A.J. Minter

Braves Option A.J. Minter, Activate Jonny Venters

By Jeff Todd | May 10, 2019 at 5:08pm CDT

The Braves have swapped out young southpaw A.J. Minter for veteran Jonny Venters, per a club announcement. The former was optioned to Triple-A to make way for the latter’s activation from the 10-day injured list.

It’s a disappointing development for Minter, who looked to be a long-term, late-inning stalwart entering the season. The 25-year-old has struggled to stay in the zone, coughing up 7.4 BB/9 while recording 13.1 K/9. He has allowed a dozen earned runs in eleven frames on the year.

Venters, 34, was tendered a contact and agreed to a $2.25MM salary after a remarkable comeback campaign following a five-season absence from the majors. He was knocked out of action by a calf strain but is now ready to return to action. Venters has had a bit of a wild showing on his rehab assignment but was solid last year, turning in 34 1/3 innings of 3.67 ERA ball with 7.1 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 along with a hefty 69.1% groundball rate over 34 1/3 innings.

Injury Notes: Wendle, Blue Jays, Braves

By Steve Adams | April 1, 2019 at 3:48pm CDT

The Rays announced Monday that they’ve placed second baseman Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring and recalled Christian Arroyo from Triple-A Durham in his place. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, who first reported the moves, tweets that Wendle has a “moderate” strain that the player himself described as “not too, too bad.” Wendle won’t know how long he’s going to be shelved until he tests the injured leg in a few days’ time, though. The 28-year-old Wendle finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 after hitting .300/.354/.435 with seven homers, 33 doubles, six triples and 16 stolen bases. The Tampa Bay infield has plenty of depth between Brandon Lowe, Daniel Robertson and the newly recalled Arroyo, though Wendle was quietly one of the team’s better all-around players in 2018.

A bit more from the division…

The Blue Jays announced that they’ve put lefty Clayton Richard on the 10-day IL due to a stress reaction in his left knee. In a corresponding move, right-hander Sean Reid-Foley has been recalled from Triple-A and will start tonight’s game for Toronto. The Jays didn’t provide a timeline for Richard’s return, but a stress reaction has the potential to keep him sidelined for a substantial period. In Reid-Foley, Toronto will be getting another look at one of its more promising young arms; the 23-year-old was the team’s second-round pick back in 2014 and pitched to a combined 3.26 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 129 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
Beyond that move, the Jays revealed a wide-ranging series of medical updates Monday afternoon. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking some at-bats in extended Spring Training games this weekend, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. He’ll still need to get back into his routine at third base and play in some rehab games before he emerges as an option at the MLB level. TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets that Clay Buchholz will throw tomorrow and could start for Triple-A Buffalo on April 7, which signals that the veteran righty is on track to join his new club sooner rather than later. Ryan Tepera and Ryan Borucki are throwing ’pen sessions, meanwhile, and could return by month’s end. Bud Norris’ timeline is less concrete, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Norris is still throwing in the 90-91 mph range — well south of his usual mid-90s heat. He did get a late start by signing in mid-March, so he’ll continue to build up arm strength without a set return date in focus just yet.
David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that the Braves plan to active southpaw A.J. Minter on Thursday — the first day he’s eligible. (Minter’s IL stint was backdated the maximum three days at the start of the season.) Mike Foltynewicz could join the rotation as soon as April 14 after making a pair of rehab outings, O’Brien adds. Right-hander Darren O’Day, unfortunately, is shutting down for a “couple weeks” due to ongoing forearm issues. Given that update, it seems as though it’ll be tough for the veteran O’Day to be ready before month’s end. O’Day missed the majority of the 2018 season due to a hyperextended elbow.

Health Notes: Frazier, Lowrie, Perez, Cobb, Folty, Gausman, Minter

By TC Zencka and Ty Bradley | March 30, 2019 at 4:34pm CDT

Some injury updates from around the game . . .

Braves Select Josh Tomlin, Matt Joyce; Designate Raffy Lopez

By Jeff Todd | March 28, 2019 at 9:37am CDT

The Braves have announced their final Opening Day roster moves. As expected, righty Josh Tomlin and outfielder Matt Joyce were selected. To clear a 40-man roster spot, catcher Raffy Lopez was designated for assignment.

The Atlanta organization’s late-breaking addition of Tomlin came after a barrage of pitching injuries that the club hopes will prove to be minor. Starters Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman have officially been placed on the 10-day injured list along with relievers A.J. Minter and Darren O’Day.

The veteran Joyce will make the roster at the expense of Adam Duvall, who remains with the organization but has been optioned to Triple-A. A career .250/.351/.451 hitter against right-handed pitching in nearly 3400 plate appearances, Joyce will give the Braves the left-handed-hitting fourth outfielder they’d reportedly been seeking. He’s not an option in center field at this stage in his career, though on days that Ender Inciarte needs a breather, Atlanta can shift Ronald Acuna Jr. into center field while deploying Joyce in a corner.

Tomlin will serve as a long man out of the bullpen, providing depth for a Braves rotation that has been hit by injuries this spring. In addition to Foltynewicz and Gausman landing on the IL, right-hander Mike Soroka was out for much of Spring Training due to shoulder troubles and was optioned to Triple-A to build up strength. Tomlin had a brutal season with the Indians in 2018 but gave Cleveland nearly 500 innings of 4.44 ERA ball from 2013-17. The 34-year-old righty doesn’t miss many bats and has one of the game’s slowest fastballs but also has uncanny precision; over his past 557 MLB innings, he’s averaged just 1.1 BB/9.

