The Astros announced that utility player Cooper Hummel has cleared waivers and elected free agency. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 relayed the news prior to the official announcement. Houston had designated Hummel for assignment a week ago as they set their Opening Day roster. Since he had a previous career outright, he had the right to reject another such assignment and has exercised that right.
Hummel, 30, will now head to the open market and assess his options. The fact that he cleared waivers means that no club was willing to give him a 40-man roster spot, perhaps a reflection of his out-of-options status.
He should be able to find offers on minor league deals. He has only hit .159/.255/.275 in his major league career, though in a fairly small sample of 235 plate appearances spread across three seasons. His minor league work has been greater in quality and quantity. Since the start of 2021, he has stepped to the plate 1,419 times at the Triple-A level. He drew a walk in 17.5% of those appearances while only striking out 20.9% of the time. His .285/.419/.480 combined line translates to a 130 wRC+. He hit .316/.435/.447 in spring action before the Astros cut him loose.
In addition to those interesting offensive numbers, he provides value on the basepaths and defensively versatility. He racked up double-digit stolen base totals in each of the past two years. In terms of his glovework, he has done plenty of work behind the plate and also lined up at the four corner spots.
He didn’t crouch behind the plate last year and hasn’t played third since 2021, but the overall package is still intriguing. The offense has always been strong in the minors and he looked good in camp recently. He can play first base and the outfield corners and perhaps there’s a club willing to put him back in the catcher position. If he clicks somewhere and gets back to the majors, he is out of options but his service time count is barely over the one-year line, meaning he can be cheaply retained beyond this season if he earns and holds a roster spot.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Snow White’s Box
Might be time to sell insurance or trying minor league coaching.
Teams prioritize optionable players for roster flexibility, but here’s the hidden market inefficiency: for a fringe player like Hummel, service time control matters more than optionality because if he produces, a team gets a multi-year cheap bench piece rather than a typical journeyman rental.
He ain’t producing.
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
Not producing? Yankees just picked him up. If he’s not producing, he should be playing in Indy League.
He’s AAA depth. Non-story.
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
Okay, then defend your thesis. I’ll wait ..
It’s Cooper Hummell. That’s all you need to know. You can look at his track record. Adequate (barely) in the Minors, plays a unique position package but never can produce at a feasible level in the big leagues. And he’s running out of runway. I’ve already wasted too many pixels on this guy.
Some people collect Hummels. Obviously, not the Astros.
Intriguing package….
He’s 30 years old, but his skill set seems to be solid even though his major league numbers haven’t come close to his AAA numbers. I think he could be a valuable piece as depth or a bench player