Boone Logan

Brewers Release Boone Logan

By Steve Adams | June 26, 2018 at 12:54pm CDT

TODAY: Milwaukee announced that Logan has cleared waivers, meaning the team will be on the hook for the remainder of his guaranteed salary.

YESTERDAY: The Brewers have requested release waivers on left-hander Boone Logan, as was first reflected on the team’s official transactions page. Assuming he clears, he’ll become a free agent who can explore the market in search of a new opportunity.

Logan, 33, opened the season on the disabled list due to a triceps strain and was never really able to find his footing once he was activated. Signed to a one-year, $2.5MM deal this offseason, Logan appeared in just 16 games for Milwaukee, yielding seven runs on 15 hits and 10 walks with 14 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. That certainly wasn’t the followup he was hoping for on the heels of a lackluster 2017 campaign that was also shortened by injury; Logan tossed 21 innings of 4.71 ERA ball for the Indians a year ago before a lat strain cut his season short.

Logan is still just a couple of seasons removed from a strong 2016 campaign, in which he worked to a 3.69 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 46 1/3 innings for the Rockies. He’s never had much trouble missing bats in the big leagues, averaging nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Control has long been an issue for Logan, however, as he’s also averaged more than four walks per nine frames in his MLB career. And while he’s been oft-used as a situational lefty, he doesn’t have the type of dominance against left-handed hitters that one might expect. While lefties certainly haven’t hit him well, the .238/.317/.372 slash he’s allowed to lefties in his career isn’t exactly overpowering, either.

If and when Logan becomes a free agent, any new club wishing to sign him will only owe him the pro-rated league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors. That sum will be subtracted from what the Brewers still owe him, but Milwaukee will remain on the hook for the vast majority of Logan’s 2018 salary.

Brewers Designate Boone Logan

By Jeff Todd | June 19, 2018 at 2:36pm CDT

The Brewers have designated lefty Boone Logan for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to right-hander Freddy Peralta, who was recalled to take a start this evening.

Logan, who’s closing in on his 34th birthday, simply never got things going after joining the Brewers on a one-year deal over the winter. His $2.5MM guarantee included a buyout for a club option in 2019, which obviously now will not be exercised. The contract also included a hefty $3.2MM incentives package that started to accrue after 25 appearances.

Logan will continue to receive the promised money, but won’t see any of that potential extra cash. He opened the year on the DL and has struggled since being activated. In 10 2/3 innings, he has allowed seven earned runs on 15 hits and 10 walks (three of them intentional).

To be fair, Logan has also run up 14 strikeouts and shown well in terms of average velocity (94.3 mph on his fastball) and swinging-strike rate (14.0%). That said, the walks seemed to be a product of real command troubles. Logan has worked in the zone at a 45.0% career rate, but has done so on just 33.9% of his pitches thus far in 2018.

NL Central Notes: Greene, Wainwright, Holland, Pham, Brewers

By Steve Adams | April 4, 2018 at 7:45pm CDT

Reds prospect Hunter Greene, the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft who wowed scouts with triple-digit velocity in addition to his potential as an infielder, will begin the season exclusively as a pitcher, Cincinnati director of player development Jeff Graupe tells Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). However, while the ballyhooed 19-year-old won’t be hitting to begin the year, the organization is not “closing the door on developing him offensively,” Graupe adds. Virtually every scouting report heading into the draft suggested that Greene’s upside on the mound was higher anyhow, though there was nonetheless some thought to developing him as a two-way player at least in the early portion of his career. Greene made three starts in Rookie ball last season and appeared in seven games as a DH.

