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KBO Signings: Heredia, Naile, Reyes

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A trio of former big leaguers re-signed with teams in the Korea Baseball Organization this week.

  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia re-signed with the SSG Landers (X link via Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net) on a $1.6MM deal with another $200K in incentives. It’ll be the third KBO season for the Cuban-born outfielder. Heredia, who suited up for five MLB teams during a seven-year run, is coming off a .360/.399/.538 line with 21 homers and 31 doubles. He owns a .343/.393/.502 slash over two seasons in Korea. Heredia’s most recent big league experience came as a depth outfielder for the Braves in 2022. The Landers signed Mitch White and re-upped Drew Anderson earlier this month, so the Heredia deal finalizes their trio of foreign players to open next season.
  • The Kia Tigers retained righty James Naile on a $1.6MM deal with $200K in incentives, tweets Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. The 31-year-old hurler is headed into his second KBO season. His first year could hardly have gone better. As Yoo notes, Naile won the league’s ERA title with a 2.53 mark across 149 1/3 innings on a Tigers team that went on to win the Korean Series title. Naile missed time late in the season when he was hit in the jaw by a comebacker, but he made it back in time for the championship series. A former 20th round pick out of UAB, Naile made 17 appearances with the Cardinals between 2022-23. The Tigers signed righty Adam Oller earlier this offseason. They’ve yet to announce whether they’ll re-sign outfielder Socrates Brito, who has spent the past three seasons there and is coming off a .310/.359/.516 showing.
  • Outfielder Victor Reyes is returning to the Lotte Giants on a $1MM deal with $250K in incentives (X link via Kurtz). The switch-hitting center fielder had a .352/.394/.511 slash with 40 doubles and 15 longballs in his first season with Lotte. Reyes, 30, appeared in parts of five seasons with the Tigers during his stint in the majors. He played nearly 400 games for Detroit between 2018-22, hitting .264/.294/.379 in almost 1300 plate appearances. The Giants still have two spots available for foreign players, both of which can be used on pitching. Charlie Barnes and Aaron Wilkerson held those positions in 2024, though the team has yet to announce whether either pitcher will be back next season.

KBO’s Kia Tigers Sign Eric Stout

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The Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization announced this week that they’ve signed former MLB left-hander Eric Stout. He’s a temporary injury replacement for righty James Naile, who sustained a broken jaw when he was hit in the face by a comebacker off the bat of Matt Davidson (link via Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News).

Stout, a 31-year-old southpaw, has 23 major league appearances under his belt. Three of them came with the Royals in 2018. The remainder were in ’22, when he combined for 20 outings between the Pirates and Cubs. Stout turned in a 5.64 ERA across 22 1/3 innings, striking out 22.7% of batters faced against an elevated 14.5% walk rate. He spent most of last year in Triple-A and signed in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League for the ’24 season. Stout had a 2.77 ERA across 113 2/3 innings spanning 20 appearances to earn the bump to the KBO.

Naile, 31, appeared in 17 games for the Cardinals between 2022-23. While he struggled to a 7.40 earned run average, he parlayed a strong Triple-A season into a deal with the Kia Tigers. The UAB product had a 2.53 ERA with a decent 21.5% strikeout rate over 149 1/3 frames in his debut year in Korea. The jaw injury unfortunately ends his regular season, though Yoo suggests he could return in the playoffs.

Cardinals Release James Naile To Pursue KBO Opportunity

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The Cardinals announced they’ve transferred the contract of right-hander James Naile to the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization. The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

This transaction is made with Naile’s consent. He’ll lock in a $550K guarantee — taking the form of a $200K signing bonus and a $350K salary — with an additional $150K available in incentives, reports Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (on X). The Kia Tigers are also paying the Cardinals a $250K release fee.

It’s a beneficial transaction for all involved. Naile, who turns 31 next month, secures the strongest contract of his career to date. Selected by the A’s in the 20th round of the 2015 draft, the 6’4″ hurler spent seven years in the Oakland farm system. He never got a big league call and landed with the Cards in minor league free agency over the 2021-22 offseason.

That resulted in a long-awaited MLB look for the UAB product. Naile was called up for seven relief outings in 2022. St. Louis ran him through outright waivers last offseason, keeping him in the organization in a non-roster capacity. They reselected his contract in early May and bounced him on and off the MLB roster throughout the summer. Naile made 10 more big league appearances but surrendered 19 runs in 15 1/3 innings.

