Braves Designate Carlos Perez
The Braves have designated catcher Carlos Perez for assignment, per a club announcement. That move came as part of a series of decisions.
Fellow receiver Tyler Flowers will make his return from the DL, which left the team without a need for Perez. The Atlanta organization also elected to bring up righty Chase Whitley while optioning Matt Wisler back to Triple-A.
Perez had a chance to make a case to be retained by the Braves after being acquired from the Angels at the outset of the season. But he managed just three singles and a walk in his 22 plate appearances for the Braves. Though he has hit the ball well at times in the minors, Perez is just a .221/.264/.325 hitter over 617 total trips to the dish at the game’s highest level.
On the pitching side, the Braves will fill out their pen by calling upon Whitley, who was acquired from the Rays over the winter. He has thrown 12 1/3 innings of 3.65 ERA ball thus far at Triple-A, with ten strikeouts against three walks. A veteran of four MLB campaigns, two apiece with the Yankees and Rays, Whitley will be joining the Braves’ MLB roster for the first time.
As for Wisler, he raised hopes with a strong season debut in which he racked up eight strikeouts without issuing a walk in seven two-hit innings. But he coughed up three free passes, nine hits, and four earned runs without recording a single K in his next outing. For now, then, the former top prospect will head back to Gwinnett and wait for another opportunity.
After 310 total frames of 5.20 ERA ball in the majors, Wisler remains in a somewhat precarious roster position. That said the Braves have cleared several 40-man spots in recent weeks, so the pressure shouldn’t be felt immediately, particularly given the team’s ongoing need for rotation depth and the fact that Wisler’s first two outings at Triple-A were quite good.
Marlins Activate Martin Prado, Option Trevor Richards
The Marlins have activated third bagger Martin Prado from the DL, per a club announcement. To make way for the veteran, the club optioned intriguing young righty Trevor Richards.
Prado had been hoping to be ready for the Opening Day roster after undergoing season-ending knee surgery in 2017. But he suffered a setback in camp and evidently also had to battle through a hamstring strain. Issues in both of those areas limited him to just 37 games last year.
Hopefully the leg troubles are in the past for Prado, who had played in at least 128 games annually since establishing himself as a regular in 2009. He also had been a steadily above-average offensive producer over his career until the 2017 campaign, when he limped to a .250/.279/.357 slash in 147 plate appearances.
If Prado can reestablish himself over the next several months, he could turn back into a potential trade piece for the rebuilding Marlins. He’s owed a hefty $13.5MM this year and $15MM in 2019 under the extension he signed late in the 2016 season, though, so in all likelihood any deal would mostly convey some cost savings.
The third-base role that Prado left open had been filled well by Brian Anderson early in 2018. The 24-year-old, one of Miami’s most highly regarded prospects, has posted an impressive .385 on-base percentage through his first 104 plate appearances. Of course, he’s also sporting a decidedly less-promising .349 slugging percentage, though he has demonstrated more power than that in the minors (22 homers between Double-A and Triple-A last season).
Rather than dropping Anderson back to Triple-A, the plan is to use him elsewhere, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes. The Marlins are preparing Anderson to see time in the outfield and at first base so that they can keep him in the lineup. He’ll also spell Prado at the hot corner.
Richards, meanwhile, will head back to New Orleans — where he has actually never played. The indy ball find did burn through every other affiliate he was placed at over the past two seasons, compiling a 2.52 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 200 1/3 cumulative minor-league frames (including 146 innings last year at the High-A and Double-A levels)
It’s unremarkable, on the one hand, to see a young starter with a 4.94 ERA and 9.1 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9 headed out on optional assignment. But Richards is fresh off of a ten-strikeout gem in which he got the better of the legendary Clayton Kershaw. For a Marlins club that isn’t exactly overloaded with quality MLB pitching — see their depth chart here — it’s a somewhat debatable decision, particularly with Dillon Peters still evidently holding a rotation spot. It’s worth noting that the move will allow the Marlins to keep Richards from achieving a full year of MLB service, if they hold him down long enough.
