March 19: Alberto has been returned to the Rays after clearing waivers, the White Sox announced. Chicago’s 40-man roster drops to 39 players. Alberto does not have to be added to Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster. He’ll be assigned to a minor league affiliate to begin the season.
March 16: The White Sox have placed Rule 5 pick Alexander Alberto on waivers, reports James Fegan of Sox Machine. Another club could claim the right-hander but would be subject to the standard Rule 5 restrictions, meaning Alberto would not be eligible to be optioned to the minors. If he clears waivers, he will have to be offered back to the Rays.
This effectively means that Alberto isn’t breaking camp with the Sox. Chicago made two Rule 5 picks in December, taking right-hander Jedixson Paez from the Red Sox and Alberto from the Rays. Alberto has tossed 6 2/3 innings over seven spring appearances, having allowed ten runs, eight of them earned. He struck out seven batters but allowed 12 hits, issued four walks and threw one wild pitch.
Under the regulations of the Rule 5, the selecting team must pay $100K to the club they take the player from. The player cannot be optioned to the minors and must therefore stay on the active roster or injured list. If he survives a full season with his new club, including at least 90 days on the active roster, then his rights fully transfer over to the drafting club.
With Alberto’s rough spring showing, it seems the Sox aren’t going to break camp with him. It was always a long shot pick, as Alberto’s career topped out at High-A last year. To skip over Double-A and Triple-A and stick in the big leagues, even with a rebuilding club, would be a tall order.
It’s possible some other club takes a chance on the stuff. Last year, Alberto tossed 48 2/3 innings on the farm, allowing 2.59 earned runs per nine. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 30.6% of batters faced and induced grounders on 54.4% of balls in play. His cut fastball sits in the upper 90s while his upper 80s slider is considered a strong pairing. If no other club grabs him via waivers, he must be offered back to the Rays for $50K, half of the initial selection fee. The Rays would not need to carry Alberto on their 40-man roster.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images
I could see a pitching needy team going for him.
They’d have had to keep him on the roster. Since most teams are full up now, that means cutting someone else, and with the way Alberto pitched in ST, I didn’t think anybody would do it. I was hoping the Sox could work something out with the Rays to buy his rights, but they wanted him back.
The White Sox have found a way to get Bonds and Griffey, and they wouldn’t have to give up that much.
They did in fact get Griffey but elected to go for Albert over Barry
They also had Bobby Bonds for two months and then traded him for Claudell Washington.
Right you are forgot about papa- plus virtually all the 97 Indians after they were broke and old: Alomar(s), Manny, Omar, Thome, Lofton. If you cant beat me, sign em when they’re set to retire. Kenny always gets his man!
That Indians team was one of the best that I’ve ever seen and among the best who never won a WS.
At games 6 and 7 of that World Series- walked into game 6 for free!
“Cotton is king” – Luis Polonia
who
Someone will claim Alejandro Albert. He’s gonna have a break our year.
With Petit possibly on the shelf, maybe Colorado will use the yar-long Rule 5 spot they were expected to give him to Alberto.
Even with the spring that he’s had, the Rockies could do worse than trying to hide an essentially free former Rays prospect in a low-leverage role for at least a few weeks.
I was excited about Alberto as a fan.
Rockies would be a good fit. A’s too. He will likely have some rough outings with a few too many walks but he doesn’t give up too many HRs and if he gets in a groove, he might take off and land sometime in 2040.
Its odd that the White Sox cut him after losing Vasil for what is likely an extended amount of time. I feel like they have Murakami Fever.
Hope he catches on with another team.
Thanks for the quick scouting report, ABS. I haven’t seen Alberto pitch myself this spring.
I havent seen him pitch much either, only on YouTube.
YouTube is great for highlights.
My knack is processing. I read the stats, watch the tape, read the articles and form a bias. I can do this quickly because I know what Im looking for. I dont think Id get nearly the same amount of information watching players in person.
Games are enjoyable in a different way. Relaxing in the sun, drinking a cold beer, eating peanuts, rooting with the crowd or against the crowd in those moments of heightened importance. I dont think Id enjoy being at practice or being a scout. I did play some baseball and loved to play the game.
As far as the stats go, they are enjoyable to me in some way. Processing keeps my mind focused and the writing part is the reward for me. Its nice to create something to share that is original even if it is in many ways redundant.
Whether it is enjoyable to others, that is for the audience to decide.
No ABS – clever abd eloquently put. Why aren’t you writing for this site? Overqualified perhaps?
They still have Dominguez, Newcomb, Hicks, Leasure, Taylor, Berroa, Eisert, and Paez. Alberto was the weak link. You could argue that maybe he’d have a better year than Hicks, but Hicks at least has some history of success, while Alberto was jumping several leagues and looked overmatched by guys who weren’t even major leaguers.
Oh boy, Alberto!
Why would they put him on waivers and not just return him and get the $50k? Are they going to get more than that if he’s taken on waivers? Or do they just want to give him a chance to be in the majors this year?
I believe that Rule 5 draftees must be placed on waivers before being offered back to their original team, affording the player a chance for every other organization to consider acquiring him as a Rule 5 before sending him back.
Exactly. Other teams may be willing to give the player a 26-man roster spot, and it is in the best interests of the player to allow the waiver process to play out.
The White Sox did this exact thing with Mike Vasil last year. Vasil was originally taken by the Phillies in last year’s Rule 5 before the White Sox were able to make a second pick. The White Sox would have taken Vasil if he were still on the board, and when the Rays placed him on waivers, the White Sox picked him up.
Prolly or maybe if Tampa doesn’t take him back, they get to keep him?
Yes if no other team claims him on the original waivers.
Always wondered if the original team for whatever reason decided they didn’t want him back can the drafting team simply option him to the minors?
Yes, if the player’s original team doesn’t want him back then the drafting team assumes control without Rule 5 restrictions.
Go ahead and send us back Paez, please
Paez has a WHIP around 2, so that may be happening shortly.
What aggravates me is that the white Sox let Cleveland take Peyton Paulette in the rule 5 draft so they could draft this player
They never had to choose between the two in the first place. They had an extra 40-man spot anyway, even after they picked Paez and Alberto. They simply let Pallette go with no corresponding move.
Meh. One man’s trash. Happens continously dont stress
Looks like someone is going to have the update the Sox prospect rankings. He was #22 on the list.
Basically the White Sox spent $50,000 to take a look. It might have worked out differently. It will be interesting to see if the White Sox coaches were able to add to his learning skills?