Giants Designate Tyler Austin
The Giants have designated outfielder/first baseman Tyler Austin for assignment, the team announced and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to cover on Twitter. That move opens 40-man and active roster space for newly acquired second baseman Scooter Gennett.
In other roster moves that don’t implicate control rights, the Giants have added outfielder Steven Duggar to the active roster. Righty Dereck Rodriguez was optioned down to make way.
Austin, 27, hasn’t been able to take advantage of his opportunity in San Francisco, making him the latest position player to be sent packing from the MLB roster after receiving a shot. Through 147 plate appearances on the year, Austin carries a .185/.279/.400 batting line with eight home runs and 57 strikeouts.
Phillies Place Adam Morgan On 10-Day IL
The Phillies have placed southpaw Adam Morgan on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain. His placement, which opens a roster spot for the activation of just-acquired outfielder Corey Dickerson, is retroactive to the first of the month.
It isn’t known yet precisely how long Morgan will be down, but it seems his season is at risk, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets. Fortunately, surgery won’t be required, but it’s disappointing news nevertheless for a club that has been racked by bullpen injuries and performance downturns. The 29-year-old hurler isn’t exactly a premium late-inning arm, but he was an important part of the relief picture for the Phils.
Since converting full-time to a bullpen role in the 2017 campaign, Morgan has produced 133 2/3 innings of 3.97 ERA ball in Philadelphia. He’s carrying 9.6 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in that run. It has been much of the same this year, with Morgan turning in solid but hardly dominant overall work.
That characterization tends to understate Morgan’s value. He has jumped up to a 15.4% swinging-strike after a dip in 2018. And while he’s a marginal performer against right-handed hitters, he has largely dominated lefties. This year, they’re slashing a putrid .143/.150/.204. They struggled to meager .267/.350/.314 and .193/.245/.352 slashes in the prior two seasons.
In sum, Morgan is an important match-up piece for a team that will need to squeeze out close victories if it’s to reach the postseason. Without him, the club will rely upon Jose Alvarez and Ranger Suarez as lefty relief options.
Angels Designate Jonathan Lucroy
The Angels have designated veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot goes to just-acquired receiver Max Stassi.
Additionally, the Halos announced that southpaw Adam McCreery was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. McCreery was designated for assignment recently.
Lucroy. 33, was designated for assignment right on the heels of his activation from the injured list. He had suffered a concussion and broken nose in a scary collision at the plate.
While the Halos forewent a chance to swap Lucroy at the deadline, it would have been tough to swing a deal due to the quick succession of transactions. Stassi only became available after the Astros added Martin Maldonado earlier that day. And it was the first game back for Lucroy.
Now, Lucroy can’t be traded. If and when he’s placed on outright waivers, rival organizations will have a chance to claim his contract, which would mean taking on the remainder of the $3.35MM he’s guaranteed this year. (The deal also includes bonuses based upon games started as a catcher and plate appearances.) If he clears, Lucroy can reject an outright assignment and keep his guaranteed money, signing on with another club as he chooses. In that case, the Halos would stand to save a pro-rated version of the MLB minimum salary for any time Lucroy spends on the MLB roster of a different team.
While Lucroy likely won’t be seen as a difference-maker, he’s an experienced veteran who could improve some contenders — or, at least, bolster the depth at a key position. Through 268 plate appearances this year, Lucroy carries a marginal .242/.310/.371 batting line that’s only slightly better than his output from the prior season.
Braves Release Luiz Gohara
The Braves announced today that they have released lefty Luiz Gohara. He had been dropped from the 40-man roster as part of the team’s series of deadline moves; obviously, he ultimately cleared waivers.
Gohara, who just turned 23, has shown quite a bit of talent but has been limited by health and personal issues in recent seasons. He has been sidelined all year long and is presently rehabbing a shoulder procedure that is expected to cost him the remainder of the campaign.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for Gohara and the Braves ever since he landed in Atlanta in early 2017. The burly southpaw turned in a superlative 2017 campaign, dominating in a spring through the minors and showing quite a lot of promise in a five-start MLB debut.
Entering the 2018 season, it seemed Gohara would help anchor the Atlanta rotation. But the youngster endured a difficult time emotionally that coincided with arm issues and a battle with his weight. The talent was still evident, but Gohara was not able to have the anticipated impact at the MLB level.
Accordingly, Gohara came into camp this year in search of a rebound. There was cause for hope at the outset, but his balky shoulder proved unwilling. No doubt multiple MLB organizations will show interest in helping the Brazilian hurler try to find his way back to the majors, now that there’s no need to place him on a 40-man roster to do so.
