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Reds Sign Casey Kelly To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed right-hander Casey Kelly to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Louisville, per an announcement from Louisville. Kelly, the son of Bats manager Pat Kelly, was released by the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins last month.

Kelly, 34, was once a first-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2008. Included alongside Anthony Rizzo in the trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, the righty was a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport prior to his big league debut with the Padres in 2012. Unfortunately, Kelly’s career in stateside ball didn’t take off the way his prospect status might have suggested. He struggled badly in his rookie season with a 6.21 ERA and 4.78 FIP in six starts for the Padres, and wouldn’t resurface in the big leagues until 2015. He struggled in brief cups of coffee for the Padres and Braves before eventually finding some small-sample size success with the Giants in 2018. In San Francisco, the righty pitched to a solid 3.04 ERA with a 4.22 FIP in seven appearances (three starts) that totaled 23 2/3 innings of work.

That performance wasn’t enough to earn him more playing time in the majors, but it did grab attention overseas, and Kelly signed his first contract with the KBO’s LG Twins prior to the 2019 season. Kelly turned in an excellent season in his first year overseas as he posted a sterling 2.55 ERA in 180 1/3 frames across 29 starts despite a strikeout rate of just 16.9%. Kelly remained with the club for more than half a decade and posted excellent numbers as a stalwart of the Twins’ rotation, with a 3.08 ERA in 875 2/3 innings of work entering the 2024 season.

While some reporting indicated that there was stateside interest in Kelly’s services this year, the right-hander remained with the Twins on a one year deal during the offseason. His results took a turn for the worse this year, however, and he surrendered a lackluster 4.51 ERA while striking out just 13.9% of opponents in 19 starts before he was eventually cut loose to make room on the club’s roster for newly-signed righty Elieser Hernandez. That’s opened the door for Kelly to return to stateside ball for the first time since 2018, though he’ll do so with a Reds organization where he faces some stiff competition to make it to the major league level.

Cincinnati is currently deploying a rotation of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, and Carson Spiers with Jakob Junis in a multi-inning relief role. Of that group, Junis’s 108 ERA+ is the weakest, leaving no obvious weak link to be replaced. An injury or two could open up spots with the big league club, of course, but even then Kelly would have to put himself ahead of not only fellow non-roster veterans like Justus Sheffield but also pieces already on the club’s 40-man roster like Lyon Richardson in order to crack the big league roster. Still, it’s certainly possible to imagine a strong showing from Kelly in the minors down the stretch leading to further interest in his services in affiliated ball headed into the 2025 campaign, even if he doesn’t receive an opportunity in the majors this year.

Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro Discusses Team’s Future

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In the midst of a season that has been an unmitigated disappointment for Blue Jays fans where the club has fallen to last place in the AL East and sold off pieces at the trade deadline, club president and CEO Mark Shapiro spoke to reporters including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson about the club’s plans for 2025 and beyond.

Shapiro did not mince words while describing the organization’s failures this season and acknowledged that the team’s performance this year has represented the “biggest disconnect from expectations” he’s overseen during his tenure at the helm of the club, which began in August of 2015. Even as he called this season the “biggest disappointment” of his time in Toronto, however, Shapiro seemed disinclined to entertain parting ways with GM Ross Atkins. While he prefaced his comments by emphasizing that he does not comment on his employees’ job statuses while the season is ongoing, he also made a general case for continuity within the organization:

“I’m a huge believer in stability and continuity and those are competitive advantages in professional sports,” Shapiro said, as relayed by Matheson. “Reacting and changing don’t necessarily mean improvement. We need to be better. We have to be better. Stability, continuity and making adjustments are where I’m focused right now.”

Parting ways with Atkins, who has been the club’s GM in each of Shapiro’s nine seasons at the helm in Toronto, would certainly be considered a move away from that message of continuity and stability. The Jays have seen some success with the duo of Shapiro and Atkins making decisions, as they’ve made the playoffs in four of their nine seasons with the club. The team only advanced beyond the Wild Card round of the postseason once, however, and that came all the way back in 2016 during their first season with the club.

