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A’s Designate Jeurys Familia, Domingo Acevedo For Assignment

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The Athletics are shaking up their bullpen, designating right-handers Jeurys Familia and Domingo Acevedo for assignment, per a team announcement. Righty Adam Oller was also optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. In a set of corresponding moves, righties Spencer Patton, Austin Pruitt and Rico Garcia have all had their contracts selected from Triple-A.

Familia, 33, returned to the A’s for a second stint late in spring training, after the D-backs cut him loose late in spring training. The former Mets closer had enjoyed a strong showing in camp with Arizona and landed a big league deal with Oakland, but things haven’t gone well in his return to the Coliseum. Through 12 2/3 innings, Familia has been tagged for a 6.39 ERA, due in no small part to a sky-high 20.3% walk rate.

It’s been a tough two years for Familia, who was sharp with the Mets from 2020-21 but was roughed up for a 6.09 ERA in 44 1/3 frames between the Phillies and Red Sox in 2022. Familia’s fastball, which once averaged better than 97 mph, sat at what was then a career-low 95.6 mph between those two teams last year. This season, he’s averaged 94.8 mph on the pitch.

As for the 29-year-old Acevedo, his bottom-line run prevention numbers are even more jarring. In 9 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, he’s been clobbered for 11 runs on 16 hits (two homers), a pair of walks and a hit batter with seven punchouts. The resulting 10.61 ERA is more than triple the strong 3.33 mark he posted in 67 2/3 innings for the A’s during the 2022 season.

Acevedo’s velocity hasn’t changed — his 93.2 mph average heater is an exact match with his 2022 velocity — nor has he made any radical alterations to his pitch selection/usage. However, he’s seen his swinging-strike rate plummet from 15.6% to 8.8%, while his opponents’ chase rate has fallen from 35.6% to 29%. While he’s undoubtedly had some poor fortune in terms of batted balls (.400 BABIP), Acevedo also just isn’t missing many bats and is getting chases off the plate at a below-average rate after excelling in both those areas a year ago.

Pruitt returns to the A’s for a second season after spending the bulk of the 2022 campaign in their bullpen and pitching to a 4.23 ERA in 55 1/3 innings. The A’s removed him from the 40-man roster but re-signed him to a minor league deal this past offseason, and he’s begun the year with a 2.30 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in 15 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball. Pruitt has only fanned 17.4% of his Major League opponents, so he’s not likely to keep missing bats at this level, but he also boasts a very strong 5.3% walk rate in his MLB career.

The 35-year-old Patton has had the most MLB experience in recent seasons. Patton, who starred for NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars for several years before returning to MLB with the Rangers in 2021, pitched to a 3.83 ERA in 49 1/3 innings with Texas in 2021-22. He had a very strong ’21 season, fanning 27.9% of his opponents against an 8.7% walk rate, but Patton’s velocity dipped by more than a mile per hour in 2022 as his walk and strikeout rates spiked in the wrong directions. Through 8 1/3 innings with Las Vegas this season, he’s allowed four runs on 11 hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts.

Garcia, 29, has appeared in three big league seasons, splitting a total of 24 innings between the Rockies, Giants and Orioles. He has a grisly 6.38 ERA in that time and has issued more walks than strikeouts. However, he’s sitting on a 2.03 ERA in 13 1/3 innings so far in Las Vegas, with a hefty 32.8% strikeout rate and 18% swinging-strike rate against a more troublesome 15.5% walk rate.

A’s Sign Rico Garcia To Minor League Deal

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Oakland have agreed to terms on a minor league deal with pitcher Rico Garcia, according to A’s broadcaster Jessica Kleinschmidt. The deal comes with an invite to spring training.

Garcia, 28, appeared in six games for the Orioles in 2022, throwing eight innings of 4.50 ERA ball, giving up a pair of home runs and striking out just two batters. In 34 2/3 innings at Triple-A, Garcia had a 2.34 ERA with a 28.4% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. He throws a 95mph fastball and adds in a changeup and cutter to his arsenal.

