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Sean O'Sullivan

Nationals Sign Sean O’Sullivan To Minors Deal

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The Nationals have signed right-hander Sean O’Sullivan to a minor league contract, according to a team announcement.

The 29-year-old O’Sullivan is returning from Korea, where he opened the season with the Nexen Heroes of the hitter-friendly KBO and allowed 14 earned runs on 17 hits in just eight innings. O’Sullivan hasn’t been anywhere near that woeful stateside, though his numbers in the majors and at Triple-A still aren’t great. He most recently appeared in the big leagues last season with the Red Sox, logging five appearances and four starts. O’Sullivan pitched to a 6.75 ERA, with 5.48 K/9, 2.53 BB/9 and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate, in 21 1/3 innings with Boston. The journeyman’s career numbers aren’t all that different, as O’Sullivan has logged a 6.01 ERA, 4.39 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 40.1 grounder mark during a 323 2/3-inning span in which he has also seen action with the Angels, Royals, Padres and Phillies.

As a Triple-A hurler, O’Sullivan owns a passable 4.25 ERA and strikeout and walk rates of 6.2 and 2.7, respectively, in 796 1/3 frames.

Sean O’Sullivan Signs With KBO’s Nexen Heroes

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Righty Sean O’Sullivan has signed on with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Nexen Heroes, the team announced (Korean language announcement; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). He’ll receive a $1.1MM salary.

The 29-year-old hurler has seen action in parts of seven major league campaigns, appearing with the Angels, Royals, Padres, Phillies, and (most recently) Red Sox. All told, he’s provided 323 2/3 innings, but owns a sub-optimal 6.01 ERA with 4.4 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 to go with a 40.1% groundball rate. The long ball has been a problem, as O’Sullivan has allowed 1.64 home runs per nine innings pitched.

O’Sullivan made four starts and one relief appearance last year for Boston, but spent most of the year (and large parts of the past eight seasons) pitching at Triple-A. The former third-round draft pick threw 105 1/3 frames in 19 starts in the highest level of the minors, posting a 4.02 ERA but carrying a fairly promising 7.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.

Red Sox Outright Sean O’Sullivan

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The Red Sox announced today that they’ve activated right-hander Sean O’Sullivan from the 15-day disabled list and sent him outright to Triple-A Pawtucket, thereby removing him from the 40-man roster.

The 28-year-old O’Sullivan had been on the DL with tendinitis in his left knee since early July. He’s pitched in five games for the Sox this season but struggled to a 6.75 ERA in 21 1/3 innings (four starts, one relief appearance). He’s pitched in the Majors in seven of the past eight seasons (2012 being the lone exception) in spite of sub-par results; O’Sullivan owns a 6.01 ERA with 4.4 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 323 1/3 innings at the big league level that have been split between the Angels, Royals, Padres, Phillies and BoSox. He has a career 4.28 ERA in 769 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, though, making him a nice depth option for any team.

O’Sullivan has been outrighted in the past and, as such, has the right to reject this assignment in favor of free agency. However, he’s already accepted an outright assignment with the Red Sox once this season, so there’s a good chance he’ll do so once again, especially at this stage of the year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/18/16

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Here are today’s minor moves:

  • Right-hander Sean O’Sullivan cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A by the Red Sox, per Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). O’Sullivan, who has been outrighted in the past and had the option of rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency, will instead accept the assignment, tweets Cotillo. The well-traveled 28-year-old made a pair of starts and a relief appearance for the Sox before being designated for assignment, yielding 10 runs on 19 hits and a couple of walks with seven strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings. In parts of seven big league seasons, O’Sullivan has a 6.03 ERA in 313 2/3 innings.

Earlier Moves

  • The Bridgeport Bluefish have signed a pair of former big league hurlers, the club announced. Righty Blake Beavan and lefty Robert Carson will be joining the indy league club. Beavan, 27, owns a 4.61 ERA with 4.2 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 over 293 MLB innings, all with the Mariners. The former first round pick pitched briefly at the Triple-A level last year for the Diamondbacks, but did not catch on with another organization after his mid-year release. Also 27, Carson appeared briefly in 2012 and 2013 with the Mets. He spent time with Bridgeport last year and had been pitching in Mexico early in 2016, with a 6.28 ERA over his 28 2/3 innings.
  • Infielder Ed Lucas has been released by the Mariners, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports on Twitter. The 33-year-old had a nice season at Triple-A last year with the Rangers, but has only appeared in parts of two MLB campaigns — with the Marlins in 2013 and 2014. He was off to a .232/.265/.399 batting line in 147 plate appearances.
  • Righty Javy Guerra has accepted his outright assignment with the Angels, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Guerra cleared waivers yesterday. He’ll look to cut back on his walks upon his return to Triple-A Salt Lake and hope for another promotion to a big league team that’s cycling through plenty of arms.

