Dodgers right-hander Brandon Beachy has cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).
Beachy, who turns 29 in one month, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Dodgers this winter after being non-tendered by the Braves on the heels of his second Tommy John surgery. He’s spent most of the season on the 60-day disabled list, but he did reach the point last month where the Dodgers felt he could join the big league rotation. After pitching to a 3.28 ERA in six rehab starts, Beachy made a pair of starts with the Dodgers, allowing seven runs in eight total innings.
Beachy will have the option to reject an assignment to the minor leagues in favor of free agency, but as a player with fewer than five years of Major League service time, he would have to forfeit the remaining $947K on his contract to do so. His deal comes with a $3MM team option that jumped to $3.5MM upon making his first start of the season and will jump another $500K upon making five and 10 total starts. A $250K buyout would be added if he were to reach 10 total innings on the season. (Contract details via Cot’s Contracts.)
Because of that, it seems rather unlikely that Beachy would test the free agent waters at this juncture, though the Dodgers’ additions of both Mat Latos and Alex Wood have obstructed his path to another look in the big league rotation for the time being. Beachy, of course, has an excellent track record in the Majors when healthy. From 2010-13 with Atlanta, he posted a 3.23 ERA, 9.2 K.9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 267 2/3 innings. Durability has been an issue since reaching the Major Leagues, however, as he’s topped 100 innings just once in his career and made 10 starts in a season just twice.
Someone should give him a chance. Upside is so high for a non contender. If i was the rockies id prefer giving him a chamce than promoting gray
Well maybe Ill have the chance to go see him in okc
So Dodgers took a risk on 3 pitchers with high upside. Only one did anything with value.one got hurt early in the season one got dump and one Anderson doing pretty decent before the injury
This is another case where “upside” is the wrong way to look at a player’s value. The question isn’t whether his performance is potentially better than what he is being paid, but whether he will ever be good enough again to be worth adding to any team’s roster. At this point, based on his two disastrous starts, he’d be too expensive even for free.
Beachy made it back to a major league mound. That in itself makes 2015 a success. He should stay in OKC getting things right and have a firm focus on 2016. And his name is perfect for LA.
I’ve already said that Beachy might be one of the Dodgers’ smartest signings, but for sure the chips they placed on him aren’t close to being cashed in. When you see a pitcher after being shelled for second time, head down in the dugout muttering to himself, you have to know he’s got a long way to go before he’s ready to compete. Anyway the point is, he’s the Dodgers’ project now, for better or worse.
Is that a blue Boston Red Sox hat in your picture?
Uhhhh. No.
Please tell us you were kidding. I can’t see a baseball fan not recognizing a Brooklyn Dodgers hat.
2 start sample size? Lolz. Second tommy john. Still building arm strength every start. You take a shot at him this year just to pick up the option for next year. It would have just been money. For a rebuilding team it makes a ton of sense.
Not only was his pitching really awful in those two starts, he was obviously shattered by the experience. It would be nice to think he can come back some day, but he’s got a lot of work to do. At this stage, Beachy doesn’t make even a pound of sense to anybody or, they would have made a waiver claim.
“Obviously shattered??” How can you make a definitive statement like that? Because he was muttering in the dugout?? “Shattered” is an extreme mental state….that’s a guy giving up the World Series-losing home run……seriously: you cannot just watch a guy on your TV set have a couple of bad outings and look pissed off, and then say he is “obviously shattered.” Geez, Louise…..as far as Beachy “not making a pound of sense to anybody,” that is inaccurate. He COULD be worth a LOT- but a team doesn’t want to risk almost $3M to find out. Most other teams aren’t the Dodgers; to them, $2.7M is a lot of money.
I watched those games. Did you? If you had you would have seen a level of exasperation well beyond what you normally see from someone who had a bad day or two, especially after the second start. Looked like a confidence crisis to me, and apparently it looked that way to the Dodgers too.
This is really a no-brainer. The other 29 teams passed on him by not claiming him on waivers. That means he wouldn’t have landed better deals than what he has now, had he elected to become a free agent.
It also means that nobody wanted him at his current contract. Of course he still make a ton of sense for a rebuilding team because he has upside…
Now that is an intelligent comment. Other teams passed because they’d be risking $2.7M, and hey, let the Dodgers take the risk. If Beachy shows he’s ready to pitch at his previous level again, well, he’ll be a FA after the season.
He would not cost that much. For the balance of this season (about $1M) a team would also get his $3M option for next season without even the relatively modest buyout provision being triggered. He also hasn’t reached his bonus levels for this season and most likely won’t. Everybody passed. If he can show the ability to pitch reasonably well in the minors the Dodgers will probably pick up his option and either put him into the mix for next season or trade him.
Good point. Still a risk….but to the Dodgers it’s chicken feed. As far as his mental state I’m just saying you have to be a little careful making a judgment like that based on his demeanor.Didn’t mean that to come off as over the top. 🙂
NP. If he’d turned over a water cooler it would be understandable but he just looked beaten and stunned, like he’d been hit by two separate busses.