With a 7.40 ERA in 24 1/3 career MLB frames, Naile wasn’t a lock to hold his spot on the 40-man into next season. Even if he kept his position on the 40-man, he might’ve spent most of next year on optional assignment to Triple-A Memphis. Spending the majority or entirety of the season in the minors would’ve been less profitable than the guarantee he inked to jump to the KBO.

In addition to the final security, Naile will likely get a rotation look in Korea. He has pitched in relief for the past four years but worked out of the rotation up through 2019. He pitched in a multi-inning bullpen capacity a season ago, logging 59 frames over 31 Triple-A appearances. Naile posted strong numbers in the minors, turning in a 3.66 ERA while striking out over 26% of batters faced. He kept the ball on the ground at a robust 53.2% clip, a trait he’s shown throughout his minor league career.

KBO teams are allowed to carry two foreign-born pitchers on their roster. They tend to use those players out of the rotation as a result. Naile joins former Pirate Wil Crowe as the Tigers foreign pitchers. Outfielder Socrates Brito is their position player. They’ll add a player with an impressive Triple-A résumé, while the Cardinals receive some cash for someone they might’ve placed on waivers eventually anyway. If Naile pitches well as a starter in the KBO, he could elevate his stock for major league clubs an offseason or two from now.

NL Central Notes: Ashby, Fulmer, Senzel, Zuniga, Naile

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Aaron Ashby underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder back in April, which threatened to keep the Brewers southpaw out of action for the entirety of the 2023 season.  However, Ashby is set to hit an important checkpoint in his recovery, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes that Ashby will throw a live bullpen session this week, and possibly be in line to start a minor league rehab assignment next weekend.  The rehab assignment is likely to be pretty lengthy given Ashby’s long layoff, though since he’ll almost certainly be brought back as a reliever, he won’t need quite as much work in rebuilding his arm strength.

Moving to a bullpen role will help Ashby’s chances of pitching before the season is over, and it potentially gives Milwaukee an intriguing relief weapon down the stretch.  Ashby has worked as both a starter and reliever over his first two MLB seasons, posting a 4.47 ERA, 57.8% grounder rate, 27.1% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate over 139 innings in the big leagues.  The Brewers were impressed enough to lock Ashby up to a five-year contract extension last year, and while the lefty is a big part of Milwaukee’s future, the Brew Crew also hope he can contribute to their present push for the division title and some October success.

Other items from around the NL Central…

  • The Reds explored trading Nick Senzel prior to the deadline but couldn’t find a deal, and thus Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer thinks Senzel might not be tendered a contract this winter.  Senzel is arbitration-eligible for a second time and wouldn’t be hugely expensive to retain (he has a $1.95MM salary in 2023), but the larger issue is that the Reds seem to have moved on from the former top prospect in favor of their new crop of standout youngsters.  Injuries have plagued Senzel throughout his career, and he has hit only .236/.301/.364 over 1307 career MLB plate appearances since debuting during the 2019 season.  The Reds even demoted Senzel to the minors two weeks ago before recalling him again when Joey Votto went on the IL.  In regards to his future in Cincinnati, Senzel said he is just focused on trying to help the team win, and that “I’m not going to be pessimistic about any situation.  I’m optimistic wherever the game takes me.”
  • The Cubs placed Michael Fulmer on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a forearm strain, a particularly concerning injury for a pitcher with a lengthy history of arm problems.  Manager David Ross and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy spoke with reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times) about Fulmer’s injury, saying that he had been trying to pitch through discomfort, with the team trying to accommodate the issue with some extra rest in between bullpen outings.  “It wasn’t something we were like, ’Oh my gosh, if we pitch him, we’re in trouble.’  It was stuff we were monitoring,” Hottovy said.  “It’s no different than what we do with a lot of guys.  But he’s been grinding for a few weeks.”  Fulmer will undergo tests on his forearm, but the hope is that some extended rest in the form of an IL stint can get him back onto the mound soon.
  • Speaking of forearm injuries, the Cardinals placed right-hander Guillermo Zuniga on the 15-day IL due to a right forearm strain of his own.  The placement is retroactive to August 25, and right-hander James Naile was called up from Triple-A Memphis to take Zuniga’s roster spot.  Zuniga has been up and down from Memphis a few times this season, and he also spent time on the minor league IL in June.  The hard-throwing righty has thrown two innings over two appearances for St. Louis, which marks the first Major League experience of Zuniga’s career.

Cardinals Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Adam Wainwright and catcher Andrew Knizner on the injured list and optioned righty James Naile to Triple-A Memphis. Wainwright lands on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder strain — as manager Oli Marmol indicated last night — while Knizner heads to the 10-day IL after taking a foul ball to the groin in last night’s game. In a series of corresponding moves, St. Louis recalled catcher Ivan Herrera, righty Dakota Hudson and lefty Zack Thompson from Memphis.

