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Craig Gentry Retires

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Outfielder Craig Gentry, a veteran of 10 big league seasons, has retired at the age of 35, agent Bob Garber tells MLBTR. Gentry was with the Giants during Spring Training and signed a minor league contract with the Rockies last month. He played in only three games with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate (and collected seven hits), however, before deciding to spend more time with his family rather than pursue a return to the Majors.

Though he was never a star or even an everyday player, the fleet-footed Gentry enjoyed a solid run as a defensive-minded platoon outfielder with the Rangers and A’s from 2011-14 — during which time he hit .278/.353/.355 with four homers, 35 doubles, nine triples and 75 steals. Paired with his strong glovework in the outfield, that performance checked in at 8.5 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs, and 9.6 WAR according to Baseball-Reference. Most recently, Gentry appeared in 145 games with the Orioles from 2017-18, hitting at a .265/.326/.362 clip in a familiar reserve outfielder’s role.

Gentry’s career will come to a close with a .262/.333/.339 batting line in 601 MLB games and 1402 plate appearances between the Rangers, A’s, Angels and Orioles. Defensive metrics were always bullish on him, as evidenced by a career +53 Defensive Runs Saved mark and a +31.9 Ultimate Zone Rating across all three outfield slots. The 2006 10th-round pick earned about $7MM in his playing career. Best wishes to Gentry in his post-playing days.

AL West Notes: Bolt, Rangers, Seager

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The Athletics are promoting outfield prospect Skye Bolt for his big league debut this weekend, as first reported by AthleticsFarm.com (on Twitter). He’ll step into the roster spot of Ryan Dull, who was optioned to Triple-A following yesterday’s game. Oakland spent its recent series against the Red Sox operating with a two-man bench, so the addition of Bolt will give the club some much needed flexibility on the position-player side of the roster. A fourth-round pick in 2015, the switch-hitting Bolt is batting .325/.400/.675 with six homers and three steals through 90 plate appearances in Triple-A  Las Vegas so far in the season. Despite his 80-grade name and strong start to the year, Bolt is regarded as more of a fourth outfield type than a potential outfield cornerstone in Oakland. He ranks 17th among A’s prospects at Fangraphs and 19th at both MLB.com and Baseball America. The aptly named Bolt draws praise for his above above-average speed and arm strength, which allow him to capably handle all three outfield slots.

Here’s more from the AL West..

  • Rangers 2018 second-round pick Owen White will miss the remainder of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The right-hander joins 2018 fourth-rounder Mason Englert as the second Rangers prospect from last year’s draft to undergo the procedure in recent weeks. The pair of injuries comes in spite of the Rangers organization keeping both White and Englert from pitching last summer in an effort to help manage the workloads of young, recent draftees. Both White and Englert were slated to start the season in short-season Class-A and were already years from being options at the big league level, but the loss of a pair of high-upside teenagers for a full season before either even pitches for a minor league affiliate is undoubtedly maddening for a club that has already been snakebit by pitching injuries in recent years.
  • Kyle Seager tells Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times that his surgically repaired finger is back up to full strength and he feels ready to play, but the Mariners third baseman will still miss just over three more weeks by virtue of the fact that he’s on the 60-day injured list. Seager’s recovery is well ahead of schedule, and the 31-year-old figures to head out on a rehab assignment at some point between now and his May 25 return date in order to get him some in-game reps after sitting out since tearing a tendon in his finger on March 8. As Divish notes, his eventual return will create a crunch at the corner infield spots and designated hitter. Seager will join Ryon Healy as a third base option, while Healy, Daniel Vogelbach, Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce are all options at first base and DH. A trade can ever be ruled out with ever-active GM Jerry Dipoto at the helm, though certainly Seager wouldn’t be the player to be moved; he’s owed $15.4MM through season’s end, plus another $19MM in 2020 and $18MM in 2021. His contract also contains a $15MM club option that is converted to a player option if he is traded. Divish suggests that Healy had previously been a candidate to be optioned to Triple-A, though he’s off to a .235/.301/.471 start (110 OPS+) with five homers and a league-leading 13 doubles in 2019.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/1/19

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We’ll track Wednesday’s minor transactions from around the league here…

  • Left-hander Justin Nicolino has been released by the Twins organization, per the Triple-A International League transactions log. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the former Marlins southpaw posted a 5.12 ERA with a 13-to-8 K/BB ratio in 19 1/3 innings with the Red Wings prior to returning to the open market. Now 27, Nicolino was once a well-regarded prospect but has never managed to put together a consistent strikeout pitch. He’s averaged just 5.4 strikeouts per nine innings in Triple-A and 3.8 K/9 in the big leagues. To his credit, Nicolino has a career 4.01 ERA in Triple-A and 4.65 mark in the Majors despite that lack of missed bats — thanks largely to his strong control. Most recently, Nicolino spent the ’18 season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a 4.69 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 39.4 percent grounder rate in 134 2/3 innings.

A.J. Pollock To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock will undergo surgery to remove the metal hardware that was inserted in his the growth plate of his right elbow back in a 2016 procedure, manager Dave Roberts announced Wednesday (Twitter links via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and Pedro Moura of The Athletic).

Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets that the Dodgers feel the fact that the metal can be removed entirely, rather than replaced is “relatively” good news, as it means Pollock’s growth plate has healed sufficiently, though obviously the loss is a blow to the club. There’s no timeline on a return, though Roberts noted that Pollock is expected back this season.

The Dodgers were well aware of the injury risks associated with Pollock when signing him to a four-year contract this offseason. The 31-year-old is an undeniably talented all-around player, but he’s topped 500 plate appearances just once in his big league career. Pollock averaged just 101 games played and 402 plate appearances per season dating back to 2014.

Most notably, Pollock was limited to only a dozen games back in 2016 after suffering a fractured elbow while sliding headfirst on a play at the plate — the injury that necessitated the surgery that ultimately led to this new procedure. It’s been a slow start to the season for Pollock, likely in part due to this infection, as he’s hit just .223/.287/.330 through 115 PAs — including just three hits in his past 29 trips to the plate.

With Pollock sidelined indefinitely, it stands to reason that Alex Verdugo will see an increased role in the outfield. Chris Taylor, too, could see an increase in playing time. Beyond that pair of center-field options, the Dodgers have Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson as options, and versatile Enrique Hernandez is plenty experienced there. The team could get another option to add back into the mix eventually as well; Roberts also indicated that Andrew Toles has reported to the team’s Spring Training facility in Arizona and is beginning to work toward a return to the club (Twitter link via DiGiovanna).

Note: An earlier version of this post inaccurately indicated that the hardware in Pollock’s elbow had been dislodged. That is not the case. My apologies on the error.

Giants Select Stephen Vogt, Option Ty Blach

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5:08pm: The move is official. Vogt will take the 40-man spot that was opened earlier today when pitching prospect Logan Webb was placed on the restricted list due to an 80-game PED suspension. In order to open a spot on the active roster, San Francisco has optioned left-hander Ty Blach to Triple-A Sacramento.

10:15am: The Giants will select the contract of veteran backstop Stephen Vogt today, he tells Janie McCauley of the Associated Press (Twitter link). Corresponding roster moves aren’t yet known.

Vogt, 34, will return to the majors for the first time since the 2017 campaign. He ultimately missed the entirety of the 2018 season with a shoulder injury that required shoulder surgery and at one point looked to be career threatening.

Through 1,808 career plate appearances at the game’s highest level, Vogt owns a .251/.310/.416 slash line. At his peak with the Athletics, he was among the game’s best-hitting catchers for a brief stretch and was named to a pair of American League All-Star teams.

Vogt has shown signs that he’s ready to be a contributor in the majors once again. He’s off to a strong .241/.389/.500 slash with four home runs through 72 plate appearances with the Giants’ top affiliate. Better still, he has drawn 14 walks against 11 strikeouts. The Giants already have a pair of catchers on the roster in Buster Posey and Erik Kratz, so it’s not clear how Vogt will factor into the catching mix just yet, but he’ll at the very least give the Giants an additional veteran bat off the bench.

Mets Place Jeurys Familia On Injured List, Select Ryan O’Rourke

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The Mets are placing right-hander Jeurys Familia on the 10-day injured list due to a shoulder injury, the team announced to reporters today (Twitter links via Anthony Rieber of Newsday and Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). Familia has already received an injection in his ailing shoulder. In his place on the active roster, the Mets will select the contract of left-handed reliever Ryan O’Rourke. New York has an open 40-man spot, so an additional corresponding move will not be necessary.

Per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link), Familia alerted the Mets to the discomfort in his shoulder this morning. He subsequently underwent an MRI that revealed a Bennett lesion/bone spur.

There’s no clear timetable on his return to the club at present, though the ailment helps to explain the rough start to the season for the 29-year-old. In 14 1/3 innings, Familia has been tagged for 11 runs (10 earned) on 16 hits and a sky-high 13 walks against 15 strikeouts. His current 95.5 mph average fastball is a career-low and down 0.7 mph from last season, and the extreme difficulty throwing strikes is out of character for the righty as well; over the past half decade prior to 2019, Familia had averaged 3.4 walks per nine innings pitched.

Familia signed the second-largest contract of any reliever this offseason at three years and a total of $30MM, but he’s clearly not off to the start he’d envisioned. With him on the shelf for a yet-undetermined period of time, it stands to reason that Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman will be tasked with serving as the primary right-handed setup men to closer Edwin Diaz. Gsellman leads Mets relievers with 18 2/3 innings pitched, though the Mets’ rigid use of their relievers could shoehorn him into a more limited eighth-inning role.

The 31-year-old O’Rourke will be returning to the Majors for the first time since the 2016 season. The southpaw saw 47 innings worth of action with the Twins in 2015-16, but Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2017 season and much of his 2018 campaign. O’Rourke spent last year in the Orioles organization but was only able to toss 14 1/3 innings of rehab work in the minors by season’s end. He landed with the Mets on a minor league deal early in the offseason.

So far in Syracuse, O’Rourke has pitched to a 4.61 ERA with a 14-to-6 K/BB ratio in 13 2/3 innings of work. Lefties are just 3-for-16 with a pair of walks and nine strikeouts in 18 plate appearances against him (.188/.278/.188), and that type of performance against same-handed opponents is rather characteristic of the 6’3″, 230-pound O’Rourke. In his two seasons with Minnesota, he dominated left-handed batters, limiting them to an embarrassing .134/.244/.239 slash in 80 plate appearances. Right-handed hitters, however, fared much better against O’Rourke, hitting him at a .250/.350/.390 clip.

Brewers Outright Alex Wilson, Jake Petricka

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The Brewers have outrighted right-handed relievers Alex Wilson and Jake Petricka, per a club announcement. Both were designated for assignment recently.

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel suggests on Twitter that the veteran hurlers will accept their assignments to Triple-A, though that is not yet official. Both would have the ability to decline and become free agents if they prefer; with more than five years of MLB service they’d each also be able to keep any guaranteed money.

Wilson is playing on a $750K base salary under the minors deal he inked with the Milwaukee organization. It’s not known whether he signed an advance consent clause upon being added to the MLB roster. Petricka agreed to a split contract when he inked with the Brewers.

Neither pitcher was at his best in the early going for the Brewers. Wilson was clobbered for a dozen earned runs in 11 1/3 frames. Petricka allowed only three earned in eight innings but managed an ugly 3:6 K/BB ratio.

Padres Promote Cal Quantrill

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TODAY: Quantrill’s contract has been selected. Reliever Phil Maton was optioned down, while righty Miguel Diaz was shifted to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man space.

YESTERDAY: The Padres will promote pitching prospect Cal Quantrill to the majors this Wednesday, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. He’s expected to start the club’s game that day in Atlanta.

Quantrill, 24, was the eighth overall pick in the 2016 draft and commanded top-100 leaguewide prospect billing entering the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. His rise up the rankings stalled out after a suboptimal ’18 effort, though there’s still plenty of reason to hope he’ll be a quality MLB hurler.

This promotion represents a continuation of the Friars’ strategy for managing their bevy of unproven young talent and designs on contention. Quantrill may only be up briefly to begin — the five members of the existing rotation are expected to continue working in a starting capacity — but could be called upon several times throughout the year to help spread innings around. It’s certainly also possible that he could command more opportunities in the majors based upon his own showing.

Quantrill has still yet to master the upper minors, which is likely why he was bypassed when the San Diego organization brought up a series of other young pitchers this year. He’s now carrying a 4.68 ERA in 25 innings over five starts on the year at Triple-A, though that comes with a solid combination of 8.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 along with a 48.6% groundball rate. Quantrill should be ready for a full workload after reaching 148 innings in 2018.

In the event that Quantrill is able to command an active roster spot for the rest of the season, he could accrue as many as 152 days of service. That’d be enough to set him up for future Super Two qualification but not enough to reach a full year of service (which requires 172 days). The club will need to add Quantrill to the 40-man roster before activating him.

Rangers Remove Jose Leclerc From Closer’s Role

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Rangers manager Chris Woodward announced today that he expects to remove righty Jose Leclerc from the team’s closer role, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report. He’ll instead be utilized in low-leverage spots for the time being.

Leclerc, 25, has reverted to his command-challenged ways after a breakout 2018 season. He’s carrying an ugly 8.44 ERA with 11.8 /9 and 7.6 BB/9 over 10 2/3 innings. Leclerc has also been tagged for a whopping 53.3% hard contact, surrendering a pair of long balls among 14 base hits.

The worries run deep for the youthful reliever. Though he’s throwing harder than ever, and getting first strikes at a personal-best 62.5%, opponents seem to have figured something out. Leclerc is getting chases on just 21.2% of the pitches he throws out of the zone and giving up much more contact on those pitches than he has previously. He sits on an 8.2% swinging-strike rate — less than half the level he carried last year.

Fortunately for Leclerc, he inked an extension before the start of the season. Saves are a key statistic for arbitration-eligible pitchers, so even a temporary removal from the ninth inning would have impacted his bottom line.

The decision is disappointing for the Texas organization for the same reason. Paying up for Leclerc was all about locking in cost savings on a pitcher who was supposed to secure wins for the club for years to come. Instead, veterans Shawn Kelley and Chris Martin will get the late-inning chances while the team tries to help Leclerc rediscover his form.

Giants Prospect Logan Webb Receives 80-Game PED Suspension

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Giants pitching prospect Logan Webb has been hit with an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He was found to have a substance known as dehydrochlormethyltestosterone in his system.

Webb entered the season as one of the Giants’ top prospects and had boosted his stock quite a bit in the early going. Through 27 innings over five starts at the Double-A level in 2019, he has allowed just six earned runs while compiling 31 strikeouts against seven walks.

The former fourth-round draft pick will now end up missing a big chunk of the season, which could well impact his timeline for reaching MLB readiness. He’ll also have to answer questions about the circumstances leading to the suspension. Webb denied knowingly ingesting the banned substance in a statement to Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link) and others.

It’s another suboptimal bit of news out of the Giants farm. The club’s two best prospects, Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos, are each sidelined with injuries — though neither appears to be particularly serious.

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