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Wilin Rosario, Roger Bernadina, Nolan Reimold Hope To Return To MLB

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Former major leaguers Wilin Rosario, Roger Bernadina and Nolan Reimold are each hoping to return to MLB in 2018, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports (Twitter links). Rosario and Bernadina spent 2017 in the Korea Baseball Organization, while Reimold had a brief stint with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League before retiring in May.

All three players experienced unspectacular big league careers in their first tries, with Rosario enjoying the most success before heading to the KBO after the 2015 campaign. Rosario, who once ranked as Baseball America’s 49th overall prospect, hit a Coors Field-inflated .270/.312/.530 with 28 home runs in 426 plate appearances as a rookie catcher with the Rockies in 2012. He posted similar numbers the next year (.292/.315/.486 with 21 homers in 466 PAs), but his defense behind the plate was a problem even during his best days as a hitter, and his offensive decline from 2014-15 brought an end to his MLB career.

The Rockies designated Rosario for assignment in November 2015, and after he was unable to find a deal to his liking in the majors, he signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the hitter-friendly KBO in January 2016. Rosario played first base in the KBO and tore through the league over the past two seasons, hitting .330/.390/.625 with 70 long balls in 1,042 trips to the plate, and is now seemingly hoping to follow in the footsteps of Eric Thames. Now with the Brewers, who awarded him a three-year, $16MM contract last winter, Thames feasted on KBO pitching from 2014-16 after serving as a mediocre major league hitter from 2011-12. Thames’ KBO output (.348/.449/.715, 126 HRs across 1,638 PAs) was vastly superior to Rosario’s, though, and the latter also made an unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the majors last offseason. There’s no guarantee any MLB teams will have interest in Rosario this time around, then, but he’ll only be 29 in 2018 and could land on the radar of clubs in search of an inexpensive power source.

Bernadina, 33, is fresh off his first season in the KBO, where the outfielder batted .320/.372/.540 with 27 homers and 32 stolen bases over 621 PAs as a member of the Kia Tigers. It was the third straight year outside of the majors for Bernadina, who last appeared in the bigs in 2014 (nine PAs with the Dodgers) and spent 2015-16 at the Triple-A level. In his most productive season in the majors, 2012, Bernadina hit .291/.372/.405 and stole 15 bases in 261 PAs with the Nationals – his team from 2008-13. Overall, Bernadina owns a .236/.307/.354 line in parts of seven major league seasons with the Nats, Phillies, Reds and Dodgers.

Reimold, also an outfielder, put up a .246/.323/.422 line in 1,556 trips to the plate with the Orioles, Blue Jays and Diamondbacks from 2009-16. In his top season, which was also his rookie year, Reimold slashed .279/.365/.466 with personal highs in HRs (15), steals (eight) and PAs (411).

Nolan Reimold Retires

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Former major league outfielder Nolan Reimold has retired, according to Michael Pfaff, the president of the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League (Twitter link). Reimold joined the Ducks last month and ultimately slashed .238/.359/.397 in 78 plate appearances with the club.

Before partaking in indy ball, the 33-year-old Reimold had stints with the Orioles, Blue Jays and Diamondbacks from 2009-16 and typically served as a respectable major league hitter. With the exception of 2014 – which he divided between Toronto and Arizona – Reimold spent each of his seasons with the Orioles, who selected him in Round 2 of the 2005 draft. Overall, the righty-swinger was a viable option against pitchers of either handedness during his big league days and ended up batting .246/.323/.422 in 1,556 trips to the plate. He logged his best year as a rookie, hitting .279/.365/.466 with career highs in home runs (15), stolen bases (eight) and PAs (411).

Nolan Reimold, David Aardsma Sign With Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks

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Longtime Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold and veteran right-hander David Aardsma have each inked contracts with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, the Ducks announced in a pair of releases (Aardsma, Reimold). They’ll become two of the latest veterans to look to utilize the Atlantic League as a springboard back to the Majors. (Rich Hill, who pitched for the Ducks as recently as 2015, stands out as the most prominent recent success story.)

