Logan Verrett

Nationals, Logan Verrett Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 18, 2022 at 8:41am CDT

The Nationals are in agreement on a minor league contract with right-hander Logan Verrett, per the team’s official transactions log. He’ll add some additional depth both in the rotation and the bullpen this coming season.

Verrett, 31, has spent parts of three seasons in the Majors, appearing with the Rangers, Mets and Orioles between the 2015-17 seasons. He’s totaled 150 innings at the sport’s top level, working to a 4.62 ERA with a 17.7% strikeout rate, a 9.5% walk rate and a 43.7% ground-ball rate. He also spent the 2018 season with the KBO’s NC Dinos, where he made 29 starts but struggled with a 5.28 ERA in 155 frames.

Most recently, Verrett was with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021, pitching 114 innings of 4.74 ERA ball while showing outstanding command (3.4% walk rate) and a below-average strikeout rate (18.6%). He’s had issues keeping the ball in the yard in the Majors (1.50 HR/9), and that was again an issue for Verrett in Tacoma last season (1.82 HR/9), but that standout walk rate was his lowest since 2012 — his first professional season after being taken by the Mets in the third round of that summer’s draft.

Verrett has appeared in parts of five Triple-A seasons and has a 4.51 ERA through 412 2/3 innings in what has typically been a very hitter-friendly setting. The Nats have plenty of need for some upper-level depth, as their current rotation is lacking in certainty. Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin give them a pair of high-priced, high-profile arms in need of a bounceback in 2022 (Strasburg health-wise, Corbin performance-wise).

Behind that duo is top prospect Josiah Gray, who was acquired in the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner blockbuster last summer. Right-hander Joe Ross is a solid option if healthy, but his 2021 season ended with a slight UCL tear in August (which did not require surgery). Swingmen Erick Fedde and Austin Voth, 2021 minor league signee Josh Rogers, 35-year-old journeyman Paolo Espino and prospect Joan Adon are among the next options up on the 40-man roster, while Jefry Rodriguez gives them another somewhat experienced non-roster invitee to camp. The Nats surely hope that 2020 first-rounder and top prospect Cade Cavalli will be ready sooner than later, but the 23-year-old struggled in six Triple-A starts late last year after breezing through Class-A Advanced and Double-A.

International Notes: Matsui, Ruf, Verrett, Jackson

By Kyle Downing | November 18, 2017 at 2:33pm CDT

Former major leaguer Kazuo Matsui has rejoined his first professional team, the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (hat tip to Kyodo News). The 42-year-old was not offered a contract by his previous team, the Rakuten Eagles, and will now reportedly take on both outfielder and coaching duties for the Lions. “I felt strongly about continuing my playing career,” Matsui said. “I know the competition will be tough but I’ll get more motivated playing against younger players.” Matsui hit .267/.321/.380 while stealing 102 bases across 2,555 major league plate appearances with the Mets, Rockies and Astros from 2004-2010, with whom he played mostly second base. During his Japan career, however, Matsui put up fantastic offensive numbers (including 201 career homers). He earned four Gold Glove Awards as well as the 1998 Pacific League MVP Award.

Some other things happening in foreign territory…

Former Phillies outfielder/first baseman Darin Ruf has found some success in Korea, hitting 31 homers and leading the entire Korean Baseball Organization with 124 RBI. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the Samsung Lions recently re-signed him for the 2018 season on a $1.5MM deal. During his career in the U.S., Ruf played at the MLB level during parts of five seasons, bouncing back and forth between the Phillies and their Triple-A affiliate. Across 833 major league plate appearances, he played at roughly replacement level, showing poor plate discipline (8.2 BB%, 27.5 K%) but decent power (.193 ISO).
Elsewhere in the KBO, the NC Dinos have inked former major league pitcher Logan Verrett to a pact worth $800K (also via the Yonhap News Agency). Verrett had a 4.62 ERA during his major league career with the Mets and Orioles. A whopping 15.5% HR/FB rate may have done him across his 150 career MLB innings, along with a very low 6.84 K/9.
According to a tweet from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, multiple MLB teams have shown interest in former Padres pitcher Jay Jackson. Crasnick notes that Jackson has been one of the best setup men in Japan over the last two seasons. Jackson only pitched 4 1/3 innings at the major league level in 2015, but did flash a 95.1 MPH fastball. He also put up a 2.54 ERA in 63 2/3 innings with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate that same season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/5/17

