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Archives for April 2018

Outrighted: Quackenbush, Adams, Brothers, Ravin

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Here are the latest players to be outrighted off of their teams’ 40-man rosters:

  • The Reds announced that righty Kevin Quackenbush has been outrighted after clearing waivers following a recent DFA. The veteran could have elected free agency but has instead decided to remain in the Cincinnati organization, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. Quackenbush did not produce a very appealing stat line during his ten appearances with the Reds. He surrendered 11 earned runs, with a 7:6 K/BB ratio, in just nine innings of action. In over two hundred career innings at the game’s highest level, Quackenbush carries a 4.38 ERA.
  • Outfielder Lane Adams and relievers Rex Brothers and Josh Ravin were all outrighted by the Braves, the club says. Both Adams and Ravin had recently been designated for assignment, so had already been removed from the 40-man. As for Brothers, a 30-year-old southpaw, he’ll lose his spot after a rough start to the season. He has issued eight walks in his six Triple-A frames — an area that has long been a challenge — and does not appear to be in the team’s immediate plans. The Braves will pay Brothers at a lesser rate in the minors under the split contract he agreed to last fall. Adams, who has been productive in limited action at the MLB level over the past two years, will remain on hand as an outfield depth piece. Ravin, who was claimed over the winter, will likely be among the first pitchers considered if a bullpen need arises.

Indians Sign Melky Cabrera

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WEDNESDAY: The signing is now official. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), the contract allows Cabrera to earn $100K at 200 MLB plate appearances and then $150K apiece if he can make it to 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and/or 500 trips to the dish. The opt-out date is June 1st.

TUESDAY: Cabrera can earn at a $1MM annual rate and achieve up to another million in incentives, on Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. There’s an opt-out date as well, though full details remain unreported.

MONDAY: The Indians have reportedly agreed to a minor-league deal with veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera. Tenchy Rodriguez of ESPN Deportes Radio first tweeted the news.

Cabrera, 33, went unsigned over the just-completed offseason after a poor finish to his 2017 campaign with the Royals. But he had been an above-average offensive performer in the first half of the season and ended with an overall .285/.324/.423 slash line and 17 home runs for the year.

The switch-hitting Cabrera has turned in quality output at times with the bat, with approximately equal success against both left- and right-handed pitching, though he has rarely strung together good seasons in succession. In his thirteen total seasons at the game’s highest level, he carries a cumulative .286/.335/.418 batting line with 131 home runs. Cabrera has never been regarded highly for his glovework, though, and has also graded poorly on the bases in recent seasons.

Despite the inconsistencies, Cabrera’s most recent contract prior to this one paid him rather handsomely. On the heels of a quality 2014 effort with the Blue Jays, he inked a three-year, $42MM deal with the White Sox.

For the Indians, there’s little risk in giving Cabrera a shot at rediscovering his offensive form. While the club is pacing the AL Central, they have just three players currently sporting above-average overall work at the plate. Cabrera could provide an option as a DH or in the corner outfield, though he’ll surely need some time ramping up before he’ll be ready to join the MLB roster.

Tim Beckham Placed On 10-Day DL, Considering Surgery

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Orioles infielder Tim Beckham is going to the 10-day DL with a groin injury, the Orioles announced. Of perhaps greater concern, he’s considering whether to undergo surgery to address the issue, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli was among those to tweet.

The precise nature of the injury and potential procedure aren’t known. It’s also therefore impossible to guess just how long he’ll likely miss whether he does or does not go under the knife.

Beckham, the former first overall draft pick, turned in a strong second half in 2017 after arriving via trade. Entering the season, he was entrusted with regular duties at third base. Beckham has spent most of his career in the middle infield, making him all the more important to a Baltimore roster that is currently missing Jonathan Schoop.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone well for Beckham thus far in 2018. He’s carrying a .179/.247/.262 slash with one home run and 28 strikeouts in his 93 plate appearances. Though he has graded well at third and on the bases, that’s not enough to sugarcoat the struggles at the plate. Indeed, while Beckham has perhaps been a bit unfortunate to carry a .250 batting average on balls in play, Statcast credits him with only a .254 xwOBA, suggesting the poor results have largely been deserved.

