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Colin Walsh

Angels Agree To Minor League Deals With Curt Casali, Colin Walsh

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The Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with former Rays catcher Curt Casali, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports that Anaheim has also picked up former Brewers second baseman Colin Walsh on a minor league deal. Casali is a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, while Walsh is repped by the Ballengee Group. Both received invites to Major League Spring Training.

Casali, 29, has spent parts of the past four seasons with the Rays, showing decent pop but struggling to make contact, as evidenced by a .199/.285/.385 batting line and 19 homers in 466 trips to the plate. He’s thrown out a very strong 31 percent of would-be base thieves in that time and delivered average or better framing marks on a persistent basis, per Baseball Prospectus.

The right-handed-hitting Casali has managed just a .185/.268/.364 slash against right-handed pitching in his big league career but has authored a more palatable .230/.324/.434 line against lefties. He’ll head to camp with a chance to compete for a backup gig behind 2017 Gold Glove winner Martin Maldonado.

As for Walsh, he almost certainly won’t represent the Halos’ most significant second-base addition this offseason, but he’ll provide some depth with big league experience under his belt. The former Rule 5 pick logged 63 plate appearances with Milwaukee in 2016, though be posted an anemic .085/.317/.106 line in that time. The switch-hitting Walsh has a history of posting big OBP numbers in the minors and split the 2017 season between the Astros and D-backs organizations, batting a combined .256/.413/.435 with a dozen homers and a 94-to-101 BB/K ratio. He’s played all over the diamond, though Fletcher notes that GM Billy Eppler has said the Halos view Walsh as an option at second base and third base.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/3/17

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

  • The Angels announced that right-hander Austin Adams has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 30-year-old Adams, not to be confused with the 25-year-old righty of the same name who was also with the Angels until being traded to the Nationals in the Danny Espinosa deal, was designated for assignment over the weekend. The elder Austin Adams has seen action in the Majors with the Indians in each of the past three seasons. He performed well in 2015 (3.78 ERA, 6.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 46.8 percent ground-ball rate in 38 1/3 innings) but was rocked for 20 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings with Cleveland last year. The Indians shipped him to the Angels for cash or a player to be named later back in February.

Earlier Moves

  • Infielder/outfielder Colin Walsh has signed a minor league pact with the Diamondbacks, as noted on the Diamondbacks’ transactions page and in Walsh’s own Twitter bio. A Rule 5 pick of the Brewers last season (out of the Athletics organization), Walsh made his big league debut in 2016 but struggled through 63 plate appearances, hitting .085/.317/.106 with 22 strikeouts. An on-base machine in the minors, the 27-year-old Walsh is a career .277/.394/.419 hitter in parts of seven minor league seasons, including a .264/.375/.368 line in 417 Triple-A plate appearances. Walsh has been primarily a second baseman in the minors but also has experience at third base and in the corner outfield, making him a potential bench piece down the line if he can carry some of his minor league production into the Majors.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/14/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • Outfielder Shane Robinson and righty Cory Rasmus cleared outright waivers and were sent to Triple-A by the Angels, the club announced. The 32-year-old Robinson, a seven-year MLB veteran, struggled badly last year in his time in the majors but displayed his typical high-OBP bat in the upper minors. The 29-year-old Rasmus, meanwhile, worked to a 5.84 ERA in 24 2/3 frames with the Halos, posting 17 strikeouts against 16 walks.
  • The Braves have agreed to a minor league deal with utilityman Colin Walsh, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (via Twitter). Walsh, 27, struggled in limited major league action last year with the Brewers after being selected in the Rule 5 draft. Though he displayed his trademark plate discipline, taking 15 walks in 63 plate appearances, he also racked up 22 strikeouts and managed only four base knocks. Upon returning to the Athletics after losing his major league roster spot in Milwaukee, Walsh put up a .259/.384/.388 batting line in 245 plate appearances at Triple-A.
  • Matt Duffy has signed on with Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines, Cotillo also reports on Twitter. Not to be confused with the other infielder of the same name — who was traded this summer from the Giants to the Rays — the 27-year-old saw brief MLB action in each of the last two years with the Astros and played most recently for the Rangers. Duffy had impressed at Triple-A in 2015, but struggled to a .229/.297/.387 slash in 444 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors in the 2016 campaign.
  • Right-hander Casey Lawrence will return to the Blue Jays on a minor league deal that includes a Spring Training invite, the club announced. Lawrence, who just turned 29, has spent his entire professional career with the Toronto organization but has yet to crack the big leagues. Working as a starter last year, splitting 162 frames about evenly between Double-A and Triple-A, he pitched to a 4.17 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.

Rule 5 Roundup

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We’re just a few months away from this winter’s Rule 5 draft, so it makes sense to take a look back and see how things shook out from the 2015 selections. Several organizations found useful players, even if the most recent class didn’t include an Odubel Herrera-esque breakout sensation. Some of the most recent draftees have probably locked up MLB jobs again for 2017, though others who stuck on a major league roster all year may head back to the minors for further development. (Once a player’s permanent control rights have been secured, his new organization is free to utilize optional assignments as usual for future years.)