Garcia was drafted in the 30th round of the 2016 draft by the Rockies. He made his way up through Colorado’s system, debuting with a handful of innings in 2019. He was plucked off waivers by the Giants that winter and pitched ten innings of 5.40 ERA ball for them in 2020. Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2021 put an end to that campaign and he latched on with the Orioles for 2022 before being granted free agency shortly after the season.

All told, Garcia owns a lifetime 6.38 ERA across 24 innings in the big leagues. Given his solid numbers in the minors, he’ll join the A’s and provide them with some pitching depth heading into the 2023 campaign.

Outrights: Aguilar, Beaty, Garcia, Barrera

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A handful of players recently designated for assignment have gone unclaimed on waivers in recent days.

  • The Angels announced today that outfielder Ryan Aguilar was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 28-year-old is now in line for what’ll be the first Triple-A experience of his career. Aguilar had never played above Double-A before he was called up last month — first as a temporary replacement for players unable to travel to Toronto and then as a formal addition to the 40-man roster. Aguilar only got into seven games during his MLB look, though, striking out in 14 of 26 plate appearances before being designated for assignment last week. He’d struck out in 27.2% of his plate appearances at Double-A Rocket City this year, but he’d also drawn walks at an incredible 19% clip and posted a huge .280/.427/.517 showing in 88 games there. The lefty-hitting outfielder will stick in the organization for now, but he’ll qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the year if he’s not reselected onto the 40-man roster.
  • Infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Padres, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Acquired from the division rival Dodgers before the season, Beaty only appeared in 20 games with San Diego and hit .093/.170/.163 without a home run. He lost the bulk of the year to a shoulder impingement. It’s been a tough season, but the left-handed hitter is only a year removed from a productive .270/.363/.402 showing over 234 plate appearances with Los Angeles. Beaty surpassed three years of MLB service this season, giving him the right to refuse an assignment to Triple-A El Paso in favor of free agency.
  • The Orioles announced that right-hander Rico Garcia was outrighted to Triple-A Norolk. Baltimore designated the 28-year-old for assignment over the weekend upon claiming Cam Gallagher off waivers. Garcia has appeared in six big league games this season, working eight frames of four-run ball. He’s only struck out two batters, but he has a more impressive 27% strikeout rate in 30 1/3 innings with the Tides this year. Garcia has never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of service, so he’ll stick in the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. He’ll be eligible for free agency at the end of the season if not added back to the roster.
  • Athletics outfielder Luis Barrera has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to his MLB.com transactions log. Barrera lost his roster spot when Oakland claimed Conner Capel from the Cardinals last week. The left-hander has tallied a career-high 85 MLB plate appearances this year, hitting .234/.294/.338 with his first home run. Barrera has slightly below-average numbers in Triple-A and has been outrighted twice this season, giving him the right to test free agency this time around.

Orioles Claim Cam Gallagher, Designate Rico Garcia

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The Orioles announced that they have claimed catcher Cam Gallagher off waivers from the Padres and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. He was designated for assignment by the Friars on Friday. Right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Gallagher, 29, was drafted by the Royals and spent most of his career backing up Salvador Perez. On deadline day this year, he was sent to the Padres for Brent Rooker but the Friars kept him in the minors until designating him for assignment. He has a career batting line of .240/.302/.355 in 171 career games, all with KC.

Defensively, he’s racked up 12 Defensive Runs Saved in that time, a fairly strong mark for what is barely over a full season of work. For context, only three MLB catchers have more than 12 DRS so far this season. His 171-game career has also resulted in a 10.2 FRM, which is the framing metric at FanGraphs. Jose Trevino is the only catcher who has posted an FRM higher than that this season.

