Craig Gentry

Craig Gentry Retires

By Steve Adams | May 2, 2019 at 9:41am CDT

Outfielder Craig Gentry, a veteran of 10 big league seasons, has retired at the age of 35, agent Bob Garber tells MLBTR. Gentry was with the Giants during Spring Training and signed a minor league contract with the Rockies last month. He played in only three games with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate (and collected seven hits), however, before deciding to spend more time with his family rather than pursue a return to the Majors.

Though he was never a star or even an everyday player, the fleet-footed Gentry enjoyed a solid run as a defensive-minded platoon outfielder with the Rangers and A’s from 2011-14 — during which time he hit .278/.353/.355 with four homers, 35 doubles, nine triples and 75 steals. Paired with his strong glovework in the outfield, that performance checked in at 8.5 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs, and 9.6 WAR according to Baseball-Reference. Most recently, Gentry appeared in 145 games with the Orioles from 2017-18, hitting at a .265/.326/.362 clip in a familiar reserve outfielder’s role.

Gentry’s career will come to a close with a .262/.333/.339 batting line in 601 MLB games and 1402 plate appearances between the Rangers, A’s, Angels and Orioles. Defensive metrics were always bullish on him, as evidenced by a career +53 Defensive Runs Saved mark and a +31.9 Ultimate Zone Rating across all three outfield slots. The 2006 10th-round pick earned about $7MM in his playing career. Best wishes to Gentry in his post-playing days.

Rockies Sign Craig Gentry To Minors Deal

By Ty Bradley | April 13, 2019 at 2:47pm CDT

Per mlb.com’s transaction page, the Rockies have signed OF Craig Gentry to a minor league deal. The 35-year-old outfielder was signed by the Giants in mid-February, but ostensibly had been released at some point near the end of Spring Training. Gentry’s already reported to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he went 2 for 5 in last night’s 10-3 defeat at the hands of Tacoma.

Gentry remains one of the few active players – along with perhaps Jarrod Dyson of the Diamondbacks and Alex Gordon of the Royals – to sustain elite outfield defense well into his mid-thirties. Never a full-time regular at a position with any of the four organizations with whom he’s been a part, Gentry’s still managed to post 54 defensive runs saved in just over 3,330 innings since his debut in 2009. Though he’s failed ever to show much power (a career .339 slugging percentage in 1402 big-league plate appearances), Gentry’s always been a solid on-base threat, with a .333 career OBP responsible for the bulk of his career 85 wRC+ line.

At the very least, he’ll be a solid late-inning option for a Colorado club that’s relied on aging and inexperienced veterans at the position over the last few seasons. Ian Desmond is the latest to try his hand, but the veteran former first baseman has plunged even further into an ever-widening abyss at the plate. The club apparently doesn’t trust the injury-prone David Dahl or the wiry Raimel Tapia at the position, and already punted incumbent Charlie Blackmon over to right, so Gentry seems a prime option to give MLB’s toughest center field a crack.

Giants, Craig Gentry Agree To Terms

By Steve Adams | February 15, 2019 at 1:50pm CDT

The Giants have agreed to a contract with free-agent outfielder Craig Gentry, MLBTR has confirmed. He’ll give the team some additional outfield depth following this week’s signing of veteran Gerardo Parra to a minor league pact.

Gentry, 35, spent the 2018 season with the Orioles organization and appeared in 68 games at the MLB level, tallying 169 plate appearances and hitting .269/.321/.346 along the way. Those numbers align rather closely with the .262/.333/.339 slash that Gentry has posted in parts of 10 big league seasons with the Rangers, Orioles, Athletics and Angels.

As is typical for Gentry, he didn’t bring much power to the table in 2018 but provided the O’s with quality outfield defense and plenty of speed. Gentry saw action at all three outfield spots and turned in strong defensive marks (+7 Defensive Runs Saved, +2.3 Ultimate Zone Rating, +3 Outs Above Average) in a small sample of 386 2/3 innings. He also swiped a dozen bases in 15 attempts and ranked in the 90th percentile of MLB players in terms of average sprint speed (28.9 ft/sec), per Statcast.

