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Austin Bibens-Dirkx

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/10/21

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Catching up on some minor league moves from around baseball…

  • The Astros have signed righty Michael Kelly to a minor league pact, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Kelly was the 48th overall pick of the Padres in the 2011 draft, but he hasn’t made it to the bigs thus far. Along with the Padres, the 28-year-old appeared in the minors with the Orioles through 2018, recording a 5.35 ERA over 607 2/3 innings. Kelly’s most recent professional action came in 2019 with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League.

Earlier updates:

  • The Dodgers signed right-handers Kevin Quackenbush, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, and Aaron Wilkerson to minor league contracts earlier this month, and all are on the roster for the team’s Triple-A affiliate.  Quackenbush is the most experienced of the trio, with 207 2/3 MLB innings with the Padres and Reds from 2014-18, and the 32-year-old is back in the Dodgers organization after previously pitching for Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2019.  Bibens-Dirkx was a member of several organizations before catching on with the Rangers in 2016 and posting a 5.27 ERA over 114 1/3 innings from 2017-18.  Wilkerson appeared in parts of three Major League seasons with the Brewers from 2017-19, posting a 6.88 ERA over 35 1/3 frames of work.
  • The Indians signed right-hander Matt Koch to a minor league deal back in April.  Koch pitched for the Yakult Swallows in 2020, posting a 7.88 ERA over 16 innings with the Japanese club.  Formerly a member of the Diamondbacks, Koch pitched 86 2/3 of his 125 1/3 career Major League innings in 2018, when he had a 4.15 ERA/4.85 ERA while starting 14 of his 19 games for Arizona.  For his overall career, Koch has a 4.88 ERA at the big league level.

Rangers Release 37 Minor Leaguers

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The Rangers have released 37 minor league players, per reports from TR Sullivan of MLB.com and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Grant’s tweet contains the full list, which includes right-handers Austin Bibens-Dirkx and Taylor Jungmann and outfielder Eric Jenkins, to name a few.

The well-traveled Bibens-Dirkx, who has had several North American stops and has played in China, is a familiar name to Rangers fans. Originally a 16th-round pick of the Mariners in 2006, he made his major league debut with Texas in 2017 and also pitched for the club the next season. To this point, the 35-year-old is the owner of a 5.27 ERA/5.63 FIP with 5.59 K/9 and 2.68 BB/9 in 114 1/3 major league innings. Bibens-Dirkx spent some of 2019 as part of the Rangers’ Triple-A team, with which he struggled to 7.98 ERA over 38 1/3 frames.

Jungmann, 30, was a 2011 first-round pick (No. 12, Brewers) who cracked top 100 prospect lists in his younger days, but he only managed a 4.54 ERA in 146 2/3 innings as a Brewer from 2015-17. He spent the previous two seasons pitching in Japan.

Jenkins was also a high selection (a second-rounder in 2015), but the speedster didn’t hit enough in the minors for the Rangers to keep him in the fold. The 23-year-old hasn’t gotten past High-A ball, where he batted .176/.270/.278 with a 32.2 percent strikeout rate and 21 steals in 295 plate appearances in 2019.

Rangers Sign Austin Bibens-Dirkx

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The Rangers have reunited with right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx on a minor league contract, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Bibens-Dirkx will take the ball for their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville on Saturday.

The well-traveled Bibens-Dirkx was previously a member of the Rangers organization from 2016-18, but knee surgery last September helped hasten his departure. Texas outrighted Bibens-Dirkx in early November, leading him to pursue a free-agent opportunity with the Uni-President Lions of the Taiwan-based Chinese Professional Baseball League. The 34-year-old returned stateside earlier this month to tend to his pregnant wife.

While Bibens-Dirkx turned pro way back in 2006 when the Mariners drafted him in the 16th round, his lone major league experience has come with the Rangers. He put up a 5.27 ERA/5.63 FIP with 5.59 K/9 and 2.68 BB/9 over 114 1/3 innings with the club during the prior two seasons. Bibens-Dirkx has mostly served as a reliever in the majors, whereas the majority of his recent Triple-A frames have come as a starter. He owns a 5.25 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 across 466 career innings at the minors’ highest level.

International Transactions: 6/13/19

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Here’s the latest on some international transactions news from around baseball…