Mariners Select Reggie McClain
The Mariners announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Reggie McClain. He’ll meet the team in Houston and join manager Scott Servais’ bullpen mix.
McClain, 26, was Seattle’s 13th-round draft pick back in 2016 and has posted strong numbers at three different minor league levels this season (Class-A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A). In all, he’s tallied 72 2/3 innings of 2.23 ERA ball with 8.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.5 HR/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 57 percent.
That success corresponds with a shift from the rotation to the bullpen; McClain struggled to keep his ERA south of 5.00 in two trips through the Class-A Advanced California League in 2016-17 before breaking out as a fast riser with the move to a relief role in 2019. He’s not ranked among the club’s top prospects, but his excellent season to date will earn him a chance to carve out a spot in the Mariners’ bullpen moving forward.
Seattle’s 40-man roster is now up to a total of 38 players.
Indians Release Neil Ramirez, Trayce Thompson
Right-hander Neil Ramirez and outfielder Trayce Thompson have been granted their release from the Indians organization, per an announcement from the team’s Triple-A affiliate. Both former big leaguers are free agents and can now sign with another club.
Ramirez, 30, was with the Indians earlier this season but struggled to a 5.40 ERA and allowed five home runs in 16 2/3 innings. Ramirez notched an 18-to-9 K/BB ratio in that time and has a lengthy history of missing bats, but he’s struggled to throw strikes and command the ball within the zone throughout his career. In 171 1/3 innings as a Major Leaguer, he’s logged a 4.41 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 1.63 HR/9 and a 30.1 percent ground-ball rate.
Thompson, the younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, played 51 big league games between the White Sox and the A’s in 2018. The No. 61 overall pick by the White Sox in the 2009 draft, the now-28-year-old Thompson was a fairly well-regarded minor league talent but hasn’t found sustained success. He’s batted .206/.276/.389 in 589 MLB plate appearances and was hitting .219/.294/.482 with 24 homers, 10 doubles, three triples and eight steals in 89 Triple-A games this season. Strikeouts have increasingly become an issue for Thompson, as evidenced by this year’s 36.1 percent rate in Columbus.
Twins Acquire Brandon Barnes
The Twins have acquired outfielder Brandon Barnes from the Indians, per an announcement from the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus. While the move will surely generate some confusion because it comes after the July 31 trade deadline, Barnes was still tradeable by virtue of the fact that he’s on a minor league deal and at no point had been on a 40-man roster this season. (We took a look at how these and other minor moves could still occur yesterday here at MLBTR.)
Cleveland didn’t specify a return, though it’s quite likely that the veteran Barnes was merely flipped to Minnesota for cash. The Twins have been looking for outfield depth in the minors — they signed Ramon Flores out of indie ball two days ago — and the Indians, conversely, have come into some newfound outfield depth. The trade of Trevor Bauer netted them both Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig, thus pushing Greg Allen and Jake Bauers to Triple-A Columbus and squeezing Barnes out of his everyday job there.
Barnes, 33, has posted a .271/.336/.529 batting line with 24 home runs, 25 doubles and nine steals in 420 plate appearances with Cleveland’s top affiliate in Columbus this season. He’s spent parts of six seasons at the Major League level, most recently appearing in 19 games with Cleveland just last season. Barnes is capable of playing all three outfield spots but carries an underwhelming .242/.290/.357 batting line through 1274 big league plate appearances. He’ll give the Twins some depth in Triple-A Rochester.
Red Sox To Place Heath Hembree On IL
Red Sox right-hander Heath Hembree is headed back to the injured list due to an elbow strain, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Hembree also missed about three weeks earlier this summer owing to a similar injury.
Hembree, 30, hasn’t looked right whatsoever in his return from that prior IL stint. He’s made a dozen appearances and totaled only nine innings while yielding 10 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits (including three homers) and six walks with 10 strikeouts. As Speier points out, he’s also displayed diminished velocity readings since being activated.
Hembree punched out 35 hitters and logged a 2.51 ERA through 28 2/3 innings prior to that initial injury. It’s not clear how long he’s expected to miss, but the injury is yet another setback to a Red Sox relief corps that surprisingly went unaddressed at the trade deadline (and in the offseason). The elimination of August trade waivers all but eliminates the possibility of Boston adding any truly notable help to the relief corps, although there are still some ways to add some depth to what they already have in house.
AL East Notes: Lowe, Mancini, Fisher
The Rays‘ decision to option Nate Lowe back to Triple-A Durham following the trade deadline was a “very tough call,” manager Kevin Cash tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With the acquisition of Jesus Aguilar, however, the Rays had three first basemen on the roster and Ji-Man Choi‘s lack of minor league options once again came into play. Tampa Bay seems loath to risk losing Choi on waivers, but Lowe has handily outperformed him at the plate so far, hitting .294/.362/.510 to Choi’s .265/.361/.423. Choi has shown better knowledge of the strike zone, but Lowe nevertheless appears to be the better offensive option between the two (even if he’s had some good fortune in terms of a .362 average on balls in play). Cash expects that Lowe will be back up with the club “soon,” but that redundancy will eventually be an issue the Rays need to address.
