Wednesday marked the deadline for teams to protect players from next month’s Rule 5 draft, and the evening didn’t pass without its fair share of activity. Dozens of prospects were ultimately provided shelter on their clubs’ 40-man rosters, but, as expected, many of those moves required some tough decisions on the part of parent clubs.
While gaining a spot on a 40-man roster marks an important step in a young player’s career, it often means that a veteran must be politely shown the organizational door. Sure enough, Wednesday saw several experienced position players and pitchers designated for assignment, traded to rival clubs, or outright released.
With the smoke still clearing on many of these moves, readers may simply be scrambling to make sense of which of their favorite team’s prospects were left unprotected in advance of the Rule 5. But what about the veterans who are currently left floating in DFA limbo as a result of the evening’s activities?
Today offers a good opportunity to examine a few players who, in the coming days, will be available for selection via waiver claim or trade after being designated by their teams last night. While we saw some well-known, oft-injured names either released (Jacoby Ellsbury) or traded (Jose De Leon) by their clubs, we’ll focus instead on DFA’d players who could soon find a place on another MLB roster.
Matt Duffy: Rays GM Erik Neander had a busy night on Wednesday, with his club adding five prospects to its 40-man. While the Rays’ trade of the oft-injured De Leon to the Reds was likely a tough roster-clearing pill for fans to swallow, Duffy’s own designation also brought about a few “what-if” questions. Originally acquired as part of the 2016 package coming back to Tampa in return for Matt Moore, Duffy projected as a controllable, well-rounded infielder who, true to the club’s modus operandi, could play a few positions while hitting well enough to justify his lineup spot. Unfortunately, injuries limited Duffy to just 199 games in a Rays uni since the middle of 2016, and he now hits the waiver wire as a 28-year-old just one year removed from his 2018 batting line of .294/.361/.366 production (107 wRC+).
Nick Goody: The 28-year-old Goody was jettisoned from the Indians roster when the club added outfielder Daniel Johnson, right-hander Triston McKenzie and left-hander Scott Moss to its roster. While the Indians boast enviable pitching depth, it’s easy to see where Goody could fit on a number of MLB rosters. Since making his debut with the Yankees in 2015, the LSU alum has logged a 3.81 ERA supported by a 10.9 K/9 rate; he was superlative in 2017 out of the Cleveland pen, in particular, notching a 2.80 ERA/3.45 FIP across 54 2/3 innings of work. Goody’s 4.62 FIP and 4.9 BB/9 rate in 2019 showed that there was perhaps a bit of rust beneath the veneer of his 3.54 ERA, but the longtime Statcast darling shouldn’t have trouble finding a big league job next season, given the collective strength of his track record.
Nestor Cortes Jr.: Cortes was culled from the Yankees’ active roster on Wednesday, on the heels of a rough 2019 campaign out of the New York bullpen. While his 5.67 ERA across 66 2/3 Bronx innings last year would likely tell you what you need to know, Cortes is still just 24 years old and possesses a solid track record of success in the upper minors. The lefty posited a 3.86 ERA across seven games and six starts for the Triple-A Yankees of Scranton Wilkes-Barre, with decent underlying metrics (9.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9). Cortes doesn’t throw hard, with a fastball sitting around 89 mph, but he offers a five-pitch mix and could represent an interesting depth flier for a rebuilding club in search of a back-end starter.
Jharel Cotton: Like Duffy, Cotton’s story is largely defined by injury. Since coming to Oakland from the Dodgers as part of the package received in return for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, Cotton has loomed as a potential impact arm on the edges of the Athletics rotation. However, his unimpressive 2017 (5.58 ERA in 129 innings) was followed up by Tommy John surgery in 2018, and Cotton ultimately missed most of 2019 due to a hamstring issue that required surgery. The now-27-year-old righty hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors in two years, but his relative youth and starter’s repertoire could see him latch on with a new team in short order. Cotton was removed from the A’s roster on Wednesday to make room for Daulton Jefferies.
