Headlines

  • Angels Part Ways With Phil Nevin
  • Brandon Woodruff Out For Wild Card Series With Shoulder Injury
  • Buck Showalter Will Not Return As Mets Manager In 2024
  • Tim Wakefield Passes Away
  • Felix Bautista To Undergo Tommy John Surgery, Signs Through 2025 Season
  • Rockies Sign Charlie Blackmon To One-Year Extension
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • 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
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Arbitration 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

Guardians Sign Jerad Eickhoff, Riley Smith To Minor League Deals

By Anthony Franco | June 23, 2023 at 9:21pm CDT

The Guardians have signed right-handers Jerad Eickhoff and Riley Smith to non-roster contracts, according to an announcement from GuardsInsider (Twitter links). Both pitchers have been assigned to Triple-A Columbus. Cleveland also indicated that left-hander Daniel Norris went unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment earlier in the week.

Eickhoff, 33 next month, returns to affiliated ball in search of an eighth big league season. A former Ranger draftee who was sent to the Phillies in the Cole Hamels trade, Eickhoff broke in as a decent back-of-the-rotation arm in Philadelphia. He struggled between 2017-19 and has only gotten brief looks in the last two seasons.

After making five appearances with the Mets in 2021, Eickhoff took a lone start for the Pirates last year. He was hit hard in those stints, surrendering 34 runs in his last 24 MLB innings. Eickhoff had spent most of last season in Triple-A with the Bucs, posting a 4.96 ERA with solid strikeout and walk numbers (22.5% and 6.3%, respectively) through 114 1/3 frames. He’d been pitching in the independent Atlantic League this year, allowing a 6.16 ERA over 49 2/3 innings.

Smith made 30 appearances for the Diamondbacks between 2020-21. He owns a 5.04 ERA over 85 2/3 MLB frames. The LSU product spent last season in the Rockies’ system. An assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque, a brutal environment for pitchers, didn’t go well. Smith allowed an 8.06 ERA through 92 2/3 innings.

Whether Norris will join Eickhoff and Smith in Columbus remains to be seen. The veteran has more than enough service time to decline the assignment in favor of free agency. Norris signed a minor league contract in Spring Training. He posted a 6.93 ERA with middling strikeout and walk rates in 14 outings (nine starts). The Guardians called him up for a two-inning big league appearance earlier this week but quickly took him back off the roster thereafter.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Cleveland Guardians Transactions Daniel Norris Jerad Eickhoff Riley Smith

Giants Place Mike Yastrzemski On Injured List, Recall Isan Diaz
Main
Phillies Re-Sign Michael Plassmeyer To Minor League Deal
View Comments (5)

Comments

  1. Clevelandian

    3 months ago

    Pretty clear message the Guards need AAA starting depth, are going to continue to lean on Bibee, Allen, and Williams going forward, and McKenzie is done this year and maybe more. Hopefully Cal Quantrill really can bounce back, otherwise the rotation will be thin too soon even if they stay healthy. The rookies are going to reach their inning limits quickly without a sixth starter.

    Reply
  2. RJNarvick

    3 months ago

    Apparently the farm is starting to thin out. These are the kind of pitchers they stretch out in AAA and bring up when an injury or a double header starter is needed. Then cut after the game.

    Reply
    • Col_chestbridge

      3 months ago

      They have a lot of interesting arms at AA like Tanner Burns and Doug Nikhazy. I think the calculation here is such:

      1. They don’t have a stash of ready-to-go starters below A ball, especially now that AZL has started. So they can’t just promote a bunch of guys because there’s be a hole at A ball
      2. If you need to sign free agents anyway, might as well sign guys close to the majors who can burn innings because:
      3. Inning limits on Allen, Bibee, Williams, and Cantillo are already likely to further stress Columbus’ depth. Adding guys who also would be on innings limits like Nikhazy/Burns would be untenable. Getting a stretched out guy who you’re not afraid to burn innings with is helpful in keeping everyone (including the bullpen) rested.

      It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality when you lose 3 MLB starters (McKenzie, Quantrill, Plesac who is in AZL working on things), your first AAA guy up (Battenfield), one of your depth arms to waivers (Pilkington), had to convert a starter to relief because of bullpen injuries (Curry), are down two of your AA starters to injury (Espino, Leftwich), and the guy you usually use as a swing man at any level is currently suspended (Jamie Arias-Bautista).

      1
      Reply
  3. Clevelandian

    3 months ago

    Smith’s first AAA start was pretty rough. Three innings with 8 hits and 7 walks for the rare 5.0000 WHIP. Ouch

    Reply
  4. thebluemeanie

    3 months ago

    Eickhoff has always been one of those pitchers who can look like a Cy Young candidate one outing and then gets lit up for 9 runs in 2 innings the next.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Angels Part Ways With Phil Nevin

    Brandon Woodruff Out For Wild Card Series With Shoulder Injury

    Buck Showalter Will Not Return As Mets Manager In 2024

    Tim Wakefield Passes Away

    Felix Bautista To Undergo Tommy John Surgery, Signs Through 2025 Season

    Rockies Sign Charlie Blackmon To One-Year Extension

    Reds Sign Nick Krall To Extension, Promote Him To President Of Baseball Operations

    Giants Fire Gabe Kapler

    Orioles Agree To 30-Year Lease At Camden Yards

    Padres Prefer To Retain A.J. Preller, Bob Melvin In 2024

    Brooks Robinson Passes Away

    Reds’ Matt McLain Shut Down For Remainder Of 2023 Season

    Padres Plan To Reduce Payroll To Around $200MM; Front Office Changes Possible

    Marlins Place Eury Perez On 15-Day Injured List, Select Jeff Lindgren

    Sandy Alcantara Shut Down For Rest Of 2023 Season

    Brandon Lowe To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Kneecap Fracture

    Rays Promote Junior Caminero

    Sean Doolittle Announces Retirement

    Tigers Name Jeff Greenberg General Manager

    Qualifying Offer Value To Land Around $20.5MM

    Recent

    Brewers Outright Julio Teheran

    Offseason Outlook: Oakland Athletics

    Big Hype Prospects: AFL Sleepers Edition

    Angels Part Ways With Phil Nevin

    Ehire Adrianza Elects Free Agency

    Sam Kennedy On The Search For The Red Sox’ Next GM

    Erasmo Ramirez Clears Waivers

    Brandon Woodruff Out For Wild Card Series With Shoulder Injury

    Scott Harris, A.J. Hinch Discuss Tigers’ Offseason Plans

    Brewers Release Brian Anderson

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Shohei Ohtani Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 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

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • 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

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version