The Rangers announced Tuesday that outfielder Jake Marisnick and righty Brandon Workman have been released from their minor league contracts. It’s not clear whether either exercised an out clause in their contract, but it’s common this time of year for veterans of this nature to trigger such provisions in their non-roster contracts if they’ve been informed they won’t make the team. Regardless, both veterans will now be free to seek a new opportunity with another club.
Marisnick, 31, split the 2021 season between the Cubs and Padres, batting a combined .216/.286/.375 through 198 trips to the plate. The longtime Astros outfielder has never been known for his offensive prowess, however, and instead provides the bulk of his value with the glove and on the basepaths. Capable of playing all three outfield positions, Marisnick boasts a whopping 75 Defensive Runs Saved and an impressive 41 Outs Above Average in 4929 career innings in the outfield. He’s also swiped 77 bases in 105 tries (73.3%).
Workman, 33, has been with three different clubs over the past two seasons and struggled to recapture the peak form he displayed in Boston from 2017-19. During that three-year run with the Sox, Workman tallied 152 2/3 innings of 2.59 ERA ball with an impressive 28.9% strikeout rate that helped to offset a bloated 11.7% walk rate. Opponents struggled to do damage on contact against Workman during that time — evidenced by a 0.82 HR/9 mark.
Over the past two seasons, however, Workman has been clobbered for a 5.66 ERA in 47 2/3 frames, due in no small part to the fact that his HR/9 mark has nearly doubled to 1.51. Workman’s strikeout rate has also fallen to 20.3%, while his already problematic walk rate has further inflated to 14.3%. He appeared in a pair of official spring games with the Rangers and yielded two runs in two innings of work. Workman didn’t yield a homer or a walk and punched out three of the nine men he faced.
I could see those 2 rebuilding some value over seas if there are any open slots in Japan or Korea.
If this is it Mr. Workman, thank you for 2013. as a rookie no less. incredible stat line.
I say Sox should sign him to a minor league contract. At his height, he was phenomenal. If he recreates that by even the slightest, the deal will pay off.
Womp womp
as someone who watches every red sox game, workman was lights out for awhile, dont know why, or how he became such a disaster, hope he finds a new team, if not, retire and know you were important to a world series championship!
He came to the Phillies bullpen…where good talent dies.
Man, that trade was brutal for Phillies fans.
@miltpappas Yes, but to be fair, Pivetta was horrendous for the Phils in every role. They gave him multiple chances. He had to go. He needed a change. Also, he’s been very serviceable in Boston, but it’s not like he’s lights out or anything.
What a lopsided trade that ended up being. Workman & Hembree for Pivetta and Seabold. Pivetta alone was a steal and Boston has yet to use Seabold but there are hopes he can develop into a backend starter himself.
Pivetta is not that good
And the fact that we resigned Workman after the Phillies DFA’d him.
Pivetta is serviceable and part of Bloom’s high strikeout crew. He won’t be lights out but he can keep us in the game with our offense. Plus, he’s got the right attitude. Hopefully last postseason made him stronger.
In any case, he will keep us in the game. I don’t like him as our #2 starter though, that is crazy.
Nick Pivetta’s 2018 Phillies and 2021 Boston seasons are near mirror images, and show you what he is. A 5th starter, at best, who should never see the 6th inning of a start.
Von,
Please let’s not include Workman and Hembree under the category of ‘good talent’. Both were either injured, spent, or both by the time Matt Klentak got taken in that deal.
Must mean Texas is going with Eli white
Marisnick can be of use if platooned vLHP and is still good in CF. He might be a fit in Arizona.
Marlins ought to lure Marisnick back, if he’s not opposed to mainly backing up Sanchez as a late-inning defensive replacement in CF.
My thoughts exactly.
Yeah, he’s a perfect player for a second division team like the Marlins.
Marisnick can be a part of a short side platoon, and a 4th OF, as he can still pick it and still has above average speed
Pirates
Twins need Marisnick. Need a righty who can play all 3 OF positions. Gordon is not an OF
I’d be in favor of Atlanta giving Marisnick a look in CF until RAJ comes back. Rosario in LF, Marisnick in CF, Duvall in RF and Ozuna at DH.
You know just saying acuna makes more sense. But raj i guess is 2 less letters. But raj is also the name of the guy who fixed my internet so shoutout to him.
I could agree with that for Atlanta.
Sounds like a good lineup there.
Plays CF like Jackie Bradley. Unfortunately, hits like Jackie Bradley.
Good comparison. Marisnick and Workman are probably players Zaidi will suddenly have an interest in as his next projects.
pivetta is nothing more than your 5th starter, hes not good at all, honestly we even still have him, he should have been dfa’d after the ;lockout, or simply traded, why hes our 3rd starter is both sad and unrealistic, think about it, why is he a STARTER?, hes a bull pen pitcher. And wacha got lit up today by the twins
good move their bloom!