Tim Mayza: Mayza doesn’t bring the former prospect pedigree of some of the other names on this list, and he’s a non-factor for 2020 specifically after undergoing Tommy John surgery. But, for a team interested in signing Mayza to a low-cost two-year deal, what he does offer is a lefty arm and at least some record of effectiveness while pitching in the AL East. While the 27-year-old limped to a 4.91 ERA/4.73 FIP in extended action in 2019, he was far more effective in a more limited feature in 2018. That season saw Mayza log a 3.28 ERA/3.36 FIP through 35.2 innings; not exactly an overwhelmingly convincing sample size, but lefties are at a perpetual premium and Mayza does hold a 10.6 K/9 rate across 104 career innings. Lefties have managed just a 70 OPS+ against Mayza for his career, although it is fair to wonder whether next year’s introduction of a three-batter minimum rule may limit clubs in their deployment of LOOGY types.
Tim Mayza more than likely isn’t going to throw a pitch in 2020.
which is why you give him a two year deal. 1st year for a small amount and then a more realistic salary for the 2nd year
Mayza’s injury looked bad when it happened. He might make a return to the majors in 2021. The big issue for him is the rule change for pitchers facing a minimum 3 batters, or only be called with two outs as the rule states you pitch til the end of an inning. Mayza is very good against left handed hitters but right handers eat him up. Rule change hurts Mayza, no question.
This rule is exactly why the Braves made so many bullpen acquisitions, especially Will Smith. Every reliever must have the ability to get out righties and lefties. Every team must have lefties in the bullpen that can do that. Will Smith is probably the best left handed relief pitcher in all of baseball that is also very capable of getting out righties. There are going to be plenty of straggler teams that are going to see how the rule effects the game before they adjust. Many of those teams are going to watch their bullpen get rocked like they would never believe. There are major league LOOGY’s on multi year contracts right now that have opponent batting averages of over .400 against righties. The only benefit they had before was they never had to face righties. That’s no longer an option. Many of them will actually have to face righties most of the time now. Guys like Jerry Blevins will not be able to pitch in this league anymore unless they change the rule back to the way it was. I’m okay with that because it means a more talented pitcher will get his job that was only passed up because he wasn’t a lefty. This is the death of the LOOGY era. It’s over.
I think Loogy’s might still be useful in more specialized situations (e.g. a tough lefty coming up with two outs), but I generally agree with you. I wonder what the new rules say about whether you can pull a reliever if the other team immediately pinch hits for the guy that reliever was brought in to face?
I don’t believe insertion of a pinch hitter changes the three-batter/end-of-inning limitations to be placed on pitchers next season and beyond.
I might actually be unclear on the rule myself. I thought 3 batter minimum actually meant 3 batter minimum. If they come in with 2 outs in the inning and get that guy out does that not mean they have to face at least 2 batters the following inning? I guess that could change things if that’s the case. It would however mean that LOOGY’s won’t be used to start innings that don’t involve 3 lefty hitters in them though.
Standup – the rule is “…requires pitchers to either face a minimum of three batters in an appearance or pitch to the end of a half-inning, with exceptions for injuries and illnesses.”
So the latter part of my point on Mayza was to bring him in with two outs and a lefty hitter up. That seems to wind up within the parameters of the rule.
No. Three batters or end of an inning. As it was only put in place to reduce mound trips and pitching changes, forcing a pitcher back to face two hitters and then get removed would have the opposite effect.
Someone asked above about what happens if there’s a pinch hitter. Does the reliever still have to face at least three? He can’t be removed based on the actions of the offense?
Josh Hader says hi….lol
You should be a GM
Would deff take a look at cotton if I were the orioles if you don’t wanna keep him in your long term plan can flip him at the deadline if he has a half way decent season
I’d also look at Duffy
Both of these are good calls for the O’s
Warm bodies are good calls for the O’s. They carried Martin all year last year and there’s 26 guys this year
I don’t see the appeal for cotton on the orioles. Out of options and he had a huge HR problem in the coliseum. That’s going to be 10x worse in OPACY
Cotton in Camden Yards would break the record for most HR’s served up, have fun with that…
Yep. And he’s out of options. I’d be surprised if we are the team to take a chance there.