Here’s more from the division…

The Cardinals announced that Adam Wainwright will be activated from the 10-day disabled list on Thursday and start the team’s game against the Diamondbacks. In a corresponding move, top prospect Jack Flaherty has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Wainwright opened the season on the shelf due to a strained left hamstring. He’ll be looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristic season in which he struggled to a 5.11 ERA in 123 2/3 innings.
Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch spoke with Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM about the team’s late signing of closer Greg Holland (Twitter link, with audio). While the Cards were in touch with agent Scott Boras about Holland as far back as the GM Meetings, nothing between the two sides became serious until late in camp. “It really wasn’t until the last week or 10 days of Spring Training when it became more apparent that there might actually be a possibility of finding some common ground,” said Girsch. “…His expectations were changing, and our willingness to find someplace that we could make something happen made it so we could actually get something done.” Notably, Girsch said that Luke Gregerson’s injuries didn’t play much of a role in the decision to add Holland, as he’s not dealing with arm troubles and is only expected to be out for a few weeks. More important, it seems, was the length of the contract. Girsch notes that the Cards have some younger arms “who are future back-of-the-bullpen arms” that aren’t far from big league readiness.
Tommy Pham chatted with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson about his rise to prominence and his ongoing battle with keratoconus — an eye disorder characterized by the progressive thinning of the cornea. Interestingly, Pham said he gives a huge amount of credit to current Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, who, during his days in the Cardinals front office, was the first to set up the initial test that diagnosed Pham with his condition. “He just always believed I was too good of an athlete to struggle in this game,” said Pham. “…I hit a lot of home runs, but I struck out a lot, and Jeff thought it was my vision rather than my actual swing. … sure enough, he was right.”
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel provides a host of updates on some injured Brewers (all links to Twitter). Veteran lefty Wade Miley, who signed a minor league deal last month, is playing catch but likely a month away from returning from the groin injury that sidelined him. Both Miley and lefty Boone Logan, who is dealing with a triceps injury, are hoping to begin throwing off a mound next week. Ace Jimmy Nelson, meanwhile, is hoping to throw from a mound by the end of the month. As for catcher Stephen Vogt, he hopes to throw by the end of the week after recently being cleared by doctors, but he’s still a few weeks from returning. When he does, the Brewers will have to make a call on what to do with Vogt and Jett Bandy, as both are out of minor league options and behind Manny Pina on the depth chart.

Wade Miley Diagnosed With Slight Groin Tear, Boone Logan With Triceps Strain

By Jeff Todd | March 24, 2018 at 3:27pm CDT

Saturday: Logan is expected to be out six weeks according to GM David Stearn, via a tweet from Haudricort. The timeline for Miley is thought to be two to four weeks.

Thursday, 4:41pm: Tom Haudricort of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that while the Brewers are calling Boone’s injury a triceps strain, there’s “some concern” that it’s in the area of last season’s lat tear. More testing will be needed, but it’s “a DL situation in any event.”

Additionally, Haudricort adds that while Miley is not expected to go on the major league roster at this time, GM David Stearns is working with Miley’s agent to keep him in the organization.

10:38am: Two Brewers lefties have learned more about their injury situations, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports (Twitter links). Rotation candidate Wade Miley has been diagnosed with a slight groin tear, while reliever Boone Logan has a mild triceps strain.

There’s more than just an injury at play for Miley, who can opt out of his minors deal today if not added to the MLB roster. There’s also the matter of an upcoming $100K retention bonus for the Article XX(B) free agent. It’s not clear at this point how much time he’s expected to miss.

As McCalvy notes, it seems that Miley’s representatives will need to hash things out with the Brewers. The veteran hurler says he hopes to remain with the organization after a solid showing this spring. It had been expected that he would crack the rotation to open the season. His existing deal would promise him $2.5MM with as much as $3.2MM more via incentives in the majors.

As for Logan, who inked a $2.5MM guaranteed contract over the winter, the timeline is also yet to be determined. He generally expressed optimism that the injury will not be a significant one, though skipper Craig Counsell tells reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; Twitter link) that Logan will be on the DL to open the season.

The news, particularly with regard to Miley, creates some added questions for a Milwaukee staff that has been the subject of much debate all winter long. Many have wondered why the organization has not pursued further rotation help, while the club has indicated optimism with the unit on hand. Junior Guerra now seems to be in good shape to crack the rotation, while pitchers such as Brent Suter, Brandon Woodruff, and perhaps veteran Yovani Gallardo now have additional opportunity to sneak into the Opening Day starting five — assuming, at least, that the Brewers don’t take another look at outside possibilities.

NL Notes: Phils, Flaherty, Brewers, Mets, Pirates

By Connor Byrne | March 21, 2018 at 7:14pm CDT

Phillies utilityman Ryan Flaherty plans to opt out of his minor league contract, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweets. The Phillies will have 48 hours to add Flaherty to their 25-man roster or let him go. Odds are that they’ll grant him his release, per Zolecki. The 31-year-old Flaherty was a member of the Orioles from 2012-17, and Baltimore reportedly made an attempt to keep him before he joined the Phillies. Now, he could head back to the O’s, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggests.

Brewers Release Taylor Jungmann To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

By Jeff Todd | January 10, 2018 at 1:06pm CDT

The Brewers announced today that righty Taylor Jungmann has been released in order to allow him to pursue an opportunity in Japan. The 40-man space was needed to accommodate the addition of Boone Logan, whose previously reported signing was also made official.