By Steve Adams | September 5, 2017 at 6:00pm CDT

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

The Orioles announced that right-handers Tyler Wilson and Logan Verrett have both cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk. The O’s exposed both players to waivers as a means of opening 40-man spots for Pedro Alvarez and top catching prospect Chance Sisco. Wilson, 27, has logged a 5.02 ERA over 145 1/3 innings with the Orioles from 2015-17, and his numbers at Triple-A have taken a step back in the past two years as well. Verrett, also 27, saw just 10 2/3 innings with the Orioles this year after coming over from the Mets organization this past spring. He’s struggled to a 5.10 ERA with below-average K/BB numbers in Triple-A as well.
The Twins announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Michael Tonkin and created space by recalling righty J.T. Chargois from Triple-A and placing him on the Major League 60-day disabled list. The 27-year-old Tonkin was once one of the more promising bullpen prospects in the Twins’ system, but he’s underwhelmed in numerous auditions over the past few years. Minnesota outrighted him earlier this year, but he’s back after pitching to a brilliant 1.73 ERA with 13.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 45.5 percent ground-ball rate in 41 2/3 innings with Triple-A Rochester. Chargois posted video game numbers between Double-A and Triple-A last year and was viewed as a potential option in 2017, but he’s missed most of the year with a right elbow impingement.
Right-hander Raul Alcantara is back with the Athletics, who have selected his contract and opened a 40-man spot by placing righty Paul Blackburn on the 60-day disabled list. Alcantara was outrighted after clearing waivers earlier this year, and he responded to his 40-man removal by posting a solid 2.67 ERA in 33 2/3 Triple-A frames (albeit with just 5.9 K/9 against a more impressive 1.9 BB/9 mark). Blackburn left a start in late August after being struck in the hand by a line drive, and while he’s only been diagnosed with a contusion, his season is over with that placement on the 60-day DL. He missed fewer bats than just about any pitcher in the league but still managed a 3.22 ERA in 58 2/3 innings with the A’s in his debut campaign.
The Rays selected right-hander Chaz Roe’s contract from the minors in advance of tonight’s game. Tampa Bay picked up Roe in a minor trade with the Braves earlier this year. The 30-year-old pitched 21 innings with Tampa’s Triple-A affiliate in Durham and worked to an even 3.00 ERA with a ridiculous 35-to-5 K/BB ratio. In parts of five big league seasons, Roe has a 4.16 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 54.4 percent ground-ball rate.

Orioles Designate Tyler Wilson, Logan Verrett

By Steve Adams | September 1, 2017 at 2:06pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they’ve designated right-handers Tyler Wilson and Logan Verrett for assignment on Friday. That pair of DFAs will open enough room on the 40-man roster to formally select the contracts of catcher Chance Sisco, first baseman Pedro Alvarez and right-hander Richard Rodriguez — all of whom are being brought to the Majors as September call-ups. Baltimore has also recalled outfielder Joey Rickard and right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis from Triple-A Norfolk.

Wilson and Verrett have each taken the ball a few times this year for the O’s at the major-league level. But both have primarily operated at Triple-A — the former as a starter and the latter as a reliever.

Through twenty outings at Norfolk, Wilson worked to a 4.74 ERA over 114 innings, with 5.4 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. The University of Virginia product has pitched in the Orioles organization since being taken in the tenth round of the 2011 draft, and could remain there if he ends up clearing waivers.

