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Aaron Brooks

Cardinals Outright Aaron Brooks

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TODAY: The Cardinals announced that Brooks has been outrighted to Triple-A Memphis, after clearing waivers.

MAY 2: The Cardinals have designated righty Aaron Brooks for assignment, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.  He notes that the club also optioned Packy Naughton to Triple-A Memphis to get down to the requisite 26 players on the active roster.

Brooks, who recently turned 32, signed a minor league deal with St. Louis after spending two years with the KBO’s Kia Tigers. He broke camp with the team but allowed runs in four of his five appearances. Ultimately, he allowed eight runs in 9 1/3 innings and served up a trio of homers during his first big league exposure since 2019.

A ninth round draft pick of the Royals back in 2011, Brooks and Sean Manaea were traded to the Athletics for Ben Zobrist and cash at the 2015 trade deadline.  During the following spring training, Brooks was shipped to the Cubs for Chris Coghlan.  He then bounced to the Brewers, A’s, and Orioles before heading to South Korea.

Notably, Brooks did show the best velocity of his big league career in his brief time with St. Louis, averaging 93.2 miles per hour on his fastball.  Brooks has always had excellent control, and his ground-ball rate in KBO was through the roof, a big factor in the Cards adding him in the first place. It remains to be seen if his strong KBO numbers and personal-best fastball velocity will lead another team to give him a longer look than St. Louis afforded.

Cardinals Select Aaron Brooks, Place Alex Reyes On 60-Day Injured List

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The Cardinals have selected right-hander Aaron Brooks to the 40-man roster, the team informed reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). He’ll break camp with the club. To clear roster space, righty Alex Reyes has been placed on the 60-day injured list.

St. Louis signed Brooks to a minor league deal in late January. The 31-year-old had spent the prior two seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, working out of the Kia Tigers’ rotation. He pitched to a 2.50 ERA in 151 1/3 innings his first year, leading the Tigers to bring him back for another season. Brooks only made 13 starts and tallied 78 frames last season, but he posted a solid 3.35 ERA in that time.

Brooks only struck 20.1% of opposing hitters over that two-year stretch. Yet he virtually never handed out free passes, walking just 4.4% of batters faced. Of most interest to the Cardinals, he induced grounders on more than three quarters of the balls put in play against him in both his KBO seasons. St. Louis has perhaps the game’s top collection of infield defenders (Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Paul DeJong and Nolan Arenado), and they’d set out this offseason to target pitchers capable of playing to that strength.

They identified Brooks, despite his 6.49 ERA in 170 2/3 career big league innings. The former ninth-round pick suited up with each of the Royals, A’s and Orioles before heading to South Korea but never found much success. The Cards clearly believe he’s capable of performing better with a strong defense behind him, and he can factor into either the rotation or the bullpen for first-year skipper Oli Marmol. St. Louis will be without Jack Flaherty to open the year, giving Brooks a shot to compete for the final rotation spot behind Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas.

It was also already known they’d be without Reyes in the early going, and he’s now officially going to miss at least the first two months of the season. The hard-throwing reliever received a stem cell injection in his shoulder last week and wasn’t expected to be available until late May or early June. Today’s IL placement rules him out until at least the second week of June.

In addition to the Brooks/Reyes news, St. Louis announced they’ve signed utilityman Cory Spangenberg to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old appeared in every big league season between 2014-19, spending the bulk of that time with the Padres. Like Brooks, he’s coming back to the U.S. after a two-year stint in an Asian league — in his case, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

Spangenberg, a left-handed hitter, has a fair bit of experience at each of second base, third base and left field. He owns a .256/.315/.389 line in just under 1400 MLB plate appearances. He combined for a .257/.330/.463 mark in two seasons with the Seibu Lions and will add some versatile depth to the high minors of the St. Louis system.

Cardinals Sign Aaron Brooks To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve signed righty Aaron Brooks to a minor league deal. The Paragon Sports International client received a non-roster invitation to Major League Spring Training. He was eligible to sign a minor league during the lockout by virtue of the fact that he was a minor league free agent returning from a stint overseas.

Brooks, 31, is a veteran of four big league seasons but has spent the 2020-21 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, where he’s notched a tidy 2.79 ERA in 229 1/3 innings for the Kia Tigers. While Brooks hasn’t missed many bats pitching overseas — he posted a rather pedestrian 20.1% strikeout rate — he’s demonstrated excellent command and posted practically inhuman ground-ball rates. Brooks has walked just 4.4% of his opponents in the KBO, and it’s hard to think of a much better team to take advantage of his outrageous 78.4% ground-ball rate than the defensively stout Cardinals.