More out of the AL East…
- Trey Mancini remains in Baltimore after the trade deadline, but the decision not to move him doesn’t mean an extension is the next step for the slugger. “Looking at contract extensions is just not at the forefront of my plate right now,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, “but certainly he’s an attractive guy to have here for a while.” It’s not the first time that Elias, hired to spearhead the Orioles’ rebuild this offseason, has suggested that he views Mancini as a potential long-term piece. But Mancini is already controlled through 2022 — his age-30 season. Given that he won’t even reach arbitration until this winter, there’s simply not much urgency to extend Mancini, even if he’s in the midst of the best season of his young career. Through 443 plate appearances, Mancini has posted a robust .282/.343/.539 slash (130 OPS+) with a career-high 25 home runs. Elias also praised the recent play of outfielder Anthony Santander the manner in which he has begun to establish himself as a viable big league hitter.
- The Blue Jays have a crowded outfield mix, but newly acquired Derek Fisher is going to get regular playing time and an opportunity to establish himself as a fixture in the Toronto outfield, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet writes. Most of Fisher’s reps will come in center or right field, as Toronto doesn’t want to disrupt Lourdes Gurriel Jr.‘s transition to left field (or his offensive breakout). That leaves Fisher, Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk and Billy McKinney vying for playing time between center, right and occasional reps at DH. Hernandez has been on an otherworldly tear, clubbing seven homers and three doubles in his past 15 games, which should help to keep him in the lineup. If there’s to be an odd man out, McKinney seems the likeliest candidate, given that he has minor league options remaining. But the semi logjam also serves as a reminder that Randal Grichuk hasn’t performed anywhere near as well as hoped in the first season of the head-scratching extension to which the Jays signed him back in April. He’s played solid defense, but Grichuk hasn’t exactly seized an everyday role with his .232/.290/.418 batting line.
Quick Hits: Salazar, Dodgers, Mets, Asdrubal
Oft-injured Indians right-hander Danny Salazar took a major league mound for the first time since 2017 on Thursday, but it wasn’t a triumphant return. Salazar lasted just four innings, in which he allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks (with two strikeouts), in a 7-1 loss to Houston. It turns out Salazar was attempting to pitch through a groin issue, Joe Noga of cleveland.com was among those to cover. Salazar, who had been out with shoulder troubles, threw mostly changeups during his 66-pitch comeback and never exceeded 88.3 mph on the radar gun. That’s an enormous drop for a hurler who often overpowered hitters with 95 mph average fastball velocity from 2013-17. Salazar expressed confidence after the game that he’ll be fine, but the Indians will re-evaluate him Friday. It’s a situation that bears watching with the wild card-leading Indians’ rotation now much shallower in the wake of this week’s Trevor Bauer trade.
More on a couple other franchises…
- The Dodgers’ Joc Pederson first base experiment is over for at least the time being, manager Dave Roberts told Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters Thursday. The outfielder has picked up 20 appearances at first this year, and during that 149-inning span, Pederson has made six errors and posted minus-3 Defensive Runs Saved. Right fielder Cody Bellinger will now shift to first against right-handed starters, while Pederson will take left, A.J. Pollock center and Alex Verdugo right in those situations. Max Muncy could handle first on occasion versus lefties, according to Roberts (Tyler White manned the position versus Padres southpaw Joey Lucchesi on Thursday).
- More from Castillo, who writes that just-acquired Dodgers infielder Jedd Gyorko will begin a rehab assignment at the Double-A level Saturday. Gyorko, whom the Dodgers picked up in a trade with the Cardinals on deadline day, has been out since June 8 because of back and wrist issues. He’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list next week, though he’ll first need to amass around 40 to 50 minor league at-bats, per Roberts.
- Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera enjoyed a successful stint with the Mets from 2016 until they traded him to the Phillies last summer. Cabrera, who signed with the Rangers over the winter, is about to become a free agent after they designated him for assignment Wednesday, but the Mets don’t appear to have interest in a reunion, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. Based on his subpar 2019 production, Cabrera wouldn’t be an upgrade over Mets No. 1 third baseman Todd Frazier. The rest of the club’s starting infield is spoken for with Pete Alonso at first, Robinson Cano at second and Amed Rosario at short, and reserve Adeiny Hechavarria is regarded as a much steadier defensive option than Cabrera.