As for Verrett, he allowed 5.10 earned per nine in sixty frames while striking out 7.4 and walking 3.3 batters per regulation affair. The former Mets swingman, a 2011 third-rounder, has also not previously been outrighted and thus would not have the right to refuse a minor-league assignment if no other team decides to give him a 40-man spot.

While Baltimore did not end up making any outside acquisitions in August, leaving room for the team to use those two hurlers for depth in September, the organization obviously decided it would rather see some other players. We previously discussed Sisco and Alvarez, but the O’s will also have a look at two new pitchers that have little experience between them at the game’s highest level.

Yacabonis, 25, struggled in his first, brief taste of the majors earlier this year. He has managed a 1.32 ERA in 61 1/3 outings at Triple-A though that has come with just 7.0 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9. Rodriguez will make his MLB debut at 27 years of age after eight minor-league campaigns. He has pitched to a 2.42 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 over 70 2/3 frames at the highest level of the minors this year.

Orioles Acquire Logan Verrett

By Steve Adams | November 30, 2016 at 12:21pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Logan Verrett from the Mets in exchange for cash, which Jon Heyman of Fan Rag pegs at $50K, on Twitter. Verrett’s departure from the Mets will clear a spot on New York’s 40-man roster that’ll go to the newly re-signed Yoenis Cespedes.

The 26-year-old right-hander was a Rule 5 pick out of the Mets organization by the Orioles a couple of years back, so their interest in him goes back quite a ways. The former third-round pick pitched 91 2/3 innings with New York last season but posted a 5.20 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 and a 44.1 percent ground-ball rate in that time. Verrett has a considerably more solid 4.26 ERA in 238 2/3 innings with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate (in a hitter-friendly setting).

For an Orioles team that is light on pitching at the big league level, Verrett will give the team an option that has big league experience as both a starter and a reliever. Verrett could potentially occupy a swingman role with the Orioles in 2017, which would further call into question the future of non-tender candidate Vance Worley in Baltimore.

East Notes: Red Sox, Marlins, Albies, Snitker, McCann, Verrett

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | August 30, 2016 at 10:44am CDT

Recent struggles in the Red Sox bullpen look ominously familiar to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, writes ESPN Boston’s Scott Lauber. As Lauber notes, a faulty bullpen was a frequent Achilles heel for Dombrowski’s Tigers teams that made the postseason (or came close to doing so), and the relief corps is the weak link for Boston right now. The July acquisitions of Brad Ziegler and Fernando Abad haven’t been enough to solidify the staff (Abad has struggled quite a bit), leaving manager John Farrell with a great deal of uncertainty in the late innings. A return for Koji Uehara (more on that here), a successful transition to the bullpen for Clay Buchholz or Joe Kelly, and a last-minute add from outside the organization are three possible saving graces, Lauber writes, noting that Kelly in particular has excelled out of the bullpen at Triple-A Pawtucket.

East News & Rumors: Marlins, Red Sox, Nats, Mets

By Connor Byrne | August 13, 2016 at 7:15pm CDT

Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Saturday that the playoff-contending club hasn’t discussed signing Miami native and resident Alex Rodriguez, whom the Yankees released Saturday.“You’ve got to have a place to play. I know he hasn’t played in the field in a long time. I don’t know where he fits right now,” Mattingly told reporters, per the Associated Press. However, given the injury-forced absence of Justin Bour, Mattingly didn’t rule out the 41-year-old Rodriguez as a first base option for the Marlins. “There’s no reason he couldn’t play first. He has the ability to do a lot of things,” Mattingly stated. “We miss Justin a little bit over there at first. I don’t think we’ve been able to replace that. We’re always looking at ways of getting better in different areas.” The Marlins have been deploying right-handed hitters Miguel Rojas and Chris Johnson in a first base platoon with the lefty-swinging Derek Dietrich, though the former two have registered miserable batting lines this season. The same is true of Rodriguez – hence his release – but he’s only a year removed from hitting a tremendous .263/.394/.532 in 193 plate appearances against southpaws.

