Headlines

  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
  • Dave Parker Passes Away
  • Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles
  • Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline
  • Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury
  • 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 To Designate Heath Hembree, Select Zack Burdi

By Steve Adams | April 26, 2023 at 1:15pm CDT

The Rays have designated right-handed reliever Heath Hembree for assignment and selected the contract of fellow righty reliever Zack Burdi from Triple-A Durham in his place, reports Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).

Hembree’s stint with the Rays will last just one day, though it was a good one. He pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief yesterday, yielding a walk but punching out two hitters in the process. The Rays are habitually aggressive with turnover at the back of their roster, however, and they’ll jettison the veteran Hembree from the roster in order to get a fresh arm into the ’pen on a day where they’ll likely lean heavily on their relief corps. Tampa Bay is set to give righty Calvin Faucher his third start of the year today, but they’re in the process of stretching him out at the Major League level. He’s yet to complete three innings in an appearance this season and hasn’t topped 46 pitches.

The 34-year-old Hembree was a fixture in the Boston bullpen from 2015-20 but has struggled since being traded to the Phillies in 2020. From 2020-22, he pitched to a 6.64 ERA, maintaining a strong 27.3% strikeout rate but yielding far too many walks (11.1%) and home runs (2.45 HR/9). The Rays will have a week to trade Hembree, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him. He has enough service to reject an outright assignment to the minors.

Burdi, 28, is a former first-round pick whose career has been derailed by injuries, most notably Tommy John surgery in 2018 and a torn patellar tendon in 2019. The former Louisville standout has been tagged for 15 earned runs in just 17 1/3 Major League frames.

Burdi has had more success in the minors but still has a spotty track record in Triple-A, where he carries a 4.81 ERA in 86 innings of work. He’s fanned 32.5% of his opponents at the top minor league level, thanks in part to a blistering fastball, but Burdi has also issued walks at an untenable 13.5% clip. That includes seven walks (one intentional) in just eight innings this year, during which he’s been charged with six earned runs.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Heath Hembree Zack Burdi

Cardinals Outright Taylor Motter
Main
Diamondbacks Release Madison Bumgarner
View Comments (11)
Post a Comment

11 Comments

  1. drasco036

    2 years ago

    Any contract nerd know how minor league/split contracts for guys like Hembree work? I.e. being he is a veteran, got called up and has to be dfa’d off the major league roster, do they Rays owe him a prorated mlb minimum for the rest of the season if he isn’t picked up by another team?

    3
    Reply
    • mlb fan

      2 years ago

      When you are added to a Major League roster, your contract becomes GUARANTEED and when you’re cut, they owe you the balance of your contract.

      Reply
      • CubsWin108

        2 years ago

        so the rays owe heath like 500k? is that how it works?

        1
        Reply
        • mlb fan

          2 years ago

          If that’s the balance of his contract, I believe yes. But I’m guessing the Rays will find a TRADE partner for Hembree and let the new team pay him.

          2
          Reply
        • deweybelongsinthehall

          2 years ago

          Or it’s worked out and he’ll stay in the organization.

          Reply
        • Fever Pitch Guy

          2 years ago

          Cubs – I can’t wait until they implement the new rule that would help put a stop to the constant relief pitcher roster shuffling, what Tampa and Boston are doing is an insult to the game. It’s like when companies ” temporarily hire” good softball or basketball players for just a game or two.

          1
          Reply
        • humphrey x boegarts

          2 years ago

          Worked out for Mr Burns

          Reply
      • drasco036

        2 years ago

        Not a bad days work then.

        2
        Reply
      • StudWinfield

        2 years ago

        Only MLB deals are guaranteed. If a minor league contract is selected the player only makes the prorated amount based on roster time.

        mlb.com/glossary/transactions/non-guaranteed-contr…

        4
        Reply
  2. CubsWin108

    2 years ago

    rip

    Reply
  3. Vince Ferragamo's Dog

    2 years ago

    Nooooooooo !

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Braves To Select Didier Fuentes

    Anthopoulos On Trading Chris Sale: “Will Not Happen”

    Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg In “Advanced” Talks To Sell Team

    Recent

    Orioles Place Zach Eflin On Injured List

    Rockies Expected To Promote Yanquiel Fernandez

    Yankees Select Geoff Hartlieb, Place Fernando Cruz On 15-Day IL

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Chicago White Sox

    Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Today At 3:30pm CT

    Padres Designate Logan Gillaspie For Assignment

    Phillies Reinstate Bryce Harper, Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

    Athletics Select Colby Thomas

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    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