It is not known what organization Jungmann will be joining, but it rates as something of a surprise that he’s heading out of affiliated ball. He was the 12th overall selection in the 2011 draft and showed rather well in his debut season of 2015. More recently, though, Jungmann had struggled to gain opportunities at the game’s highest level.

After receiving 21 MLB starts in 2015, Jungmann was pummeled in his 26 2/3 MLB frames in the ensuing season and did not fare much better at Triple-A. In 2017, though, he worked to a 3.06 ERA in 123 1/3 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A, averaging 8.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9. That still was only enough to earn him a single appearance in the majors.

Brewers To Sign Boone Logan

By Steve Adams | January 5, 2018 at 4:20pm CDT

Lefty reliever Boone Logan has agreed to a one-year deal with the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links). Logan will be guaranteed $2.5MM on the deal, which comes in the form of a $1.875MM base salary plus a $625K buyout on a $4.125MM option for the 2019 season. Logan can also earn up to $3.2MM worth of incentives in each year of the deal. He’s represented by Hub Sports Management.

[RELATED: Updated Brewers Depth Chart]

Milwaukee was light on left-handed bullpen help for much of the 2017 season and, at multiple points throughout the year, didn’t have a lefty in its bullpen at all. The 33-year-old Logan will give the Brew Crew an experienced option to help remedy that situation in 2018; it’s quite possible that he’ll be joined by young southpaw Josh Hader, who excelled in a relief role last year. Milwaukee could also return Hader to a starting role in ’18, though that could be dependent on what moves are yet to come for GM David Stearns and his staff.

Last season with the Indians, Logan hit the disabled list with a strained lat muscle in late July, and that injury ultimately proved to be season-ending in nature. He wound up tossing just 21 innings in 38 appearances as a lefty specialist in Cleveland, working to a 4.71 ERA. That said, Logan racked up a dozen strikeouts per nine against 3.9 walks per nine along with a 50 percent ground-ball rate in that time and has generally been a quality relief piece over the past eight seasons, with last year’s injury-shortened campaign and a dreadful 2014 season (6.84 ERA for the Rockies) standing out as notable exceptions.

Logan has long offered tantalizing skills, even if the results haven’t always quite matched. He has long boasted well-above-average swinging-strike rates — never higher than last year’s 18.5% rate — with a heater that sits around 94 mph and a heavily used, generally devastating slider. He has registered eleven or more strikeouts per nine in each of the past six campaigns. Of late, Logan has also generated quality groundball numbers as well (around 50% in each of the past two seasons).

Nevertheless, Logan owns a less-than-exciting 4.47 ERA in over 400 career MLB innings. No doubt that’s due in some part to the fact that he has never really figured out right-handed hitters. When pitching without the platoon advantage, Logan has coughed up a .286/.373/.472 cumulative batting line, with a K/BB ratio less than half that he has maintained against same-handed hitters.

Given the relatively meager commitment this contract represents, the Brewers will likely not feel much pressure to extend Logan beyond his area of greatest function — that is, entering to face tough lefties but not being asked to serve in a general setup capacity in high-leverage spots. Certainly, Logan won’t occupy much space on the organization’s payroll ledger, which still seems to offer quite a bit of room for additions for 2018 and beyond.

Brewers Reportedly In Talks With Boone Logan

By Steve Adams | December 29, 2017 at 12:33pm CDT

The Brewers and free-agent lefty Boone Logan are engaged in contract discussions, writes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. It seems likely the sides will formalize an agreement, though it won’t be finalized until after the new year. Chuck Miketinac of FOX Sports San Antonio tweeted recently that a deal was in place.

Milwaukee was light on left-handed bullpen help for much of the 2017 season. Indeed, at multiple points throughout the year, the club didn’t have a lefty in its bullpen at all. Adding Logan would give the club an experienced southpaw to help fill that void, though he is coming off an injury-shortened season with the Indians.

The 33-year-old Logan hit the disabled list with a strained lat muscle in late July, and that injury ultimately proved to be season-ending in nature. He wound up tossing just 21 innings in 38 appearances as a lefty specialist in Cleveland, working to a 4.71 ERA. That said, Logan racked up a dozen strikeouts per nine against 3.9 walks per nine along with a fifty percent grounder rate.

All told, Logan seems to represent rather an appealing buy-low target. He still delivered his four and two-seam heaters at around 94 mph and posted a career-high 18.5% swinging-strike rate in 2017. Some common indicators of poor fortune are also present, as opposing hitters posted a lofty .353 batting average on balls in play and Logan stranded only 62.5% of baserunners.

