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Ivan De Jesus

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/30/19

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Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Twins released veteran infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. from his minor league deal, per the Triple-A International League transactions log. The 32-year-old has split the 2019 season between the Twins and White Sox systems, hitting a combined .235/.337/.325 through 194 plate appearances. He’s seen action both in Double-A and Triple-A, primarily logging innings at second base and third base. At one point, De Jesus was considered a well-regarded prospect with the Dodgers, but he never established himself in the Majors despite multiple stints with three different clubs. In parts of four MLB seasons, De Jesus hit .242/.303/.327 through 545 plate appearances. His most recent look in the bigs came with the 2016 Reds.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/8/19

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post …

  • The Pirates announced that outfielder JB Shuck cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis. He’d been designated for assignment over the weekend. Shuck, 32 next month, cracked Pittsburgh’s Opening Day roster due to a series of injuries elsewhere in the lineup but was cut loose once the Bucco outfield mix largely returned to health. He hit .213/.339/.255 in 57 plate appearances and will remain on-hand as a depth option with some MLB experience. In parts of seven MLB seasons, Shuck is a .243/.296/.314 hitter through 1289 PAs.
  • Right-hander Jay Jackson, whom the Brewers designated for assignment this weekend, cleared outright waivers and will head to Triple-A San Antonio, per an announcement from the Brewers. The 31-year-old was tagged for five runs in 2 1/3 innings in what proved a brief return to the big leagues following a successful three-year stint in Japan (2.13 ERA, 202-to-70 K/BB ratio in 182 innings). It was a short look at the MLB level, but the Brewers have been mixing and matching in the bullpen all season as they try to piece together a pitching staff that has been shuffled by injuries and ineffective performances from expected contributors. Given Jackson’s recent success in NPB, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in the Milwaukee bullpen later this year if he gets on a roll in San Antonio.

Earlier Moves

  • The White Sox have added infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. on a minor-league deal, per an announcement from the Long Island Ducks. De Jesus had opened the season with the indy ball outfit but will now slide back to the affiliated ranks. The 32-year-old is a .242/.303/.327 hitter in 545 plate appearances over parts of four seasons. He’s mostly a middle infielder by trade but has seen action in the corner infield and outfield as well over the years. De Jesus will report to the Sox’ top affiliate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/2/18

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post:

  • The Reds have reached a minor league agreement with utilityman Phil Gosselin, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports (Twitter link). The 29-year-old Gosselin divided last season between the Pirates and Rangers organizations, hitting an ugly .146/.180/.188 over a small sample of big league PAs (50). While Gosselin was also ineffective at the Triple-A level (.260/.299/.326 in 292 PAs), he’s not far removed from a useful two-year showing in the majors. From 2015-16, Gosselin combined for 1.4 fWAR on the strength of a .280/.340/.411 line in 358 trips to the plate with the Braves and Diamondbacks.

Earlier updates:

  • The Phillies have agreed to a minor league contract with right-handed reliever Steve Geltz, Cotillo tweets. Geltz worked exclusively with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2017 and posted a 2.67 ERA, 9.67 K/9 against 4.00 BB/9 and a 37.1 percent groundball rate over 27 innings. The 30-year-old previously saw major league action with the Angels (2012) and Rays (2014-16). Across 104 1/3 big league frames, Geltz owns a 4.23 ERA to accompany 8.54 K/9, 3.71 BB/9 and a 28.8 percent grounder mark.
  • Infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. is joining the Red Sox on a minor league deal, per Cotillo (Twitter link). De Jesus, 30, has past experience with the Boston organization, having been a member of it in 2012 and ’14. More recently, he spent last season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club and batted a robust .345/.407/.488 in 466 trips to the plate. He hasn’t been nearly as successful across 545 major league PAs with the Dodgers, Red Sox and Reds, having slashed .242/.303/.327.
  • The Cardinals have added backstop Steven Baron on a minors pact, according to MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). (As she also notes, and we covered previously, the club also added catcher Francisco Pena.) Baron, 27, was the 33rd overall pick in the 2009 draft, but he has never hit much at all in the minors and has only minimal MLB experience. Still, he’ll represent another upper-level depth option for the Cards, who’ll become his first organization other than the Mariners. Baron spent most of 2017 at Triple-A, where he slashed .256/.339/.329 in 187 plate appearances.

