Orioles Designate Jackson Kowar For Assignment
The Orioles finalized their Opening Day roster, announcing that right-hander Jackson Kowar and infielder Bryan Ramos were designated for assignment. (Ramos’ DFA was originally reported last night.) Baltimore also placed Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg on the 10-day IL. Holliday is recovering from a hamate fracture, and Westburg is attempting to rehab a UCL tear. Righties Andrew Kittredge (shoulder inflammation) and lefty Keegan Akin (groin strain) open the season on the 15-day IL.
Outfielder Dylan Beavers will avoid an IL stint after dealing with a knee issue late in camp. He’s on the Opening Day roster. Utilityman Jeremiah Jackson also grabbed an Opening Day spot. Righties Yaramil Hiraldo and Anthony Nunez won bullpen spots, as did southpaw Grant Wolfram. Righty Albert Suarez, who had an opt-out in his minor league deal, was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, so it seems he’ll forgo that opt-out and agree to open the season with the Orioles’ Triple-A club.
More to come.
Guardians Designate Johnathan Rodríguez For Assignment
The Guardians have designated outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez for assignment, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. That opens a 40-man spot for first baseman Rhys Hoskins. It was reported a few days ago that the Guards would be selecting Hoskins to the Opening Day roster.
More to come.
Braves Designate Brett Wisely For Assignment
The Braves designated infielder/outfielder Brett Wisely for assignment Wednesday upon setting their 40-man roster, as first indicated on the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’s out of minor league options and didn’t make Atlanta’s Opening Day roster.
Atlanta also placed catcher Sean Murphy and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim on the 10-day injured list, as expected. Pitchers AJ Smith-Shawver, Danny Young, Hurston Waldrep, Spencer Strider and Daysbel Hernández are all opening the year on the 15-day IL. Smith-Shawver and Young both had UCL surgery last year, while Waldrep had surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow earlier this spring. All are potential 60-day IL candidates next time the Braves need to open a 40-man roster spot.
More to come.
Mets Designate Vidal Bruján, Bryan Hudson, Ben Rortvedt For Assignment
The Mets announced that infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján, left-hander Bryan Hudson and catcher Ben Rortvedt have been designated for assignment. All three are out of options and had to be bumped off the 40-man roster if not on the active roster. Left-hander Richard Lovelady and infielder/outfielder Jared Young will get Opening Day roster spots, per Mike Puma of The New York Post. Rortvedt always seemed likely to be squeezed out as the third catcher behind Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens.
More to come.
Diamondbacks Designate Grant Holman For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced they’ve designated reliever Grant Holman for assignment. They also placed righty Cristian Mena (shoulder strain) and left-hander Blake Walston (rehabbing Tommy John surgery) on the 60-day injured list. They needed to clear three 40-man roster spots for Joe Ross, Jonathan Loáisiga and Ildemaro Vargas — all of whom have officially been selected onto the MLB roster.
Arizona placed four more players on the injured list, as expected. Adrian Del Castillo (left calf strain), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (recovering from ACL tear), and Tyler Locklear (rehabbing elbow/shoulder surgeries) all hit the 10-day IL. Merrill Kelly lands on the 15-day injured list with intercostal nerve irritation. Those placements are retroactive to March 22.
More to come.
Astros Finalize Opening Day Roster
The Astros finalized their Opening Day roster, most announcing that shortstop Jeremy Pena will avoid a season-opening trip to the injured list. Catcher César Salazar was designated for assignment, clearing a 40-man roster spot for Christian Vázquez, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston also selected right-hander Christian Roa‘s contract and opened a 40-man spot by placing lefty Brandon Walter on the 60-day IL while he recovers from UCL surgery. Houston also optioned outfielder Zach Cole to Triple-A, while prospect Brice Matthews makes the cut.
Outfielder Zach Dezenzo will open the season on the 10-day IL due to a right elbow sprain. Righty Ronel Blanco (recovering from Tommy John surgery), left-hander Josh Hader (biceps tendinitis), righty Enyel De Los Santos (right knee strain), lefty Bennett Sousa (oblique strain), right-hander Nate Pearson (recovering from elbow surgery) and right-hander Hayden Wesneski (recovering from Tommy John surgery) are all opening the year on the 15-day IL. Blanco and Wesneski will be 60-day IL candidates whenever Houston next needs a 40-man roster spot.
More to come.
Phillies Select Christian Cairo, Designate Garrett Stubbs For Assignment
The Phillies announced they’ve selected outfielder Justin Crawford and infielder Christian Cairo onto the 40-man roster. Crawford will break camp as the everyday center fielder. Cairo will not be on the Opening Day roster, as Philly optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They opened a spot on the 40-man by designating catcher Garrett Stubbs for assignment.
Additionally, Philadelphia placed three pitchers on the 15-day injured list. Zack Wheeler (rehabbing thoracic outlet surgery), Orion Kerkering (right hamstring strain) and Max Lazar (left oblique strain) are beginning the season on the shelf. Those placements are retroactive to March 22.
