The Yankees announced that outfielder Oscar González and infielder Jeter Downs were both outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That indicates that both players passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment in the past week. A third player that they club put on waivers, outfielder Bubba Thompson, was claimed by the Twins.
González, 26, debuted with a splash while with the Guardians in 2022. He hit 11 home runs in 91 games and slashed .296/.327/.461 for a wRC+ of 125. He also endeared himself to fans by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and hitting a series-clinching walk-off home run in the 15th inning of a game in the Wild Card round against the Rays.
But things went off the rails last year, as his poor plate discipline got worse and his production couldn’t stay afloat. His 3.9% walk rate in 2022 was already less than half the league average and that mark fell to 2.8% in 2023. His 19.6% strikeout rate also ticked up to 25.6%. He hit .214/.239/.312 in the majors and spent most of the year on optional assignment.
Poor pitch selection seems to be a clear issue for him, as he has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career thus far. That’s the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. He still managed to hit enough to be useful a couple of years ago but his stock has clearly fallen since.
The Guardians put him on waivers earlier in the offseason, with the Yankees making a claim in early December. The fact that he passed through waivers this week means that all 29 other clubs declined to give him a roster spot. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he will stick in the organization as non-roster depth.
The 25-year-old Downs is in a similar situation, having just been claimed by the Yankees last month. Fairly or unfairly, he is best known by many fans for going to the Red Sox in the deal that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers. Once a top prospect, he hasn’t been able to hit much since that trade. He has produced a batting line of .200/.309/.365 in the minor leagues over the past three years, leading to a wRC+ of 80. He’s only been given 50 major league plate appearances in that time and hit just .182/.260/.273 in those.
He has gone from the Red Sox to the Nationals and now the Yankees via waivers, but today’s transaction indicates no club was willing to give him a roster spot. Like González, he lacks the necessary service time or previous outright to elect free agency, meaning he will stick in the organization as depth without taking a spot on the 40-man roster.
The Twins claimed the wrong outfielder.
Thompson can play a great CF. Twins have enough corner bats.
Bubba has one elite skill — speed. Nothing else.
Does anyone care
Yankees keep Jeter so that’s important lol
Yes nobody expected Jeter to clear waivers. Lol.
Depth is important
I’m glad they were able to keep both players.
Jeter went down
lol
Surprised nobody took a flier on González!
I’m not, and I love SpongeBob. He was free to literally any team a few years back as a minor league free agent, then as a Rule V eligible guy. And then after this last year, he managed to fall all the way down the waiver wire to the Yankees. Only a handful of teams have lower priority than the Yankees, and those would all be really good teams that don’t need someone like him.
As much as I love the arm, the defense isn’t there. As much as I love the bat, the pitch selection is bad. He swings at about half the pitches outside of the zone. If you threw him zero strikes, statistically you’re likely to strike him out or induce weak contact before he drew a walk. He was always kind of a narrow profile for success, and unfortunately it seems unlikely he can correct his flaws at this point in his career.
I’m not saying he’s destined to be an MLB-caliber player, but it’s still a cheap lotto ticket on a guy with some proven pop. Not sure why it isn’t worth a dice roll if you’re a non-contender like Oakland or Colorado. Imagine he gets his form back and you can flip him!
Although I just looked up his minor league stats, and yikes, that K:BB ratio is pretty ugly. I see where you’re coming from.
It’s funny you mention pop – because that’s really the one thing that could save a guy with his defensive limitations and discipline. He sort of burst into prospect discussion on ’21 because he swatted 31 HRs between AA and AAA, and his power really carried his profile in ’22. Then it just evaporated last year as people figured out how to pitch to him.
Aside from those two years he doesn’t really have a long minor league track record of home run hitting. In a way, New York’s system is the best place for him because they seem to be able to get the most power out of guys.
Hey I’m glad both of these guys are still in the system especially Gonzalez!
I wanted the Yanks to trade for Gonzalez a couple of years ago when he was a top prospect. You never know if some of these top picks will turn it around.
Everytime I see a “DFA” I can’t help but think of the “Island of Misfit Toys” in Rudolph.
“A DENTIST?!?!?!?!”
LOL!! Poor Hermey…
The freaky “Charlie in the box” and the train with square wheels! lol. Kinda like the AAAA guys, right?!
Hahaha It’s like the entire Halo org…Trout being Yukon Cornelius of course..
Yanks need to pick up Connor Wong from the Red Sox so they can have everything the Sox got in the trade that stuck the Dodgers with Mookie Betts, David Price & $48 million in cash.
Lol
The Red Sox have been through enough this offseason.
It’s just a waiting game. The dodgers transferred the players up front at the time ofnthe mookie deal, but, the players’ positive production was deferred from being transferred for 8-10years.
They’re 5 WAR players in 2036; but when you apply the discount rate, their present value is like 1 WAR.
Yankees outright JETER.
Derek was caught off guard !!
No Hall Of Fame for this Jeter!
All Cleveland fans were longing for Spongebob Gonzalez, look…every single team passed on him…get a clue
Condescension just makes you look bad.
His brother Churchill is having more success as a jockey.
Downs goes Jeter!
Think of that one all by yourself?