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Drew Stubbs

Rangers Sign Drew Stubbs

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The Rangers have reached a minor-league deal with outfielder Drew Stubbs, per a club announcement. The 32-year-old will report to Triple-A Round Rock.

Stubbs was recently cut loose by the Giants after a 10-game run. He has seen a variety of similarly short stints over the past two seasons — including a pair with the Texas organization. Clearly, the sides are familiar with one another at this point.

[Related: Updated Texas Rangers depth chart]

All told, Stubbs owns a .242/.313/.391 batting line over his nine season of major league action. He was a regular contributor from 2010 through 2014, but has functioned more as a depth piece ever since he was cut loose by the Rockies early in 2015. He’s capable of playing center field and has handled lefties at a respectable clip throughout his career, so he could eventually resurface with the Rangers in a reserve capacity. Texas is without Carlos Gomez for the next four to six weeks due to a hamstring injury, so bringing Stubbs into the fold at Round Rock helps to cover that absence.

Giants Designate Drew Stubbs For Assignment

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The Giants have designated outfielder Drew Stubbs for assignment and purchased the contract of outfielder Justin Ruggiano from Triple-A in a corresponding transaction, the team announced.

[Updated Giants depth chart at Roster Resource]

Stubbs was signed to a minor league deal in early April and was promoted two weeks ago, though the veteran provided only two hits and a .258 OPS in 24 plate appearances.  While Stubbs posted strong numbers in a regular role for Colorado in 2014 and has a good career slash line against left-handed pitching, he has generally been a below-average hitter for his career, more known for his defense and base-running than his production at the plate.

Both Stubbs and Ruggiano are right-handed hitters with the ability to play all three outfield spots, with Ruggiano offering a bit more pop (in the form of a .258/.322/.438 career slash over 1416 PA).  Once Ruggiano appears in a game for the Giants, they will be the eighth different team Ruggiano has suited up for over parts of nine seasons in the bigs.

The Giants entered the season lacking in outfield depth, a situation that has only worsened with Denard Span, Jarrett Parker, and minor league signing Melvin Upton Jr. all hitting the disabled list.  Ruggiano’s outfield versatility will help the bench, though he adds another right-handed bat to a Giants roster that is already lacking in lefty-swingers.

Giants To Promote Christian Arroyo, Designate Chris Marrero

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5:39pm: Struggling first baseman/outfielder Chris Marrero has been designated for assignment, Shea tweets. In the other corresponding move, veteran utilityman Aaron Hill was sent to the 10-day DL with a forearm strain.

5:24pm: The Giants will promote top infield prospect Christian Arroyo, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter). Also joining the MLB roster is veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).

Arroyo, who’s still just 21 years old, was taken 25th overall in the 2013 draft. Since, he has steadily moved up the ladder toward the majors, with the Giants facing steadily growing calls to give him a shot at the game’s highest level.

While there have been several opportunities, San Francisco has to this point kept the youngster in the pipeline. Arroyo struggled last year upon making the leap to Double-A, causing him to drop out of Baseball America’s listing of the top-100 prospects (though he remains 89th on MLB.com’s ranking) and further extending his timeline.

But that all changed with the beginning of the current season. The Giants have staggered out of the gates and will now be forced to navigate the tough NL West without ace Madison Bumgarner. Arroyo, meanwhile, has thrived in brief action at the game’s highest level. Through 69 plate appearances, he is slashing a robust .446/.478/.692. While he has drawn just a pair of walks, Arroyo has also gone down on strikes only eight times.

While he has played mostly at shortstop in the minors, Arroyo will line up at third base upon his arrival in San Francisco. Indeed, he’ll plug right into the lineup, taking the sixth spot in the batting order while starting at the hot corner tonight. Eduardo Nunez is playing in left field; presumably, he’ll see a good bit of time there while also stepping into the infield when needed.

Given that the season is only a few weeks old, Arroyo will be set up nicely to qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player down the road — assuming, at least, that he can stick in the bigs from this point forward. If he entrenches himself in San Francisco, Arroyo would reach arbitration eligibility in advance of the 2020 season but not qualify for free agency until 2024.

Giants To Sign Drew Stubbs

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TODAY: The deal has been completed, Alex Pavlovic of NBC tweets. Stubbs will earn at a $1MM rate in the majors and $130K in the minors, with bonus money also available.

YESTERDAY: The Giants are nearing a minor league agreement with veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. As Baggarly notes, recent injuries to Mike Morse and Mac Williamson have thinned out the team’s outfield depth. Beyond that, center fielder Denard Span is day-to-day with some tightness in his left hip, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (Twitter link via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle).

San Francisco is currently utilizing an outfield alignment consisting of Hunter Pence in right field, Span in center field and a platoon of Jarrett Parker and Chris Marrero in left field. Gorkys Hernandez made the roster out of Spring Training as a reserve and can handle center in Span’s hopefully brief absence.

