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Jemile Weeks

Cubs Sign Fernando Rodriguez, Four Others

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The Cubs have signed righty reliever Fernando Rodriguez, presumably to a minor league deal, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports. Rodriguez’s agency, J.M.G. Baseball, tweeted last week that their client had agreed to terms with an NL club. The Cubs have also added second baseman Jemile Weeks, catcher Ali Solis, lefty Daniel Moskos and shortstop Elliot Soto, also presumably on minor league deals.

The 32-year-old Rodriguez has pitched for the A’s for the last three seasons, most recently posting a 4.20 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings in 2016. The Athletics outrighted him in October, likely thinking ahead to the tender deadline — Rodriguez has five-plus years of service time and would have been eligible for arbitration. Rodriguez had shoulder surgery in September, although typical recovery time would have allowed him to resume throwing by around now.

The 29-year-old Weeks collected 57 plate appearances with the Padres in 2016 and hit sparingly, missing much of the season to a hamstring strain. The former first-round pick is a career .271/.372/.373 hitter at the Triple-A level.

Solis is a 29-year-old, glove-first journeyman who’s made brief big-league appearances with the Padres and Rays. He played last season in the Red Sox system.

Moskos, now 30, is best known for being the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft. He pitched last season for the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso, posting a 3.39 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over 61 innings of relief.

The 27-year-old Soto came up in the Cubs system but spent last season with the Marlins’ Triple-A club in New Orleans, batting .241/.358/.297 and splitting his time between second, shortstop and third.

Padres Outright Jemile Weeks, Jake Smith, Jose Dominguez

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The Padres have announced that three players were outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster. Infielder Jemile Weeks and righties Jake Smith and Jose Dominguez all lost their spots.

Weeks, a 29-year-old switch hitter, managed only seven hits and three walks in 57 plate appearances on the year for San Diego. He has mostly functioned as a journeyman depth option over the last several years after failing to follow up on a highly promising rookie campaign with the A’s back in 2011. Weeks elected free agency, so he’ll be back on the open market this winter.

The 26-year-old Smith received his first brief crack at the majors this year, but only took the ball four times for the Padres. He struggled badly at Double-A for the Giants, with San Diego claiming him in July. While Smith’s six appearances at the same level in the Padres organization were more successful, it wasn’t enough for the team to dedicate a MLB roster slot to him going forward.

Dominguez, like Weeks, took free agency. The 26-year-old has appeared in the majors in each of the last four years and threw a career-high 35 2/3 innings in 2016. The results weren’t there, though, as he worked to a 5.05 ERA with just twenty strikeouts against 17 walks.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/8/16

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Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around the majors:

  • The Padres announced that they have placed second baseman Jemile Weeks on the 15-day DL with a right hamstring strain and recalled Jose Pirela. Prior to suffering the injury Saturday, Weeks collected 57 PAs and hit just .140/.204/.200. Pirela, also a second baseman, has slashed .306/.352/.447 at the Triple-A level in 2016. He was with the Padres earlier this season and appeared in four games, racking up five PAs and a double.
  • Catcher Adam Moore, whom the Indians designated for assignment earlier this week, will stay in the organization after accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus, tweets Tribeinsider.
  • The Astros reinstated catcher Max Stassi from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Fresno, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle was among those to report (Twitter link). Prior to undergoing surgery on the hamate bone in his left wrist in mid-March, Stassi was expected to team with Jason Castro to form the Astros’ catching tandem. The club is now preparing Evan Gattis for a role behind the plate, however, lessening the need for Stassi – whom Baseball America ranked as Houston’s 19th-best prospect entering the season.
  • The Cubs have activated right-hander Neil Ramirez from the bereavement list and optioned righty Spencer Patton to Triple-A Iowa, the team announced. Ramirez has amassed six innings of three-run ball this year (seven strikeouts, four walks), while Patton made his sole big league appearance of the year Saturday and faced two batters – one of whom walked, the other of whom doubled.
  • The Athletics have optioned right-hander Jesse Hahn to Triple-A Nashville and recalled righty J.B. Wendelken, per a team announcement. Hahn threw 17 2/3 innings in the minors this year before the A’s recalled him at the end of last month. He made two starts with Oakland, allowing four earned runs in 12 innings while walking six and striking out four. Hahn had a rough start Saturday, surrendering eight hits, four earned runs and four walks in 5 1/3 innings of work in a loss to Baltimore. Wendelken, 23, is now in position to make his major league debut after racking up 315 2/3 innings in the minors, where he has posted a 4.08 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
  • The Reds announced that they have sent outfielder Scott Schebler to Triple-A Louisville and recalled outfielder/first baseman Kyle Waldrop. Schebler’s demotion is the result of the Reds wanting to give him playing time, which he hadn’t been receiving enough of in the majors lately because of the success of left fielder Adam Duvall. Schebler hit just .188/.246/.344 with a home run in 69 plate appearances prior to his demotion. Waldrop, not to be confused with the former major league reliever of the same name, has hit .276/.322/.437 in 2,445 career minor league PAs. The 24-year-old got his first taste of big league action last season, though he accrued only one at-bat.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/20/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Padres have selected the contract of second baseman Jemile Weeks and transferred lefty Buddy Baumann to the 60-day disabled list, per a club announcement. Weeks will step into the roster spot of infielder Cory Spangenberg, who has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left quad strain. Weeks, 29, is a former first-round pick and the younger brother of veteran infielder Rickie Weeks, who is currently suiting up for the division-rival Diamondbacks. The younger Weeks was a fairly promising prospect with the A’s but hasn’t panned out at the big league level. He’s followed up a promising rookie campaign (.303/.340/.421 in 437 PAs in 2011) with a combined .226/.307/.311 in 574 plate appearances in parts of four seasons since that time.

