MARCH 18: Solis has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Sugar Land, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. He’ll remain in the organization but no longer occupies a spot on the 40-man roster.
MARCH 15: The Astros announced this afternoon they’ve designated right-hander Jairo Solis for assignment (relayed by Jake Kaplan of the Athletic). The move clears 40-man roster space for the signing of utilityman Niko Goodrum, which has been made official.
Solis, 22, has yet to pitch above Low-A. Signed for a $450K bonus during the 2016-17 international signing period, he quickly elevated his prospect status with a velocity spike in pro ball. Baseball America wrote in 2019 that he’d run his fastball up to 98 MPH and slotted him among the top half of Houston’s top 30 prospects every year from 2018-20. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him third in the Houston farm system as recently as last year, while his colleague Kevin Goldstein wrote in February that Solis could emerge as a top 100 overall prospect with a breakout performance in 2021.
Unfortunately, Solis’ past few seasons have been destroyed by injuries. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2018, missing all of the following campaign. The cancelation of the 2020 minor league season prevented Solis from pitching in game action, then he suffered another elbow injury last year. He underwent a second Tommy John procedure in June, likely costing him most or all of the upcoming season.
If Solis indeed misses the entire 2022 season, he won’t have pitched in a single affiliated game between 2019-22. Houston added him to their 40-man roster during the 2020-21 offseason to keep him from being poached in the Rule 5 draft, but after another health setback, they’ll now make him available to other clubs. The Astros could have elected to place him on the 60-day injured list to open a roster spot, but doing so would’ve required paying him a major league salary and granting him MLB service time. Instead, they’ll presumably try to pass him through waivers in hopes that he can be kept in the system without requiring either a roster spot or MLB pay.
A 45-grade prospect with 2 option years available? He had TJ Surgery in June, so why not stash him on the 60-day IL?
I can’t imagine he clears waivers.
Never pitched above low-A and will miss all of 2022, but already on the 40 man roster. That equals a major options squeeze. At best he makes it the majors with an option left, but probably not. Sounds like a classic screw job by the rules governing very young international signees. So often they have to be added to the 40 man before they’re remotely ready, and this is what happens. He may actually slip through waivers for that exact reason.
I believe putting him on the 60 starts his clock and counts toward our payroll/ luxury tax
I seriously doubt the league minimum salary is the issue. The service clock issue is more likely. I didn’t think about that part of the rule.
If we sign correa for a short huge aav then it absolutely will. We want to have money for the trade deadline as well
Dude hasn’t pitched since 2018 and when he did it was in low A. You’ll probably have burned thru the option years if/when he’s ready for the majors.
He had TJ Surgery in June. Couldn’t the Astros just stash him on the 60-day IL?
I had the same question. When can teams begin using the 60-day IL?
Some have already announced that they have cleared 40-man spots by transferring a player to the 60-day IL.
Read the article.
The article was like 2 sentences when I posted this.
Welcome to the Cubs young man
Wouldn’t that be up to 6 other teams to decide?
They have 7 days to trade him before he has to go on the waiver wire! No major league teams have room on their 40 man for a 22 year old who hasn’t pitched above low A, and has just had TJ surgery. It’s part of the cost of doing business.
High risk but it may payoff in the end if someone like the Marlins sign him.
And they can get him to the big leagues before his options run out, which is highly improbable since he’s not pitching at all in 2022. This is gonna be one of those hot potatoes where teams take turns trying to slip him through waivers, and he gets the short end of the stick while he waits for someone to succeed.
Why is he screwed? He probably should have been left off the 40 to begin with. Had he been he would have been stuck with HOU because the rule 5 was cancelled. He only loses options if he is out on the 6O day and then he will get mlb pay and service time instead. I think he lucked out big time considering his injuries.
Two Tommy John surgeries in 3 years is not a good sign and Houston knows it. This is why they elected not to hold onto him via the 60-day IL. I doubt other teams will pick him up given his injury history and lack of advanced pitching in the minors. Maybe a team like Baltimore takes a chance on him but that could be a reach too.
Am sure Elias knows him well. He used to run the Astros International Program.
If the Orioles can sign him to a minor league contract am sure they will.
He’s a long shot anyway you look at It w his injuries.
Too bad. He was a helluva prospect.