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Ji-Man Choi

International Notes: Choi, Senga, Yang

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Happy New Year to all of our readers here at MLBTR! As MLB teams begin to gear up for what should be the most active January in hot stove history, here are a few notes on the international market…

  • First baseman Ji-Man Choi’s agency in Korea recently spoke to the media about their client’s current foray into free agency and revealed that he’s received offers (presumably of the minor league variety) from the Yankees, Angels, Rays, A’s, Brewers, Marlins, Cubs, Reds, Orioles, Twins, Braves, Blue Jays and White Sox (English link via Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency). The 26-year-old Choi slugged a pair of homers in 18 plate appearances with the Yankees last year and posted a strong year with their Triple-A affiliate, slashing .288/.373/.538 in 87 games. In parts of five Triple-A campaigns, Choi has posted a robust .298/.390/.479 batting line.
  • Right-hander Kodai Senga of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Nippon Professional Baseball is eyeing a jump to the Major Leagues down the line, per a report from the Japan Times (link in English). Senga, 25 next month, is currently negotiating a new contract with the Hawks, according to the report, so it doesn’t seem as though the move would happen until next offseason at the earliest. Next year will be Senga’s sixth full season in NPB, meaning he’ll have the pro experience and be old enough to be exempt from the international bonus pool system. However, he’d still be subject to the newly augmented posting system agreed to by MLB, NPB and the MLBPA. At present, Senga owns a career 2.52 ERA with 10.1 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 418 innings. The righty moved from the bullpen to the rotation in 2016 and owns a 2.63 ERA in 47 starts over the past two seasons.
  • Left-hander Hyeon-jong Yang has re-signed with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization, Yoo writes in a second report. Set to turn 30 in March, Yang is fresh off an MVP season with the Tigers, having thrown 193 1/3 innings of 3.44 ERA ball with 7.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in the hitter-friendly KBO. The southpaw has garnered interest from MLB teams in the past, though his KBO club did not accept the winning bid when he was initially posted for Major League teams back in the 2014-15 offseason. Yang, who has been pitching professionally since he was 19, now has enough experience to qualify as a true free agent without any restrictions but will nonetheless return to the KBO for a 12th pro season. His deal with the Tigers is worth $2.14MM, per Yoo, giving him the second-highest annual salary of any player in the KBO (behind former Mariners first baseman Dae-ho Lee).

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/23/17

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Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

  • Rangers infielder Pete Kozma cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake tweets.  Kozma was designated for assignment on Thursday.  The veteran has appeared in 39 games with the Rangers and Yankees this season, filling in at all four infield positions and hitting .111/.200/.178 in 51 plate appearances.
  • The Nationals announced some roster moves prior to today’s game, including selecting the contract of outfielder Andrew Stevenson and calling up catcher Pedro Severino.  In corresponding moves, Jayson Werth was shifted to the 60-day DL, Ryan Raburn went on the bereavement list and Chris Heisey was placed on the 10-day DL with a left groin strain.  Stevenson, a second-round pick out of LSU in the 2015 draft, is getting his first taste of big league action after hitting .280/.335/.366 over 1216 career PA in the minors.  Most of that success, however, came at the lower rungs of Washington’s farm system; Stevenson has posted only a .612 OPS over 306 PA at the Triple-A level.  Stevenson will serve as a backup in left, center and right field, and he should get a decent amount of playing time with the Nats short-handed in the outfield.
  • The Yankees outrighted first baseman Ji-Man Choi to Triple-A, the team announced prior to today’s game.  Choi signed a minor league deal with New York last winter and collected on that contract’s $700K guaranteed salary when he was promoted to the Yankees’ roster earlier this month.  He made a strong impression during his short time in the Bronx, posting a 1.067 OPS over 18 plate appearances.  Choi will continue to provide the Yankees with first base depth in the minors.

Yankees Designate Rob Refsnyder, Ji-Man Choi For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they’ve designated infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder and first baseman Ji-Man Choi for assignment in order to clear space on the roster for last night’s acquisitions of Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle. A third 40-man spot wasn’t needed, as Tyler Clippard went to the White Sox in the trade as well. However, the Yankees did option left-hander Chasen Shreve to clear a 25-man spot.

[Related: Updated New York Yankees depth chart]

The 26-year-old Refsnyder generated a fair bit of optimism among Yankees fans as he rose through the system, but he’s never gotten an extended big league look due to questions about his defense. He’s appeared in 94 games across the past three seasons, logging time at second base, first base and in the outfield corners, but his bat has produced just a .241/.312/.332 output through 240 plate appearances. Those questions about his defense always made him more of a favorite among Yankee fans than in prospect rankings, but Refsnyder does carry a solid .292/.372/.424 batting line through 1244 career PAs at the Triple-A level.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that he’s gotten the sense that enough other clubs are intrigued by Refsnyder’s contact skills that the Yankees will be able to trade him before his DFA window expires. (The new CBA changed that allotted window from 10 days to seven days.) The return isn’t likely to be much, but he’s optionable for the remainder of the season, which could appeal to some clubs in need of bench depth.