Cairo signed an offseason minor league contract. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the deal included an upward mobility clause. That required them to add him to the 40-man roster or let him go if another team were willing to give him a roster spot. He still has a full slate of minor league options, so they don’t need to carry him on the MLB club to keep him.
The 24-year-old Cairo has yet to play in the majors. He’s a slick-fielding middle infielder with a light bat. Cairo hit just .237/.338/.331 with two homers over 416 Triple-A plate appearances in the Cleveland farm system last year. He batted .194 with 15 strikeouts over 41 trips to the dish this spring. He’ll open the season in the minors with Edmundo Sosa and Dylan Moore holding utility roles on the MLB bench.
Philadelphia telegraphed the Stubbs move when they began shopping him on the trade market this week. They’re going with Rafael Marchán as the backup catcher behind J.T. Realmuto. Stubbs is out of options and is pushed out of the mix. The Phillies have five days to trade him or place him on waivers. He’s on a split contract that makes it likely he’d accept a Triple-A assignment if no other team carries him on the big league roster.
Wheeler and Kerkering both pitched in minor league games toward the end of the spring. Lazar suffered a mild oblique strain while pitching for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. All three pitchers should be back fairly early in the season.
Giants Select Caleb Kilian
The Giants announced their Opening Day roster moves today. Outfielder Jared Oliva and right-hander Caleb Kilian were selected to the 40-man. In corresponding moves, left-hander Reiver Sanmartin was placed on the 60-day injured list and outfielder Luis Matos has been designated for assignment. It had been reported yesterday that the Giants were likely to select Oliva and designate Matos. The Giants also announced that catcher Eric Haase has been released from his minor league deal and that Rule 5 catcher Daniel Susac has made the team.
More to come.
Rangers Designate Dairon Blanco For Assignment
The Rangers announced that outfielder Dairon Blanco has been designated for assignment. That opens up a 40-man roster spot for Andrew McCutchen, whose contract has been selected. It had been previously reported that McCutchen would make the team.
Blanco, 33 in April, was just claimed off waivers from the Royals a few weeks ago. He made appearances for Kansas City in each of the past four seasons, essentially as a speedy depth outfielder. In 285 plate appearances, he produced a .257/.312/.416 batting line. His 99 wRC+ indicates he was just a hair below league average. He got solid grades for his glovework and stole 59 bases in 73 attempts.
The Rangers were intrigued enough to put in a claim but Blanco was ultimately squeezed off the roster. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Rangers could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. He still has options, so perhaps he could appeal to a club looking for a bit more outfield depth and speed.
Blanco has a previous career outright. That means that, if he passes through waivers in the coming days, he would have the right to reject another outright assignment in favor of electing free agency.
Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images
Twins Designate Alex Jackson For Assignment
The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Cody Laweryson and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating catcher Alex Jackson for assignment. They’d been shopping the out-of-options Jackson in recent days but didn’t find a taker. They can continue to explore trades for five days before they’ll have to place him on waivers. Minnesota also placed righties Travis Adams and David Festa on the 15-day IL due to a triceps strain and shoulder impingement, respectively.
Jackson, 30, came over from the Orioles in a November trade sending minor league infielder Payton Eeles to Baltimore. At the time, the Twins’ ownership situation was somewhat in flux, leaving the front office uncertain as to what sort of budget they’d have throughout the winter. Jackson was acquired and signed to a $1.35MM deal, avoiding arbitration and giving the Twins a glove-first backup catcher with some power but immense strikeout and OBP concerns.
The Twins eventually introduced a trio of new minority stakeholders and shuffled up the ownership hierarchy, with Tom Pohlad stepping in as the new control person in place of his younger brother, Joe. That shift came with the apparent green light for some modest investments in free agency, which led to Minnesota signing Victor Caratini on a two-year deal. Caratini became the new backup to starting catcher Ryan Jeffers, leaving Jackson with no path to a 26-man roster spot. Since he can’t be optioned, he’s been designated for assignment and will spend up to a week in limbo waiting to learn his next steps.
Jackson was once a top-10 draft pick and ballyhooed top prospect, but he’s never found his stride in the majors. He’s taken 440 plate appearances dating back to his 2019 MLB debut but mustered only a .153/.239/.288 slash. He’s slugged 11 homers but fallen victim to a strikeout in a disastrous 40.7% of his plate appearances. Jackson draws good marks for his pitch framing and throwing, but his anemic offensive profile makes him better suited to be a third or fourth catcher on any team’s depth chart.
It’s possible he’ll stick with Minnesota in just that role. Jackson’s lack of production, lack of minor league options and $1.35MM salary create a good chance that he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors but not enough service to do so while retaining his guaranteed salary. As such, if he clears, he’ll surely accept an assignment to Triple-A and open the season over in St. Paul.
Laweryson, 27, made his big league debut with the Twins last season. He held opponents to a run on four hits and no walks with seven punchouts — a nice follow-up to the 2.86 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate he logged across 44 Triple-A innings. The Twins tried to pass him through waivers in the offseason, only for the Angels to claim him.
The Halos designated Laweryson for assignment in February and released him, at which point he returned to the Twins on a minor league pact. He’s allowed one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 spring innings.