The Guardians have designated DH/outfielder Franmil Reyes for assignment, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Though his 2022 numbers have fallen well below his career marks, the move still comes as something of a surprise given Reyes’ age (2022 is his age-26 season) and his prodigious raw power. He had been optioned to Triple-A Columbus earlier this week. Jake Jewell has been selected onto the roster in his place.
Since debuting with the Padres in 2018, Reyes has been one of the more consistent home run threats in the game despite playing his home games at San Diego’s Petco Park (the most pitcher-friendly stadium in the majors) and Progressive Field (comparatively neutral but still pitcher-friendly), going deep in 5.6% of his career plate appearances (the league-wide average over the same span is 3.3%). That number has fallen to 3.2% in 2022, however, while his strikeout rate has ballooned to 37.1% (against a career 30.7% mark) and his walk rate has fallen to 5% (8.4% career).
These unfortunate trends translated into a meager .213/.254/.350 triple-slash, a far cry from his career .253/.314/.478 batting line — particularly in the power department. The Guardians, who entered play on Saturday two games behind the Twins in the AL Central and a game behind the Rays for the final wild card spot, will likely continue to rotate Josh Naylor and Owen Miller between first base and Reyes’ erstwhile DH spot.
Given his very real power potential — and the passing of the trade deadline — there could be some very real interest in Reyes from contending teams, perhaps even before he’s cleared waivers. Any team claiming the slugger would owe him a pro-rated portion of his $4.55MM 2022 salary, while he’d be owed only a pro-rated portion of the minimum salary thereafter. Reyes actually has two years of team control remaining, though he’ll be in line for at least a modest raise should a team choose to tender him a contract.
Either a trade is coming in or this is a bad move, I trust cleveland front office. When I saw Franmil last, in Boston he appeared disconnected from team. Even said, he was surprised to hear “I was waiting for him” almost like “I have fans? People know me?” His confidence seemed low. He was all alone as well. Rest of team was split up on two buses. Majority nearly 17-19 on the first bus.
Cleveland is gonna lose him for nothing. Trade deadline is past so they cannot trade him at all. Some crap team like the Pirates or Nationals will claim him and give him a shot cause they don’t have anything to lose by doing so.
On the trade front though I don’t think he had any value, DH who’s not hitting
That’s a fair assessment
104 strike outs in 280 plate appearances.
DH who’s not hitting. Sounds like La Stella
Reyes would still be better defensively haha la Stella signing is one of the warts on Zaidi and Harris tenure.
I suspect it will be a team in contention. He has a say in it as well.
No he doesn’t. He won’t make it through waivers. This has Garhan written all over it
Bradley got released, Reyes got a DFA. I suspect they would of released him if they didn’t hope they could possibly squeak him by.
They can still trade him, he would just be ineligible for the postseason.
They cannot trade anyone who has been on the 40-man roster past the trade deadline. Rules changed a few years ago bud
For guys not on 40 man in a trade.
But he was on the 40 man when this transaction, so there for he can’t be traded until he goes through waiver wire and is completely through without getting claimed. Then if he stays in the organization after that then only can he be traded for someone who is not on a 40 man, plus he can’t be traded for PTBNL.
I doubt he goes unclaimed. I could see him having a renaissance on in NYY. Which would sting, but I would be happy for him. Then again, Gallo really let me down in NYY. Wish him the best hope he figures it out in Colombus some how, is given another shot in Cleveland. I wrote Carlos Carrasco off, he eventually earned his spot, despite being more then worthy of a DFA early on.
I highly doubt he goes through the 28 other teams to get to NYY. Someone under .500 will claim him and give him a shot. Worst case they non tender him in the offseason.
Yup, the A’s need power, he has power, they already have been getting Matt Davidson and the like, Franmil still has some value left, Beane will swoop.
Do the A’s have 1.5M$ to pay the remaining salary owed this year? That’s a lot of soda money.
Everyone has to be a Yankee huh? Clowns will boo him and make him miserable anytime he strikes out or struggles, like you just did with Gallo. For his own sake, he should not be a Yankee.
Yankees don’t need another righty hitter.
I see Reyes as more likely to be claimed by a non contender such as Washington. If they can fix him, they can flip him for value over the winter.
Texas, tb are two options.