Earlier Moves

  • Righty Logan Kensing has accepted an assignment to Triple-A with the Tigers after clearing outright waivers, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports on Twitter. The veteran reliever hasn’t seen much MLB action of late, and only lasted 4 2/3 with Detroit before losing his roster spot. But the 33-year-old obviously feels as if another call-up could be in the future, as he could have elected free agency and looked for another organization. Over parts of nine MLB seasons, Kensing has compiled 181 2/3 innings of 5.70 ERA pitching with 7.8 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/16/16

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

  • The Mariners’ deal with Travis Ishikawa appears to have fallen apart, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News-Tribune tweets.  The Mariners had agreed to a minor-league deal with first baseman and corner outfielder Travis Ishikawa, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo wrote (Twitter links). The deal would pay Ishikawa $900K if he were in the Majors. Ishikawa, a surprising 2014 postseason hero, played sparingly with the Pirates and Giants in 2015, missing time due to back issues and hitting .267/.337/.420 in 169 plate appearances in the minor leagues. The 32-year-old has a career .852 OPS at the Triple-A level, but he’s collected more than 174 big-league plate appearances in only one season in his career.
  • The Cubs have signed utilityman Kristopher Negron and catcher Tim Federowicz to minor-league deals, tweets Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. After a promising 2014 season in Cincinnati, the 29-year-old Negron flopped in 2015, batting .140/.238/.161 in 107 plate appearances. He did, however, play every position but pitcher and catcher, potentially making him an interesting bench piece if he can recover his hitting stroke. The 28-year-old Federowicz missed most of the 2015 season with a knee injury. He had previously hit .194/.247/.300 in parts of four seasons as a reserve with the Dodgers.
  • The Yankees have signed righty Anthony Swarzak to a minor-league deal, Eddy tweets. Swarzak, a longtime swingman in the Twins organization, pitched reasonably well in 13 1/3 innings with Cleveland last year before the Indians sold his contract to the Doosan Bears in Korea. Swarzak served as a starter there and posted a 5.26 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 — not terribly impressive numbers, but also not as bad as they look given how tough the KBO is on pitchers. His ability to start and relieve could make him a useful depth piece for the Yankees.
  • The Giants have signed lefty Mike Kickham and righty Vin Mazzaro and re-signed center fielder Darren Ford, Eddy tweets. Kickham, who briefly appeared for the Giants in 2013 and 2014, struggled at Triple-A stops in the Mariners and Rangers organizations in 2015, walking 35 batters in 27 innings. Mazzaro held his own in 12 innings of relief with the Marlins last season but spent most of the year at the Triple-A level, where he posted a 2.70 ERA, 7.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. Ford, now 30, spent 2015 at Triple-A Sacramento, hitting .261/.333/.403 and stealing 33 bases.
  • The Padres have signed 2B/CF/SS Jemile Weeks to a minor-league deal, Eddy tweets. Weeks, formerly a regular with the A’s, has played mostly at Triple-A the last several seasons. Last year, he batted a mere .204/.297/.281 for Pawtucket in the Red Sox organization, although, as Eddy notes, he has a strong track record at Triple-A, with a .371 career OBP there.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/4/2015

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:

  • The Giants announced today that infielder Joaquin Arias has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A (Twitter link). The versatile 30-year-old hit just .207/.207/.276 in 59 plate appearances in 2015 — the second season of a two-year, $2.6MM contract he signed to avoid arbitration following the 2013 season.
  • Left-hander Aaron Laffey has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A, tweets MLB.com’s Dargan Southard. Lackey will have the option to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. The veteran lefty pitched 7 1/3 innings for the Rockies this season, allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Earlier Updates

  • Red Sox infielder Jemile Weeks, Angels righty Vinnie Pestano, and Cubs outfielder Mike Baxter have all accepted their outright assignments rather than electing to test the free agent waters, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports (Twitter links). The trio of players were all designated for assignment recently as their clubs looked to free roster space for deadline acquisitions. Weeks, 28, has seen only a smattering of big league action since playing as a full-timer in 2011-12. Pestano has been a solid reliever over several full seasons, but has struggled mightily with his control this year. The 30-year-old Baxter will also head to the upper minors to serve as depth after putting up a .246/.348/.263 slash over 66 plate appearances with Chicago.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/1/15

