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Brandon Waddell

KBO’s Doosan Bears Sign Three Former Big Leaguers

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The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization announced Thursday that they’ve signed a trio of former Major Leaguers (English language link via Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency). Right-hander Raul Alcantara, left-hander Brandon Waddell and outfielder Henry Ramos all signed one-year contracts for the 2024 campaign. Alcantara and Waddell are returning after pitching for the Bears in 2023 as well. They’ll be guaranteed $1.3MM and $1MM, respectively. Ramos, who spent the 2023 season with the Reds organization but played for the KBO’s KT Wiz in 2022, is entering his first season with the Bears and will be guaranteed $600K. All three players receive six-figure incentive packages that can boost their earnings as well: $200K for Alcantara, $130K for Waddell and $100K for Ramos.

The 31-year-old Alcantara has steadily raised his profile since heading overseas to sign with the KBO’s KT Wiz in 2019. This will be his sixth season in Asia; after spending the 2019 season with the Wiz and the 2020 season with the Bears, he spent the next two years with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Alcantara returned to the Bears for the 2023 season and will now embark on his third season with them and fourth overall in the KBO.

Although he was never a top-100 prospect, Alcantara at one point landed as highly as fourth among Oakland farmhands on Baseball America’s ranking of their system. The A’s had acquired him and Josh Reddick from the Red Sox as part of the package sending Andrew Bailey to Boston. In parts of two big league seasons, he logged a 7.19 ERA in 46 1/3 frames.

Alcantara has found new life overseas, winning the KBO’s Choi Dong Won Award (their Cy Young equivalent) with the Bears in 2020 and parlaying that into his two-year run in NPB. Overall, he’s posted a 3.04 ERA in 563 1/3 innings, working out of the rotation between the Wiz and the Bears. The Tigers used him primarily out of the bullpen in NPB, where he logged a 3.96 ERA in 96 1/3 frames. It’s not the typical arc, but Alcantara has carved out a lucrative career for himself pitching in Asia’s top leagues; this new contract figures to push his career earnings between NPB and the KBO north of $5MM.

Similarly, Waddell was never a top-tier pitching prospect but is a former fifth-rounder out of Virginia who was once considered a fairly promising arm in the Pirates’ system. The now-29-year-old southpaw pitched in parts of two MLB seasons with four clubs (Pirates, Twins, Orioles, Cardinals), allowing eight runs in 12 2/3 innings.

Waddell has spent the past two seasons pitching overseas between the Bears and the Rakuten Monkeys of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. In 18 starts for the Bears this past season, he posted a pristine 2.49 ERA with a 23.4% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 70.4% grounder rate. Overall, Waddell owns a 3.30 ERA in 70 CPBL innings and a 2.92 ERA in 169 2/3 innings of KBO action. Now entering a third year pitching professionally in Asia, Waddell has established himself as a seven-figure pitcher and ought to continue garnering opportunities overseas, so long as he stays healthy. At 29 years old, he’s also still young enough for a potential MLB comeback if he continues to thrive in South Korea.

As for Ramos, he’ll head back to Korea after a brief 2023 big league run in Cincinnati. The 31-year-old outfielder (32 in April) appeared in 23 games as a Red and slashed .243/.349/.311 in 86 plate appearances. Ramos is a .226/.312/.306 hitter in 141 trips to the plate as a big leaguer, but he’s mashed at a .301/.362/.485 clip in parts of six Triple-A seasons, adding 55 home runs, 93 doubles, 11 triples and 27 steals over the life of 1700 plate appearances.

Ramos would have been looking at a minor league deal had he remained in North American ball, but he’ll now have the opportunity for everyday at-bats in a league where he’ll earn just shy of the MLB minimum over a full season — while also potentially positioning himself for a raise in the future.

KBO’s Doosan Bears Sign Brandon Waddell, Release Ariel Miranda

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The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization announced this week that they’ve signed lefty Brandon Waddell for the remainder of the 2022 season (hat tip: Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency). Waddell, a client of Ballplayers Agency, will earn $230K between now and season’s end. Waddell had been pitching with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate, but the Cards announced this morning that his contract has been sold to the Bears. Waddell will take the spot of reigning KBO MVP and former big leaguer Ariel Miranda, who has been released due to ongoing health issues in his left shoulder.

Signings of this nature are generally favorable for all parties involved. Waddell will be guaranteed a notable six-figure sum that trounces what he’d have earned by finishing out the season in Triple-A. He’d have needed to spend close to two months on the big league roster to earn that type of cash with the Cardinals, and there was no guarantee he’d be given that opportunity. The Cards, meanwhile, lose a bit of depth but receive a buyout for a player they might not have called to the Majors at all, and the Bears of course gain the rights to a pitcher who clearly intrigues them.

