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Orioles Designate C.J. Riefenhauser For Assignment

By Steve Adams | February 4, 2016 at 1:00pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have designated left-handed reliever C.J. Riefenhauser for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne, who was acquired from the Padres in a trade.

Riefenhauser has had an active offseason, initially going from the Rays to the Mariners in the Nate Karns/Brad Miller swap but spending less than a month as a member of the Rays before heading to the Orioles alongside Mark Trumbo in a trade that netted Seattle catcher Steve Clevenger (and saved about $9MM). He’ll now hit DFA limbo for the first time this offseason, during which time Baltimore can explore trades for the still-promising left-hander or attempt to sneak him through outright waivers (although there’s certainly a chance that Riefenhauser would be claimed by another organization).

The 26-year-old Riefenhauser has struggled in his brief exposure to the Majors, to be sure, having logged a 6.30 ERA in a limited sample of 20 innings. However, he’s also excelled at the minor league level, where he’s authored an outstanding 2.15 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in parts of three seasons, totaling 113 innings of relief. Riefenhauser doesn’t light up the radar gun by any means, sitting around 89 mph, but that’s passable velocity for a southpaw, and there’s no denying that he dominated lefties between Triple-A and the Majors before a rocky 2015 season, holding them to a .430 OPS in what was a strong season. Scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB.com and Baseball America have given Riefenhauser credit for at least an average fastball and average slider with a slightly below-average third offering in the form of his changeup. If he’s a two-pitch reliever, he could still carve out a role as a lefty specialist, one would think, though as MLB.com’s most recent scouting report on him indicated, he could take on a bigger bullpen role with some improvement in his changeup. Prior to the 2014 season, BA credited him with a plus heater/slider combo, though his velocity in the Majors has sat below the 91-93 mph mentioned in that scouting report.

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Baltimore Orioles Transactions C.J. Riefenhauser

Dodgers Announce Howie Kendrick Deal
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Padres Trade Despaigne To Orioles, Announce Rodney Deal
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Post a Comment

3 Comments

  1. triberulz

    9 years ago

    Same players getting reshuffled Torreyes (traded once DFA’d 2 times)/Schugal (DFA’d 3 times)/Riefenhauser (traded twice, now DFA’d)/Speier (traded twice). MLB really should limit how many times a player can be involved in transactions via trade & waivers.

    Reply
    • tim815

      9 years ago

      Naaaah. It’s not like they have to go anywhere.

      Plus, the owners decide on the rule changes. Their employees are DFAing guys. No harm, no foul.

      Reply
  2. oldsiwash

    9 years ago

    ” spending less than a month as a member of the Rays before heading to the Orioles alongside Mark Trumbo”

    No, he spent that time as a Mariner, and that is the team that traded him and Trumbo to the Mariners. Try to keep up.

    Reply

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