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

  • The Mets have signed pitcher Tim Stauffer to a minor league contract, according to the MLB transactions page. Stauffer was released by the Twins earlier this summer and signed with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters in mid-July. He posted a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings with the Twins. Over a 590 inning major league career, he has a 3.94 ERA with 6.73 K/9 and 3.05 BB/9. In his heyday, he worked between 90 and 92 mph. He averaged just 88 mph with his fastball during his stint with Minnesota.
  • The Giants have released pitcher Erik Cordier, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. MLBTR has learned that Cordier’s deal included opt out clauses on July 1, August 1, and September 7. The 29-year-old righty performed well in the minors. In 34 Triple-A innings, he posted a 1.04 ERA and 11.16 K/9. However, his command and control left something to be desired with 6.49 BB/9.
  • The White Sox have signed outfielder Dayan Viciedo and assigned him to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, the Knights have announced. Viciedo was, of course, a longtime staple of the White Sox outfield, but they released him in February, avoiding paying most of what would have been a $4.4MM arbitration salary. He played briefly this year for Triple-A Nashville in the Athletics system, hitting .221/.282/.336.
  • The Red Sox have outrighted infielder Jemile Weeks and assigned him to Triple-A Pawtucket, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweets. The Red Sox designated Weeks for assignment on Wednesday when they added Josh Rutledge to their roster. Weeks has hit .207/.307/.310 in 199 plate appearances for Pawtucket this year.
  • Former Yankees reliever Esmil Rogers is headed to Korea, where he’ll get $1MM to play for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets. In the midst of yesterday’s trade deadline madness, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweeted that the Yankees had released Rogers. The 29-year-old Rogers posted a 6.27 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 33 innings with New York this season.

Red Sox Designate Jemile Weeks For Assignment

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The Red Sox have infielder Jemile Weeks for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for Josh Rutledge, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Rutledge was acquired in the trade that sent Shane Victorino to the Angels.

Weeks’ stay on Boston’s big league roster was brief, as he was only recalled earlier this week. He picked up nine plate appearances with the Red Sox, collecting three singles in that time and also striking out twice.

The younger brother of Rickie Weeks, Jemile is a former 12th overall draft pick (Oakland, 2008) that hasn’t seen his career pan out after a promising rookie campaign in 2011. That year, he appeared in 97 games with the A’s and batted .303/.340/.421 with 26 doubles, eight triples, a pair of homers and 22 steals. He’s hit just .226/.307/.311 in 574 plate appearances between the A’s, Orioles and Red Sox since that time.

Cafardo On Roster Size, Cueto, Moncada, Maddon

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe opines baseball needs to expand its roster and suggests a 28-man limit with 25 eligible on game day. MLB spokesman Pat Courtney told Cafardo there have been discussions about roster expansion, but nothing has advanced. There are obstacles with increased salaries and insurances costs, but those issues, according to Cafardo, are outweighed by the 162-game schedule becoming too much for a player’s body to handle. Cafardo also proposes baseball convene a panel of players who avoided the disabled list throughout their careers to determine if there are any patterns to their remaining healthy.

In other items from Cafardo’s Sunday Baseball Notes column:

  • According to one GM, Johnny Cueto “will get a Max Scherzer deal” if the Reds right-hander can put together a 15-20-win season. Cueto ranks fifth on MLBTR’s 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings list.
  • The Yankees were given the opportunity to top the Red Sox’s $31.5MM offer to Yoan Moncada, but declined. “We scouted him extensively for years,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. “I feel we put him through the highest level of scouting and medical evaluation. I just wasn’t comfortable offering what we actually offered ($25MM), let alone going any higher.“
  • For now, the Red Sox will play Moncada at second base, but his eventual position will depend on Boston’s needs in the next couple of years.
  • The tampering allegation made by the Rays over the Cubs’ hiring of Joe Maddon is still alive.
  • The Red Sox are showcasing Jemile Weeks, likely ticketed for Triple-A, as a super utility player and may be able sell fairly high on him with the Tigers one of the teams in the market for such a player.

 

Red Sox Outright Jemile Weeks

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The Red Sox have outrighted second baseman Jemile Weeks, the club announced. He has cleared waivers, allowing the Sox to open a 40-man spot while maintaining control of Weeks.

Boston added Weeks as part of the deal that sent Kelly Johnson to the Orioles last August. He is a 27-year-old switch-hitter who saw only minimal MLB action last year. He has struggled at the big league level since a promising start to his career with the Athletics. But he posted a .280/.392/.391 slash over 257 Triple-A plate appearances last year, and he remains interesting as a high-OBP/low-strikeout option at second

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