The right-handed-hitting Gentry doesn’t have glaring platoon splits but has generally handled left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching (.711 OPS vs. .640 OPS). The Giants have plenty of uncertainty in the outfield, so it’s natural to see them bolster their depth. Young center fielder Steven Duggar is coming off shoulder surgery, and the other options on the 40-man roster — Mac Williamson, Austin Slater, Chris Shaw — all have some upside but are not yet proven big leaguers. The aforementioned Parra, too, will be in camp competing for a regular role. Offseason pickups John Andreoli and Mike Gerber are also in the organization as non-roster invitees to camp after the Giants were able to pass them through waivers.

Orioles Release Craig Gentry

By Steve Adams | September 5, 2018 at 1:52pm CDT

The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve released outfielder Craig Gentry. He’d been designated for assignment on Aug. 31 when the club began its September roster expansion. Additionally, the O’s announced that infielder Steve Wilkerson has been recalled from Triple-A and will join the club for the remainder of the season.

Gentry, 34, appeared in 68 games for Baltimore this season and posted a .269/.321/.346 with a homer, five doubles, two triples and a dozen steals (in 15 tries) over the life of 169 plate appearances. He’s spent most of the past two seasons as a reserve with the Orioles organization, serving as a defense- and baserunning-focused backup outfielder. The former 10th-round pick (Rangers, 2006) has a long history in that sort of role, though he hasn’t amassed even 200 plate appearances in a season since 2014.

Overall, he’s a career .262/.333/.339 hitter with solid but unspectacular numbers against left-handed pitching and more troublesome numbers against righties. He’s consistently drawn solid marks for his glovework in the outfield, and 2018 was no exception (+6 DRS, +2.2 UZR, +3 Outs Above Average in 386 innings).

As for Wilkerson, the versatile 26-year-old will be getting his second look with the O’s after a brief seven-game cup of coffee earlier this year. He batted .270/.329/.500 in a small 86-game sample in his first run at Triple-A this season and is a career .282/.342/.399 hitter in parts of three Double-A campaigns. Wilkerson, the Orioles’ eighth-round selection in the 2014 draft, has played all four infield positions and both corner outfield positions in his minor league career.

Orioles Designate Craig Gentry, Outright Jhan Marinez

By Jeff Todd | August 31, 2018 at 3:59pm CDT

The Orioles have designated outfielder Craig Gentry, per MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli (via Twitter). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow outfielder Joey Rickard.

Meanwhile, the club also outrighted right-hander Jhan Marinez after activating him from the 10-day DL. He has been assigned to Triple-A after clearing waivers.

Gentry, 34, has seen a decent amount of action in a reserve role for the Baltimore organization over the past two seasons. All told, he carries a .265/.326/.362 batting line in 286 plate appearances with the O’s.

That output falls right in line with Gentry’s career numbers at the plate. In parts of ten seasons in the majors, he’s an 85 wRC+ hitter. That’s not really enough bat to warrant the playing time he has received (602 games). But Gentry has long graded as a high-quality defender and baserunner.

As for Marinez, 30, he has bounced around quite a bit in recent seasons. He struggled mightily in eight MLB appearances this year, but was better when pitching at the club’s top affiliate. In 47 2/3 innings for Norfolk, he owns a 3.21 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

Injury Notes: Kuhl, Ervin, Bundy, O’Day, Guzman

By Steve Adams | June 26, 2018 at 10:11pm CDT

The Pirates announced tonight that right-hander Chad Kuhl exited his start after four innings due to discomfort in his right forearm. Forearm discomfort can be ominous in and of itself, but Kuhl’s exit is made all the more concerning by the fact that he uncorked three wild pitches, walked a pair and threw just 40 of his 73 offerings on the evening for strikes. There’s been no word on Kuhl since the Bucs and Mets wrapped up tonight’s game, but if he requires a DL stint, the Pirates can turn to righty Nick Kingham once again. While he’s currently in the minors, Kingham has pitched well both in the Majors and in Triple-A so far this season.