Due to his backup role, Gallagher has never played more than 48 games in a season, so it’s hard to say whether or not he could sustain those solid defensive numbers over a lengthier stretch. He may not have to though, as the O’s are likely considering him for a backup role behind rookie catcher Adley Rutschman. It was recently reported that the O’s are looking to add a backup catcher this offseason, which makes sense as Robinson Chirinos is a free agent this winter. It’s possible that this claim gives them a chance to cross that off their to-do list early, or at least provide them with a backup plan in the event they don’t find an offseason move to their liking.

Garcia, 28, was signed by Baltimore to a minor league deal in the offseason and has logged just eight innings in the majors this year but has solid numbers in the minors. Through 41 frames on the farm the season, he has a 1.76 ERA with a 32.3% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate. He will still have one more option after this year and still has less than one year of MLB service time. If any team feels he can sustain those strong results from this season, they could put in a claim and retain his services at little cost.

Orioles Select Rico Garcia

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The Orioles announced some roster moves prior to today’s game, selecting the contract of right-hander Rico Garcia to their roster. To make room for Garcia on the active roster, lefty Bruce Zimmermann was optioned to Triple-A. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Travis Lakins Sr. was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Additionally, righty Marcos Diplan, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

Garcia, 28, has 19 innings of MLB experience under his belt, including three with the Orioles earlier this year. He was selected as a COVID-19 “substitute” when the club travelled to Toronto and placed Anthony Santander and Keegan Akin on the restricted list due to their unvaccinated status. As Garcia was given substitute status, he was removed from the roster after the Toronto series without being exposed to waivers.

Garcia also appeared in the big leagues with the Rockies in 2019 and Giants in 2020, generating a career ERA of 6.63 so far in that small sample of scattered work. He missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery and signed a minor league deal with the O’s in the offseason. He’s had a solid showing in Triple-A this year, throwing 18 innings with an even ERA of 3.00, along with a 25.3% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 31.1% ground ball rate.

As for Lakins, this transfer will mean he’s ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement for elbow inflammation, which was on May 20. Those 60 days are almost up and there’s no news on his prognosis, making this move a mere formality.

Diplan has been outrighted by the Orioles twice before and returned to the club both times. He has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it seems possible he’ll stick with the O’s like he did in those previous instances.

Orioles Reinstate Anthony Santander, Keegan Akin

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JUNE 17: As expected, Santander and Akin have been reinstated from the restricted list before this evening’s game against the Rays. Stowers and Garcia have been returned to the minor leagues and are off the 40-man roster.

JUNE 13: The Orioles announced they’ve selected outfielder Kyle Stowers and right-hander Rico Garcia onto the major league roster as designated COVID-19 “substitutes.” In corresponding moves, they’ve placed outfielder Anthony Santander and lefty Keegan Akin on the restricted list. That’s the standard practice for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 on teams headed for a series in Toronto. The Canadian government prohibits unvaccinated athletes from crossing the border, so Santander and Akin will miss the next four games.

Stowers is the more notable of the two call-ups, as he’s now in line to make his major league debut. A supplemental second-round pick out of Stanford back in 2019, the left-handed hitter has been one of the organization’s most interesting prospects since that point. Stowers appeared among the top 30 farmhands in a quality Baltimore system each season from 2020-22, according to Baseball America, with the outlet recently placing him as the O’s #9 minor league talent.

Primarily a corner outfielder, Stowers’ calling card is his bat speed and power potential. BA graded his raw power as plus-plus (a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale), and he popped 27 home runs and 23 doubles across three minor league levels last season. Stowers drew plenty of walks as well but struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances at each stop, and both Baseball America and Keith Law of the Athletic raised questions about how often he swings through pitches inside the strike zone.

To Stowers’ credit, he’s cut back on his strikeout rate thus far in the 2022 campaign. Through 209 plate appearances at Triple-A Norfolk, he’s hitting  .253/.356/.545 with 12 homers and a more manageable 25.4% strikeout percentage. That’s still a few points north of the league average, but it’s unquestionably an improvement relative to last season and hasn’t come at the cost of any of Stowers’ extra-base impact.