The 28-year-old Waddell is a former fifth-rounder of the Pirates who’s spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues, splitting his time between Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Baltimore. He’s logged just 12 2/3 total big league innings, yielding eight earned runs on 16 hits and 11 walks with nine strikeouts in that time.

Those grisly MLB numbers aside, Waddell has posted solid or better Triple- A numbers in three of his four seasons at that level. An 8.70 ERA in the juiced-ball 2019 campaign skews his overall numbers, but Waddell pitched to a 3.59 ERA in 135 1/3 innings there in 2018 and, since moving to the bullpen last year, has a 2.91 ERA with a 45-to-14 K/BB ratio in 43 1/3 innings of relief work.

The jump to the KBO will provide Waddell with some immediate earning power and also get a foot in the door for a potential second season overseas if he shows well in the second half of the 2022 KBO campaign. We’ve seen plenty of players in this mold carve out lengthy and lucrative careers pitching in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and it’s always possible that improved production pitching in Asia will lead to an eventual big league return (as was the case with Miles Mikolas, Merrill Kelly, Chris Flexen and others in recent memory). The benefit is two-fold, as if Waddell can manage to pitch his way back into MLB consideration, he’d return as a free agent and thus be able to sign a Major League deal that is not beholden to the constraints of MLB’s arbitration system.

As for Miranda, the injuries are an obviously unfortunate development for a pitcher who, after 2022, looked like someone who could be on the cusp of an MLB return himself. The 33-year-old southpaw saw parts of Major League action in three seasons (2016-18) with the Orioles and Mariners, notching a 4.72 ERA in 223 innings along the way. He’s since had success in all three major Asian professional leagues — the KBO, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League — with his 2021 season, in particular, generating intrigue.

Miranda racked up 173 2/3 innings of 2.33 ERA ball with the Bears last season, punching out a gaudy 31.7% of his opponents against a solid 8.8% walk rate. Last year’s 225 strikeouts were a KBO record, and Miranda parlayed that dominant showing into a $1.9MM payday that made him the second-highest paid foreign pitcher in the KBO, trailing only righty Drew Rucinski.

This year, however, Miranda made just three starts and totaled 7 2/3 innings with seven runs allowed and a staggering 18 walks, clearly demonstrating that he was never at full health. Now a free agent once again, Miranda will have options to consider, although it’s extraordinarily rare for a player to be released by a KBO club due to injury and then return to the KBO as a free agent, even with a different club. A return to NPB, the CPBL or perhaps a big league team (likely on a minor league deal) could still be options for Miranda this winter, health-permitting.

Cardinals Outright Brandon Waddell

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Cardinals southpaw Brandon Waddell has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Memphis, according to the team’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. That was the corresponding move for the previously-reported selection of rookie righty Andre Pallante.

Waddell, 27, has pitched 12 2/3 innings at the big league level over the past two seasons. He’s spread that rather limited work over four teams, pitching for each of the Pirates, Twins, Orioles and Cards. Waddell has allowed nine runs on 16 hits and 11 walks with nine strikeouts. He’s also struggled in his Triple-A career, posting a 5.77 ERA in 156 innings over three seasons at the minors’ top level.

Nevertheless, that Waddell changed hands a few times last season demonstrates he was of interest to multiple clubs not long ago. The University of Virginia product was once regarded as one of the more promising arms in the Pittsburgh system, and he owns a 3.45 ERA in 274 Double-A innings. Waddell doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll head to Memphis and try to work his way back into the major league mix.

Cardinals Activate Miles Mikolas

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The Cardinals announced Friday that right-hander Miles Mikolas has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and will start tonight’s game. St. Louis placed right-hander Ryan Helsley on the 10-day injured list with a stress reaction in his right elbow, opening a spot on the active roster. Meanwhile, lefty Brandon Waddell has been placed on the Covid-19 injured list, tweets Zachary Silver of MLB.com, which opens a spot on the 40-man roster.

Tonight’s start is not only just Mikolas’ second appearance of the season — it’s second appearance overall dating back to the 2019 season. The right-hander parlayed an excellent three-year stint in Japan into a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals, and he showed well enough in his return to MLB that the Cards signed him to a four-year, $68MM extension that spanned the 2020-23 seasons. Forearm surgery wiped out Mikolas’ entire 2020 season, however, and he’s spent the bulk of the current season on the injured list with continued forearm troubles.

Since returning to the Major Leagues in 2018, Mikolas has pitched quite well, logging a collective 3.45 earned run average with an 18.4 percent strikeout rate, a minuscule 3.9 percent walk rate and an above-average 48.4 percent ground-ball rate. Mikolas made the 2018 All-Star team and pitched well enough that season to land a sixth-place finish in National League Cy Young voting.

