Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Padres Select Matthew Batten, Designate Sergio Alcantara For Assignment

By | at

The Padres announced they’ve selected infielder Matthew Batten onto the big league roster. Fellow infielder Sergio Alcántara has been designated for assignment to clear active and 40-man roster space.

Batten, who turned 27 last week, is in the major leagues for the first time. The Friars selected the 5’11” infielder in the 32nd round of the 2017 draft out of Quinnipiac University. Despite lacking draft or prospect pedigree, he’s played his way to the big leagues with a productive five-year showing in the minors. Batten is a .286/.368/.401 hitter in 420 minor league games, and he’s amidst a breakout 2022 campaign.

The Connecticut native has spent the entire season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. Through 264 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .299/.399/.504 with ten home runs. Batten has walked at an excellent 13.6% clip while striking out in a lower-than-average 19.7% of his trips, and he’s chipped in 13 stolen bases. El Paso is a hitter-friendly environment, but that level of production was eye-opening enough for the front office to give him an opportunity nevertheless.

Batten has a fair bit of minor league experience at each of second base, third base and shortstop. He’s seen sporadic time at first base and throughout the outfield as well, and he figures to serve a multi-positional bench role for manager Bob Melvin. That role had been filled of late by Alcántara, but he’ll lose his spot amidst a rough season at the plate.

The Padres claimed Alcántara off waivers from the division-rival Diamondbacks in early May. The out-of-options infielder stuck on the active roster and appeared in 22 games, but he offered very little offensive production during his limited at-bats. Alcántara had also struggled during his early-season stint in Arizona, and he carries just a .159/.183/.239 season line. Over a career-high 255 plate appearances with the Cubs last year, the 25-year-old (26 next month) posted a .205/.303/.327 showing.

Despite lacking much offensive punch, Alcántara has suited up for four different teams over the past three years. A highly-regarded defensive infielder, he’s capable of playing anywhere on the dirt and has drawn strong reviews from public defensive metrics for his shortstop play. The Friars will have a week to trade the defensive specialist or place him on waivers.

Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Batten’s promotion before the team announcement.

Cubs Select Narciso Crook, Place Jason Heyward On Injured List

By | at

The Cubs announced that corner outfielder Narciso Crook has been selected onto the major league roster. Center fielder Jason Heyward is headed to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 27, due to right knee inflammation. In order to create a 40-man roster spot for Crook, Michael Hermosillo has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.

Crook, 27 next month, is in position to make his major league debut. He’s spent almost a decade in pro ball, originally entering the affiliated ranks as a 23rd round pick of the Reds back in 2013. A New Jersey junior college product, Crook played in the Cincinnati farm system until last year. His performance was generally inconsistent, but the 6’3″ outfielder slowly played his way as high as Triple-A. He spent the bulk of last season at that level, hitting .245/.360/.448 in 86 games.

The Reds never selected Crook onto their 40-man roster, and he qualified for minor league free agency at the end of the year. He inked a non-roster pact with the Cubs and has spent the whole season at Triple-A Iowa. Crook is hitting .268/.375/.510 with nine home runs through 184 plate appearances, drawing walks at a strong 11.4% rate along the way. He’s striking out nearly 30% of the time with Iowa, but the power and plate discipline were enough to get him his long-awaited big league look.

Crook adds a right-handed bat to the corner outfield and designated hitter mix for manager David Ross. The trio of Ian Happ, Christopher Morel and Rafael Ortega figure to assume much of the playing time. Heyward had already begun losing reps of late, as he’s having another very rough season. Through 151 plate appearances, he owns a .204/.278/.277 line with a single longball.

Hermosillo has been out since May 8 with a left quad strain. Today’s transfer rules him out for sixty days from that time, pushing his return window back to early July. The 27-year-old outfielder began some baseball activities last week but has yet to start a minor league rehab assignment.

