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Ben Rowen Retires, Accepts Front Office Position With Angels

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Former big league reliever Ben Rowen has retired from playing, he tells Sam Blum of the Athletic. Last month, the 33-year-old accepted an advance scouting position with the Angels, the club with which he played in 2021.

Rowen appeared in parts of three MLB seasons, scattered over a seven-year span. His most extensive big league action came this past season, when he worked 11 1/3 innings over eight appearances with Anaheim before being designated for assignment in early May. After passing through outright waivers, the submariner pitched the rest of the season with Triple-A Salt Lake. He posted a 6.82 ERA across 30 1/3 innings with the Bees and elected minor league free agency at the end of the season.

Rather than pursuing another minor league deal, Rowen determined it best to begin his post-playing days. He tells Blum his new role functions as a sort of hybrid coaching/front office position. While he’s reporting to front office personnel, he’s expected to work closely with pitching coach Matt Wise and bullpen coach Dom Chiti in developing plans of attack for Angels’ hurlers based on their strengths and the weaknesses of opposing hitters.

Rowen, a former 22nd-round draft pick out of Virginia Tech, ultimately pitched professionally for twelve years. He split his MLB time between the Rangers, Brewers and Angels, tossing 23 innings of 6.26 ERA ball with 17 strikeouts and six walks. MLBTR wishes Rowen all the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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As the offseason gets underway, players around baseball continue to elect minor league free agency.  While the threshold for big league free agency (six-plus years of Major League service time) is well known, there are several methods of qualifying for minor league free agency.  The most common criteria: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their career, or unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Each of these players has recently hit the open market in the last few days, according to the official transactions pages for both Triple-A East and Triple-A West.

Angels Place Alex Cobb On 10-Day Injured List

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The Angels placed right-hander Alex Cobb on the 10-day injured list due to a blister on his right middle finger.  The team specified that Cobb’s placement was retroactive to May 5th.  In other news, outfielder Scott Schebler and right-hander Ben Rowen were both outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Cobb was lined up to start on Monday, though The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya tweeted that Jose Suarez was scratched from his scheduled Triple-A start tonight, so Suarez could be in line for a call-up to fill Cobb’s place on Monday.

It’s been a hard-luck season for Cobb thus far, who has a 5.48 ERA through 21 1/3 innings but only a 3.24 SIERA.  While Cobb has been hampered by a 9.8% walk rate, he also has a 30.4% strikeout rate that ranks in the 81st percentile of all pitchers.  Cobb has a .431 BABIP and only a 60.1% strand rate, adding to his lack of good fortune.

The Angels as a whole rank last in baseball with a 66.2% strand rate and second-last (.317) in team BABIP.  It probably isn’t much consolation to Anaheim fans who are frustrated with another season of subpar pitching from their club, and the Halos will take another blow if Cobb spends an extended amount of time on the IL.  Blister issues can be unpredictable, though this is the first time that a blister problem has sidelined Cobb over his 10 MLB seasons.

Angels Place Anthony Rendon On Injured List, Designate Ben Rowen

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves in advance of this evening’s game against the Rays. Star third baseman Anthony Rendon is headed back to the 10-day injured list with a left knee contusion. Reliever Mike Mayers has been reinstated from the COVID IL, while fellow right-hander Ben Rowen was designated for assignment. Outfielders Juan Lagares and Taylor Ward have been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, while righty James Hoyt was optioned.

This will be Rendon’s second trip to the IL this season. The 30-year-old missed about two weeks in April due to a left groin strain. After returning for seven games, Rendon is knocked out of action again, this time by a balky knee. On the plus side, the team says an MRI today revealed no issues (via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times), so it seems there’s reason to hope Rendon can return in relatively short order.

While the pair of injuries has made for a frustrating start to the season for Rendon, he’s again been very productive when healthy. Over his first 66 plate appearances, the two-time Silver Slugger award winner has hit .276/.348/.466 with three homers. That’s not quite the star-level offense he put up from 2017-20, but it’s still well above average. During Rendon’s last IL stint, Los Angeles leaned mostly on José Rojas and Jack Mayfield at the hot corner. The latter has since been lost on waivers to the Mariners, but Rojas looks primed for another shot after struggling the first time.

Ward also has some experience at third base, although he worked exclusively in the outfield last season. The former catcher hit .214/.283/.351 from 2019-20. He’s now in line for his first MLB work this year. Infielder Phil Gosselin was also selected to the MLB roster this week and could be an option. Lagares, who can play anywhere in the outfield, is back after going hitless in seven plate appearances early in the season.

