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Chance Sisco

Orioles Designate Tyler Wilson, Logan Verrett

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The Orioles announced that they’ve designated right-handers Tyler Wilson and Logan Verrett for assignment on Friday. That pair of DFAs will open enough room on the 40-man roster to formally select the contracts of catcher Chance Sisco, first baseman Pedro Alvarez and right-hander Richard Rodriguez — all of whom are being brought to the Majors as September call-ups. Baltimore has also recalled outfielder Joey Rickard and right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis from Triple-A Norfolk.

Wilson and Verrett have each taken the ball a few times this year for the O’s at the major-league level. But both have primarily operated at Triple-A — the former as a starter and the latter as a reliever.

Through twenty outings at Norfolk, Wilson worked to a 4.74 ERA over 114 innings, with 5.4 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. The University of Virginia product has pitched in the Orioles organization since being taken in the tenth round of the 2011 draft, and could remain there if he ends up clearing waivers.

As for Verrett, he allowed 5.10 earned per nine in sixty frames while striking out 7.4 and walking 3.3 batters per regulation affair. The former Mets swingman, a 2011 third-rounder, has also not previously been outrighted and thus would not have the right to refuse a minor-league assignment if no other team decides to give him a 40-man spot.

While Baltimore did not end up making any outside acquisitions in August, leaving room for the team to use those two hurlers for depth in September, the organization obviously decided it would rather see some other players. We previously discussed Sisco and Alvarez, but the O’s will also have a look at two new pitchers that have little experience between them at the game’s highest level.

Yacabonis, 25, struggled in his first, brief taste of the majors earlier this year. He has managed a 1.32 ERA in 61 1/3 outings at Triple-A though that has come with just 7.0 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9. Rodriguez will make his MLB debut at 27 years of age after eight minor-league campaigns. He has pitched to a 2.42 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 over 70 2/3 frames at the highest level of the minors this year.

Orioles To Promote Chance Sisco, Pedro Alvarez

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We’ll see a number of promotions beginning tomorrow, as active rosters will expand to include any and all players on the 40-man. The Orioles have some particularly notable players slated to come up, per David Hall of the Virginian-Pilot (Twitter links): Baltimore will call up top catching prospect Chance Sisco along with veteran slugger Pedro Alvarez.

Chance Sisco | Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY SportsSisco, 22, was seen as a consensus top-100 prospect league-wide entering the season. He hasn’t hit a ton this year at Triple-A, his first full season at that level, but does own a solid .267/.340/.395 batting line with seven home runs through 388 plate appearances.

Despite that modest slash line, Baseball America still rated him as the game’s No. 29 overall prospect on their midseason top 100. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com ranked Sisco as baseball’s No. 50 prospect on their own summer top 100, while Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen pegs him 83rd.

For the time being, Sisco will likely see only limited duty behind Welington Castillo and Caleb Joseph. But with Castillo facing an opt-out decision after the season — one which he seems fairly likely to take in the affirmative — the O’s could end up relying on Sisco quite a bit next year.

As for Alvarez, he’ll function as a bench bat against right-handed pitching for the O’s. He has swatted 26 homers in his 590 plate appearances at Norfolk on the season, though he does carry only a .293 on-base percentage.

Baltimore is also bringing up outfielder Joey Rickard and righty Jimmy Yacabonis for September, according to Hall. For now, at least, the team doesn’t plan to promote veteran third baseman Chris Johnson. He has slashed .307/.336/.517 over 253 trips to the plate, but would (like Alvarez) require the opening of a 40-man roster spot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

FA/Trade Rumors: Yankees, Orioles, Mets, J. De La Rosa, Rollins

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is in touch with the representatives for free agent relievers Greg Holland, Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler and Mike Dunn, report George A. King III and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Given their vast experience as closers, any of Holland, Uehara or Ziegler could end up as fallback ninth-inning options if the Yankees aren’t able to land either Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen. As of now, the only somewhat established southpaw in New York’s projected bullpen for 2017 is Tommy Layne, so adding a left-handed setup man like Dunn – a former Yankees farmhand – would seemingly make sense.