Brewers To Sign Ivan De Jesus

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The Brewers have agreed to a minor-league deal with infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). The 29-year-old, a right-handed hitter, could conceivably battle for a utility role in cam.

After bouncing around the league, De Jesus found a home in Cincinnati in 2015. Over the past two years there, he has taken 465 plate appearances — by far his most extensive big league work. De Jesus also spent time in the majors briefly with the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2011-12. Though he played in over one hundred games last year with the Reds, and remained controllable at the league-minimum salary, Cinci bounced him from its 40-man roster and De Jesus took his free agency.

Despite his lengthy look, De Jesus hasn’t exactly impressed with the bat at the game’s highest level. In his pair of seasons with the Reds, he hit just .249/.311/.341 with five home runs — which is about 25% worse than a league-average hitter. Of course, De Jesus is valued much more for his defensive versatility. He spent time at short, second, third, and even first base and the corner outfield in Cincinnati.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/13/16

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The latest minor moves from around the sport, all of which come courtesy of Matt Eddy of Baseball America:

  • Infielder Josh Rutledge, whom the Red Sox outrighted Nov. 3, has elected free agency. Rutledge has seen major league action in each of the past five seasons, hitting .262/.312/.397 with 23 home runs and 20 steals across 1,088 plate appearances with Colorado and Boston.
  • Like Rutledge, Reds utilityman Ivan De Jesus has also elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment. De Jesus picked up 465 PAs with the Reds during the previous two seasons and garnered playing time in the infield and outfield, but he batted just .249/.311/.341 along the way. Cincinnati also released right-hander Soid Marquez, who threw 186 2/3 innings with low-level Reds affiliates from 2012-16 and posted a 5.26 ERA, 6.7 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.
  • The Cubs have added right-hander Jose Rosario to their 40-man roster and re-signed righty Nick Sarianides and catcher Gioskar Amaya to minor league contracts. The 26-year-old Rosario has been with the Cubs throughout his professional career, which began in 2009, and logged a combined 2.50 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 at three minor league levels in 2016. Sarianides, formerly with Cleveland and Arizona, threw 25 innings with the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate this year and put up a 3.60 ERA, 10.08 K/9 and 3.24 BB/9. Amaya, 23, has hit .274/.356/.388 in seven seasons with various Cubs minor league affiliates.
  • The Cardinals have added shortstop Breyvic Valera to their 40-man roster and re-signed catcher Alberto Rosario and righty Robby Rowland to minor league deals. Valera, 24, slashed an outstanding .341/.417/.415 in 257 PAs with Triple-A Memphis this year. The 29-year-old Rosario made his major league debut in 2016, hitting .184/.225/.237 in 41 trips to the plate with the Cardinals. Rowland spent the season with three of St. Louis’ minor league affiliates and registered a 3.92 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in just 20 2/3 innings.
  • The Royals have released catcher Chad Johnson and six pitchers – Alex Close, Daniel Concepcion, Jason Freeman, Nick Andros, Christian Flecha and Cole Way. Kansas City drafted all but two of those players, Freeman and Andros. The club also re-signed righty Roman Colon and second baseman Ramon A. Castro to to minor league agreements. Colon tossed 187 1/3 major league innings from 2004-12, including 60 1/3 with the Royals, but hasn’t pitched in an affiliated minor league since 2013.
  • The Orioles are bringing back right-handed reliever Richard Rodriguez on a minor league pact. He’ll now enter his third year as a member of the Orioles, with whom he has pitched 123 1/3 innings between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Rodriguez, 26, recorded 2.53 ERA, 8.93 K/9 and 2.76 BB/9 with Triple-A Norfolk this past season.
  • The Padres have signed righties Trey McNutt and Bryan Rodriguez to minors contracts. McNutt, once a well-regarded Cubs prospect, nearly went to Boston in 2011 in a deal for now-Chicago president Theo Epstein. He remained with the Cubs through 2015, though, before latching on with the Padres this past season. The 27-year-old threw a mere 7 1/3 minor league innings in his first season with the Friars organization. Rodriguez combined for 145 1/3 innings between the Padres’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, totaling a 4.46 ERA, 5.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
  • The Braves have re-signed catcher Braeden Schlehuber to a minor league deal. The 28-year-old has been a member of the Atlanta organization since it selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, but he hasn’t gotten past the Triple-A level. Schlehuber collected 116 plate appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2016 and hit .236/.254/.300.
  • The Giants have re-signed 27-year-old shortstop Ali Castillo to a minor league agreement. Castillo hit .313/.351/.374 in 411 PAs between the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2016.
  • The Blue Jays have signed right-hander Felipe Castenada and shortstop Shane Opitz to minor league contracts. Opitz has been with the Toronto organization since it chose him in the 11th round of the 2010 draft. He primarily played with Double-A New Hampshire in 2016 and batted .217/.280/.300 in 258 PAs.
  • The Indians have re-signed righty reliever Enosil Tejada to a minor league accord. Tejada, 27, didn’t pitch at all in 2016, but he amassed impressive numbers with the organization from 2010-15 (1.94 ERA, 9.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 in 296 1/3 minor league innings).

