Padres, Joe Musgrove Agree To Extension
The Padres and right-hander Joe Musgrove have finalized a five-year, $100MM extension, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter links). The deal — which pays even $20MM salaries each year between 2023-27 — contains a full no-trade clause for the next four seasons, as well as limited no-trade protection for 2027. Heyman reported last Friday the parties were close on a deal at those terms. Musgrove, a client of Full Circle Sports Management, had been set to hit free agency at the end of the year.
Musgrove and the Friars have spent months kicking extension terms around, with progress seemingly ratcheting up around the All-Star Break. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported over the Break there was a belief on both sides a deal could get done before the start of the season’s unofficial second half. That obviously didn’t come to pass, but that evidently didn’t deter or meaningfully set back talks.
The five-year, $100MM price point registers as a bit of a surprise, as the first-time All-Star quite likely could’ve topped those numbers by a fair amount on the open market. Musgrove, however, is a San Diego-area native who has been open about his desire to remain with his hometown club. It’s certainly understandable if the opportunity at a nine-figure payday to remain in a place he’s comfortable was something he decided not to pass up, particularly with the strong no-trade protection.
Musgrove’s contract nevertheless checks in below those landed by a couple of the top starters on last year’s market, Kevin Gausman and Robbie Ray. Gausman received a five-year, $110MM deal from the Blue Jays. Ray signed with the Mariners for five years and $115MM in a deal that also included an opt-out opportunity following the 2024 season. Aside from the record-setting three-year deal for Max Scherzer, the Gausman and Ray contracts represented the top commitments to free agent starters last offseason.
One could argue that Musgrove is a better long-term bet than either hurler. Like Ray, he’ll begin his new deal with his age-30 season; Gausman’s contract started at age 31. The San Diego righty carries a career-low 2.65 ERA through 115 1/3 innings this season, a bit below the respective 2.81 and 2.84 marks posted by Gausman and Ray last year. Both Gausman and Ray missed bats at a better clip than Musgrove has, but the latter has a slightly better walk rate than the 2021 free agents.
Musgrove’s platform season is shaping up to be similar to those of Gausman and Ray, and Musgrove may have a slightly better long-term track record. Ray had an awful year during the shortened 2020 campaign in which he posted a 6.62 ERA. He’d shown top-of-the-rotation flashes earlier in his career, but his control and home run rates fluctuated a fair amount. Gausman had a very strong shortened season, but he’d struggled during the previous full campaign. Musgrove has a sub-4.00 ERA in each of his past three years, with a cumulative 3.08 figure through 58 starts since the beginning of 2020.
In that context, the extension looks like a strong investment for the Friars. That’s particularly true given the Padres’ long-term rotation uncertainty. San Diego could lose both Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger to free agency this winter. Blake Snell and Yu Darvish are only under contract for a season and a half, and Nick Martinez can opt out of his deal after any of the next three years. MacKenzie Gore is the only rotation building block who’s certain to be around two seasons from now, and the Friars can build a long-term starting staff around the young southpaw and Musgrove.
Musgrove’s contract comes with a matching $20MM luxury tax number, which will take effect beginning next season. The Friars exceeded the CBT threshold for the first time in franchise history last year, and they could well do so again in 2022. According to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource, San Diego’s 2023 payroll now sits around $130MM before accounting for arbitration salaries. The Padres luxury tax number is estimated north of $162MM, while next season’s base tax threshold checks in at $233MM.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Phillies Designate Ryan Sherriff For Assignment
The Phillies announced Monday that left-hander Ryan Sherriff has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and been designated for assignment.
Sherriff, 32, joined the Phillies on a waiver claim over the winter. He’s yet to pitch at the big league level for the Phillies due to a shoulder strain that’s sidelined him for nearly the entire year. He posted strong numbers in his minor league rehab assignment, yielding four runs on 13 hits and seven walks with 18 strikeouts over the life of 18 1/3 innings (2.51 ERA). Matt Gelb of The Athletic tweets, however, that Sherriff’s velocity wasn’t where the team expected it to be as he worked his way back up.