Outrighted: VerHagen, Socolovich
With several players currently in DFA limbo, we’ll keep track of those who’ve successfully cleared waivers here…
- The Tigers announced that righty Drew VerHagen cleared waivers and has been sent outright to Triple-A Toledo. The 27-year-old has struggled with the Tigers in each of the past few seasons, totaling 63 2/3 innings with a 6.25 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. But he also possesses a mid-90s heater that has added some velocity in 2018, and he’s made some meaningful gains in swinging-strike rate as well. Manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters this week that the organization maintains high hopes for VerHagen but simply didn’t feel it could continue to let him work on his control at the big league level given the overall state of the Tigers’ bullpen.
- Right-hander Miguel Socolovich has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett by the Braves for a second time this season, per the International League transactions log. He was designated for assignment earlier this week when the Braves called up Max Fried — second DFA from Atlanta in the season’s first month. Socolovich has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, though he accepted the outright last time around. The 31-year-old has tossed three innings in his two stints with Atlanta and allowed three runs on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts. In 85 2/3 career innings at the MLB level, Socolovich owns a 4.41 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9. He has a career 3.28 ERA in Triple-A, where he’s averaged nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
AL East Notes: Austin, Kelly, Walker, Bogaerts, Holt, Hardy
The suspension appeals for Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin and Red Sox setup man Joe Kelly have both been heard. Austin’s suspension has been reduced from five games to four, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link), while Kelly’s six-game suspension was upheld (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). Both players were suspended and fined for their respective roles in the bench-clearing brawl two weeks back.
Some more notes from the division…
- With Austin suspended, Neil Walker could pick up those starts at first base, and the opportunity will be an important one for him, writes Newsday’s Steven Marcus. With Austin and rehabbing Greg Bird likely to hold down first base, Gleyber Torres now at second base, Miguel Andujar at third base and Brandon Drury on the mend, Walker’s role with the Yankees is becoming increasingly muddied as he battles through a dismal start to the season. Walker, who is hitting just .172/.232/.203, made no excuses for his poor start and said his shortened Spring Training and injury history aren’t at the root of his struggles.
- Xander Bogaerts could return to the Red Sox today, writes Chad Jennings of The Athletic (subscription link), which would cut into the playing time of a resurgent Brock Holt, who is hitting .340/.400/.520 through his first 55 trips to the plate. Holt chats with Jennings about his lost 2017 season which was ruined by recurring symptoms of vertigo that impacted him at the plate and in the field. Boston made the decision to hang onto Holt and instead trade Deven Marrero to the D-backs in Spring Training, entrusting Holt to be the primary utility infielder in the process. Now, however, there’s at least some minor injury concern with Holt; he exited last night’s game with tightness in his hamstring and is set to be re-evaluated today (Twitter link via Jennings). If he requires a DL stint, the Sox could potentially just flip Holt and Bogaerts, placing the former on the disabled list while activating the latter.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tackles a host of Orioles questions from readers in light of the team’s awful start to the season, with topics ranging from the slow starts by Alex Cobb and Chris Tillman to the eventual promotion of Austin Hays. Of note, Kubatko reveals upon being asked about a possible J.J. Hardy reunion that the longtime O’s shortstop “seems quite content at home with his family.” Kubatko notes that he even broached the idea with some within the organization after Tim Beckham‘s injury and was told that no one within the org seems to think that Hardy is reconsidering his current situation. The 35-year-old Hardy spent the past seven seasons as Baltimore’s primary shortstop but hit .217/.255/.323 through 73 games in an injury-plagued 2017 season and didn’t sign anywhere as a free agent this winter.
Pirates To Promote Nick Kingham
The Pirates will promote right-hander Nick Kingham to make his Major League debut and start Sunday’s game, reports Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter).