Since then, the Blue Jays rebuilt and constructed a young core centered around stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette before supplementing that group with veterans such as George Springer and Kevin Gausman. Solid as that strategy may have seemed on paper, however, the results on the field have left something to be desired for a club that has failed to win the competitive AL East even once while going 423-338 since the 2019 season where Guerrero made his MLB debut. Now, both Guerrero and Bichette are entering their final seasons of arbitration eligibility, and the possibility of losing one or both in free agency next winter looms as a distinct possibility.

Of course, it’s possible that Toronto could ink one or both of their stars to an extension before they leave town. Shapiro declined to comment on the possibility of extending specific players, though he did acknowledge that it’s “certainly easier” to build a championship-level roster with players of Guerrero’s and Bichette’s caliber in the fold “for extended periods of time.”

An extension for either player would surely require a considerable financial investment, however. Guerrero in particular has re-established himself as one of the league’s premiere offensive talents this year with a fantastic .317/.391/.537 slash line, 29 doubles, and 22 homers in 112 games this year. With the slugging superstar set to hit free agency following his age-26 season next year, he appears to be in good position to cash in on a significant payday in free agency.

On the other hand, Bichette has dealt with injuries and under-performance this year as he’s been limited to 79 games while slashing just .223/.276/.321. With that being said, he’ll be coming off his age-27 campaign when he’s expected to reach free agency next winter and that combination of youth, a strong offensive track record (he was a career 127 wRC+ hitter entering the 2024 campaign), and his ability to play a premium defensive position should allow the shortstop to do quite well in free agency as long as he rebounds to something closer to his previous career levels in 2025.

Fortunately, the club figures to have plenty of payroll flexibility this winter with which they can look to sign the pair long-term while retooling the rest of the roster. The club’s final payroll is expected to land (per RosterResource) just over $218MM, with their estimated payroll for luxury tax purposes sitting just over $241MM. That’s a little more than $4MM over the first threshold of the competitive balance tax, although it’s worth noting that publicly available payroll estimates are just that. For his part, Shapiro suggested (per Matheson) that the Jays currently expect to come in under that $237MM threshold though he did acknowledge that the situation is “fluid.”

Regardless of where the club ends up in terms of final luxury tax calculations this year, they have plenty of money coming off the books this winter. RosterResource indicates that they have just over $124MM committed for 2025, and while arbitration raises for players like Guerrero and Daulton Varsho figure to push that figure up significantly—the Jays’ 2024 arb class cost the club just over $44MM—even that would leave the club with a payroll in the $170MM range, giving them around $50MM to work with this winter if they match this year’s payroll in 2025. Shapiro was vague about Toronto’s exact plans in terms of payroll for next year, however. While he did say that he doesn’t expect there to be a “large-scale pullback” in payroll, he also notes that the difficult season has impacted the club on the business side of things.

Of course, long-term deals for Bichette and Guerrero wouldn’t necessarily impact 2025’s payroll given that Bichette is already under contract for $17.5MM next year while Guerrero is already expected to command a hefty salary in his final trip through arbitration. That being said, if the Jays have their sights set on retaining either or both of their homegrown duo long-term, it’s easy to see that impacting the club’s willingness to sign other top-of-the-market talents to long-term deals this winter. That could create a complicated puzzle for the club as they attempt to return to contention next year while balancing an apparent desire to retain Guerrero and Bichette long-term against the need for significant upgrades to the current roster.

Cardinals Hoping To Retain Paul Goldschmidt Beyond 2024

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In a recent chat with readers, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discussed the futures of a handful of pending free agents on the Cardinals roster. Most notable among them is seven-time All Star and 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt, who Goold noted the club would talk with after the season “about what a return looks like.” Goold went on to compare the situation with Goldschmidt to the one the club experienced with longtime Cardinal Adam Wainwright late in his career, when Goold notes the club allowed him to reach free agency before finalizing a previously agreed-upon deal.

That framing of the situation indicates that there’s a strong mutual interest in Goldschmidt’s stay in St. Louis extending beyond this season. The veteran first baseman, 37 next month, has spent the last six years with the Cardinals after arriving in St. Louis in a trade that brought his tenure with the Diamondbacks to an end one year before he would’ve otherwise been scheduled to reach free agency. While Goldschmidt’s thirties with the Cardinals haven’t been quite as productive as his twenties in Arizona, he’s still be among the games most reliable offensive talents with a .286/.373/.500 slash line (138 wRC+) with St. Louis entering the 2024 campaign.