Sherriff has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, working to a 3.65 ERA with a 18.7% strikeout rate, an 8.8% walk rate and a big 56% ground-ball rate in 44 1/3 innings for the Cardinals and the Rays. Philadelphia can look for trade partners between now and tomorrow’s 6pm ET deadline, or Sherriff can be placed on waivers at any point over the next week.
Braves Acquire Ehire Adrianza, Designate Robinson Cano For Assignment
The Braves announced Monday that they’ve acquired infielder Ehire Adrianza from the Nationals in exchange for minor league outfielder Trey Harris. In a corresponding roster move, Robinson Cano has been designated for assignment.
It’s Adrianza’s second stint with the Braves, as he also filled a utility role for Atlanta just last season. The veteran switch-hitter slashed .247/.327/.401 in 209 plate appearances for the Braves and appeared at six positions last year. Thus far in 2022, however, he’s mustered only a .179/.255/.202 output in 94 trips to the plate.
That rough stretch at the plate notwithstanding, Adrianza has a track record of at least passable, if unexciting, production at the plate. From 2016-21, he turned in a combined .252/.318/.381 batting line over a much larger sample of 1169 plate appearances. He doesn’t have plus defensive grades at any position, but Adrianza also won’t be a liability anywhere in the infield. For the time being, he can help bridge the gap at second base while the team awaits Ozzie Albies‘ return from a broken foot. As of two weeks ago, Atlanta was targeting a mid- or late-August return for the two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner.
In return for Adrianza, who’ll be a free agent at season’s end, the Nats will pick up the 26-year-old Harris, who previously ranked in the middle tier of the Braves’ top 30 prospects but has fallen off with some rough showings in Double-A. Baseball America twice listed Harris in Atlanta’s top 30 (No. 21 in 2020 and No. 26 in 2021), and FanGraphs pegged him as the system’s No. 16 prospect in March 2021. Harris was a senior sign out of Mizzou in the 32nd round of the 2018 draft and hit well through the 2019 season, topping out with a .281/.318/.411 showing in that hitter-friendly setting during his 2019 debut there.
There was, of course, no minor league season in 2020, however, and Harris has struggled in his second and now third trips through the Double-A level. After batting .247/.317/.354 in 405 Double-A plate appearances last year, he’s at .238/.328/.323 so far in 2022 (220 plate appearances). That’s a far cry from his earlier career performance, which saw him hit .300 and OPS north of .800 in each of his first two professional seasons. Scouting reports on Harris peg him as a corner outfielder — likely left field — with some power to his pull side, but he obviously has a ways to go to rebuild some of his prospect stature.
As for Cano, this is now the third team to cut bait on him this season. He’s already been released by both the Mets and the Padres, and the former All-Star’s brief nine-game showing didn’t do much to inspire confidence in an eventual rebound. Cano went just 4-for-26 with three singles, a double, a walk and four strikeouts in his brief time with the team. He’s now hitting .150/.183/.190 through 104 Major League plate appearances in his return from a 162-game PED suspension last year. The Braves can technically trade Cano up until tomorrow’s deadline, but it’s very likely that they’ll instead just release him.
Latest On Juan Soto’s Trade Market
Juan Soto‘s presence on the trade market has, in many ways, held up activity in other areas. Teams like the Cardinals and Padres, generally viewed as two of Soto’s top suitors, are also involved in the market for starting pitching. But, both are surely wary of dealing prospects to acquire a starter (e.g. Oakland’s Frankie Montas) if those same players might eventually be used to pry Soto loose from Washington.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan takes a lengthy look at the logjam Soto has created, writing within that the Yankees are a “long shot at best” to make a play for Soto before the deadline and suggesting that the Rangers, for now, are not a prominent bidder. That meshes with recent reporting from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, who wrote last night that there was “no traction” between the Yankees and Nationals regarding Soto, even though the Yankees reached out as recently as yesterday evening. Heyman adds that the Nationals aren’t as high on top prospect Anthony Volpe as the Yankees and many other clubs are, which is a complicating factor in talks.
The Padres and Cardinals are the most oft-suggested fits for Soto, and with good reason, as both are win-now clubs with deep farm systems who could offer the blend of top prospects and controllable big leaguers the Nationals seek. Passan suggests that the Dodgers are “lurking,” however, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic similarly wrote this morning that the Dodgers have maintained talks with the Nats and should not be ruled out as a potential landing spot. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale takes things a step further, tweeting that it’s actually the Dodgers — not the Cardinals or Padres — who have been making the most aggressive offers for Soto recently.