This past season, St. Louis had a staggering five Gold Glove winners, including three in the infield: first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, second baseman Tommy Edman and third baseman Nolan Arenado. Shortstop Paul DeJong had a rough season offensively that cost him some reps in the infield as the Cards looked to get more offense into the lineup, but DeJong is regarded as a standout defender himself — evidenced by last year’s plus-6 Defensive Runs Saved and a career plus-36 mark in 4366 innings at the position.

Royals, A’s and Orioles fans may remember Brooks for his big league work across those three franchises. A ninth-round pick by Kansas City back in 2011, he made his MLB debut with K.C. in 2014-15 but was traded to the A’s alongside Sean Manaea in the swap that brought Ben Zobrist to the 2015 World Series champion Royals.

The A’s wound up trading Brooks to the Cubs in exchange for Chris Coghlan back in 2016, setting off a sequence of scenery changes for Brooks over the next several years. He went from Chicago to Milwaukee via waivers, and the Brewers traded him back to Oakland in exchange for cash. Brooks’ second stint with the A’s lasted about a half season, as the Orioles claimed him on waivers the following summer and, after the 2019 campaign, released him to allow him to pursue his KBO opportunity.

While making the rounds on the trade/waiver circuit, Brooks appeared in 47 big league games and tallied 170 2/3 frames with an uninspiring 6.49 ERA. He was never much of a ground-ball pitcher during his prior stints in the big leagues, so it seems he’s done some work to reinvent his approach on the mound while pitching in South Korea. If he’s able to replicate that KBO success in Triple-A, it’s likely the Cardinals will find a way to get him onto the big league roster in 2022.

The Cards already have a full rotation, but adding some depth along these lines was a clear need. Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas and offseason signee Steven Matz are set to occupy the top five spots in the St. Louis rotation, but a lack of starting depth nearly sunk the 2021 Cards when they saw their entire rotation outside of Wainwright hit the IL by June. Brooks joins in-house options like Jake Woodford, Johan Oviedo, T.J. Zeuch and Angel Rondon on the depth chart, and the Cards are surely also hopeful that prospects Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson can reach the Majors in 2022.

Aaron Brooks Re-Signs With KBO’s KIA Tigers

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Righty Aaron Brooks will remain in Korea for a second season. He has inked a new deal to remain with the KIA Tigers, the club announced (h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO, via Twitter).

Brooks is slated to take home a $200K signing bonus and $1MM payday — the reward for a productive 2020 season. Over 151 1/3 innings in his debut KBO showing, Brooks worked to a 2.50 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 24 walks.

If he’s able to repeat that effort in 2021, Brooks could look to follow some other players in moving back to the majors from Korea. He didn’t find much success in his first four seasons at the game’s highest level, carrying a 6.49 cumulative ERA over 170 2/3 frames.

Which Former MLB Players Are Getting Ready To Play In The KBO?

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The Korea Baseball Organization is set to open its regular season on May 5, without fans in attendance, and is already in the midst of its second preseason training camp. There have been reported talks to bring KBO games to a North American audience, although at this point there’s no deal in place to allow MLB fans to tune in broad-reaching, accessible fashion.

Still, as baseball-starved fans hope for some ability to monitor those games, it seems worth a rundown of which former big leaguers will be suiting up in the KBO for fans around the world to follow — even if it’s in box scores and highlight clips only. Here’s a look at some names you might recognize in the 10-team league (with a hefty tip of the cap to the indispensable MyKBO.net and MyKBOstats.com)…

Doosan Bears (2019 record: 88-55-1)

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez, 1B/DH: The 32-year-old Fernandez was a notable signing out of Cuba by the Dodgers but never got a look with his original club. He latched on with the 2018 Angels and appeared in 36 games before heading to the KBO, where he posted a massive .344/.409/.483 slash even in a year that saw a leaguewide decrease in offense.
  • Raul Alcantara, RHP: Alcantara, 27, pitched with the Athletics in 2016-17. He notched a 4.01 ERA in 172 2/3 with the KT Wiz in Korea last season before inking a deal with the Bears this past winter.
  • Chris Flexen, RHP: Flexen struggled with the Mets from 2017-19 before signing up for his first overseas stint this past season. He had some success with the Mets’ Triple-A club and averaged a strikeout per inning at that level.

