Heading into the 2014 season, Alcantara ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus (among other outlets). At the time, the switch-hitter was fresh off a 15-homer, 31-steal performance in Double-A as a 21-year-old. Alcantara was viewed as a potential long-term option at Wrigley Field, but he’s yet to find much success at the MLB level.

Now 30 years of age, Alcantara has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors — albeit none since his 2017 campaign in Cincinnati. He’s a career .189/.235/.315 hitter in 459 Major League trips to the plate, but Alcantara has a nice Triple-A track record, including a big showing with the Giants’ top affiliate this past season. In 255 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento in 2021, he posted a .280/.337/.586 slash with 17 home runs, 10 doubles and five triples.

Alcantara has played all over the diamond as a professional, appearing at every position other than first base and catcher. The vast majority of his work has come up the middle, with 4053 innings at second base, 3311 innings at shortstop and 1207 innings in center field. He’ll give the Fighters some cover at multiple positions, and given that he only recently turned 30, a Major League comeback at some point down the road isn’t out of the question if he takes his game to a new level overseas.

• The Giants agreed to a minor league deal and Spring Training invite with utilityman Arismendy Alcantara, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Once considered to be among baseball’s top 100 prospects, the former Cubs prospect hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2017. The 29-year-old Alcantara has appeared in 167 MLB games, splitting time between the Cubs, A’s and Reds, but he has just a .189/.285/.315 batting line to show for it. Alcantara has experience at second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield spots, and he’s a career .273/.326/.468 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.

• The Braves have signed left-handed pitcher Chris Nunn to a minor-league deal that includes an invite to spring training, according to Robert Murray. Nunn, originally a 2012 draftee of the Padres, has yet to see Major League action since his professional debut, making stops in Independent leagues along the way. Now 28 years old, he’s played in the upper minors with the Astros and Dodgers organizations in the last two years. Last year, in 50 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, Nunn struck out 66 batters while walking 24. After posting a 1.33 ERA in Double-A, his numbers ballooned at the next level, though he largely maintained his bat-missing prowess.
• The Padres signed outfielder Abraham Almonte. The 30-year-old switch-hitter saw action in 17 MLB games for the division-rival Diamonbacks in 2019. He was quite productive with the Snakes’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno last season, slashing .270/.382/.558. That dwarfs his prior MLB performance, though. In 1,138 plate appearances over the past six seasons, the center field-capable Almonte has compiled a .239/.298/.373 line (81 wRC+).
• The Reds re-signed infielder Christian Colón and added catcher Francisco Peña to the organization. Colón, most known for his top five draft status and World Series heroics with the Royals, logged eight MLB plate appearances in Cincinnati last season. That rewarded a solid .300/.372/.443 line in extended action with Triple-A Louisville, although Colón was unsurprisingly bumped from the 40-man roster at season’s end. Peña tallied 202 uninspiring MLB plate appearances with the Royals, Orioles and Cardinals from 2014-18. He’s shown decent pop for a catcher at Triple-A, though; in parts of six seasons at the minors’ highest level, he has compiled a .259/.301/.469 line.
• The Dodgers re-signed right-hander Justin De Fratus. The former Phillie has spent the last two seasons in the L.A. organization, but he hasn’t seen the majors since 2015. While all 191 of De Fratus’ MLB appearances have come out of the bullpen, he’s primarily been a starting pitcher in the minors in recent years, albeit with uninspiring results. The Dodgers also added hard-throwing lefty reliever Reymin Guduan. Guduan is still just 27 and had little trouble racking up strikeouts in the Astros’ organization, both in the high minors and at the MLB level. He’s always issued a few too many walks, though. Perhaps more concerning, Houston released Guduan in September after a team-imposed suspension for an undisclosed disciplinary issue.
• The Rockies re-signed righty reliever Wes Parsons. The 27-year-old was claimed off waivers midseason from the Braves, but a dreadful MLB showing cost him his 40-man roster spot. Parsons logged a cumulative 5.45 ERA with more walks (29) than strikeouts (26) in 34.2 innings. Colorado also signed outfielder Michael Choice. The former top prospect, now 30, hasn’t logged significant MLB action since 2014. He’s spent the past two seasons in the Mexican League, but a strong 2019 effort there earned him another look in affiliated ball.
• The Braves signed veteran infielder Pete Kozma. The longtime Cardinal has just a .215/.278/.291 career line (54 wRC+) in parts of seven MLB seasons. He hasn’t done much at the dish in the minors, either, but he’s a well-regarded defender around the infield.
• The Angels signed former Cubs’ prospect Arismendy Alcántara. Alcántara hasn’t played at the highest level since 2017, and his career .189/.235/.315 line (49 wRC+) reflects the plate discipline woes that have done him in. He’s still just 28 years old, though, and his 2019 return to affiliated ball following a year in the Mexican League went well. The utilityman was productive across two minor-league levels in the Mets’ organization last season and showed better discipline than he has in his MLB career.
• The Mets added former White Sox outfielder Ryan Cordell. Twice traded as a prospect, the 27-year-old fell flat in his first extended MLB look in 2019, with just a .221/.290/.355 line (73 wRC+). He’s capable of logging some time in center field, though, and he put together a decent minor-league resume between myriad injuries.
• Finally, the Yankees brought aboard utilityman Rosell Herrera. Herrera logged fair MLB time with the Reds, Royals and Marlins the past two seasons. His resultant .225/.286/.316 slash (63 wRC+) won’t turn any heads, but Herrera has an 82nd percentile sprint speed, per Statcast, and has logged time at six different positions (short, second, third, and all three outfield spots) as a big leaguer.

