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Archives for August 2021

Twins To Select Joe Ryan’s Contract

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The Twins will select the contract of right-hander Joe Ryan when rosters expand to 28 players on Wednesday, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports (via Twitter).  Minnesota created space on the 40-man roster last night by passing reliever Edgar Garcia through outright waivers.

Ryan and fellow righty pitching prospect Drew Strotman were acquired from the Rays in the Nelson Cruz trade last month.  MLB Pipeline ranks Ryan as the sixth-best prospect in Minnesota’s farm system, saying he “has all the makings of a mid-rotation big league starter” if he can develop secondary pitches to properly support his outstanding four-seam fastball.

Ryan has a combined 3.41 ERA, 4.82% walk rate, and 36.9% strikeout rate over 66 Triple-A innings with the Rays’ and Twins’ top affiliates this season, which marks Ryan’s first taste of Triple-A ball.  That impressive strikeout total has only increased over his nine innings with Triple-A St. Paul, as Ryan has an absurd 17 strikeouts during his brief time in the Twins organization.  Ryan has only thrown nine innings since joining the Twins since he was busy at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo — the righty had a 1.74 ERA over 10 1/3 innings to help the American team win a silver medal.

With the Twins fully looking ahead to 2022, pitching is a particular need for a club that dealt Jose Berrios and J.A. Happ at the trade deadline, could lose Michael Pineda to free agency, and could quite possibly be without the injured Maeda for all of next year.  This leaves plenty of room for the 25-year-old Ryan to establish his case for a rotation spot over the next month.  Ryan’s Major League debut could potentially come as soon as Wednesday, when the Twins host the Cubs.

Rangers Sign Chase Anderson To Minors Contract

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The Rangers have inked right-hander Chase Anderson to a minor league contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (Twitter link).  Anderson became a free agent two days ago after being released by the Phillies.

Should Anderson reach the Rangers’ active roster, Texas will owe him only the prorated portion of the minimum salary, as Philadelphia will cover the rest of the approximately $672K owed to Anderson from his guaranteed $4MM salary for the 2021 season.  That makes it a pretty low-cost investment for the Rangers, who have been auditioning younger pitchers in the rotation but might need Anderson to soak up some innings.

For Anderson, he gets a chance to salvage something from what has been a very rough two-year run for the veteran righty.  Since the start of the 2020 season, Anderson has a 6.94 ERA over 81 2/3 combined innings with the 2020 Blue Jays and the 2021 Phillies, with a garish 21 home runs allowed within that short sample size.  Anderson was still managing to strike out a respectable number (24.7% strikeout rate) of batters during his season with Toronto, yet even that ability fell off the table this year, as Anderson had only a 16.3% strikeout rate over his 48 innings with the Phils.

Reds Acquire Delino DeShields Jr.

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The Reds have acquired outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. in a trade with the Red Sox, as announced by both teams.  Boston will receive cash considerations in return, and the Reds have assigned DeShields to their Triple-A affiliate.

Since DeShields wasn’t on Boston’s 40-man roster and was playing on a minor league contract, he was eligible to be dealt after the July 30 trade deadline.  The Sox and Reds have each made similar deals this August — Cincinnati previously swapped Mallex Smith to the Blue Jays for cash, while Boston picked up right-hander Brad Peacock from the Indians just yesterday and added DeShields himself from the Rangers four weeks ago.

DeShields is still looking to appear in his first big league game of the 2021 season.  The veteran was non-tendered by Cleveland last winter and signed back on with Texas on a minor league contract, though he didn’t receive a call-up from either the Rangers or the Red Sox.  The expanded September rosters create some extra opportunity for DeShields to get a look from the Reds, especially since Jesse Winker and Nick Senzel are still on the injured list.  There is also a family connection involved, as Delino DeShields Sr. is Cincinnati’s first base coach.

With Winker expected back in a couple of weeks, the Reds will have Winker and Nick Castellanos in the corner outfield, with DeShields perhaps serving as a right-handed hitting complement to Tyler Naquin and Shogo Akiyama in center field.  Aristides Aquino and Max Schrock are also on Cincinnati’s roster, though they lack DeShields’ experience and speed.  The latter skill could be potentially very useful for DeShields to earn pinch-running opportunities for the Reds down the stretch and potentially into the postseason.