Wainwright, 41, has had a disastrous start to the final season of an otherwise exceptional career. Through his first 11 starts, he’s been clobbered for a 7.66 ERA in 51 1/3 frames, with a career-worst 11% strikeout rate, a career-low 86.3 mph average fastball velocity, a career-high 1.74 HR/9 mark and a 7.5% walk rate that registers as his highest level since 2019.

Those struggles notwithstanding, Wainwright emphasized to reporters that he believes he’ll pitch again this season and that he has more left in the tank (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). However, after declaring his plan to return this season, Wainwright also candidly acknowledged that he simply isn’t healthy enough to pitch up to expectations right now.

“I’ve come back from much worse, much worse — but it is impacting my stuff,” Wainwright told the Cardinals beat (via Goold). “…There’s no denying it. Can’t hide it. I can talk myself into anything. I’ve done that a lot. I’ve made a career out of it. Right now, it’s not fair for me to put the team in that spot.”

Knizner, 28, was down for a spell after the unfortunately placed foul-tip last night but initially remained in the game. He eventually was pulled from the contest and transported to a local emergency room for further evaluation, He was eventually released last night, per Goold, and the team will likely provide an update with additional details on his status later today.

In 35 games and 115 plate appearances this year, Knizner has served as the primary backup to Willson Contreras. He’s shown some pop, already swatting a career-high five homers while turning in a career-best .191 ISO (slugging minus batting average). However, Knizner is hitting .227/.254/.418 on the whole, and he’s seen both his walk and strikeout rates (3.5% and 28.7%, respectively), careen in the wrong direction this year.

Herrera, 23, has more than earned a look in the big leagues, slashing .308/.432/.557 in 227 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. A well-regarded catching prospect, he was long expected to be Yadier Molina’s heir in St. Louis before the Cards bucked expectations and signed Contreras to a five-year contract this past offseason.

Hudson, 28, lost his rotation spot late last year and hasn’t won it back in 2023 despite considerable problems on the Cardinals’ starting staff. The sinker specialist has started 11 games in Memphis but is sitting on a 6.00 ERA through just 48 innings. His ground-ball rate is a strong 53.7%, and his 7.5% walk rate is also better than average, but Hudson’s 17.3% strikeout rate is below average. A .416 average on balls in play points to some rotten luck, but such issues are only magnified when a pitcher can’t miss bats at even an average level.

Cardinals Select Oscar Mercado

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2:40pm: The Cardinals have announced Mercado’s selection, along with left-hander Matthew Liberatore being recalled from Triple-A Memphis. In corresponding moves, Carlson was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 15 while righty James Naile was optioned. To make room for Mercado on the 40-man roster, lefty Packy Naughton was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Naughton has been on the IL since April 8 with a forearm strain and will now be ineligible to return until early June, 60 days from that initial IL placement.

12:47pm: The Cardinals are set to select the contract of outfielder Oscar Mercado, as first reported by Robert Murray and Joshua Jacobs of FanSided (Twitter link). They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move, as Mercado is currently in Triple-A Memphis on a minor league deal.

Outfielder Dylan Carlson has been hobbled by an ankle injury that’s kept him out of the lineup for the past few games. He’s been available off the bench on an emergency basis but hasn’t played since exiting the Cardinals’ Sunday game after just one plate appearance. Tyler O’Neill is already on the injured list with a back strain, and it stands to reason that Carlson could also wind up headed there if he’s still unavailable. A 10-day IL placement can be backdated up to three days, so he that move could still have him available for activation within a week’s time, if the Cards go that route.

Calling up Mercado will give the Cards some additional depth in center field behind Lars Nootbaar, who’s been starting in center recently. Mercado will join Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson and Juan Yepez as outfield options on the big league roster.

Mercado, 28, was a second-round pick by St. Louis back in 2013 but was traded to Cleveland before making his big league debut. He was a fringe Rookie of the Year candidate in Cleveland in 2019, batting .269/.318/.443 with 15 homers and 15 steals in 482 trips to the plate. That landed him an eighth-place finish on the ballot and looked to set the stage for Mercado to hold down a long-term spot in the outfield, but he regressed badly in 2020 and has yet to recover. In 459 plate appearances since that strong debut campaign, Mercado has batted .200/.258/.330.

