The Brewers designated Jake Woodford for assignment on Friday. As of today, he has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency (per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com).
Woodford, 29, signed a minor league contract with the Rays this offseason. The deal included an upward mobility clause, which he triggered before Opening Day, prompting a trade to the Brewers. They added him to their active roster, and he pitched in 16 games for the club, tossing 23 1/3 innings with a 6.94 ERA. Woodford has never been a strikeout arm, which means he needs to generate groundballs and limit hard contact to succeed. He wasn’t doing that for Milwaukee. Indeed, it’s now been several years since the right-hander was a solid swingman for the Cardinals from 2022-22. Over the last four seasons, he’s 3-13 with a 6.83 ERA in 142 1/3 innings pitched.
Despite that, Woodford shouldn’t have much trouble finding another minor league contract. He has seven years of MLB experience with the Cardinals, White Sox, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Brewers, and he’ll still be under 30 for the rest of the season. His arsenal is deep and diverse, highlighted by a sweeper with good movement and a sinker he consistently throws for strikes. Perhaps there’s another team that wants to tinker with his pitch mix, and even if there isn’t, there’s always someone looking for inexpensive bullpen depth.
I normally advocate for bringing Cardinal castoffs back if the price is right, but not this time. I was a huge advocate for Woodford when he was still in St. Louis, but he seemed to always be in the doghouse. When he would finally be given an extended opportunity, he would invariably implode and get banished back to the doghouse. At this point, if the Brewers can’t fix him, I wouldn’t count on the Cardinals to have any more luck. It’s probably time for Jake to look for a place around Anaheim.