Given his consistency at the plate and his still-recent MVP campaign in 2022, Goldschmidt entered the 2024 season looking as though he might be one of the offseason’s most attractive offensive talents despite his advanced age. A difficult 2024 campaign has changed that, however, as the veteran has hit just .228/.288/.384 (91 wRC+) in 110 games this season. Age-related decline becomes a concern for most any player as their career advances into their mid-to-late thirties, and for Goldschmidt to have the first below-average offensive season of his career at age 36 surely sets off alarm bells for some interested clubs.

Given Goldschmidt’s struggles this year, it’s easy to see how a reunion could make the most sense for all sides. After all, the Cardinals lack a clear heir to Goldschmidt at first base among their corps of young hitters, which is populated primarily by middle infield and outfield options. Luken Baker is the only first baseman on the 40-man roster controlled for the 2025 season, and the 27-year-old has yet to appear in the big leagues this year after a 33-game cup of coffee in 2023 where he struck out at a 31.3% clip and mustered a wRC+ of just 79. Retaining Goldschmidt would allow the club to keep a respected and decorated veteran who has had success in the recent past in the fold while they sort out long-term options at first base.

Meanwhile, a reunion would offer Goldschmidt a comfortable and familiar place to try and bounce back in 2025 with an organization that has stuck by him as their everyday first baseman even amid his hitting woes this season. It’s also worth noting that there’s some reason for optimism regarding Goldschmidt baked into his more recent performance this season. After an ice cold start to the season where he posted a paltry .530 OPS in 37 games, Goldschmidt has bounced back somewhat with a more respectable .247/.294/.446 in his last 316 trips to the plate. That figure is good for an above average wRC+ of 108.

Setting aside Goldschmidt, Goold goes on to suggest that there’s at least two other pending free agents the Cardinals could explore reunions with this winter: relievers Keynan Middleton and Andrew Kittredge. Of the two, Goold seems to imply that a reunion with Middleton is more likely, adding that there’s “mutual interest” in working out a deal with the 30-year-old who has missed the entire 2024 campaign due to season-ending flexor tendon surgery.

The Cardinals hold a $6MM club option with a $1MM buyout on Middleton’s services for the 2025 campaign, but after the righty missed his first year with the club it wouldn’t necessarily be a surprise to see St. Louis brass decline that option in hopes of re-signing Middleton to a smaller guarantee. The righty posted a 3.38 ERA in 51 games with the White Sox and Yankees last year and was particularly impressive during his time in the Bronx, when he pitched to a 1.88 ERA and struck out 30.4% of opponents. As for Kittredge, the 34-year-old righty has performed solidly in his first season with the club with a 3.12 ERA with a 4.19 FIP in 49 innings of work and will likely be eyeing a raise over the $2.263MM salary he’s earned in his final trip through arbitration this year.

Red Sox Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day IL, Activate Chris Martin

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves this evening, headlined by the club placing outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day injured list due to a left leg infection. The move is retroactive to August 4. Replacing O’Neill on the active roster is infielder Enmanuel Valdez, who has been recalled to the big league roster, and the Red Sox also activated right-hander Chris Martin from the 15-day IL. Lefty Cam Booser was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Martin.

O’Neill, 29, was acquired from the Cardinals over the offseason and has enjoyed an excellent campaign during his first season in Boston. In 342 trips to the plate this season, the 29-year-old has slashed an excellent .268/.357/.544 (142 wRC+) with 16 doubles and 22 homers. While he’s striking out at a hefty 31.9% clip, he’s paired those strong power numbers with a solid 11.1% walk rate that has given him a more well-rounded profile than he flashed in his career-best 2021 campaign when he crushed 34 homers and posted a 143 wRC+ but walked at a clip of just 7.1%.

The slugger’s performance this year seems likely to line the pending free agent up for hefty raise in free agency this winter, although one red flag for O’Neill has been his frequent trips to the shelf. After suffering hamstring, back, foot, and shoulder injuries during his final two seasons with St. Louis, he’s now made three trips to the shelf with the Red Sox this year: once for a concussion in April, once due to knee inflammation in May, and now today’s most recent ailment that manager Alex Cora described to reporters (including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe) as a worsening infection on his left leg that has caused swelling.

