We’ll keep tabs on the latest minor moves here:
- The Indians have outrighted corner infielder/outfielder Richie Shaffer after he cleared waivers, the team announced. That brings to an end his winter tour d’waiver, which saw him spend time on the rosters of the Rays, Mariners, Phillies, and Reds before he landed with Cleveland. The 25-year-old, who’s primarily a third baseman, wasn’t able to capitalize on his opportunity with Tampa Bay, as he slashed .213/.310/.410 over 142 plate appearances over the past two campaigns. But he does own a solid .243/.338/.445 batting line with thirty long balls over his 788 career trips to the Triple-A dish.
- The Athletics have signed minor-league deals with two young Cuban players, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. Righty Luis Miguel Romero and outfielder Enry Pantojas have both joined the Oakland organization. Neither player has received much in the way of prospect attention, so there’s little public information available. The 23-year-old Romero last appeared in Cuba’s Serie Nacionale in 2015, when he pitched to a 3.31 ERA over 35 1/3 innings and managed just 23 strikeouts to go with 16 walks. Of course, that was just his age-21 campaign. Pantojas, who just turned twenty, has even less of a track record. He hit .304/.429/.348 in Cuba’s top league back in 2015, but that came over just thirty plate appearances.
Lack of information and data; the new, new market inefficiency.
Good to see Shaffer finally be able to unpack his bags (I think). He’s been passed around more than a $5….well, he’s moved around a lot.
142 PAs seems pretty low for the kind of “opportunity” you give to a #1 pick. Rooting for Richie to embarrass them by having a good career once he’s given a legit shot. It’ll be tough with the Tribe tho, barring injuries.
Barring release, Shaffer has a minimum of 2 years in Clevelands system. Im sure he’ll get a shot at some point in the near future, even if he’s simply a bench bat.