He’ll return to a Cardinals rotation that has been hammered by injuries throughout the summer but is now getting as close to full strength as it’s been in quite some time. Jack Flaherty returned to the staff a week ago after missing two months with an oblique tear, and the Cards hope to get Kwang Hyun Kim back from the 10-day injured list sooner than later. He made a rehab start just yesterday.

Flaherty and Mikolas join cornerstone Adam Wainwright and trade deadline newcomers J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the rotation for now as the Cardinals do their best to chase down the second National League Wild Card spot. St. Louis has won seven of its past ten games to trim its deficit to three and a half games.

Cardinals Designate Scott Hurst For Assignment

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The Cardinals have activated Brandon Waddell from the IL and designated Scott Hurst for assignment, per a club announcement. Waddell was optioned and placed on the COVID-IL in mid-July. He will remain with the Triple-A club in Memphis. Hurst’s designation was required to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. (Players on the COVID-IL do not use a roster spot.)

Hurst, a 25-year-old outfielder, had his contract selected by the club in mid-April. He got into just seven games with only five hitless plate appearances before being optioned. His Triple-A performance has been less than ideal on the season, producing a slash line of .186/.289/.270 in 251 plate appearances across 59 games.

Despite those numbers, it’s possible he could be claimed off waivers by a team with an eye on the future. He is still young, can be optioned to the minors and comes with years of team control. However, if he clears waivers, he would not have enough service time to reject an outright assignment and would stay in the Cardinals organization.

Cardinals Claim Brandon Waddell, Outright Tyler Webb

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The Cardinals have claimed lefty Brandon Waddell off waivers from the Orioles, per announcements from both teams. Additionally, St. Louis lefty Tyler Webb has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Memphis. Both clubs now have a full 40-man roster.

St. Louis becomes Waddell’s third team of the 2021 season. A former Pirates prospect, Waddell opened the year with the Twins, but the Orioles claimed him off waivers last month. Between Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Baltimore, Waddell has logged 8 1/3 innings over the past two seasons, allowing seven runs (six earned) on twelve hits and six walks with just three strikeouts.

Obviously, Waddell hasn’t found success at the big league level yet, but he’s continued to attract interest from teams. He’s shown the ability to spin his low-90s fastball and mid-80s slider at high rates during his limited MLB time. Waddell has also posted impressive minor league numbers up through Double-A, although he’s only managed a 6.02 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons.

Waddell could be an option to replace Webb as a lefty relief option for St. Louis. The Cards designated the 30-year-old for assignment earlier this week after a dreadful start to the season. Webb doesn’t have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment. He’ll instead report to Memphis and look to work his way back into the major league mix at some point.

Orioles Make Several Roster Moves

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The Orioles announced a flurry of moves this afternoon, including the news that infielder Domingo Leyba has been claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks and optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.  Infielder Ramon Urias and right-hander Travis Lakins have been called up from Norfolk, and righty Hunter Harvey has been activated off the 60-day injured list.

To create roster space, right-hander Shawn Armstrong and lefty Brandon Waddell were designated for assignment.  (Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported earlier today that Waddell was being DFA’ed.)  Additionally, infielder Pat Valaika was placed on the bereavement list.

Leyba was designated for assignment just two days ago.  The 25-year-old went hitless (with two walks) in 24 plate appearances for Arizona this season, following a very respectable .807 OPS over his first 30 career big league PA in 2019.  This wide range of production comes on the heels of a solid .290/.347/.434 slash line in 2624 PA in the minors as part of the Diamondbacks’ and Tigers’ farm systems since 2013.  Leyba put up particularly big numbers with Arizona’s Triple-A team in 2018-19, though the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment might have played a role considering his more modest career output in previous years.

Harvey suffered a left oblique strain in mid-March, and is now set to finally make his 2021 debut.  Injuries have pretty much been the story of Harvey’s career since being selected 22nd overall in the 2013 draft, as his MLB resume consists of only 15 total innings in 2019-20.  Even that small sample size still hints at some promise, however, as Harvey’s fastball sits in the high 90’s and he has struck out 17 of his 63 batters faced.  Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told The Athletic’s Dan Connelly and other reporters that Harvey will be used in a variety of bullpen roles, with seemingly no concession made to his injury history — he’ll be deployed “like a regular piece in the bullpen,” Hyde said.

Since being claimed off waivers from the Mariners in April 2019, Armstrong has been something of a workhorse out of the Baltimore pen, appearing in 85 games and tossing 89 1/3 innings.  The results weren’t always there, however, as Armstrong had a 5.34 ERA during his stint in the orange and black.  Armstrong is out of minor league options, so the O’s had no choice but to designate him and expose him to a potential waiver claim.

