Baseball America | Blog | Baseball America Prospects Blog | Minor League Transactions: Jan. 29-Feb. 4

Official minor league transactions, conveyed to us by Major League Baseball, for the period Jan. 29-Feb. 4.

Article XX-B major league free agents who sign minor league contracts, such as Matt Capps (below), are entitled to a $100,000 "retention bonus" if they begin the year in Triple-A and an automatic opt-out clause if they're still in the minors on June 1.

Baltimore Orioles
Signed: RHP Matt Bischoff (re-signed), RHP Joel Pineiro (re-signed), LHP Mark Hendrickson (did not play in ’12), C Zane Chavez (El Paso (American Association)), OF Chris Dickerson (released by Yankees, Jan. 11)

Boston Red Sox
Removed from 40-man: RHP Chris Carpenter (outrighted to Triple-A)

Chicago Cubs
Signed: C Nathan Maldonado (re-signed), OF Brent Lillibridge

Chicago White Sox
Removed from 40-man: RHP Zach Stewart (outrighted to Triple-A)

Cincinnati Reds
Signed: C Miguel Olivo (Article XX-B free agent), OF P.J. Phillips (re-signed)

Cleveland Indians
Signed: RHP Matt Capps (Article XX-B free agent)

Colorado Rockies
Signed: RHP Chris Volstad

Houston Astros
Traded: RHP Fernando Rodriguez and SS Jed Lowrie to Athletics for RHP Brad Peacock, C Max Stassi and 1B Chris Carter

Kansas City Royals
Released: LHP Brian Peacock

Los Angeles Angels
Signed: RHP Robert Coello, C Elio Sarmiento (released by Rangers, Aug. 24), OF Bill Hall (Article XX-B free agent)

Miami Marlins
Removed from 40-man: OF Kevin Mattison (outrighted to Triple-A)

Milwaukee Brewers
Signed: RHP Alfredo Figaro (Orix (Japan))
Released: OF Franklin Romero

Minnesota Twins
Signed: SS Doug Bernier, OF Antoan Richardson

New York Mets
Signed: RHP Scott Atchison (non-tendered by Red Sox), RHP LaTroy Hawkins (Article XX-B free agent), OF Marlon Byrd (released by Red Sox, June 12), OF Corey Patterson, OF Mike Wilson

Mike Wilson spent 11 seasons in the Mariners system, three times hitting 20 or more homers in a season. In parts of four seasons with Triple-A Tacoma, he batted .269/.362/.477 in 1,152 plate appearances, slugging 50 homers and driving in 160 in 286 games.

New York Yankees
Signed: 1B Dan Johnson (non-tendered by White Sox)

Oakland Athletics
Released: RHP Matt Thomson, 2B Nino Leyja
Traded: RHP Brad Peacock, C Max Stassi and 1B Chris Carter to Astros for RHP Fernando Rodriguez and SS Jed Lowrie

Philadelphia Phillies
Signed: LHP David Newmann (released by Rays, Nov. 12), SS Matt Tolbert, OF Joe Mather
Removed from 40-man: RHP J.C. Ramirez (outrighted to Triple-A)

Matt Tolbert and Joe Mather both played in the Cubs organization last year. They offer defensive versatility with enough offense for a bench role if pressed into duty.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Signed: RHP Kyle Waldrop

St. Louis Cardinals
Removed from 40-man: LHP Barret Browning (outrighted to Triple-A)

San Diego Padres
Signed: 2B Adam Buschini (Amarillo (American Association))
Reinstated from DL: RHP John Hussey

San Francisco Giants
Signed: RHP Ramon Ramirez (Article XX-B free agent)

Seattle Mariners
Signed: RHP Moises Hernandez (re-signed)

Texas Rangers
Signed: OF Jeff Baker (Article XX-B free agent)

Toronto Blue Jays
Signed: 3B Andy LaRoche
Released: RHP Aleson Escalante, C Alexys Rodriguez

Washington Nationals
Signed: C Chris Snyder (Article XX-B free agent)

Buschini was with Wichita.

Posted by JP | February 7, 2013 at 2:24 pm | Shortcut

^
He played with Amarillo in 2012 and was traded in the offseason. He then hit .363/.421/.690 in the Australian league.

Posted by dave | February 7, 2013 at 8:45 pm | Shortcut

25-year-old Buschini was a fourth-round pick by Philadelphia in 2009. He showed poor hitting and power tools in two years in the Phillies’ system: .222/.317/.328 in 125 games between A short & A ball, showing however good running speed (31 SB, 8 Triples), not enough to stick. The right-handed hitter spent 2011 (Chico/North American) and 2012 (Amarillo/American ***.) in Indy leagues. Last season hit .354/.410/.562 with 24 doubles, 8 triples, 14 HR, 74 RBI and 34 SB, prompting the Padres to give him another try at affiliated baseball.

Posted by Vincenzo | February 8, 2013 at 5:17 am | Shortcut

Matt,
How about adding "Independent" (Baseball League) and "Retirement" for a destination option on the Minor League Free Agent tracker? A number of the minor league FA's who don't get an invite to spring training will end up in the indy baseball leagues (Atlantic, CanAm, etc.) A few typically officially/unofficially retire, often going into coaching.

Posted by Trog | February 10, 2013 at 12:10 am | Shortcut

In one of the more bizarre stories, Chris Aguila has signed on with the Italian Baseball League.
http://translate.google.com/tr.....CD4Q7gEwAg
http://translate.google.com/tr.....EcQ7 gEwAw

Posted by Trog | February 11, 2013 at 1:25 pm | Shortcut

@Trog I can't understand your "bizzarre" referred to Chris Aguila signings. You know the Game is played World-wide not only in the U.S.
You know … Alex Liddi (Mariners) played there before Seattle signed him in 2005.

Posted by Vincenzo | February 15, 2013 at 11:10 am | Shortcut

@Vincenzo: Not trying to be offensive. You have to admit it's a rarity for a player who already broke into the majors to take his game to Italy. It's not known for its talent pool and not a place where a player would try to resurrect his value (like in Japan, the Mexican League, or the Independent Leagues). Just seems like a odd choice. Most players would try to hang onto getting back to the majors in one of the above mentioned paths. Not judging him at all. If he's happy, good for him. There's probably a lot more to the story that I don't know.

Posted by Trog | February 17, 2013 at 12:20 pm | Shortcut

Oscar Salazar is a recent example of a player who had reached the majors (ever so briefly for the ’02 Tigers) and subsequently journeyed to Italy to play in that country's major league. Salazar played for San Marino in ’06, then returned to the U.S. and logged significant big league time with the ’08 Orioles and ’09 and ’10 Padres.

Dirk Hayhurst contemplated following a similar route last offseason before deciding against it.

Posted by Matt Eddy | February 17, 2013 at 1:14 pm | Shortcut

@Trog

Please feel free to contribute independent ball or retirement notices in the comments section. We receive only official notifications for transactions involving major league organizations.

Posted by Matt Eddy | February 17, 2013 at 1:19 pm | Shortcut