SUNDAY: Tavarez is indeed going back to the Red Sox, per an announcement from the Orioles.
WEDNESDAY: The Orioles have placed outfielder Aneury Tavarez, one of their two picks in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, on outright waivers, reports Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. If no team claims Tavarez, the 24-year-old will be offered back to the Red Sox organization, from which he was selected in December.
Any club that claims Tavarez would need to follow the same Rule 5 restrictions facing the Orioles; in other words, Tavarez must be carried on a team’s 25-man roster or else be placed on waivers and, upon clearing, offered back to Boston. Tavarez’s waiver period ends on Friday, according to Meoli. If he ends up back in Boston, the Red Sox are free to option Tavarez back to the minor leagues.
[Related: Baltimore Orioles Depth Chart]
Tavarez faced an uphill battle to crack a crowded Orioles outfield picture this spring, though he performed reasonably well in the chances he was given, hitting .292/.382/.396 with a homer and eight steals in 48 at-bats. However, the O’s have Hyun Soo Kim, Adam Jones, Seth Smith, Mark Trumbo and Joey Rickard as likely outfield options this coming season. Beyond that, non-roster invitee Craig Gentry has reportedly caught the eye of manager Buck Showalter. Elsewhere on the 40-man roster, Anthony Santander (another Rule 5 selection) is yet another option, though he’s currently dealing with some elbow soreness. Veteran utility infielder Ryan Flaherty, too, figures to see some time on the outfield grass this season as well.
Last year, Tavarez split the season between Boston’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, batting a collective .330/.374/.495 with seven homers and 20 stolen bases in 441 trips to the plate. He followed that up with a solid, but lesser performance in the Dominican Winter League, where he batted .283/.349/.362 in 175 plate appearances (prior to the aforementioned Spring Training performance).
What happens if the returned rule 5 player clears and returns back to the original team? That team gets to keep him in the minors, off the 40-man, for another year? And then he has to be exposed during the next rule 5 or what?
I believe my understanding is that if he returns to the original team, it’s essentially as if the Rule 5 pick never happened. The team can leave him off the 40 man, and if they add him then obviously he is protected next year. If they choose not to add him, then yes he would be available again next season.
Nothing goes back to the team
I believe if you accept a guy back you give like $25k to the other squad
It’s rose up this year
Os give him back and 50k to bosox
The way this is reported (along with the news I’ve gotten out of O’s ST camp) makes me think that the O’s want to keep Tavares and need him to pass through waivers before they can work out a deal with Boston to trade for him.
Better be something useful going back to Boston. Obviously nothing major but he’d have value as extra injury protection if nothing else? Why would any team help another team in their own division?
Have to get a pitcher for Tavares?
I’m not sure he gets through waivers. Could a team like the Brewers which just cleared Gennett off their roster have a role for Tavares? They have room.
No, they have too many OFs at the moment. Otherwise that might make sense. Gennett was let go so they could keep Jesus Aguilar on the 25 man roster.
Braves need an outfielder besides bonifacio…
Here’s the token Braves posting.
Sounds like he’s had every chance.
AAAA player.
I would love to know what you’re reading…. He OPS’ed .869 last year (mostly in AA) as a 24 year old, and he got on base at a great clip (.374 OBP). His slugging dropped pretty significantly in the Dominican Winter League, but he still OPS’ed .711 and continued to get on base at a really solid clip (.349 OBP). And then he came into spring training with a new team and slashed .292/.382/.396 in 48 at-bats (.778 OPS). The kid has played a whopping 11 games in AAA and has OPS’ed .865.
Where are all these chances that he has apparently blown? If anything, he has posted better numbers every time he has been moved up…
He’s complete trash who had two good months at AA where he was old for the comp, let it go.
The amount of defending of literally any minor leaguer in these threads is getting so obnoxious.
1) According to bb-ref, he wasn’t “old for the comp.” He was right in line with the age of the comp.
2) God forbid he didn’t tear up AA in his first attempt. I guess it’s impossible to make adjustments going into the next year after learning what you need to improve on. Just so you know, he and MANY other players go through the same exact trend throughout the minors. First taste at A+ he OPS’ed .720 as a 22 year old. The next year he OPS’ed .815 before moving up to AA. Then he OPS’ed .616 as a 23 year old in his first attempt at AA. The next year he OPS’ed .886 in AA before being moved to AAA.
3) Relax.
