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Dan Winkler

White Sox Sign Dan Winkler To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have signed reliever Dan Winkler to a minor league contract, according to an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. He’ll step onto the Knights’ active roster in hopes of earning his way to the big leagues.

Winkler opted out of a minor league deal with the Rangers a couple weeks back. He’d spent the first two months of the season with Texas’ top farm team, working to a 3.50 ERA across 18 innings. Winkler punched out a stellar 32.1% of batters faced with a massive 18% swinging strike rate, but he struggled mightily with his control. The righty handed out free passes to 16% of opponents, and the Rangers elected to let him hit the open market rather than bring him to the major leagues.

If Winkler can make it onto the Sox’s active roster, he’d return to the city where he spent the 2020-21 campaigns. The 32-year-old pitched two seasons on the north side with the Cubs, tossing 58 innings across 65 appearances. Walks were similarly an issue during his most recent MLB run as they’ve been in Triple-A this year, and he posted a 5.22 ERA last season before being released in August. Winkler’s now a few years removed from his days as a high-leverage arm with the Braves, which included a 3.43 ERA showing back in 2018.

The White Sox’s bullpen ranks 21st with a 4.21 ERA, a mid-tier showing that registers as a disappointment considering how much the club has invested in that area of the roster. That’s partially a reflection of health issues, though, as Joe Kelly has already had a pair of injured list stints. Kelly is now back, but each of Aaron Bummer, Liam Hendriks and Kyle Crick have landed on the IL within the past seven days. Chicago backfills the organization with an experienced non-roster depth option in Winkler.

Dan Winkler, Nick Tropeano Opt Out Of Deals With Rangers

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Right-handers Dan Winkler and Nick Tropeano have opted out of their respective minor league contracts with the Rangers, reports Levi Weaver of the Athletic (Twitter link). Texas opted against selecting either onto the 40-man roster, so they’ll return to the open market.

Winkler signed his non-roster pact shortly after the lockout was lifted in March. The 32-year-old had pitched in the majors each season from 2015-21, including a 47-game stint with the Cubs last year. Winkler had a strong run of success early in his career with the Braves, but he’s struggled of late as he’s increasingly battled control concerns. Last season, he had a 5.22 ERA for the North Siders, walking 15.8% of opponents.

He has spent this season with the Rangers’ top affiliate in Round Rock, making 16 appearances. Over 18 innings, he has a 3.50 ERA with an excellent 32.1% strikeout rate. He’s partially offset that with a much too high 16% walk percentage, however, and those strike-throwing shortcomings were enough the Rangers decided to let Winkler test free agency rather than get a look in the MLB bullpen.

It’s been a fairly similar story for Tropeano, who signed his deal in January. A starting pitcher with the Astros and Angels early in his career, he’s worked out of the bullpen for the Angels, Pirates and Mets over the past few seasons. Tropeano had a nice seven-game run with Pittsburgh during the abbreviated 2020 campaign, but he only got five MLB appearances last year.

Working in long relief for Round Rock, the 31-year-old tallied 20 2/3 frames across 12 outings. He had a 3.05 ERA, but that was obscured by underwhelming peripherals. Tropeano doled out free passes to nearly a fifth of the batters he faced while striking out a league average 23.6% of opponents. The former fifth-round pick will try to iron out his control woes in a new environment.

Rangers To Sign Dan Winkler To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers are signing reliever Dan Winkler to a minor league contract, pending a physical, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter links). Presumably, the right-hander will get a look in big league Spring Training once the deal’s finalized.

Winkler ranked third among Cubs relievers in innings last season, tossing 39 2/3 frames over 47 outings. The 32-year-old didn’t get particularly strong results, though, due in large part to control woes. Winkler walked 15.8% of batters faced while striking out a personal-low 21.1% of opponents. That led to a 5.22 ERA, even as opposing hitters managed only a .255 batting average on balls in play against him. The Cubs designated him for assignment in late August, and he elected minor league free agency after passing through waivers unclaimed.