Stubbs, 32, was in camp with the Twins during Spring Training but didn’t crack the roster after logging a disappointing .139/.273/.278 with 15 strikeouts in 36 at-bats over the life of 15 games. Stubbs had a career year with the Rockies in 2014, hitting .289/.339/.482 with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases — though the vast majority of his damage was done at the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field. Since that season, Stubbs has struggled to a .207/.302/.365 batting line in 234 plate appearances between the Rockies, Braves, Rangers and Orioles.

Those recent struggles notwithstanding, Stubbs is capable of handling all three outfield positions and has a strong track record against left-handed pitching over the life of his career. In 952 plate appearances against southpaws, he’s a .272/.348/.444 hitter.

NL Notes: Diamondbacks, Braves, Mets, Stubbs

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The Diamondbacks drafted both Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock in 2009 and the two have been teammates for years, but they might not remain in the same organization for long, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. If the Snakes don’t contend this season — and that doesn’t appear particularly likely after a disappointing 2016 — the team could begin considering dealing Goldschmidt, Pollock or Zack Greinke. Dealing Goldschmidt or Pollock would give the Diamondbacks a head start in a rebuild, an organizational route of which new GM Mike Hazen seems to see the benefits. “Picking first is a lot better than picking fifth,” Hazen said earlier this month. “From a long-term building standpoint, there are clear advantages to being in those positions over a period of time. The majority of your superstars, by and large, are going to come in those areas of the draft and the international market.” Here’s more from the National League.

  • Much of the Braves’ Opening Day roster is set, but there are still jobs available on the bench and in the bullpen, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Chaz Roe, who is out of of options, has the inside track on one of the remaining bullpen jobs, although fellow righty David Hernandez (who the Braves recently added on a minor-league deal) is another possibility. Paco Rodriguez and Kevin Chapman are competing to join the ’pen as lefties, while veteran hitters Matt Tuiasosopo and Mel Rojas Jr. could also have shots at making the team, particularly, it would seem, if the Braves opt to go with five bench players instead of four. The Braves will also keep an eye on the trade and free-agent markets.
  • The Mets are hoping for fourth outfielder Juan Lagares to soon recover from the oblique strain he suffered this weekend, and therefore do not seem overly interested in Drew Stubbs, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. The veteran Stubbs opted out of his minor-league deal with the Twins yesterday. Assuming he’s healthy, Lagares seems set to back up a Mets outfield of Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce.

Drew Stubbs Opts Out Of Twins Deal

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Outfielder Drew Stubbs has opted out of his minor league contract with the Twins, according to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). The Twins informed Stubbs on Sunday that he wasn’t going to make their big league roster.

The 32-year-old Stubbs will now look for an opportunity elsewhere, he told Berardino.

“Obviously, first and foremost, I’d want to be on somebody’s Opening Day roster,” Stubbs said. “If that opportunity’s not there, I’ll just have to reevaluate the situation and see where the best opportunity would be for me.”

The right-handed Stubbs has a history of faring well against southpaws, having slashed .272/.348/.444 in 952 plate appearances, which could have made him a platoon partner for one of the Twins’ lefty-swinging corner outfielders, Eddie Rosario or Max Kepler. Instead, the Twins could go with the switch-hitting Robbie Grossman as their fourth outfielder, as Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource projects, and they also have the out-of-options Danny Santana on hand.

In addition to his quality track record versus left-handed pitchers, Stubbs has racked up 161 stolen bases in his career. However, the journeyman struck out in at least 40 percent of plate appearances in each of the two prior seasons, and he combined to hit a disastrous .207/.302/.365 during those campaigns.

Twins News: Jay, Veterans, Stubbs, Breslow

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Here’s the latest from Minnesota…

  • Left-hander Tyler Jay, the sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft, will be used as a reliever going forward, Seth Stohs of Twins Daily reports.  The decision was mutually made between both Jay and the Twins.  Jay mostly pitched in relief in college, yet the Twins were intrigued enough by his four-pitch arsenal that they spent the high pick on him in order to test him as a starter.  The southpaw pitched well in 13 starts at High-A ball last season before battling some neck issues over five appearances (two of them starts) and 14 innings at Double-A.  Baseball Prospectus ranked Jay as 98th on their recent list of the 101 best prospects in baseball, and he also appeared on top-100 lists from MLB.com (60th) and Baseball America (80th) prior to the 2016 season.
  • Jay was drafted one spot ahead of Andrew Benintendi in 2015, and 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link) that the Twins “had very little interest” in the outfielder who is now the game’s consensus number-one prospect.  Notables such as Carson Fulmer and Ian Happ were picked in the next two spots after Benintendi.  In fairness to Minnesota, however, Jay was highly regarded by the major prospect scouting pundits headed into the 2015 draft, so he likely wouldn’t have fallen much further than sixth had the Twins passed.
  • The Twins made a point of adding veteran leadership to their young clubhouse this winter, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes.  Matt Belisle, Ryan Vogelsong, Chris Gimenez, Drew Stubbs and Craig Breslow were all signed to minor league deals or low-cost MLB deals this offseason, providing Minnesota with inexpensive but experienced players who can help on the field and also serve as mentors.  “The idea at this stage of my career that I could impact an organization for longer than I may be playing for it is pretty powerful and pretty compelling,” Breslow said. “I’ve started to think about all of the players who have helped shape my career.  I certainly look to them with incredible deference.  If I have the opportunity to fill that role for somebody, it’s a legacy I would be really proud of.”
  • Also from Berardino’s piece, he notes that Stubbs will earn $1MM on his minor league deal should he crack the Twins’ big league roster.  Stubbs has bounced around with the Braves, Orioles, Rockies and (multiple stints with the) Rangers over the last two seasons, playing in 137 games and hitting .207/.302/.365 over 234 plate appearances.
  • Breslow’s contractual opt-out date is early next week, though Berardino tweets that the Twins will add him to their 40-man roster.  Trevor May will be moved to the 60-day DL (due to his torn UCL) in order to create space.

