The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated right-hander David Paulino for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Zack Godley, who has been claimed off outright waivers from the Diamondbacks (as previously reported by Nick Piecoro).
Paulino, 25, was once considered to be among baseball’s 100 best prospects but has seen his star dim in recent seasons — beginning with an 80-game PED suspension issued back in July 2017. Since that half-season ban, Paulino has also undergone surgery to remove bone spurs from his pitching elbow and generally performed at diminished levels. Toronto acquired him alongside Ken Giles in the 2018 trade that sent Roberto Osuna to Houston.
Paulino pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with the Jays late in the 2018 season but has been limited to 28 2/3 innings in Triple-A Buffalo in 2019. He’s currently on the minor league injured list, meaning that Toronto’s only course of action with Paulino will be to release him. Clubs can no longer trade players who’ve been on 40-man rosters under the league’s new August trade restrictions, and teams are also unable to pass injured players through outright waivers. Another club could claim Paulino off release waivers, and he’ll have the opportunity to sign with a new organization if he clears. However, it’s also fairly common in these situations for the released player to sign a new minor league deal with his former club.
How serious is his injury?
Jays just gave up 2 years of control by DFA’ing Paulino. I thought they were all about that control!
One unnecessary move breeds another. Hoping someone takes Paulino and he becomes a very good MLB pitcher.
Godley has three years of control so net gain I guess. How many years of control does it take to win the World Series, again? :)
Sorry, I meant 2 years extra over Godley. Paulino would be a FA in 2025.
Excellent question BTW.
Maybe there’s more to the story and control was no longer a factor
It was a joke referencing GM Atkins from last week mentioning the 42 years of control the Jays obtained at the trade deadline.
here’s another guy the O’s wolnt claim because they only claim tayler scott types
13 innings in Norfolk 17 K’s 1 B 0 ERA/1.25 FIP. May never translate to the bigs but let’s honest here the Orioles have more fringe prospects w far worse numbers on the 40 man roster in AAA. He’s not even the first pitcher I’d DFA. Not even close actually. In the order of Ortiz, Shepherd, Yacabonis and then you could start considering Scott.
This guy must have some serious
Kela-esque issues. He’s just like the pitchers they’re bringing in and although he hasn’t been very good, there’s definitely pedigree and upside. Can’t help but think about the Giles confrontation in spring training though.
i dont think you can put anyone on Kela’s level to be honest. Paulino has issues, but its important to mention that Giles has them too.
Would love to see the Mets get Paulino. Low risk, possible high reward on a young, controllable pitcher.
angels, grab him!
The Angels should be grabbing every available pitcher with a pulse.
White Sox should claim him.
i think the numbers speak for themselves.
Paulino is out of options next year so I’m sure that’s also a gigantic consideration here. We’ve all heard of the attitude issues and PED suspension as well. I’m sure they didn’t think they could/would carry him on the team all of next year and they’d prefer to give Godley a run to see if he can reclaim his old form.
Anyone remeber the media attention and Blue Jays hype around Paulino when the Osuna/Giles trade happened?
We come full circle to a DFA. FYI, the Jays don’t scout much in the minor leagues. Atkins relies on analytics and his laptop to tell him what to do. This is how he operates. A little bit like Riccardi. How did that work out?
Paulino hs a decent arm. He’ll likely heal up and find his way on and off MLB rosters until he finds himself about who he is as a pitcher. He’ll make it but it will take much more development[and healing]. He is a late bloomer. I would take a chance on him for the langhaul.