Dodgers Claim Ian Gibaut From Guardians

By | at

The Dodgers have claimed reliever Ian Gibaut off waivers from the Guardians, according to an announcement from GuardsInsider. Los Angeles has transferred reliever Daniel Hudson from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Cleveland designated Gibaut for assignment on Tuesday, just one day after selecting him to the big league roster. The righty did make an appearance, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings during a blowout loss to the Twins. Gibaut averaged 96.9 MPH on his fastball during that lone stint, two ticks harder than his average heater from last season. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, the 6’3″ righty had otherwise spent the season with Triple-A Columbus. He tossed 19 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, striking out a fine 24.1% of opponents against an elevated 10.1% walk rate.

Gibaut induced grounders on over the half the batted balls he allowed with the Clippers. Between his capable minor league showing and seeming 2022 velocity uptick, the Dodgers were intrigued enough to give him a look. Gibaut is out of minor league option years, so he’ll have to stick on Los Angeles’ active roster or be designated for assignment. Also a former Ray, Ranger and Twin, the 28-year-old owns a 5.19 ERA in 34 2/3 big league innings over the past four years.

Hudson’s IL transfer is a formality. The veteran righty suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee last week.

Pirates Designate Yu Chang For Assignment

By and | at

The Pirates have designated infielder Yu Chang for assignment and reinstated fellow infielder Tucupita Marcano from the Covid-related injured list. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic first pointed out that Marcano was in the clubhouse and that Chang, who is out of minor league options, was collecting his things and likely to be the corresponding roster casualty.

Chang has spent about a month in the Steel City, having been acquired from the Guardians at the end of May. He appeared in 18 games but managed only a .167/.286/.262 line, striking out in 18 of his 49 trips to the plate. That was enough for the Bucs to move on fairly quickly, as manager Derek Shelton has turned to Hoy Park and Josh VanMeter on the right side of the infield over the past few days. Chang is capable of covering all four spots on the dirt, but the Bucs’ left side is spoken for by Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes.

The 26-year-old Chang was regarded by evaluators as a solid prospect for much of his time climbing the Cleveland farm system. He reached the big leagues in 2019 and has seen sporadic MLB action in each of the past four seasons. He’s posted a meager .204/.268/.359 slash in just more than 400 career plate appearances, striking out at an alarming 29.5% rate in the process. He has rarely had much opportunity for everyday at-bats, however, and he owns a more serviceable .258/.332/.427 mark over parts of four Triple-A seasons.

Within the next week, the Bucs will trade Chang or try to run him through waivers. That Pittsburgh sent cash to Cleveland for him a month ago indicates they believed there was a good chance he’d be claimed off waivers or acquired by another team at the time. Whether that’ll still be the case after another month of struggles remains to be seen, but Chang’s prospect pedigree and affordability could hold some appeal. Any club that acquires him would need to keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment themselves.

Mariners Sign Chris Mazza To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Mariners have signed right-hander Chris Mazza to a minor league contract, as announced by Triple-A Tacoma media relations director Paul Braverman (Twitter link). Mazza, a client of NPG Sports, has already joined the Rainiers, per Braverman..

Mazza, 32, spent the season to this point in the Rays organization, though the bulk of that time came on the 60-day injured list due to back troubles. He’d been on a minor league rehab assignment with the Rays, but at the end of his 20-day rehab window, Tampa Bay opted to reinstate Mazza and designate him for assignment rather than add him back to the big league roster. The right-hander is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to either cut him loose or carry him on the roster. Mazza went unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency last week.

This will be the second stint in the Mariners organization for Mazza, who signed a minor league deal with Seattle back in Aug. 2018. He finished out the season with their Double-A affiliate but wound up going to the Mets in the minor league phase of that year’s Rule 5 Draft.

Mazza has since spent parts of four seasons in the Majors, seeing time with the Mets, Red Sox and Rays. He’s compiled a 5.35 ERA in 79 innings, striking out batters at an 18.5% clip against a 9.2% walk rate and 36.3% grounder rate. He logged 27 1/3 innings with the Rays a year ago, pitching to a 4.61 ERA in a career-high 14 Major League appearances.