DeShields is 21-for-24 in stolen base attempts at the Triple-A level this season, and he has hit .252/.385/.366 over a combined 381 plate appearances with the Rangers and Red Sox affiliates.  While DeShields is best known for his fielding and baserunning, his offense has been much of a mixed bag, as he has hit only .246/.326/.340 over 2056 career PA in the majors.

Quick Hits: Ohtani, Cron, Dodgers, Blach

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Shohei Ohtani was originally scheduled to start today’s game against the Yankees, but the two-way star won’t be pitching due to some soreness in his right hand/wrist area.  Ohtani was hit by a Ryan Weathers pitch on Saturday and didn’t sustain any structural damage, though the Angels are being cautious with the right-hander.  “He’s fine, he’s just sore,” Angels manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters.  “Pitching is problematic, so we’ll just have him hit until he’s ready to pitch.”

Ohtani didn’t leave the lineup after being hit on Saturday, and his batting doesn’t appear to be much affected by his hand/wrist issue.  He belted his Major League-leading 42nd home run in last night’s 8-7 win over New York, further strengthening Ohtani’s increasingly airtight bid to be the American League’s MVP.  Ohtani is now hitting .264/.362/.626 over 516 plate appearances, augmenting his huge hitting numbers with 20 stolen bases and his excellent numbers on the mound (3.00 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate over 105 innings).  While his injury doesn’t seem overly serious, it isn’t yet known when Ohtani might pitch again.

More from around baseball…

  • The Dodgers made C.J. Cron a contract offer last winter, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).  The exact nature of the offer isn’t known, but Cron instead opted to take a minors deal with the Rockies that ended up paying him $1MM in guaranteed money once he was selected to the active roster.  As noted by Nightengale, it was a “bet on himself” type of move from Cron that has worked out well, as the first baseman has hit .275/.379/.537 with 24 homers over 428 PA.  This type of playing time would likely not have been available in Los Angeles, as Cron was able to fill Colorado’s need for an everyday first baseman.  Cron will look to convert his big season into a nice free agent contract this winter and possibly some security after playing with five different teams over the last five seasons.  Since the Rockies didn’t trade Cron at the deadline, one would imagine the club has some hopes of re-signing the veteran slugger.
  • After undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2020, left-hander Ty Blach has returned to toss 13 innings in the lower levels of the Orioles farm system.  It may be unlikely that Blach gets a call to the majors before the season is over, though the southpaw tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski that he is “just excited to be here and face some competition” as he continues his recovery process.  “Really thankful for the Orioles to give me this opportunity to rehab, get me into some games this year, knowing that I wasn’t going to throw many meaningful innings this season,” Blach said.  “But just to help me get out there, that’s meant a lot.  Been nice to be back in a team environment, and I feel really good.”  Baltimore initially claimed Blach off waivers from the Giants in August 2019 and then released the lefty last August, before Blach rejoined the club on a minor league deal during the offseason.

Giants Sign Wyatt Mathisen To Minor League Contract

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The Giants signed infielder Wyatt Mathisen to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page.  Mathisen was in the lineup last night for Triple-A Sacramento, going 2-for-4 with a double in his organizational debut.

The Mariners released Mathisen on Friday, so it wasn’t a long stint in free agency.  The Giants represent Mathisen’s fourth team within the last four months, as he began the season with the Diamondbacks and was subsequently moved to the Rays and Mariners in trades.  The 27-year-old’s only big league playing time this year came in Arizona, as he had only a .445 OPS over 51 plate appearances.  Originally a second-round pick for the Pirates in the 2012 draft, Mathisen made his MLB debut last season, hitting .222/.364/.444 over 33 PA with the D’backs.

Mathisen has strong numbers (.251/.359/.474 with 37 homers in 824 PA) at the Triple-A level over his career, and given the Giants’ penchant for unlocking potential in less-heralded players, it can’t be ruled out that some of this production could translate over to the majors.  Mathisen also adds to San Francisco’s multi-positional depth, as he has played mostly third base but also has some experience at first and second base in recent years.

Maddon: Shutting Down Mike Trout “A Possibility”

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Mike Trout continues to feel soreness in his right calf, and after almost three and half months on the injured list, it remains to be seen when or if the Angels superstar might return to action in 2021.  Angels manager Joe Maddon told The Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris and other reporters that “it’s a possibility” that Trout might be shut down for the remainder of the season.