SK Wyverns (88-55-1)

  • Nick Kingham, RHP: The longtime Pirates top prospect never put it together in 131 2/3 big league innings, but he’s still just 28 years old. He’ll be an interesting name to monitor with regard to a future return.
  • Ricardo Pinto, RHP: The 26-year-old spent time with the Phillies, Rays and Giants organizations but struggled in limited MLB time.
  • Jamie Romak, 1B: The 33-year-old Romak only has 39 MLB plate appearances on his track record, but he’s become a consistent offensive force in the KBO, hitting .283/.376/.544 in three seasons with the Wyverns.

Kiwoom Heroes (86-57-1)

  • ByungHo Park, 1B: Park’s big free-agent deal with the Minnesota Twins didn’t pan out, but he’s posted an OPS north of 1.000 since returning to the Heroes two seasons ago.
  • Taylor Motter, INF/OF: The versatile 30-year-old didn’t hit much in 141 MLB games between the Rays, Mariners and Twins. He’ll hope for an overseas breakout in 2020.
  • Jake Brigham, RHP: Brigham, 32, only got a brief look with the 2015 Braves, but he’s entering his fourth KBO season — his second with the Heroes. In a total of 501 1/3 KBO innings, he’s posted a 3.72 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.
  • Eric Jokisch, LHP: An encouraging 2014 stint with the Cubs (three runs in 14 1/3 innings) never led to another MLB look for Jokisch, who bounced around the Triple-A circuit before turning in an impressive 3.13 ERA and 141-to-39 K/BB ratio in 181 1/3 frames in last year’s KBO debut.

LG Twins (79-64-1)

  • Hyun-Soo Kim, OF: The former Oriole and Phillie returned to the KBO after a two-year MLB stint in 2016-17, signing a four-year, $10.7MM deal with LG. The “Hitting Machine,” as he was nicknamed in the KBO, posted an OPS north of 1.000 in his return and has largely picked up where he left off.
  • Casey Kelly, RHP: The one-time star Red Sox prospect is now 30 years old and fresh off a 2.55 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 through 180 1/3 innings in his first KBO season.
  • Tyler Wilson, RHP: Wilson, also 30, floundered through 145 innings with the Orioles before finding himself with the LG Twins, for whom he’s tossed 355 innings with a 2.99 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9.
  • Roberto Ramos, 1B: One of the few players on this list who never appeared in the Majors, the 25-year-old Ramos is a former Rockies prospect who signed on for his first season of Asian ball after hitting .309/.400/.580 in Triple-A last year.

NC Dinos (73-69-2)

  • Aaron Altherr, OF: One of the more recognizable names on the list, Altherr at times looked like a budding star with the Phillies. He fizzled out after some notable injuries, though, and is will make his KBO debut at 29 this year.
  • Mike Wright, RHP: Another former O’s hurler, Wright appeared in parts of five seasons with Baltimore. He had his share of success in Triple-A (3.76 ERA) but regularly struggled in the big leagues (6.00 ERA in 258 frames). He’s making his KBO debut this season as well.
  • Drew Rucinski, RHP: The 31-year-old saw time with the Angels, Twins and most recently the Marlins (2018). He returns to the Dinos after pitching 177 2/3 frames of 3.05 ERA ball in 2019 (6.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9).

KT Wiz (71-71-2)

  • Odrisamer Despaigne, RHP: The 2020 season will be the first in the KBO for the 33-year-old Despaigne — a six-year MLB veteran who has tallied 363 innings in the big leagues.
  • Jae-Gyun Hwang, 3B: The (San Francisco) Giants signed Hwang back in 2017 but never gave him a long look despite a memorable home run in his MLB debut. He’s a productive regular in the KBO once again, having signed a four-year, $7.9MM deal with the Wiz prior to the 2018 season.
  • Mel Rojas Jr., OF: The 29-year-old Rojas never got a chance with the Pirates or Braves, and he’s now one of the KBO’s top hitters. In three seasons with the Wiz, Rojas has mashed at a .310/.377/.561 clip. He’s hit 30 homers in consecutive seasons.
  • William Cuevas, RHP: Cuevas, 29, got a cup of coffee with both the Red Sox and Tigers before jumping to the KBO and posting a 3.62 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 184 innings last year.

Kia Tigers (62-80-2)

  • Preston Tucker, OF: The former Astros prospect had a hot start with the ’18 Braves but faded quickly. He’s set for a second season with the Tigers after hitting .311/.381/.479 in last year’s debut effort.
  • Aaron Brooks, RHP: Brooks, 30 next week, pitched for the A’s, Royals and O’s between 2014-19 but struggled to a 6.49 ERA in 179 2/3 innings. He’s set for his KBO debut.
  • Drew Gagnon, RHP: A third-round pick of the Brewers in 2011, Gagnon saw MLB action with the Mets in 2018-19 but performed poorly. He had a bit 2019 season in Triple-A (2.33 ERA in 88 2/3 innings), which helped attract interest overseas.