The 33-year-old Reimold enjoyed a productive stretch as a part-time player with the Orioles for the first four seasons of his career, hitting a combined .261/.338/.455 in 916 plate appearances from 2009-12. However, a back injury in 2013 that ultimately required surgery has slowed Reimold’s career in the subsequent years. Dating back to 2013, Reimold has slashed just .225/.300/.375, which includes a .222/.300/.365 batting line in 227 plate appearances with the Orioles last season.

As for Aardsma, the former Mariners closer last saw the Majors in 2015 when he pitched 30 2/3 innings of 4.70 ERA ball with a 35-to-14 K/BB ratio as a member of the Braves. Aardsma saved 69 games with the 2009-10 Mariners but saw his career derailed by hip surgery to repair a torn labrum and Tommy John surgery following that. In 337 Major League innings, Aardsma has a 4.27 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.

AL Notes: Twins, Park, Orioles, Logan

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Correcting a previous report, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Twins will not release designated hitter/first baseman Byung Ho Park if they’re unable to trade him. Park has been in limbo since Minnesota designated him for assignment last Friday and looks poised to head to camp as a non-roster invitee. The Twins owe the 30-year-old $9.25MM through the 2019 season.

Now here’s the latest out of Baltimore, courtesy of Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com:

  • Orioles general manager Dan Duquette informed Kubatko he’s “looking for some more depth” to add to the team’s bullpen, and he’s not going to discriminate based on handedness. Baltimore was eyeing lefty Boone Logan before he agreed to a deal with the Indians last week, Duquette confirmed, but it seems he was well out of the club’s price range. The Orioles would prefer signing someone to a minor league deal, per Kubatko, who notes that one reason they haven’t re-upped free agent right-hander Tommy Hunter is because he’s seeking a major league pact.
  • Free agent outfielder Nolan Reimold has spent nearly his entire career with the Orioles since they selected him in the second round of the 2005 draft, but they haven’t shown any interest in re-signing him, according to Kubatko. The right-handed-hitting Reimold, 33, has fared respectably at the plate in his career (.246/.323/.422 in 1,556 trips), though he registered a disappointing .222/.300/.365 line in 227 PAs last season to perhaps conclude his O’s tenure. Behind lefty-swinging corner outfielders Seth Smith and Hyun Soo Kim, the Reimold-less Orioles have a righty-hitting reserve in Joey Rickard, who handled southpaws over a small sample size as a rookie in 2016 (.313/.367/.494 in 90 PAs).
  • The Orioles’ signing of infielder Robert Andino to a minor league deal Monday may have closed the book on free agent Paul Janish’s time with the organization, Duquette told Kubatko. “We’ve been looking for a veteran shortstop and I’m not sure Paul Janish is going to come back to the O’s,” said Duquette. “So we had been talking to Janish and some others and then Andino reached out to us through Adam Jones. And he let Buck (Showalter) know that he was looking for a job and wanted to come back. So, we followed up with his agent.” The defensively adept Janish, who elected free agency after the Orioles outrighted him in October, totaled a combined 71 plate appearances with the team from 2015-16.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12-2-2015

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We’ll use this post to keep tabs on arbitration deals struck today in advance of the non-tender deadline. Here’s the latest, with all projections via MLB Trade Rumors:

