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Mariners Claim Terrin Vavra, Designate Duke Ellis

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The Mariners announced they’ve claimed infielder Terrin Vavra from the Orioles. Seattle designated outfielder Duke Ellis for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Vavra is a former Colorado draftee who went to Baltimore as a prospect in a trade that sent reliever Mychal Givens to the Rox. Vavra played briefly at the MLB level in 2022-23. The left-handed hitter combined for a .254/.331/.304 slash in 67 games. He showed decent plate discipline and contact skills with minimal power. That has been Vavra’s profile dating back to his college days at Minnesota.

Baltimore passed him through outright waivers last offseason. They reselected his contract around the trade deadline but didn’t get him into a game before optioning him back to Triple-A. Baltimore designated him for assignment earlier this week as the corresponding move to grab Emmanuel Rivera off waivers from Miami. Vavra has a .243/.350/.368 line in 178 Triple-A plate appearances this year. Primarily a second baseman, he also has a decent amount of experience at shortstop and in both corner outfield positions.

Ellis is a speed and defense outfielder who has bounced around this season. The Mets and Mariners successively claimed him after he was DFA by the White Sox in June. Ellis has barely played in the majors, picking up four at-bats in eight games with Chicago. The 26-year-old is hitting .235/.315/.336 in 273 minor league plate appearances on the year. He’ll land back on waivers in the coming days.

Angels Designate Mike Baumann For Assignment

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The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of righty reliever Ryan Zeferjahn. In a corresponding roster move, fellow reliever Mike Baumann has been designated for assignment.

Baumann has ridden the DFA carousel throughout the season. The righty is out of options, so teams need to continue taking him off the 40-man roster if they nudge him out of the bullpen. No club has successfully gotten Baumann through waivers. He has gone from the Orioles to the Mariners, Giants and Halos via DFA resolutions throughout the year.

The 28-year-old hasn’t pitched especially well at any of those stops. He owns a cumulative 5.24 ERA through 44 2/3 innings. The Jacksonville product’s 19.5% strikeout percentage, 10.2% walk rate and 1.61 home runs per nine are all subpar. A few teams have nevertheless been intrigued by his still above-average velocity (96.4 MPH on the fastball) and last year’s decent results. He’s a season removed from a 3.76 ERA across 64 2/3 innings with Baltimore.

Baumann will land back on waivers in the next couple days. Any claiming team would need to keep him in the MLB bullpen. He surpassed the two-year service threshold this season and will play on a pre-arbitration salary for another year.

Zeferjahn, a University of Kansas product, steps into the vacated bullpen spot. The 6’5″ righty is a former third-round pick of the Red Sox. Command issues quickly pushed him to the bullpen, where Zeferjahn has shown strikeout stuff. He has fanned more than 28% of opponents in his five-year minor league career. That’s up to nearly 31% this season between the top two minor league levels. Zeferjahn carries a 3.33 earned run average across 46 innings on the season.

The Angels acquired him as part of a four-player return for reliever Luis García at the deadline. Three of them — Zeferjahn, outfielder Matthew Lugo and first baseman Niko Kavadas — were in the high minors at the time. Kavadas debuted last week. Los Angeles would have needed to add Zeferjahn to the 40-man this offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They’ll give him his first big league opportunity a few weeks earlier than that as he tries to carve out a middle relief role going into next season.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat this afternoon, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.

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Yankees Reinstate Jazz Chisholm

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August 23: The Yankees have now made it official by announcing Chisholm’s reinstatement.

August 22: The Yankees will activate Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the injured list tomorrow, reports Andy Martino of SNY (on X). New York optioned Oswald Peraza back to Triple-A this evening to open an active roster spot.

It’s a remarkably quick turnaround. Chisholm’s season initially looked as if it could be in jeopardy when he damaged the UCL in his left (non-throwing elbow) a couple weeks ago. The Yankees quickly made clear they expected Chisholm back this year, although they didn’t anticipate this level of progress. As recently as last Friday, New York’s big deadline acquisition was reportedly targeting a return at some point in September.