The silver lining in O’Neill’s repeated trips to the IL this year is that they’ve all been fairly short-lived, and Cora indicated that this one should be more of the same as he’s likely to be activated once eligible to return next week. In the meantime, the Red Sox figure to turn to some combination of Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Rob Refsnyder in the outfield. With Rafaela frequenting the outfield in recent days, Valdez should help to shore up the club’s middle infield mix alongside David Hamilton, Nick Sogard, and Romy Gonzalez. The 25-year-old enjoyed a strong rookie season in 2023 but has taken a step back this year with a .226/.282/.402 slash line in 182 trips to the plate at the big league level.

As for Martin, the right-hander’s return to action is welcome news for a beleaguered Red Sox bullpen that has been second-worst in the majors since the start of July, ahead of only the White Sox. The 38-year-old veteran sports a solid 3.42 ERA with a matching 3.40 FIP in 26 1/3 innings of work this year and is coming off an even better season in 2023 where he dominated to the tune of an eye-popping 1.05 ERA in 55 appearances. Adding Martin to the late-inning mix to be the primary set-up man for closer Kenley Jansen should further shore up a bullpen that got reinforcements in the form of Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia prior to the trade deadline. He’ll take the roster spot of Booser, who heads to Triple-A to become the club’s top depth option with an excellent 2.77 ERA and 2.99 FIP in 39 innings of work this year.

While the bullpen will hopefully be revitalized by the return of Martin, Cora suggested to reporters today (including Abraham) that the Red Sox intend to skip right-hander Nick Pivetta’s next start. While the veteran righty doesn’t appear to be injured, Cora indicated that he’s “not responding well” coming out of his last start and that the club had some concerns about a dip in his velocity. With a day off scheduled tomorrow, the Red Sox will be able to utilize the rest of their rotation on regular rest without needing to call up another arm to take the spot on Pivetta. The righty has a middling 4.44 ERA through 18 starts this year thanks primarily due to a trio of brutal outings his last three times out that have seen him surrender 13 runs (12 earned) in 14 innings of work while serving up six home runs.

Cubs Sign Lucas Luetge To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have signed left-hander Lucas Luetge to a minor league deal, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. Luetge had spent the season in the Red Sox organization to this point but opted out of that arrangement last week.

A veteran of seven MLB seasons, the 37-year-old Luetge made his big league debut with Seattle back in 2012. The lefty spent four seasons shuttling between the majors and the minors with the Mariners, and during that time he posted a 4.35 ERA with a 4.27 FIP in 111 appearances in the majors with a similar 4.21 ERA across 94 appearances in the minors. Luetge’s middling numbers and a subpar 19% strikeout rate that he paired with an elevated 12.1% walk rate led the Mariners to outright him off their 40-man roster in September of 2015.

That outright kicked off a five-year stretch without appearing in the majors for Luetge. During those years, the southpaw bounced between the Reds, Orioles, Diamondbacks, and Angels organizations. He struggled badly with the Reds, Orioles, and Angels but enjoyed a resurgence at the Triple-A level with Arizona in 2019, pitching to a 3.14 ERA in 43 innings of work with a solid 25% strikeout rate at the highest level of the minors. The cancelled minor league season in 2020 prevented Luetge from building on that success, but the lefty finally landed another opportunity in the majors in 2021 when he made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster out of Spring Training.

While in the Bronx, the southpaw enjoyed the best seasons of his career and worked his way into being a preferred left-handed option for manager Aaron Boone while with the club for the 2021 and ’22 seasons. In 129 2/3 frames for the Yankees in those seasons, Luetge dominated to the tune of a 2.71 ERA with a 2.92 FIP while seeing massive improvements in his strikeout and walk rates as compared to his time in Seattle. He struck out 25% of batters faced for New York while walking just 5.8%, making him one of the more valuable relievers in the club’s bullpen during his tenure in the Bronx.