The Mariners, another regularly speculated fit for Soto, don’t appear likely to land him at this point. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto tells The Athletic’s Jim Bowden that while he checked in on Soto, he came away with the impression that there was not a realistic path to acquiring him (Twitter link). Presumably, that came prior to Seattle’s Friday acquisition of Luis Castillo — which cost the Mariners their top two prospects.
The Mets, too, have been speculatively listed as trade partners for the Nats. That’s due largely to the team’s huge payroll and aggressive past year under new owner Steve Cohen. However, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets believed “relatively quickly in the process” that there’d be such a large market for Soto that Washington wouldn’t have to consider trading him to a division rival. That certainly looks to be the case, although if the Nats do covet the Mets’ best prospects, there’s at least a slim chance of something coming together; both Sherman and SNY’s Andy Martino report that the Mets would only move their very best prospects if it were to acquire Soto or (an even longer shot) Shohei Ohtani. Both reports suggest catcher Francisco Alvarez is off limits unless it’s for one of Soto or Ohtani. Sherman adds third baseman Brett Baty to that list, and Martino suggests third baseman Mark Vientos is viewed similarly.
Regardless of whether Soto specifically changes hands, the market will erupt sometime between now and tomorrow’s 6pm ET deadline. The ticking clock is going to eventually drive teams into activity, and given the lack of movement thus far, we could be in for one of the most active and chaotic 24- to 30-hour spans of deadline dealing we’ve ever seen.
Marlins’ Bullpen Generating Trade Interest
Just as Detroit will be receiving interest in a huge chunk of its bullpen, Miami figures to have several relievers on the block. Longtime Marlins beat writer Joe Frisaro tweets that the Fish have gotten interest on lefties Tanner Scott and Steven Okert as well as right-handers Dylan Floro and Anthony Bass.
The 28-year-old Scott surely has the highest price tag, as he’s leading the club with 14 saves and has long tantalized scouts with a blistering fastball and power slider, dating back to his time in Baltimore. He’s averaged 96.8 mph on that heater this season and ramped up the usage of his slider to a career-high 66%. The result is a career-best 31.8% strikeout rate, a huge 15.3% swinging-strike rate and a 31.3% chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone.
Scott’s command — or lack thereof — is the elephant in the room. The southpaw has walked 15.3% of his opponents this season, plunked three hitters and tossed a pair of wild pitches. That’s been par for the course throughout Scott’s career, evidenced by a bloated 14% walk rate. Were Scott’s command even average or just slightly below-average, his overpowering fastball/slider blend could make him one of the sport’s most dominant relievers. That hasn’t been the case, however, which is surely why the Marlins were able to acquire both Scott and Cole Sulser from the Orioles this past offseason in exchange for a Competitive Balance draft pick (Round B) and a pair of low-level minor leaguers.
It was still a surprising return for a player with Scott’s stuff, particularly given that he’s controlled through the 2024 season. That remaining control will obviously appeal to clubs but also make the asking price on him fairly steep. The Marlins are known to be looking for immediate offensive upgrades in trade returns, and Scott’s two-plus seasons of control could embolden them to do so when teams call about the power-armed lefty.
Okert, meanwhile, has been a great find for the Fish. The 31-year-old signed a minor league deal after spending nine years in the Giants organization and never establishing himself in their bullpen. He’s been great in Miami dating back to 2021 however, working to a combined 2.74 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. Okert doesn’t have Scott’s power stuff and has also been homer-prone, but the late nature of his breakout means he can be controlled another five seasons.
Both Floro and Bass are closer to free agency and, as such, seem likelier to change hands. The 31-year-old Floro is earning $3MM this season and has pitched to a 3.49 ERA with a below-average 17.7% strikeout rate but strong walk and ground-ball rates (5.3% and 50%, respectively). He’s excelled at keeping the ball in the yard throughout his career with the Rays, Cubs, Dodgers and now Marlins, yielding just 0.5 homers per nine frames.
