The Guardians are in agreement on a minor league deal with fleet-footed outfielder Roman Quinn, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The Roc Nation Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training with his new organization.
Quinn, 29, was considered one of the Phillies’ top farmhands for several years but has never appeared in more than 50 games or reached 150 plate appearances in a big league season. He held his own in brief call-ups with the Phils back in 2016 and 2018, hitting a combined .261/.335/.388 through 212 plate appearances while going 15-for-20 in stolen base attempts. However, since that time, Quinn has turned in a combined .207/.286/.326 batting line in 157 games and 387 plate appearances in the Majors.
The switch-hitting Quinn split the 2022 season between the Phillies, Royals and Rays organizations, struggling on the whole but posting a respectable .262/.340/.405 slash in 47 plate appearances with Tampa Bay to close out the season. That said, Quinn fanned in 44.7% of his plate appearances with the Rays and was buoyed by a whopping .524 average on balls in play, so his small-sample production there looked far from sustainable.
Though he’s struggled in the Majors, Quinn has had success in the upper minors, slashing .296/.358/.435 in 592 Double-A plate appearances and .287/.370/.437 in 395 Triple-A plate appearances. His speed has been an asset in the outfield, where he can handle any of the three positions and has posted above-average defensive grades in 1269 big league innings.
Quinn’s speed-and-defense skill set fits the Guardians’ mold to an extent, though he’s not the type of contact-oriented hitter that Cleveland has stockpiled in recent seasons. He’s fanned in 30.4% of his Major League plate appearances — including an alarming 35.5% clip over the past three seasons (265 plate appearances).
The Guardians’ starting outfield appears largely set, with third-place Rookie of the Year finisher Steven Kwan in left field, fellow speedster Myles Straw in center and the quietly productive Oscar Gonzalez in right field. Both Will Brennan and Will Benson are on the 40-man roster as alternatives or potential bench options, and top prospect George Valera will start the season in Triple-A and hope to improve on a pedestrian showing in his debut at that level last season. (Valera did produce a more sobust .264/.367/.470 output in Double-A prior to his promotion and is still just 22 years of age.)
Given that plethora of outfield options, Quinn will be hard-pressed to crack Cleveland’s Opening Day roster, but he’s a nice depth option to have on hand in the event of an injury (particularly if Straw ends up needing to miss time in center).
Makes sense for them. They lost a ton of OF depth over the last year to minor league free agency. You figure 2 of Brennan, Palacios, and Benson will be on the MLB team, with one in Columbus alongside Valera. After those, they currently have zero outfielders on their Columbus roster. Promotions will happen, but really they’re only about 2 injuries away from needing someone like Quinn, and Quinn is a better option than, say, Chris Roller (one of their OF in AA Akron, former minor league Rule V pick)
It’s possible he’s Roman the outfield acting as a guardian of sorts.
I remember this guy, always seemed like he had a lot of potential to be a star, guess it shows how well prospects do once they make the majors.
Hope the injury bug goes away for good for Quinn.
Running out
Running in
You’ll not see nothin’
Like the MIGHTY QUINN !!
Quinn always stuck me as a great candidate to play in Japan or Korea if he can stay healthy.
Shouldn’t think it would to difficult to replace Straw, who, while fleet of foot and a superb defender, gets on base once in a blue moon. If Quinn shows any kind of on base potential, should think they’d make the change and put Quinn in CF and make Straw the utility outfielder/.defensive replacement..
Straw won’t be a bench player for them, especially not for Quinn. I think Quinn could be an injury replacement and get some at bats this year, but they’re financially committed to Straw (which is a big deal for them), and they seem willing to live with whatever offense he provides in exchange for the value he has as a defender and baserunner.
Need to defend Straw here. He is an elite fielder and his BBIP suggest he was unlucky last year. If he can hit .250 have 20 stolen bases again and continue to play CF for you (and for five mil a year) I will take him in a heartbeat over most CF not named Trout.
Cleveland decided to Get Roman. Next thing you know they’re going to switch to Progressive because you know, Flo knows best
I think Straw will bounce back. He started out well and finished well. While the rest was horrid, all he has to do is hit .260 in the 9 hole. He’ll steal more bases this year while playing the same D.
Quinn is just a Columbus filler.
Quinn could simply never stay healthy. Forgetting the freak injuries, his legs are his best asset (speed) and his worst enemy (constant issues with hammies and quads and calf muscles). Such potential if he could have stayed on the field, and also developed the hit tool to a greater degree. The arm…the range…the baserunning were all potentially elite.
I think that they made a mistake converting him into a switch hitter…he never quite figured it out. If he had focused on his natural swing throughout the minors he might have had a better shot. But it was too tempting with that speed to add the lefty swing component.
Was he originally a right hander or a left hander? I see where he has a handful of major league right handed bats against right handers. He did miserably, by the way.
Natural RH hitter. And yeah, they took a brief shot at having him stick to the RH side a few years back, but then canceled the experiment after a brief stint.
One of those woulda’ coulda’ shoulda’ scenarios…one wonders what he could have been if he had been healthy enough to develop, and if he had stayed to the natural side and honed the hit tool. With the defense, the arm and the baserunning, if he could have managed a .340 OBP he would have been something out there. He even had some natural pop as well.