Twins, Drew Stubbs Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). The Lagardere Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training and compete for a role with the club.

Minnesota’s outfield currently figures to feature Eddie Rosario in left field, Byron Buxton in center field and Max Kepler in right field, so there won’t be a clear-cut starting role for Stubbs to pursue. However, both Rosario and Kepler hit left-handed and have struggled against same-handed pitching to this point in their young careers, making Stubbs a potential platoon partner. In 841 career plate appearances against lefties, Stubbs is a .272/.348/.444 hitter with a 10.3 percent walk rate but a more troubling 29.8 percent strikeout rate.

Switch-hitting Robbie Grossman could be a better option than Stubbs against left-handed pitching, as most of his damage is done from the right side of the dish, but Stubbs is a considerably superior defender that is also capable of playing center field. Converted infielder Danny Santana is also in the mix for an outfield role, and he’s out of minor league options, which could give him a leg up with a solid spring performance.

The 32-year-old Stubbs was once regarded as one of the game’s top all-around prospects and showed a nice mix of power and speed early in his career with the Reds, but his production has tapered off, relegating him to reserve role in recent seasons. Last year, he appeared with the Braves, Rangers and Orioles in the Majors in 2016, batting a combined .225/.330/.338 in 94 trips to the plate. He hasn’t received regular work in the Majors since a monster 2014 season with the Rockies, during which he hit .289/.339/.482 with 15 homers and 20 stolen bases.

Orioles Claim Drew Stubbs Off Release Waivers, Designate Kyle Lobstein

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The Orioles announced on Wednesday that they’ve claimed outfielder Drew Stubbs off release waivers from the Rangers. While players that are claimed off release waivers have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, Stubbs will join the Orioles on Friday and thus be eligible for the club’s postseason roster, as he was acquired prior to Sept. 1. In order to clear a spot for Stubbs on the 40-man roster, the Orioles have designated left-hander Kyle Lobstein for assignment just hours after acquiring him from the Pirates.

Stubbs, 31, will give Baltimore a right-handed-hitting reserve that can play all three outfield spots and brings some speed and a bit of power to the table. Stubbs is a career .244/.314/.396 hitter and has handled lefties pretty well throughout his career, slashing .275/.349/.449 when holding the platoon advantage.

As for Lobstein, while it’s certainly not common to see a player designated for assignment just hours after he was originally acquired, he can technically be eligible for the club’s postseason roster if he clears waivers and remains in the organization, as he was acquired prior to Sept. 1 himself. The 27-year-old soft-tosser spent the season with Pittsburgh and pitched to a 3.96 ERA with a 15-to-12 K/BB ratio and a 50 percent ground-ball rate in 25 innings. While his sample of work against opposing lefties was an admittedly small 29 plate appearances, Lobstein yielded a laughable .083/.241/.083 slash line to same-handed opponents this season and has held lefties to a .209/.295/.284 slash line in part of three big league seasons.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that Baltimore had claimed Stubbs (Twitter link).

Drew Stubbs Rejects Outright Assignment From Rangers

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The Rangers announced this afternoon that outfielder Drew Stubbs has rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A following his recent DFA. The 31-year-old has been placed on irrevocable waivers and will be a free agent if he clears. The timing of the move should give Stubbs the opportunity to latch on with a team in advance of Sept. 1, so he could potentially sign with a new team and remain postseason-eligible.

Stubbs has seen limited action with the Rangers and Braves this season but fairly well in that time, batting .259/.343/.414 with three homers in 67 plate appearances. While that’s a marked improvement over 2015’s ugly .195/.283/.382 slash in 140 plate appearances between the Rockies and Rangers, Stubbs’ 27 strikeouts in 2016 (40 percent of his plate appearances) remain concerning. Making consistent contact has never been his strong suit, and it’s led to some unsightly numbers at the plate throughout his career. Stubbs did enjoy an outstanding 2014 campaign, during which he batted .289/.339/.482 with 15 homers and 20 steals, but a great deal of that production looks to have been aided by Coors Field (.999 OPS at home, .616 on the road that year).

All told, Stubbs is a career .244/.314/.396 hitter that can play all three outfield positions and handles left-handed pitching quite well (.275/.349/.449). With a bit of speed and power as well as the capability of playing center field, he could make an attractive fourth or fifth outfielder for a club over the final month of the season.

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