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Giants Designate Micah Johnson, Orlando Calixte

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The Giants have designated infielder Micah Johnson and utilityman Orlando Calixte for assignment, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to report on Twitter.

San Francisco also removed righty Dan Slania from the 40-man via outright assignment. He cleared waivers. Another 40-man casualty, infielder Engelb Vielma, did not. Joining the Giants’ MLB roster are catcher Aramis Garcia and a trio of pitchers:  righties Tyler Herb and Tyler Beede along with lefty D.J. Snelten.

Johnson has already bounced around between a few organizations this winter, moving from Atlanta to Cincinnati and then out west. The Giants will gladly stash him in Triple-A if he ultimately clears waivers.

As for Calixte, the 25-year-old has touched the majors briefly but hasn’t hit much at all in limited opportunities. At Triple-A in 2017, he posted a .243/.283/.421 slash over 401 plate appearances.

Cubs Outright Jacob Hannemann

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The Cubs have outrighted outfielder Jacob Hannemann, per a club announcement. Chicago has made three 40-man additions as well, selecting the contracts of righties Adbert Alzolay and Oscar De La Cruz as well as infielder David Bote.

Hannemann, 26, had been claimed recently from the Mariners. He briefly debuted with Seattle — after they claimed him from the Cubs — but spent most of the year in the upper minors, batting .265/.324/.404 over 322 plate appearances at Triple-A.

Tigers Sign Ryan Carpenter

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The Tigers have signed lefty Ryan Carpenter to a MLB deal, per a club announcement. He’ll join the 40-man roster along with a long list of players whose contracts were selected to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.

Detroit has selected the contracts of the following players:

Carpenter is a 27-year-old hurler who became a minor-league free agent after the 2017 campaign. He could be an option in the rotation or the pen. Last year, Carpenter worked to a 4.15 ERA in 156 frames for Triple-A Albuquerque, recording 9.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 along the way.

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

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As detailed earlier this morning at MLBTR, the deadline for Major League clubs to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight. Because of that, there will be literally dozens of moves between now and 8pm ET as teams make final determinations on who to protect and who to risk losing in next month’s Rule 5 draft. This process will lead to smaller-scale trades, waiver claims and DFAs, but for some clubs the only necessary moves will simply be to select the contracts of the prospects they wish to place on the 40-man roster. We’ll track those such moves in this post…

Click to check in on other teams that have selected players to their 40-man rosters …

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Marlins Acquire Garrett Cooper, Caleb Smith From Yankees For Michael King, Int’l Bonus Pool Money

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The Marlins have struck a deal to acquire first baseman Garrett Cooper and lefty Caleb Smith from the Yankees. New York will receive righty Michael King and $250K of international bonus pool money in the swap. A deal involving Cooper and another player was first reported by Robert Murray of Fan Rag (via Twitter); the dollar value was tweeted by Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Cooper, 26, is a right-handed hitter who made his MLB debut in 2017 after going to the Yankees in a mid-season swap. He turned in 45 productive plate appearances, slashing .326/.333/.488 despite not hitting any long balls and drawing only a single walk. Cooper was quite productive on the year in the upper minors, posting a composite .359/.423/.634 batting line in 350 total plate appearances.

Smith, who’s also 26, struggled in his first MLB action in 2017. But he showed a 93.6 mph average heater from the left side along with a 13.0% swinging-strike rate in his 18 2/3 frames. And he also pitched to a 2.39 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 over 98 innings in his first full attempt at Triple-A this year. For the pitching-needy Marlins, that’s a background worth taking a shot on.

The Yanks have been hustling to sort their 40-man roster in advance of today’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Cooper, clearly, was not seen as a significant part of the team’s future while Smith had perhaps been bypassed by other relief options. In King, the club will add a 22-year-old who just turned in 149 innings of 3.14 ERA ball at the Class A level — and won’t create any 40-man pressures for quite some time.

Meanwhile, the club has padded its international bonus availability as part of a possible push for Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. The Marlins reportedly had $1.74MM left to work with. But teams can only trade for 75% of their original pool amount. In the Yankees’ case, the team started with $4.75MM, meaning they are capped at $8.3MM total. And the organization had already boosted its pool to $8MM (a good portion of which it has already spent). As things stand, the Yanks have $3.5MM left to dangle for Ohtani or utilize on other international amateur talent.

The Marlins, meanwhile, are engaged in their own roster maneuvering this winter under new ownership. It’s not tough to see how a young lefty would fit. But the team is set at first with Justin Bour, who is deserving of near-everyday time after a breakout 2017 season. He handled lefties just fine when allowed the chance, though he could also stand to be paired with a right-handed hitter. And it’s still possible that Bour could be dangled in trades, though he’s plenty cheap as a pre-arb player. In any event, the Marlins are surely focused mostly on finding as much affordable and controllable talent as possible.

MLBPA Extends MLB-NPB Posting Negotiation Deadline

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Negotiations regarding a new posting agreement between Major League Baseball and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have been postponed, according to an announcement from the MLB Player’s Association. While the MLB and NPB seem largely on the same page, the union has the right to authorize any agreement and has engaged on the subject.

It’s a one-day extension at this time, per the MLBPA announcement. Last we heard, the union had set a deadline of 8pm EST today to get something done. With issues still remaining, though, the sides have evidently decided to keep talking for at least another day. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links) reported earlier that there was optimism on a deal, but that some “gaps” still remained.

The news is critical, of course, for the MLB move sought by Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. For now, he remains in flux, with virtually every major-league organizations watching closely to see if and when he’ll formally be made available.

