The Yankees announced that they have reinstated Luis Severino from the COVID-19 injured list, with right-hander Ryan Weber being designated for assignment in a corresponding move. This is the inverse of today’s earlier transaction, where Severino went on the IL, with Weber taking his roster spot. Severino has since tested negative and rejoined the team.
Weber, 31, has worn a number of jerseys in his career, suiting up for Atlanta, Seattle, Tampa, Boston and Milwaukee before this season. This winter, he was signed by the Yankees to a minor league deal and impressed down on the farm. Through 21 1/3 innings with the RailRiders, he had a 2.95 ERA. His 16.9% strikeout in that time wasn’t stellar, though his 1.1% walk rate certainly was.
After Severino experienced viral symptoms and needed to bow out of today’s start, the Yanks called on Weber to help bail them out of the emergency situation. Weber answered the call with aplomb, throwing 3 2/3 innings against the Rays in relief tonight, allowing one earned run on two hits. The Yanks would eventually earn a walkoff 2-1 victory over their division rivals in the contest.
However, as a reward for his valiant efforts, Weber has been sent into DFA limbo. The club will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers. If he were to clear waivers, he would be able to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency as a player who has previously been outrighted in his career.
Thank you Ryan for pitching tonight against the Rays.. A very good job in relief tonight by keeping the Yankees in the game.
From standing ovation to DFA’d…. brutal
He knew it was short term. Given his bad but limited MLB history, this was a great moment for him that will lead to another, probably with the Yankees but perhaps sooner with another club.
dewey – I think Weber is the most talked-about 5.22 ERA pitcher in MLBTR history.
Nice guy, I wish him well, but not with the Red Sox again.
No argument except sometimes it takes some longer to develop. While I agree with you, we could both be eating our words in October if he becomes a valuable arm for another team.
At Age 32? As James Bond would say, “Not bloody likely”
How old was Steven Wright when he developed? While Weber is not a knuckler, he also is not high octane and has to have accuracy and deception to succeed.
I agree there’s a chance, but I do think it’s very slim.
Wright had a career 3.58 ERA at Weber’s current age, so not quite the same comp.
I’ll never forgive Cora for ruining Wright’s career by having him pinch-run, such a shame … the guy was pitching great up to that point.
“I’ll never forgive Cora for ruining Wright’s career by having him pinch-run, such a shame … the guy was pitching great up to that point.”
That was Ex-Boston manager, John Farrell.
Ahh yess.. John Farell. Cant believe I forgot about him.
His line tonight was: 3.2 IP: 2 hits; 1 SO; 0 BB and 1 ER
0.55 WHIP; and 2.45 ERA after that respectable cameo.
Before his call-up; this season at Triple-A:
2.95 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 15/1 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 Innings (eight appearances, four starts) He’s 31 years old.
Anything more than a PTBNL would be a good get IMO.
No one is trading for him. A team with an immediate need could pick him up once released but my if not, he’ll re-sign with the Yankees.
I really liked his mechanics and movement, reminded me of pitching Blitzball
Yet another example of a team gaming the Covid protocol system to get their pitcher a night off. This is starting to get ridiculous. The Yankees put Severino on the Covid list this morning and then reinstate him less than 12 hours later? That’s going to finally get the attention of the Commissioner’s Office. There should be a minimum 48 or 72 hour window where the player needs to stay out if they are placed on the Covid list and don’t test positive. They are basically putting players with common colds and allergy symptoms on the Covid list, just to give them a night off and calling up players with no impact to the roster.
Sounds like a Red Sox fan.
Sorry for your heart breaking loss today!
What’s not reasonable about what was said? I guess there’s little integrity in sports outside of golf. Reminds me of the video sign stealing situation. I agree with Dorothy that there is nothing wrong with a 72 hour or two game minimum leave.
I’m quite sure the Yankees didn’t sit out Severino to give him a night off. That said, they certainly could have used the Covid IL as a convenient place to stash him.
Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.
There are also many other non-Covid viral tests which aren’t commonly used. Along with priority lab access, perhaps he tested positive for something else and doctors determined that he wasn’t contagious.
All MLB wants is a negative test. From any player on any team. Once symptoms show up you either have Covid or you don’t. I don’t get the problem here.
Dorothy, please give a reasonable explanation for why the Yankees would not have wanted Severino to start at Yankee Stadium in a chance to sweep the Rays, rather than have to burn arms in the bullpen. They had no way of knowing how any of those relievers would fare before the game started.
In his last outing, Severino went 6 innings and gave up one run (a HR) and seven hits with 10 strikeouts on 103 pitches. He’d have been pitching on five days’ rest.
Either Severino had the sniffles and they wanted to rest him or they want to limit his innings this year since he hasn’t pitched this many innings over the last 3 seasons combined. Perfect time to do it when they had already won the series. By adding Weber, they weren’t shorthanded so it worked out great for them.
I’m not saying the Yankees cheated here, they just gamed the system like many other teams have done already, but I believe it was a mistake to reinstate him on the same day he was put on the Covid list. That’s just being too obvious.
Clam up.
Yeah, those terrible Yankees, right, Dorothy? Were you as upset about this last year:
“BOSTON (CBS) — The Red Sox have another COVID situation to deal with. Rookie outfielder Jarren Duran was placed on the COVID-19 related Injury List on Friday, ahead of Boston’s four-game set with the Blue Jays in Toronto.
“Boston manager Alex Cora said that Duran does not feel well, but added that he has not tested positive for COVID-19. Duran remains at the team hotel as the rest of the Red Sox prepares to take on the Blue Jays.
“It is similar to the situation that the team dealt with earlier this week with closer Matt Barnes, who was placed on the COVID IL because he was feeling ill. But Barnes did not test positive for COVID, and and was activated from the list one day later.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/jarren-duran-red-sox-covid-19-related-injury-list-blue-jays-mlb/
How about that? Duran was placed on the COVID IL without a positive test . . . just before a trip to Toronto. What a coincidence, right? And Barnes was put on the COVID IL without a positive test and then activated one day later. Funny, though — no mention of it getting the attention of the Commissioner’s office.
Usually you are spot on with your analysis, but it doesn’t make sense in this case. Sounds like a conspiracy theory at best and at worst, an uninformed opinion. Either way, it’s weak sauce Dorothy.
But as I mentioned, you have a strong lnoedge of baseball and I normally agree with your posts.
Dorothy is right. The team can hold a player out for any reason but if they want to replace the player, they should be required to put them on a restricted list like the injured list. Just make the minimum duration less,72 hours or two games.
Your summary makes it more important to reset the rules. No one is picking on the Yankees, it’s just they’re the most recent example.
Why would Sevey, being the competitor he is, want to miss a start against the arch rival Rays at Yankee Stadium…..
The Yankees did what every other ML team would do and actually did Weber a tremendous favor in so much that he’ll probably have a more than decent shot at making somebody’s 40 man as compared to being buried in the minors.
Rocky, no one is pointing at the Yankees. it’s just a rule that some feel needs adjusting. No competitor wants to be off the field but if you could be contagious, it’s best to be safe.
Is it really that bad? The protocol has provided dozens of opportunities for AAAA type players to get some exposure (no pun intended) and stay on a mlb roster or get picked up by another organization.
Why have a limited roster then?
Whah
If they put him on the covid list to get a one day break he would be starting tonight. He had symptoms, then tested negative. He’s not scheduled to pitch in the next 48 hours.
Dorothy – Whether this situation was gaming the system or not, there are some games being played around the league.
In looking at potentially changing the rule though, there has to be real care taken because there could be unintended consequences. For instance, If you make the Covid rule more confining, will teams become less vigilant about potential outbreaks that will then cause more disruptions?
The league might be willing to accept some gamesmanship if it means ensuring that Covid outbreaks are minimized.
Just some food for thought.
The luxuries of having a stacked, healthy pitching staff of which I’m not taking for granted.
Since he was a replacement player for someone placed on the covid IL, why couldn’t he have been sent back to the minors (and off the 40 man)? Why did they have to dfa him?
Out of options? No alternative, when out of options.
Why Miguel Andujar avoided “DFA”; reported to AAA.
He’s pissed… Rightfully. But it’s Mggy’s last option year!
Weber wasn’t on the 40-Man roster, so they had to add him before the game. Covid protocol players temporarily come off the 40-man roster, so he took Severino’s spot on the 40-man. Once Severino was reinstated, they had 41 players on the 40-man roster so they had to DFA Weber or someone else.
