The Dodgers continued to beef up their farm system this winter by reportedly signing both pitcher Jesen Therrien and outfielder Travis Taijeron to minor league pacts on Wednesday.
After being selected by the Phillies in the 17th round of the 2011 MLB draft, Therrien was the main closer for Triple-A Lehigh Valley for most of the summer in 2017. After putting together a 1.41 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 over 57-1/3 innings, the righty was shut down in September after ripping his UCL and undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The 24-year-old native of Canada is friends with former Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, as he and Gagne often spend their winters training together. Therrien has a four-pitch repertoire which consists of a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, a splitter, and a slider. His heater was normally clocked in the 94-95 MPH range before his surgery, but it was his slider which impressed scouts the most, frequently drawing comparisons to former Philadelphia reliever Brad Lidge.
Per reports, Therrien agreed to a two-year minor league contract due to the fact that he’ll spend most of the 2018 season rehabbing from his surgery.
Taijeron, 28, grew up in La Mesa and was chosen by the Mets in the 18th round of the 2011 draft out of Cal Poly. He bats and throws from the right side, and can handle any of the three outfield spots.
Last season, he slashed .272/.383/.525 with 25 long balls and 78 RBI in 125 games for Triple-A Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League. In seven minor league seasons, he owns a .269/.372/.514 career slash line with 135 home runs, 200 doubles and 479 RBI over 770 games.
Taijeron made his big league debut for the Mets last season, and hit .173/271/.269 after going 9-for-53 with one homer, two doubles and three RBI in 26 games. During that time, New York used him exclusively as a right fielder.
Taijeron is likely to join an already crowded outfield at Triple-A Oklahoma City, which will potentially include Alex Verdugo, Henry Ramos, Trayce Thompson and Jacob Scavuzzo.
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I don’t normally get overly excited about minor league signings, but I really like the sound of Therrien. The fact that Gagne might have a few things to teach him makes it even better. Taijeron doesn’t sound half bad either.
I get the feeling that Taijeron might play a similar role to the one vacated by Brett Eibner.
I hope that doesn’t mean they’ll try to make a pitcher out of him which ultimately leads to TJ surgery.
That’s the latest craze on the farm, it seems. Apparently Ike Davis is still throwing pretty well, though.
I wonder if another outfielder from okc is going somewhere?
Maybe Ramos. They didn’t protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Scavuzzo’s not protected, either, but nobody claimed him last year.
Maybe they just realized how much cheaper than Stanton he is and they’ll make him the Dodger left fielder. After all, who knew what we had when we traded for Taylor?