The Padres would love to have him next year when Drury and Bell leave. Too bad they don’t have space on their roster for him now. Franimal was much loved in San Diego.
Nah they can have Reyes when Soto leaves in a few years, when Juan gets his $600 million dollar contract from the Mets. It must of been nice to get Mr. Soto for all those “single hitting all-stars”?
Gallo showing his consistency in Los Angeles in being unable to take a cylindrical wooden object and touch a round leather encased sphere with it.
I don’t really understand this move by Cleveland. Reyes is not having a good season this year, but last year he hit 30 home runs and he was a good hitter for them. They needed to wait until next season in order to trade or designate him for assignment depending how he plays. It was a disappointment that at the trade deadline the Guardians didn’t do anything when they have the opportunity to win the division or win a wild card spot.
I agree with You!
As fans, we don’t know half of the information on a player or the trade deadline. What we do know is Cleveland’s front office is excellent. so, I am sure there is a reason behind this.
@hockeyjohn- I’ll tell you what my friend. Give me Reyes and we’ll give you Cole, but you guys got to pay the rest of his contract. Lolololol! All jokes a side Reyes rakes against the Yankees. In shock. But as you said there’s got to be a reason behind it. Hope all is well my friend, take care.
Hi, Captain! As I said earlier, we, as fans, do not have all the information that leads to a decision. This much is known. 1. Cleveland was upset with his conditioning when he arrived at spring training. 2. Reyes struggled big time at the plate looking totally lost, and was not showing any type of progress, 3. Cleveland’s 40-man roster is loaded with position prospects making pitching moves very difficult. 4. They are facing another 40-man roster this December. I believe they finally decided that he was not going to be a part of the 2023 roster and decided to move on and gain that roster spot to use now.
Cleveland is using this year to see what their young players can do to see who is part of their future or are they trade candidates. The next prospect wave will be even better as it will include many of their top prospects. Freeing the DH spot for the rest of the year will allow the Guardians to see more of Nolan Jones, Tyler Freeman, Will Benson, and Oscar Gonzalez , as well at, provide rest for Ramirez, Rosario, etc.
Cleveland likely tried to move him right up to the trade deadline with no success. That told them what other teams felt his value was. Bye, Bye!
Odd that they wouldn’t just leave him in AAA. Maybe they want the salary relief, given the chance of someone claiming him being near 100%. But still, they could’ve kept him, even if it’s in the minors.
Francys01;
I think the Cleveland FO and Francona liked Reyes a lot. However, he can’t play anywhere on D. Meanwhile they have a 40 man roster crunch coming this offseason as more young players need to be put on it. They have the following young corner OF’s, some that are already doing well: Steven Kwan, Nolan Jones, and Oscar Gonzalez. Will Benson is currently on the ML roster and Alex Call was just sent down. George Valera one of their top prospects that should be up next year. This is for 2 positions.
They not only could not afford for Reyes to take a roster spot, but to take AB’s away from youngsters that may have a future with the team as well. If you’re into stats his O numbers are .213 /.254 /.350 /.603 with a 72 OPS+ on 263 AB’s. His fWar is -0.9.
They’re tried everything they could to get the man back on track. Maybe he can have more success elsewhere.
Samuel- You are totally right. I didn’t see that way. Thank you for explaining it.
They DFA’d Call, he isn’t part of the future. But agree on the number of OF prospects coming fast
So you wanted Cleveland to give him another 6-7M$ next season? They clearly don’t think he’s worth it.
Perhaps there is more to this story? I mean like some team issues or some off field issues? Handling it this way makes him worthless to Cleveland.
@phillies
I heard Soto’s defense in right field, is as good as Samuel’s pick up lines with the ladies?
Aaron Judge’s chances of a staying a nyy are as good as you passing a grammar quiz.
Captain, Come on his defense is bad, but it couldn’t be that bad!!!
Upon seeing Franmil showing up in Boston, he appeared disconnected, lacking confidence. He is surely a great player, I don’t know what caused his (possible/speculative) mental ailments.
Franmil said, he was surprised to see me “you’re waiting for me?” almost like “I have fans? People know me?” His confidence seemed low. He was all alone as well. Rest of team was split up on two buses. Majority nearly 17-19 on the first bus.
I hope he can some how go unclaimed. Stay/Report to AAA
SAD! You should never quit believing in yourself!