Choi tallied just 18 PAs in his brief big league tenure with the Yankees but made them count, slugging a pair of homers and a double in his six games in pinstripes. That impressive showing notwithstanding, he’s a career .181/.279/.386 hitter in 147 PAs between the Halos and Yanks, though like Refsnyder he does come with an impressive Triple-A track record. Through 851 PAs at that level, Choi has raked at a .300/.391/.462 clip. He has one option year remaining after the 2017 season, which could be appealing to clubs on the hunt for depth pieces, but he’s also cleared waivers in the past and came to the Yankees on a minor league deal this past January.

Yankees Designate Chris Carter

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The Yankees have again designated first baseman Chris Carter for assignment, per a team announcement. He had previously been outrighted after a stint in DFA limbo, with New York bringing him back up to the big leagues just days later.

This time, 26-year-old Ji-Man Choi has been selected to take Carter’s place. The left-handed hitter has spent the bulk of his career at first base, though he does play some corner outfield. He’ll return to the majors for the first time since a 54-game debut last year with the Angels.

It remains to be seen whether Carter will remain in the organization, but he accepted an outright assignment the last time around. New York has had success in the past utilizing this cycle to rotate through veterans when needed, then keeping them stashed without occupying a 40-man spot. (Remember this?)

First base remains unsettled for the Yankees as the deadline draws near. The unit has performed miserably all year and young players Greg Bird and Tyler Austin are presently stranded on the DL. Choi has earned an opportunity with a strong .289/.371/.505 batting line in his 224 plate appearances at Triple-A, but the expectation remains that the organization will be looking hard for a reliable bat over the coming weeks.

Yankees Agree To Minor League Deal With Ji-Man Choi

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The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent first baseman/outfielder Ji-Man Choi, his agency in Korea told Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency (h/t: Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Choi will be invited to Major League Spring Training and will compete for a roster spot. If he makes the big league club, he’ll earn a $700K base salary.

Choi’s representatives tell Yoo that he also received offers from 10 clubs, including the Brewers, Reds and Cardinals, but elected to sign with the Yankees, who had showed interest in Choi last offseason. Mark Teixeira’s retirement and the ability to compete for at-bats at first base factored into the decision, Yoo writes. As it stands, the Yankees have Greg Bird and Tyler Austin slated to compete for playing time in Teixeira’s absence.

Choi, 26 in May, spent the 2016 campaign in the Angels organization and struggled in his Major League debut, hitting .170/.271/.339 with five home runs in 129 plate appearances. He was designated for assignment when the Angels inked Ben Revere to a one-year contract. Rather than accepting his assignment, Choi opted to elect free agency.

Despite his lackluster bottom-line production in the Majors, Choi did walk in more than 12 percent of his plate appearances while showing respectable pop, and his 21 percent strikeout rate wasn’t outlandishly high. He’ll bring to the Yankees a lifetime .304/.399/.446 batting line and 13 home runs in 627 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He may have a hard time beating out Bird and Austin, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster, but the Yankees could theoretically give Choi a bench job and send one of Bird or Austin to the minors to get everyday at-bats early in the season in the event that one of the two struggles in Spring Training.

Bird missed the entire 2016 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. Austin, meanwhile, batted .294/.392/.524 with 17 homers between Double-A and Triple-A before making his MLB debut last year. In 90 PAs with the Yankees, he hit .241/.300/.458 with five homers. Both players have minor league options remaining.

Ji-Man Choi Rejects Outright Assignment, Elects Free Agency

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The Angels announced that first baseman Ji-Man Choi has rejected an outright assignment in favor free agency. The 25-year-old was designated for assignment back in late December when the Halos signed Ben Revere to a one-year deal.

Choi, who will turn 26 in May, was a Rule 5 pick out of the Orioles organization in 2015 (although he’d signed a minors deal in Baltimore just prior to being selected). The Angels designated him for assignment last May and retained him by outrighting him to Triple-A. Choi eventually made his way back to the big league roster but struggled in his first exposure to Major League pitching, hitting just .170/.271/.339 with five homers in 129 plate appearances.

