Left-hander Nick Ramirez went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He’s been outrighted in the past and will have the option to reject in favor of free agency. Even if he accepts the assignment, Ramirez can become a minor league free agent at season’s end.
The Dodgers acquired Ramirez from the Yankees back on April 2 in a deal sending cash to the Bronx. The Yankees’ DFA of the then-34-year-old Ramirez (who’s now 35) caught many off guard, as Ramirez had pitched to a strong 2.66 ERA in 40 2/3 innings with the Yankees in 2023. The soft-tossing southpaw had a below-average 16.3% strikeout rate last year in the Bronx but countered that with a terrific 5.2% walk rate. It had been a solid season, but Ramirez was nevertheless an early-season roster casualty.
He never made it to waivers following that Yankees DFA, but Ramirez has now twice gone unclaimed following a Dodgers DFA this season. He’s struggled in 13 1/3 big league innings, allowing nine runs on 18 hits and seven walks with only five punchouts. He’s fared better in OKC but hardly overwhelmed the league; in 31 Triple-A frames this season, Ramirez has a 4.65 ERA, 19.2% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate.
To bad that means he will be brought up again.
We can only hope not. Obviously the only team that sees him as playable is the Dodgers.
There’s not much fluff left in the 40-man roster. Pretty much everyone is active roster, DL, or a prospect (albeit sometimes older–Feduccia, Outman). I don’t think we’ll see any more scrubs the last couple of weeks.
Glasgow doesn’t look like he’ll be coming back. Sk, they’ll call him back up.
I got a riddle for you:
What do you get when you trade an up-and-coming pitcher for a commodity that has a long history of breaking down. Then, quickly give said commodity $135m only to have him constantly, and predictably, break down throughout the season and cause additional stress on the rotation?
Answer: You get what you deserve.
Dodgers’ rotation is phukt. Of course, we’ll see more of Ramirez in the coming weeks….
*Ramirez*