He could have been playing with you as well, he was quite the fan favorite here in San Diego. He would burst out in song, I think I saw him once dancing with some kids in the stands. He’s one of those bubbly types, hopefully that’s the case still and he was just messing with you… Feigned surprise as a way of being humble.
Yes I hope he goes unclaimed also. I really liked Franmill and prior to this year he gave them a lot of HR’s. He had a hamstring injury that kept him out for about a month earlier this year and maybe that has something to do with his performance if its not completely healed. Who knows what is up with him. I would like to see him clear waivers and get back to Columbus and turn it around. That happened to Oscar Mercado and Bobby Bradley although I don’t have much hope either one of those guys will ever make it back and they aren’t on the 40 man roster anyway. Franmill was fun hope he somehow makes it back to the Indians.
Gallo gets traded but Franmil gets cut. I guess if you can’t hit in the bright lights of the Big Apple, you just need a smaller stage. If you can’t hit in Cleveland, ya stink.
Meanwhile Aaron Hicks going 0 for his last 29 trying to pick up where Gallo left off in NY.
MeidasTouch living in your mind….rent free.
Not cut yet. They can still work out a trade.
In the offseason? The trade deadline has passed. Everyone on this DB should know that.
No they can’t. Trade deadline is past and they changed the rules.
Horrible take.
You’re forgetting that Gallo is a premium defender..
That’s grasping at straws right there. Gallo has been known as a premium defender, but he hasn’t been in 2022 with a -2.6 UZR. As a frame of reference, Jackie Bradley Jr. is now jobless, now cut from his former team, for being an actual premium defender with a 4.9 UZR.
OK, let’s say that a single defensive metrics from a partial season shows that Gallo is no longer a premium defender (which seems like a stretch). Still, he brings far more defensive value that Franmil.
As for JBJ, he doesn’t have anywhere near the offensive upside of Gallo/Reyes, so I’m not sure how he is relevant.
It’s about salary, if the Yankees DFA’s Gallo nobody would claim him and pay his salary. The Yankees are still paying Gallo the remainder of the season as part of the Dodgers deal. Franmil though is still cheap so some team will definitely claim him and take on the rest of his salary this year. Probably won’t be a contender though since he will be ineligible for the playoffs.
He’s still eligible for the playoffs. That has nothing to do with the trade deadline. Believe that deadline is Aug 31st.
How is he ineligible for the playoffs? Any players that is added to the roster before August 31st its eligible for the playoffs.
Nah theyre both pretty good players who werent treated right by their teams coaches. You forgot change of scenery types actually exist? Look at Sonny Gray on Yankees vs rest of his career!
I hope Sonny Gray has to pitch a big game at Yankee Stadium one day. I truly promise I’ll try not to laugh at Pickles in a big spot.
Players never become bad in New York like they do in every other city. Somehow they all develop the same anxiety in front of the bright lights that illuminate all the empty seats behind home plate.
Some might say it’s an excuse to forgive any bad moves Yankees management might make but I know it’s a serious illness.
37 HRs and 81 RBIs several years back. Him and Miguel Andujar still have time though to get their careers back on track since they’re both fairly young.
Dittos
Yasssss dittos
Franmil is a really nice guy, but man… he was a one trick pony based on his hitting and power, and it all just vanished. There’s also reports of the team wanting him to lose some weight to make him more athletic, but he never did. Hope he catches on some where, I’ll always appreciate the Franimal
He’s only 27 and has about 3 seasons worth of MLB games under his belt and averages 30+ HR and a 114 OPS+. That might not be superstar level, but it’s an MLB quality bat that can do damage and comes with a couple of seasons of arb control. Multiple teams will jump at that.
YES! YES!
would love to see KC take a chance with him.
He will get claimed. Washington has their name all over this! If they’re willing to stick with Franco they can most definitely try and right the ship for Reyes! Heck at least he’s a defensive upgrade over Soto lol!
I hope that defensive upgrade comment is sarcastic
I mean, Soto isn’t in Washington, so technically, he would be an upgrade over an empty field.
I detect a little humor?
Would any team claim Nelson Cruz if the Nats use his roster spot for Reyes?
Nats will pass, they won’t add the salary and they don’t need another DH.
