A spate of waiver claims have hit the wire this afternoon …
- The Rockies claimed righty Tyler Kinley from the Marlins. Righty Joe Harvey was designated for assignment to create 40-man space in Colorado. Kinley, a 28-year-old righty, carried an ugly 46:36 K/BB ratio in 49 1/3 MLB frames last year. But he also managed a 3.65 ERA on the year, generated a 12.9% swinging strike rate, and carried a mid-nineties heater. He was a Rule 5 pick by the Twins in 2018, so it’s clear that multiple clubs are intrigued by his raw potential. He has a pair of minor league options remaining, so he’s a sensible and affordable depth option for the Rockies, who opened the season by proclaiming a lack of payroll flexibility.
- The Brewers announced that they claimed infielder Ronny Rodriguez from the Tigers. The 27-year-old has struggled in two seasons with the Detroit organization, showing some power and defensive versatility but demonstrating some of the worst on-base skills in the league. Through an even 500 plate appearances at the MLB level, Rodriguez is a .221/.254/.396 batting line. He still has multiple option years remaining, so he can be shuttled between Triple-A and the Majors in both 2020 and 2021.
- Also departing the Tigers is right-hander Marcos Diplan, who was claimed by the Orioles, per a team announcement. He appeared in 38 games between the Double-A affiliates for the Twins and Brewers, totaling 68 2/3 innings of 4.85 ERA ball with 9.6 K/9 against 5.8 BB/9. Diplan was ranked among the Brewers’ 10 to 20 best prospects back in 2017 but has seen his stock dip in recent seasons as he’s begun to bounce around the waiver circuit. Notably, Diplan was has now been claimed by the Tigers and Orioles this winter — the teams with the No. 1 and No. 2 waiver priorities. He has a minor league option remaining.
You know you’re really bad, Orioles, when you’re claiming Tiger throwaways! Doesn’t say too much about the Brewers either! Ronny Rodriguez is versatile, but AAAA versatile.
The brewers had Saladino, Spangenberg, Hernan Perez and Travis Shaw all on the roster at various points last year. Seems to me, this guy is a lateral move at worst. If he is a plis defender, he’s a potential late inning defensive replacement/double switch guy…IF he makes the big club.
He is NOT a plus defender. Versatile, yes, but he is average at best, but at a number of positions. He can be an exciting player offensively at moments, but he Ks too much. The guy is just a hacker. Enjoy him. I suspect your AAA team will!
My mistake. Still, its not as if they’re handing him an everyday job, or even a roster spot..at the MLB or AAA level. But again, when you consider the 4 guys I mentioned, its not like they’re trying to replace a 5 WAR guy.
LOL will swing at anything ⚾️
I got to see Ronnie play quite a bit at Toledo and let me tell you, at AAA the guy can really mash. But when he got to the big leagues, he was quite disappointing. He had some streaks at the big league level and has a little bit of power, but he follows these up with long droughts. Fielding metrics don’t reflect really how bad he is with the glove. Like able guy though. Great personality and energy. Classic 4A profile.
The tigers are loaded and primed for last place and moving seats back so fans need binoculars.
The Ron Burgundy of MLB. He will swing at a-ny-thing. If you’re expecting any saving grace with his glove or overall defense, you can forget about it. I saw him make one of the most egregious throwing errors in my life last year as the SS on a tailor made DP. I’m talking about being 15 ft away from 2B and throwing it 5-10 ft to the right of the 2B knee he got to the bag. It woulda been hard to make a worse throw then that blind folded.
I’m guessing what Stearns based everything on was the 2 options remaining. My guess is if he sticks with the organization at all, he’ll be stashed in the minors and shuttled back and forth when injuries occur.
Baltimore got them some AAA depth