  • The Blue Jays signed Cuban right-hander Yosver Zulueta and Dutch right-handers Jiorgeny Casimiri and Sem Robberse in some late additions before the end of the 2018-19 international signing period, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes.  Toronto acquired an extra $1.5MM of bonus pool funds in spring trades of Kendrys Morales to the A’s and Dwight Smith Jr. to the Orioles, which accounted for these three Jays signing (Zulueta received “the majority of their spending room,” as per Davidi).
  • The Orioles signed Dominican center fielder Stiven Acevedo to a contract with a $275K bonus in April, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes.  Acevedo’s birthday (August 2, 2002) made him a bit of an odd man out for the first batch of signings last July 2, as other teams committed most of their pools to players who were already 16 years old.  This left him available for Baltimore, who felt like Acevedo would have received a bonus of $1MM+ had he waited for the next international signing period this coming July 2.  Acevedo is already 6’4″ and 185 pounds despite his young age, “with feel for the barrel, not much swing-and-miss and the chance to grow into some power,” according to Meoli.  The piece is well worth a read for a full overview of the Orioles’ 2018-19 international signing endeavors, as the team has finally started to focus on the int’l market under new GM Mike Elias (and in the final weeks of former front office boss Dan Duquette’s tenure) and the O’s now seem positioned to be major players in the 2019-20 signing period.  In total, the O’s spent $2.167MM since last July 2, despite a signing pool that both rose and shrunk rapidly after multiple trades and pursuits of such high-profile prospects as the Mesa brothers.
  • Austin Bibens-Dirkx is no longer a member of the Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the team announced (hat tip to Rob of CPBLStats.com)  Bibens-Dirkx wished to return to the United States to be with his wife as the couple expects a baby within the coming days.  Bibens-Dirkx posted a 5.27 ERA over 114 1/3 innings for the Rangers in 2017-18 before signing with the Uni-Lions in the offseason.  His time in the CPBL carries its share of struggles, as Bibens-Dirkx posted a 5.28 ERA and 1.26 WHIP 46 innings.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx Signs With Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions

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The Uni-President Lions of the Taiwan-based Chinese Professional Baseball League have signed right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx to a contract for the 2019 season.  NOWnews reported the signing last week (hat tip to CPBLStats.com) and Bibens-Dirkx confirmed the deal himself on his Instagram page (while also announcing that he and his wife Leah are expecting a baby in June — congratulations to the Bibens-Dirkx family!)

This will be the most far-flung destination yet for Bibens-Dirkx over a 13-year professional career that has seen him pitch for six different MLB organizations, as well as a couple of stints in independent baseball.  The 33-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Rangers, which led to his first taste of Major League action.  Bibens-Dirkx posted a 5.27 ERA, 5.6 K/9, and 2.09 K/BB rate over 114 1/3 innings for Texas in 2017-18, starting 12 of his 37 games played.

Bibens-Dirkx underwent knee surgery at the end of last season, though it doesn’t appear to have been too major a setback.  (His Instagram page also has multiple posts chronicling Bibens-Dirkx’s offseason throwing sessions.)  The Rangers outrighted Bibens-Dirkx off their 40-man roster in November and he elected to become a free agent.

Rangers Decline Club Options Over Chirinos, Fister, Moore, Perez

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The Rangers have declined club options over catcher Robinson Chirinos and pitchers Doug Fister, Matt Moore, and Martin Perez. That’s a surprising move on the veteran backstop, though all three hurlers seemed destined to be sent onto the open market.

The Texas organization has also announced a long list of players who were outrighted from the 40-man roster. Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Clayton Blackburn, Brandon Mann, Carlos Perez, and Ryan Rua are all weighing outright assignments after seemingly clearing waivers.

Chirinos, 34, had seemed a fairly easy choice to remain behind the dish in Texas. His option had risen in value to $4.5MM due to plate-appearance escalators, Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes on Twitter, but the team will pay him $1MM just to walk away.

While Chirinos is not noted for his skill behind the dish — in particular, he slipped to dreadful framing ratings in 2018 — he’s a highly respected player. And he also has consistently delivered much more offensive than the average catcher, with a .233/.324/.438 career slash and 35 home runs over the 735 plate appearances he has accrued since the start of 2017.

All three pitchers will be looking for bounceback opportunities after forgettable seasons. Fister will receive a $500K buyout; his option was priced at $4.5MM. The Moore deal included a $750K  buyout, which he’ll take home in lieu of a $10MM payday. Perez, meanwhile, gets $1MM in total buyouts as the club passes on its chance to keep him in 2019 ($7.5MM) and 2020 ($9MM).

Matt Bush (Elbow) & Austin Bibens-Dirkx (Knee) Undergo Surgery

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The Rangers announced today that two of their pitchers have undergone surgery, as MLB.com’s TR Sullivan was among those to tweet. Reliever Matt Bush had a procedure to address a partial UCL tear, while fellow righty Austin Bibens-Dirkx received work to his knee, the details of which remain to be provided.

Clearly, the news is especially concerning with regard to Bush, who had already been ruled out for the remainder of the season. It’s not clear whether he experienced a more recent change in conditions that precipitated the procedure or whether it was simply called for after his rehab efforts were halted.

Though he did not require Tommy John surgery, the Texas organization anticipates going without Bush for at least half of the 2019 season. It’s not certain just what was performed, though it could be that he received “primary repair” surgery.

Things had not gone well for Bush when he was on the mound this year. The 32-year-old posted a 4.70 ERA in his 23 innings, with just 7.4 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9, with declines in his fastball velocity and swinging-strike rate.

As for Bibens-Dirkx, he had helped the Rangers fill innings over the course of the season after re-signing on a minors deal in the winter. He was bumped from the rotation after an abysmal outing in mid-July but has been an occasional relief presence since that time. All told, Bibens-Dirkx carries a 6.20 ERA in 45 innings on the season, with 33 strikeouts against 14 walks.

