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Chien-Ming Wang

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/22/16

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We’ll keep tabs on today’s minor moves right here:

  • The Marlins announced that right-hander Bryan Morris has been outrighted to Triple-A New Orleans. Morris was designated for assignment two days ago after missing the majority of the season due to back surgery. Because of the Major League service time he’s accrued — four-plus year — Morris will be able to elect free agency this winter and hand-pick the best environment and the best offer from interested teams. The 29-year-old (30 next March) has a 2.30 ERA in parts of three seasons with the Fish and a 2.80 career ERA in 215 innings between Pittsburgh and Miami. He’s also sporting one of the league’s best ground-ball rates (58.4 percent) among pitchers with at least 200 innings dating back to the 2013 campaign.
  • The Royals have released righty Chien-Ming Wang, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports on Twitter. Wang had been designated on Saturday, and with the minor league season in the books, that all but assured that the veteran would end up being released. It’s remarkable, really, that the once-excellent starter was able to last as long as he did in the big leagues this year given all the arm troubles and failed comeback attempts already in his past. Now 36, Wang managed to put up a 4.22 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 to go with a 49.3% groundball rate over his 53 1/3 innings in his first major league action since 2013. This was also his first season as a full-time reliever.

Royals Designate Chien-Ming Wang For Assignment, Activate Jason Vargas

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The Royals have designated Chien-Ming Wang for assignment, the team announced via Twitter.  The move clears roster space for Jason Vargas, who was activated from the disabled list to start tonight’s game.

[Updated Royals roster at Roster Resource]

Wang was himself on the DL recovering from biceps tendinitis.  Before being sidelined at the end of August, Wang posted a 4.22 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 1.67 K/BB rate and 49.4% ground ball rate over 53 1/3 relief innings for K.C. this season.  It was Wang’s first taste of big league action since 2013, as he spent the previous two seasons bouncing around the minors with the Reds, White Sox, Braves and Mariners.  Never a big strikeout pitcher even his heyday as a starter with the Yankees, Wang allowed too much contact in the form of hits and homers over the last several years, though his modest numbers in those categories this season (1.01 HR/9, 10.1 H/9) still represented some improvement.  Wang also averaged 91.1 mph on his fastball, his highest velocity since 2009.

The 36-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Royals last season that guaranteed him a $1MM salary if he cracked the Major League roster.  Another $250K was reportedly available for Wang to earn via relief appearance bonuses, and one would think he likely surpassed or came awfully close to unlocking those bonuses given his substantial workload.

Vargas is making his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2015.  Since signing a four-year, $32MM deal with Kansas City prior to the 2014 season, Vargas has a 3.76 ERA, 2.92 K/BB rate and 6.1 K/9 over 230 innings as a Royal.

AL Central Notes: Sale, Quintana, Davis, Wang, Santana

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Over the weekend, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago reported that the Red Sox weren’t willing to include Jackie Bradley in a trade for either Chris Sale or Jose Quintana, and this morning, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports adds to that a bit. “If they didn’t get Jackie Bradley, there was no way they were doing the deal,” a person familiar with the talks told Heyman in reference to the White Sox. While there’s been plenty of speculation (and optimism from fans of other teams) that the Pale Hose could market one of their two ace-caliber lefties this winter, Heyman spoke to multiple people that indicated owner Jerry Reinsdorf still has little to no interest in parting with either Sale or Quintana, as his primary focus is putting a winner on the field right now. Sale, 28 next March, is controllable from 2017-2019 season for $38MM, while Quintana, who turns 28 in January, is owed $36.85MM from 2017-20.