Barring a last-minute change of plans, Chisholm will instead get back on the diamond after a minimal stint. He’ll draw back in at third base, where Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera have split the work over the last week and a half. That could be a significant boost to the New York lineup. Chisholm had been on an absolute tear early in his tenure in the Bronx. He already has seven homers with a .316/.361/.702 slash in 14 games as a Yankee.

Chisholm isn’t the only player who should soon return to the Yankee infield. Anthony Rizzo and Jon Berti are each scheduled to begin rehab assignments in the next few days (per the MLB.com injury tracker). Berti is headed to Double-A Somerset tomorrow; Rizzo is expected to join him there at some point this weekend. Position players can spend up to 20 days on a minor league rehab assignment.

Both Berti and Rizzo are on the 60-day injured list and have been out for multiple months. The former has only played in 17 games since the Yankees acquired him from Miami in a trade around Opening Day. Berti has been out since late May after suffering a significant strain in his left calf. Rizzo broke his right arm in a collision with Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino in mid-June.

The Yankees called up 25-year-old Ben Rice to handle the majority of the first base work after that. Rice has struggled in his first look at MLB pitching, running a .180/.279/.374 slash. The rookie had a three-homer game against Boston last month but only has four longballs in his other 44 contests.

Cubs Release Josh Staumont

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The Cubs released reliever Josh Staumont from his minor league contract, tweets Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. It’s not clear if the right-hander triggered an opt-out or if the Cubs simply decided they weren’t going to call him up.

In either case, Staumont returns to the market just two weeks after signing with Chicago. The 30-year-old pitched twice for Chicago’s top affiliate in Iowa. He walked five batters while recording only three outs. Staumont had run a much more impressive 16:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 2/3 frames with the Twins’ top affiliate earlier in the season. He clearly did not have any kind of command in his very small sample in Iowa.

A former second-round pick of the Royals, Staumont pitched parts of five seasons with Kansas City. He posted an above-average 26.2% strikeout rate but walked more than 13% of batters faced through 168 1/3 innings. The Royals non-tendered him last winter. Staumont signed a big league deal with Minnesota that guaranteed him $950K. He made 25 appearances for the Twins, working to a 3.70 ERA over 24 1/3 innings. His walks remained high and his strikeout rate dropped sharply to 17.6%, so Minnesota cut him loose when they brought in Trevor Richards at the trade deadline.

Staumont’s camp can again look for minor league opportunities for the next few weeks. He’d need to sign with a team by September 1 to be eligible for postseason play with his new club, though that’s a secondary consideration to pitching his way back to the majors.

Phillies’ Rodolfo Castro Suffers Season-Ending Thumb Injury

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Phillies infielder Rodolfo Castro, who is on optional assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, is out for the season. Matt Gelb of the Athletic reports (on X) that Castro tore a ligament in his right thumb and will miss the rest of the year.

It’s a minor hit to Philadelphia’s infield depth. Castro is on the 40-man roster but hasn’t played for the Phils this season. The 25-year-old has spent most of the year on the minor league injured list. He hasn’t hit well in 23 minor league contests and didn’t make much of an impact in 14 MLB games for the Phils last year.

A switch-hitter with some defensive flexibility, Castro played in 180 games over parts of three seasons with the Pirates. Philadelphia acquired him in a one-for-one swap for left-hander Bailey Falter at the 2023 deadline. Falter has been a decent back-end starter for the Bucs this year, working to a 4.02 ERA across 21 appearances. Even though he wouldn’t have had a path to a rotation spot in Philly, that trade worked out squarely in Pittsburgh’s favor.

The Phils could recall Castro and place him on the major league 60-day injured list if they want to open a 40-man roster spot at some point.  It’s also possible they simply release him to clear a 40-man opening. This is Castro’s last minor league option year, so the Phils would need to carry him on next year’s MLB roster or place him on waivers. He’s not a lock to hold his roster spot all offseason even if Philadelphia keeps him for the remainder of the year.

Nick Ahmed Elects Free Agency

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Nick Ahmed elected free agency after going unclaimed on outright waivers, per the transaction log at MLB.com. The Dodgers had designated the veteran shortstop for assignment on Monday.

Ahmed signed with the Dodgers a month ago. With Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas out at the time, Los Angeles added Ahmed directly onto the major league roster. The defensive stalwart started 14 games at shortstop. He continued to provide defensive value but didn’t produce much offensively. While Ahmed hit a go-ahead home run to help beat the Giants (his former team) early in his Dodger tenure, he ultimately hit just .229/.245/.292 in 49 trips to the plate.

Between San Francisco and L.A., Ahmed carries a .232/.271/.300 batting line through 221 plate appearances. While he has never been a huge offensive threat, Ahmed has particularly struggled at the dish over the last two seasons. The two-time Gold Glove winner remains a strong defender, but the lack of firepower at the plate has squeezed him off a trio of rosters within the past two seasons. The Dodgers have welcomed Betts and Rojas back in recent weeks. Even with Betts returning to the outfield, they were comfortable enough with their infield depth to waive deadline pickup Amed Rosario after five games.

Ahmed is now free to look for a third team of the ’24 season. If he signs elsewhere before September 1, he’d be eligible for postseason play with another club.

Padres Option Matt Waldron

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The Padres optioned starter Matt Waldron to Triple-A El Paso. San Diego recalled reliever Logan Gillaspie to step into the bullpen before tonight’s series opener with the Mets.

Waldron, MLB’s lone knuckleballer, has held a rotation spot all year. He has made 26 starts and is second on the team behind Dylan Cease with 142 2/3 innings. His 4.79 ERA belies decent peripherals. Waldron has a roughly average 21.6% strikeout percentage and has kept his walk rate to a tidy 6.6% clip. Hitters have generally had a tough time making hard contact against him. An abnormally low 67.1% left on base rate is the biggest factor in Waldron allowing nearly five earned runs per nine. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA suggest his peripherals should point to an ERA in the low-4.00s.

Things have gone downhill over Waldron’s last few starts. He carried a 3.71 ERA into the All-Star Break. He has given up exactly eight earned runs per nine innings in 36 frames during the second half. Waldron has surrendered five-plus runs in four of his last five starts. The Twins blitzed him for 12 hits and 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings last night.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the assignment is about giving Waldron some rest before the stretch run. While it’s possible that fatigue has played a role in the righty’s recent struggles, Waldron isn’t too far beyond last year’s innings total. He combined for 133 2/3 frames between the majors and Triple-A a season ago. There seems to be something amiss with his recent skid, so the Padres will give him at least a couple weeks away from big league hitters. A pitcher cannot be recalled from an optional assignment for at least 15 days unless he’s replacing another pitcher who is going on the injured list.

San Diego doesn’t have an off day until September 3. They’ve got a handful of rest days built into their September schedule but will need a full rotation for the next two weeks. The Friars have Cease, Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Martín Pérez in their rotation for now. There’s still not much clarity on whether Yu Darvish will be able to return from the family matter to which he’s attending. Randy Vásquez is the top depth arm on the 40-man roster. He has a 4.63 ERA over 17 major league starts this year and has been hit extremely hard (8.78 ERA) in the Pacific Coast League.

The demotion shouldn’t have much impact on Waldron from a service time perspective. He entered the year with 54 days of MLB service and has already topped the necessary 118 days on the active roster to surpass the one-year service mark in 2024.

What Might It Cost To Extend Garrett Crochet?