Red Sox Designate Sean O’Sullivan For Assignment

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The Red Sox have designated right-hander Sean O’Sullivan for assignment, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald was among those to report (Twitter link).

Before the Red Sox designated him, the 28-year-old O’Sullivan made his second major league start of the year Sunday. In a 10-9 win over Houston, O’Sullivan threw 4 1/3 ugly innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits – including two home runs – along with three strikeouts and two walks. O’Sullivan’s first start, in Boston’s 13-5 victory over Oakland this past Tuesday, was a more successful outing. He still surrendered 12 hits and four earned runs in six innings, however. All told, O’Sullivan threw 11 1/3 innings for the Red Sox prior to today and compiled an unsightly 7.94 ERA.

In parts of seven big league seasons, O’Sullivan has racked up 309 1/3 career major league frames and pitched to a 5.96 ERA. His struggles have come thanks in part to a lack of strikeouts, as O’Sullivan has averaged just 4.34 per nine innings.

Red Sox Sign Sean O’Sullivan To Minors Deal

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The Red Sox signed righty Sean O’Sullivan to a minor league deal earlier this week, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.

O’Sullivan posted a 6.08 ERA, 4.4 K/9 and 1.75 K/BB rate over 71 innings for the Phillies last season, all of them as a starting pitcher.  O’Sullivan was one of 14 pitchers who made starts for Philadelphia in 2015 as the Phils tried to both sort out their future rotation options and find some veterans (like O’Sullivan) to eat some innings.  It’s likely that Boston will use O’Sullivan as minor league rotation depth.

A third-round pick for the Angels in the 2005 draft, O’Sullivan has a 5.95 ERA and 4.3 K/9 over 302 1/3 career Major League innings with the Angels, Royals, Padres and Phillies.

Outrighted To Triple-A: O’Sullivan, Wilson, Gorzelanny

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Here are today’s outright assignments from around the league…

  • The Phillies announced that right-hander Sean O’Sullivan has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. O’Sullivan was outrighted earlier this week after spending the bulk of the first half in the Phillies’s rotation. The 27-year-old has never enjoyed much success in the Majors, but he’s soaked up 302 1/3 innings with the Royals, Padres, Angels and Phillies from 2009-15, including 71 frames for the Phils in 2015. O’Sullivan worked to a 6.08 ERA this year. That number is clearly unappealing, but he did provide a serviceable 4.79 ERA through his first 10 starts before allowing six runs in each of his final three turns.
  • Infielder Josh Wilson accepted an outright assignment from the Tigers after being DFA earlier this week, writes MLive.com’s Chris Iott. The versatile veteran actually hit quite well in a small sample with Detroit this season but doesn’t have a track record of offensive success. Rather, he’s carved out a career through defensive versatility, as he’s logged significant innings at shortstop, second base and third base in addition to brief cameos in left field and at first base.

Earlier Updates

  • Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny has accepted an outright assignment from the Tigers after clearing waivers, tweets MLB.com’s Jason Beck. Gorzelanny was designated for assignment alongside Joba Chamberlain on Friday and had the right to elect free agency and retain what remained of his $1MM salary. Instead, he’ll work on a sidearm delivery at Triple-A Toledo, according to Beck. The veteran Gorzelanny posted a 6.38 ERA in 24 innings for Detroit this season.

Phillies Designate Cesar Jimenez For Assignment

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The Phillies announced that they’ve designated left-hander Cesar Jimenez for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Sean O’Sullivan, who will start today’s game against the Nationals.

The 30-year-old Jimenez pitched just two-third of an inning in the early stages of the 2015 season but has been up and down with the Phillies in each of the past two seasons. Jimenez has worked to a very strong 2.67 ERA in 33 2/3 innings dating back to 2013, though his ratios of 5.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 and 4.27 FIP tell a less favorable story than his bottom-line results. Jimenez has been more effective against lefties than righties, but he hasn’t exactly dominated same-handed hitters; lefties have batted .238/.310/.357 against him in 143 big league plate appearances.

Jimenez was the only lefty in the bullpen behind setup man Jake Diekman, and the loss of Mario Hollands to Tommy John surgery removed another option for Philadelphia. They’ll likely hope that Jimenez can clear waivers and remain in the organization — an outcome that has already happened twice in the past calendar year.

