The Diamondbacks are signing catcher Ronaldo Hernandez to a minor league deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (X link). He’ll get an invitation to big league Spring Training.
Hernandez, 26, was a top prospect during his early days in the Rays system. Tampa Bay traded him to the Red Sox in a deal that sent left-hander Jeffrey Springs to Tampa Bay going into the 2021 season. While that was a controversial decision for the Rays given Hernandez’s prospect status, it turned out to be a significant win. Springs has been a productive starter, while Hernandez stalled out at the upper levels of the Boston system.
The right-handed hitter has spent the past two seasons at Triple-A Worcester. Hernandez has had decent but unspectacular numbers in both years. He hit 17 homers in each season with middling on-base numbers. The Colombia native owns a .255/.319/.448 batting line over 860 plate appearances at the top minor league level.
Hernandez spent a couple years on Boston’s 40-man roster. He was called to the majors on a pair of occasions but didn’t get into an MLB game. The Sox ran him through outright waivers last offseason. When he wasn’t reselected onto the 40-man roster, he became a minor league free agent last month.
Arizona only has two catchers on the 40-man roster: Gabriel Moreno and Jose Herrera. The former is one of the sport’s top young catching talents and is entrenched as the starter. Herrera is a light-hitting backup with a career .198/.272/.231 slash in 90 big league contests. The Snakes could still look for an experienced catcher on a low-cost deal or via minor league pact. As things stand, there’d be a decent opportunity for Hernandez to get an MLB look at some point in 2024.
Wild swinger, rough behind the plate. Looked good at very early levels and never progressed. How often have we seen this?
Ronaldo Hernandez was a decent hitter the last couple of years in the Red Sox system, but the problem is that he is NOT a MLB quality catcher (per Soxprospect.com). He was out righted and could have been chosen by any team but was not. Not every highly rated prospect succeeds.
Rays don’t miss.
Way to give up Springs Chaim. Loser
Jose Herrera is arguably the best back up catcher in MLB. That said, he is a back up.
Springs would have sucked if he stayed on the Sox. It’s just the rays magic that changes these guys into aces
Moldy – Springs had a 7.08 ERA, and his WHIP was 1.82 with the Red Sox, and he and Chris Mazza were getting a DFA. Springs was BAD with Boston, and I presume some of it was that his style of pitching was a bad fit in Fenway.