Alcantara, 27, spent much of 2018 in the Mexican League after being designated for assignment by Cincinnati in late 2017. The versatile Dominican, who’s appeared at six positions during his four-year MLB tenure with the Cubs, A’s, and Reds, figures to be in the utility mix for a Mets club that’s been on a depth-piece binge for the better part of the offseason.

The 5’9 switch hitter burst onto the national prospect landscape after a strong 2013 showing for Chicago’s AA affiliate, slashing .271/.352/.451 with 31 steals in 133 games. A solid follow-up the next season left the then-22-year-old poised to become the charter MLB member of Chicago’s burgeoning minor-league crop, but big-league pitching soon stopped him in his tracks. Alcantara slashed just .205/.254/.367 in his first stint with the Cubs, and never seemed to regain his upper-minors mojo in subsequent demotions to AAA.

The Cubs quickly soured on the switch-hitter: a June 2016 trade sent Alcantara to Oakland, where he received scant opportunity with the parent club. The Reds picked him up the following year, where he scuffled through an injury-riddled campaign before being jettisoned in late summer. Alcantara did show promise in last year’s Mexican League stint, and still boasts considerable upside, given his both-sides power and ability to hold down multiple defensive forts, if he can somehow recapture his mid-decade form.

• The Reds announced this afternoon that outfielder Scott Van Slyke has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers. Cincinnati designated Van Slyke for assignment last week, making it clear that his inclusion in the team’s return for Tony Cingrani was mostly a financial mechanism. Van Slyke has struggled to a .196/.280/.308 in 161 plate appearances across the past two seasons and has posted a marginal .714 OPS through 221 PAs in Triple-A as well. Van Slyke could have rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would’ve meant forfeiting the remaining $341K on this year’s $1.325MM salary. If he’s no re-added to the 40-man roster before season’s end, Van Slyke will have the opportunity to elect free agency following the season.

Earlier Moves

• Veteran righty Edward Mujica has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Tigers after clearing waivers, per a club announcement. It is not immediately clear whether Mujica has accepted the assignment; he’d have the right to decline it, or instead to elect free agency at the end of the year. The 33-year-old, an eleven-year MLB veteran, had not seen the majors since 2015 but earned a return with a strong showing at the highest level of the minors. But he was bombed for seven earned runs on 11 hits — including four home runs — in his five outings with Detroit.
• Also outrighted was Reds utilityman Arismendy Alcantara, the Cincinnati organization announced. He’s heading to Double-A, with Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer noting on Twitter that the club’s top affiliate is rather well-stocked with infielders. Alcantara, 25, has appeared in the majors in each of the past four seasons, but has struggled to a .189/.235/.315 batting line with 150 strikeouts in his 459 plate appearances. While he has intrigued at times in the upper minors with a blend of power, speed, and defensive versatility, Alcantara just hasn’t been able to turn the corner in his relatively limited opportunities at the game’s highest level — where his swing-and-miss proclivities have been exposed.

Alcantara was once a top prospect who showed good basestealing ability and burgeoning power in the minors, but his stock has fallen in recent years as he’s passed through the Cubs and Athletics organizations. The Reds claimed him from Oakland last October, and he’s batted a very poor .171/.187/.248 (including a 35.2 K% and 1.9 BB%) in 108 plate appearances while playing six positions in the big leagues this season. He’s also out of options, further complicating any hopes the Reds might have had of continuing to carry him on their roster. In parts of four big-league seasons, Alcantara has batted just .189/.235/.315 in 459 plate appearances.