Had they selected a pitcher who was already on the 40 man roster, he could have pitched today and then get sent back to the minors, even if he was out of options. The Covid rules allow teams to do this.
40 man status doesn’t matter. The Guardians called up several guys who weren’t on the 40 earlier this year and then simply “returned” them to AAA. Those guys were Tanner Tully and Kirk McCarty (McCarty was subsequently added to the 40 later).
It’s actually a little curious why they had to DFA the guy.
“Had they selected a pitcher who was already on the 40 man roster, he could have pitched today and then get sent back to the minors, even if he was out of options. The Covid rules allow teams to do this.” I don’t think that’s it. A player already on the 40 man, but in the minors, has already burned his option for the year. I believe the COVID exception is for players temporarily added to the 40 man. And that specific rule only applies when there is an “outbreak” or other serious depletion to the roster, which did not happen here. The Yankees are taking advantage of another, more limited rule, which is that any player can be placed on the COVID list temporarily and not be counted against the 40 man.
I recommend everyone read NYY twitter thread announcing the Ryan Weber DFA move. Still cant find an answer.
The guy did an admirable job!
https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1537633723318935554?s=20&t=s12Gqe1gkzLSeLAnY2CWeg
Click “show more replies” to continue the Twitter thread.
If you scroll down without clicking this; will prompt you to create a Twitter account. Do not have one, surprisingly…
Why is a DFA a bad thing? Every MLB team will get an opportunity to claim and keep him on a mlb roster. You cannot ask for a better opportunity to stay in the majors
If he wasn’t expendable he would have never been called up in the first place and would still be stuck at AAA
Yesss… Sure he wants to get claimed by dumpster fires.
Poor kid, pitches well in the minors, gets a shot and pitches fine, then immediately dfa lol brutal business
The Yankees did him a favor. He was buried in the minors, he got a call, and someone will sign him and put him on the 40. As to gaming the system, whether that’s a fair description or not, these teams all play by the same rules, and all exploit the same rules. And, do we really want the virus running through a clubhouse?
Absolutely somebody will pick him up with the dearth of injuries to pitching in MLB…he’s proven that he has a serviceable if not res[ectable ability to pitch either starting, or relief.
Poor Ryan Weber.Always a bridesmaid,always DFAd.Good luck kid you deserve it(yet again).
Good for him, I’m sure there’s a team out there can saw what he did and can give him a legit trial.
Will go from owning the Rays to pitching for the Rays
My last word on the conspiracy theory pertaining to Severino’s IL stint. This, from NJ.com:
‘With Luis Severino too sick to make his scheduled start, the Yankees put him on the COVID-19 injured list before the game.
‘Then they told reliever Clarke Schmidt — long one of the team’s highly regarded pitching prospects — that he would need to start in Severino’s place. Boone broke the news to Schmidt at just about 2 p.m. First pitch was at 7:05 p.m.
‘Finally, they told righty pitcher Ryan Weber to get into a car and make the two-plus-hour drive from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to Yankee Stadium to take Severino’s place on the roster.’
Seems like an awful lot of late arranging if they had planned on sitting Sevy all along. And then there’s this from Sports Illustrated:
“I mean, I couldn’t have drawn it up better,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the win. “[For Schmidt] to give us 11 batters at the start there, no runs, was huge. I thought he just pitched with a ton of confidence, he was on the attack right out of the gate, which was really good. Then Weber coming in and navigating the way he did. We could have been really up against it. Not only today but potentially then leaking into tomorrow. Those efforts are enormous.”
Draw your own conclusions.
This makes no sense. If they were going to rest Sevy, simply to give him a day’s rest, there are plenty of teams with which to do it, but not the inter-divisional competitors & reigning division champions.
If anything this move hurt the Yankees far more than it helped them. I don’t understand the logic in arguing how the system was “gamed” in any way. He was sick, they used the protocols in place to put him on the sick list to ensure they had a [very sub-par] arm to take Sevy’s place, while effectuating a BP game.
I understand if some think the rules need to change, but to use this example as an illustration of said need is counterintuitive, imo.
I Am Glad To See Luis Severino Doing Well,After Missing A Start For Medical Reasons,When Is His Next Scheduled Start?
From Cy young to cyonara
Who cares. As long as Chapman remains on the IL I’m happy.