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/4/16

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

  • The Orioles declined the team’s previously unknown option over righty Logan Ondrusek, as BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly was among those to tweet. Ondrusek had signed with the Orioles out of Japan in the middle of the 2016 season, but was outrighted in late August after a brief stint. It was essentially a formality at this point for the team to decline the option (which was for an unknown amount). Baltimore had hoped that adding Ondrusek would represent a creative way to bolster their relief corps in the middle of the season, and brought him back stateside after he continued to produce good results for the NPB’s Yakult Swallows.
  • The Reds announced that utilityman Ivan De Jesus has been outrighted off of the 40-man roster. He has been a fairly significant part of the major league team over the last two years, playing in 180 total games. But his batting output dwindled in 2016: despite a slightly higher batting average and identical .311 OBP in comparison to his 2015 line, De Jesus slugged only .312 in his 243 plate appearances.
  • Two recently outrighted Mariners — lefty Charlie Furbush and catcher Steve Clevenger — have both elected free agency rather than accepting a minor league assignment, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns. The team is still waiting to learn what righty Ryan Cook will do; he, too, was recently cut from the 40-man.
  • Lefty Ricky Romero will remain with the Giants on a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). Soon to tun 32, Romero is now well removed from his days as an effective major league starter. He only appeared in two games in 2016, both at the Triple-A level, and has thrown just 53 2/3 total innings professionally since 2013 — the last season in which he reached the big leagues.
  • The Yankees selected the contracts of catcher Kyle Higashioka and right-hander Domingo German, adding them to thee 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft. Though he’s already 26, and has been Rule 5-eligible before, Higashioka is coming off of his most promising season as a professional. Over 416 plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A, he slashed .276/.337/.511 with 21 home runs. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old German pitched last year at the Class A and High-A level after missing all of 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. He ended up starting ten games and posting a 3.81 ERA over 49 2/3 innings, with 6.9 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9, but will look to get fully back on his promising track next year.

Earlier Updates

  • The Tigers announced that they have selected the contracts of right-hander Myles Jaye and left-hander Chad Bell from Triple-A Toledo. The 24-year-old Jaye split the 2016 season between Detroit’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, working to a combined 3.95 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 53.3 percent ground-ball rate in 161 2/3 innings (28 starts). MLB.com ranks Jaye as Detroit’s No. 26 prospect, writing that he has a 91-93 mph and a solid three-pitch mix but also noting that he lacks an out pitch. Their report pegs his ceiling as a fourth or fifth starter and says he’s not far from Major League readiness. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Bell posted a 3.29 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 52 percent ground-ball rate in 98 1/3 innings at Triple-A between the Rangers and Tigers organizations. Detroit picked him up from Texas in the May trade that sent catcher Bobby Wilson to the Rangers. Bell worked more as a reliever than a starter and held opposing lefties to a .605 OPS, including a .286 slugging percentage. He’ll join Kyle Ryan, Blaine Hardy and Joe Mantiply as options to serve as a second lefty behind Justin Wilson in Detroit’s bullpen next year.

