The Marlins announced that they have claimed right-hander Ronny Henriquez off waivers from the Twins. The latter club had designated him for assignment last week. To open a roster spot, the Marlins have designated right-hander Xzavion Curry for assignment.
Henriquez, 25 in June, came up through the minors as a starter but has been kept mostly in a relief role for the past two seasons. To this point in his career, he has thrown 31 innings in the big leagues over 19 appearances, including one start. He has allowed just 2.90 earned runs per nine in that small sample. His 18.2% strikeout rate is subpar but his 6.1% walk rate and 53.1% ground ball rate are both strong numbers.
He made 34 Triple-A appearances last year, just three of those being starts, logging 55 innings overall. In that time, he had a 3.44 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 53.8% ground ball rate.
That was a pretty decent season on the farm but he exhausted his final option year, meaning he’s now out of options going into 2025. That got him squeezed off the Minnesota roster when the Twins needed to make space for their signings of Danny Coulombe and Harrison Bader.
For the Marlins, they are clearly not targeting a competitive year in 2025. Their offseason has mostly focused on subtractions, as they have traded controllable players like Jesús Luzardo to the Phillies and Jake Burger to the Rangers.
Their bullpen is fairly wide open. They traded Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, Bryan Hoeing, Huascar Brazobán and JT Chargois at last year’s deadline. Now Anthony Bender is the only reliever on the club with more than three years of service time and Andrew Nardi is the only other guy over the two-year line. In short, Henriquez has much better odds of sticking on the roster in Miami than he did with a competitive club like the Twins.
If he manages to hold onto a spot, he’ll be affordable and controllable for quite a while. He has less than a year of service time, meaning he’s still at least two years away from arbitration and six years from free agency. Though of course, that all depends on him performing well enough to avoid another DFA from his new club.
Curry, 26, was claimed off waivers from the Guardians in August. He has 147 innings of big league experience with a 4.35 ERA, 15.7% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. He tossed 60 2/3 minor league innings last year with a 6.97 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.
The Marlins will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for Curry, whether that’s a trade or some fate on waivers. He was once a notable prospect in the Cleveland system, which could intrigue some clubs. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 219 2/3 innings in the minors with a 3.28 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. He was then kept in the big league bullpen in 2023 before struggling last year.
Curry still has an option remaining, so he could be kept as minor league depth if any club is willing to give him a 40-man spot. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he would provide the Marlins with some non-roster depth. He has less than three years of service time and doesn’t have a previous career outright, meaning he won’t have the right to reject an outright assignment.
Is it just me or does Xzavion sound like a prescription medication from a TV commercial. Ask your doctor if Xzavion is right for you.
Do not take Xzavion if you’re allergic to grains. Tell your doctor about Xzavion before taking it. If you experience any side effects, call your doctor right away. Xzavion may not be for everyone.
Side effects may inlude nausea, headache or internal bleeding, do not take Xzavion if your pregnant.
As a Twins fan, I’m disappointed we let Henriquez go for nothing. He got thrown into some tough situations last year and occasionally succeeded. At the very least, he’s going to be a better than average major leaguer.
Twins added Travis Adams to the 40 for no apparent reason, have Headrick on it as well simply because he’s a lefty, no other possible reason and kept Michael Tonkin for unknown reasons.
Headrick was just claimed by the Yankees
Bullpen ends with some combination of Bender, Fauchner, Nardi and Tinoco. All four are average or better. Cronin and Henriquez should be there for earlier innings.
Starting rotation is decimated by injuries. Sandy Alcantara (hopefully healthy), Eury Perez (mid-season at best), Braxton Garrett (out injured for whole season), Edward Cabrera, Max Meyer, Weathers, Bellozo and maybe Snelling. It will be year for Thomas White and Noble Meyer to come to the rescue.
The worst part. Fish position players are even weaker than their pitching.
Typos
No “n” in Faucher.
It will be [another] year for Thomas White and Noble Meyer…
Xzavion would be 26 points in Scrabble.
The Twins lost young relief pitchers Henriquez and Headrick, who both showed promise, so they could sign a couple declining position players that they found at the bottom of the trash bin. Here’s to another lost year Twins’ fans!