As we await further word on Kuhl, who has a 4.55 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 85 innings out of the rotation in 2018, here are a few more notable injury updates from around the around the game…

Ervin Santana looks to be back on track toward a return to the Twins, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets that the veteran right-hander is slated to head to Class-A Advanced Fort Myers on Saturday to embark on a rehab assignment. Santana has already started one rehab assignment this season as he works back from February finger surgery, but he had to cut that assignment short due to lingering discomfort. Over the weekend, it was reported that Santana was still struggling and wasn’t able to reach 90 mph with his fastball in a throwing session last week, but it seems he’s trending back up. Bollinger notes that a live batting practice session went well for Santana, leading to the decision to send him out on rehab.
The Orioles placed right-hander Dylan Bundy on the 10-day DL due to an ankle sprain that he sustained while running the bases during interleague play over the weekend. Left-hander Donnie Hart was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in his place. Thankfully for the O’s, the injury doesn’t sound to be overly serious; Rich Dubroff of PressboxOnline.com tweets that Bundy is only expected to miss two starts with the ankle issue. Despite bizarrely authoring one of the worst starts in MLB history earlier this year (seven earned runs, no outs recorded), Bundy has been Baltimore’s best starter in the aggregate so far. He’s notched a 3.75 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 through 96 innings over the life of 16 starts.
Baltimore also looks likely to place righty Darren O’Day on the 10-day disabled list, as MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. O’Day incurred some type of leg injury while fielding a bunt, signaled for the trainer, and exited after throwing just one warmup pitch. Kubatko notes that O’Day was bothered by some hamstring soreness a week ago and may have aggravated that ailment. MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli adds (via Twitter) that both O’Day and outfielder Craig Gentry are DL-bound for the Orioles, with the latter being troubled by a rib injury that stems from being hit by a pitch recently.
The Rangers announced Tuesday that rookie first baseman Ronald Guzman has been placed on the 7-day concussion list, with Ryan Rua returning from Triple-A Round Rock to take his spot on the active roster. Guzman sustained his concussion when he dove back into third base on a pickoff attempt but collided with the knee of Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva. The 23-year-old Guzman, long one of the Rangers’ most promising farmhands, had a rough start to the season but came alive in late May and had compiled an impressive .266/.364/.489 slash in his most recent 110 PAs leading up to the injury.

Orioles Designate Four Players, Set Opening Day Roster

By Steve Adams | March 29, 2018 at 10:49am CDT

The Orioles set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated right-handers Alec Asher, Stefan Crichton, Michael Kelly and Jesus Liranzo for assignment. Their 40-man spots will go to Pedro Alvarez, Colby Rasmus, Craig Gentry and Danny Valencia. Mark Trumbo and Gabriel Ynoa, meanwhile, will open the season on the 10-day DL. Right-hander Alex Cobb will open the year in Double-A as he ramps up after signing late in Spring Training.

Asher, 26, appeared in 24 games for the O’s last season, including six starts, totaling 60 innings of work with a 47-to-23 K/BB. While Asher showed that he can work out of both the rotation or bullpen in multi-inning stints, he struggled to a 5.25 ERA and yielded 10 homers in last year’s 60 frames with the O’s. Asher does sport a quality 3.75 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of Triple-A work, where he’s averaged 6.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. He has also has a minor league option remaining, so he could make sense for a team in need of some rotation depth.

Crichton, also 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining.

The 25-year-old Kelly has never appeared in the big leagues, but he nonetheless scored a Major League contract from the O’s this past offseason on the heels of a strong Double-A showing with the Padres’ San Antonio affiliate in 2017. The former No. 48 overall pick worked to a 2.89 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 with a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate in 89 Double-A innings before being roughed up in his second go-around at the Triple-A level (albeit in an extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting).

Liranzo, 23, also comes without big league experience, but Baseball America ranked him 19th among Orioles farmhands this offseason. Liranzo isn’t lacking for velocity and has the upside of a quality bullpen piece, but he’s struggled with control throughout his pro career, including last season when he averaged six walks per nine innings pitched and posted an unsightly 4.85 ERA in 65 Double-A innings with the Orioles’ Bowie affiliate.

