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Jimmy Yacabonis

Mallex Smith, Bryan Shaw, Jimmy Yacabonis Elect Free Agency

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Mariners outfielder Mallex Smith and right-handers Bryan Shaw and Jimmy Yacabonis have elected free agency, Greg Johns of MLB.com tweets. The Mariners outrighted all three players in September.

Seattle had high hopes for Smith when it acquired him from Tampa Bay before 2019 in a deal that also involved catcher Mike Zunino, among others. The Mariners seemed right to be bullish on Smith, who was coming off a 3.5-fWAR, 40-steal season at the time. Smith has continued as a stolen base threat since then (he swiped 40 bags in 2019), but the 27-year-old has otherwise struggled. He finished his M’s tenure with 613 plate appearances of .220/.290/.323 hitting and six home runs.

It was also an awful 2020 for Shaw, continuing a downward trend for the once-effective Cleveland reliever. After a woeful two-year stint in Colorado, Shaw joined the Mariners on a big league contract in July, but the deal didn’t work out for either side. The 32-year-old wound up tossing six frames, yielding 12 earned runs on 13 hits and issuing six walks in Seattle.

Yacabonis joined the Mariners in a minor trade with the Padres in August, but he also didn’t establish himself in the M’s bullpen. The 28-year-old gave up one earned runs on two hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Mariners Outright Jimmy Yacabonis

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The Mariners have outrighted hurler Jimmy Yacabonis to their alternate training site, according to a team announcement. They previously designated the right-hander for assignment Tuesday.

Yacabonis, whom the Mariners acquired from the Padres for cash just under a month ago, threw 2 1/3 innings with the M’s before they ejected him from their roster. The 28-year-old yielded one earned run on two hits and three walks (one strikeout) during that span.

Seattle is the second major league team for which Yacabonis has pitched. He appeared in the bigs with the Orioles in each season from 2017-19 and combined for 81 innings with the O’s in the previous two years. In all, Yacabonis has logged a 5.71 ERA/6.05 FIP with 6.49 K/9 and 5.11 BB/9 in 104 innings.

Mariners Designate Jimmy Yacabonis, Active Brandon Brennan

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The Mariners have activated right-hander Brandon Brennan from the 45-day injured list, the team announced.  In corresponding moves, righty Jimmy Yacabonis was designated for assignment and right-hander Seth Frankoff was optioned to the team’s alternate training site.

Brennan only pitched in one game before a left oblique strain sent him to the IL on August 2.  The righty will get a bit of time left to try and build on a 2019 rookie season that saw Brennan post a 4.56 ERA, 1.96 K/BB, and 8.9 K/9 over 47 1/3 innings for Seattle.  The results were solid enough to make Brennan look like a nice pickup for the M’s after he was selected out of the Rockies organization in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft.

Seattle acquired Yacabonis from the Padres in August, and the right-hander appeared in two games for the Mariners (allowing one run in 2 1/3 innings).  After spending his entire pro career in the Orioles organization, Yacabonis inked a minor league deal with the Padres in the offseason and now could potentially be joining his third different team of 2020 if he is claimed on DFA waivers.  Yacabonis offers some innings-eating length as a swingman, though he has only a 5.71 ERA over 104 career frames in the majors.

Mariners Select Jimmy Yacabonis

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The Mariners have selected the contract of right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis from their alternate training site, the team announced. They optioned fellow righty Brady Lail in a corresponding move.

The 28-year-old Yacabonis is new to the Seattle organization, which acquired him from San Diego for cash on Aug. 19. Yacabonis previously signed a minor league contract with the Padres last offseason, but he didn’t wind up seeing any major league action as a member of the club. He did, however, appear in the bigs with the Orioles in each season from 2017-19. During that 101 2/3-inning span, Yacabonis pitched to a 5.75 ERA/6.01 FIP with 6.6 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9.

Yacabonis will now join a Mariners bullpen that, as Greg Johns of MLB.com points out, may need some fresh arms at the moment. Their relief corps pitched most of Tuesday’s loss to the Giants after Ljay Newsome left with an injury following just 1 2/3 innings of work.