Given that status, it was something of a shock when the Yankees designated him for assignment early in the 2022-23 offseason. He was dealt to the Braves shortly thereafter and began the season in the Atlanta bullpen, although that stint was fairly short-lived as he allowed eleven runs in 9 2/3 innings of work in his first nine appearances as a Brave. The lefty was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster but remained with the organization at the Triple-A level long enough to return to the majors down the stretch for four scoreless innings. The Braves did not retain him for the 2024 campaign, however, and that led him to a minor league deal with Boston. He pitched very well in his stint at Triple-A Worcester this year with a 3.02 ERA and 26.7% strikeout rate, but was unable to crack a fairly deep Red Sox bullpen that had plenty of left-handed options.

Fortunately for Luetge, it’s not difficult to imagine him finding greener pastures in Chicago. While the Cubs’ bullpen has been the best in baseball by ERA since June 1, the club has only veteran lefty Drew Smyly available as a left-handed option following a lat strain that’s likely to put fireballer Luke Little on the injured list for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. Veteran reliever Mark Leiter Jr. helped to fill in the gaps as a rare right-hander who pitched better against southpaws thanks to his impressive splitter, but Leiter was dealt to the Yankees ahead of the trade deadline. That leaves a fairly clear opening in Chicago’s bullpen for another southpaw, and it’s certainly possible to imagine the Cubs opting to give Luetge a look in the majors at some point during the stretch run.

Denny Lemaster Passes Away

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Former All-Star pitcher Denny Lemaster passed away late last month, according to an obituary from a Georgia funeral home. The former Braves, Astros, and Expos hurler was 85 years old.

A California native, Lemaster signed with the then-Milwaukee Braves shortly after graduating from Oxnard High School and made his pro debut in 1958. The southpaw wouldn’t make his big league debut until July of 1962 but pitched quite well for the Braves in 17 games, including 12 starts, with a 3.01 ERA in 86 2/3 innings of work. That audition during his rookie season earned Lemaster a more regular role in the club’s rotation going forward, and the lefty threw 237 innings during his first wire-to-wire big league campaign with a strong 3.04 ERA in 46 appearances, 31 of which were starts. He also launched two of his four career home runs as a hitter during that first full campaign as a big leaguer.

After his strong sophomore season, Lemaster took a slight step back in terms of results from 1964 to 1966 but was nonetheless a valuable source of innings for the Braves as they made the move from Milwaukee to Atlanta. Lemaster began to turn a corner late in the 1966 season with a 1.64 ERA over his final three starts of the year, including a three-hit gem against the reigning World Series champion Dodgers on August 9 where he managed to out-duel future Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, striking out 10 while allowing just one run in a complete game against a lineup that included All-Stars Jim Lefebvre and John Roseboro. Unfortunately, Lemaster’s 1966 campaign would be cut short rather abruptly due to a pinched nerve that kept him out of action after August 19.

The lefty returned to the mound with a vengeance in 1967, however, and had a strong first half with a 2.82 ERA in 127 2/3 innings of work that included six complete games as well as a brilliant 13-inning performance in a 15-inning game against the Dodgers where he struck out 12 and allowed two runs, only one of which was earned. That performance was enough to make Lemaster an All-Star for the first and only time in his career, although he did not appear in that year’s All-Star game due to an injury. The southpaw threw just 87 2/3 innings during the second half, surely hampered by injury woes, and made his final appearance in a Braves uniform on September 22.

Following the 1967 season, Lemaster was dealt to the Astros alongside All-Star infielder Denis Menke in exchange for infielders Sonny Jackson and Chuck Harrison. Lemaster’s first two seasons in Houston went quite well as he pitched to a 3.00 ERA across a combined 69 starts totaling 468 2/3 innings of work. After struggling through the first half in the 1970 season, Lemaster was moved to the bullpen for the second half and remained in a relief role for the rest of his career. The lefty departed Houston following the 1971 campaign and finished his career with the Expos in 1972. He pitched in his final MLB game on June 21 of that year.

Across his 11 seasons in the big leagues, Lemaster posted a solid career 3.58 ERA with a 90-105 record while racking up 1787 2/3 innings of work and striking out 1305 batters. Following his playing career, Lemaster’s obituary indicates he worked as a custom home builder and developed a talent for woodcarving wildfowl.

Those of us at MLBTR extend our condolences to Lemaster’s family, friends and loved ones.