Each of Alvarez, Gentry and Valencia have been with the Orioles before. Alvarez’s stay with the team could be directly tied to Trumbo’s rehab, as each projects primarily as a DH. A brief experiment with Alvarez as an outfielder didn’t prove fruitful for the O’s last season, and they’re largely set at the infield corners as well. Gentry can back up at all three outfield spots and provide some speed off the bench, while Valencia provides a right-handed complement to Chris Davis as well as some insurance at third base and in the outfield corners.

As for Rasmus, it seems likely that he’ll receive fairly regular reps in right field after signing a minor league contract this winter. He showed well in a limited sample with the Rays last season before incurring an injury and ultimately stepping away from the game to be with his young family midway through the ’17 season.

East Notes: Yanks, Bird, Mets, Nationals, Orioles

By Connor Byrne | March 24, 2018 at 6:41pm CDT

Yankees first baseman Greg Bird missed most of last season with a right ankle injury. The 25-year-old is now battling soreness in the same foot and will go for an MRI and a CT scan, per Randy Miller of NJ.com. Bird’s status concerns general manager Brian Cashman, who said Saturday: “I’m worried about it to be honest. I’m not sure what we’re dealing with, but when Greg can’t tee it up, it’s a problem for us because obviously he’s a vital member of our organization.” Cashman went on to indicate that the Yankees won’t attempt to replace Bird via trade if he lands on the shelf. The recently signed Neil Walker and Tyler Austin are among the Yankees’ in-house first base options, but it’s worth noting that they recently had Adam Lind in camp. The club signed Lind to a minor league pact in early March before releasing him midway through the month. Lind remains on the market and would make for a logical pickup on paper, but there’s no word on whether New York is interested in re-signing him in the event of another serious injury to Bird.

[Update: The Yankees announced that Bird is dealing with inflammation and will see a specialist Monday.]

Orioles To Re-Sign Craig Gentry

By Jeff Todd | February 7, 2018 at 12:24pm CDT

The Orioles have struck a minor-league deal to bring back outfielder Craig Gentry, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Gentry receives a MLB spring invite and could earn $900K in the majors.

The 34-year-old has seen action in each of the past nine MLB campaigns, including a 77-game run with the O’s last year. He took only 117 plate appearances in that span, but did produce a useful .257/.333/.386 slash line. The right-handed hitter performed much better against lefties, as he has for most of his career.

Gentry will likely battle for a bench spot in camp, with players such as the right-handed-hitting Joey Rickard, switch-hitting Anthony Santander, and lefty-swinging Jaycob Brugman also in the same general mix. The Orioles will need to give at least one spot to a lefty bat — perhaps one that’s not yet in the organization — but figure to have at least one reserve spot open to competition.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/15/2017

By charliewilmoth | July 15, 2017 at 8:38am CDT

Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

The Orioles have announced that they’ve outrighted outfielder Craig Gentry to Triple-A Norfolk. The 33-year-old Gentry has batted .175/.273/.263 in 68 plate appearances spanning two stints with the Orioles this season after signing a minor-league deal with the club last winter. Gentry was once a valuable contributor in Texas, thanks largely to his fine center field defense, but he has struggled to stick in the Majors in the past couple seasons as his offense has slipped.
The Dodgers purchased the contract of lefty reliever Brian Moran from the the Atlantic League’s Bridgeport Bluefish, the Bluefish have announced. Moran will report to Double-A Tulsa. The 28-year-old Moran posted a 2.32 ERA over 19 1/3 innings with Bridgeport, striking out a terrific 33 batters and walking nine. He was also throwing 93 MPH there, Driveline Baseball’s Kyle Boddy recently tweeted. Though Moran has never pitched in the Majors, this won’t be his first stint in affiliated ball — he was a seventh-round pick by the Mariners in the 2009 draft and spent several years in Seattle’s system, then briefly pitched for the Braves’ Triple-A team in Gwinnett last year. Overall, Moran has fared well at the Triple-A level, with a 3.69 ERA, 2.7 BB/9 and a tremendous 11.9 K/9 over 105 innings spanning three seasons.

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Craig Gentry

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect