The Braves announced that they have claimed right-hander Royber Salinas off waivers from the Athletics. The A’s evidently tried to clear a roster spot by passing him through waivers but Atlanta swooped in to grab him.
Salinas, 24 in April, now returns to his original organization. An international signing of Atlanta out of Venezuela, he posted some intriguing results in the lower levels of the club’s system before getting flipped to the A’s as part of the December 2022 trade that sent catcher Sean Murphy to Atlanta.
At the time of that deal, Salinas had just wrapped up a 2022 season that he finished with 109 minor league innings between Single-A and High-A, allowing 3.55 earned runs per nine. His 37.6% strikeout rate was quite strong but he also gave out walks at a high rate of 13.5%.
In 2023, he threw 71 2/3 innings on the farm with a 5.40 ERA. His walk rate improved to 10.2% but his strikeout rate fell to 30.2%. There was surely a bit of bad luck in there, as his 59.7% strand rate was on the unfortunate side and his 4.19 FIP was far better than his ERA.
He was added to the 40-man roster a year ago to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He made ten starts this year between Double-A and Triple-A with a 4.60 ERA and 25.3% strikeout rate but a big walk rate of 17.2%.
His last start of the year was at the end of May. In July, Martín Gallegos of MLB.com relayed on X that Salinas had undergone season-ending shoulder surgery.
It’s unclear how long it will take the righty to get healthy in the wake of that procedure but Atlanta gets to reunite with a prospect they once signed and are plenty familiar with. Whenever he gets back on the mound, he’ll give the club some optionable rotation depth.
For the A’s, the Murphy trade continues to look like a big whiff for them. Of the five players they received in return, they have already parted ways with Salinas, Freddy Tarnok and Manny Piña. They still have Kyle Muller and Esteury Ruiz but neither inspires much confidence at the moment. Muller is out of options and has a 5.90 ERA while Ruiz is a threat on the bases but has subpar offense thus far.
ROYBER??? lol what kind of sick parents name their kid that
No doubt there are people all over the planet who wonder the same thing about us here in the US. “What’s in a name…………….”
Yet you picked that screen handle. I mean some people just can’t come up with a winner like ole Double B. So cut em some slack.
Former Braves farmhand. Maybe they think he still has some promise.
I’m betting he will be out until 2026. Shoulder surgery mid season. He gets stashed on the 60 day IL almost immediately.
Something doesn’t seem right here. Their may be some behind the scenes channels triggering this
He had shoulder surgery in July. A’s likely just needed the roster room.
Time to admit the Sac-A’s are run by fools?
They will probably draw more in Sacramento than in Vegas. The baseball gods don’t like the Fisher family.
“Salinas was part of the prospect package sent to the A’s in the Sean Murphy trade.” Going to miss the 2025 season due to shoulder surgery. Brought back an arm they know. Cheap depth w/upside if he recovers.
Posted this before the complete article showed.
Royber? I hardly knew her!
Would be nice if A’s torched their front office. 2024 was improved but those rebuild trades were trash
The A’s actually went 39-35 in July, August & September so some improvement was there. I’m guessing they’ll return to relevance before teams like the Angels and Marlins. I know that’s a pretty low bar, but I have seen improvement from the A’s.