Orioles Place Grayson Rodriguez On Injured List

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August 7: The Orioles announced today that Rodriguez has been placed on the 15-day IL with right lat/teres discomfort, retroactive to August 4. Left-hander Keegan Akin was recalled in a corresponding move. Additionally, outfielder Heston Kjerstad was placed on the IL with a concussion, retroactive to August 1. He was optioned to the minors on that date but this IL placement presumably rescinds that option.

August 6: Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez was scratched from his scheduled start against the Blue Jays due to what the club later announced as “right lat/teres discomfort.” As noted by Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun, Rodriguez began to warm up for his start this evening before appearing to say to pitching coach Drew French, “I don’t feel right.” Rodriguez left the field for the clubhouse after the conversation and was replaced by right-hander Albert Suarez as the game’s starter. Rodriguez is returning to Baltimore to receive further evaluations and have imaging done on his right lat, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Weyrich) following the club’s loss to the Blue Jays this evening.

Details regarding the severity of Rodriguez’s discomfort are minimal, so it’s unclear at this point if the right-hander will require a trip to the IL or when he could next be expected to take the mound. After all, the righty’s discomfort will surely bring to mind his stint on IL due to shoulder inflammation earlier this year that ultimately lasted nearly three weeks. Rodriguez also has a history of lat issues, having dealt with a lat strain as a prospect back in 2022 that ultimately cost him three and a half months.

Regardless of how long Rodriguez ends up missing, the news is a worrying development for the Orioles just one week after the trade deadline as they gear up for a run at their second consecutive AL East crown and another postseason run. Injuries in the starting rotation have been frequent in Baltimore this year. The club lost three starters (Kyle Bradish, John Means, and Tyler Wells) to UCL surgery back in June and has also previously saw right-hander Dean Kremer spend time on the shelf in addition to Rodriguez’s aforementioned shoulder issue early this year. Those injury woes led the Orioles to stock up on starting pitching depth ahead of last week’s trade deadline as they swung deals to bring right-hander Zach Eflin and lefty Trevor Rogers into the fold.

While those additions helped to shore up the club’s shaky back of the rotation, losing Rodriguez for a significant period would be a deeply worrisome outcome as the 24-year-old has emerged as the club’s clear #2 starter behind ace Corbin Burnes. Rodriguez has generally pitched quite well in the sophomore season of his career with a decent 3.86 ERA in 116 2/3 innings of work across 20 starts that’s matched with even better peripheral numbers. He’s struck out 26.5% of batters faced while walking just 7.3%. That’s left him with a strong 3.67 FIP and an even better 3.60 SIERA, the latter of which is good for top 25 among all qualified starters this year and slightly better than Burnes’s own 3.71 figure.

Should Rodriguez end up missing time, it seems likely that the club would turn to Suarez to take over his spot in the rotation on a more permanent basis. The 34-year-old journeyman last appeared in the majors back in 2017 before the Orioles brought him in on a minor league deal and added him to their roster, but he’s done well in a swing role since then, with a 3.75 ERA in 15 starts including his five scoreless innings of work filling in for Rodriguez this evening. Other options to replace Rodriguez in the rotation (or Suarez in a long relief role if he returns to starting) would be youngster Cade Povich, who has struggled to a 6.27 ERA in eight starts in the majors this year, and lefty Cole Irvin, who was recently outrighted off the 40-man roster. Top pitching prospect Chayce McDermott, who made his big league debut in a spot start earlier this year, may have been a possible candidate to help fill in for Rodriguez in the majors but the club announced earlier today that he’s been placed on the minor league IL with a stress reaction in his right scapula earlier today.

Royals Release Tyler Duffey

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The Royals have released right-hander Tyler Duffey, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided this afternoon. Duffey pitched out of the club’s bullpen earlier this year but was outrighted off the 40-man roster back in May.

The 31-year-old is a veteran of 10 big league seasons who first made his debut with the Twins back in 2015. A starting pitcher back then, Duffey impressed in ten starts with Minnesota in his rookie season as he posted a 3.10 ERA and 3.24 FIP in 58 innings of work down the stretch. Unfortunately for Duffey, he struggled badly in his first full season in a rotation role as a big leaguer. The righty made 26 starts for the Twins in 2016, but he posted an atrocious 6.43 ERA with a lackluster 4.73 FIP in his 133 innings of work. That performance ended his days as a starter pitcher, but after some mixed results early in his move to the bullpen he emerged as a steady contributor in the Twins’ relief corps.