Waddell was a waiver pickup himself, selected by the Orioles off of the Twins’ roster in early May.  He has pitched in only one game for the O’s and two games for Triple-A Norfolk, as Kubatko notes that Waddell was delayed by the intake process required by COVID-19 protocols.  A longtime member of the Pirates’ minor league system, Waddell has seen MLB action with the Bucs, Twins, and Orioles over the last two seasons, with a 6.48 ERA over 8 1/3 total career innings in the big leagues.

Orioles Option Travis Lakins, Recall Brandon Waddell

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The Orioles optioned right-hander Travis Lakins to Triple-A on Sunday, recalling Brandon Waddell to take his roster spot, per Rich Dubroff of Baltimorebaseball.com.

Lakins seemed to have made himself an indispensable piece of Baltimore’s bullpen in 2020 with a 2.81 ERA over 25 2/3 innings. The former Boston reliever has been less stellar this season through 16 appearances covering 14 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old owns a 7.36 ERA/6.42 FIP and 41.9 percent groundball rate. He’s neither striking out many hitters (17.9 percent strikeout rate) nor limiting free passes enough (16.4 percent walk rate).

Waddell was only recently claimed from the Minnesota Twins. A former starter in the minors, Waddell saw a jump in his strikeout rate as he began transitioning into a relief role during the 2019 season. The 26-year-old southpaw has just 7 1/3 innings of Major League experience split between the Twins this season and the Pirates in 2020.

Twins Place Byron Buxton On Injured List, Recall Trevor Larnach

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The Twins are placing Byron Buxton on the injured list with a hip strain, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (via Twitter). Trevor Larnach will be added to the roster with an opportunity to make his Major League debut. Larnach was not on the 40-man roster, so to make room, the Twins designated Brandon Waddell for assignment.

This is a potentially devastating bit of news for the Twins, who are off to an 11-19 start despite tremendous production from Buxton. Buxton has long been an injury concern, but losing him now is particularly difficult. It’s a Grade 2 strain that will keep Buxton out for “weeks,” notes Miller. Buxton has been among the most explosive players in the game, slashing .370/.408/.772 with nine home runs in 98 plate appearances. He has put up 2.7 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR, and a 228 wRC+ in less than a month of playing time.

Jake Cave is in the lineup for Buxton in tonight’s game, but the Twins are likely to employ a dynamic outfield crew for the next couple of weeks. Larnach and Kyle Garlick will have their opportunities in the corners, but neither project as centerfield capable. Max Kepler may be called upon to captain the outfield in Buxton’s stead. Kepler has 134 games of centerfield experience throughout his career, though he appears there only twice in 2020.

Alex Kirilloff, meanwhile, received a cortisone injection in his wrist, but only time will tell when he is able to return, per Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press (via Twitter). Luis Arraez is more likely to help in the near term, as he appears close to returning after suffering a concussion, tweets Miller. Arraez could see time in the corner. Regardless, Cave and Kepler figure to be the Twins’ centerfielders until Buxton returns.

Twins Place Alex Kirilloff On Injured List, Activate Miguel Sano

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The Twins announced that they’ve placed outfielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff on the 10-day injured list due to a right wrist sprain and reinstated Miguel Sano from the injured list in his place. Kirilloff’s IL placement is retroactive to May 4. Minnesota also optioned lefty Brandon Waddell to Triple-A St. Paul and recalled fellow southpaw Lewis Thorpe, who’ll start tonight’s game.

It’s an ill-timed setback for the Twins and for the 23-year-old Kirilloff, a former first-round pick and consensus Top 50 overall prospect in MLB who’d been their hottest hitter of late. Kirilloff was called up for an audition two weeks ago, and while he got out to a miserable 0-for-15 start, he’d finally begun to see his huge hard-contact rates bear fruit.

Kirilloff homered four times in the Twins’ series victory over the Royals this past weekend and came back with a pair of doubles Monday against the Rangers. Over his past seven games, Kirilloff had put together a blistering .321/.333/.857 batting line with seven extra-base hits and 11 runs knocked in.

The team has yet to provide a timetable for when the promising slugger might return to the club. Manager Rocco Baldelli rather vaguely told reporters yesterday that that the injury “doesn’t appear to be the most minor of things,” adding that Kirilloff would see a specialist (link via Meagan Ryan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). It’s particularly concerning given that Kirilloff endured multiple IL stints in 2019 due to problems in that same right wrist.

Sano has been out for a bit more than two weeks due to a hamstring strain. He opened the season in a dreadful slump, going just 5-for-45 to begin the 2021 campaign. Sano has walked at what would (obviously) be a career-best 22.4 percent clip and has actually cut back on his prolific strikeout rate through his first 58 plate appearances, but some of those punchouts have simply been swapped out for pop-ups; he’s already up to six infield flies this year.

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