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Despite months of trade speculation, Garrett Crochet was not moved at the deadline. His contract status seemed to be a big reason. A few days before the deadline, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Crochet sought an extension if he was going to pitch in the postseason. Whether he'd simply have refused to play in October if he landed with a contender isn't clear. Crochet didn't have the leverage to force a team to sign him long term.

At the same time, Crochet's stance complicated the White Sox's efforts to find a package they felt worthwhile. GM Chris Getz seemed taken aback by the public revelation of Crochet's extension desire (link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). While Getz maintained that the relationship between the player and team was still strong, he said the manner in which the situation was addressed was "a bit hurtful ... considering I felt like we could have handled it a little bit differently."

The Sox continued to discuss Crochet right up to the July 30 deadline. No deal came together. Only the White Sox know whether that's because of the extension hold-up. In any case, he'll finish out the year in Chicago. Crochet could be the most popular trade candidate of the upcoming offseason. The Sox are very unlikely to be competitive in the next two seasons. Chicago should try to move Crochet this winter.

Maybe they won't need to make progress on an extension to do so. Crochet's desire for a long-term deal was tied to his workload reaching a level which he'd never approached in college or the minor leagues. His camp was worried about his arm health if he pitched into October. That's not happening with the White Sox, who can pull back on his workload in an effort to keep him on the field. They're already doing so. Crochet hasn't thrown more than four innings in a game since the start of July. That's generally not a performance question but a clear goal to avoid stressing his arm. Chicago pulled him yesterday after 57 pitches and four innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts.

Even if an extension isn't an absolute necessity to facilitate a trade, Crochet is presumably still amenable to discussing a long-term contract. That's unlikely to come with the White Sox, who are at the nadir of a rebuild and have never guaranteed a player more than $75MM (the ill-fated Andrew Benintendi deal). If a contender wanted to extend Crochet -- either as a condition of a trade or simply after acquiring him -- what kind of price could it take?

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Joey Votto Announces Retirement

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Joey Votto has stepped away from baseball. The star first baseman, who had been on a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, announced his retirement on Instagram on Wednesday evening. He didn’t get to the majors with his hometown team but played an illustrious 17-year career with the Reds.

Votto provided a lengthy statement alongside a brief video of him departing Sahlen Field, home of the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Votto thanked his family, various former teammates and coaches, and the fans. He expressed some regret that he wasn’t able to make it to the big leagues with the Jays, adding that he’s “just not good anymore” before thanking the Canadian fanbase for their support and expressing his love for Cincinnati. “I was myself in this sport. I was able to be my best self. I played this sport with every last ounce of my body, heart, and mind. Thank you for everything,” he concluded.

The Reds drafted Votto out of a Toronto prep school in 2002. He’d emerged as one of Baseball America’s top 50 prospects by the time he hit his way to Triple-A five years later. Votto debuted as a September call-up in ’07. He hit the ground running in 24 games and would break through as their everyday first baseman the following year.

Votto hit .297/.368/.506 with 24 homers and 32 doubles in his first full season. He finished runner-up to Cubs catcher Geovany Soto in Rookie of the Year balloting. Votto emerged as an elite hitter by year two, hitting .322/.414/.567 with 25 longballs and 38 doubles. He finished in the top 10 among qualifiers in all three slash stats.

That kicked off a nearly decade-long run during which Votto was among the game’s best players. He had arguably his best season in 2010. Votto led the majors with a .424 on-base percentage and topped the National League with an even .600 slugging mark. He hit .324 with 37 homers and a career-best 113 runs batted in. It was a dominating performance by counting and rate stats alike that nabbed him a rather convincing win over Albert Pujols and Carlos González in NL MVP balloting. Votto was the best player on a Cincinnati team that won 91 games and an NL Central title.