The Cardinals brought Mercado back to the organization on a minor league contract this offseason, and he’s out to a nice start in Memphis, where he’s slashed .278/.361/.421 (100 wRC+) with a pair of home runs and 15 steals (in 18 tries). Mercado is out of minor league options, so it could be a short stay on the big league roster for him once O’Neill and/or Carlson can return to the lineup. The Cards won’t be able to send Mercado down without first passing him through waivers, which would make him a DFA candidate once the outfield is at full strength.

Cardinals Place Tyler O’Neill On IL, Select James Naile

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The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves today, selecting right-hander James Naile and recalling first baseman/outfielder Juan Yepez from Triple-A Memphis. In corresponding moves, outfielder Tyler O’Neill was placed on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain while right-hander Jake Woodford was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. To open a spot on the 40-man for Naile, righty Wilking Rodríguez was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

O’Neill, 28 in June, has a tremendous ceiling but has been held back by injuries in recent years. In 2021, he launched 34 home runs and hit .286/.352/.560 overall for a 144 wRC+. He also stole 15 bases and got good grades for his glovework, leading to a tally of 5.6 wins above replacement from FanGraphs. But last year, he made multiple trips to the IL and only got into 96 games, playing with diminished production when on the field. This year, he’s hitting just .228/.283/.337 while striking out in 34.3% of his trips to the plate.

The Cardinals have been dealing with a crowded outfield mix this year, as young players like Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker made the club out of camp, joining O’Neill, Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar, though the latter missed some time on the injured list. It was hard enough to divvy up the playing time that the Cards optioned Walker to the minors to get more regular at-bats in the minors. Now that O’Neill isn’t in the mix, that should make things simpler, though Yepez has been recalled instead of Walker today.

As for Naile, 30, this will be his second stint on the roster, having been selected in June of last year. He spent the rest of the year getting frequently optioned and recalled, posting an ERA of 5.00 in the majors over nine scattered appearances. He was designated for assignment in February but cleared waivers and stayed in the organization. He has an ERA of 2.50 through 18 Triple-A innings so far this year. The club used a lot of their lower leverage pitchers yesterday when starter Jack Flaherty lasted only 2 1/3 innings, so bringing up Naile will give the club a fresh arm to call upon. He still has a couple of options and can be sent back down to the minors when needed.

Rodríguez, 33, was selected from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft but had a shoulder injury pop up in the spring. He underwent surgery earlier this week and is expected to miss the next four to six months, making this move an expected formality.

Cardinals Outright James Naile

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The Cardinals have sent reliever James Naile outright to Triple-A Memphis after he went unclaimed on waivers, the club informed reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Having never previously been outrighted and yet to reach three years of MLB service time, Naile doesn’t have the right to reject the assignment. He’ll stick in the organization without holding a 40-man spot and be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Naile debuted in the majors last summer a little shy of his 30th birthday. He made it into seven big league games, throwing nine innings of five-run ball. The righty struck out five, issued a pair of walks and averaged 91.7 MPH on his sinker. The 2022 campaign was his first in the St. Louis organization after parts of seven seasons in the Oakland system. The former 20th-round pick spent the majority of the season with Memphis.

He had a nice showing there, working 73 1/3 innings through 44 appearances. Naile posted a 3.31 ERA while inducing grounders on a very strong 53.4% of batted balls he allowed. He had a fairly modest 20.2% strikeout percentage but only issued walks at a 6.6% clip. That earned him his first big league work, but he lost his spot on the 40-man roster when the club acquired Anthony Misiewicz from the Royals a few days ago.

A UAB product, Naile figures to open the upcoming season back in Memphis. The Cardinals’ front office has given plenty of opportunity to various ground-ball specialists given the strength of their infield defense, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he works his way back to the bigs at some point.

Cardinals Acquire Anthony Misiewicz, Designate James Naile

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The Cardinals announced that they have acquired left-hander Anthony Misiewicz from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations. The Royals had designated him for assignment recently when Zack Greinke’s signing was made official. The create room on their 40-man roster, the Cardinals designated right-hander James Naile for assignment.

Misiewicz, 28, was drafted by the Mariners and broke into the majors with them in 2020. He struck out 30.1% of batters faced in that debut but an elevated .367 batting average on balls in play nudged his ERA up to 4.05. That strikeout rate was higher than anything he had done in the minors and now seems to have been a small sample blip. In the past two seasons, which included getting dealt to the Royals at last year’s deadline, he’s struck out 22.4% of batters faced but walked just 7%, as he posted a 4.52 ERA over 98 appearances.

