Twins' Joe Gunkel: Inks minors pact with Minnesota
Rotowire
Gunkel signed a minor-league contract with the Twins on Wednesday.
Gunkel is returning to the states after spending the last four seasons pitching in Japan. The 32-year-old posted a 3.94 ERA and 66:12 K:BB over 96 innings with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in 2023. He'll likely begin 2024 at Triple-A St. Paul.
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Marlins' Joe Gunkel: Rejoins Triple-A club
Rotowire
Gunkel (undisclosed) was activated from the 7-day disabled list at Triple-A New Orleans last week and has since made three relief appearances with the club, giving up no runs on three hits and a walk over 3.1 innings.
Gunkel was shut down for nearly two months with the undisclosed issue, but appears to be back to full strength. The 26-year-old will likely work as a swingman for New Orleans the rest of the season after previously making five starts for the affiliate prior to suffering the injury.
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Marlins' Joe Gunkel: Sent outright to Double-A
Rotowire
Gunkel cleared waivers and was outrighted to Double-A Jacksonville on Friday.
Gunkel was designated for assignment earlier in the week so that Steve Lombardozzi could join the big-league club, and after garnering no interest on waivers, the right-hander will remain in the organization with the Jumbo Shrimp. He'll continue to develop as an organizational rotation depth piece.
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Marlins' Joe Gunkel: Designated for assignment
Rotowire
Gunkel was designated for assignment Wednesday, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.
Infield depth was a more pressing priority for the big club after the team placed its third infielder on the disabled list in as many days, so the Marlins elected to drop Gunkel from the 40-man roster in order to clear a spot for journeyman utility infielder Steve Lombardozzi, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A New Orleans in a corresponding move. Gunkel had been claimed off waivers from the Dodgers in late April and made two appearances for the organization at Double-A Jacksonville, allowing four runs over nine innings.
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Marlins' Joe Gunkel: Headed to Marlins following waiver claim
Rotowire
Gunkel was claimed off waivers by the Marlins on Thursday and subsequently optioned to Double-A Jacksonville.
The 25-year-old was recently designated for assignment by the Dodgers in order to clear space on the 40-man roster for top prospect Cody Bellinger, but the Marlins decided to swipe up Gunkel to add to their pitching depth. The right-hander will head to Double-A likely to get more experience as a starter.
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Dodgers' Joe Gunkel: DFA'd Tuesday
Rotowire
Gunkel was designated for assignment Tuesday, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.
The Dodgers needed to make room on the 40-man roster for their recently-promoted top prospect Cody Bellinger, thus leading Gunkel to get hit with the DFA. The 25-year-old has a 4.00 ERA over nine innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
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Dodgers' Joe Gunkel: Traded to Dodgers
Rotowire
Gunkel has been traded to the Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports.
Gunkel was designated for assignment by the Orioles following their acquisition of Miguel Castro. The 25-year-old posted a 4.08 ERA over 141.1 innings for Triple-A Norwich in 2016 and will provide some necessary organizational depth for the Dodgers as they deal with multiple injuries across their pitching staff, including to starters Rich Hill (finger) and Scott Kazmir (hip).
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Orioles' Joe Gunkel: Designated for assignment
Rotowire
Gunkel was designated for assignment Friday.
With the acquisition of Miguel Castro via trade, Gunkel was the casualty on the 40-man roster. A former candidate to fill in for Chris Tillman (shoulder) in the starting rotation, the 25-year-old struggled to a 9.00 ERA in spring training and found himself optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to begin the season. The right-hander has shown he has starter potential (161 innings in the minors last season), but doesn't seem to be ready for the majors just yet. He'll likely stay with Norfolk if he doesn't get snatched off waivers.
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Orioles' Joe Gunkel: Optioned to minors
Rotowire
Gunkel was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as part of the O's first round of spring cuts.
Gunkel's spring experience was disappointing to say the least. Soon after being named a replacement option for starter Chris Tillman (shoulder), the righty suffered an upper-respiratory infection that briefly sidelined him. Gunkel, 25, managed just two Grapefruit League appearances before he was sent packing. At this point in his career, Gunkel isn't worth a look in fantasy circles.
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Orioles' Joe Gunkel: Shaky so far in spring
Rotowire
Gunkel gave up two runs on two hits while walking one and striking one out in an inning of work Tuesday.
The 25-year-old has struggled since missing his first spring appearance with an upper respiratory infection. He's given up five runs in just three innings of work. Gunkel will have to turn things around if he wants to make the big league roster as a potential replacement for injured Chris Tillman (shoulder).
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Orioles' Joe Gunkel: Scratched with upper respiratory infection
Rotowire
Gunkel (illness) will miss the Orioles' spring game on Sunday due to an upper respiratory infection, Roch Kubatko of MASN reports.
It's likely nothing to worry about. Gunkel was scheduled to pitch in the Orioles' spring game against the Pirates on Sunday, but now his first spring appearance will have to wait. He should see action within the next week.
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Orioles' Joe Gunkel: On radar to fill rotation vacancy
Rotowire
Gunkel is among the candidates to replace Chris Tillman (shoulder) in the starting rotation, SB Nation reports.
Tillman isn't expected to miss more than a handful of starts, but the bottom half of the Orioles' rotation is shaky (to say the least) entering the 2017 season. If Ubaldo Jimenez or Wade Miley start the campaign poorly, then manager Buck Showalter may look for a young arm to give the staff a boost. Gunkel, a 25-year-old righty drafted by Boston in 2013, has 65 minor league starts under his belt. Although he may be the underdog among a large field of possible fill-in's for Tillman, his spring performance is worth noting for those in deep leagues.
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Orioles' Joe Gunkel: Added to 40-man roster
Rotowire
Gunkel was added to the Orioles' 40-man roster on Friday.
Gunkel reached Triple-A Norfolk in 2016 and posted a 4.08 ERA in 141.1 innings there. He could figure into Baltimore's starting depth next season, but his lack of strikeouts (6.0 strikeouts per nine innings) keeps his ceiling limited as far as fantasy value goes.