The Angels also shuffled up the bullpen. Mayers went on the COVID IL Monday but was always expected back quickly. His return will bump Rowen from the 40-man roster. The latter, who returned to the majors this season for the first time since 2016, pitched in eight games for the Halos. Over 11 1/3 innings, he was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on 12 hits. He struck out only eight and issued a pair of walks.

Angels Place Anthony Rendon On 10-Day IL

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The Angels have placed star third baseman Anthony Rendon on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Rendon suffered the injury Saturday, and the Angels are hopeful he won’t miss more time than 10 days, according to manager Joe Maddon.

Rendon, a former National whom LA signed to a seven-year, $245MM contract before 2020, has been a smash success in an Angels uniform. He was one of the most valuable players in baseball last season, when he batted .286/.418/.497 (154 wRC+) with nine home runs in 232 plate appearances and tied for fifth in the majors in fWAR (2.7). Rendon hasn’t been that hot at the start of this season, but he has slashed a more-than-respectable .290/.378/.387 with a homer in 37 trips to the plate.

Along with placing Rendon on the IL, the Angels called up infielder Jack Mayfield, selected right-hander Ben Rowen and optioned righty Jaime Barria. Mayfield and Jose Rojas will help fill in for Rendon during his absence, while Rowen could see his first major league action since he was a member of the Brewers in 2016. The Angels signed the longtime farmhand to a minor league contract in the offseason.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/3/19

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Rounding up the latest in minor moves from around the game . . .

  • The Braves have reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with veteran reliever Ben Rowen. Rowen, an extreme submariner, is the owner of a rare high-grounder, low-walk profile, and has turned in a number of impressive seasons at the AAA level. The 30-year-old’s last big-league appearance came in 2016 with Milwaukee, for whom he made three late-season appearances. The Virginia Tech-product debut also threw 8 innings for the 2014 Rangers, but has mostly made his way around the International and Pacific Coast Leagues over the last six seasons. In 245 career innings at the Triple-A level, the 6’4 righty has pitched to a stellar 3.08 ERA, allowing just 0.44 homers per nine. He figures to be a candidate for the Peter Moylan role at the front end of the Atlanta bullpen, and should make a nifty righty specialist if the club can spare the roster space.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/14/18

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Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Padres announced over the weekend that righty Michael Mariot was released from their Triple-A club. The former Royals and Phillies reliever has 49 2/3 innings of work under his belt in the Majors, all coming from 2014-16, though he’s struggled to an ERA just south of 6.00 in that time. The 29-year-old has never had much trouble missing bats in the minors since moving from a starting role to the ’pen, but he’s off to a dismal start in 2018 with a 12.15 ERA in 13 1/3 innings of work. Mariot did punch out 14 hitters with Triple-A El Paso, but he also walked seven, hit a batter and surrendered a whopping five homers in his 13 1/3 innings. Overall, he owns a 3.80 ERA with 9.5 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 253 1/3 Triple-A innings.
  • Right-handed reliever Ben Rowen was released from the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.The 29-year-old Rowen has just 11 2/3 MLB innings under his belt (none since 2016), but the sidearmer has a lengthy track record of success in Triple-A. He allowed 11 runs in 10 2/3 innings to open the 2018 season, however, and his ground-ball rate, which has previously been well north of 60 percent, was just 41.9 percent so far this season. Rowen entered 2018 with a career 2.81 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in parts of five Triple-A campaigns, so perhaps he’ll garner interest elsewhere.
  • The Athletics signed left-handed reliever Dean Kiekhefer, per Eddy. He’d recently been released by Cincinnati. The 28-year-old tossed 22 innings at the big league level with the Cardinals in 2016, working to a 5.32 ERA with 14 strikeouts against seven walks (four intentional) and two hit batters in that brief time. Kiekhefer landed with the Mariners via waivers in the 2016-17 offseason but was outrighted off their 40-man roster shortly thereafter. Last year, he logged a 4.47 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 0.61 HR/9 and a 46 percent grounder rate in Triple-A. He opened the season with eight innings of one-run ball in the Cincinnati organization, albeit at the Double-A level.
  • Southpaw James Russell was released by the Tigers, Eddy reports. The 32-year-old Russell, a fixture in the Cubs’ bullpen for six seasons, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since an unsuccessful 2016 stint with the Phillies. He spent the 2017 season pitching in the Mexican League, where he performed quite well, but tossed just three innings and allowed five runs with the Tigers’ top affiliate in 2018 before his release.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/19/18