It’s possible that Misiewicz deserved better than that ERA would indicate. His .321 batting average on balls in play and 70% strand rate over the past couple of years are each a bit on the unfortunate side of average. ERA estimators like his 3.88 FIP and 3.77 SIERA paint a bit of a nicer picture. Like most southpaws, he’s better against left-handed hitters. For his career, he’s held them to a .250/.288/.361 line while righties have hit .283/.348/.480 against him.

The Cardinals figure to have Génesis Cabrera as their primary left-handed option out of their bullpen, with other options on the 40-man roster including Packy Naughton, JoJo Romero and Zack Thompson. All of those players, including Misiewicz, have options and may end up shuttling between Triple-A and the majors as the season progresses unless one of them can separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

As for Naile, this is a very ill-timed transaction for him as today is his 30th birthday. After spending many years in Oakland’s farm system, he reached free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Cards last year. He pitched well enough to crack the club’s roster in June, eventually posting an ERA of 5.00 over nine MLB innings. In 73 1/3 frames at Triple-A, he had a 3.31 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate. That latter number is his best selling point as he’s run kept the ball on the ground all throughout his minor league career.

The Cards will now have one week to trade Naile or pass him through waivers. He still has a couple of option years and hardly any service time, which could intrigue clubs looking for some extra pitching depth. Roster spots are at a premium at this time of year but flexibility is about to go up with the return of the 60-day injured list next week.

Cardinals To Place Goldschmidt, Arenado, Romine On Restricted List; Matz Placed On 15-Day Injured List

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3:56PM: Matz has a torn MCL in his left knee, MLB.com’s John Denton reports (via Twitter).  Based similar injuries to other players, this will likely mean at least a 4-6 week absence for Matz, though it isn’t yet known if he’ll require surgery.

3:38PM: The Cardinals announced some roster moves today, one in regards to today’s game and three others in advance of their upcoming two-game series in Toronto.  Most immediately, left-hander Steven Matz was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left knee sprain, and righty James Naile was called up from Triple-A Memphis.

Before Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays, the Cards will place Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Austin Romine on the restricted list.  The trio aren’t vaccinated, and thus become the latest players ineligible to cross the border due to Canadian federal vaccine mandates.  Goldschmidt, Arenado, and Romine will forfeit two games’ worth of salary for the missed time.  Catcher Ivan Herrera, utilityman Cory Spangenberg, and outfielder Conner Capel are expected to be added to the roster as replacements.

Most teams traveling to Toronto this season have had to work around at least a couple of vaccine-related absences, with the Royals (who had 10 players on their restricted list) representing the extreme end of the scale.  While St. Louis is missing “only” three players, however, losing superstars like Goldschmidt and Arenado for even two games certainly isn’t an ideal situation.  Losing Romine also thins out a catching depth chart that is still missing the injured Yadier Molina.

Johan Oviedo’s status for the Blue Jays series is also in question, as the Cards reliever and Cuba native has an expired passport.  Manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including MLB.com’s John Denton) that Oviedo might still be able to make it if he is able to obtain a special temporary waiver from the Canadian consulate in Miami.

While Matz wouldn’t have pitched in the series since he just started yesterday, he’ll also miss a chance to return to Toronto after pitching for the Jays in 2021.  Matz was only activated from the 15-day IL earlier this week, after missing two months due to a shoulder impingement.  Unfortunately, the southpaw then hurt his knee in his very first start back, as Matz took an awkward step while trying to field a grounder in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 6-3 victory over the Reds.  Matz still earned the win, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk in his 5 1/3 innings of work while striking out seven.

It was a solid outing in what has been an otherwise tough season for Matz, between his earlier injury and his inconsistent work over his first nine outings.  Even with Saturday’s game factored in, Matz still has a 5.70 ERA over 42 2/3 innings in his first season in a Cardinals uniform.  However, a 3.13 SIERA and strong strikeout and walk rates indicate that Matz has also been pretty unlucky, as he isn’t getting much good fortune on the BABIP (.336) and strand rate (66.2%) fronts.

Saturday’s start was a step in the right direction, and yet it will now be some time before Matz can follow up on that performance.  The lefty will undergo more tests and imaging, and a clearer timeline could soon be known about when Matz might be able to get back on a mound.

The Cardinals were already rumored to be looking into rotation help at the deadline, so Matz’s IL status will likely only deepen the team’s needs.  In the short term, however, St. Louis only has five games over the next eight days, so all of these off-days can allow the Cards to get by with less than five starters.  Dakota Hudson is tentatively slated to be activated from his own 15-day IL stint next weekend, after hitting the IL on July 15 due to a neck strain.

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