Garcia, meanwhile, is headed to the majors for the first time in two years. The Honolulu native suited up with the Rockies and Giants between 2019-20, tossing 16 innings of 7.31 ERA ball between the division rivals. Garcia missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he was limited to a minor league deal this past winter. He has a 1.93 ERA across 18 2/3 innings between three levels, striking out an excellent 37.2% of opponents along the way.

That Baltimore specified both Stowers and Garcia are COVID replacements is notable, as they’ll each be occupying a temporary spot on the 40-man roster. Both players can be taken off the roster and returned to Norfolk when Santander and Akin are eligible to return on Friday, and that seems the likeliest course of action.

Stowers, in particular, figures to land a permanent roster spot in the relatively near future, though. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man at the start of next offseason to keep him from being taken in the Rule 5 draft, and Baltimore could bring him up for an extended look against big league arms before too long given his strong high minors showing.

In other O’s news, the club announced that infielder Chris Owings has passed through release waivers unclaimed. He’s now a free agent. Baltimore designated Owings for assignment last week after a .107/.254/.143 start to the season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/10/21

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Some minor moves taking place during this year’s GM Meetings:

  • The Orioles have landed right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia on a minor league accord, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. A 30th-rounder drafted out of Hawaii Pacific University by the Rockies in 2016, Garcia has posted promising (if inconsistent) results throughout his minor league career as a starter. The righty received brief looks in the Major Leagues for a 2019 Rockies team and a 2020 Giants team before undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the 2021 season with the San Francisco organization. He will likely serve as relief depth for a Baltimore team that needs it on the heels of a historically poor pitching season.
  • The Angels have struck a minor league deal with outfielder Aaron Whitefield, reports SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson. The 25-year-old Whitefield signed with the Twins out of his native Australia back in 2015 and had been a staple in their minor league ranks since. The speedster is coming off a decent Double-A campaign in 2021 where hit .257/.327/.353 but with a tantalizing number of steals (36, in 48 attempts) and centerfield-capable defense. He’ll now serve as a depth option for a Los Angeles team that is frequently beset with injuries and look to get called up to the Majors for the first time since a three-game cameo with Minnesota in 2020.

Rico Garcia To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Giants announced that right-hander Rico Garcia will undergo Tommy John surgery this Saturday, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to pass along. The 27-year-old was in camp as a non-roster invitee.

This will obviously sideline Garcia for all of 2021 and quite likely into the following season as well. He had been looking to earn his way back into the San Francisco bullpen. Garcia pitched in twelve games for the Giants last season, but they non-tendered him at year’s end. Altogether, he’s pitched 16 MLB innings with the Rockies and Giants, allowing thirteen runs with nine strikeouts and walks apiece.

While he has struggled in his brief time in the majors and at Triple-A, Garcia has pitched extremely well up through the Double-A level. Unfortunately, he won’t get another opportunity to carry that success over to the big leagues until next year.

Giants Sign Dominic Leone, Several Others To Minor League Deals

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The Giants announced a series of minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training today, with right-handers Dominic Leone, Silvino Bracho and Rico Garcia among them. Lefty Anthony Banda, whom the Giants outrighted at season’s end, is also back on a minors pact. Others invited to camp include right-handers Melvin Adon, Daniel Alvarez, Yunior Marte, Raffi Vizcaino and Sam Wolff, as well as lefty Sam Long and infielder/outfielder Jason Krizan.

Of the group, Leone comes with far and away the most big league experience. The 29-year-old reliever has appeared in parts of seven MLB seasons, pitching to a combined 4.09 ERA with 9.6 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 over the course of 253 innings out of the bullpen. Leone’s peak season came with the Blue Jays in 2017, when he racked up a career-high 70 1/3 innings and struck out a hearty 29 percent of the batters he faced (10.4 K/9).