Looking past those sub-par strikeout and walk rates, Mazza has shown a repeated knack for inducing weak contact. That was truer than ever last season, when Mazza yielded just an 85.5 mph average exit velocity and a meager 29.7% hard-hit rate as a member of the Rays. He couldn’t sustain that in 2022, when he was tagged seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, though it seems fair to wonder whether he was ever pitching at full strength this season.

Regardless, Mazza will give the M’s some upper-level bullpen depth with big league experience and a solid track record in Triple-A, where he’s pitched to a 3.68 ERA with a solid 23.9% strikeout rate and a strong 7.5% walk rate in 142 career innings.

Red Sox Designate Silvino Bracho For Assignment

By | at

The Red Sox announced Thursday that right-hander Silvino Bracho has been designated for assignment and that infielder Yolmer Sanchez, who’d been up as a Covid-related substitute, has been returned to Triple-A Worcester. The pair of moves opens roster space for righty Tanner Houck and outfielder Jarren Duran to be reinstated from the restricted list. Both missed the Sox’ three-game series in Toronto due to vaccination status and travel restrictions.

Bracho, 30 next month, didn’t appear in a game with the Sox after having his contract selected to the roster. He’s spent the entire season so far in Worcester, where he’s pitched to a 3.16 ERA with an outstanding 36-to-4 K/BB ratio (29.3 K%, 3.3 BB%) in 31 1/3 innings of work. Had he gotten into a game during this Sox stint, it would’ve marked his first MLB action since 2020 and just his second MLB appearance since back in 2018.

Signed to a minor league deal in early March, Bracho has appeared in parts of five Major League seasons, all coming as a member of the Diamondbacks. He turned in impressive results both in 2015 and 2018, and he has at times missed bats at above-average rates. However, Bracho has been quite homer-prone throughout his big league tenure (1.71 HR/9) and hasn’t consistently racked up strikeouts or limited walks effectively enough to offset the damage from those round-trippers. In 89 2/3 Major League frames, he carries a 4.82 ERA.

The Sox will have a week to trade Bracho or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. Lack of track record and a pedestrian fastball typically combine to limit interest in journeymen of this mold, but Bracho’s 2022 showing in Worcester is impressive enough that another club might have interest in placing a speculative claim or swinging a minor trade. If he does pass through waivers unclaimed, he’ll have the ability to reject the assignment in favor of free agency (both by virtue of having three-plus years of MLB service and having been previously outrighted in the past).

Rays Announce Several Roster Moves

By | at

The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Javy Guerra and recalled righty Phoenix Sanders from Triple-A Durham, per a team announcement. They’ll take the roster spots of left-hander Brooks Raley and righty Ryan Thompson, who have been placed on the restricted list in advance of the Rays’ road series in Toronto.

Tampa Bay also announced that left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who had been slated to start tonight’s game in Toronto, has been scratched and placed on the family medical emergency list. Matt Wisler is instead serving as an opener tonight, and lefty Ryan Yarbrough has been recalled from Triple-A in his place. He’ll be an option to work the bulk of tonight’s innings behind Wisler.

This will be the second stint of the season for Guerra with the Rays. Once a top shortstop prospect with Boston, Guerra moved to the mound during his time in the Padres’ minor league system and has since had brief big league stints as a reliever with Friars and Rays. He pitched 7 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay earlier this season but was rocked for nine runs on 11 hits and four walks with four strikeouts during that brief spell.

Guerra, however, has been lights-out in Triple-A, where he owns a 1.29 ERA with a huge 32.1% strikeout rate against an 8.3% walk rate in 21 innings this season. Half the balls put in play against him have been grounders, and although Guerra served up three long balls in the Majors earlier this season, he’s yet to yield a round-tripper with Durham. While he’s being selected to the roster out of necessity at the moment, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned another look anyhow with that standout performance.