“We’re probably getting closer to having to say something like that,” Maddon said.  “But he still wants to continue to fight, and we’re going to honor his wishes.  However Mike sees this, we’re going to go with it that way.”

As one might expect, neither Trout or the Angels want to move forward with a minor league rehab assignment while the outfielder continues to deal with lingering discomfort in his calf.  Trout hasn’t been able to get to that next step of being entirely pain-free, as his calf soreness has persisted after Trout has taken part in baseball activities for several weeks now.

The Angels are all but officially out of the playoff hunt, with a 65-67 record and 9.5 games back of a wild card berth.  It isn’t as if Trout is trying to rush back for a pennant race, though Maddon implied that Trout simply wanted to clear the hurdle of his return now rather than wait until Opening Day 2022 to appear in his next big league game.  “The biggest thing about it right now is his mental well-being, how he feels about now and going into the offseason.  That’s the most important thing, and then how it plays into next year,” Maddon said.

As much as Trout might want to return, however, Maddon noted “there’s got to be that moment where we have to start being realistic about it, where we may just have to say, ’That’s it.’ ”  Considering all the time Trout has missed, it would certainly seem like he’d need at least a week of minor league rehab games to ramp up, and the Angels might require a few days of soreness-free workouts prior to such a rehab assignment just to ensure that Trout has fully put his calf injury behind him.

That would leave late September as the most optimistic timeline for when Trout might be able to return, giving Trout perhaps a week or two of games to put a coda on what was shaping up as another huge season.  Trout was hitting .333/.466/.624 over his first 146 plate appearances, with a 192 wRC+ that stood as the highest of his incredible career.  If Trout indeed doesn’t play again this year, 2021 will go down as the shortest season of his career, with only 36 games played.

Nationals Release Rogelio Armenteros

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The Nationals have released right-hander Rogelio Armenteros, The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reports (Twitter link). The 27-year-old will be free to explore opportunities with other clubs.

Washington claimed Armenteros off waivers from the Diamondbacks last December, but he never appeared in a big league game with the Nats. He began the season with Triple-A Rochester, and was outrighted off the 40-man roster after being designated for assignment in June. Armenteros landed on the minor league injured list not long after, and he made one rehab appearance with the Nats’ complex league affiliate last weekend before being released.

While Armenteros’ tenure with the Nationals didn’t go as hoped, he’s not far removed from a generally well-regarded arm. Baseball America slotted Armenteros among the top thirty prospects in the Astros’ system in each season from 2017-20, thanks to his plus changeup and strike-throwing acumen. Armenteros has a 1.94 ERA over 83 2/3 innings at the Double-A level and has a decent 4.04 mark in 300 2/3 career innings at Triple-A. His big league experience consists of 18 innings with Houston in 2019, as he pitched to an even 4.00 ERA with solid strikeout (24%) and walk (6.7%) rates.

Giants Claim Jose Quintana

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The Giants have claimed veteran left-hander Jose Quintana off waivers from the Angels, per a team announcement from the Halos. The Giants themselves yet to announce the claim or a corresponding move, although they have an open 40-man roster spot after designating Tyler Chatwood for assignment this weekend.

Quintana, 32, signed a one-year, $8MM contract with the Angels over the winter in hopes of bouncing back from 2020’s injury-ruined season. However, the left-hander labored through just 10 starts before being ousted from the rotation and dropped to the bullpen. Fourteen of his past 15 games have come in relief, and the one spot start he made since that initial demotion went quite poorly. He’s still owed about $1.5MM between now and season’s end, and by claiming him on waivers, the Giants are assuming the remainder of that commitment.

In a total of 53 1/3 innings this season, Quintana has pitched to a 6.75 ERA with a career-worst 11.4  percent walk rate, but his secondary numbers paint a brighter picture. He’s sporting a 3.90 SIERA and career-best marks in strikeout percentage (28.7), swinging-strike rate (11.9 percent) and opponents’ chase rate (32.6 percent). His 45.6 percent ground-ball mark, meanwhile, is his best since back in 2015 with the White Sox.