Floro isn’t without red flags, though. He’s never been an especially hard thrower but has seen his average heater drop from 93.8 mph in 2021 to 91.8 mph in 2022. And after posting one of the lowest hard-hit rates in the Majors from 2016-21 (31.5%), he’s yielded a 41.4% hard-hit rate this season along with a career-high 88.7 mph average exit velocity (the latter of which is right in line with the league average, to be fair).
Of the whole group, Bass seems the best bet to go. The 34-year-old signed a two-year, $5MM contract with Miami prior to the 2021 season and posted a solid but unremarkable 3.82 ERA through 61 1/3 innings in his first season in South Florida. This year, however, Bass is toting a pristine 1.41 ERA with a career-high 26% strikeout rate and a very strong 5.8% walk rate. Like Scott, he’s throwing his slider at a career-high rate (56%) and has enjoyed terrific results thanks to the change.
Bass is also controlled for the 2023 season by virtue of an eminently reasonable $3MM club option. That could be good reason for the Marlins to hang onto him, as they’re intent on competing in the near future, but there’s some risk in hanging onto a reliever for what would be his age-35 season as well.
Any of the relievers here could make sense as trade candidates on their own, but it’s also intriguing to think about the possibility of them being packaged as part of a larger deal. Pairing any of the four together would be appealing for a contender seeking bullpen help (which applies to pretty much every contender), and the Marlins could also add a bullpen arm to a package if they’re trying to coax out an even bigger return for a pitcher such as Pablo Lopez, on whom they’re reportedly at least listening to offers.
Astros Showing Interest In Christian Vazquez, Ji-Man Choi
The Astros have reportedly been in the mix for upgrades at catcher and at first base, prominently connected to both Willson Contreras and Josh Bell. However, while those two represent the arguable top options at those respective positions, the asking price on both has been high, and Houston is exploring alternative options. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes this morning that the ‘Stros “are focusing more on Vazquez” than Contreras at this point, adding that they’ve also expressed interest in Rays first baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi.
Vazquez, 32 in three weeks, is a more straightforward trade candidate than Choi. The longtime Red Sox backstop is playing out the final season of a contract extension he inked several years ago and will be a free agent at season’s end. Boston is sitting in the AL East cellar at present. Although the Sox are still just 3.5 games back for the final American League Wild Card spot, they’d need to leapfrog four teams to get there. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom isn’t expected to be an all-out seller, but he’s likely to listen to offers on veteran rentals such as Vazquez and designated hitter J.D. Martinez.
The veteran Vazquez is enjoying a quality seasons on both sides of the ball. He’s hitting .282/.327/.432 (111 wRC+) with eight homers, 20 doubles and a 16% strikeout rate — the second-lowest rate of his career. He’s also notched a +5 Defensive Runs Saved mark and boasts a 30% caught-stealing rate. He’s been narrowly below average in terms of framing, according to both FanGraphs and Statcast, but it’s been a strong all-around year for Vazquez, whose $7MM salary is plenty affordable for most teams — particularly a deep-pocketed club like the Astros. The Sox are reportedly seeking MLB-ready help even in return for their rental pieces, however, which surely complicates matters for the Astros and other interested parties.
Choi, who just turned 31 a couple months ago, is a bit more of an outside-the-box trade candidate. The Rays are currently in possession of that final AL Wild Card spot which the Red Sox are chasing, and the left-handed-hitting Choi has been an important part of their lineup. In 296 plate appearances, Choi is hitting .255/.355/.415 with eight home runs, 16 doubles and a hefty 13.5% walk rate. He has a lengthy track record of thumping right-handed pitching, evidenced by a .252/.359/.464 batting line when holding the platoon advantage.
Lefties have given Choi a harder time. He’s hitting .325 against them this season, granted, but that’s come in a tiny sample of 43 plate appearances. His success against southpaws in this year’s tiny sample is plenty suspect; he’s punched out in 37.2% of his plate appearances against them and is sporting a wholly unsustainable .520 BABIP against same-handed opponents. In all likelihood, he’d fall into a platoon in Houston, yielding at-bats against lefties to Astros stalwart Yuli Gurriel.