Any contender looking for a right-handed power hitting DH could win the post trade deadline lottery by grabbing Franmil Reyes. He also just turned 27 and comes with arbitration control through 2024 that might interest a few non-contenders. I’m not sure what prompted the offensively challenged Guardians to DFA him but he was quite productive before this season including posting some solid power numbers last year.
He’s maybe a platoon DH. Not a great use of a roster spot.
AaronSapoznik;
The “….offensively challenged Guardians”….?
They’re in the middle of the pack in MLB in both Runs Scored and OPS. In fact, they’re ahead of your White Sox in both categories in the same number of games.
Back to the Padres?
If he could pitch three innings every other day, maybe. The Padres are log-jammed with a bunch of multi-position players in the outfield, first base and DH.
Post-waivers, sure, he’d be welcomed back to the org and sent to El Paso. I could definitely see a resurrection of the Franimal in EP.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the Cubs claim him.
No. Just no.
Why? Does it look like the Cubs are trying to win? No, they’re not. And seeing that the Cubs current GM has ties to the Guardians (Carter Hawkins), I can see it easily happening.
Why not? They’re fighting Pittsburgh for last place anyway. Reyes might help with that.
They are opening a roster spot for who then?
Jake Jewell
Would love to see Philly grab him as depth.
Honestly we have a lot of depth right now. I know right? But the fact they can release Odubel, trade MM, and option Camargo and Munoz shows they are not concerned with depth. I actually feel really good with the team until the MV3 returns.
Eugh, doesn’t hurt though. He probably doesn’t get to us on waivers, but he’s also likely better than any OF type they have in AAA right now.
I remember the Cubs dumping Schwarber after one bad year. That did not turn out too well.
Maybe the same w Reyes?
Sincerely doubt Schwarber would be the answer to the Cubs rebuild. He had a great 1/2 year in Boston. Phillies surely wish for the money they paid him, he would replicate that production.
I’m guessing they are opening a spot for battlefield next time thru the rotation, the 40 man is full of talent and every person you add is going to make some other team happy at this point.
Good luck franmil, hope you find your swing and can layoff the breaking balls out of the zone wherever you land
Nope I guess it was for jake jewel, another arm for the pen. Wish the rotation could get straightened out so the rest of the club would have a punchers chance moving on. But atleast everyone is getting their feet wet for next year
This is the Gaddis spot. I’m betting Brennan is added to the 40.
Nope, jake jewell was added…he Gaddis spit on the 26 but Reyes spit in the 40
@Indiansjoe/Guardiansjoe- if Reyes makes it thru waivers, the Yankees will take em’. C’mon he’s got to be a better hitter then the departed Joey Gallo? Yankee fans payed for Joey’s flight to La La Land. If that kid ever learned to bunt to the left side he could win a batting title, a double every time.
Cellar-dwellers ought to take a chance on him with two more years under team control. But they’ll pass and try to claim him after release waivers rather than pay him $1+ million to claim him now.
The A’s should pick him up
Bummer.. he is a fun guy to have on the club. It’s just tough for a team to be patient with a guy that doesn’t have the ability to be serviceable at any defensive position.
Kind of like King Kong Kingman, in his later days. Accept, Kingman sent a reporter a rat!
not even close. Kingman’s last three seasons, he hit 35, 30, and 35 homers while hitting .268, .238 and .210. He’d still play in today’s game.
This just seems like there is more not being said. He was effective 2019 thru 2021 and has options and they are cutting him loose. Maybe they think he won’t be claimed and they can then get him off the 40 and hold him in the minors
Do you think maybe his .213 average with loads of strikeouts and major loss of power has anything to do with it? If he’s not hitting bombs consistently, what is there to like about him? That’s why they’re cutting bait and it’s well deserved!
Franmil was a fan favorite in San Diego because of his outwardly cheerful exuberance. Maybe that was a cover for some deeper problems.
If there was a DH back then, he would have stayed with the Padres. I don’t think the Padres are looking to fill the roster right now. Sounds like there might be some other lingering issues for a team to unload him like that…
Hopefully, for his sake, it’s something that’s correctable and not like a family member ill or anything of the sort.
The Dominican Chris Carter lol.
Not bad!
Maybe Nolan Jones goes back to Columbus to learn to be a full time first baseman and maybe Brennan makes his debut as the left side of the right field platoon?
Al Avila will pass in favor of meadows. Cuz he’s dumb
No team is dumb for passing on him.