NL Central Notes: Bryant, Kang, Reds, Cardinals

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Cubs president Theo Epstein said yesterday that he’s never taken a Minor Leaguer and put him on an Opening Day roster with zero prior big league experience, but super-prospect Kris Bryant feels like he could be the exception to that rule, writes ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers. “I look at it as ’Why not me?” Bryant said on Friday. “I think I’m the type of guy that can go out there and do it. I’ve made it a point of mine to come out here and show them that I can.” Bryant, of course, is the talk of Spring Training with nine homers and a ludicrous .406/.472/1.313 batting line in 36 plate appearances. The Cubs, though, can delay his free agency by a full season if they keep him in the Minors for a bit less than two weeks to open the season. While Cubs management and ownership naturally insists that any decision would be baseball-related as opposed to business-related, it seems likely that Bryant would be recalled early in the season once the year of team control is gained.

More from the NL Central…

  • Jung-ho Kang has struggled to a .111 average in Spring Training thus far, but Pirates GM Neal Huntington is still planning on bringing the Korean infielder north with the club to open the season, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We’ve seen some really good things,” Huntington told Biertempfel in regard to Kang.
  • Chris Dominguez, Brennan Boesch, Ivan De Jesus and Irving Falu are all competing for the Reds’ final bench spots, writes MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, and each has performed well in Spring Training. Manager Bryan Price also noted that the rotation isn’t yet settled. Anthony DeSclafani, Jason Marquis and Raisel Iglesias are all in the mix for the final two spots, and Price explained how his club is looking beyond statistics to determine who will fill those roles. In general, he spoke very highly of DeSclafani, so it seems likely that he’ll be in the rotation to open the year.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak spoke with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscription required/recommended) about his tendency to hang onto young pitching and his deviation from that process by trading players such as Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins to land John Lackey and Jason Heyward. “Believe it or not, even though in these deals it appears like we’re giving up the control factor, we felt they were fair deals for both sides,” said Mozeliak. “Put it this way: We understand the risk.” Mozeliak went on to discuss the increased importance teams now place on prospects as opposed to the 1990s and early 2000s, noting that cost control has become an increasingly large factor in trades. The Cardinals, Goold writes, have an in-house algorithm and scouting process to assign dollar values to players, which they use in free agency and in trades. Said Chairman Bill Dewitt, Jr.: “Our model is value-based, and what we want to do is get value back for value given. Because there is always opportunity to use resources to acquire talent.”

Minor Moves: Satin, Kensing, Romak, Orioles, Billings, Avery

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

Earlier Updates

  • The D’Backs have agreed to terms on a minor league deal and a Spring Training invite with infielder/outfielder Jamie Romak, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes tweeted today. The 29-year-old Romak, a client of Taurus Sports’ David Sloane, made his big league debut with the Dodgers in 2014 and collected his first hit in the Majors. The former fourth-rounder is a lifetime .258/.324/.474 hitter at Triple-A.
  • The Orioles announced the signings of infielder Paul Janish, right-hander Terry Doyle and outfielder Quincy Latimore to minor league contracts and invitations to big league Spring Training. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo was the first to tweet Janish’s agreement, and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com had previously reported that the team was working on a deal with him. Janish is the only one of the bunch that comes with MLB experience; the 32-year-old defensive specialist is a career .214/.284/.288 hitter in 1206 plate appearances between the Reds and Braves.
  • The Nationals announced that they have signed right-hander Bruce Billings to a minor league contract with an invite to Major League Spring Training. The 29-year-old Billings pitched four innings for the Yankees last season and split the season between the Yankees and Dodgers organizations. Overall, the veteran posted a 5.27 ERA with 6. K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 95 2/3 innings.
  • Outfielder Xavier Avery has inked a minor league deal with the Tigers and will receive a Spring Training invite as well, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 24-year-old Avery spent last season with the Mariners after being acquired from the Orioles in the 2013 Mike Morse trade. Avery hit .275/.344/.413 with 10 homers and 31 steals, appearing at all three outfield spots for Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in 2014.