The 27-year-old Sanders made his MLB debut with the Rays earlier this year and has pitched well both in the big leagues (1.80 ERA in 10 frames) and in Durham (3.38 ERA in 18 2/3 innings). The Rays’ 2017 tenth-round pick, Sanders only had his contract selected to the Majors this season, so he’s in the first of what can be three minor league option years for Tampa Bay.

Yarbrough, 30, was the Rays’ innings leader from 2019-21 but has seen his results trend in the wrong direction dating back to the 2021 season. He was optioned for the first time in three years earlier this season and has since pitched 19 innings of 4.74 ERA ball in Durham. He won’t have an easy task, returning to face a righty-heavy Blue Jays lineup at the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, but an impressive showing could help him to pitch his way back into the big league plans.

Senate Committee Examining MLB’s Antitrust Exemption

By | at

This week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reached out to the non-profit group Advocates For Minor Leaguers for further information on Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption. Evan Drellich of the Athletic and Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter thread) were among those to cover the development in detail.

The focus of the current inquiry is on how the antitrust exemption affects minor league player pay, the 2019-20 reduction of the number of minor league teams, and the league’s acquisition process for international amateurs. Senators from both parties released statements, which can be found in Drellich’s piece, expressing support for a reexamination of the exemption. MLB has not commented on the matter.

The exemption has been in place for a century. It dates back to a 1922 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that MLB was an intrastate affair outside the purview of the interstate commerce being regulated by federal antitrust law. In subsequent cases, the Court has acknowledged its original reasoning was overly simplistic and no longer applicable in declining to expand the exemption to other professional sports leagues. The Court has nevertheless left the onus on Congress to overturn MLB’s exemption with a new piece of legislation, which it has yet to do.

Passan and Drellich examine the implications of the antitrust exemption in greater detail. Its arguably biggest impact has been in allowing teams to fix low salaries for minor leaguers, most of whom are not part of the MLB Players Association and do not have their own union. Drellich notes that other issues like television blackouts and the process for relocating MLB franchises may also be impacted were Congress to modify or lift the exemption.

While an overhaul of the antitrust exemption could have wide-ranging effects on affiliated ball, this is hardly the first time Congresspeople have hinted at the possibility. In recent years, legislators on different sides of the political aisle have publicly expressed a desire to reconsider or revoke the exemption. Those have come in response to MLB decisions as varied as the minor league restructuring and the call to move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver. To this point, Congress has not moved forward with any serious threat to the exemption; it’s possible, seemingly likely, this inquiry from the Judiciary Committee also winds up blowing over without an alteration to the existing system.

The Committee’s examination into the international amateur market comes at a time when that process may be nearing an overhaul anyhow. MLB’s desire for a draft to replace the international signing period proved a sticking point in last offseason’s collective bargaining negotiations — one which has yet to be resolved. The MLBPA refused to sign off on an international draft during the winter, and the parties agreed to extend their window for those talks. If the league and union agree on an international draft by July 25, the qualifying offer system — which serves as a drag on the market for some free agents by attaching draft pick forfeiture for signing them — would be eliminated. If the parties do not agree on an international draft, the current amateur signing process and QO will remain in place, likely to again be a key topic during the post-2026 CBA negotiations.

In a separate post Wednesday, Drellich reexamined many of the potential effects that could arise from an overhaul of the international amateur system. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark declined to delve into specifics on the status of negotiations, telling The Athletic:

“We agreed in March to explore whether a negotiated and mutually acceptable agreement could be reached for an international draft. Additional time on this complex issue was needed precisely because the league’s proposal was not and is not anywhere close to acceptable. The league committed to further negotiation on these complex issues, and we expect those discussions to continue in the coming days and weeks. Whether in the end a negotiated, mutually acceptable agreement can be reached remains to be seen.“

Athletics To Select Vimael Machin

By | at

The A’s are set to select the contract of infielder Vimael Machin from Triple-A Las Vegas, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com (Twitter link). He and right-hander Adrian Martinez are both on their way up from Triple-A Las Vegas. Martinez, already on the 40-man roster, is expected to start today’s game for Oakland. The A’s will need to make a pair of corresponding 26-man roster moves, but they already have an open 40-man spot to accommodate Machin’s selection.

