The A’s announced this evening that reliever Deolis Guerra underwent Tommy John surgery today. That’ll obviously end his season and seems likely to sideline him for a decent chunk of the 2023 campaign as well.
Guerra left a late-spring appearance after feeling some forearm tightness, an ominous development that often proves a precursor to Tommy John. Martín Gallegos of MLB.com reported earlier this month that Guerra would require a procedure of some kind, but it hadn’t been clear whether he’d need a full UCL reconstruction. Unfortunately, that has proven to be the case.
Coming into the year, the 32-year-old (33 this weekend) looked as if he’d take on a notable role for first-year manager Mark Kotsay. Among returning relievers, only Lou Trivino (73 2/3) worked more innings for the A’s than Guerra, who tossed 65 2/3 frames. He posted a capable 4.11 ERA, striking out an average 23% of opponents on a 12.3% swinging strike rate. It wasn’t an overwhelming performance, but the Venezuela native showed the ability to work more than one inning and pounded the strike zone en route to decent numbers.
Guerra has appeared in the majors in each of the past six seasons (albeit just once in 2019), suiting up with the Pirates, Angels, Brewers and Phillies before landing in Oakland. He has worked 168 2/3 innings of 4.54 ERA ball altogether, compensating for a 20.4% strikeout percentage with a stingy 6.2% walk rate.
The A’s and Guerra agreed to an $815K salary over the offseason to avoid arbitration. He’ll collect that salary and service time while on the injured list, bringing him up over four years of service by the end of the season. Guerra remains controllable for another two years, but it’s possible the A’s non-tender him rather than carry him on the 40-man roster throughout next offseason.
A byproduct of the modern game. Throw your arm out until you throw your arm out.
Déjà vu
The last active player from the Johan Santana trade
Gomez was the best player the Mets sent to MIN, but none of them did anything notable for the Twins. Gomez was okay, hitting .248/.293/.352 with a 26% whiff rate and 47 steals in his two years before being traded to the Brewers. Phillip Humber got designated for assignment three times before latching on with the White Sox where he tossed a perfect game and then did nothing for the rest of his career. Kevin Mulvey did nothing notable for the Twins (or in his career). I’d say the Mets won the trade on Santana’s 2008 season alone, but he didn’t last long enough before his shoulder fell off to call the trade a lopsided win for the Mets.
There goes the season
Sign Petit, please
Get Petit now
Frankie Montas for Burger, Sheets, Kelly. A’s should do it everyday they put Montas out their is a risk for injury. After another 2 hits and a walk today. Vaughn is starting to show why he was the #3 overall pick in the draft and an important piece to the White Sox core. He’s not getting traded. But Burger could be a solid 3rd baseman with a big bat. He also had 2 hits today and has looked good for years now. He’s a solid player that is just being blocked by Moncada. Kelly is young and has the stuff to be a front line starter
Never happening. You can’t trade all your spare garbage for a gem.