Orioles Acquire Kelly Johnson

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The Orioles have announced that they’ve acquired infielders Kelly Johnson and Michael Almanzar from the Red Sox for infielders Jemile Weeks and Ivan De Jesus. This is the Orioles’ second significant trade of the evening, having also recently acquired outfielder Alejandro De Aza from the White Sox. The Johnson deal gives the Orioles a bit of low-cost infield depth.

Johnson, 32, began the season with the Yankees, then headed to Boston in a trade for Stephen Drew. (He also played for the Rays in 2013 and the Blue Jays in 2011 and 2012, meaning that he’s now been or will be on the roster of all five AL East teams, with no non-AL East teams in between.) He’s played mostly third base and first base since 2012, and he’s hit .212/.290/.354 for the season. With the Orioles, he’ll likely play mostly at third base in the wake of the team’s loss of Manny Machado for the rest of the year.

The Orioles selected Almanzar from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft last winter, but returned him in early July. Since then, he’s hit .280/.360/.427 in 186 plate appearances for Double-A Portland, mostly playing third base. At 23, he’s the youngest player in the deal.

Weeks was a first-round draft pick by the Athletics in 2008, and they sent him to Baltimore in 2013 in the Jim Johnson trade. The 27-year-old Weeks played in 215 games with the A’s in 2011 and 2012 but has spent most of the past two seasons in the minors. This season, he’s hit .278/.391/.385 in 254 plate appearances for Triple-A Norfolk. Despite the high on-base percentage, the second baseman probably profiles mostly as depth at this point, although CSNNE.com’s Sean McAdam tweets that Weeks will join the Red Sox’ big-league team. (Dustin Pedroia may have suffered a concussion in Saturday’s game, but the timing of Weeks’ acquisition appears to be a coincidence.)

De Jesus, who heads back to the Red Sox after spending a few months in the organization in 2012, also appears to be mostly a depth player. De Jesus came to Boston from the Dodgers in the Adrian Gonzalez / Carl Crawford / Josh Beckett blockbuster, then headed to Pittsburgh almost immediately as the Red Sox traded for Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt. The Pirates showed little interest in him despite a strong offensive season in Triple-A in 2013, and he signed with the Orioles after the season. The 27-year-old hit .282/.358/.389 in 469 plate appearances for Norfolk this year, mostly playing shortstop.

AL East Notes: De Jesus Jr., Lavarnway, Infante

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The Orioles are close to a minor league deal with infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. However, the O's are likely to hold off finalizing the deal in order to avoid having to add De Jesus to the 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in next week's Rule 5 Draft. Baltimore learned their lesson the hard way in that regard back in 2004 when they signed Chris Gomez to a minor league deal on Dec. 8 and saw him selected in the Rule 5 Draft four days later, Kubatko points out. Some more links pertaining to the AL East…

  • Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox have had internal discussions about entering 2014 with Ryan Lavarnway as the team's primary catcher. Boston is more interested in a stopgap option as they await the arrival of Christian Vasquez and Blake Swihart at the big league level and is therefore reluctant to strengthen its existing two-year offer to Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
  • The Yankees remain "very much engaged" with Omar Infante's agent, Gene Mato, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. The Yankees could try to sign Infante even if they retain Robinson Cano, says Marchand, envisioning him as a modern-day Tony Phillips who would play every day but at different positions. Marchand writes that the Yankees like Infante as a backup at third base and shortstop, and he also points out Infante's experience in the outfield.
  • The Yankees paid a good amount to sign Cuban lefthander Omar Luis last year and they'll be making him available in this year's Rule 5 draft, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America.  The Yanks initially signed Luis for a $4MM bonus but when an unexpected issue popped up in his physical, they negotiated that figure down to $2.9MM.  It may be a long shot that any team will draft Luis, however, given how far away he is from contributing.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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