While those numbers are unsightly, Choi did walk at a solid 12.4 percent clip in the Majors against a not-unreasonable 20.9 percent strikeout rate and a solid .170 isolated power mark. He also comes with a nice track record in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .304/.399/.446 with 13 homers in 627 plate appearances. Certainly, he’s not entering any sort of favorable market for first basemen and corner outfielders (he does have 349 minor league innings in left field as well), but his respectable minor league track record and somewhat encouraging K/BB numbers in the Majors should allow him to latch on elsewhere as a depth option.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/5/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • First baseman/outfielder Ji-Man Choi has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Angels after clearing waivers, the team announced. He had been designated for assignment recently. Choi, 25, hit a robust .346/.434/.527 over 227 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors and earned his first trip to the majors in 2016. He put up a meager .170/.271/.339 slash there, however, over his 129 trips to the plate. The left-handed hitter could still compete for a bench spot in camp, particularly if Albert Pujols is slow to return from his offseason surgery.
  • The Rangers have added catcher Steven Lerud on a minor-league deal, per a club announcement. He’ll receive an invitation to MLB camp this spring. Lerud, 32, saw very brief MLB action in both 2012 and 2013, but has plied his trade in the upper minors almost exclusively since 2009. Last year, playing in the Giants organization, he hit .229/.385/.288 over his 214 plate appearances, drawing 38 walks against 50 strikeouts but launching just one home run.

Rule 5 Roundup

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We’re just a few months away from this winter’s Rule 5 draft, so it makes sense to take a look back and see how things shook out from the 2015 selections. Several organizations found useful players, even if the most recent class didn’t include an Odubel Herrera-esque breakout sensation. Some of the most recent draftees have probably locked up MLB jobs again for 2017, though others who stuck on a major league roster all year may head back to the minors for further development. (Once a player’s permanent control rights have been secured, his new organization is free to utilize optional assignments as usual for future years.)

Here’s a roundup of the 2015 draft class with the 2016 season in the books:

Keepers

  • Tyler Goeddel, OF, kept by Phillies from Rays: The 23-year-old struggled with the aggressive move to the big leagues, carrying a .192/.258/.291 batting line in 234 trips to the plate, but showed enough for the rebuilding Phillies to hold onto him all year long.
  • Luis Perdomo, RHP, kept by Padres (via Rockies) from Cardinals: It didn’t look good early for Perdomo, but he showed better after moving to the rotation and ended with a rather promising 4.85 ERA over twenty starts. Though he struggled to contain the long ball, and only struck out 6.4 per nine, Perdomo sported a nifty 59.0% groundball rate on the year.
  • Joey Rickard, OF, kept by Orioles from Rays: After opening the year with a bang, Rickard faded to a .268/.319/.377 batting line on the year but held his roster spot in Baltimore. He ended the season on the DL with a thumb injury, though, and may end up at Triple-A for some added seasoning.
  • Joe Biagini, RHP, kept by Blue Jays from Giants: The only Rule 5 pick to appear in the postseason, Biagini was a great find for Toronto. He ended with 67 2/3 innings of 3.06 ERA pitching, with 8.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, and now looks like a potential fixture in the Jays’ relief corps.
  • Matthew Bowman, RHP, kept by Cardinals from Mets: Bowman rounds out a trio of impressive relievers. He contributed 67 2/3 innings with a 3.46 ERA and 6.9 BB/9 against 2.7 BB/9 to go with a monster 61.7% groundball rate.

Retained By Other Means

  • Deolis Guerra, RHP, re-signed by Angels (who selected him from Pirates) after being outrighted: Guerra was in an unusual spot since he had previously been outrighted off of the Bucs’ 40-man roster when he was selected, meaning he didn’t need to be offered back. Los Angeles removed him from the major league roster and then brought him back on a minor league deal, ultimately selecting his contract. Though he was later designated and outrighted by the Halos, Guerra again returned and largely thrived at the major league level, contributing 53 1/3 much-needed pen frames with a 3.21 ERA on the back of 6.1 K/9 against just 1.2 BB/9.
  • Jabari Blash, OF, acquired by Padres (who acquired Rule 5 rights from Athletics) from Mariners: Blash’s intriguing tools weren’t quite ready for the majors, but San Diego struck a deal to hold onto him and was surely impressed with his showing at Triple-A. In his 229 plate appearances there, Blash swatted 11 home runs but — more importantly — carried a .415 OBP with a much-improved 66:41 K/BB ratio.
  • Ji-Man Choi, 1B, outrighted by Angels after Orioles declined return: The 25-year-old scuffled in the bigs but was rather impressive at the highest level of the minors, where he walked nearly as often as he struck out and put up a .346/.434/.527 slash with five home runs in 227 plate appearances.