Mariners Acquire Jimmy Yacabonis

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The Mariners announced that they’ve acquired non-roster right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis from the Padres in exchange for cash. He’d been in San Diego’s 60-man player pool at their alternate training site and will now head to the Mariners’ alternate site.

Yacabonis, 28, spent parts of the 2017-19 seasons in the Orioles’ bullpen but has yet to find his footing in the big leagues. He’s tallied 101 2/3 innings but carries a 5.75 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9 in that time. The former 13th-round pick averages about 94 mph on a fastball that generates above-average spin, and he has a solid enough track record in the minor leagues despite his lack of success in the Majors. He’ll give the Mariners a bit of bullpen depth and may eventually emerge as an option to join a bullpen that could undergo some changes between now and the Aug. 31 trade deadline.

Padres Add 3 To Player Pool

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The Padres announced today that they have added left-handed pitcher Daniel Camarena, right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis, and outfielder Abraham Almonte to the 60-man player pool. In addition, lefty Tim Hill, acquired from the Royals on Thursday, has reported to Padres camp. After the roster moves, there are 55 players in the Padres’ pool.

Yacabonis broke into the Majors in 2017 with the Orioles, and has appeared in parts of three seasons with Baltimore. He’s gotten playing time as both a starter and reliever, though he hasn’t found great success in either role. In 41 innings last year, he struck out 33 batters but walked 24, also struggling to prevent home runs. His career ERA is 5.75. He figures to settle into a relief role with the Padres, though he’s a longshot to crack the Opening Day roster.

Almonte, a switch-hitting 31-year-old outfielder, was brought aboard on a minor league contract last December, getting a bid in Padres camp as a non-roster invitee. It’s his second stint in San Diego, as he spent parts of 2014 and 2015 with the team. Last year, he played in 17 games for the Diamondbacks. For his career, he owns a .239/.298/.373 batting line, also making stops with the Mariners, Indians, and Royals.

Camarena, 27, has yet to debut in the Majors since the Yankees made him a 20th-round draft choice in 2011. He’s also made stints with the Twins and Giants before the Yankees re-signed in 2019. He’s reached Triple-A in each of the last four years, but has failed to find sustained success at the level. Last year, he played in 18 games at Triple-A, notching a 6.27 ERA. He threw 103 1/3 innings and posted 94 strikeouts.

Padres Sign Jimmy Yacabonis To Minors Deal

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The Padres have signed right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis to a minor league contract, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).

Over his three MLB seasons, Yacabonis has seen action as both a starter and a reliever for the Orioles, though he hasn’t found much success in either role.  The 27-year-old has a 5.75 ERA over 101 2/3 career innings (starting 11 of 55 games), with a 6.6 K/9 and only a 1.32 K/BB rate.  Yacabonis has also been plagued by the long ball over the last two seasons in particular, with a 1.9 HR/9 over his last 81 frames of work.

Yacabonis does have a live arm and a 94mph fastball, so there’s little risk for the Padres in taking to him to Spring Training and seeing if they can unlock some potential in the New Jersey native.  Yacabonis will see some familiar faces from Baltimore, as former Orioles coaches Wayne Kirby and Bobby Dickerson and former O’s utilityman Ryan Flaherty are all on San Diego’s coaching staff, and of course former O’s star Manny Machado is now holding down third base for the Padres.

Outrighted: Yacabonis, Mantiply, Lail

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Let’s catch up on a few announcements regarding players who have been outrighted after clearing waivers …

  • The Orioles announced that righty Jimmy Yacabonis is destined for Triple-A after clearing. He had struggled in a 41-inning showcase this year, managing only a 5.40 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9. Yacabonis has produced similar numbers in parts of two prior seasons in the majors.
  • A pair of hurlers are heading to the Yankees’ top affiliate via outright assignment. Southpaw Joe Mantiply struggled in his lone outing with the Yanks after being acquired from the Reds. That was his first time in the bigs since a brief 2016 debut. Righty Brady Lail also lost his 40-man spot after a single MLB appearance. He has worked to a 2.79 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 over 42 minor-league frames this year.