It was the third consecutive season of mediocre strikeout and walk numbers for Winkler, who has posted an ERA near 5.00 in two of the past three campaigns. He did have an excellent 2018 season with the Braves, however, a year in which he worked 60 1/3 frames of 3.43 ERA ball with a 27.1% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk percentage. Winkler’s control has been spotty aside from that year, but he’s maintained a fastball in the 93-94 MPH range and typically generated swinging strikes at an average or better clip.

Winkler will have to earn a big league roster spot, but he should have a good opportunity to do so in Texas. Rangers relievers ranked in the bottom ten in both ERA (4.80) and SIERA (4.48) last year. Joe Barlow, Spencer Patton, Brett Martin and perhaps Josh Sborz looked to have carved out season-opening roles, but the rest of the unit seems unsettled. Brandon Workman, Matt Bush, Justin Anderson and Jesús Tinoco are among the other players who’ll be in camp as non-roster invitees.

Cubs Select Michael Hermosillo, Designate Dan Winkler

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TODAY: The Cubs placed Winkler on unconditional release waivers, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). He will be a free agent.

AUG 17: The Cubs have selected outfielder Michael Hermosillo to the big league roster, the team announced. Reliever Dan Winkler was designated for assignment to open space on the active and 40-man rosters. Additionally, Chicago announced that left-hander Kyle Ryan has elected free agency after being passed through outright waivers.

Hermosillo reaches the majors for the fourth consecutive season, as he saw brief time with the Angels every year from 2018-20. Between those three years, the right-handed hitter only picked up a grand total of 118 plate appearances, slashing .188/.288/.287 with a single home run. Amidst those struggles, Los Angeles passed him through waivers last August and he hit minor league free agency over the offseason.

Chicago added the 26-year-old on a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. Hermosillo has been brilliant in the minors, raking at a .310/.448/.600 clip and popping ten home runs in 183 trips to the plate while playing all three positions on the grass. With the Cubs reeling at the major league level, they can afford to give Hermosillo a look to see if he can emerge as a late-blooming option for the 2022 team and beyond. He’s out of minor league option years, so Chicago now needs to keep him on the active roster or expose him to waivers.

Winkler has been a fixture in the Cubs’ bullpen over the past two seasons. He kept runs off the board last year despite underwhelming peripherals, but he’s had a difficult 2021 campaign in every regard. The righty has a 5.22 ERA over 39 2/3 frames, striking out hitters at a below-average 21.1% rate while walking a very high 15.8% of opponents.

The past few seasons have been a struggle for Winkler, who pitched well from 2017-18 with the Braves. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, he’ll find himself on waivers in the coming days. A claiming team would assume what remains of his $900K salary; otherwise, the Cubs will be on the hook for the tab. Winkler has the right to elect free agency while retaining his entire salary should he pass through waivers.

That’s the course of action Ryan chose after being designated for assignment last week. The veteran southpaw is now set to explore other opportunities. Should he sign elsewhere before August 31, he’d be eligible for his new team’s postseason roster.

Cubs Announce Series Of Roster Moves

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The Cubs announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, placing righty Jake Arrieta, infielder Nico Hoerner and reliever Dan Winkler on the 10-day injured list. Arrieta is dealing with a right thumb abrasion, while Hoerner has a left forearm strain and Winkler is being slowed by tendinitis in his right triceps. In their absence, the Cubs have recalled lefty Kyle Ryan and right-hander Keegan Thompson. They’ve also selected the contract of infielder Ildemaro Vargas, filling their 40-man roster.

Arrieta, 35, has had a decent rebound effort with the Cubs thus far, making six starts and logging a 4.31 ERA through 31 1/3 frames out of the rotation. He signed a one-year, $6.5MM deal to return to the team with which he won a Cy Young Award in 2015 and a World Series ring in 2016. He’d been slated to take the mound tomorrow, but it appears the cut on his pitching thumb hasn’t healed to the point where he’s able to properly throw all of his offerings. Given the nature of the injury, it seems likely to be a short-term stay on the IL.