Here’s a roundup of the 2015 draft class with the 2016 season in the books:

Keepers

  • Tyler Goeddel, OF, kept by Phillies from Rays: The 23-year-old struggled with the aggressive move to the big leagues, carrying a .192/.258/.291 batting line in 234 trips to the plate, but showed enough for the rebuilding Phillies to hold onto him all year long.
  • Luis Perdomo, RHP, kept by Padres (via Rockies) from Cardinals: It didn’t look good early for Perdomo, but he showed better after moving to the rotation and ended with a rather promising 4.85 ERA over twenty starts. Though he struggled to contain the long ball, and only struck out 6.4 per nine, Perdomo sported a nifty 59.0% groundball rate on the year.
  • Joey Rickard, OF, kept by Orioles from Rays: After opening the year with a bang, Rickard faded to a .268/.319/.377 batting line on the year but held his roster spot in Baltimore. He ended the season on the DL with a thumb injury, though, and may end up at Triple-A for some added seasoning.
  • Joe Biagini, RHP, kept by Blue Jays from Giants: The only Rule 5 pick to appear in the postseason, Biagini was a great find for Toronto. He ended with 67 2/3 innings of 3.06 ERA pitching, with 8.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, and now looks like a potential fixture in the Jays’ relief corps.
  • Matthew Bowman, RHP, kept by Cardinals from Mets: Bowman rounds out a trio of impressive relievers. He contributed 67 2/3 innings with a 3.46 ERA and 6.9 BB/9 against 2.7 BB/9 to go with a monster 61.7% groundball rate.

Retained By Other Means

  • Deolis Guerra, RHP, re-signed by Angels (who selected him from Pirates) after being outrighted: Guerra was in an unusual spot since he had previously been outrighted off of the Bucs’ 40-man roster when he was selected, meaning he didn’t need to be offered back. Los Angeles removed him from the major league roster and then brought him back on a minor league deal, ultimately selecting his contract. Though he was later designated and outrighted by the Halos, Guerra again returned and largely thrived at the major league level, contributing 53 1/3 much-needed pen frames with a 3.21 ERA on the back of 6.1 K/9 against just 1.2 BB/9.
  • Jabari Blash, OF, acquired by Padres (who acquired Rule 5 rights from Athletics) from Mariners: Blash’s intriguing tools weren’t quite ready for the majors, but San Diego struck a deal to hold onto him and was surely impressed with his showing at Triple-A. In his 229 plate appearances there, Blash swatted 11 home runs but — more importantly — carried a .415 OBP with a much-improved 66:41 K/BB ratio.
  • Ji-Man Choi, 1B, outrighted by Angels after Orioles declined return: The 25-year-old scuffled in the bigs but was rather impressive at the highest level of the minors, where he walked nearly as often as he struck out and put up a .346/.434/.527 slash with five home runs in 227 plate appearances.

Returned

  • Jake Cave, OF, returned from Reds to Yankees: After failing to crack Cinci’s roster out of camp, Cave impressed at Double-A but slowed at the highest level of the minors (.261/.323/.401 in 354 plate appearances) upon his return to the New York organization.
  • Evan Rutckyj, LHP, returned from Braves to Yankees: Sent back late in camp, the 24-year-old struggled in limited action on the Yanks’ farm after missing most of the season with elbow issues.
  • Josh Martin, RHP, returned from Padres to Indians: In his first attempt at Triple-A, Martin posted 66 frames of 3.55 ERA pitching with 8.2 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9.
  • Daniel Stumpf, LHP, returned from Phillies to Royals: Slowed by a PED suspension, Stumpf was bombed in a brief MLB stint with the Phils but dominated at Double-A upon his return to K.C., posting a 2.11 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings.
  • Chris O’Grady, LHP, returned from Reds to Angels: Sent back in late March, O’Grady compiled a 3.48 ERA over 95 2/3 innings in the upper minors, though he performed much better as a Double-A starter than he did as a Triple-A reliever.
  • Zack Jones, RHP, returned from Brewers to Twins: The 25-year-old was out with a shoulder injury for most of the year, and ended up being sent back to Minnesota in late June, but has shown swing-and-miss stuff when healthy.
  • Blake Smith, RHP, returned from Padres to White Sox: Smith ended up making a brief MLB debut upon his return to Chicago, but spend most of the year pitching well at Triple-A Charlotte, where he ran up a 3.53 ERA in 71 1/3 innings with 9.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.
  • Colin Walsh, INF, returned from Brewers to Athletics: After struggling badly in his major league stint with the Brewers, Walsh went to Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate and put up a .259/.384/.388 bating line over 245 plate appearances.

Brewers Return Rule 5 Pick Colin Walsh To Athletics

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The Brewers will return Rule 5 pick Colin Walsh to the Athletics, reports Jane Lee of MLB.com (Twitter link). Walsh, whom the Brewers designated for assignment on Tuesday, will head to Triple-A Nashville.

Prior to his designation, the 26-year-old Walsh picked up just four hits over his first 63 career major league plate appearances. The infielder/outfielder drew an impressive 15 walks, but he also struck out 22 times – good for a bloated 34.9 percent rate. Walsh has been far more successful in the minors, having hit .278/.395/.422 in nearly 2,500 trips to the plate. He was particularly effective last season in a the Double-A level slashing .302/.447/.470 with 13 home runs and 17 steals in 134 games.

Walsh’s 2015 showing helped lead the Brewers to select him in December, but his weak big league output brought their union to an end. The rest of the league had an opportunity to acquire Walsh after Milwaukee designated him, but nobody bit and he’ll now return to the A’s.

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