  • The Padres and Brett Wallace have agreed to a one-year contract for the 2016 season, according to a team announcement. Wallace will earn $1MM next season, tweets MLB.com’s Corey Brock, placing him just shy of his $1.1MM projection.
  • Backstop Chris Gimenez has agreed to a deal to avoid arbitration with the Rangers, per a team announcement. Gimenez will earn $975K while in the majors, but the deal is a split contract, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
  • The Orioles announced that they’ve agreed to terms with outfielder Nolan Reimold on a one-year deal, thus avoiding arbitration. Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com reports that Reimold will land a $1.3MM salary (Twitter link). He cleared MLBTR’s projection by $400K.
  • The Indians have avoided arbitration with newly acquired outfielder Collin Cowgill by agreeing to a $1MM salary for the upcoming 2016 season, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. That’s an exact match with his projected salary.
  • The Athletics announced that they’ve avoided arb with second baseman Eric Sogard, outfielder Sam Fuld, and newly acquired southpaw Marc Rzepczynski (Twitter link). Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported Sogard’s contract (via Twitter), adding that he receives a $1.5MM salary, which is a bit shy of his $1.7MM projection.
  • The Cubs announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with lefty Clayton Richard, who, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reports (on Twitter), will take home a $2MM salary next season. That’s a sizable increase over the $1.1MM at which he was projected.

Earlier Updates

  • The Blue Jays have avoided arbitration with first baseman Justin Smoak, per Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). He’ll earn $3.9MM next season with the Jays. That number drastically outpaces the $2MM projected by MLBTR.
  • Jose Lobaton and the Nationals have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $1.3875MM, reports James Wagner of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Lobaton’s deal comes in just shy of the $1.5MM he was projected to earn.
  • The Phillies announced deals with infielder Andres Blanco and just-claimed outfielder Peter Bourjos. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that Bourjos will receive a $2MM salary and Blanco will be paid $1.45MM in 2016. MLBTR had projected Blanco at $1MM while Bourjos came with a projected tag of $1.8MM.
  • Jordan Lyles has a $2.975MM deal with the Rockies, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. The righty will earn a minor bump over his $2.8MM projection.
  • The Athletics announced that the team has agreed to a deal with lefty Felix Doubront on a contract for 2016. The value is not known at this time, but he was projected at $2.5MM.
  • Backstop A.J. Ellis will receive $4.5MM next year with the Dodgers after striking a deal, Heyman tweets. That’s an exact match for the rate projected by MLBTR and Matt Swartz. The 34-year-old, who had a nice bounce-back campaign in 2015, will hit the open market after the coming season.
  • Righty Vance Worley has signed on with the Orioles for $2.6MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. That falls just $100K shy of his projected value as a first-year-eligible player. Baltimore added Worley earlier in the winter from the Pirates and figures to utilize him in a swingman capacity.
  • The Cubs have agreed to a $1.42MM deal with just-added lefty Rex Brothers, Heyman tweets. Brothers was projected at $1.5MM and will land just south of that figure. Brothers was recently designated by the Rockies and then shipped to Chicago in a minor trade.
  • And the Nationals will pay $900K to outfielder/first baseman Tyler Moore for the 2016 season, also per Heyman (via Twitter). He’ll land a bit shy of his $1MM projection, but the more relevant matter here is the fact that Moore will keep his roster spot. That has at times seemed at doubt, particularly with Ryan Zimmerman now entrenched at first base.

AL East Notes: Davis, Orioles, Price, Yankees

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The Orioles remain tight-lipped on the progress of their offseason talks with Chris Davis and agent Scott Boras, but one person within the organization at least termed the discussions thus far as “productive,” writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. According to Kubatko, the Orioles aren’t turned off by the notion that Davis could command a six- or seven-year pact ranging from $24MM to $26MM in annual value. If nothing else, he notes, the fact that the Orioles haven’t simply walked away due to that price tag is telling of their desire to retain Davis. However, waiting on Davis is at least somewhat risky, as it’s possible that many of Baltimore’s alternatives will sign elsewhere in the meantime, leaving little in the way of options should the team ultimately prove unable to retain the slugger.