The 23-year-old is out to a brilliant start in 2021, slashing .389/.500/.556 with six doubles, three steals and eight walks against seven strikeouts through 44 trips to the plate. Hoerner collided with center fielder Ian Happ when chasing down a shallow fly-ball during Sunday’s game against the Reds, though it’s not clear if that play is the source of his current injury. Happ remains day-to-day after that incident, with manager David Ross telling reporters he’s been diagnosed with a rib contusion after getting kicked “pretty hard” by Hoerner in the process. Hoerner tells reporters he expects to be back from the IL when he’s first eligible (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago).

Winkler, meanwhile, has held opponents to just one run on five hits in 10 1/3 innings. It’s a strong start in terms of bottom-line results, but the fact that he’s walked seven batters, plunked another and snapped off a wild pitch suggest that he’ll need to improve his control if he’s to maintain anything close to that output. To his credit, Winkler has also punched out a dozen of the 44 hitters he’s faced, but this marks a second straight year of questionable command in the Cubs’ bullpen for the 31-year-old Illinois native.

Ryan leads Cubs relievers in innings pitched over the past few seasons and will give Ross another lefty to work with for the time being. Thompson, who made his MLB debut when he tossed an inning earlier this year, is slated to start the second game of today’s twin bill against the Dodgers. He’s a 26-year-old back-of-the-rotation/swingman candidate who ranks 14th among Cubs farmhands at MLB.com, 23rd at FanGraphs and 28th at Baseball America. The Cubs’ rotation doesn’t have room for him when it’s at full strength, but he’ll likely be called upon for multiple spot starts in situations just as this throughout the year, when injuries pop up among the team’s top few starters.

Vargas has appeared in eight games with the Cubs dating back to a 2020 waiver claim from the Twins. He’s spent the bulk of his career with the D-backs, primarily in a utility role, and is a lifetime .252/.280/.388 hitter in 300 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. He’ll factor into the mix at second base and off the bench while Hoerner is sidelined.

Cubs Reinstate Brandon Workman, Dan Winkler; Reassign Pedro Strop

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April 17: Chicago announced they’re reinstating Workman and Winkler from the IL in advance of this afternoon’s game against the Braves. Steele has been optioned to the team’s alternate training site in South Bend, while Strop has been reassigned to the alternate site. Under the league’s 2021 health and safety protocols, Strop needs not be exposed to waivers to be removed from the 40-man roster as a COVID-19 replacement.

April 12: The Cubs have placed three members of their bullpen – right-handers Jason Adam, Brandon Workman and Dan Winkler – on the COVID-19 injured list, Robert Murray of FanSided was among those to report. The move came “out of abundance of caution” after bullpen coach Chris Young tested positive for COVID-19. To take the pitchers’ places, the Cubs recalled fellow hurlers Brad Wieck and Justin Steele, and they selected Pedro Strop’s contract, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com.

It’s unclear how much time Adam, Workman and Winkler will miss, but all three are quarantining away from the club, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. The Cubs have received a combined 11 1/3 innings from Adam, Workman and Winkler this season. Adam has been the most successful of the three, having given up one earned run and struck out seven hitters in 3 2/3 innings. Workman has surrendered three runs (two earned) over 3 2/3 frames, but he has totaled five strikeouts. Winkler has yielded one ER on two hits and struck out five across four innings, though he has succeeded despite walking a batter per nine.

The Cubs signed Strop to a minor league contract in the offseason, and the righty is now in line for his second MLB stint with the organization. Now 35 years old, Strop was highly effective for most of his prior Cubs tenure, which ran from 2013-19. He surpassed the 60-frame mark in three of those seasons and combined for 373 innings of 2.90 ERA ball. Strop temporarily left the Cubs to join the division-rival Reds in free agency entering the 2020 campaign, but he threw a mere 2 1/3 innings before Cincinnati designated him for assignment.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/2/20

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With the non-tender deadline coming today at 7pm CT, expect quite a few players to agree to contracts for the 2021 season, avoiding arbitration in advance.  In many (but not all) cases, these deals — referred to as “pre-tender” deals because they fall prior to the deadline — will fall shy of expectations and projections.  Teams will sometimes present borderline non-tender candidates with a “take it or leave it” style offer which will be accepted for fear of being non-tendered and sent out into an uncertain market.  Speculatively, such deals could increase in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty sweeping through the game, although there are also widespread expectations of record non-tender numbers.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through today’s smaller-scale pre-tender deals in this post.  You can also check out Matt Swartz’s arbitration salary projections here.