Samsung Lions (60-83-1)

  • Seunghwan Oh, RHP: Oh enjoyed a quality four-year run with the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Rockies before undergoing elbow surgery last summer and heading back to the Lions, for whom he starred for nine seasons as one of the best relievers in league history (a tenure that earned him his incredible “Final Boss” nickname).
  • Tyler Saladino, INF: The former White Sox utilityman saw MLB time with the Brewers in 2018-19 and now heads to South Korea for the first time at 30 years of age.
  • David Buchanan, RHP: Buchanan hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a 2014-15 run with the Phillies. He’s spent the past three seasons with Japan’s Yakult Swallows, working to a 4.07 ERA in 433 innings — mostly working as a starter.
  • Ben Lively, RHP: A prospect of some note for a bit with the Phillies, Lively had a solid MLB debut in ’17 but never further established himself. He gave the Lions 57 innings of 3.95 ERA ball after signing midseason in 2019.

Hanwha Eagles (58-86)

  • Jared Hoying, OF: Hoying barely got a look with the Rangers in 2016-17, but he’s compiled a .296/.355/.519 slash in two seasons with the Eagles so far.
  • Warwick Saupold, RHP: The Aussie hurler managed a 4.98 ERA in three seasons with the Tigers before taking his 80-grade name to the KBO. In last year’s 192-inning debut, he logged a 3.51 ERA.
  • Chad Bell, LHP: Bell and Saupold were teammates with the Tigers. Both debuted in the KBO last year, and Bell’s 3.50 ERA is a near-identical match to his longtime teammate.

Lotte Giants (48-93-3)

  • Dan Straily, RHP: The most accomplished pitcher on this list, Straily racked up 495 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA ball with the Reds and Marlins from 2016-18 before his production fell off a cliff in 2019. He’ll hope to rebound on a one-year, $1MM deal with the Giants.
  • Dae-ho Lee, 1B: The 37-year-old slugger came to the Majors for one season with the 2016 Mariners before returning to Korea on a four-year, $12.9MM contract that represented the largest deal in KBO history at the time. Lee’s bat faded in 2019, but he mashed 37 homers with a .987 OPS in 2018.
  • Adrian Sampson, RHP: The 31-year-old comes to the Giants for his own KBO debut with a solid Triple-A track record but an ugly 5.71 ERA in 153 MLB innings.
  • Dixon Machado, INF: Yet another former Tiger, Machado spent 2019 with the Cubs’ Triple-A club, where he hit .261/.371/.480 before agreeing to a deal with Lotte this winter.

Aaron Brooks Signs With KBO’s KIA Tigers

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NOV. 13: The KIA Tigers have officially signed Brooks, per Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net. His deal comes with a $479K salary and a $200K signing bonus.

NOV. 12: It appears that Orioles righty Aaron Brooks is headed to the KBO, according to reports from Dan Connolly of The Athletic (links to Twitter) and Naver Sports (Korean language link). If all the paperwork is completed, as expected, he’ll agree to a new deal with the KIA Tigers and be set free from the Baltimore 40-man roster.

This sort of arrangement is now commonplace for hurlers such as Brooks. The 29-year-old has shown enough to bounce around the waiver wire and receive MLB opportunities, but hasn’t fully established himself on an active roster.

Brooks did get a lengthy big-league look this year after a strong Triple-A campaign in 2018. He ultimately threw 110 frames on the year, spanning 18 starts and eleven relief appearances in stints with the A’s and O’s. The results weren’t as hoped, as Brooks stumbled to a 5.65 cumulative ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.

Though the Orioles again need to fill innings, Brooks was at risk of being kicked from the MLB roster at some point this winter. His lack of options helped keep him in the bigs in 2019 but also reduced his appeal to affiliated clubs. By allowing Brooks to leave, the Orioles will pick up some financial compensation. He’ll get a chance to compete at a high level and earn a salary that wouldn’t be available to him in North America.

Orioles Claim Aaron Brooks, Designate Josh Lucas

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The Orioles have claimed righty Aaron Brooks off waivers from Oakland and designated right-hander Josh Lucas for assignment, the team reports.