Now 28 years old, Machin was the Athletics’ selection in the 2019 Rule 5 Draft (coming out of the Cubs organization). The versatile infielder stuck on the A’s roster through the shortened 2020 season, hitting just .206/.296/.238 in 71 plate appearances. He saw more limited MLB action in 2021 when he batted .125/.200/.125 in 37 trips to the plate, and the team was able to pass him through outright waivers this past April, thus removing him from the 40-man roster.

Machin has always been a strong hitter in Triple-A, and this year has been no exception. Through 292 plate appearances, he’s turned in a .324/.401/.457 batting line (120 wRC+) with four homers, 16 doubles and three triples — all while walking more often than he’s struck out (11.3% to 10.3%). He’s played all four infield positions in Las Vegas this season — albeit only one game at first base — and has also done so in the Majors.

It’s easy to take a look at Machin’s big league numbers and completely write him off, but he’s only had 108 plate appearances in the Majors and it’s hard not to be intrigued by his .307/.400/.468 output in 741 Triple-A plate appearances. At the very least, Machin has the potential to be a bat-first utilityman.

As for the 25-year-old Martinez, he’s one of two players the A’s received from the Padres in the trade that sent Sean Manaea to San Diego. Martinez made his MLB debut earlier this season and tossed 5 1/3 shutout frames in a no-decision over the Tigers. (Oakland ultimately won the game.)

Martinez has had a rockier go of it in Triple-A this year, though he’s been far better after a rough month of April that saw him yield 15 runs in 14 1/3 innings. Overall, Martinez has a 5.63 ERA in 64 innings, but that’s come in an overwhelmingly hitter-friendly setting. His 26.4% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 47.4% ground-ball rate are all more encouraging. With two minor league option years remaining beyond the current season, he ought to have ample opportunity to establish himself as a possible regular in the Oakland rotation over the next few seasons — particularly with Daulton Jefferies likely done for the season and Frankie Montas quite likely to be traded at some point in the next five weeks.

Outrights: Astudillo, Romero

By | at

A couple of recent DFA resolutions to start the morning here at MLBTR…

  • Utilityman Willians Astudillo went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Jacksonville by the Marlins, per the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. The 30-year-old Astudillo appeared in 17 games with the Fish, posting a .270/.289/.351 batting line in 38 plate appearances. True to form, Astudillo struck out just twice and walked only once in that span. That’s par for the course, as Astudillo uncanny bat-to-ball skills and overwhelmingly free-swinging nature have resulted in minuscule 4.7% strikeout and 1.9% walk rates through 571 Major League plate appearances, mostly coming with the Twins from 2018-21. Unfortunately, while he is perhaps more adept than anyone in the game at putting the ball in play, he rarely does so with any authority (career 86 mph average exit velocity, 31% hard-hit rate). The catcher-turned-super-utilityman has also played every position on the diamond, including six innings of mop-up relief in blowouts over the past few years. Astudillo technically reached three years of Major League service time just days before being designated for assignment, so he should have the ability to reject the assignment in favor of free agency if he chooses.
  • Outfielder Stefen Romero has been assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City by the Dodgers after clearing outright waivers, per the team’s transaction log. Romero made it back to the Majors last week after a six-year absence and a lengthy run in Japan, so it was somewhat deflating to see that the Dodgers never actually used him in a game before designating him for assignment. Romero doesn’t have three years of service and hasn’t been previously outrighted, so he’ll head back to OKC in hopes of earning another look at a later date. After hitting .264/.331/.497 in five seasons over in Japan, Romero has posted a similar .270/.337/.461 slash through 102 plate appearances so far in Triple-A with the Dodgers.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top