A few more items pertaining to the AL East…

  • The Orioles are “searching everywhere” for outfield help, writes CSNMidAtlantic.com’s Rich Dubroff. At present, there are seven players on Baltimore’s 40-man roster with outfield experience, but only Adam Jones is the only established regular among them, Dubroff notes. Arbitration eligible players like David Lough and Nolan Reimold could be non-tendered next week, Dubroff writes, though Reimold is a better bet to return than Lough, he adds.
  • Former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was a recent guest on the WEEI Hot Stove show, and in discussing David Price’s impact on the Jays, Anthopoulos called him the “best teammate I’ve ever seen.” Anthopoulos lauded Price for his work ethic and the way in which that rubs off on other players as well as the leadership he exudes in the clubhouse. Said Anthopoulos: “He brings something else more than just the two ERA and the 240 innings and everything else. He leads. He sets a great example. He’€™ll be a great get for any team that gets him.”
  • Chad Jennings of the Journal News profiles some of the potential bargain help on the Yankees’ roster. While names like Dellin Betances and Luis Severino are obvious picks, Jennings also points out the potential bargain the team could have acquired in buying low on Dustin Ackley, who seems likely to handle the bulk of New York’s second base duties next season. Ackley hit a robust .288/.333/.654 in his tiny sample of work with the Yankees, but getting out of Safeco Field could help him realize his potential. Brendan Ryan’s $1MM salary looks like a bargain when compared to the two-year, $3.75MM contract commanded by a similar player — Cliff Pennington. And, the Yankees’ successful buy-low on Didi Gregorius last offseason has left the team with a shortstop whose production will far outreach his salary in the coming years.

AL East Notes: Gardner, Orioles, Red Sox, Moore

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In his latest Yankees Inbox column, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tackles a number of topics, perhaps most notably the possibility of a Brett Gardner trade this winter. Hoch notes that a deal is at least possible, as it might be one of the only ways in which the Yankees can creatively gain some flexibility this winter. With Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran locked into the other two outfield spots and Alex Rodriguez blocking Beltran from DH at-bats, there’s little room to make changes on the roster. While Hoch says that “initial indications” are that it won’t be a big-spending winter for the Yankees, moving Gardner could give the team both roster and financial flexibility. Within his column, Hoch also touches on the 2016 plans for Greg Bird and notes that the Yankees aren’t simply going to hand the second base job to Rob Refsnyder in 2016 as they feel he’s still developing from a defensive standpoint.

More from the AL East…

  • Orioles fans will want to check out this column from MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, as he covers a number of players on the fringes of Baltimore’s 40-man roster and their future with the organization, including Dylan Bundy, Steve Johnson, Nolan Reimold, Steve Clevenger and Jimmy Paredes. Bundy will compete for a spot in the 2016 bullpen, but he’ll be out of options, complicating his future. Johnson drew interest from the Phillies and Mariners last year before re-signing a minor league deal with Baltimore. He could draw trade interest this offseason, Kubatko notes. The Orioles are expected to keep Reimold this offseason, and Clevenger’s defensive improvements have satisfied O’s decision-makers, though he could still be marketed in trades this offseason. Kubatko notes that the O’s had the chance to deal Clevenger at the July trade deadline — he lists the Mariners as an interested party — but hung onto him. Paredes’s future is less certain after a dismal second half, Kubatko writes (in much further detail than I’ve covered here).
  • One rival executive tells Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald that he expects Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to “blow up the farm system” (as Mastrodonato terms it) and make trades to acquire the front-line pitching Boston desperately needs. “Dave is going to make some moves. He’ll be busy,” the exec told Mastrodonato. Dombrowski said he’s already begun receiving phone calls from other general managers to begin expressing interest in working out deals, Mastrodonato adds.
  • In a second article, Mastrodonato talks to Royals GM Dayton Moore about the interview he had to become the Red Sox general manager one year prior to taking his current post with Kansas City. Moore, who previously oversaw the Braves’ scouting and player development operations, said he actually didn’t have interest in becoming a GM but took the interview after his own boss with the Braves, then-GM John Schuerholz, told him to go through the process. “You’ll learn a ton,” Schuerholz told Moore. Moore was staying at the same hotel as Sox president Larry Lucchino and chairman Tom Werner at the time, so he went through the interview process and found it enjoyable. “That was the first time I started thinking about wanting to become a GM.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/5/15