Lopez, 31, hit .176/.265/.284 in 117 plate appearances with the Padres last season. The Braves acquired him from San Diego in exchange for cash back in early November, but he didn’t have a place on the active roster behind Tyler Flowers and Brian McCann.

East Notes: Orioles, Hays, Yankees, Hicks, Braves, Anibal

By Connor Byrne | March 17, 2019 at 10:12am CDT

The Orioles announced several roster cuts Sunday, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to cover. Outfielder Austin Hays, who looked like a strong contender for a season-opening starting role, is the most notable player returning to the minors. General manager Mike Elias insisted service time didn’t factor into the decision, suggesting it’s irrelevant in Hays’ case because he already debuted in 2017, Kubatko tweets. Based on his spring, in which he put together a video game-like .351/.385/.892 line with five home runs in 37 at-bats, Hays deserved a roster spot in Baltimore. The promising prospect is coming off an injury-shortened season in which he posted underwhelming minor league numbers across 327 plate appearances, however. Per Kubatko, Hays and the Orioles believe there’s more for him to work on at the Triple-A level, where he hasn’t yet played. “I still haven’t played too many games in the minor leagues,” Hays said. “I haven’t had too many at-bats. I missed almost a whole year last year due to injuries, so there’s some time I need to make up.”

NL East Notes: Kimbrel, Conforto, Braves Pitching

By Jeff Todd | March 9, 2019 at 12:55am CDT

The Nationals and Braves “are not ’in’ on” free agent closer Craig Kimbrel, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic (via Twitter). Whether that’s a truly definitive statement on those two clubs’ engagement with Kimbrel isn’t clear; each has been linked (his former team in Atlanta, especially) over the course of the winter and would surely be interested at the right price. The arms race in the NL East has continued all offseason long and has not really halted with the start of Spring Training. Financial considerations make several teams in the division conceivable suitors for Kimbrel, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams examined in depth.

NL East Notes: Braves, Kimbrel, Nationals, Harper, Mets

By Mark Polishuk | March 1, 2019 at 5:45pm CDT

While it’s still pretty early in Spring Training, the Braves have already been hit with a notable number of players battling injury issues. Jeff Schultz of The Athletic (links to Twitter) has a rundown of today’s updates, including the worrisome news that A.J. Minter left today’s outing after just one batter due to shoulder tightness. Beyond Minter, Dansby Swanson was scratched from today’s lineup due to continued soreness in his left wrist. The Braves also continue to ease Josh Donaldson into action after Donaldson missed much of the 2018 season due to a calf injury. Donaldson’s spring debut may still be at least “a couple of more days” away, as Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told reporters, though Snitker admitted “I don’t even know when he’s gonna play.”

The Braves already have Mike Soroka, Kevin Gausman, and Luiz Gohara dealing with shoulder soreness, while Mike Foltynewicz missed a recent start due to a sore elbow. With the possible exception of Soroka, none of these maladies seem overly concerning yet, though the sheer volume leads to inevitable speculation about how the Braves could make additions to bolster their roster of arms. Minter’s injury could be of particular import, given how the back end of Atlanta’s bullpen already has closer Arodys Vizcaino trying to bounce back from an injury-marred 2018. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes that the Braves have yet to have “any serious discussions” with former closer Craig Kimbrel, who is still focused on landing a long-term contract while the team has only thus far been open to signing Kimbrel to a shorter-term pact.

The latest from around the NL East…

Speaking of Kimbrel, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link) hears from rival evaluators who wonder if the Nationals could make a play for the star closer. Washington is no stranger to high-profile bullpen signings, and while Sean Doolittle has pitched very well as the team’s closer, Doolittle has had his share of injury problems over the years. Inking Kimbrel would put the Nationals over the luxury tax threshold for the third straight season, and if ownership had reluctance over paying a higher tax bill, the Nats might have to move some salary in order to fit Kimbrel into the mix. Signing a free agent who rejected the qualifying offer (as Kimbrel did) would also cost the Nats its third- and sixth-highest picks in the 2019 draft. As Olney notes, the Nationals might not mind surrendering even more picks in order to make a real splurge, as the team has already lost its second- and fifth-highest draft selections (plus $1MM of international draft pool money) by signing another QO free agent in Patrick Corbin.
Deferred money has long been a staple of the Nationals’ contract negotiations, as several notable players (i.e. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, Brian Dozier) in recent years have signed deals with the team that include significant amounts of salary to be paid out over long stretches of time. Scherzer’s deal contains $105MM in deferred money, for example, while Strasburg’s $175MM extension with the Nats contained $70MM in deferrals that will be paid out to Strasburg from 2024-30. While Scherzer, Strasburg, and Bryce Harper are all represented by Scott Boras, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post wonders if the Nationals’ deferral-heavy strategy might have cost them a chance at Harper. Roughly a third of Washington’s reported ten-year, $300MM offer to Harper last fall was reportedly set to be paid out in deferred money for decades to come, possibly until Harper was close to 60 years old. This type of long-term payment isn’t something that appeals to every player, making Svrluga wonder if Anthony Rendon would be comfortable with deferred money as the star third baseman continues his own extension talks with the Nationals.
The Mets have hired Rafael Perez the team’s director of international operations and Luis Marquez as their new director of international scouting, Jacob Resnick and Michael Mayer of @Metsmerized report (via Twitter). Perez is a familiar name in New York’s front office, as he is returning to the same position he previously filled from 2005-11. Marquez also previously worked for the Mets as an international scout from 2008-11.

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