Returned

  • Jake Cave, OF, returned from Reds to Yankees: After failing to crack Cinci’s roster out of camp, Cave impressed at Double-A but slowed at the highest level of the minors (.261/.323/.401 in 354 plate appearances) upon his return to the New York organization.
  • Evan Rutckyj, LHP, returned from Braves to Yankees: Sent back late in camp, the 24-year-old struggled in limited action on the Yanks’ farm after missing most of the season with elbow issues.
  • Josh Martin, RHP, returned from Padres to Indians: In his first attempt at Triple-A, Martin posted 66 frames of 3.55 ERA pitching with 8.2 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9.
  • Daniel Stumpf, LHP, returned from Phillies to Royals: Slowed by a PED suspension, Stumpf was bombed in a brief MLB stint with the Phils but dominated at Double-A upon his return to K.C., posting a 2.11 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings.
  • Chris O’Grady, LHP, returned from Reds to Angels: Sent back in late March, O’Grady compiled a 3.48 ERA over 95 2/3 innings in the upper minors, though he performed much better as a Double-A starter than he did as a Triple-A reliever.
  • Zack Jones, RHP, returned from Brewers to Twins: The 25-year-old was out with a shoulder injury for most of the year, and ended up being sent back to Minnesota in late June, but has shown swing-and-miss stuff when healthy.
  • Blake Smith, RHP, returned from Padres to White Sox: Smith ended up making a brief MLB debut upon his return to Chicago, but spend most of the year pitching well at Triple-A Charlotte, where he ran up a 3.53 ERA in 71 1/3 innings with 9.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.
  • Colin Walsh, INF, returned from Brewers to Athletics: After struggling badly in his major league stint with the Brewers, Walsh went to Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate and put up a .259/.384/.388 bating line over 245 plate appearances.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/16/16

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

  • The Astros have released lefty Edwar Cabrera, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports. He cracked the majors briefly back in 2012, and has consistently posted solid earned run averages throughout his minor league career, but was struggling at Triple-A in 2016. Over 11 1/3 frames, exclusively as a reliever, Cabrera has allowed ten earned runs and racked up a dozen walks to go with his 13 strikeouts.
  • Southpaw Dustin Richardson was cut loose by the Dodgers, also via Eddy. He had permitted six earned in 8 1/3 frames, with a 12:6 K/BB ratio. Richardson saw 29 total MLB appearances in 2009-10 with the Red Sox.
  • Among the Padres’ moves, per Eddy, the organization has released righty Greg Reynolds, who was the second overall selection of the 2006 draft. He struggled in three brief cracks at the big leagues, and was hit hard in his five starts this year at Triple-A, allowing twenty earned runs while recording just five strikeouts. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Cory Mazzoni was re-signed to a minor league deal after being released, and was then shifted to the 60-day DL while he works his way back from shoulder surgery. The 26-year-old, a former second-round pick, briefly reached the majors last year.
  • The Giants added righty Preston Claiborne on a minor league deal, Eddy further notes. Claiborne, 28, has provided the Yankees with some useful innings, but hasn’t pitched competitively since 2014. He’s battled shoulder issues and was cut loose by the Marlins this spring.
  • The Angels have outrighted first baseman/Rule 5 pick Ji-Man Choi to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers, and he accepted the assignment, tweets Adam Chodzko of the Angels’ media relations department. (Having been previously outrighted, Choi could have refused and elected free agency.) Choi, 24, saw just 24 plate appearances with the Halos this season and went 1-for-18, though he did draw six walks as well. That he cleared waivers means that all 29 other clubs, including the Orioles (from whom he was selected in last December’s Rule 5 Draft), passed on the opportunity to add him. With Trey Mancini and Christian Walker, two of the Orioles’ more highly regarded prospects, each present on the Triple-A Norfolk roster, it seems that Baltimore felt comfortable with its first base depth. Choi had only just signed a minors deal with the Orioles a couple of weeks prior to being taken in the Rule 5, so his history with the organization wasn’t particularly lengthy. He’ll now hope to build on his career .280/.379/.401 batting line at the Triple-A level and work his way back onto the Angels’ Major League roster.

Angels Designate Ji-Man Choi

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The Angels have designated first baseman/outfielder Ji-Man Choi for assignment, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. His active roster spot was needed for the activation of righty Matt Shoemaker, though his 40-man slot will presumably go to just-acquired right-hander Jhoulys Chacin.

Choi received his first chance at the majors this year with the Halos, but has just one hit in 24 plate appearances. He does have six walks, though, leaving him with a rather unusual .056/.292/.056 slash line.

Prior to this season, the 24-year-old had played exclusively in the Mariners organization. Choi owns a .280/.379/.401 batting line in 400 Triple-A plate appearances, and he’s struck out just 63 times while taking 50 walks in that span.

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