More notes from the division…

  • The Royals are planning to activate All-Star closer Wade Davis from the disabled list on Friday, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Davis might’ve been activated prior to Wednesday’s contest, he notes, but a rainout at Triple-A earlier this week delayed his final rehab appearance and, thus, his return to the active roster. Davis has been out since July 31 due to a forearm strain, and the Royals’ fortunes have certainly changed since that injury. At the time of Davis’ placement on the disabled list, he was an oft-rumored trade candidate for a Royals team that had fallen quite a ways out of contention in the American League Central and in the AL Wild Card hunt. However, despite lacking one of the game’s best relievers for more than a month, Kansas City has gone 20-8 since Davis was placed on the disabled list. They’re now 6.5 games back in the division and just three games out of the second Wild Card spot in the AL.
  • While Davis is returning, the Royals will lose right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to the disabled list, Dodd notes within that same piece. Wang is being placed on the 15-day DL due to tendinitis in his right biceps. While Wang’s numbers don’t stand out (4.22 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9), he’s yielded just two runs in his past 11 innings while working in a multi-inning role. Kansas City is hopeful that he’ll be able to return in the minimum 15 days, though expanded September rosters give Kansas City the luxury of taking things a bit slowly with his recovery.
  • Danny Santana’s season is over, as the Twins utilityman has suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder and will require four to six weeks to recover from the injury, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As Berardino notes, Santana once rated as one of Minnesota’s top 10 to 15 prospects, but his struggles over the past two seasons now leave his future with the team in doubt. Santana, 25, burst onto the scene in 2014 with a .319/.353/.472 slash in 101 games, but his production was largely propped up by a BABIP north of .400. Regression was easy to project thanks to that bloated BABIP, but he’s fallen farther than even pessimistic forecasts might’ve indicated. Over the past two seasons, the switch-hitter has slashed just .227/.259/.308 in 525 plate appearances. Santana is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to remain on the active roster or be exposed to waivers before he’s eligible to be sent outright to the minors.

Notable Roster Decisions: Stephenson, Royals, Rangers

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With the next wave of season openers nearly upon us, here are a few of the final notable roster decisions from around the league…

  • The Reds have placed right-hander Homer Bailey on the disabled list and promoted fellow right-hander and top prospect Robert Stephenson, the club announced. However, it appears that Stephenson, who rates among the game’s 35 best minor leaguers (per Baseball America, MLB.com and ESPN’s Keith Law) will merely be making a spot start and isn’t yet being viewed as a long-term option in the rotation; C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Stephenson will likely be optioned back to Triple-A following his start, as right-hander Anthony DeSclafani will be ready to come of the DL and join the rotation on April 10. Cincinnati currently has Raisel Iglesias, Brandon Finnegan and Stephenson lined up for their season-opening series against the Phillies, with Alfredo Simon set to start the club’s fourth game of the year. DeSclafani should grab Stephenson’s spot in the rotation’s second cycle of the season, and right-hander Jon Moscot should be able to return mid-month — possibly to start on April 17. As such, Stephenson’s promotion could simply amount to a glimpse of the future for Reds fans at this time, though Cincinnati’s rotation picture is fluid enough to imagine Stephenson changing their plans with a dominant showing. Service time doesn’t figure to be a major factor here, as the Reds would only lose a year of control if Stephenson were to accrue 172 days of service this season, and a quick return to the minors would make that unlikely.
  • Veteran right-hander Chien-Ming Wang made the Royals’ roster, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes. Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland, who filled that same role with the Yankees a decade ago when Wang was pitching in New York, tells Flanagan that the righty looks like the pitcher he had in his rotation 10 years ago. Wang’s velocity is said to have spiked to the mid-90s this spring, and when he does toe the rubber for the Royals, it’ll be the first time he steps foot on a Major League mound since 2013. Additionally, outfielders Reymond Fuentes and Terrance Gore have made the Kansas City roster. (Neither Wang nor Gore appeared in last night’s season opener against the Mets.)
  • The Rangers assigned right-hander A.J. Griffin to Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday, but as Anthony Andro writes for MLB.com, there’s a good chance he could be recalled on Friday to serve as the club’s fifth starter. As Andro notes, the assignment could be a tactical move, as Texas doesn’t need a fifth starter until Friday, and stashing Griffin at Triple-A will allow the club to carry an extra reliever for the time being (in addition to delaying a 40-man roster decision). Griffin, though, has not yet been officially informed that he is the team’s fifth starter, Andro stresses. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets the same, adding that the lack of definitive word from the club could indicate that the Rangers are still looking at the trade market for starting pitching additions.

AL Notes: Drellich, Odor, Wang, Parker

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The Boston Herald has announced that it has hired Evan Drellich to join Michael Silverman and Jason Mastrodonato on their Red Sox beat. Drellich had previously been with the Houston Chronicle, where he covered the Astros. Before that, he had written about the Red Sox for MLB.com and MassLive.com. We at MLBTR wish Drellich the best of luck as he returns to Boston. Here’s more from the American League.