Latest Agreements

Earlier Agreements

  • Twins righty Jose Berrios will earn $6.1MM with a $500K signing bonus in 2021, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. Catcher Mitch Garver will rake in $1.875MM, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Center fielder Byron Buxton ($5.125MM) and reliever Taylor Rogers (terms not released) also agreed to deals, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
  • The Phillies have deals with starter Zach Eflin ($4.45MM) and relievers Hector Neris ($5MM), David Hale ($850K) and Seranthony Dominguez ($727,500), Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Heyman and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com relay.
  • The Marlins and first baseman Garrett Cooper have a $1.8MM agreement that could max out at $2.05MM with performance bonuses, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
  • The Brewers are keeping catcher Manny Pina in the fold for $1.65MM, according to Heyman. They’re also retaining first baseman Daniel Vogelbach for $1.4MM, Nightengale reports.
  • The Giants and outfielder Austin Slater have a one-year, $1.15MM deal, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.The club also reached a $925K agreement with lefty Wandy Peralta and a $700K pact with righty Trevor Gott, Heyman tweets.
  • The Cubs are bringing back hurlers Dan Winkler ($900K), Colin Rea ($702,500) and Kyle Ryan ($800K), Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ryan’s agreement is a split contract that features a $250K minor league salary.
  • The Mets are retaining lefty Steven Matz for $5.2MM, Nightengale tweets. Matz had a brutal campaign in 2020 with a 9.68 ERA/7.76 FIP over 30 2/3 innings in 2020, but the Mets will give him a chance to rebound.
  • The Padres and lefty Matt Strahm have a one-year, $2MM deal, Nightengale reports. Strahm gave the Padres a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP in 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia, whom the Mets claimed from Pittsburgh in August, will earn $1MM in 2021, according to Nightengale.
  • The Astros and reliever Austin Pruitt have settled for $617, 500, per Heyman. The right-hander missed the season with elbow issues.
  • The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler have agreed to a one-year, $8.05MM deal with $250K in incentives, Nightengale reports. Soler was a 48-home run hitter in 2019, but his production went backward this past season, in which he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight HRs in 174 trips to the plate.
  • The Red Sox have kept relievers Matt Barnes ($4.4MM) and Ryan Brasier ($1.25MM) and catcher Kevin Plawecki ($1.6MM), per tweets from Nightengale, Robert Murray of FanSided and Heyman. Barnes has been a solid reliever as a member of the Red Sox, though he yielded more than five walks per nine and upward of four runs per nine in 2020. Brasier was more successful this past season, as he tossed 25 frames of 3.96 ERA/3.15 FIP ball and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Plawecki had a nice year as the backup to Christian Vazquez, as he batted .341/.393/.463 in 89 PA.
  • The Giants and southpaw Jarlin Garcia have settled for $950K, according to Heyman. Garcia is coming off an 18 1/3-inning effort in which he posted a near-perfect 0.49 (with an impressive 3.14 FIP) and 6.87 K/9 against 3.44 BB/9.
  • The Marlins have agreed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal with first baseman Jesus Aguilar, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. The 30-year-old slugger put up strong numbers in his first year with the Fish, slashing .277/.352/.457 with eight long balls in 216 plate appearances.
  • The Giants and outfielder Alex Dickerson settled at a year and $2MM, tweets Nightengale. The 30-year-old slugger has a lengthy injury history but has been excellent in limited work with the Giants, including a .298/.371/.576 slash in 170 plate appearances this past season.
  • Luis Cessa will be back with the Yankees on a one-year deal, tweets Nightengale. He’ll earn $1.05MM. The righty notched a 3.32 ERA and 3.79 FIP with a 17-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this past season. Fellow righty Ben Heller will also return, the team announced, though it didn’t disclose financial details.
  • First baseman Matt Olson and the Athletics settled on a one-year deal worth $5MM, tweets Nightengale. The 26-year-old Olson’s .198/.310/.424 slash was an obvious step back from his 2019 campaign, but he’s still viewed as a vital part of the club’s future moving forward.
  • The Braves and righty Luke Jackson agreed to a one-year deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The 29-year-old was rocked for a 6.84 ERA in this year’s shortened slate of games but posted a 3.84 ERA and 3.24 FIP with better than 13 K/9 as one of the team’s steadiest relievers in 2019. The contract is valued at $1.9MM, per a team announcement.