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Here are Monday’s minor signings from throughout the league…

  • The Reds announced that they’ve signed right-handed reliever Ben Rowen to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The 29-year-old Rowen has just 11 2/3 MLB innings under his belt (none since 2016), but the sidearmer has a lengthy track record of success in Triple-A. While Rowen had a down season in 2017, working to a 4.41 ERA in 63 1/3 innings, his struggles came in a hitters’ paradise — the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. Overall, Rowen has a career 2.81 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in parts of five Triple-A campaigns, and he has routinely racked up ground-ball rates north of 60 percent thanks in large part to his unorthodox delivery.
  • The Dodgers have inked former Cubs/Rockies outfielder Tyler Colvin to a minor league deal, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Now 32 years old, Colvin hasn’t been in the Majors since 2014 and hasn’t been affiliated with a big league organization since a 2015 stint with the White Sox’ Triple-A club. He spent the 2016 season with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League and struggled to a .218/.264/.339 slash through 277 plate appearances, and he didn’t play professionally in 2017. Colvin had success in the Majors back in 2010 (113 OPS+) and 2012 (114 OPS+), but his overall .239/.287/.446 slash through 1309 MLB PAs is reflective of the fact that he’s had more struggles than success in the big leagues.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/16/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league….

  • The Mets signed sidearm right-hander Ben Rowen to a minor league deal with an invite to Major League Spring Training, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. Rowen, 28, made his second Major League appearance last year but surrendered five runs in three innings at the big league level. He was outstanding in Triple-A, though (2.33 ERA in 58 innings), which has become par for the course for Rowen. In parts of four seasons there, Rowen owns a 2.22 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against just 1.5 BB/9. His delivery also leads to exceptionally high ground-ball rates, as was the case in Triple-A last season, when he induced grounders at a 60.2 percent clip. Rowen has spent parts of seven seasons in the minors, during which time he’s amassed a 1.85 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 to complement those strong ground-ball tendencies.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/9/16

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Time to catch up on some recent 40-man roster moves:

  • The Brewers outrighted righties Yhonathan Barrios and Ben Rowen as well as catcher Josmil Pinto, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and Adam McCalvy. Barrios cracked the bigs briefly in 2015 but missed all of 2016 with shoulder issues. The 27-year-old Rowen has minimal major league experience, but did put up a strong 2.33 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 over 58 minor league frames last year. As for Pinto, who’s also 27, he’s still waiting for another shot at the majors. His .308/.362/.517 batting line over 315 plate appearances could warrant interest.
  • Recently-claimed lefty Jed Bradley has been shipped to Triple-A and off of the Orioles’ 40-man, the team announced. Plucked from the Braves, where he briefly debuted last year, Bradley will be a useful stashed arm if a need arises.
  • The Indians announce that catcher Adam Moore was outrighted. He has one of the more interesting Baseball-Reference pages you’ll ever see. Since receiving significant time in 2010 with the Mariners, he has bounced around quite a bit but managed to appear in the majors in every seasons since. Yet Moore has accumulated just fifty total MLB plate appearances in that six-year span. He’ll surely land as a depth piece somewhere, if he doesn’t return to Cleveland.
  • Righty Dustin Molleken elected free agency after being outrighted by the Tigers. The 32-year-old finally reached the majors in 2016, allowing four earned runs on 12 hits and five walks against eight strikeouts over his 8 1/3 innings. Otherwise, he has spent the last five years pitching in Japan or the highest level of the minors.
  • The Twins outrighted right-hander Alex Wimmers, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press tweets. Wimmers threw his first 17 1/3 major league innings last year, putting up a 4.15 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 11 walks. In his 56 2/3 Triple-A frames on the year, he worked to a 3.97 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.
  • The Dodgers dropped righty Chin-hui Tsao from their 40-man roster, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets. Now 35, Tsao has made just seven appearances over the last two seasons. All of his prior major league action came between 2003 and 2007.
  • Catcher A.J. Jimenez had his contract selected by the Blue Jays, per a club announcement. He had been removed from the 40-man last spring, but will now be added to prevent him from departing as a minor league free agent. Jimenez has been in Toronto’s system since 2008, but has yet to reach the majors. he posted a .241/.290/.377 batting line over 248 plate appearances at Triple-A last year.
  • The Giants added righty Ian Gardeck to their 40-man roster, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He missed all of last year due to Tommy John surgery. Gardeck’s most recent showing came at the High-A level in 2015, when he pitched to a 3.54 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 86 1/3 innings.
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