Until Beckham and/or Schoop make it back, they’ll be fairly short-handed in the infield. It seems that Luis Sardinas, Danny Valencia, and Jace Peterson will carry the burden at second and third for the time being. That’s hardly an optimal trio at those two positions.

Athletics Acquire Wilmer Font

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The Athletics have acquired righty Wilmer Font from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. Lefty Logan Salow will head to Los Angeles in return.

Font is out of options, so he’ll need to be added to the active roster by the A’s. He cracked the Dodgers pen to open the 2018 season but was knocked around early. Thus far in 2018, opponents have scored 13 earned runs and cracked five home runs in Font’s 10 1/3 innings of work.

That said, Font is an interesting player to take a risk on. He was lights out as a starter last year at Triple-A, carrying a 3.42 ERA with 11.9 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. The A’s will hope that Font can rediscover the form that produced those results and convert it into MLB production.

Salow was a sixth-round pick in last year’s draft who showed some swing and miss, but also some command struggles, in his first two dozen innings as a professional. The southpaw has shown well out of the gates at the Class A level in 2018, allowing just one earned run on one hit and two walks while compiling eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Adrian Beltre Placed On 10-Day DL With Hamstring Strain

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TODAY: Beltre is indeed going to the DL, per a club announcement. The team activated righty Doug Fister and called up Ryan Rua.

Those moves required an additional roster spot , which was created by optioning reliever Matt Bush. That’s obviously a disappointing turn of events for Bush, who needs to iron things out after allowing nine walks in his 11 1/3 innings thus far in 2018.

YESTERDAY: The injury-plagued Rangers took yet another hit on Tuesday, as third baseman Adrian Beltre exited the team’s game against the A’s with a strained left hamstring (Twitter link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). A trip to the disabled list seems likely but is not official yet, Grant notes.

Beltre incurred the injury after lacing a would-be double the gap in right-center field, but he pulled up a few steps out of the batter’s box and hobbled into first base (video link via MLB.com). He walked off the field and headed to the clubhouse immediately.

As Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details, Beltre seemed dejected after the game and said he’s set for an MRI tomorrow morning. “It’s not feeling great,” he told Rangers reporters. The 39-year-old was partially spiked by former teammate Jonathan Lucroy earlier in the game but made certain to not only tell the media that his injury had nothing to do with that incident but to also take the blame for being poorly positioned: “I was standing right in the middle. It was my fault.”

A trip to the DL for Beltre would put 75 percent of the Rangers’ starting infield on the shelf. Elvis Andrus is likely to miss around eight weeks with a fracture in his right elbow after being hit by a pitch last week, and Rougned Odor is still on the disabled list with a hamstring strain of his own.

[Related: Texas Rangers depth chart]

Texas isn’t without options, of course. First baseman/left fielder Joey Gallo is a natural third baseman and could slide across the diamond, thus opening the door for regular at-bats for well-regarded prospect Ronald Guzman at first base. Renato Nunez was recently claimed off waivers from the A’s and brings a few thousand innings of minor league experience at third base to the table. Wilson speculates that perhaps a DL trip for Beltre could push Gallo to the hot corner and create an opening in left field for top prospect Willie Calhoun; in that scenario, the Rangers would be getting full-time looks at a number of important young options in Gallo, Calhoun, Guzman and Jurickson Profar.

Rays To Select Contract Of Jonny Venters

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The Rays are set to select the contract of left-handed reliever Jonny Venters from Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). It’ll be the first appearance in the Majors for Venters since way back in 2012. The lefty was a star setup man for the Braves before injuries decimated a promising career. As Topkin notes, Venters has had three Tommy John surgeries in his career — two since his Braves days — as well as a “reattachment” procedure in 2016.

Now 33 years of age, Venters burst onto the scene with the 2010 Braves, working to a combined 1.89 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and roughly 70 percent ground-ball rate in his first two big league seasons. Venters’ results took a step back in 2012, though he still turned in a strong 3.22 ERA with similar K/BB numbers and slightly diminished ground-ball tendencies in 58 2/3 innings before going down with injury.