Now 26 years old, Kingham was widely regarded as one of the game’s top 100 overall prospects back in 2014-15 and looked to be on the precipice of the Major Leagues when a torn ulnar collateral ligament torpedoed his 2015-16 seasons. Kingham underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, tossing just 31 1/3 innings that season and just 46 frames late in the 2016 season upon completing his rehab.
The 2017 season marked his first healthy season since 2014, and while he didn’t dominate, the 2010 fourth-rounder did turn in a solid 3.95 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 with a 45 percent ground-ball rate. He’s off to a torrid start to the 2018 season — as MLBTR’s Jason Martinez noted when including Kingham in the first 2018 edition of Knocking Down The Door — having logged a microscopic 1.59 ERA with a 27-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 49.1 percent grounder rate in 22 2/3 innings. He’s yet to allow a home run this year and allowed only eight in 2017.
[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates depth chart]
It could very well prove to be a spot start for Kingham — MLB.com’s Adam Berry suggested as much, on Twitter — though it would seem as though there’s at least one possible starting job that Kingham could eventually seize. The rotation jobs of Ivan Nova, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl all seem safe, even with Taillon’s struggles in his past two outings, though southpaw Steven Brault‘s spot is less solidified. In four starts this year, Brault has posted a 5.06 ERA with a 12-to-11 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings. He did open the year with three innings of scoreless relief work, but his overall body of work has not been especially impressive to date.
Regardless of whether Kingham arrives for a day or for the rest of the season, he’ll fall shy of a full year of Major League service time, so the Pirates will be able to control him through at least 2024. It’s worth noting that the 2018 season represents Kingham’s final option year, despite the fact that he’s never pitched in the Majors. The Buccos had to add him to the 40-man roster two offseasons ago in order to protect from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft (which he quite likely would have been). That’ll make it all the more important for Kingham to establish himself, to an extent, in the Majors this season. He’ll be out of options next spring and have to make the Opening Day roster, be exposed to waivers or traded to a team willing to carry him.
Matt Holliday Hopes To Continue Playing Career
Matt Holliday was one of the many veteran players who sat through a brutally slow free-agent market this winter and came away without a contract for the 2018 season, but the seven-time All-Star is still hoping for a chance to get back on the field, he tells Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Holliday, now 38 years of age, explains that he still believes he’s capable of playing at a high level and has a desire to remain in the game. For the time being, he’s doing some work with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, where he’ll make weekly appearances on the Inside Pitch show with Casey Stern every Tuesday, beginning next week. But Holliday adds that he’s working out every day and keeping himself in shape in the event that the right team comes calling. He does sound as though he’ll be a bit selective.
“Not every opportunity is a great one,” Holliday told Caesar. “But if (the right one) comes along … I’m interested. If not, I’m enjoying my time with my family. I’ve got four kids. I’ve played a long time.”
What, precisely, determines the “right” opportunity for Holliday isn’t entirely clear. It’s easy to imagine that he’d prefer the opportunity to join a contending club, but perhaps he’d also prefer a team in relative proximity to his home in Jupiter, Fla.
Presumably, if Holliday were to sign anywhere, he’d have to agree to a minor league deal and head to Triple-A to get some reps in a game setting before joining a big league club. That’d likely come with a relatively minimal salary that’s pro-rated for time spent on the big league roster, though salary probably won’t be the biggest factor for a player who’s earned roughly $160MM over the course of a brilliant playing career.
Holliday spent the 2017 campaign with the Yankees, serving as the primary DH in the Bronx and hitting a respectable .231/.316/.432 with 19 homers and 18 doubles in 427 trips to the plate over the life of 105 games. That marked the lone season in his 14-year MLB career that Holliday turned in an OPS+ south of the league average, though at 95, he wasn’t far off. The Astros, Twins, Indians, Tigers, Orioles and Royals are the only AL clubs that have received below-average production out of the DH spot in their lineup thus far in the 2018 season. It’s always possible that an injury in either league could create a potential opening for Holliday as well.