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

  • The Giants have outrighted outfielders Justin Maxwell and Ryan Lollis to Triple-A Sacramento, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. They had designated both for assignment last week. The veteran Maxwell is a solid defender but a somewhat light hitter who batted .209/.275/.341 in 274 plate appearances in the big leagues this year. It’s unclear whether he’ll accept the Giants’ assignment. The 28-year-old Lollis has had a breakout season in the minors, batting .325/.377/.459 in 299 plate appearances for Sacramento, but he had a somewhat sketchy track record before that and only has 13 plate appearances’ worth of big-league experience.
  • The Cubs have released veteran reliever Rafael Soriano, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets. They had designated him for assignment in a flurry of roster moves last Tuesday. Soriano, 35, did not sign until June and then pitched only 5 2/3 innings for Chicago, allowing four runs before hitting the DL with shoulder trouble. Soriano has a 2.89 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 14 seasons also spent with the Mariners, Braves, Rays, Yankees and Nationals.
  • The Rays have outrighted infielder Hak-Ju Lee to Triple-A Durham, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Lee, a former top prospect and a key part of the 2011 Matt Garza trade between the Rays and Cubs, has struggled to hit at Durham in recent seasons, posting a .220/.303/.304 line in 360 plate appearances there in 2015. (Of course, the Rays still did just fine in that deal, also getting Chris Archer and Brandon Guyer.) The Rays designated him for assignment on Tuesday.
  • The Orioles have selected the contract of veteran outfielder Nolan Reimold, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. The Orioles outrighted Reimold last week, but as Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets, Reimold accepted the outright after the Orioles told him they would promote him this month. As Kubatko points out, the righty might prove useful as the O’s face two lefties (David Price and Mark Buehrle) this weekend. He’s hit .227/.306/.340 in 108 plate appearances with Baltimore this season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/27/15

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Orioles have outrighted outfielder Nolan Reimold to Triple-A, the club announced. While Reimold could have declined the assignment and elected free agency, he’s chosen to accept it, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. The 31-year-old put up a .227/.306/.340 batting line over 108 plate appearances in his return to Baltimore this year.
  • Infielder Alberto Callaspo has been given his release by the Dodgers, the club announced (per MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick, on Twitter). Callaspo was designated for assignment when the Dodgers recently added Chase Utley. He signed with the Braves over the winter but was dealt to Los Angeles in the Juan Uribe deal. All told, Callaspo, 32, has slashed .235/.315/.278 over 261 turns at bat.

Orioles Designate Nolan Reimold For Assignment

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In a series of roster moves, the Orioles announced that they’ve designated outfielder Nolan Reimold for assignment and reinstated infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce from the disabled list. Though getting Pearce back deepens the club, the Orioles took another injury hit in his place, as the team announced that J.J. Hardy has landed on the DL with a groin strain. Right-hander Jorge Rondon has been recalled in his place to give the O’s some extra bullpen depth.

Reimold has spent most of his career either alternating frequently between Triple-A and the Majors or between the active roster and the disabled list. Although he has more than five years of big league service under his belt, Reimold has played in just 354 games at the Major League level. He’s shown on multiple stints in the past that he has the raw talent to be a productive big leaguer, but he’s now 31 years old with a history of neck problems as well as spinal fusion surgery under his belt.

Reimold batted .227/.306/.340 in 108 plate appearances this year and has .214/.276/.361 in 326 PAs dating back to 2013. He’s spent nearly all of his career with the Orioles, although he did briefly appear with the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks in 2014 before returning to Baltimore on a minor league deal this winter.

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