4) Nobody is claiming he’s a superstar. He is definitely not trash though. That’s just an idiotic comment.
5) Again – all I’m asking is for someone to please tell me where all these chances were that he blew? He has played in 11 AAA games (and has raked) and 0 MLB games. In what world does it make sense to say he blew his opportunity and is a AAAA player?
106 games and 425 AB in 2 months. Wow, they play a lot of games in Portland. Guess it’s that short New England summer.
At 24 he was about the same age as league average in AA and 2.5 years younger than AAA league average.
Don’t let facts get in the way of your rant. We all need to let it out once in a while even when we are completely wrong.
Agree with #3
JAF has never let facts get in the way of his posts.
Read your own post…. 24 and in AA. If he was 20 or 21 it would be different
If he was 20 or 21 with an .886 OPS in AA, he wouldn’t be a rule 5 pick; he’d probably be one of the top 100 prospects in baseball… You people are acting like he’s old and miserable. I’m NOT saying he’s on the verge of stardom or anything remotely close to that, but he’s not “trash.”
Explain to me how somebody who has played 11 games above AA has had “every chance.” In the only real “chance” he has gotten (spring training), he has OPS’ed .781 in 55 at-bats (total). I’d hardly call that a blown opportunity.
Dude, “every chance” is one spring training in which he performed pretty well? A 4A player is a guy who has barely played above AA and never played a big league game? Yikes. You need to look up “AAAA player” in the dictionary. Lucky for you, it’s right there on the first page.
Back on planet Earth, most of Tavarez’s value comes from his speed and defense. If he can get on base at a decent clip (which he’s been getting better at), he could be a serviceable 4th OF with a ceiling as a 2nd-division starting CF.
If no other team claims him (if they do, he’d still have to stay on their 25-man roster all season), he’ll probably play regularly in Pawtucket this summer and there’s a pretty good chance he’ll make their 40-man by the end of the year, given the Red Sox’ lack of upper-minors OF depth. Unless he bombs in AAA, in which case he wouldn’t even be a AAAA player…
I still don’t quite get the process.
“If he ends up back in Boston, the Red Sox are free to option Tavarez back to the minor leagues.”
How would Boston option him to the minors if he isn’t on their 40-man, can’t you only option players that are on your 40-man roster? Or do they have to clear a spot on their 40-man for them to accept him back?
No need to clear a roster spot for him. If he initially was on the 40 man roster then he wouldn’t have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft. If someone other than boston wants him then he needs to be on the 25 man roster all year long. But Boston can do whatever they want with him because they are the original owners of his rights.
They wouldn’t option him, they’d simply reassign him to the minors.
Bluejays need to try to pick him up better then upton in my opinion young fast and bats left all things we need. Someone would take upton for a bullpin arm or a older AAA starter.Hes only owed 5 mil has played short and center and at worst is a platoon player for lefties and defensive replacement late in games………..
What do the jays fans think
He is owed 17 mil
5 from jays 12 from padres
This guy is not good at baseball, he just had a .381 BABIP that gave him a .335 BA in a small sample as a 24 year old at AA. The previous year he had a more sustainable .290 BABIP and his BA was .226. Not. Good.
He’s never ever going to crack the bigs and was a poor rule 5 pick to begin with, like many of them are.
Did this guy run over your dog or something?
Nope, he peed in his cheerios
Most players struggle in their first taste of AA. He hit .257 the last 3 months of the season so obviously he was adjusting well to AA and then he got a call up to AAA at 23 and .389 in his short time there. That is outstanding.
The average BABIP in the Eastern League in 2015 was .314 So .290 was not sustainable, it was 24 points unlucky.
I’m hoping the O’s are able to make a trade for him because he would be a valuable player in Norfolk and will see time in Camden Yards this year.
Hahahaha. :-). I like it. It is also Bc the braves bench is super weak right now too…
Why not white sox. Charlie tilson is made of glass. Avi Garcia is garbage. Kelly should just dh. Who’s even in center for the sox?
Melky*** not Kelly. Damn autocorrect
Jacob May is getting a crack at it while Tilson is hurt.
Well that’s disappointing that the white sox didn’t take a crack at this guy. Possibly they have here eye on another player that may be cut.
So the Orioles keep the 33 yr old and give back the 24 year old?
Thats dumb. This kid did well and for a team without any solid OF prospects it makes no sense to just give him back and keep the older guy.
Oh well… in Buck we trust…
I trust Buck, just not Duquette and Angelos.