The Astros have claimed right-hander Penn Murfee from the Braves, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. The Astros placed righty Kendall Graveman on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Graveman is going to miss the entire 2024 season due to shoulder surgery.
It was reported on Monday that Murfee was released but it seems he was actually on release waivers and had not yet cleared. Murfee, who turns 30 in May, had surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament in June of last year while with the Mariners. This offseason, he was claimed off waivers by the Mets and Braves, with the latter club non-tendering him and re-signing him.
Atlanta put him on waivers this week to try to open up a roster spot but the Astros swooped in with a claim. It’s a little strange that Atlanta put him on waivers since they only have 36 players on their 40-man roster right now. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, only release waivers. Perhaps the club was hoping Murfee would clear and become a free agent, then they could re-sign him to a minor league deal, not having to give him major league pay or service time. It’s a moot point now as whatever plans Atlanta had were foiled by Houston.
The Astros have roster spots to burn, so it’s more or less a free pickup for them. As mentioned, Graveman is going to miss the entire season and was going to end up on the 60-day IL at some point. The same is true of Luis García Jr., who had Tommy John surgery in May of last year. Lance McCullers Jr. had flexor tendon surgery and is a candidate for the 60-day IL as well. Then there’s Oliver Ortega, who recently had surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow and will miss three to four months.
With all of those injuries, it’s quite easy for the Astros to claim a player and make a corresponding move and Murfee will now give them yet another player that can be moved to the 60-day IL to open up a spot in the future.
Murfee has a 2.70 career earned run average in 83 1/3 major league innings, all of those with the Mariners over the past two seasons. He struck out 27.9% of batters faced in that time while giving out walks at an 8.5% clip. Given those results, it’s understandable that so many clubs have shown interest since he lost his roster spot with Seattle.
Once healthy, he will jump into the mix for a spot in a Houston bullpen that has seen a decent amount of turnover. Héctor Neris, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek each hit free agency and signed with other clubs. Graveman’s injury further depleted the depth and spurred the Astros to make a splashy addition, signing Josh Hader. Combined with Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu, Hader gives the Astros a lethal punch for leverage spots but the relief corps isn’t as deep as it was last year.
Murfee has just under two years of service, meaning the Astros could theoretically retain him for the next five years if he returns to health and is in good form. He also has a full slate of options, giving them some roster flexibility going forward.
Mean Astros. It is a wonder with so many 40 man roster spots open–why the Braves would put him on waivers in the 1st place. Very very strange move in a winter of strange moves. I am generally a fan of AA’s moves, but this is a head scratcher.
More curious as to how he made it to the Astros and no one else grabbed him.
Agreed. I’m looking at his stats and trying to figure out the same. We are desperate to fill out this bullpen. This could be a steal
This is a nice pickup. He doesn’t throw hard but looks like he’s had some success in the majors. I don’t understand how he was available but this has potential.
He’s recovering from June UCL surgery i see. Was it tommy john im assuming? That makes sense now
Oh, I thought I recalled reading that he had surgery. Yeah I concur. Probably wouldn’t pitch until June/July at the earliest. Still, has upside if we can hold on to him.
The end of Spring Training is one of the best times to try and sneak a player through waivers as most teams have just made their Opening Day roster decisions.
Good pickup! I wanted the Mets to get him on a minor league deal.
This is all because the Braves just can’t pry themselves away from an aging Jesse Chavez..So now they have lost “TWO”, MUCH YOUNGER” “BETTER” pitchers in order to bring Chavez back for his “ROCKING CHAIR FAREWELL TOUR”! PITIFUL Get Younger, or Stay younger, not get the team OLDER!
Charlie Morton is this your MLBTR account?
U got me..Rainy days in Philly and nobody comes to my locker..It’s Jesse this and Jesse that..I need attention too.!
No, its not. They had open spots on their 40. Atlanta was not forced to waive him. They chose to. Guess they figured only a few teams would have openings on the 40 and he would sneak through. Besides, Chavez signed a minor league contract and is not on the 40.
Chavez is on the 26 man roster
You will keep Jesse’s name out your mouth! I look forward to seeing him in that rocking chair with his flat brim hat and Vans.
@ AL b Damned
Youth does not necessarily equate to success. Proficiency, competency, and experience, count for more than just having youth for ‘youth’s sake’. Jesse was still doing a good job.
Jesse Chavez 158 ip 165k 3.08 ERA 1.18 Whip 13 Hr in 158. ip 0.7hr/9.
I’ll take that type of output every day against any other relief pitcher you want to include, just because they’re young.
Wait, how was this guy on waivers? How did the other teams pass on him? I’m legitimately confused
“I’m legitimately confused”..Everything I’ve read suggests that if this Murfee guy pitches at all this year, it will likely be very late in the year.
he has all his options, doesn’t even need to clear waivers to be sent down. so stash him in the minors.
Yeah, I did not realize that he had surgery last June. I’m sorry for not knowing that before I posted
How much time must pass with Murfee on the 40-man roster before HOU is allowed to move him to 60-day IL?
Whenever they need the spot.
Great move for later down the line…
This dude is a solid reliever to have in the bullpen. I don’t get why the 27 other teams didn’t choose to have him…
Because he needs to be in the 40 man roster to be put in the 60 day IL, the Braves want to stay below the next CBT threshold and it would be close with Murfee on the roster. They figured no team would claim him since most teams don’t have an open spot and the teams that do, like the Astros are also very close the next CBT tier like the Braves.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Astros try to do the same thing later on and try to pass him through waivers.
Best post yet, and I believe you are correct in saying the Astros will try to do the same thing. I hope the Braves have room to claim him back and tell the Astros to stick it.
There is a sort of gentlemen’s agreement on these things for injured players and the Astros just pulled a Biff move. You pull that stunt often enough and every team in baseball considers it open season to annihilate your attempts, not just the team you Biffed on. Well, it really follows the exec pulling those moves, not the team that did it (in the case the exec moves on).
MLB just needs to fix the fiasco inside their ruleset, but the MLBPA will act like it’s the end of the world and fight it just to try to make the owners look greedy. It probably hurts the player involved as well, as having to move in the middle of a surgery/rehab is likely not helpful for long-term recovery.
Whys every team hate this guy he’s got good numbers
Interesting take, Scooter. “Hate this guy…”. A huge leap by a non-reader obviously.
He’s been on 4 teams this offseason is my point, mr. Literal
Astro bad luck w pitcher injuries must be Murfee’s law