  • The Rangers have tried to sign young infielder Rougned Odor to an extension, but the two sides found themselves far apart and talks are no longer active, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Heyman reported in October that Odor and the Rangers would discuss a deal. Odor, who only recently turned 22, posted a .261/.316/.465 line in 2015 that was perhaps even more promising than it sounds, given the trajectory his season took — he struggled for the first six weeks of the season, headed down to Triple-A Round Rock, posted a 1.065 OPS there, and then batted .292/.334/.527 in the big leagues from June through the end of the year.
  • Earlier today, we noted that one potential competitor for a spot in the Royals’ bullpen, Ross Ohlendorf, had opted out of his contract, giving the Royals 48 hours to place him on the roster or release him. Another potential competitor for one of the bullpen spots Ohlendorf is trying to win is Chien-Ming Wang, who has looked good in Spring Training. Wang’s opt-out date is May 1, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets. That means that, unlike with Ohlendorf, the Royals have a bit of time to figure out how they want to use him.
  • Athletics pitcher Jarrod Parker has “no doubt” he will attempt to return to the mound, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Parker was once one of the game’s most promising starters after two strong seasons with the A’s in 2012 and 2013, but since then his career has become a mess of injuries. Last month, Parker re-fractured the medial epicondyle in his right elbow. He has already had two Tommy John surgeries and has missed the past two seasons, and in April he’ll undergo what sounds like a somewhat experimental surgery performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache to see if it’s possible his UCL can be repaired.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Wang, Twins, Brantley

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It’s undeniably been a special couple of seasons for the Royals, and many of the team’s core players tell Bob Nightengale of USA Today that they are enjoying the time they have together for at least the next couple of seasons. To a man, they expressed an interest in sticking around long-term, though of course it would be hard to predict how many will ultimately do so. Meanwhile, GM Dayton Moore suggested that the organization is taking much the same approach. “You can’t be so consumed with what players are going to be here for just this period of time,” he said. “There’s urgency every day. We’re not going to focus on next year, two years, or three years from now. I can’t predict the future. We’re just going to go out there and do the best we can.”

More from the division…

  • One Royals newcomer, veteran righty Chien-Ming Wang, is hoping to become the organization’s latest pitching turnaround success, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. The sinkerballer has thrown six impressive frames and worked into the mid-90s with his fastball after taking a different approach to his preparation over the winter. Wang, who will soon turn 36, has a May 1 opt-out date but is making a real run to crack the roster in the bullpen.
  • Twins right-hander Trevor May is headed to the bullpen to open the season, writes MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. GM Terry Ryan told reporters that May took the news “the right way,” though he may not have been privately displeased with the decision. Ryan went on to explain that he still believes May can start for the Twins in the future: “There are other factors in the decision and who is in the rotation and how they’ve done,” said Ryan. “But I don’t know why he couldn’t be a future starter in the Major Leagues. He’s got the pitches, he’s got the strength. He’s shown he can do it. But right now for this ballclub, the better fit is in the bullpen.” With May out of the rotation picture, Tommy Milone, Ricky Nolasco and top prospect Jose Berrios are competing for the final spot behind Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Tyler Duffey. Nolasco, notably, has two years and $25MM remaining on his contract with the Twins.
  • Michael Brantley’s accelerated recovery from shoulder surgery will take another step in the right direction tomorrow, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes. Brantley is slated to play four or five innings in the outfield and receive multiple at-bats in a minor league game, per manager Terry Francona. While Francona stopped short of calling Opening Day a possibility, Bastian notes that the opener continues to be Brantley’s goal. Francona noted that Brantley could return to the lineup in early or mid April, either of which would be considerably better for the Indians than initial projections on Brantley’s timeline. Bastian also breaks down the Indians’ potential outfield alignments in the event that Brantley does need to sit out the first couple weeks of the season.