  • The Brewers are bringing back catcher Omar Narvaez for one year and $2.5MM, Heyman tweets. Narvaez was a very good offensive catcher from 2o16-19 with the White Sox and Mariners, but he struggled last season after the M’s traded him to the Brewers. Thanks in part to a career-worst 31 percent strikeout rate, Narvaez could only muster a .176/.294/.269 line and a paltry two HRs in 126 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s in line to return to the Brewers for a second season.
  • The Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2MM contract with shortstop Orlando Arcia, Nightengale relays. Arcia endured serious struggles on offense in prior years, but the 26-year-old managed a respectable .260/.317/.416 line with five home runs over 189 plate appearances this past season.
  • The Phillies and catcher Andrew Knapp have reached a one-year, $1.1MM agreement, per Nightengale. Typically a light-hitting backstop, Knapp batted a career-best .278/.404/.444 in 89 plate appearances in 2020. He’s currently the No. 1 catcher on a Phillies team that could lose J.T. Realmuto in free agency.
  • Pirates infielder Erik Gonzalez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. It was the second year of arb eligibility for Gonzalez, whose glovework will earn him a contract despite a brutal .227/.255/.359 batting line in 193 plate appearances in 2020.
  • The Royals and Hunter Dozier agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.72MM in entirely guaranteed money, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  More is available to Dozier via contract incentives.  Dozier hit .228/.344/.392 over 186 PA after missing over the first two weeks of the season recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
  • The Red Sox agreed to an $870K deal with right-hander Austin Brice for the 2021 season, as per Nightengale.  Brice posted a 5.95 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 5.9 BB/9 over 19 2/3 innings in his first season in Boston, and was considered a potential non-tender candidate.
  • The Twins and righty Tyler Duffey agreed to a one-year, $2.2MM pact, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports.  According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Duffey’s deal is fully guaranteed.
  • The Braves agreed to a one-year, $900K deal with southpaw Grant Dayton, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Dayton had a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in 2020.
  • The Braves announced an agreement with utilityman Johan Camargo on a one-year, $1.36MM deal.  Camargo was thought to be a non-tender candidate after struggling to a .222/.267/.378 slash line in 375 plate appearances over the last two seasons, but he will return for a fifth year in Atlanta.
  • The White Sox and left-hander Jace Fry agreed to a one-year deal worth $862.5K, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Fry posted a 3.66 ERA, 2.00 K/BB rate, and 11.0 K/9 over 19 2/3 innings in 2020, and he has strong overall career numbers against left-handed batters.
  • The Orioles agreed with second baseman Yolmer Sanchez on a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).  Baltimore claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox at the end of October.  A Gold Glove winner in 2019, Sanchez was non-tendered by Chicago prior to last year’s deadline, though after signing a minors deal with the Giants, he returned to the White Sox on another minors deal and appeared in 11 games on the South Side.
  • The Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth roughly $700K with left-hander Caleb Thielbar, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports (via Twitter).  2020 marked Thielbar’s first taste of MLB action since 2015, as the southpaw worked his way back from independent ball to post a 2.25 ERA, 2.44 K/BB rate, and 9.9 K/9 over 20 innings for Minnesota.
  • The Dodgers and left-hander Scott Alexander have agreed to a one-year, $1MM deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Alexander posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season, recording an equal number of walks and strikeouts (nine).  The southpaw was thought to be a potential non-tender candidate given his relative lack of usage and his non-inclusion on the Dodgers’ playoff roster, but the team will retain Alexander for his second arb-eligible year.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) adds the noteworthy detail that Alexander’s $1MM salary is fully guaranteed, as opposed to the usual contracts for arbitration-eligible players that allow their teams to release them prior to Opening Day and only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon salary.