Choi is an atypical trade candidate not only due to his status as a productive hitter on a current playoff team but also because he’s controlled beyond the current season. He’s earning an affordable $3.2MM salary this season and would earn one final raise in arbitration this winter before reaching free agency following the 2023 campaign. The Rays, however, have affordable options to step in for Choi at first base, including Yandy Diaz, Harold Ramirez and Isaac Paredes. Top prospect Curtis Mead looks Major League ready after ripping through Double-A and Triple-A this season, too. Furthermore, Tampa Bay has a knack for finding and maximizing the production of undervalued platoon bats of this nature. Choi himself was acquired from the Brewers in a low-profile trade for utilityman Brad Miller in 2018 and has been a fixture in the Rays’ lineup since.
If the Rays were to trade Choi or any other member of their current roster, it surely wouldn’t be a sign that they’re pivoting to a classic “seller” mindset. Tampa Bay walks this line every year, regularly trading quality big leaguers who are inching closer to free agency while simultaneously adding some help in other swaps. They flipped reliever Diego Castillo to the Mariners at last year’s deadline, for instance, and they’re less than 48 hours removed from acquiring veteran outfielder David Peralta from Arizona.
Latest On Frankie Montas
TODAY: The Yankees, Cardinals, and Blue Jays seem to be the top suitors for Montas, as Jon Morosi of MLB Network writes that the right-hander’s “market is focused on” these three teams.
JULY 30: With Luis Castillo now on his way to Seattle following last night’s trade to the Mariners, Frankie Montas stands out as perhaps the best and likeliest arm left to be traded before Tuesday’s 5pm CT deadline. The majority of teams that held interest in Castillo are involved, to varying extents, in the Montas market, so it’s possible that last night’s deal begins to accelerate the pace of the pitching market overall.
The Yankees, for instance, were known to be Castillo suitors but have now made Montas their top target according to both Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter links). The Cardinals, who never seemed likely to be able to land Castillo from a fellow NL Central club, are continuing their pursuit of Montas, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Their pursuit, however, is complicated a bit by simultaneous interest in Nationals superstar Juan Soto; Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes in his latest column that some of the Cardinals prospects the A’s are targeting in return for Montas are also coveted by the Nationals.
Several other clubs were linked to both Montas and Castillo in the past week, including the Twins, Padres and Blue Jays. There are also surely other clubs on the periphery of the market whose presence isn’t publicly known. Both Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and Rosenthal have indicated, for instance, that the Rangers had engaged with the Reds in talks regarding Castillo. Whether the A’s would seriously entertain sending Montas to a division rival isn’t clear, but it’s telling that Texas is in the market for arms that can be controlled into 2023.
The Athletics’ asking price on Montas was reportedly quite high even before last night’s trade of Castillo potentially upped Oakland’s leverage in talks. In profiling the Cardinals’ current rotation needs, Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote (prior to the Castillo deal) that Oakland is believed to be seeking a pair of top prospects and “potentially a currently rostered player with substantial team control remaining.” It’s a steep ask, to be sure, though not an unrealistic one given Montas’ trade value.
Diamondbacks Trade David Peralta To Rays
The Rays added some help to their injury-plagued outfield mix, announcing the acquisition of veteran David Peralta from the D-backs. Minor league catcher Christian Cerda is headed to the Diamondbacks in return.
Peralta, 35 next month, has spent all nine seasons of his Major League career with the D-backs prior to this trade. The veteran lefty hitter has produced a solid .248/.316/.460 batting line this season (110 wRC+), connecting on a dozen homers, 19 doubles and two triples through 310 plate appearances. He’s striking out at a career-high 23.9% clip and drawing walks at a roughly average 8.7% rate that clocks in a percentage point higher than his career mark.
The D-backs signed Peralta to a three-year, $22MM extension in his final season before he would’ve reached free agency, and he’s playing out the final season of that contract now in 2022. Peralta is a pure rental for the Rays, then, but he’ll give them a much-needed outfield bat to plug into the lineup following injuries to Kevin Kiermaier, Manuel Margot and Harold Ramirez.
Peralta not only provides that crucial outfield reinforcement — he also provides the Rays with a noted boost against right-handed pitching. Tampa Bay has handled righties at only a league-average clip this season, but Peralta owns a .267/.325/.498 batting line against right-handers this year and a stout .295/.351/.492 output over the course of his career. He’s long been ineffective against left-handed pitching, however, and is batting just .114/.261/.200 against southpaws this year (albeit in a tiny sample of 35 plate appearances). As such, the Rays will surely shield him from left-handed opposition as much as possible.