Did you watch the postseason in 2021? Pivetta basically created Vasquez’s homerun by keeping the game scoreless.
I get it. He’s not the best pitcher but it’s easy to see Bloom wants starters that keep us in the game. Bloom tends to like high strikeout guys too, which fits Pivetta’s image. Pivetta is nowhere near the best but he’s serviceable.
I am very scared, however, that he is currently listed as our #2 starter. Let’s see if he lives up to that.
why is he a STARTER?
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He’s a STARTER because he had an ERA+ of 104 last year. That makes him a #3.
Marisnek has great wheels. Seen him make some incredible plays.
Of course he also used those wheels to end what was left of Lucroy’s career.
Marisnick’s best seasons came with the astros while they were in full trash can cheat mode. Other than that he’s been at best a marginal AAAA player. No big loss.
No bangs? No bangs!
The rangers have no outfield depth. Don’t understand why they wouldn’t keep Marisnick around
nick pivetta did NOT keep boston in games in 2021,
a 9-8 record with an ERA almost 5 is ‘ pretty good’? no, it isnt, go to Baltimore or the pirates that gets 11 fans a game,
normally i defend our guys, but pivetta is not a good pitcher, just deal with it.
Pivetta might not be a “good” pitcher, but he isn’t bad, like you say, either. He’s slightly above league average, 4% better to be precise. His W/L is irrelevant, and his FIP was .25 below his ERA, so he obviously didn’t get a lot of help from his teammates.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, or whatever starter he’s listed at is also irrelevant. That’s just nomenclature. And, that he’s under team control, and relatively cheap, makes him a valuable asset.
With Rodriquez gone, and counting Sale, Pivetta is Boston’s 3rd best starter. With almost every team looking to upgrade their rotations, a lot of teams would love to have Pivetta in theirs.
Amanda
nick pivetta did NOT keep boston in games in 2021, a 9-8 record with an ERA almost 5 is ‘ pretty good’?
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You continue to be substantially wrong. His ERA was not “almost 5”. It was 4.53. By your innumerate standards, his ERA was also “almost 4”.
Further, he pitches in Fenway. Adjusted for the ballpark, his 4.53 is actually better than average.
By any standards, 4.53 is closer to 5 than it is to 4.
Of course, but if one could claim that Pivetta was almost at 5, one could also claim that Pivetta was almost at 4. A gross exaggeration in any case, but “almost” is the key word.
Of course, I could also claim Pivetta was “almost” a 4.06 ERA pitcher, and that would be more mathematically precise.
Joe,
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
and if we got manaea like we should have, he would be gone by now
With Jake Meyers hurting and Jose Siri swinging and missing, I think the Astros would benefit from a reunion.
i think your missing my point
hes SERVICEABLE/AVERAGE yes, but still, on a team thats always trying to win he should not be one of our top 3 starters, no hes not the worst pitcher we have , hes just not ‘ the guy’
i remember 1 game last year in particular, i believe it was tampa cause i remember the roof, he got hit for about 8 runs early, hes just not that good on this team, yes im glad we have 5 pitchers, but lets be honest, 3 of them arent that good, i LOVE this team, but im also realistic that they arent that good OTHER than the offense, you do also know we dont have a closer, right? the only position we know have is a true everyday 2nd baseman.
Geez that’s a bad Red Sox rotation , hammered in AL east
i remember 1 game last year in particular, i believe it was tampa cause i remember the roof, he got hit for about 8 runs early,
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His worst game against TB was when he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings.
One game tells you absolutely nothing. I saw Bumgarner get lit up in his 3rd season by the Twins for 8 runs. He lasted only 1/3 of an inning. It was his 15th start, and it inflated his ERA almost a full run. He still finished that year with a 3.21 ERA, and gave the Giants over 200 IP. He also gave SF a 3.13 ERA over his 11 seasons there.
You have to accept Pivetta for what he is. It’s not his fault that the Sox don’t have better TOR guys. He’s a mid-to-bottom of the rotation guy, and that type has value.
Drew Smyly is similar to Pivetta, probably slightly worse, and he contributed to the Braves winning a WS title. Would you rather have Cueto? He and Pivetta had very similar numbers, and SF won 107 games with him. Pivetta had more value than those guys because he had 30 GS, to only 23 for Smyly, and 21 for Cueto.
Pivetta could be a solid contributor to a winning club if he had better teammates in the rotation. He is not the problem with Boston’s rotation.
That’s about right. The assessments can vary a little, but he is basically a decent #4 type. For some reason, some fans want to a apply a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ designation to players.
The truth is more like, if he can give the RS another 155 IPs with an ERA+ of 104, at $2.65M, that’s a valuable asset. Whether the ROS have TOR guys or not has nothing to do with Pivetta.