Alcantara, 24, was once one of the more well-regarded prospects in the Cubs’ minor league ranks, but his promising production at Double-A and Triple-A as a 21-year-old and 22-year-old, respectively, hasn’t carried over to the big league level. Alcantara hit .271/.351/.452 with Double-A Tennessee back in 2013 and followed that up with a huge .307/.353/.537 slash with Triple-A Iowa the following season. Both of those impressive stints fueled a promotion to the Majors in ’14, but Alcantara floundered through 300 plate appearances that year, and his bat regressed at Triple-A in 2015. All told, he’s a career .195/.249/.337 hitter through 351 big league plate appearances, though he did post a respectable .278/.325/.467 slash in 108 Triple-A contests this season.

Alcantara has experience playing a slew of positions and can give the Reds another versatile option to move around the diamond. He’s played mostly second base and center field at the Major League level but also has professional experience at shortstop, third base and in both outfield corners.

As for Kivlehan, his stay on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster proved to be brief. The former Rangers/Mariners farmhand was claimed off waivers in late September. In the past calendar year, Kivlehan has been traded from the Mariners to the Rangers, only to be sent back to Seattle before being claimed off waivers by the Padres and later by the Reds. He’ll now potentially land with a fifth organization in the past 12 months. The 26-year-old has just 24 big league plate appearances but is a .282/.344/.470 career hitter in the minors, where he’s played both corner infield positions extensively and has seen limited action in all three outfield slots.

Chicago had shipped Coghlan to the A’s over the winter in exchange for pitcher Aaron Brooks. That move proved to be a precursor to the Cubs’ signing of Dexter Fowler.

In the interim, though, the Cubs lost Kyle Schwarber for the season and recently saw Jorge Soler go down with a hamstring injury of unknown severity. Also hitting the DL with a hammy issue is infielder Tommy La Stella.

Those losses have reduced the club’s depth somewhat, though it still has a nice group of outfield talent in reserve (including just-promoted prospect Albert Almora) as well as a fully healthy infield that includes two outstanding players (Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist) who are also capable of playing in the outfield.

The 30-year-old Coghlan will likely see time at the corner outfield, but has also been an option at second base (where Zobrist is entrenched). He had two highly productive seasons with the Cubs over 2013-14, posting a combined .265/.346/.447 batting line with 25 home runs and 18 steals over 935 plate appearances. Coghlan has scuffled thus far in Oakland with an ugly .146/.215/.272 slash, but those results and eroding plate discipline — he owns an uncharacteristic 27.3% strikeout rate against a diminished 7.6% walk rate — didn’t deter his former club.

There was a time when it would have seemed that Alcantara was the perfect player to plug into just such an opening. A middle infielder by trade, he saw ample time on the outfield grass upon his promotion in 2014. But the 24-year-old has never quite blossomed at the big league level, and wasn’t showing any signs of resolving his strikeout issues at Triple-A.

Still, he’s an interesting wild card for the A’s. Though he’s yet to show consistent on-base skills, Alcantara is generally regarded as a quality fielder and has loud tools on offense, with a history of double-digit home runs and steals. Indeed, over 213 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors this year, he has already swiped twenty bags.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

• Fowler says he never discussed a long-term deal with the Astros, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. “We didn’t really talk about contract stuff — more going through the arbitration process and that whole thing,” says Fowler. “Obviously I’m going to be a free agent next year so I guess that (topic) would have been a little bit more down the road.”
• Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says the two teams had been discussing a Fowler trade since last month, Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago tweets.
• The Cubs and Astros are suddenly looking to be competitive in 2015, and the Fowler trade was about making each of their rosters more complete, Eno Sarris of Fangraphs writes. The Cubs had plenty of infield talent but were thin in the outfield, and sending Valbuena to the Cubs gives them more flexibility to figure out what to do with Kris Bryant, Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez while giving them a veteran outfielder who they might also be able to extend a qualifying offer after the season. Meanwhile, Valbuena improves the Astros at third base while clearing space for some combination of Jake Marisnick and Robbie Grossman in the outfield.
• Valbuena’s departure assures that Kris Bryant will begin his big-league career at a third baseman and not as an outfielder, Rogers writes. Meanwhile, the Cubs will have Alcantara play a number of positions, remaining open to the idea that he could emerge as a starter at one of them.