More regarding A-Rod and the majors’ two East divisions:

For his part, Rodriguez seems unsure if he wants to continue his career. After his final game with the Yankees on Friday, the 22-year veteran was reluctant to say he was done. “For all the things I’ve been through, to have a night like tonight, I don’t know what more I can ask for,” he said (Twitter link via David Lennon of Newsday). For what it’s worth, in a survey of 24 executives from around baseball, nearly half (11) told Jayson Stark of ESPN that Rodriguez would return either this season or in time for spring training next year.
On the heels of his Saturday release from the Nationals, free agent reliever Jonathan Papelbon would welcome a return to Boston, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI (Twitter link). Papelbon, whom the Red Sox selected in the fourth round of the 2003 draft, had a highly successful run with the club from 2005-11. During that seven-season, 429 1/3-inning span, the right-hander converted over 88 percent of save opportunities (219 of 248) and compiled a 2.33 ERA, 10.67 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9. He’s far less effective now, having lost a few miles per hour on his fastball and his job as Washington’s closer before it released him. However, Boston’s bullpen has posted a 4.14 second-half ERA – the sixth-highest figure in baseball – notes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Moreover, the Red Sox are without injured setup man Koji Uehara, and closer Craig Kimbrel has scuffled while dealing with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. Given their issues, Papelbon is “worth investigating,” Sox president Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
Thanks to a clean MRI on Saturday, the Nationals will not place right fielder Bryce Harper on the disabled list, president and general manager Mike Rizzo said (via Alex Putterman of MLB.com). Harper hasn’t taken an at-bat since last Saturday because of a stiff neck, and manager Dusty Baker is wary of playing the 23-year-old in the event the team decides to place him on the DL retroactively. By playing him, Baker would reset the clock on a retroactive DL stint.
Left-hander Jon Niese is likely to return to the Mets’ rotation at the expense of Logan Verrett, whom the team pulled from its starting five after a disastrous Friday outing, according to Troy Provost-Heron of MLB.com. In an 8-6 loss to the Padres that dropped the Mets to below .500, Verrett yielded all eight runs on six hits (including four home runs) and three walks. Verrett has thrown 60 innings as a starter this year and recorded a 6.45 ERA, 6.15 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9. Niese was a capable option out of the Mets’ rotation from 2010-15, but he struggled this year with the Pirates after an offseason trade, leading Pittsburgh to deal him back to New York prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. Niese’s return to the Mets was going well until Thursday, when he gave up six earned runs on three hits and three walks in just an inning of work.

NL Notes: Reds’ Medicals, Henderson, Heisey, Gott, Nolin

By Jeff Todd | April 1, 2016 at 10:11pm CDT

Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer has penned an interesting piece on the process for evaluating medicals in prospective trades — a matter that has taken on increasingly public significance with several recent swaps blown up after agreement was reportedly reached in principle. He chats at length with Reds orthopedist Dr. Timothy Kremchek and GM Dick Williams about the “streamlined” but still-nuanced assessment of player health in finalizing trades. “You’re hearing more about the ones that don’t happen,” Williams explained. “I do think because the technology is better. In the old days, it’s like, ‘Well, he has a sore elbow, but I’m sure it’ll be fine by spring.’ Now they’re taking scans and x-rays and you’re getting a lot more detail. There’s a lot more opportunity for interpretation. The dollars have gotten so much bigger that doctors don’t want to be the scapegoat.” The article is well worth a full read.

