The Cardinals have released right-hander Ryan Tepera, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment last week and would have had the right to reject an outright assignment, making this a fairly expected development.
Tepera, 35, has a long track record of being an effective reliever. He came into this year with a career earned run average of 3.50 over 361 appearances, striking out 24.5% of opponents while walking 8.8% of them and keeping the ball on the ground at a 43.5% clip. That included the first season of a two-year, $14MM deal he signed with the Angels prior to 2022.
But it’s been a trying season for him here in 2023. He posted a 7.27 ERA through his first 10 appearances with the Angels this year, leading to him getting designated for assignment and then released. He secured a minor league deal with the Rangers and tossed eight scoreless innings in Triple-A, striking out 37.9% of batters faced at that level. He was able to opt out of that deal when the Rangers wouldn’t give him a roster spot, but he got one with the Cardinals. Unfortunately, they bounced him off after just two appearances when Tyler O’Neill came off the injured list.
Tepera will now be free to sign with any club. The Angels are still on the hook for what’s left of his contract, meaning any other team could sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Halos owe. With the trade deadline a few days away, plenty of clubs will be trading away relievers and likely opening up new jobs. With Tepera’s track record and minimal acquisition cost, it’s possible some club looks to plug him in as a veteran presence.
Texas, get him. He is low risk and high reward for a team that throws John King out there at times.
Texas and St. Louis seem like a potential one stop shop. I’d be surprised if they don’t matchup on a trade before the deadline.
He’s pitched 10 innings this year…obviously damaged goods.
The Angels had several screws loose giving Tepera $7m a year…what the hell were they thinking.
> what the hell were they thinking.
They were thinking.
on the flipside, we should tip our hat to Tepera’s agent for getting $7M
He pitched well with the WSox not that long ago. They are also presumably trading roughly half of their bullpen by the time the trade deadline passes. I wonder if they take a shot on him as a reclamation project.
Not sure why Sox would take him on. They’re going to be in full sell mode any moment now and he’s a free agent after this year.
If the Sox take him on and he has success after the trade deadline, he’ll be free to go somewhere that pays him.
So why would the Sox sign a journeyman veteran when the Sox season is lost and they’ll be rebuilding with young, cheap guys after the deadline or next year?
you know…if they wanted to have something that kinda looks like a major league team. agreed he won’t do anything of value other than give innings.
Somebody has to pitch for the ChiSox the rest of the season.
I wonder if this is a precursor to a Hicks extension announcement?
Either way this would be a completely unrelated move.
Not sure how one thing has anything to do with the other.
Tepera was brought in to fill a spot for Cabrera and the Cards took a chance that Tepera would catch fire and presumably be part of a trade package. He was a quick, low-risk lottery ticket that didn’t pan out.
Now he has had a couple of chances and didn’t show us much, unfortunately. Since he doesn’t seem to have any trade value, it looks like the Cards are just doing the decent thing and letting him go so another team can take a chance on him before the deadline.
Blue Jays should take a look.
The Cubs were the last team he played consistently well for. A reunion makes sense. Nothing to lose.
Not to mention his mvp run in 2020.
Haha! Yes!
Hello cubs
I suppose the first trade the Cardinals make is going to need that 40 man roster spot. The question is are they receiving an MLB player in return or is it going to be a prospect that allows them to promote someone like Graceffo or McGreevy to the major league roster?
Reading too far into it. He was here for bullpen coverage and was DFA’d after a couple days, then rejected it so is now released. The 40 man is full, but of course that’s always able to change.
You may be right though. I would expect Graceffo to get some sort of chance regardless. Mo will want to show he has one pitcher ready to make the jump, and allow him to not go on a spending spree in the offseason. If there’s only room for one, I’d expect Graceffo over McGreevy.
You there, Nick Krall?
Maybe Angels pick him up because they are paying him anyway to kick the tires as he might have something left without the cardinals curse of this season