Rounding up a few recent minor league signings involving one-time major leaguers, all courtesy of Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America:
- The White Sox have signed outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe. The switch-hitting outfielder was a fairly well-regarded prospect for a good portion of his early minor league career, beginning his career in the Red Sox’s system before going to the White Sox as part of the Chris Sale blockbuster. Basabe, now 25, topped out at Double-A during his first run through the Chicago farm system, making it onto the 40-man roster but never appearing in a big league game with the Pale Hose. The White Sox traded him to the Giants for cash considerations in August 2020, and he made nine big league appearances with San Francisco that year. Basabe was outrighted off the Giants’ 40-man in February and recently elected minor league free agency after spending this year in Double-A.
- The Padres have signed right-hander Heath Fillmyer. A former fifth-round pick of the Athletics, Fillmyer reached the majors with the Royals in 2018. Between that year and the following season, he tossed 104 2/3 innings of 5.07 ERA/5.10 SIERA ball. The 27-year-old spent the bulk of the 2021 campaign with Cleveland’s top minor league affiliate, working to a 6.18 ERA with a below-average 21.9% strikeout rate and a slightly elevated 10.2% walk percentage across 83 frames with Columbus.
- Catcher Juan Graterol has landed with the Diamondbacks. The right-handed hitting backstop suited up with the Angels, Twins and Reds between 2016-19, combining to tally 129 plate appearances over those four seasons. Graterol has significantly more experience in Triple-A, where he’s a .280/.321/.344 hitter across parts of seven seasons. The 32-year-old (33 in February) spent the 2021 campaign with the Blue Jays’ top affiliate, hitting .293/.355/.359 with a pair of home runs over 186 plate appearances.
CrikesAlready
The Padres’ new pitching coach gets them to sign a guy with a 5+ ERA? Heath Fillmyer does have one distinct advantage over the rest of the Padres staff… He averaged 3-2/3 innings per outing. That is better than 4/5 of the entire starting staff.
There is absolutely no motivation for AJ Preller to sign him unless he has an underlying injury. AJ loves his IL.
[SARCASM]
Excillon
The pale hose? Lol….
ChiSox_Fan
What are you 2 years old?
That’s been a White Sox nickname for generations.
ChiSox_Fan
Welcome back, Luis Basabe!