Here’s the latest from the NL Central:

• Pirates GM Neal Huntington says re-signing catcher Russell Martin is a priority for the franchise, tweets Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We are going to try to do everything we can to keep Russ,” said Huntington. “We’d love nothing more than to have (Martin) in a Pirates uniform.“
• Huntington, however, reiterated the Pirates will not veer from their financial philosophy. “We’re going to continue to have to pay guys for what we believe they’re going to do, and not what they’ve done,” said Huntington (as quoted by MLB.com’s Stephen Pianovich). “The bigger markets certainly have luxury to be able to extend much beyond comfort levels to pay an extra year or two, to pave over prior mistakes with more money.“
• Brewers GM Doug Melvin does not “think there’s a need to go out and try to get another starter” and will instead focus on offense this offseason, reports MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. The Brewers are all but certain to pick up the $13MM option on Yovani Gallardo, McCalvy opines.
• The Brewers’ biggest offseason decisions will be the infield corners and whether to exercise Gallardo’s option, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a recent chat. The Brewers will consider both internal and external options at first base, but Haudricourt notes finding productive first basemen is easier said than done.
• In a separate piece, Haudricourt writes Rickie Weeks is nearing the end of his tenure with the Brewers (his $11.5MM option isn’t expected to be exercised), but the team’s senior member in terms of service time is not thinking about 2015. “I’ll worry about that when the time comes,” Weeks said. “I’m still with the Brewers right now. That’s the way I look at it.“
• “What we’d really like is to have a bunch of really good baserunners,” is what Cubs manager Rick Renteria told reporters, including MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat, when asked about the club’s 2015 wish list.

Here’s more from the NL Central…

• The Pirates are scouting the Diamondbacks’ bullpen of late, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, who speculates that old friend Oliver Perez could be a potential target for the Bucs.
• The Reds and Phillies remain in contact regarding a potential Marlon Byrd trade, sources tell Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN (Twitter link). The Reds have Jay Bruce in right and Billy Hamilton in left, but their left fielders have combined to hit .242/.304/.358. Additionally, with Bruce’s slumping and Joey Votto on the disabled list, the team is short on power.
• Cubs GM Jed Hoyer tells Carrie Muskat of MLB.com that Arismendy Alcantara will likely be in the lineup everyday, splitting time between second base and center field. The Cubs designated defensive specialist Darwin Barney for assignment yesterday, which should clear some playing time for the 22-year-old Alcantara.
• Alcantara isn’t the only Cubs prospect on the rise. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald tweets that outfielders Jorge Soler and Albert Almora have each moved up a level, with Almora heading to Double-A Tennessee and Soler reaching Triple-A Iowa.
• David Price, who recently took in a game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the fans of St. Louis were great and treated him well in his time there. One high-ranking AL exec tells Nightengale that if the Rays decide to move their ace, the Cardinals stand out as the most likely team to acquire him.
• MLB.com’s Jen Langosch was among the reporters who spoke to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak yesterday. Langosch writes that the Redbirds are pursuing rotation help as the deadline approaches, but Mozeliak cautioned that no deal is imminent. Asked if the club was pursuing a top-of-the-rotation arm or some depth for the back end, Mozeliak replied that the latter was more likely.

Here’s more from the game’s Central divisions…

• Reds right-hander Homer Bailey left today’s game after five innings due to a slight strain in his right knee, but he won’t see his name added to the list of significant injuries that have stricken contending teams today. The Reds have announced that he is expected to make his next start.
• Twins GM Terry Ryan tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he’s glad to see Vance Worley performing well with the Pirates, though he did imply that it’s too early to say that the Twins gave up on Worley too soon: “Give him a little time to see what he does over the course of starts. We’ll talk about that in October. See how it goes. I know he’s done well.”
• The Indians are hopeful that Justin Masterson’s two weeks on the disabled list will not only give him a chance to heal, but to help him get his mechanics back in line, reports MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway feels that Masterson’s knee has affected the way he’s been able to land during his delivery, which would explain the sharp decrease in velocity Masterson has seen this year.
• White Sox GM Rick Hahn would need to receive an offer that knocks his cell phone out of his hands in order to trade Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Avisail Garcia or Jose Abreu, writes Scott Merkin of MLB.com. However, Hahn notes that oftentimes, a trade will come together when a rival club’s initial inquiry is on a player that is unavailable, as it leads to the suggestion of alternative options.