Orioles Designate Jimmy Yacabonis For Assignment

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that they’ve designated right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to fellow righty Ryan Eades, whose previously reported waiver claim out of the Twins organization has now been formally announced by the Orioles.

Yacabonis, 27, has struggled substantially in the Majors despite solid, if unremarkable results in the upper minors. He’s in the midst of his final season with minor league options, so the Orioles seemingly value the flexibility that Eades brings to the table over a righty who has received numerous auditions in recent seasons.

Dating back to his 2017 MLB debut, Yacabonis has pitched 101 2/3 innings for the Orioles, mostly as a reliever or opener. In that time he’s turned in a 5.75 ERA while averaging 6.6 strikeouts, 5.0 walks and 1.68 home runs per nine innings pitched. Yacabonis’ heater has averaged 94 mph with slightly above-average spin in that time, but he’s given up far too much hard contact and struggled both throwing strikes and commanding the ball within the zone. He’ll be made available to the other 29 teams in the league via outright waivers in the coming days., though if he clears, the Orioles will be able to retain him and assign him to a minor league affiliate without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.

DMV Notes: Mejdal, O’s Rotation, Brocail, Difo

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The Orioles offseason has consisted largely of the esoteric behind-the-scenes work being done by a newly-minted braintrust, offering the Baltimore fanbase little in terms of concrete evidence of a team on the rise. MLBTR readers rendered a decidedly nonplussed verdict of the O’s offseason by handing out a failing grade as the most common response in our Offseason In Review Series poll. Hope for an improved future for the AL’s foremost cellar dweller is dependent largely on conjecture tied to the resumes of the men brought in to run the organization, namely GM Mike Elias and field manager Brandon Hyde. The first significant evidence of Elias’ progress, however, is being seen all over spring camp, per MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. Spin axis seminars, high-speed Edgertronic cameras and “the long list of players championing the exposure to extra information they weren’t privy to before” are a few of the promising signs of growth coming out of O’s camp. Baltimore’s data infusion can be credited to new assistant general manger of analytics Sig Mejdal, a former NASA engineer and blackjack dealer whom Elias coaxed to Baltimore from their former employer in Houston. But that’s not all of the news coming from the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia corridor…

  • Hyde has already announced Alex Cobb as the Opening Day starter, but the only certainty beyond day one is the presence of Cobb, Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy in the rotation. In what order they’ll line up after Cobb, and who pitches in the fourth and fifth rotation spots is still very much up in the air, per the Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli (via Twitter). Using an Opener at times is definitely on the table, as is tweaking the rotation depending on the matchup. More clarity could come soon to O’s camp, as another round of roster cuts is planned for tomorrow, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Free agent signee Nate Karns certainly hopes to lay claim to one of those spots, but it’ll likely be a dynamic roster-crunching process in Baltimore right up until (and beyond, really) Opening Day.
  • The names that will populate Baltimore’s pitching staff remain unknown, but for commentary on those auditioning, the Athletic’s Dan Connolly turned to Doug Brocail, Baltimore’ forthright, 51-year-old pitching coach. The challenge facing Brocail is developing a shared language for his staff, while finding new ways to communicate on an individual level. For example, in giving instruction to righty Jimmy Yacabonis, Brocail’s message to “Hold your posture” wasn’t registering. Recognizing the need to break though this particular platitude, Brocail conveyed his point this way, “Right at hill strike, then let the rotation of the other half take over,” and the message sunk in. Give Connolly’s conversation with Brocail a full read for more insight into the mind of the Orioles’ pitching coach, including his thoughts on Cobb, Bundy and Cashner.
  • At the other end of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez is grooming Wilmer Difo for a super-utility role in 2019, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). This is not in response to the Michael A. Taylor injury, as there’s no plan at present to give Difo starts in center. Seeing some time in the outfield remains likely, as Difo boasts small-sample experience at all three outfield spots over the last two seasons. Difo will also likely serve as the team’s emergency catcher, a more pertinent responsibility on the Nats than most teams given Martinez’s stated desire to use the non-starter from the duo of Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki as a pinch-hitter. Were Martinez to stick Difo behind the dish at some point during the season, the move would at the very least be on brand for a disciple of the ever-tinkering Joe Maddon.
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