From 2019 to 2021, Duffey posted an excellent 2.69 ERA with a 3.16 FIP while striking out an excellent 29.8% of batters in 144 innings of work. Those impressive numbers led the Twins to bring Duffey back in 2022 on a one-year, $3.8MM contract signed just before the non-tender deadline, but that move did not end up working out well for Minnesota. Duffey wound up regressing significantly as his ERA ballooned to 4.91 in 44 innings of work while his strikeout rate plummeted to just 21.1%. Duffey’s struggles eventually proved significant enough that the Twins opted to part ways with the righty entirely, designating him for assignment in early August of that year.

The righty briefly caught on with the Yankees and Rangers late in the year after being cut loose by the Twins but wouldn’t appear in the big leagues again until October of the following year when he was briefly brought up by the Cubs nearly eight months after he signed a minor league deal to pitch in the organization. While he managed just two innings of work in Chicago, Duffey posted a respectable 3.77 ERA in 45 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A for the club’s Iowa affiliate last year. That performance was enough to earn Duffey another minor league deal last winter, this time in the Royals organization.

Since signing with the Royals, 2024 has proven to be a rollercoaster year for Duffey. The right-hander underwent a procedure to treat melanoma during Spring Training after a cancerous mole was discovered during his physical after signing with Kansas City, and while he didn’t make the Opening Day roster he did get selected to the big leagues in late April. Unfortunately, the right-hander’s brief stay in the majors did not go well as he surrendered a 5.00 ERA in nine appearances and walked 19% of the batters he faced. Duffey was outrighted to the minors in late May and has pitched to an excellent 2.01 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work since his demotion.

He’ll now head back into free agency in search of an opportunity to crack a big league roster elsewhere. Given the righty’s track record and success in the minors this year, it’s certainly feasible to imagine a team being interested in bringing Duffey into the fold at least as a non-roster depth option, and it’s possible a team could even be willing to give him a shot at the big league level in fairly short order.

Mariners Sign Josh Fleming To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have signed left-hander Josh Fleming to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma, as relayed by Tacoma Rainiers broadcast Mike Curto on X (link). Fleming elected free agency on the day of the trade deadline after being designated for assignment by the Pirates the week prior.

Fleming, 28, was a fifth-round pick by the Rays in the 2017 draft and spent his entire career in Tampa prior to the 2024 season. The southpaw made his big league debut back in 2020 and enjoyed a solid rookie season with a 2.78 ERA and 4.40 FIP in seven appearances, including five starts, that totaled 32 1/3 innings of work. Fleming struck out just 19.2% of opponents in that first season as a big leaguer but made up for that with an eye-popping 63.7% ground ball rate. Those strong results led the Rays to offer Fleming an expanded role the following year as he posted a career-best 104 1/3 innings of work in 2021. Unfortunately, the lefty struggled with the larger role and posted a lackluster 5.09 ERA, though it’s worth noting that his 4.27 FIP and 4.36 xFIP both indicate that he pitched better than that top-level run prevention number might otherwise suggest.

After his lackluster 2021 season, Fleming saw his role in Tampa reduced somewhat as he pitched just 35 innings for the big league club in 2022 followed by 51 2/3 innings of work in 2023. Once again splitting time between the bullpen and starting rotation, Fleming pitched to a combined 5.40 ERA with a 5.16 FIP, a 13.8% strikeout rate, and a 7.9% walk rate. He continued to generate grounders at an impressive 61.4% clip in those years until his 2023 season ended early due to a bout of elbow inflammation. The combination of injury concerns and ineffectiveness led the Rays to designate Fleming for assignment, and while he was snapped up off the waiver wire by the Phillies the lefty became a free agent not long afterwards when Philadelphia non-tendered him.