Quintana has been rocked in the majority of his starts this season, but he holds a 3.93 ERA, a 28.6 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 3.9 percent walk rate in 18 1/3 frames as a reliever. It’s obviously a very small sample, but the vastly improved control he’s shown when working in relief perhaps encouraged the Giants to take a flier on a veteran arm who was at one point one of the most consistently solid starters in Major League Baseball.

From 2013-18, Quintana pitched at least 174 innings and made at least 32 starts per season. His ERA along the way was a rock-solid 3.58 — a number that was largely supported by metrics such as FIP (3.56) and SIERA (3.85). Quintana was a consummate source of reliable, above-average innings throughout that span and an often-overlooked name in All-Star and awards voting. Despite his consistency, he made just one All-Star appearance and only garnered Cy Young votes on one occasion: a 10th-place finish in 2016.

A return to his peak form probably shouldn’t be expected, but Quintana will give the Giants another lefty who is stretched out enough to at least throw a couple of innings per relief stint. And if he can maintain the output that he’s posted as a reliever to this point in the season — or perhaps improve upon it — he’ll be a fine addition to the team’s relief corps down the stretch. By claiming Quintana prior to Sept. 1, the Giants have ensured that he’ll be eligible for their postseason roster. He’s not a lock to be included, of course, but we’ve seen the Giants help turn around the careers of many pitchers to date and Quintana could surface as yet another data point on that growing list.

Yankees Acquire Pitching Prospect Jason Parker From Reds To Complete Cessa/Wilson Trade

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The Yankees announced they have acquired right-handed pitching prospect Jason Parker from the Reds. He is the player to be named later in last month’s trade that sent relievers Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson to Cincinnati.

Parker was Cincinnati’s 16th-round pick in 2019 out of North Carolina State University. He’s made his affiliated ball debut this season, working to a 4.05 ERA across 80 innings as a starter in Low-A. The 23-year-old has struck out a strong 27% of opposing hitters against an average 9.8% walk rate, albeit against generally younger competition. Parker was not ranked among the Reds’ top prospects at FanGraphs or Baseball America.

While the Yankees will add Parker as a flier to the lower levels of the organization, the bigger driver of the deal for New York at the time was creating immediate roster and payroll space to accommodate future deadline acquisitions. The Yankees would go on to add Joey Gallo, Joely Rodríguez, Anthony Rizzo and Andrew Heaney over the next few days. By including Cessa, the Yankees were able to incentivize the Reds to take on a little less than half of Wilson’s remaining salary, as well as his $2.3MM player option for next season. That was of particular import given the Yankees’ apparent insistence on narrowly ducking below the first luxury tax threshold.

For the Reds, picking up Cessa and Wilson (as well as Mychal Givens in a later deal with the Rockies) was part of a broader effort to remake a struggling bullpen. As a whole, the relief corps has continued to struggle in recent weeks, but Cessa and Wilson have both been stabilizing forces at the back end. Cessa has allowed four runs over 10 1/3 frames since the trade, while Wilson has worked 9 2/3 innings of two-run ball.

Cole Hamels Intends To Make Another Comeback Attempt

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After losing almost all of the 2020 season to a shoulder injury, Cole Hamels remained on the free agent market for months recuperating. Upon returning to health, he signed a major league contract with the Dodgers earlier this month. Just a few weeks later, renewed shoulder pain during his ramp-up work ended his 2021 season before it began.

In the wake of that latest setback, it was fair to wonder whether Hamels would contemplate retirement. That won’t be the case, however, as Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link) reports that the 37-year-old intends to make another comeback effort.

There’s no specific timetable for Hamels’ return from this latest injury. He’ll reach free agency at the end of the season and will presumably need to conduct at least one showcase for potential suitors whenever he’s healthy. His form in those looks could well determine whether Hamels will be able to land a big league deal again this time around.

The odds of Hamels returning to his All-Star peak form are very low, but it’s not inconceivable he could yet be a decent back-of-the-rotation option. Before these last couple years, Hamels was one of the game’s most durable arms. The southpaw rather remarkably made twenty or more starts and tallied 130+ innings in every season from 2006-19. And during his most recent healthy season, Hamels was still quite productive. With the Cubs in 2019, he worked to a 3.81 ERA over 141 2/3 frames. Given that Hamels has been an exemplar of consistency for the majority of his career and was still capable of performing well when last physically able to pitch, it’s not hard to understand his impulse to try and make another run in 2022.

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