Phillies Notes: Hamels, Giles, O’Sullivan, Roster

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines that it’s time for the Phillies to accept that they won’t receive Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart or a prospect of that ilk (e.g. Corey Seager, Addison Russell) in exchange for ace Cole Hamels. He feels the team should restart talks with the Red Sox and focus on the slew of near-MLB-ready talent they have beyond those top two names, including Garin Cecchini, Deven Marrero, Henry Owens, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brian Johnson. While one could certainly construct an appealing package of those prospects, I’ll respectfully disagree with Rosenthal’s assertion that the Phillies should now drop their demands on Hamels. He struggled on Opening Day, but there’s little reason to expect those woes to continue, unless the team feels that there’s a risk for injury, which would complicate trade discussions in an entirely different fashion. A summer trade of Hamels could create more suitors, and if the demand for aces outweighs the supply — as is almost always the case — it’s easy to envision a team going beyond its current comfort zone at that time. As my colleague Jeff Todd has previously pointed out, the Phillies are in far less of a “must-trade” situation with Hamels than the Rays were with David Price, for example. Philadelphia has the resources to wait and see, unlike smaller-market teams that are forced to make a deal for fear of injury or rapid decline.

Here are some more notes on the Phillies…

  • Setup man Ken Giles was flat out dominant as a rookie in 2014, but he was plagued by back tightness in spring and struggled in his debut, showing diminished velocity. Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer spoke to skipper Ryne Sandberg about the issue, and Sandberg said that Giles feels the lost velocity was due to a mechanical issue and not to anything physical. As Kaplan points out, Giles’ velocity topped out at 96.6 mph in his shaky debut — a far cry from his 101 mph peak and 98 mph average fastball from last season. Kaplan adds that Giles’ erratic command may be a bigger issue, as the presumed closer-in-waiting struggled with walks in the Minors but seemed to eliminate the problem in last year’s four-month big league debut.
  • Kaplan also notes that right-hander Sean O’Sullivan has been tabbed as Sunday’s starter for the Phils, but he’s not on the 40-man roster, so a 40-man move is forthcoming. Both Cliff Lee and Mario Hollands are already on the 60-day disabled list, so transferring either of them is not an option. Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com wrote last night that O’Sullivan is essentially a placeholder until righty Chad Billingsley’s pitch count is built up to around 100. Billingsley will throw 50 or so pitches tonight, per Salisbury, and could be ready for the big league rotation late this month or early in May. Billingsley spoke optimistically about his health and recovery from two elbow surgeries when asked by Salisbury.
  • The Phillies’ current roster serves as a case study in the dangers of committing to a core for too long, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Britton looks not only at the club’s decision to extend Ryan Howard too long but also the expensive forays into aging free agents and the trade of young players such as Michael Bourn, Carlos Carrasco and Travis d’Arnaud. Britton acknowledges that few of the prospects traded by Philadelphia have panned out, but the exodus of young players has left the Phillies with few viable replacement options, which may have played a role in their decision to extend veterans like Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley rather than trade them. (Then again, the Phils did nab a pair of solid pitching prospects for Rollins in the end, which has to be counted as a point in their favor.)

Minor Moves: O’Sullivan, Jackson, Paterson, Wilson, Bianchi

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As outrights pick up pace across the league, here are the latest minor moves:

  • After outrighting him yesterday, the Phillies have released righty Sean O’Sullivan, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. O’Sullivan was set to become a minor league free agent anyway, so this just moves up his appearance on the open market.
  • After seeing three players fail to clear waivers today, the Diamondbacks did manage to get another trio through. Per the PCL transactions page, outfielder Brett Jackson, lefty Joe Paterson, and catcher Bobby Wilson have all cleared and been outrighted to Triple-A. Jackson, a 26-year-old former top prospect, had another disappointing season at Triple-A, posting a .208/.299/.350 line in 271 plate appearances. Paterson, 28, again posted solid numbers in Triple-A (2.95 ERA over 42 2/3 frames) but failed to return to the regular MLB pen role that he had in 2011. And Wilson, 31, saw his first MLB action since 2012 with the Angels, but spent most of his time putting together a .267/.324/.341 slash over 299 trips to the plate at Triple-A.
  • Also clearing waivers and being outrighted was Jeff Bianchi of the Brewers. Bianchi, who turned 28 on Sunday, struggled in limited MLB action this year. The utility infielder owns a lifetime .534 OPS through 402 plate appearances in the bigs. Over three seasons at Triple-A, he has posted a more attractive .299/.349/.428 line.
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