Of course, Williams also chatted recently with MLBTR about quite a different topic — his time at the University of Virginia. (As a fellow U.Va. alum, that made for an especially interesting trip down memory lane.) Here’s the latest from the National League:

Righty Jim Henderson has cracked the Mets’ Opening Day roster, as the team announced and ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Once a late-inning reliever, Henderson has struggled with shoulder injuries in recent years, but impressed this spring by allowing just two earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out 13 over 10 2/3 frames. Meanwhile, lefty Sean Gilmartin — who had a strong season in the pen as a Rule 5 pick last year — has been optioned down to Triple-A. Logan Verrett will instead make the roster and function as New York’s longman.
Outfielder Chris Heisey will take a reserve role with the Nationals out of camp, Devan Fink first reported on Twitter. A 40-man spot was cleared by adding TJ rehabber Aaron Barrett to the 60-day DL.
Meanwhile, Blake Treinen appears to have beaten out Sean Burnett and Trevor Gott for the final pen role, James Wagner of the Washington Post tweets. Burnett is set to opt out of his deal, and the team has announced that Gott was optioned. What’s surprising isn’t so much that Treinen made the pen — he has an impressive arsenal and nice spring under his belt — but that Matt Belisle took the spot that had seemed destined to go to Gott. It’s not as if he had rough camp, as he finished with three earned runs on his tab over nine innings, allowing nine hits and two walks while recording five strikeouts. Though he generated quite a few grounders last year with the Angels, Gott only struck out 5.1 batters per nine, and he could certainly stand to add some polish to his curve to develop another pitch to go with a 96.1 mph heater. Gott enters the year with 114 days of service on his ledger, so a sufficiently lengthy minor league stint could also buy the club another year of control. He could eventually join Barrett, Treinen, and lefty Felipe Rivero in a young, cheap, high-powered pen corps of the future.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell says that lefty Sean Nolin has been diagnosed with a “significant” injury to his UCL, MLB.com’s Chris Abshire reports. There had been some suggestion that Nolin had avoided a ligament issue, but today’s news seemingly puts a lengthier absence on the table. A final prognosis will await a second opinion, though, so the 26-year-old’s fate remains to be seen. Nolin, who was claimed off waivers from the A’s over the winter, had been competing for a pen spot before he was shut down a few weeks ago.

September Rule 5 Roundup

By Jeff Todd | September 14, 2015 at 1:37pm CDT

This year’s Rule 5 draft class has shown that the Winter Meeting-capping selection process still has meaning. As Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper explained recently, a remarkably high-quality group of players swapped hands last December, and odds are that few of them will end up returning to their original teams.

For reference, here are the season’s leaderboards for the players who have accrued major league statistics, for both Rule 5 hitters and pitchers. Let’s have a look at where things stand with the season all but over (at least so far as Rule 5 roster considerations are concerned).

Keepers With Immediate Function

Far from clogging roster space, Odubel Herrera (Phillies), Delino DeShields Jr. (Rangers), and Mark Canha have all been heavily-used, productive contributors to their respective teams. Herrera, in particular, has been a revelation, tallying over three wins above replacement at 23 years of age.

On the pitching side of the equation, Mets selection Sean Gilmartin has been nothing short of excellent in his 45 2/3 frames with the club. The lefty has worked to a 2.56 ERA and seeming to be quite a useful asset moving forward.

Twins right-hander J.R. Graham, meanwhile, has exceeded Gilmartin in usage — he’s nearing sixty innings for a contending club — but hasn’t matched the results. Graham owns just a 5.09 ERA, though there are some signs of hope for the future. He has a respectable 7.3 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 to go with a 46.8% groundball rate, and SIERA values his contributions at a solid 3.76.

Needless to say, all of the above players will be retained by their new organizations. While many Rule 5ers who are successfully acquired end up back in the minors following their season of limbo, the odds seem good that all of these players will once again be significant pieces of their teams’ puzzles in 2016.

Little-Used, Future-Looking Assets

Of course, there are other Rule 5 selections who are now all but certain to be kept. But the road traveled by their teams involved much more difficult roster juggling. As with Adrian Nieto (White Sox) and Wei-Chung Wang (Brewers) last year, these players were not significant contributors at the major league level despite taking up active roster spots all season long.