Cubs Sign Dan Winkler

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2:42pm: The deal has now been announced.

10:09am: Winkler agreed to a split Major League contract with a $750K salary in the Majors and a $200K salary in the minors, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links). He can earn an additional $750K in the Majors via incentives.

8:20am: The Cubs and free-agent righty Dan Winkler are in agreement on a one-year, Major League contract, Robert Murray reports (via Twitter). The MVP Sports Group client elected free agency at season’s end after being outrighted off the Giants’ 40-man roster.

Dan Winkler | Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Winkler, 30 in February, was one of the players sent from Atlanta to San Francisco in the Mark Melancon salary dump. He lasted only a day on the Giants’ 40-man roster, though, further underscoring that the trade was primarily a financially motivated transaction.

But while Winkler struggled through 21 2/3 innings at the MLB level in 2019 (4.98 ERA, 22-to-11 K/BB ratio), he was a very effective bullpen piece with the Braves just a year prior. In 2018, Winkler returned from a grueling injury absence to post 60 1/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball with 10.3 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.

Winkler had previously gone down to Tommy John surgery in 2014 and, upon returning to the mound in 2016, sustained another gut-wrenching injury when he (audibly) fractured his elbow while throwing a pitch. From 2015-17, he totaled just 41 1/3 innings between the big leagues and the minors thanks to those injuries, but the right-hander is seemingly healthy now. In addition to his work in the Majors last year, Winkler tossed 30 2/3 innings in Triple-A (with a 2.93 ERA, 29 strikeouts and a troubling 23 walks).

If Winkler is able to return to form with his new team, the Cubs will be able to control him through the 2021 season via arbitration. He also has minor league options remaining, so the Cubs can shuttle him back and forth between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago on an as-needed basis if he doesn’t solidify his spot in the ’pen from the outset.

Pitchers Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Post-Deadline Outrights: Flynn, De La Cruz, Guerra, Blazek

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In the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline, a handful of clubs cleared 40-man roster space with a series of designations. Many of those players have since cleared waivers, and we’ll round up those minor moves here…

Latest Moves

  • The Royals announced that southpaw Brian Flynn was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  Flynn has a 5.22 ERA over 29 1/3 innings for K.C. this season, a disappointing result for a reliever who posted solid numbers out of the Royals’ bullpen in both 2016 and 2018.

Earlier Today

  • Cubs minor-league right-hander Oscar de la Cruz has cleared waivers. The 24 year-old has seen his once-lofty prospect status deteriorate due to a combination of injuries, command woes, and a suspension for a masking agent. He’ll remain with the club’s AA affiliate in the Southern League.
  • Nationals right-handers Javy Guerra and Michael Blazek each cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A Fresno. Because each veteran has previously been outrighted, they may elect free agency, but the shaky Washington bullpen could plausibly offer them the best opportunity to return to the big leagues in short order.
  • Giants right-handed reliever Dan Winkler was outrighted. San Francisco acquired him as a salary offset in the Mark Melancon trade but never had any interest in letting him see the field amidst a disappointing 2019 season. Winkler can elect free agency because he has over three years of MLB service.
  • Rockies left-handed relief arm Harrison Musgrave will remain on hand at Triple-A Albuquerque after clearing. The 27 year-old has had little success in 45 MLB games in Colorado over the past two seasons.
  • Diamondbacks right-hander Joey Krehbiel will remain on-hand at Triple-A Reno. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel named the 26 year-old reliever a prospect to watch thanks to a plus changeup preseason, but he’s had a nightmarish season in the Pacific Coast League.
  • Veteran catcher Tim Federowicz has cleared. The backstop had been playing for the Rangers, but he may elect to catch on elsewhere on a minor-league deal.
  • Phillies corner infielder Mitch Walding has also cleared waivers. He’ll remain in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he’s struggled to make contact in 2019.
  • Eric Stamets, the Indians’ Opening Day shortstop, has cleared as well. The 27 year-old has put up anemic offensive numbers with Triple-A Columbus, where he’ll continue to try to right the ship, over the past two seasons.
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