Venters didn’t pitch with any team’s minor league affiliate from 2013-15 and tossed just 27 2/3 innings in rehab stints over the past two seasons. He’s allowed a run on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings thus far in Triple-A Durham.

Tampa Bay has an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no 40-man move will need to be made to accommodate Venters’ promotion. Righty Hunter Wood will be optioned to Triple-A to clear a spot on the 25-man roster, per Topkin. Venters will join Jose Alvardo and Ryan Yarbrough as left-handed options in manager Kevin Cash’s bullpen for the time being.

Mariners Outright Dario Alvarez

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The Mariners announced that lefty Dario Alvarez has cleared waivers and been sent outright off the 40-man roster. Seattle had claimed Alvarez off waivers from the Cubs late in Spring Training.

Alvarez was already pitching for the club’s Triple-A affiliate and will remain there, as the club didn’t announce a corresponding move. The outright, then, was likely little more than a matter of timing. With the lefty struggling considerably in Tacoma — he’s issued six walks, hit three batters and committed a balk in 6 2/3 innings — the Mariners look to have seized the moment to create some additional roster flexibility. This week’s acquisition of Roenis Elias may have contributed to the move as well; had they outrighted Alvarez earlier, they’d have been without any lefty relief options on the 40-man roster in the upper minors.

The 29-year-old Alvarez is a veteran of parts of four big league seasons, during which time he’s pitched to a 5.06 ERA with terrific strikeout numbers (11.4 K/9) against some control issues (4.1 BB/9, 1.88 HR/9) in a total of 48 innings. He’ll continue to serve as a depth piece for the Mariners, should the need arise, though Elias has clearly leapfrogged him on the depth chart.

Seattle’s 40-man roster is currently at a total of 38 players, so there’s room for the M’s to make some additions — be they internal adds to the 40-man or some claims on the waiver wire.

Braves Promote Ronald Acuna

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April 25: Acuna’s contract has been formally selected from Triple-A Gwinnett, the club announced. He’s playing left field and batting sixth for the Braves in his MLB debut.

April 24: The Braves are set to promote top prospect Ronald Acuna to the Major Leagues, Daniel Alvarez Montes of EVTV Miami reports (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman hears the same and adds that Acuna is expected to join the team tomorrow (Twitter link).

Ronald Acuna | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The timing of Acuna’s promotion has been a source of consternation among Braves fans all season, as many felt he should’ve been with the club from Opening Day after laying waste to minor league pitching in 2017 and outhitting the vast majority of the Braves’ roster in Spring Training. The Braves, however, understandably appear to have wanted to keep Acuna in Triple-A long enough to delay his free agency by a full year. By keeping him in Triple-A until April 14, Atlanta delayed his free agency from the 2023-24 offseason to the 2024-25 offseason.

Acuna, though, got off to a brutal start in Triple-A Gwinnett, which prompted the Braves to keep the 21-year-old in the minors even longer. Not wanting to promote Acuna to the Majors when he was struggling badly against minor league arms, Atlanta waited for their prized prospect to begin to right the ship at the plate. That’s been taking place over the past week, as Acuna has collected 1 11 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in 37 plate appearances.

Entering the 2018 season, virtually every set of prospect rankings from major outlets considered Acuna to be the game’s top overall prospect. It was a rapid ascent for Acuna, who entered the 2017 campaign as a consensus top 100 prospect but not near the top of any notable rankings. His meteoric rise began last season when he started in Class-A Advanced and skyrocketed to Triple-A by the end of the year. The Venezuelan-born slugger didn’t just move up the ladder, though; his numbers actually improved upon each promotion, culminating with a .344/.393/.548 line in Triple-A.

Overall, Acuna slashed .325/.374/.522 with 21 homers, 31 doubles, eight triples and 44 steals across three minor league levels in 2017 — and he did so all before turning 20 years of age this past December. Even before reading any of the many glowing scouting reports on Acuna — and there’s no shortage of them, as Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN are among the many that have lauded him — it’s readily apparent that he’s a significantly more advanced talent than most prospects. That type of production in Double-A and Triple-A is rare for prospects who are several years older than Acuna, even, but doing so at age 19 is a rather remarkable accomplishment.

