Headlines

  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim
  • Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Sign Three Pitchers To Minor League Deals

By Darragh McDonald | May 11, 2022 at 8:45pm CDT

The Rays announced that they have signed a trio of righties to minor league deals, as relayed by team broadcaster Neil Solondz. Shawn Armstrong, Kevin Herget and Joe Wieland are now all in the organization, with all heading to the Triple-A Durham Bulls. (Wieland will get built up in extended Spring Training before joining the Bulls.)

Armstrong is the most experienced of the bunch and likely the one most recognizable to Tampa fans, as he spent time with the club last year. After being acquired midseason from the Orioles for cash considerations, Armstrong was eventually selected to the roster and logged 16 innings of 4.50 ERA ball for the Rays. The team may have found a way to unlock a new gear for him, as his strikeout rate shot up 33.8%, well above his career rate of 23.4%, though in an obviously small sample size.

He was outrighted at the end of the year and elected free agency. He signed on with the Marlins on a minor league deal and made the Opening Day roster. He wasn’t able to transfer his 2021 performance across the state, however, as his 6 2/3 innings with Miami this year have resulted in a 10.80 ERA and just five punchouts. The 31-year-old will head to Durham and see if the Rays can work their magic again and get him back to where he was last year.

Wieland, 32, saw scattered MLB action from 2012 to 2016. Appearing for the Padres, Dodgers and Mariners, he logged 52 2/3 innings over ten starts and a couple of relief appearances with a 6.32 ERA. He then spent a couple of seasons in Japan, followed by one in Korea. He spent the 2017-18 campaigns pitching for the Yokohama Bay Stars of the NPB, where he worked to a combined 3.80 ERA. With the Kia Tigers of the KBO in 2019, things didn’t go quite as well, with his ERA jumping to 4.75. In 2020, Wieland signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs. Of course, the pandemic ended up wiping out the minors, and he was unable to crack the big league roster. He doesn’t appear to have pitched anywhere in 2021. Although he’s made the occasional relief appearance, the bulk of his work has come as a starter, meaning he could take a slot in the Bulls’ rotation and try to earn his way into the big leagues for the first time since 2016.

Herget, 31, has yet to make it up to the show. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 39th round in 2013. He worked his way up to Triple-A by 2016 but never got the call to join the big league team. After eventually reaching free agency, he was signed by Cleveland and spent last year with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. He appeared in 28 games, seven of them starts, throwing 80 1/3 innings with a 4.48 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate.

Share 0 Retweet 13 Send via email0

Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Joe Wieland Kevin Herget Shawn Armstrong

Twins Select Yennier Cano
Main
Mitch Haniger Likely Out Until July
View Comments (8)
Post a Comment

8 Comments

  1. Jm207* 2

    3 years ago

    They’ll by 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Cy Young votes within 2 years tops.

    1
    Reply
    • User 3663041837

      3 years ago

      They’ll be minor league depth or come up to pitch in blowouts and be terrible.

      3
      Reply
      • Unclenolanrules

        3 years ago

        Or take the place of prospect call-ups?

        Those sneaky Devils. Or wait, Rays.

        Reply
  2. Old York

    3 years ago

    Isn’t that what the Rays always do? Sign players to minor league deals? Why would they sign players to major league deals?

    Reply
  3. Yankee Clipper

    3 years ago

    Well, we know Brett Phillips isn’t one…

    Reply
    • alwaysgo4two

      3 years ago

      Brett can fool you pitching….he’s sneaky slow.

      Reply
  4. mlb1225

    3 years ago

    At least one of these guys will pitch like 50 innings and have a 2.00 ERA.

    Reply
  5. Peart of the game

    3 years ago

    Joe Weiland is the name I’d be most excited for if he can show he’s healthy and racking up strikeouts while limiting walks to reasonable levels. He has shown success in NPB before and dominated the independent league in 2020.

    1
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Brandon Woodruff To Start For Brewers On Sunday

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Recent

    Giants Activate Matt Chapman, DFA Sergio Alcantara

    Nationals Reinstate Mason Thompson From 60-Day IL

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Rangers To Sign Rowdy Tellez To Minor League Deal

    Yankees Likely To Promote Cam Schlittler

    Astros Sign Hector Neris

    Dodgers Not Planning To Add Third Base Help Before Deadline

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Blue Jays Place Yimi Garcia On 15-Day Injured List

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version