The Rays welcomed Wander Franco back from the injured list Friday, designating fellow infielder Yu Chang for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster. Tampa Bay also reinstated righty Drew Rasmussen from the paternity list and optioned right-hander Yonny Chirinos to Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move. Chirinos will remain with the club on the taxi squad.
Franco’s forthcoming reinstatement was reported last night. The star shortstop has been out since the second week of June after fracturing the hamate bone in his right hand. He had some brief setbacks upon first trying to begin a rehab stint in late August, but he made it back to Durham on Tuesday. After just a pair of games there, Tampa Bay will welcome him back to the lineup in advance of a pivotal weekend series against the Yankees, whom they trail by 4 1/2 games in the AL East.
With their star shortstop back healthy, the Rays ran out of room for Chang. Claimed off waivers from the Pirates in July, he’s spent the past couple months in a utility capacity with the big league club. The 27-year-old has played reasonably well in Tampa Bay, hitting .260/.305/.385 with three home runs and doubles apiece over 105 trips to the dish. Paired with his ability to cover anywhere around the infield, he was a useful contributor to the Rays bench, but he hadn’t fared as well during earlier-season stints with the Guardians and Pirates.
Including his dismal results with Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Chang still owns a below-average .216/.280/.324 line over 164 plate appearances on the year. He’s a .215/.275/.365 hitter through parts of four MLB seasons, a dip compared to his .258/.332/.427 showing in four seasons at Triple-A. Chang was a fairly well-regarded prospect and has drawn interest from a few teams this year, but he’s had a hard time carving out a permanent role. That’s in large part due to his out-of-options status, as teams can’t demote Chang to Triple-A without first running him through waivers.
The Rays will now take a shot at getting Chang through waivers themselves. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the only courses of action are to place Chang on outright or release waivers within the next few days.
Hey Steve, is he post season eligible?
LOL
Random odd hypothetical…
What would MLB do if some random intern for the Rays mixed up the paperwork and they put Franco’s name on the DFA sheet instead of Chang?
Would they call them and say “what are you doing, fix this” or would they say “tough luck, those are the rules” etc.?
MLB has to approve every move a believe
But is it their job to save a team from itself or to enforce the mechanisms and rules equally, regardless of outcome?
Everybody Yu Chang Tonight
Depends if Scott Boras represents him.
Well first, something like that would likely never happen because multiple people likely revise the paperwork before submitting it to the MLB. Next, MLB would need to approve it. MLB w0uld also have the player’s association to deal with if that happened and they just answered “Tough” to it.
MLB1225, I think the fear of having to deal with the Union as you said, would probably prevent such a scenario or something similar.
Truly terrific question actually
…(regarding a potential DFA paperwork snafu)
What if the rays put in an application to change cities, but accidentally put the Yankees as the team changing cities???
Do you think that MLB would make the Yankees move to save face because they accepted the incorrect application?
Or what if the nationals put GREGORY Soto instead of JUAN Soto? Do you think the Tigers could keep the return for Juan Soto because of the typo?
HeavenlyBeans, sometimes crossed T’s and dotted I’s make all the difference in the world. Didn’t Justin Verlander’s trade a few years back come down to mere SECONDS? Is it foolish of me to ask if he went ONE or even THIRTY seconds over the deadline if the trade would have been consummated?? Don’t put in so much time and effort exuding negative energy and trying to make people look foolish. The irony of your username considering your demeanor and make-up is appaling. Almost blasphemous..
Do you ever stop trolling people? I’ll wait for your reply before I mute you. P.S. You really are at the top of my weirdo list. And you have mental problems to add insult to injury.
On second thought I might not mute you. You are premium whipping boy material…It would be fun to smack you around a little on here every few days come to think of it..
No I am actually a newbie. Maybe posted 3-5 times on a new comment over the past week (which is about how long I have been a member). Look at the stuff you say amigo…Stop projecting on other people. You crave attention that much?
Ditto Amigo. Vaya Con Dios
Yu Chang clan aint nothing to mess with….
Wait that was Wu Tang clan
“Yu Chang Forever”
Sucks to see Chang leave. He was solid for the rays
Waivers so soon? Chang, we hardly knew Yu!
Chang, we hardly knew Yu!
Everybody Yu Chang, tonight
No Soup For Yu!
I thought Franco was going to be the next big thing? In fact, before the season I remember many commentators on MLB saying Vald, Bo, almost everyone on the WS, among others were going to light it up, as one stated. What happened this year? Even Soto looking bad the last few weeks.
He’s already better than Refsnyder, so everything else is just a bonus.
Man doesn’t even have a full big league season in yet and you’re doubting him…
He had an extended leg injury followed by a broken hand.
LOOK OUT
The Juice was LOOSE @ SOFI Stadium yesterday!
I’m just saying