  • The Mets are interested in acquiring Orioles reliever Brad Brach, but a deal that would send outfielder Curtis Granderson to Baltimore is unlikely, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports. One major roadblock involves finances: The Mets don’t want to eat any of Granderson’s $15MM salary for 2017, while the Orioles aren’t eager to add payroll unless it’s allocated to free agent outfielder/first baseman Mark Trumbo. It doesn’t appear that the O’s are remotely close to re-signing Trumbo, however.
  • Catcher Matt Wieters is another key Orioles free agent, and they haven’t closed the door on re-signing him, per Kubatko. However, as is the case with Trumbo, Wieters is currently out of the Orioles’ price range. That could lead Baltimore to find an affordable replacement on a one- or two-year contract, thereby enabling well-regarded, big-hitting prospect Chance Sisco to further develop in the minors. “He needs more experience catching,” general manager Dan Duquette told Kubatko in regards to Sisco. “That’s a tough position to learn, right? There are so many things that go into being a good catcher.” Notably, free agent backstop Welington Castillo is on the Orioles’ radar and should only garner a short-term deal.
  • Six teams are in discussions with free agent left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Some of those clubs regard De La Rosa as a rotation option, while others see him as a swingman. For his part, De La Rosa is willing to work out of the bullpen. From 2008-14, all 176 of De La Rosa’s appearances with the Rockies came as a starter. He spent some time as a bullpen option last season, though, with three relief appearances out of 27. All told, the soon-to-be 36-year-old tossed 134 innings in 2016 and struggled to a 5.51 ERA. He also posted his highest BB/9 (4.23) since 2008 and experienced a dip in velocity.
  • Although free agent shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ 2016 season ended in early June after the White Sox released him, he wants to continue his career next year at the age of 38, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. The longtime Phillie and 2007 National League MVP was a solid contributor as recently as 2014, but he has since hit just .224/.287/.351 in a combined 729 plate appearances with the Dodgers and White Sox. Rollins settled for a minor league contract last winter and will likely get one again this offseason – if anyone signs him, that is.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Farrell, Orioles

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Chad Jennings of the LoHud Journal News writes that it might finally be time for the Yankees to trade either Jacoby Ellsbury or Brett Gardner. Both outfielders have been oft-rumored trade candidates for more than a year, but both have (obviously) remained in New York. General manager Brian Cashman tells Jennings he’ll be open to discussing anything with other clubs this winter but doesn’t yet know where any of those talks may take him. As Jennings points out, though, the only open spots in the Yankees’ lineup right now are first base and right field, where the Yanks prefer to play Greg Bird and Aaron Judge in an ideal setting. Moving one of Gardner or Ellsbury would open another spot, in left field, where the Yankees could add a player with a bit more of an offensive-oriented profile. And, if they’re not able to acquire that type of bat but move Gardner or Ellsbury anyhow, they have an in-house replacement in the form of Mason Williams and will at least have trimmed some payroll.

More from the AL East…

  • While it’s already been announced that John Farrell will manage the Red Sox in 2017, there’s some degree of confusion pertaining his 2018 option, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. Team president/COO Sam Kennedy said in a radio appearance on WEEI recently that the situation would be addressed in the coming days, adding that president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski would be making a recommendation to ownership. However, Dombrowski himself indicated to Drellich that there’s no timetable for either a decision on the option or a discussion with ownership about the option.
  • Meanwhile, WEEI’s Rob Bradford argues that Dombrowski and the Red Sox are handling the situation wrong by not simply committing to Farrell for the 2018 season and picking up the option. While some critics of Farrell would be even more perturbed to see his contract extended beyond 2017, not exercising the option subjects both the manager and his players to uncomfortable questions about Farrell’s status, when the only downside to committing to him would committing a relatively marginal sum from which the team could move on next season if they change their mind. (Clubs dismissing managers that have multiple years remaining on their contract is hardly irregular.) Indeed, as Bradford points out, the financial hit would be scarcely more than cutting a middle reliever.
  • Orioles GM Dan Duquette tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko that top prospect Chance Sisco was in high demand at the non-waiver deadline, and Duquette also sounded open-minded about trade talks this coming winter. “A lot of teams like (Chance) Sisco other than our club,” said Duquette, who added that he feels the organization has some depth behind the plate. “We know that from our trade discussions at the end of July. Whether they can do that job or not, that remains to be seen, but we do have pretty good depth in the organization at the catching position.” Sisco is the presumptive heir apparent behind the plate in Baltimore, but he’s also played just four games at Triple-A and remains a work in progress from a defensive standpoint. Sisco did hit .317/.403/.430 as a 21-year-old at Double-A this season, demonstrating his offensive upside, but he’s probably not yet ready to open the year in the Majors, and he’d be an appealing piece in the event that the O’s pursue rotation help on the trade market this winter. However, Kubatko writes that the O’s are more determined to keep Sisco now that they traded fellow catcher Jonah Heim to Tampa Bay. Even still, though, he notes that they’ll need a short-term bridge to Sisco if they keep him.

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