Royals “Focused” On Kennedy, Talking With Gallardo

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The Royals are still pushing to add a rotation arm, according to multiple reports this morning, and appear to have their sights set upon the top of the remaining free-agent market. Kansas City “seems very focused” on Ian Kennedy, Jon Heyman tweets, but is still “talking” to Yovani Gallardo as well, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

Signing either Kennedy or Gallardo would, of course, require Kansas City to part with its top draft choice. While that’s not as painful as it would be for most teams, as the Royals won’t pick until the end of the first round, it’s obviously necessary for the team to take account of that sacrifice.

The Royals were said to have interest in free agent Wei-Yin Chen, but he just agreed to terms with the Marlins. If nothing else, though, that pursuit showed the seriousness of the Royals’ efforts as well as its willingness to punt a pick. Chen’s signing also showed that there’s still hope that the other top remaining free agents can match the lofty contract expectations that led them to decline qualifying offers.

As things stand, K.C. will run out a staff fronted by Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura. The three leading candidates for the remaining slots are the recently-re-signed Chris Young along with Danny Duffy and Kris Medlen, either of whom could also function as swingmen. There’s some minor league depth, including pitchers like John Lannan, Chien-Ming Wang, and Brian Flynn, but it isn’t hard to see why the Royals would want to add another option.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/7/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Royals have agreed to a minor league deal with righty Chien-Ming Wang, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter links). The Taiwanese veteran would earn a $1MM base rate if he makes the major league roster, and can achieve up to $1.5MM in incentives in a starting capacity or as much as $250K as a reliever. Wang, who’ll turn 36 just before the season starts, hasn’t cracked the majors since 2013. He spent last year with the Triple-A affiliates of the Braves and Mariners, and also made three starts for the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. In his 130 innings of affiliated ball, Wang posted a 5.88 ERA and registered just 61 strikeouts against 35 walks.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/11/15

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Mariners have signed Chien-Ming Wang to a minor league deal, reports Greg Johns of MLB.com. The 35-year-old made 10 starts and 11 appearances for the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate earlier this season. He posted a 6.10 ERA with 4.06 K/9 and 3.05 BB/9 in 62 innings. More recently, he appeared in the independent Atlantic League where he made one successful 8.2  inning start. Of course, Wang is best known for his work with the Yankees from 2005 through 2008. His best seasons were 2006 and 2007. He posted 19 wins in both seasons. Wang has a career 4.37 ERA with 4.13 K/9, 2.66 BB/9, and a 59.1% GB% at the major league level.
  • The Mets have signed former outfield prospect Joe Benson, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Benson, 27, was released by the Braves in mid-June after hitting .246/.346/.331 at the Triple-A level. He briefly appeared for the Twins in 2011. He slashed .239/.270/.352 in his brief 74 plate appearance cup of coffee. Once viewed as a power and speed threat, high strikeout rates have limited his productions.
  • Eric Surkamp has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, tweets J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group. The soft tossing lefty made a spot start for the Dodgers last week, allowing four runs and two home runs in 3.1 innings. Surkamp, 27, has a 6.47 ERA in 57 career innings. He’s been much better throughout his minor league career.

Minor Moves: Gutierrez, Volstad, Wang

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Here were the day’s notable minor moves:

  • The Mariners have selected the contract of former core player Franklin Gutierrez, the team announced. Fresh off a huge 2009 campaign, the outfielder signed a four-year, $20.5MM extension with Seattle. But a variety of ailments derailed his career and he provided the club with just 3.6 rWAR over the life of that deal. Gutierrez sat out the 2014 season while dealing with gastrointestinal issues, and came back on a minor league deal. Over 209 plate appearances at Triple-A this year, the 32-year-old has slashed a promising.317/.402/.500 with seven home runs and two steals.
  • Another player looking for a comeback is Pirates righty Chris Volstad, who also received a call-up today per a club announcement. The towering, 28-year-old righty has not seen substantial big league time since 2012. He’s been solid in 76 Triple-A frames, putting up a 3.43 ERA with 5.9 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
  • Shortly after being released by the Braves, veteran righty Chien-Ming Wang has signed with the independent league’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, the club confirmed to Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com (on Twitter). The 35-year-old owns a career 4.37 ERA over 792 1/3 big league innings, though he hasn’t reached the majors since 2013. He scuffled to a 6.10 ERA in 62 frames at the Triple-A level this year.
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