A’s Reportedly Discussing One-Year Extension With Khris Davis
The A’s have approached Khris Davis‘ representatives at Octagon about a one-year extension for the 2019 season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports within his latest column on the A’s (subscription required). The two sides are in the early stages of talks about a deal that’d buy out Davis’ final year of arbitration well in advance. Davis is controlled through 2019 regardless, so a one-year extension would largely be about establishing cost certainty for the club and about protecting against injury or a notable decline from Davis’ vantage point.
Oakland and Davis came to terms on a one-year, $10.5MM contract this past offseason, avoiding arbitration in the process. With another characteristically strong season at the plate — Davis is off to a .257/.339/.535 start with seven homers — the 30-year-old slugger would be primed for one more significant boost in his salary. As a loose point of reference, he received a $5.5MM raise this past offseason, so a typical season could push his salary beyond the $16MM point next year.
Davis’ skill set, while not one that has been rewarded handsomely in free agency in recent years, is one that still plays quite well in the arbitration process. Locking Davis up now could potentially save the A’s a bit of cash over what he’d command in his final trip through the arbitration process. Extensions of this nature aren’t exactly commonplace, though the Nationals brokered a one-year deal that bought out Bryce Harper‘s final arbitration around this time last season.
While a salary ranging anywhere from $14-17MM (speaking speculatively) would be substantial for the budget-conscious A’s, Oakland can certainly afford to make that type of commitment to Davis in 2019. At present, right-hander Yusmeiro Petit and outfielder Stephen Piscotty are the only players signed to guaranteed contracts for the 2019 season. They’ll earn just under $13MM combined.
Oakland will have a sizable arbitration class, with Marcus Semien, Kendall Graveman, Blake Treinen, Liam Hendriks, Chris Hatcher, Josh Phegley, Jake Smolinski, Ryan Dull, Ryan Buchter and emerging ace Sean Manaea each qualifying in addition to Davis. Of that group, only Semien seems likely to command anything north of $5MM, though. Manaea will be first-time eligible as a Super Two player, while the others are primarily role players that are either first-time eligible as well (Dull, Buchter) or are currently earning relatively minimal salaries.
The A’s will surely want to leave some room for potential free-agent signings and trade acquisitions, particularly given their increasingly promising young core, though it certainly seems that there’d be room for Davis’ salary, the rest of their arb class, and a few new additions. Oakland will watch $26MM come off the books when Jonathan Lucroy, Matt Joyce, Jed Lowrie, Santiago Casilla and Trevor Cahill come off the books, and their Opening Day payroll of roughly $68.9MM was quite a bit lower than the $83.6MM they averaged from 2014-17.
AL Central Notes: Yost, Hale, Kinley, Wilson
Ned Yost’s current contract expires at season’s end, but Royals general manager Dayton Moore tells Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the organizational hope is that Yost will be managing the team beyond this season. “We definitely want him back,” Moore said.Heyman indicates that the decision on whether Yost remains in Kansas City appears to be one that is dependent on Yost’s own personal preferences. Yost hasn’t made up his mind about managing beyond 2018 yet, tweets MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan, who notes that Moore has suggested for years that Yost will effectively have the reins in Kansas City for as long as he likes. Rustin Dodd of The Athletic tweets that Yost says his goal is to see the rebuild through to the point where his successor will be positioned for early success.
More from the division…
- The Twins tried to sign right-hander David Hale this offseason, GM Thad Levine told reporters today after claiming Hale off waivers (link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). “We think we may have been the runners-up to the Yankees in terms of enticing him to come to Spring Training,” said Levine. “From a pitch profile standpoint, we’ve liked him. I think at this stage in the year, it’s important to add to your depth, and we did that. He can pitch in a variety of roles.” The 30-year-old Hale has a 4.33 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9 and a 52.1 percent ground-ball rate in 180 1/3 innings at the Major League level.