It stands to reason that Acuna will be thrown directly into the mix in left field with the Braves, who managed to jettison Matt Kemp this offseason in order to create an easy path to at-bats for the ballyhooed young slugger. Preston Tucker has been holding down the fort in left field and performed admirably as a stopgap, but his bat has cooled substantially since a hot start to the season (.514 OPS over his past 44 PAs).

With Acuna now penciled in as the primary left fielder, Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis will occupy the team’s other two outfield spots. Tucker or Peter Bourjos remain on hand as reserve options in the outfield, though it’s possible that one could be a roster casualty to make way for Acuna. The Braves already designated one reserve, Lane Adams, for assignment last week.

2017-18 Rule 5 Draft Update

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It’s been more than a month since MLBTR last checked in on the status of the 18 players who were selected in the Major League phase of last December’s Rule 5 Draft. Since that time, Opening Day rosters have been set, and there have been a few notable developments as pertains to this group. Here’s how they’re all faring thus far in 2018:

Active Big Leaguers

  • Victor Reyes, OF, Tigers (selected from D-backs): The Tigers are hanging onto the top pick in December’s draft, though “active” is probably a generous adjective when describing his role. The 23-year-old has received just eight plate appearances and seen action in only eight games all season — most often working as a pinch-runner. The Tigers are obviously high on Reyes, and given their rebuilding status they can afford to roster him while using him in incredibly sparing fashion. At a certain point, though, they’ll need to start getting him into the game, as he’s missing out on valuable reps by riding the bench this often.
  • Brad Keller, RHP, Royals (from D-backs, via trade with Reds): So far, so good for Keller. The 22-year-old was a starter in Arizona’s system and skipped Triple-A to jump right into the K.C. bullpen. Thus far, he’s tossed seven innings and allowed three runs on nine hits and a pair of walks (one intentional) with four strikeouts and a 52 percent grounder rate. The Royals can afford to keep Keller all season as long as performance dictates, and thus far he’s done nothing to really jeopardize his standing.
  • Burch Smith, RHP, Royals (from Rays via trade with Mets): The 28-year-old Smith has big league experience, but that came all the way back in 2013 before a series of injuries slowed his career. The Royals have used him more heavily than Keller, giving him 10 2/3 innings thus far. Smith has a 3.38 ERA  (four runs allowed) and 11 strikeouts in that time, but he’s also issued eight walks (none of which were intentional) and hit a batter. He’ll need better control, but he seems safe for now.
  • Tyler Kinley, RHP, Twins (from Marlins): The Twins have carried relievers for a full season in the past (Ryan Pressly, J.R. Graham), but they’re not really in position to have a reliever they don’t trust in anything but mop-up or blowout scenarios at present. With Minnesota aiming to contend and in the midst of an ugly losing streak that has depleted their ’pen, it’s somewhat surprising that they’re hanging onto Kinley, who has served up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings thus far. A fastball that can reach triple digits is always enticing, but the Twins need more certainty from their relief corps than Kinley can offer at present.
  • Pedro Araujo, RHP, Orioles (from Cubs): Baltimore opened the year with two picks from the 2017 Rule 5 Draft on their roster, but only Araujo is still with the club. He’s been thrown right into the fire by Buck Showalter and worked in some higher-leverage spots than most Rule 5 picks encounter, but the results haven’t been there thus far. Araujo has a 16-to-5 K/BB ratio in 11 innings, but he’s also served up two homers, posted a 5.73 ERA and induced grounders at just a 30.8 percent clip. He’s done a good job of limiting hard contact, however, and fielding-independent metrics feel he’s been better than that ugly ERA (4.26 FIP, 3.87 xFIP, 2.90 SIERA). The O’s already look buried in the AL East, making it easier to let Araujo develop at the MLB level if they wish.
  • Luke Bard, RHP, Angels (from Twins): Bard technically still falls into this category, but that may not be the case for long. The righty broke camp with the Angels but was just designated for assignment over the weekend. Bard is still in DFA limbo, so there’s a chance that another club is enticed by his lofty spin rate and elects to roll the dice on him. Bard did strike out 13 batters against five walks in 10 2/3 MLB frames, but he also hit three batters and served up seven runs on the strength of four homers. If he clears waivers, he’ll be offered back to Minnesota for $50K.