25-year-old infielder Taylor Featherston has had at least some function given his valuable glove, but has slashed just .156/.210/.227 in only 141 plate appearances for the Angels. He makes for a nice analogue to Nieto, who similarly was considered a quality defender up the middle who wasn’t quite ready for MLB pitching, but managed to hold on all season long. Featherston could follow suit and return to the minors next year.

This year’s first overall Rule 5 pick Oscar Hernandez missed the beginning of the season for the Diamondbacks when he hit the DL with a broken hamate bone. He was activated in early July, just in time to spend the required ninety days on the active roster to complete a Rule 5 acquisition. He’s slashed just .107/.219/.143 in a meager 33 plate appearances since that time, so he’s all but certain to be sent down in 2016.

Orioles righty Jason Garcia has only thrown 27 innings, posting a 4.33 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9. Like Wang last year, a mid-season injury eased the active roster burden in his case. It’s not yet clear what will happen with Garcia next year, but it’s likely that he’ll go on optional assignment to develop as a starter.

Also set to be retained upon the conclusion of the 2015 season are lefties Andrew McKirahan (Braves) and David Rollins (Mariners). The two southpaws have had startlingly similar paths: PED suspensions that actually made it easier for their clubs to retain them, followed by fairly ugly earned run averages but reasonably promising peripherals in limited action. Both will cross the 90-day threshold this year, so they can be retained without requiring time on the roster to start 2016.

Still In Limbo

It is possible for a player to remain with a selecting team but still remain in limbo. That’s because of the aforementioned 90-day rule. Players that haven’t spent that much time on the active roster due to DL or suspension stints must first accrue the remainder in the following season before they can be permanently acquired. If and when they do reach that point, such players can be freely optioned to the minors by their new teams.

This year there is one such multi-year player: righty Daniel Winkler, was a Tommy John patient who was only just activated recently by the Braves after missing most of the year. Hhe’s yet to appear in competitive action for the Atlanta organization — in the minors or the majors — and had never seen big league action before the year. He’ll pick up just under a month of time on the active roster late this year, and will need to be on the club’s 25-man for about two months at the start of next season for his rights to be kept.

Already Returned

The ride was over months ago for a trio of hurlers: Jandel Gustave, Logan Verrett, and Andy Oliver. The first two were returned to their former teams, while Oliver hit free agency because he was a two-time Rule 5 pick. Interestingly, Verrett has played a reasonably significant role in the majors with his original team since being returned. He’s thrown 23 1/3 innings of 1.93 ERA ball, with 8.9 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9, for the soon-to-be NL East champs.

Rangers Return Rule 5 Pick Logan Verrett To Mets

By Steve Adams | May 4, 2015 at 12:24pm CDT

Rule 5 Draft pick Logan Verrett, who was designated for assignment by the Rangers in late April, has cleared waivers and been returned to the Mets, according to a press release from the Mets. Texas has also confirmed the move.

The 24-year-old Verrett was originally selected by the Orioles in the most recent Rule 5 Draft. When Baltimore couldn’t find a spot for him and fellow Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia in Spring Training, it was Verrett who the O’s tried to sneak through waivers. However, Texas claimed him and placed him on its Opening Day roster as Spring Training broke.

Verrett appeared in four games for the Rangers, totaling nine innings but yielding seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits and three unintentional walks with just three strikeouts. Verrett did rack up ground-balls at an impressive 57.1 percent clip in his small sample of work, though he also displayed a fastball that averaged just 89.1 mph.

A former third-round selection by the Mets (2011), Verrett has a very strong K/BB ratio throughout his Minor League career, having averaged 7.5 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 in 411 1/3 innings. He spent the 2014 campaign with Triple-A Las Vegas — an exceptionally hitter-friendly environment — and worked to a 4.33 ERA in 162 innings. Baseball America ranked Verrett 24th among Orioles farmhands this winter after they selected him in the Rule 5 Draft, noting that he mixes four pitches, including a solid-average slider that he is comfortable throwing in any count. Presumably, he will return to the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate and add to New York’s enviable stock of upper-level arms.

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Logan Verrett

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect