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Luis Madero

Marlins Select Luis Madero, Option Daniel Castano

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The Marlins are selecting the contract of right-hander Luís Madero, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald was among those to relay (Twitter link). Lefty Daniel Castano was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville, while right-hander Jorge Guzman was transferred to the 60-day injured list to clear 40-man roster space.

Madero has bounced between a few organizations in his pro career but has yet to make his MLB debut.  Originally signed by the Diamondbacks as an international amateur, he was sent to the Angels at the 2017 trade deadline for reliever David Hernández. Madero eventually worked his way onto Los Angeles’ 40-man roster and was named the #19 prospect in the organization entering the 2019 season by Baseball America. He struggled at Double-A that year, though, working to a 5.72 ERA in a pitcher-friendly environment. The Angels designated him for assignment and lost him on waivers to the Giants after the season.

San Francisco passed Madero through waivers shortly thereafter, and he spent the 2020 season at their alternate training site. He didn’t make it back on the roster and wound up electing minor-league free agency. Miami signed Madero to a minors deal in January, and he’s earned a major league call after just one Triple-A appearance. Madero has plenty of starting experience in the minors, so he offers rotation and/or long relief depth for the Fish. The 24-year-old still has a pair of option years remaining, so he can be sent back-and-forth between Miami and Jacksonville if he keeps his spot on the 40-man.

Castano, 26, has started four games for the Marlins this year but hasn’t found much success. The soft-tossing lefty has been knocked around for a 5.19 ERA/5.47 SIERA over 17 1/3 innings. Castano prevented runs at a strong clip over seven games last season, but his peripherals always suggested that was unlikely to continue. He simply hasn’t missed enough bats to establish himself as a big league starter, compiling a minuscule 10.8% career strikeout rate.

Guzman, one of the Marlins’ better pitching prospects, has been battling elbow inflammation. General manager Kim Ng told reporters in March he’d be “out for a bit,” so it’s not particularly surprising to see him wind up on the 60-day IL.

Marlins Sign Sandy Leon To Minors Contract

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JANUARY 4: Leon’s deal comes with a $1.25MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster, with additional incentives available, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

JANUARY 3: The Marlins have signed catcher Sandy Leon to a minor league deal.  The contract contains an invitation for Leon to attend Miami’s big league Spring Training camp.  In addition to Leon, the Marlins also officially announced six other players (infielder Eddy Alvarez, catcher Brian Navarreto, and right-handers Zach Thompson, Alexander Guillen, Anthony Bender, and Luis Madero) received spring invites on minor league contracts.

A veteran of nine big league seasons, Leon is best known for his five seasons with the Red Sox from 2015-19, a stint that saw him collect a World Series ring in 2018 and unexpectedly step up as an offensive threat (.845 OPS in 283 plate appearances) in 2016.  That 2016 campaign stands out as a big outlier amidst Leon’s overall career numbers, however, as he has a .216/.284/.327 slash line over 1379 career PA.

Leon didn’t even reach that modest level of production in 2020, as he hit .136/.296/.242 in 81 PA with the Indians.  It’s pretty clear Miami isn’t signing Leon for his bat, but rather his well-documented defensive skill — Leon is well-respected as a game-caller and he was an above-average pitch-framer in both 2018 and 2019.  Leon also has some impressive caught-stealing numbers over his career, though those totals have dipped over the last two years.

The signings of both Leon and Navarreto add some depth to a Marlins catching mix that consists of Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach.  Alfaro is coming off a tough season at the plate, but as a former top prospect, he’ll be given plenty more chances to firmly establish himself as a regular backstop.  Wallach is another defense-first catcher, so with Leon now in the mix, Wallach will need a solid showing in Spring Training to retain his job on the active roster.

Navarreto is back in Miami after making his MLB debut with the team last season, appearing in two games.  Originally a sixth-round pick for the Twins in the 2013 draft, Navarreto has hit .214/.264/.307 over 1753 career PA in the minors (in the Twins and Yankees farm systems) without ever reaching Triple-A ball.  He signed a minor league deal with the Marlins last winter but naturally never appeared in the minors due to the cancellation of the minor league season.

Alvarez is the only other member of the group to appear in the majors, as he hit .189/.268/.216 for the Marlins last season in the first 41 Major League plate appearances of his career.  Alvarez’s MLB debut made headlines, as the former Olympic silver medal-winning speed skater became the first former Olympian (in a sport besides baseball, of course) to appear in the majors since the legendary Jim Thorpe.  Beginning his career as an undrafted free agent, Alvarez has hit .278/.375/.413 with 40 homers over 2430 minor league PA, working mostly as a shortstop but also playing a significant amount of second and third base.

Giants News & Notes: Longo, Belt, Hamilton, Madero, Bishop

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The Giants may have to open the season without their starting corner infielders, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group explains. First baseman Brandon Belt is dealing with a right heel problem, and third baseman Evan Longoria has a moderate oblique strain.

Manager Gabe Kapler said Belt took groundballs and ran Thursday, but he gave no timeline for when Belt or Longoria could make their season debuts. Pablo Sandoval and Wilmer Flores, who each have first and third base experience, seem like logical fill-in candidates if the Giants are shorthanded at one or both positions. Right now, it does seem as though the Giants will be without a good portion of their most established veterans on Opening Day. Before Belt and Longoria were in jeopardy, they lost Buster Posey for the entire season when he decided to opt out a week ago.

In better news for the club, outfielder Billy Hamilton and righty Luis Madero were cleared Thursday to participate, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic relayed (Twitter links). Hamilton landed on the injured list for an undisclosed medical reason July 9, while Madero tested positive for COVID-19 on July 3. Between the two, only Hamilton had a chance at a season-opening roster spot, but because of the time he missed, Kapler no longer sees that as a realistic possibility.

Outfield prospect Hunter Bishop was another of the Giants’ recent positive COVID tests, but he’s also coming along. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Bishop “feels great” and hasn’t dealt with any symptoms of late. But Bishop hasn’t rejoined the team because, as Schulman writes, he has had “trouble navigating the testing process in Arizona to get the negative tests he needs to be activated.”

Luis Madero Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Giants right-hander Luis Madero has tested positive for COVID-19, as Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic was among those to cover via Twitter. He consented to the release of the medical information.

Madero, 23, was claimed and outrighted back in the pre-coronavirus days of Spring Training. That familiar grab-and-stash roster tactic has worked for the Giants since Farhan Zaidi came to town, though it’s expected to be utilized less frequently in 2020.

The Giants previously revealed that outfielder Hunter Bishop had tested positive as well. He’d have been a part of the 60-man player pool. Otherwise, Madero is the only player that was identified as being infected upon reporting for the launch of Summer Camp.

Fortunately, there’s no indication at this point that Madero is dealing with particularly concerning symptoms. He’ll need both to recover physically and register two negative tests before he’s able to get back to the 60-man activities.

Madero likely didn’t have a real shot at earning a big-league gig out of the gates, but he surely could be a candidate for a chance at the majors at some point this season if he performs well. He has at times looked like a legitimate MLB prospect, but has also endured some rough patches. One of those came last year at Double-A, where he worked to a 5.72 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 89 2/3 innings.

Giants Announce Hunter Pence Signing, Outright Luis Madero

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The Giants have announced the earlier-reported signing of outfielder Hunter Pence. Righty Luis Madero was outrighted to create roster space.

Pence will earn $3MM, according to Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). There’s another $2.5MM available through incentives, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). That includes $1MM in roster bonuses and another $1.5MM based upon plate appearances (beginning with his 450th), Crowley adds via Twitter.

Madero, you won’t be surprised to learn, was recently claimed off waivers by the roster-churning San Francisco organization. No doubt the team will be glad to have the 22-year-old on hand in camp as a non-roster player. He has shown interesting talent at times but was knocked around at the Double-A level last year, where he threw 89 2/3 innings of 5.72 ERA ball.

Giants Claim Luis Madero, Designate Jake Jewell

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The Giants have claimed right-hander Luis Madero off waivers from the Angels, per an announcement from the Angels. In order to create a roster spot for Madero, the Giants announced that fellow righty Jake Jewell has been designated for assignment. Madero himself was designated for assignment last week when the Angels acquired right-hander Matt Andriese in a trade with the Diamondbacks.

The 22-year-old Madero logged a combined 105 2/3 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2019 but struggled with a 5.03 ERA. He did notch more solid rate stats, including 8.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 47 percent grounder rate. Scouting reports on Madero peg his curveball as his best pitch and credit him with a low-90s heater as well. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs tabbed him as a potential fifth starter heading into the 2019 season, although that was before the the 6’3″, 185-pound righty endured a rough season.

Jewell, meanwhile, was only just claimed off waivers — also from the Angels organization — at the time the Giants parted ways with Zack Cozart. The 26-year-old has been hit hard in a small sample of 28 big league innings but enjoyed a solid season in the minors in 2018. His 2019 effort was a rough one across the board (6.84 ERA in the Majors, 5.26 in Triple-A), but scouting reports on Jewell have long credited him as a potential two-pitch reliever thanks to his fastball/slider combo. He’ll need to throw more strikes and command the ball within the zone more effectively, however, as both walks and home runs have been an issue for him.

Jewell’s time with the Giants organization could come to a close quickly, although this sort of move has been typical on for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Both during his time with the Dodgers and so far with the Giants, Zaidi has been willing to frequently turn over the fringes of his 40-man roster, regularly claiming players and quickly designating them for assignment and then seeking to pass them through waivers to keep them without dedicating a 40-man roster spot. That tactic can lead to a dizzying number of minor transactions but also has been an effective way of stockpiling depth.

Angels Designate Luis Madero, Release Adalberto Mejia

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The Angels announced that they’ve designated right-hander Luis Madero for assignment and released lefty Adalberto Mejia after he cleared waivers. Madero’s spot on the 40-man roster will go to the newly acquired Matt Andriese, whose trade to the Angels is now official. Mejia was designated for assignment last week.

Madero, 22, split the 2019 season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A but scuffled to the tune of a combined 5.03 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 47 percent grounder rate. Scouting reports on Madero peg his curveball as his best pitch and credit him with a low-90s heater as well. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs tabbed him as a potential fifth starter heading into the 2019 season, although that was before the the 6’3″, 185-pound righty endured a rough season.

The 26-year-old Mejia was unscored upon in 9 1/3 minor league innings across multiple organizations this year but was hit hard in the Majors, logging a 6.61 ERA (4.97 FIP, 5.98 xFIP) with an ugly 30-to-21 K/BB ratio in 31 1/3 innings. He did make 21 respectable starts for the Twins in 2017 (4.50 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 4.0 BB/9) at just 24 years of age, creating some optimism that he could settle in as the fourth starter he’d been projected as in the upper minors. But blister issues and a left wrist injury shortened Mejia’s 2018 season, and he wasn’t able to regain his footing in 2019. He’ll now be free to sign with any club.

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