On the Disabled List

  • Julian Fernandez, RHP, Giants (from Rockies): Fernandez won’t be a factor for the Giants in 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He’ll presumably spend the season on the 60-day DL, racking up a year of big league service time, and will retain his Rule 5 status once healthy in 2019.
  • Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (from Twins via trade with Phillies): The former Louisville star was a supplemental-round pick of the Twins out of college thanks largely to an 80-grade fastball that can frequently touch triple digits, but injuries have slowed his career. The Twins surprised some by not placing Burdi on the 40-man roster, and the Pirates will have a chance to develop him and gain control of a power arm once he recovers from Tommy John surgery this summer. That Pittsburgh is off to such a promising start to the season could make it difficult for them to hang onto him, though.
  • Carlos Tocci, OF, Rangers (from Phillies, via trade with White Sox): An injury to Delino DeShields (who is now back) got Tocci some extra looks at the plate, but he’s just 2-for-25 with one walk against a dozen strikeouts in 28 total plate appearances. Tocci is on the 10-day DL with a hip contusion at present, but he’ll need to produce more to stick with the Rangers all season. The fact that Texas has already been decimated by injuries and is off to an 8-17 start could actually benefit him, though. If the Rangers ultimately decide they’re destined for a sell-off, they can keep Tocci on the roster in spite of any struggles.
  • Elieser Hernandez, RHP, Marlins (from Astros): The Marlins have yet to get a real look at the 22-year-old Hernandez, as he opened the season on the disabled list after having his wisdom teeth removed late in Spring Training. He’s on a rehab assignment in Class-A Advanced at the moment, where he has not thrown especially well. Hernandez has never even pitched at the Double-A level, though as is the case with the Tigers and Reds, the Marlins are in position to stash just about anyone on their big league roster for a season if they wish. They’ll need to make a call on him one way or another in the near future.
  • Brett Graves, RHP, Marlins (from Athletics): Miami has yet to get a look at Graves during the regular season, as he’s currently on the 60-day disabled list due to an oblique injury. If he doesn’t spend at least 90 days on the active big league roster this year but sticks with the organization, he’d have to carry over his Rule 5 eligibility into the 2019 season until reaching that 90-day total.

Returned to Original Organization

Other Cases

  • Albert Suarez, RHP: Suarez accepted an outright assignment from the D-backs after clearing waivers. While a player would normally have to be offered back to his original organization at that point — the Giants, in this instance — Suarez was not required to be offered back to San Francisco due to the fact that he’d previously been outrighted off a 40-man roster in his career. That rare exemption allowed the D-backs to hang onto him, though he’s struggled in Triple-A Reno thus far (7.94 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 5.6 BB/9, two homers in 11 2/3 innings).
  • Dan Winkler, RHP, Braves: Winkler’s Rule 5 status carried over all the way back to the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, as his career with the Braves has been beset by injuries. Winkler, at long last, is healthy and has seen that status expire, meaning the Braves could option him without exposing him to waivers first. Of course, with a 1.59 ERA and a 17-to-5 K/BB ratio thus far, there’s no reason for the Braves to think about doing so.
  • Anthony Santander, OF, Orioles: Santander, too, saw his previous Rule 5 status carry over into the 2018 season, and he’s about three weeks away from fulfilling that goal and allowing the Orioles to option him if need be. That certainly seems plausible, as Santander is toting a dismal .153/.194/.254 batting line through 62 plate appearances thus far. The O’s have been giving him work, but if he doesn’t turn things around at the plate in short order, the 23-year-old switch-hitter could be bound for Triple-A once eligible.

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