With as much of a mess the Tigers currently are, I hope they claim him just to get a look at him. Also the roster needs any help. Also he’s still pretty young. Like at least just show interest.
Addition by subtraction. At some point you get tired of seeing him strikeout over and over again. He’s lost it.
I would like to see Bloom take a flyer on Reyes. Big time power if they can find a way to harness it, and at a reasonable price. Good replacement for JD next season as well
Spot on Rsox, I would like to see a claim also. They are missing the power from the OF so this would be a solid move as they could non tender at the end of the season if he’s awful
They would still be missing power from the OF, as he is pretty much a DH only.
Thats all they need him for. Verdugo, Duran, and a free agent/trade acquisition over the winter will make up the OF. They need a power bat to DH and Reyes is definitely a solid buy low option
Fanmail Reyes lol
Shouldn’t have completely screwed up the 40-man last winter and then stood pat and this wouldn’t be an issue.
Tigers should claim him so they don’t have to face him
Bottom teams get first claim. A’s Nats. One of those teams will probably take a stab at him.
Didn’t know the bottom teams get first right to claim players. Thanks for that.
GIANTS
Wraps up the Trevor Bauer trade.
Bobby Bradley Released. Jake Jewell Promoted. Message Sent. Tom Hamilton on Radio said yesterday AAA Manager Andy Tracy has difficult job dealing with players being demoted etc.
I could definitely see the Giants taking a flyer on him.
Feel like Baltimore might be a good spot. Obviously, he has been terrible of late but maybe can fill in for Mancini and who knows?
If Danny Mendick wasn’t injured, I would say the White Sox should DFA Leury Garcia and bring in Franmil as our fourth outfielder. But unfortunately, we need Leury to give Anderson and Harrison a day off.
Ugh.. we have too many DH/corner OF/1B but we also could badly use some added power into our lineup.
Unfortunately for White Sox fans the Chisox are not likely to eat $12 million over the next two years for Garcia to play elsewhere. Plus he’s a LaRussa favorite so he’s not going anywhere
They essentially non-tendered him now instead of in the winter…. And IF the can get off the hook for his 1.5 mil then all the better… I like him, but he goes against everything else they’re trying to do
“Reyes is still arbitration eligible. This year, he signed a one-year, $4.55 million deal. That could go down some, but whatever he’d make in arbitration will be high in relation to his production level in 2022. If he had remained on Cleveland’s 40-man roster, there was a strong chance he would’ve been non-tendered at the end of the season to avoid spending that chunk of money on him. But if he clears waivers and is outrighted back to the Guardians’ system, he’d become a Minor League free agent for ‘23 since he’s no longer protected on the 40-man roster.“
— Mandy Bell
I think I can say with some confidence that Reyes is the best Franmil ever to play in the bigs.
Great DH bat… I could see half the league going for him.
Good move
All things considered I would rather have Reyes than Gallo.
After a long and difficult discussion with my family, I have decided to leave them in order to focus on the trade rumors comment section full time. This was not an easy decision by any means however true leaders know that to be true leaders you have to sacrifice many things that many aren’t willing to sacrifice.
This comment was so hilarious to read that I had to make an account to tell you that
Watch he goes to one of the other AL Central teams and comes back to haunt them. For as bad a season he’s having he’s still an above average hitter. Kinda comical though a quarter of his hits have been for home runs. Just imagine how many he’d have in Denver
104 strikeout is 263 at bats is not an above average hitter in any way or manner.
And most of them were meaningless home runs late in games that had already been decided one way or the other. When you needed one, he was flailing away and triking out on a slider a foot off the plate. He absolutely did not fit into the team the Guardians are building — a lineup of contact hitters. He was only a rally killer on that team. Addition by subtraction.
Your right.
Probably gets claimed by the Rox.
Read Francona’s comments. Not very flattering from a manager notorious for protecting players (even when they probably don’t deserve it).
Grab him Farhan, he’s better than Mercedes.
i can’t see the A’s having any interest beyond a minor league contract and spring invite and I am sure a number of teams would agree to that. I would thing they would have no interest in a potential 4.5 million contract next year. I assume he is unclaimed and elects to go to the minors as he cannot take free agency. Indians will likely release him in off season to avoid arb cost themselves if not release him now after he goes unclaimed