There appear to be a few areas which the sides need to sort out before we’ll learn Ohtani’s fate. Passan cites some bargaining over the timeline of a MLBPA-proposed window during which NPB teams can make players available for transfer, though that seems to be something where some give-and-take can result in agreement. Jim Allen of Kyodo News, meanwhile, hears of a more fundamental dispute over the question whether posted players can be pulled back if their ultimate contract does not result in a sufficient fee to their NPB club. (Twitter link.) Because the new proposed system would allow the Japanese team to receive a percentage-based fee, rather than the fixed sum that previously was utilized, the question of revocability of posting is of added importance.

Mets, Tigers Have Discussed Ian Kinsler

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The Mets have discussed trade scenarios involving veteran second baseman Ian Kinsler with the Tigers, according to a report from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Those talks are preliminary in nature, per the report.

Kinsler, 35, is expected to draw wide interest from teams that are looking for a quality veteran to plug into their everyday lineup without undertaking a lengthy commitment. The 12-year major leaguer is set to earn $11MM this year before reaching free agency.

For the Mets, there’s an obvious hole at second base that remains to be filled. With Neil Walker gone and Asdrubal Cabrera slated to step over to third base, the team doesn’t have a clear option at second.

To be sure, there are 40-man members that could play there: Wilmer Flores, Matt Reynolds, Gavin Cecchini, and T.J. Rivera. But none seem to be regular options. Flores has shown a solid bat at the game’s highest level but has mostly been utilized in a utility capacity. Reynolds and Cecchini have not hit much in their limited MLB action. And though Rivera has shown some promise since reaching the majors, he’s expected to miss time early after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

It’s not hard to see the appeal, then, in Kinsler. He is coming off of a down season at the plate, in which he slashed just .236/.313/.412 after a string of above-average offensive campaigns. But he remained a top-end defender and has long been one of the sport’s steadier players.

While Kinsler does have partial no-trade protection, indications are he’d be amenable to waiving it given where things are headed for the Tigers. It seems exceedingly likely that he’ll end up changing hands this winter.

It’s worth noting, too, that Morosi says some clubs are also considering Kinsler as an option at third base. (Twitter link.) Kinsler has scant experience at the hot corner — two MLB innings and ten in the minors — but that idea might conceivably open up his market to some additional suitors.

Athletics Acquire Ramon Laureano, Outright Bobby Wahl

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The Athletics have acquired outfielder Ramon Laureano from the Astros, per MLB.com’s Jane Lee (via Twitter). Houston will receive right-hander Brandon Bailey in return.

Oakland additionally outrighted right-hander Bobby Wahl off of its 40-man roster. That move will create space for Laureano to be added to the A’s roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft — the same consideration that no doubt created the circumstances of this swap.

Laureano, 23, ranked 11th on MLB.com’s most recent prospect list for the ’Stros. But he failed to follow up on a breakout 2016 season. Over 513 plate appearances at Double-A in 2017, he slashed just .227/.298/.369 with 11 home runs and 24 stolen bases.

The 23-year-old Bailey is still a ways off from needing his own 40-man spot. He split the 2017 season between the Class A and High-A levels, pitching to a cumulative 3.26 ERA over 91 frames. Though he allowed a few more runners to cross the plate after his promotion, Bailey did impress with 12.4 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in his 34 innings at the higher tier.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Wahl made it to the majors for the first time in 2017, allowing four earned runs in 7 2/3 frames. Much of his prior time has been spent at the Double-A level, where he owns a 3.08 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 73 total frames.

Phillies Claim Engelb Vielma, Designate Mark Appel & Alberto Tirado

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The Phillies have claimed infielder Engelb Vielma off waivers from the Giants, per a team announcement. Philadelphia also designated righties Mark Appel and Alberto Tirado for assignment while outrighting lefty Elniery Garcia.

To round out a busy day of 40-man moves, the Phillies also added righties Seranthony Dominguez, Franklyn Kilome, and Jose Taveras, as well as lefty Ranger Suarez, to their MLB roster.

Vielma is seen as a gifted defender. But his switch-hitting bat has yet to develop. Still just 23, Vielma ended up with San Francisco through a late-season waiver claim from the Twins. He had earned his first promotion to Triple-A earlier in the year, but slashed just .206/.233/.260 in his 314 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors..

Appel, 26, was the first overall draft pick in 2013. He landed in Philadelphia along with righty Vince Velasquez and others in the swap that sent reliever Ken Giles to the Astros. At the time of the swap, he was seen as something of a change-of-scenery candidate. But he never really found his footing with the Phils while dealing with arm problems. In 2017, he pitched to a 5.27 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 5.8 BB/9 over 82 Triple-A frames.

The 22-year-old Tirado was also once considered a significant prospect, but hasn’t shown enough to hang onto a MLB roster spot. He pitched to a 3.69 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 63 1/3 High-A innings last year. Despite those marginal numbers, Tirado earned his first shot at Double-A, but coughed up 19 walks against just eight strikeouts in a dozen frames.

Blue Jays Acquire Gift Ngoepe

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The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Gift Ngoepe from the Pirates, per club announcements. The talented defender changes hands as the clubs go about trimming their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft. A player to be named later or cash will head to Pittsburgh in return.

Ngoepe, 27, became the first African-born player to reach the majors when he debuted in 2017. Though he moved around in Pittsburgh, Ngoepe has spent the bulk of his minor-league time at shortstop and is regarded as a proficient middle infielder.

Ngoepe could function as an optionable utility piece in Toronto. But he’ll need to boost his offensive production to hold down a steady job in the bigs. In his first 63 MLB plate appearances, Ngoepe slashed just .222/.323/.296. He has never shown all that much punch in the minors, either, with a .221/.295/.362 composite batting line over three seasons at Triple-A, but clearly some major-league organizations still think there’s some hope for improvement.

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