So long as he can stay healthy, Logan could deliver good value on a limited commitment. He has not always produced exciting earned-run results, but has a long history of lofty whiff rates and of being hard on opposing lefties. Of course, we don’t yet know the prospective contract terms — or whether a deal will be consummate.

Indians Reportedly Decline Option On Boone Logan

By Steve Adams | November 6, 2017 at 1:37pm CDT

The Indians have declined their $7MM club option on left-handed reliever Boone Logan, tweets Tom Withers of the Associated Press. The 33-year-old Logan will receive a $1MM buyout, bringing his total earnings with Cleveland to $6.5MM.

Logan spent much of the 2016-17 offseason in search of a multi-year deal before ultimately signing a one-year pact with a club option in early February. The contract, at the time, was viewed as a coup for a Cleveland organization that lacked another established lefty reliever to pair with Andrew Miller in the ’pen. Logan’s 2016 season with the Rockies featured 46 1/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball, 11.1 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 49.5 percent ground-ball rate. Lefties batted just .139/.222/.255 against him in ’16.

His 2017 season in Cleveland, however, was considerably less successful. Logan’s season was cut in half by a strained lat muscle in mid-July, and in the end his lone year with the Indians resulted in a 4.71 earned run average in just 21 innings of work. On the plus side for Logan, his strikeout, walk, home-run and ground-ball rates all remained virtually identical. Logan actually allowed hard contact at a lower rate in 2017 and didn’t see any appreciable decline in his velocity. Rather, he was plagued by a massive spike in his BABIP (.353), which can be more reasonably expected to take a step back in 2018 and beyond.

Cleveland, though, has a tight payroll that now has even less wiggle room after the club elected to exercise its $12MM option over outfielder Michael Brantley. That Tyler Olson has emerged as an excellent left-handed complement to Miller in manager Terry Francona’s bullpen only makes the decision to walk away from Logan an easier one.

As for Logan, he’ll likely draw plenty of interest and could yet land a Major League deal with a lower base salary than last winter’s $6.5MM mark. Some clubs may wish to hold out hope that he’ll take a minor league contract in light of his season-ending injury, but Logan’s solid across-the-board peripheral numbers create hope that he’ll be able to bounce back nicely in coming seasons.

Quick Hits: Callaway, Tribe, Santana, Yankees, Long

By Mark Polishuk | October 29, 2017 at 10:50pm CDT

It was just under a decade ago that Mickey Callaway agreed to become the interim head coach for Texas A&M International University, which sparked his interest in teaching and training young players. Though Callaway pitched in Taiwan and in independent baseball in 2008, that was his final season as a player, as Callaway tells Newsday’s Marc Carig that “It was hard to concentrate on playing after feeling that I was ready to start coaching.” Carig’s profile of Callaway’s first time running a team is well worth a read, providing insight into the man who has become a big league manager for the first time after being hired by the Mets.

As we enjoy a wild Game Five of the World Series, here’s more from around baseball….

The Indians seem prepared to spend in the short-term to keep their window of contention open, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer opines during his look at the some of the Tribe’s free agents this winter. Pluto figures Carlos Santana will be issued a qualifying offer, and the team will monitor the markets of Santana and Jay Bruce to see if either could be re-signed for a reasonable amount, a la how several other veteran sluggers received smaller-than-expected deals last winter (which allowed the Tribe to sign Edwin Encarnacion). As for other decisions, Pluto thinks Bryan Shaw and Boone Logan will both be pitching elsewhere in 2018, while Joe Smith seems the likeliest of the relievers to return to Cleveland. Josh Tomlin’s $3MM club option seems like a good bet to be exercised by the team.
Also from Pluto, newly-hired pitching coach Carl Willis said two other teams had made him job offers and two others showed interest in his services. With this kind of interest, the Indians had to jump to sign the veteran pitching coach just a few days after ex-pitching coach Mickey Callaway left for the Mets.
Mets hitting coach Kevin Long has been mentioned as a candidate for the Yankees’ managerial job, though he may also be a contender to be the Yankees’ next hitting coach, George A. King III of the New York Post writes. Long previously served as the Bronx Bombers’ hitting coach from 2007-14 before moving over to his post across town with the Mets. Alan Cockrell has been the Yankees’ hitting coach for the last two years, though with a new manager coming, there are likely to be changes made to the Yankees’ coaching staff.

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