Brooks, 29, appeared in 15 games for the A’s this season, starting six. He was mostly rocked over that span, pitching to a 5.01 ERA/5.67 FIP with a chilling 12 homers allowed in just 50 1/3 IP. The former Royal, Cub, and Brewer farmhand’s had major difficulty keeping the ball in the yard throughout his nine-year big-league career, so he wouldn’t figure to be a choice fit for Baltimore’s cozy Camden Yards dimensions.

Lucas, 28 and coincidentally a member of the A’s last season, was hit hard in nine appearances for Baltimore this season. The righty’s average fastball checked in at just 90.1 MPH for the club this year, well below the 93.5 MLB reliever average.

It’s the latest in a near-constant reshuffling of the Oriole pitching staff this season, yet again a sore spot for the club on its second consecutive #1 pick trajectory. Only John Means and Andrew Cashner have offered any solace in the rotation, with 23 bullpen members combining to post a league-high 1.89 HR/9.

Athletics To Designate Aaron Brooks, Activate Blake Treinen

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The Athletics are set to designate right-hander Aaron Brooks for assignment, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com was first to indicate (Twitter link). His 25-man roster spot will go to closer Blake Treinen, who’s set to return from a short stay on the injured list.

Brooks has been a regular for the A’s pitching staff this season, having amassed 50 1/3 innings in 15 appearances (six starts). However, the results have been underwhelming. Brooks has only managed a 5.01 ERA/5.67 FIP, in part because he has surrendered home runs on 19.4 percent of fly balls. On the other hand, the 29-year-old has logged decent overall strikeout and walk rates (7.69 K/9, 2.5 BB/9) and racked up almost a K per inning as a reliever.

Brooks is in his second stint with the Athletics, who acquired him from the Brewers last September in a minor trade. He was previously a member of the A’s in 2015 when they landed him and Sean Manaea from the Royals in a deal for Ben Zobrist. Brooks didn’t pitch for the A’s that year, though, and wound up going to the Cubs in a February 2016 trade for Chris Coghlan.

In a combined 111 career innings for the A’s, Royals and Cubs, Brooks has notched a 6.65 ERA/5.39 FIP with 6.81 K/9 and 2.68 BB/9.

Athletics Acquire Aaron Brooks, Designate Danny Coulombe

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The Athletics have acquired right-hander Aaron Brooks from the Brewers for cash considerations, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets. In a corresponding move, the A’s designated left-hander Danny Coulombe, per a team announcement.

This deal continues a busy few days for Brooks, whom the Brewers selected from the minors Aug. 30 and then designated the next day. The 28-year-old didn’t throw a pitch for the Brewers, and he hasn’t taken a major league mound since 2015 – part of which he spent with the Athletics. Brooks tossed 51 innings of 6.71 ERA ball with Oakland that year after it acquired him (and Sean Manaea) from the Royals in a trade for Ben Zobrist.

More recently, Brooks did solid work with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018. Despite having to pitch in hitter-friendly Colorado Springs, Brooks managed a 3.35 ERA/4.14 FIP with 6.7 K/9, 2.54 BB/9 and a 55.1 percent groundball rate over 99 1/3 innings (26 appearances, 15 starts).

Coulombe, who has been with the Athletics since they acquired him from the Dodgers in 2015, has been fairly effective in the majors. Over 143 1/3 career innings, including 139 with the A’s, Coulombe has held same-handed hitters to a .234/.304/.327 batting line and pitched to a 4.27 ERA/4.09 FIP, also notching 8.41 K/9, 3.83 BB/9 and an excellent 56.8 percent groundball rate. But major league lefties have teed off on Coulombe this season, as the the 28-year-old has yielded a .317/.364/.512 line in 23 2/3 frames. Coulombe has also registered a subpar 4.56 ERA/5.10 FIP and a 4.18 BB/9, though he has averaged nearly 10 strikeouts per nine and recorded a 51.7 percent grounder rate.

Brewers Designate Aaron Brooks, Jake Thompson

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The Brewers announced tonight that they have designated right-handed pitchers Aaron Brooks and Jake Thompson. Their roster spots went to just-acquired veterans Gio Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson.

Neither of these hurlers has thrown a pitch in the majors for the Brewers. Brooks had just been called up but did not get into a game. He last threw in the bigs in 2015. Thus far in 2018, Brooks has posted a 3.35 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 99 1/3 innings.

Thompson, meanwhile, had recently been claimed off waivers from the Phillies after struggling in his first thirty games of MLB action over the past three seasons. He had turned in five useful relief appearances since reporting to Colorado Springs, but only owns a cumulative 4.30 ERA and 55:29 K/BB ratio in his 52 1/3 total Triple-A innings this year.

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