The southpaw ended up remaining in Pennsylvania despite that non-tender, however, as he eventually signed with the Pirates on a split contract back in February. Fleming made the club’s Opening Day roster out of Spring Training and pitched fairly well for Pittsburgh over the first month of the season. Things took a sharp turn for the worse in May, however, as Fleming allowed nine runs (eight earned) in just three innings of work across four appearances before eventually being outrighted off the club’s roster. He remained with the Pirates in the minors and eventually returned to the roster in mid-June. He pitched well for the club following his return with a 1.46 ERA in 12 1/3 innings of work, though he did so with questionable peripherals as he walked more batters (five) than he struck out (four). That led the Pirates to DFA him once again, though this time he decided to return to free agency rather than remain in the minor leagues with Pittsburgh.

Now, Fleming will join a Mariners organization that currently has just one left-handed pitcher (reliever Tayler Saucedo) on the active roster. Gabe Speier and Jhonathan Diaz are both lefty options in the minors already on the 40-man roster, though each has struggled at the big league level this year. That could leave a clear shot at a big league job for Fleming if he can impress Mariners brass with his performance at the Triple-A level, where he’ll have to contend with the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Twins Sign Giovanny Gallegos To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed veteran right-hander Giovanny Gallegos to a minor league deal, per a club announcement. Gallegos has been assigned to Triple-A.

The veteran righty, 33 next week, began his big league career with the Yankees back in 2017. Gallegos made just 20 appearances with New York before being dealt to the Cardinals partway through the 2018 season in the deal that sent Luke Voit to the Bronx. Gallegos made just two appearances in St. Louis down the stretch with 1 1/3 scoreless frames but emerged as a key piece of the Cardinals bullpen the following year.

From 2019 to 2022, Gallegos pitched to a sterling 2.84 ERA with a nearly matching 2.83 FIP with 33 saves in 228 1/3 innings of work with an eye-popping 32% strikeout rate. That four-season stretch saw Gallegos emerge as one of the most dominant relievers in the game: among relievers with at least 150 innings of work in that stretch, the righty’s ERA and FIP both ranked eighth while his strikeout rate ranked 11th and his SIERA ranked tenth. As impressive as those numbers were, things took a turn for the worse during the right-hander’s age-31 season last year.

Gallegos’s ERA and FIP ballooned to 4.42 and 4.36 respectively in 2022, figures that were actually slightly below average by measure of ERA- and FIP-. Those middling run prevention numbers were caused by two main factors: the right-hander’s strikeout rate plummeted to just 25.8% after sitting well above 30% for his entire Cardinals tenure to that point, and his home run rate skyrocketed. After allowing home runs on just 8.6% of fly balls from 2019 to 2021, the 2022 season saw that number shoot up to a whopping 15.3%. Just ten qualified relievers allowed more home runs than Gallegos’s 11 last year, and the combination of diminished strikeout ability and difficulties keeping the ball in the park gave the veteran the look of a pedestrian middle reliever rather than the shutdown leverage arm he had been in years past.

Gallegos ended his 2023 season on the IL due to rotator cuff tendinitis, and while and the Cardinals were both surely hoping for a rebound in 2024 the season proved to be anything but for the veteran hurler. Continued shoulder woes cost the right-hander nearly two months earlier this year, but even when he was healthy enough to take the mound his results were nothing short of disastrous. The righty surrendered a 6.53 ERA with a nearly matching 6.36 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work for the Cardinals this year. That’s the 11th-worst ERA in the majors this year among relievers with at least 20 innings of work, and Gallegos paired those lackluster results with a career-worst 22.6% strikeout rate and a 10.6% walk rate that is not only the highest of his career but more than double his rate from just last season.

Those deep struggles led the Cardinals to designate Gallegos for assignment prior to the trade deadline in hopes of finding a team willing to trade for him, but no deal came together and he ended up electing free agency last week. Now, he’ll look to regain his previous form in a Twins organization that has struggled to get production out of the bullpen in recent weeks. Minnesota relievers have combined for a lackluster 4.60 ERA since the calendar flipped to July, and injuries to Brock Stewart and Kody Funderburk have further diminished the depth available in the club’s relief corps. If Gallegos can show improvement at the Triple-A level, it’s not hard to imagine the Twins believing in the veteran righty’s track record of success enough to give him a spot in the club’s bullpen over a pitcher like Josh Winder or Randy Dobnak.

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