He actually has one option left (I believe he may have been granted an extra one due to injury)
Indians may think they can deal Goody if he has enough suitors.Still surprised they kept Hunter Wood over Goody.
Duffy would also interest the Indians as well as a replacement for Kipnis.
I think they made the right call in keeping Wood over Goody, although I didn’t think either were at risk of losing a spot. Wood pitched reasonably well after the Indians got him, while Goody struggled big time down the stretch.
I do agree that Duffy would be an interesting target for the Indians. He seems like their type of player, and he could play second or third, so he’d fit. I don’t see him ever going back to his rookie year numbers, but if he can be about an average hitter I’d take it. (Not only would a roughly league average hitter be an upgrade over the last few years of Kipnis, but they could get Duffy for essentially nothing.)
Come on Royals! KC always needs more pitching. Bring in Cotton.
With the injury guys, I have to think the teams know very well how injured a guy is and how likely, or unlikely, he is to contribute in the near future. I’d be hesitant to off any of them more than a minor league deal.
Duffy will land on his feet somewhere. probably going to clear waivers, but he could get a good payday one a one year deal. i like him as a stopgap for Bohm.
You can bet the Pirates will be sniffing around the dumpster.
The pirates only sniff around dumpsters because they are looking for diapers. If it smells like halfway eaten, rotten food they assume it’s too good for their fans. They can’t let them taste anything better than the dirty diapers they have been feeding them because the fans might realize dirty diapers aren’t as good as they thought.
I wonder how many teams will use that 26th spot on the roster to park a Rule 5 guy?
Good point.
I speculated a couple of days ago that Duffy fit in Philly; as I said, he’s just a Girardi kind of guy. And they won’t have to pay Duffy’s arbitration number; likely a bit less.
The rest are just a collection of “meh”. BUT, (1) there’s probably one or two who are better “meh” than other #26 guys on a 26 man roster and (2) I can see Andrew Friedman finding one of his trash-can nuggets here. I’d say Brian Cashman too, but he stepped into doo-doo so many times last year and came up smelling roses, there can’t be that much pixie dust around anymore.
I can also see Duffy in Boston, to get Devers off of 3B, where he’s simply awful, and onto 1B, an area of need.
OTOH, it’d be a kick to see the Sox Non-Tender JBJ and bring in Jacoby at minimum wage…..
Poor Cotton probably ends up on a dumpster diver team that is content with a warm body on the mound, no matter how talentless that warm body might be.
his straight fastball and predictable changeup combo…in a bandbox like Baltimore…
Andrew Friedman and co. could realistically take a look at Duffy. Could be this year’s Taylor or Muncy
I wouldn’t object to Matt Duffy in Pirates uniform. He can play left side of the infield and 2B. He doesn’t hit for power and has a decent average. He would be a nice option if injury happens at those respective positions. I realize SS and 2B is locked, but this guy can be a bench and sub as needed. He doesn’t have the power prospective (like Moran) at 3B, but can man the position. I think he would improve the bench with him on the team. It’s a Nutting type of signing, cheap and injury prone
Duffy to DET possible, or is there a better team you all expect to offer Duffy enough time for him to forego the chance to become a Tiger?
Respectfully, the Tigers have a bunch of versatile infielders who have little to no power. Goodrum is probably the biggest bat of the bunch. Lugo, Candelario, 2 Castros, Rodriguez Paredes. They need a corner infielder with HR power. Someone….who…can….hit….it….over…the…fence. I suspect either Smoak or Thames will be signed first. I don’t see any infield bats in the Rule 5 pool. I suspect the Tigers will go for a RP project again there.
Daniel Palka ?
Not to keep plucking from the Rays’ vine but I’d like to see my Reds pick up Duffy too, dude is an all around ballplayer, not great necessarily at any one thing but proficient at everything and always gives 100%+
A lot of good teams could use Duffy. Milwaukee, Boston, Minnesota, Atlanta all come to mind. Would he start? Probably not. An NL team could use him everyday and get him 400 at bats. Or he can take his chances on a bad team, play well, stay healthy, get traded in July.
giants should grab cotton, they are going to need arms and it is some upside off the trash heap