Following that strong effort, Leone was traded to the Cardinals alongside righty Conner Greene in the deal that sent Randal Grichuk to Toronto. Things didn’t pan out in St. Louis for Leone, who limped through a pair of injury-plagued seasons and ultimately record a 5.15 ERA and 4.77 FIP in 64 2/3 frames as a Cardinal. Although he’s been inconsistent, Leone makes for a sensible enough flier by a Giants club looking high and low for bullpen depth after seeing several key relievers depart in recent years.

Others in the group with MLB experience include former Bracho, a former D-backs reliever, Garcia and Banda. Garcia tossed 10 innings with the Giants in 2019 but has generally been hit hard between his brief time between San Francisco and Colorado. Banda was at one point considered to be one of the game’s top overall pitching prospects but has since had his career derailed by injuries, including Tommy John surgery. He was with the Giants org late in the season but did not pitch in a big league game.

Bracho, 28, was up and down with Arizona from 2015-17 but looked to turn a corner in 2018 when he pitched 31 innings with a 3.19 ERA/3.26 FIP and a 34-to-12 K/BB ratio. However, he missed the entire 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and had his 2020 return slowed this summer when he tested positive for Covid-19. Bracho did make it back to toss an inning with the D-backs, but he hasn’t had a full, healthy season since 2018. With three-plus big years of MLB service, he’s technically controllable through at least the 2023 campaign if he can crack the MLB roster and seize a spot in the San Francisco bullpen.

National League Non-Tenders

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With revenue losses expected to result in reduced payrolls around baseball, a larger number of players than usual are expected to be let go by their current teams by tonight’s 7pm CT non-tender deadline.  Some of these players could end up re-signing with their teams for salaries below what they were projected (by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) to earn through the arbitration process, or teams could end up simply opting to explore other options…with many of those options arriving on the market through this same non-tender process.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through the list of National League players who have been let go in this post.

Earlier Non-Tenders

  • The Cardinals non-tendered righty John Brebbia and outfielder Rangel Ravelo, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Brebbia had played a significant role in the St. Louis pen for his first three MLB campaigns but is still recovering from mid-2020 Tommy John surgery.
  • Right-handed reliever Clay Holmes has been non-tendered by the Pirates, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among those to cover on Twitter. The 27-year-old hurler made it into just one MLB contest in 2020 owing to a forearm injury.
  • The Marlins have decided not to tender a contract to righty Ryne Stanek, Craig Mish of Sports Grid first tweeted. He joins fellow right-hander Jose Urena in departing via non-tender. (Urena had already been designated for assignment.) Stanek, 29, struggled with the free pass in limited action this year but has been a quality, high-strikeout arm in the past and could be an interesting name to watch on the open market.
  • In addition to Shreve, the Mets announced the non-tenders of righties Ariel Jurado, Paul Sewald, and Nick Tropeano.
  • The Mets will not tender a contract to left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. Shreve performed reasonably well in 2020, logging a 3.96 ERA/3.99 FIP with 12.24 K/9 and 4.32 BB/9 in 25 innings, but the Mets will nonetheless move on instead of paying him around $1MM in arbitration.
  • The Padres won’t tender a contract to infielder Greg Garcia, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Garcia, 31, posted a woeful .200/.279/.250 batting line in 2020, albeit in a tiny sample of 71 plate appearances. In parts of two seasons with the Friars, he slashed .240/.351/.337, but the team opted not to give him a raise on last year’s $1.5MM salary.
  • The Reds have non-tendered outfielder Brian Goodwin, he announced on Twitter (hat tip to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). Goodwin, whom the Reds acquired from the Angels over the summer, slashed .215/.299/.417 with six home runs and five stolen bases over 164 plate appearances between the teams in 2020. He was due to earn a projected $2.7MM to $3.6MM in arbitration.
  • The Cubs have told Jose Martinez he isn’t being tendered a contract, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports (Twitter link).  Acquired from the Rays in a deadline deal, Martinez went hitless over 22 plate appearances with Chicago, only reaching base once on a walk.  The 32-year-old mashed for the Cardinals from 2016-18, but delivered closer to league-average production in 2019 with St. Louis and with the Rays last season prior to the trade.
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