It was the first of four straight seasons in which the lefty hitter topped the NL in on-base percentage. He led the league in walks every year from 2011-13. His extraordinarily patient approach occasionally made him a target of criticism among some fans who preferred he were more aggressive, but Votto also filled a prototypical run producer role. He ranked 20th in RBI and 21st in homers among MLB hitters between 2010-13. Among hitters with 1500+ plate appearances, only Miguel Cabrera and Joe Mauer hit for a better average. Votto led the majors in OBP and ranked seventh in slugging. Votto made the All-Star Game in all four seasons and thrice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. Cincinnati made the playoffs in three of those years, although they never advanced past the Division Series.

Midway through that run, the Reds committed to Votto as the face of their franchise. They signed him to a 10-year, $225MM extension early in the 2012 season. It remains the biggest investment in the organization’s history. While the team didn’t have a ton of success over the decade, that’s not any fault of their first baseman. He remained an impact hitter until the tail end of the contract.

A quad injury wiped out the bulk of Votto’s 2014 campaign. He returned at full strength the following year, hitting .314/.459/.541 to snag a third-place MVP finish. He would lead the NL in on-base percentage in each of the three seasons after that, earning two more top 10 MVP placements in the process. Between 2015-18, he hit .312/.442/.525 with 106 homers while walking more often than he struck out.

The 2018 season was the final of Votto’s six All-Star campaigns. His production tailed off between 2019-20 and it seemed he’d firmly entered the decline phase of his career. While that was the case to some extent, Votto had one more excellent year ahead of him. He rebounded with a surprising 36-homer outburst (tied for the second-most he hit in any season) with a .266/.375/.563 slash in 2021. That proved to be his last strong season, as he stumbled to replacement level numbers while battling shoulder issues between 2022-23.

Votto earned a well-deserved salute from Cincinnati fans in his final game at Great American Ball Park last September. The guaranteed portion of his contract wrapped up and the Reds made the obvious call to buy him out in lieu of a costly club option for 2024. Votto signed the minor league deal with the Jays during the only free agent trip of his career. He suffered an ankle injury in his first Spring Training game, keeping him on the IL well into July. Votto returned to action midway through the month but hit .143 in 15 Triple-A contests before deciding it was time to move on.

While that keeps him from ever appearing in a Jays uniform at Rogers Centre, it allows him to retire having spent his entire MLB career with one team. He’s one of the best players in Reds’ history and is among the most productive first basemen in league history. Votto will surely garner serious Hall of Fame consideration when his name appears on the ballot in five years.

By Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric (designed to provide a comparison point for players against Hall of Famers), Votto ranks 12th among first basemen. The 11 players above him are either in the Hall of Fame or, in the cases of Pujols and Cabrera, locks for induction when first eligible. The player just behind Votto, Rafael Palmeiro, is not in the Hall, largely because of his ties to performance-enhancing drugs. The following three players — Willie McCovey, Todd Helton and Eddie Murray — were all inducted.

Votto didn’t provide quite the level of power associated with a Hall of Fame first baseman. He steps away with 356 homers (29th at the position) and 1144 runs batted in (49th). Those are no small accomplishments for the vast majority of players, of course, but Votto’s overall excellence was driven primarily by his on-base ability. He finishes his career with a .294 average and a huge .409 on-base percentage. He led the NL in the latter category on seven occasions.

While Votto surprisingly never won a Silver Slugger award — overlapping in the NL with Pujols and Paul Goldschmidt during his prime played a role — he had six top 10 MVP finishes. He earned a Gold Glove in 2011 and the aforementioned MVP honors the year prior. Baseball Reference valued Votto’s career around 64 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs credited him with 59 WAR. That’s right at the threshold at which position players tend to receive legitimate Hall of Fame consideration.

Votto would certainly have offers to stay involved in the game if he wishes to do so. He complemented his litany of on-field accomplishments with a cerebral approach to hitting and a sarcastic wit that’d no doubt provide coaching or media opportunities if he wanted to take them. Votto didn’t tip his hand in his retirement announcement about any plans for the future. We at MLBTR congratulate him on a fantastic career and wish him the best in his post-playing days.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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