be the target.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/28/16

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Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Tigers have signed right-hander Arcenio Leon to a minor league pact, according to MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery. The 30-year-old Leon, a longtime Astros farmhand that has also spent time with the Brewers and White Sox, pitched in the Mexican League last season and logged a 3.30 ERA with a 53-to-21 K/BB ratio in 62 2/3 innings of work. Woodbery also reports that Detroit signed right-hander Cory Riordan to a new minor league contract rather than letting him hit minor league free agency. Also 30, Riordan made 24 starts between the Tigers’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2016, recording a 4.86 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9.

Wilin Rosario Hopes To Return To Majors

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Former Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario hopes to return to the majors after spending 2016 in Korea, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. He signed there when significant MLB interest failed to materialize after Colorado designated him for assignment last fall.

It seems questionable whether Rosario will return to suiting up behind the dish at this stage — he’s never been a well-regarded defender — though perhaps that can’t be ruled out. Regardless, he ought to draw some interest for his power bat.

Still just 27, Rosario ran up an impressive .321/.367/.593 batting line with 33 home runs in his 532 plate appearances for the Hanwha Eagles. While that output took place in the extremely hitter-friendly KBO, it still serves as a reminder that he has legitimate pop.

Over 2012-13, his first two full major league seasons, Rosario swatted 49 home runs in just 892 plate appearances and posted a .282/.314/.507 slash. Even with Coors Field boosting the line, that was good for a 107 OPS+.

Rosario fell off thereafter, of course. And while even his best offensive seasons in the majors were impressive for a catcher, they weren’t exactly jaw-dropping for a player who could be limited to first base or DH.

AL Notes: Indians, Britton, Rangers

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Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with the media about the Indians’ use of the Chief Wahoo logo, as Ken Davidoff of the New York Post was among those to report. Manfred said that he plans to discuss the usage of the logo with the team’s owner, Paul Dolan, after the season. The depiction is “offensive to some people,” said Manfred, “and all of us at Major League Baseball understand why.” Though he certainly hinted that the league would like to see a change, Manfred did stress that it was “primarily a local matter,” saying that “it’s not easy as coming to the conclusion and realizing that the logo is offensive to some segment.”

Here are a few more notes from the American League:

  • Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wonders whether the Orioles could get creative with the increasingly expensive, but also increasingly dominant lefty Zach Britton. The club seems set to hold onto Britton and maintain his role as the closer in 2017, notes Kubatko. But he suggests the team could consider a trade, an extension, or even a return to the rotation for the 28-year-old. That last option would come with considerable upside, but also quite a bit of risk. Britton didn’t succeed in the majors until he moved to the pen — following a roughly similar trajectory to Andrew Miller — and Kubatko adds that the team has some questions about his durability in a rotation role.
  • Dealing Britton or star third baseman Manny Machado wouldn’t make sense for the Orioles, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com opines. While the club has only two years of control remaining over these two elite players, and could surely obtain an impressive haul of prospects for either, Melewski argues that the roster is set up to keep pushing to win over 2017-18.
  • Apart from adding a starter, the Rangers’ priority this winter is to find a center fielder, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram writes. Ian Desmond and Carlos Gomez both are candidates to return after their stints in Texas, with GM Jon Daniels noting that “they have kind of a similar profile.” Indeed, there are quite a few similarities, extending from their eye-popping tool sets to some inconsistencies in production. The GM offered praise for both, noting that Gomez is more experienced playing center while Desmond — who he says he “spent a lot more time around” — impressed him greatly “as a person and [with] the consistency he brought from that standpoint.” Presumably, Texas will also at least consider other options, including Dexter Fowler and potential trade candidates.

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