Quick Hits: Colon, Bibens-Dirkx, Odor, Rangers, Anthopoulos, Bae

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Timeless right-hander Bartolo Colon celebrated his 45th birthday this week, so he’ll soon become just the 18th player in major league history to pitch in the majors beyond that benchmark. Colon is also the oldest to hurl a pitch since Jamie Moyer back in 2012. Value metrics are divided on his effectiveness so far this season; Baseball Reference pegs his contributions at 1.6 WAR, while Fangraphs believes his 2018 production to be exactly replacement level. In any case, it would have been difficult at season’s outset to imagine Colon exceeding his current results. A 3.51 ERA and 7.20 K/BB ratio are welcome numbers to a Rangers rotation that sports the sixth-highest combined ERA in major-league baseball.

It’ll be fun to see just how long Colon can keep up this pace. But in the meantime, here are some minor notes from last night…

  • In other Rangers news, Jeff Wilson of the Star Telegram examines the job security of a pitcher and a position player in Arlington. Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched well on the whole in his last start (though he was a victim of some bad fielding behind him), Wilson notes that the club is more likely to give Matt Moore a longer look before ceding his spot in the rotation to Bibens-Dirkx. Meanwhile, Wilson notes that struggling second baseman Rougned Odor has two options remaining. With Jurickson Profar putting together quality at-bats of late, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa producing at a better clip than Odor, there’s a chance the club might consider letting the latter work out his issues in the minors.
  • In a subscription-only piece for The Athletic, Bill Shaikin examines the storyline of Alex Anthopoulos leaving the Dodgers organization to run a Braves club that’s currently leading the NL East. While Anthopoulos felt like he had “as good a job as there was in baseball” with the Dodgers, his reshaping of the Braves’ payroll has helped to set them up for success as they near the end of a lengthy rebuild. Trades of Jim Johnson, Matt Kemp and some international bonus pool money shipped to the Angels has set the stage for Atlanta to complement its young core through free agency and perhaps even the midseason trade market.
  • Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update on Pirates prospect Bae Ji-hwan via Twitter. Bae is reportedly on his way back to the United States after cooperating with police in South Korea on suspicion of a domestic violence incident. He’ll be allowed to participate in baseball activities pending the outcome of an investigation into said incident. Bae was one of a few players that the Braves reportedly offered “extra-contractual compensation” recently and were thus barred from signing in the last international signing period.

Rangers To Select Austin Bibens-Dirkx

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The Rangers announced tonight that they’ll select the contract of right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx from Triple-A Round Rock, and he’ll start Thursday’s game against the Royals. Texas has an open spot on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make a 25-man move to accommodate the promotion of Bibens-Dirkx.

The 33-year-old Bibens-Dirkx made his big league debut last season after a 12-year minor league odyssey that began as a 16th-round pick of the Mariners back in 2006. He appeared in 24 games with Texas last year and totaled 69 1/3 innings of 4.67 ERA ball, averaging 4.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and 1.82 HR/9 with a 39.9 percent ground-ball rate.

Though only six of those 24 appearances were starts, Bibens-Dirkx has worked primarily out of the rotation since joining the Rangers organization prior to the 2017 season. That’s been his role with Round Rock this year, too, where he’s made eight starts with a 3.72 ERA and a 32-to-8 K/BB ratio in 38 2/3 innings.

[Related: Texas Rangers depth chart]

Bibens-Dirkx will step into a rotation spot that has been vacated due to injuries incurred by both Matt Moore and Martin Perez. It’s not clear whether he’ll simply be making a one-off spot start or if he’ll get multiple opportunities while Perez and Moore work their way back, though both of those injured lefties have struggled substantially in 2018. Cole Hamels, Doug Fister, Mike Minor and Bartolo Colon round out manager Jeff Banister’s rotation at present, though that group’s composition figures to change in the coming months as the Rangers begin to field trade interest on their short-term veteran assets.

Rangers Sign Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Erik Goeddel

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The Rangers have announced the signings of righties Austin Bibens-Dirkx and Erik Goeddel. Both players will receive minors contracts that include invitations to MLB Spring Training.

Texas has worked hard to build out its pitching depth this winter, and that’s all the more important now given that Martin Perez is slated to miss some time early on. While the Rangers will surely still hope to find more impactful additions, a little spring competition never hurts.

Bibens-Dirkx reached the majors for the first time in 2017 with the Rangers. Working as a swingman, he provided 69 1/3 innings of 4.67 ERA ball over 18 relief appearances and six starts. He also managed only 4.9 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 and allowed 1.8 home runs per regulation outing. The 32-year-old was outrighted off of the 40-man roster at the end of the season.

As for Goeddel, who turns 29 tomorrow, he’ll step into the bullpen competition after appearing in each of the past four seasons with the Mets. The UCLA product has shown some swing and miss, recording 9.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 while carrying a 3.96 ERA through 104 2/3 career MLB frames. Goeddel managed a hefty 15.2% swinging-strike rate in 2017, though he also coughed up eight long balls in just 29 frames on the year.

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