- Also from Bollinger’s piece, the Twins are hoping they can find a way to retain right-hander Tyler Kinley, whom they selected in the Rule 5 Draft but designated for assignment yesterday. Kinley will first have to be exposed to waivers, but if he clears, the Twins could look to work out a trade with the Marlins that would allow them to keep Kinley in their minor league ranks. “We’ve talked about the possibility of what had to be done, even last night, to be able to keep him in a Twins uniform,” manager Paul Molitor told reporters. “I don’t know how likely that is. But we’ll see what kind of response and interest there is.”
- Tigers reliever Alex Wilson is going through the toughest stretch of his career, he told reporters after serving up a walk-off homer to Corey Dickerson today (links via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com and George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press). “The only other time I can think of searching a little bit was Double-A, my first go-round in Double-A,” said Wilson. “And that was just learning curve. It’s not so much that anymore. I feel good about what I’m doing. It’s just not being rewarded right now.” Woodery notes that the Tigers have been quick to take action with struggling players this season, optioning Mikie Mahtook and designating Drew VerHagen for assignment. However, Woodbery adds that the Tigers will likely try to get him straightened out in some low-leverage spots before considering a more drastic move. As he points out, Wilson does have a minor league option remaining.
Athletics Option Kendall Graveman
The Athletics announced this afternoon that they’ve optioned Opening Day starter Kendall Graveman to Triple-A Nashville. Fellow righty Chris Bassitt is also being optioned to Triple-A, while recently acquired reliever Wilmer Font has been added to the active roster. The A’s will announce another move tomorrow (perhaps Yusmeiro Petit being activated from the bereavement list, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests).
The move comes as somewhat of a surprise given Graveman’s standing in the organization. The 27-year-old has been a reliable member of the starting five (when healthy) dating back to the 2015 season, pitching to a 4.11 ERA through 407 innings from 2015-17.
Thus far, the 2018 campaign has proven to be a nightmare for Graveman, however. In 28 1/3 innings, Graveman has allowed 28 earned runs on 41 hits (seven homers) and 11 walks with 23 strikeouts. No pitcher in Major League Baseball has allowed more hits or earned runs, and Graveman’s seven homers trail only Cole Hamels for the MLB lead. (Hamels has tossed 6 1/3 more innings.)
[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]
Graveman entered the season with three years, 14 days of Major League service time, putting him on track to reach free agency after the completion of the 2020 season. He needs to accumulate a total of 158 days of big league service time in 2018 in order to surpass four years of service and remain on track for that free agency date, which should still be attainable unless the demotion proves to be an especially lengthy one. He’d need to spend about a full month in the minors in order to miss out on the requisite service time for free agency that offseason.
With Graveman temporarily out of the rotation, the A’s have Sean Manaea, Daniel Mengden, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Triggs holding starting jobs. There’s been no announcement as to who’ll step into his spot, but righty Daniel Gossett has pitched well in two starts since being optioned to Nashville. Flamethrowing Frankie Montas is also starting down in Nashville and is on the 40-man roster, though he’s gotten off to a poor start. Veteran lefty Brett Anderson is also with Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate and throwing well — 1.89 ERA, 25-to-2 K/BB ratio in 19 innings — and the A’s have an open 40-man roster spot to accommodate him if he is the preferred option.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/26/18
Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Pirates have traded minor league outfielder Todd Cunningham to the White Sox, per a club announcement. John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com first broke news of the trade (via Twitter). The Bucs will receive a player to be named later in return. The 29-year-old Cunningham spent parts of three seasons in the Majors with the Braves (2013, 2015) and Angels (2016) but struggled to a .207/.256/.264 slash through 130 plate appearances. He’s off to a rough start in Triple-A this season but turned in an excellent .284/.404/.414 batting line in 358 plate appearances between the Cardinals’ and Dodgers’ top affiliates in 2017. In all, the 2010 second-round pick is a career .274/.356/.372 hitter in nearly 2200 Triple-A plate appearances.