While he’s not the slugger he was when he hit 30 homers in 2018 or the defender he was when he won a Gold Glove in 2019, Peralta is still a solid platoon bat with above-average defensive ratings in the corners. Arizona has used him primarily in left field this season, though the Rays may prefer him in right, given Randy Arozarena‘s presence in left. Peralta has a career mark of +7 Defensive Runs Saved in 1435 innings of right field (and has been a scratch defender there, per Outs Above Average). His work in left field is more highly regarded, but Peralta shouldn’t hurt the Rays in either corner slot and also hits well enough to spend time at DH against righties.
Heading to the Diamondbacks is the 19-year-old Cerda, whom the Rays signed as an international free agent back in 2019. Cerda was actually born in New York but moved to the Dominican Republic in his early teens and developed into a prospect of some note. He signed a $325K bonus with Tampa Bay that summer, drawing praise from Baseball America for his plus arm, agility and intriguing power potential.
Because there was no minor league season in 2020, Cerda is playing in just his second season of pro ball. He’s spent the season with the Rays’ Rookie-level Florida Complex League affiliate and posted an impressive .315/.464/.519 batting line through his first 69 trips to the plate. Cerda played in the Dominican Summer League last season and slashed .218/.366/.338 in 164 trips to the plate. He’s caught 30 of 79 runners who’ve attempted to steal against him at this point in his young career — an excellent 38% rate.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported (via Twitter) that Peralta was headed to the Rays. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Cerda was going back to Arizona in return.
Connor Sadzeck Elects Free Agency
TODAY: Sadzeck has elected to become a free agent, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (Twitter link). The right-hander had cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.
JULY 25: The Brewers announced Monday that they’ve designated righty Connor Sadzeck for assignment and recalled pitching prospect Ethan Small from Triple-A Nashville in his place. Small will likely get the nod to start Tuesday’s game, which had been listed as a “TBD” by the Brewers.
Sadzeck, 30, appeared in two games with the Brewers and yielded three runs in three innings of relief work prior to today’s DFA. He posted big numbers in Nashville, logging a 0.86 ERA and 30.7% strikeout rate against a 10.5% walk rate in 28 innings, but his once 97.1 mph heater averaged a diminished 94.9 mph in his limited work with Milwaukee. Sadzeck has long been an intriguing arm thanks to his velocity and ability to miss bats, but control issues and injuries have continually plagued him throughout his professional career. The Brewers will have a week to trade him, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Small, the No. 28 overall pick back in 2019, will make just his second career start if and when he takes the ball tomorrow. He was tagged for three runs through 2 2/3 innings in his MLB debut earlier this season but has recorded a strong 3.34 ERA and 26.4% strikeout rate in 72 2/3 Triple-A innings this year. Command has been the big knock on Small for much of his professional career, and this year’s 13% walk rate in Triple-A hasn’t allayed those concerns. However, Small still profiles as a potential fourth starter, with scouting reports at Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com praising his solid fastball and plus changeup.
Rays Designate Angel Perdomo For Assignment
The Rays announced that lefty Angel Perdomo has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to outfielder David Peralta, whose acquisition from the D-backs has now been formally announced by the teams.
Perdomo, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Brewers just 11 days ago and has not appeared in the big leagues with Tampa Bay. The huge 6’8″ lefty has allowed 18 earned runs in 19 2/3 Major League innings as a Brewer, struggling mightily with his command — as evidenced by the fact that he’s walked 23 of the 98 hitters he’s faced. That said, Perdomo has also struck out 33 of those 98 hitters and has routinely posted eye-popping strikeout numbers in the minors.
Injury has limited him to just 7 1/3 minor league frames between the Rays and the Brewers this season, but Perdomo has yielded just one hit and hasn’t allowed a run to score in that time. True to form, he’s punched out 16 of his 31 minor league opponents but also walked seven of them, hit another and thrown two wild pitches.
The Rays will have until Tuesday’s 6pm ET deadline to trade Perdomo, and they can otherwise attempt to pass him through waivers at any point in the next seven days.