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Erasmo Ramirez

Pitchers Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/21/19

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The latest minor moves from around baseball….

  • The Red Sox have outrighted Erasmo Ramirez to Triple-A, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link).  Ramirez was designated for assignment on Friday and had the option of rejecting an outright assignment to become a free agent, so it appears as though the right-hander has decided to remain in the Sox organization after clearing waivers.  The 28-year-old signed a minors contract with Boston in the offseason and appeared in one Major League game, though that lone appearance was enough to guarantee Ramirez’s big league salary.  As Masslive.com’s Christopher Smith notes, Ramirez’s salary will still count against Boston’s luxury tax calculations for the season.  Terms of Ramirez’s guarantee aren’t known, and while it surely isn’t an exorbitant amount, every dollar counts for a Red Sox team that is trying to stay under the $246MM maximum tax penalty threshold.

Red Sox Place Eduardo Nunez On IL, Promote Michael Chavis, Designate Erasmo Ramirez

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves Friday morning, revealing that they’ve placed Eduardo Nunez on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 18) due to a mid-back strain). Additionally, Boston has designated righty Erasmo Ramirez for assignment and recalled infielders Tzu-Wei Lin and Michael Chavis from Triple-A Pawtucket. It’ll be the MLB debut for Chavis, a former first-round pick who is currently ranked as the game’s No. 75 overall prospect by MLBPipeline.com.

Nunez will join fellow second basemen Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt on the injured list. There’s no word yet on long he’s expected to be sidelined. The loss of that trio facilitated the promotion of Chavis for his first look in the big leagues as well as the return of the versatile Lin, who has been up and down with the Sox dating back to the 2017 season. While Chavis has been primarily a third baseman in his minor league career, he’s played 47 innings at second base in 2019 and has experience at shortstop in the past, as well. He seems likely to step up at second base for the time being with Boston’s other options on the mend.

Selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Chavis posted modest numbers in his first two and a half professional seasons before breaking out with a .282/.347/.563 batting line between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2017. He followed that up with a similarly impressive .298/.381/.538 slash across three levels in 2018 (topping out in Triple-A but spending the bulk of his time in Double-A), though it should be pointed out that Chavis’ 2018 campaign was shortened by an 80-game PED suspension.

This season, he was off to a .250/.354/.600 start in Pawtucket. Chavis is a bat-first prospect, drawing the most praise for plus raw power and a solid hit tool. Strikeouts are part of his game but haven’t been a huge problem for him, and he’s shown improved plate discipline in recent years as well.

Ramirez’s stint with the Sox will go down as a brief and forgettable one. The veteran right-hander made only one appearance with the Boston organization, allowing four runs on four hits (including a pair of homers) and a walk with one strikeout in three inning of relief. The Red Sox will have a week to trade him, release him or pass him through outright waivers; Ramirez would be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency anyhow, so this move seems quite likely to end his tenure with the Red Sox organization.

Though he had a poor year with the Mariners in 2018, Ramirez isn’t far removed from a three-year stretch (2015-17) in which he logged a combined 3.97 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9 in 385 1/3 innings between Tampa Bay and Seattle. He has extensive big league experience as both a starter and reliever, and a club looking at adding some depth in either area could take a look at the righty, who won’t turn 29 until early next month. The Braves are known to be on the lookout for potential bullpen arms, for instance, while the Rangers haven’t been secretive about their desire to add rotation depth.

Red Sox Select Contract Of Erasmo Ramirez

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In a second move of the day, the Red Sox announced that they have selected the contract of righty Erasmo Ramirez. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow right-hander Marcus Walden, who was optioned down.

This move didn’t require a complementary 40-man transaction, as the club had an opening to work with. But it does still pose some future roster limitations, as the veteran Ramirez will need now need to stay on the active roster or be exposed to waivers.

Soon to turn 29, Ramirez has seven years of MLB experience as a swingman. He struggled through a homer-prone, ten-start stint last year with the Mariners before landing with the Boston club on a minors pact. In two starts at Triple-A to open the 2019 campaign, he allowed just one earned run in eight innings while recording five strikeouts and no walks.

Red Sox, Erasmo Ramirez Nearing Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox are nearing a minor league agreement with right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (Twitter link). If the deal is completed, the ISE Baseball client would head to Major League Spring Training and compete for a spot on Boston’s 2019 staff.

Ramirez, 28, should be a familiar name for Red Sox fans after spending parts of three seasons with the Rays and pitching to a combined 3.98 ERA in 323 1/3 innings with the Tampa Bay organization. Unfortunately for the right-hander, the 2018 campaign was effectively a nightmare. Shoulder troubles limited Ramirez to just 45 2/3 innings of work, and he was woefully ineffective in that time.

Ramirez, pitching in his second stint with the Mariners organization this past season, posted a 6.50 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, a staggering 2.76 HR/9 and a 39.6 percent ground-ball rate. The effects of the injury on Ramirez were evident when looking at his velocity; after sitting at 91.6 mph with his heater a year prior, his average fastball in 2018 checked in at just 89.8 mph. Those red flags prompted the Mariners to outright Ramirez rather than retain him through arbitration. He’d been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a $4.4MM salary in his final trip through that process.

Certainly, the Red Sox will hope for a healthier version of Ramirez — the version who proved adept as both a starter and a multi-inning reliever prior to the 2018 season during a separate stint with the Mariners and a two-and-a-half year run in Tampa. From 2015-17, Ramirez logged a solid 3.97 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 1.21 HR/9 and a 47.3 percent grounder rate. Both his 10.3 percent swinging-strike rate and 32.9 percent opponents’ chase rate were solid marks that underscore his ability to keep hitters off balance when he’s at his best.

While the Sox won’t be counting on Ramirez for anything unless he proves capable of a show of faith in Spring Training, he can serve as a long option in the ’pen or a depth piece in the rotation beyond Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez. Ramirez is just shy of six years of MLB service, so if he makes the roster, he’ll be a one-year option before reentering free agency next offseason.

Mariners Outright Erasmo Ramirez, Nick Vincent

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TODAY: Ramirez and fellow righty Nick Vincent have each been outrighted after clearing waivers. Both players have elected free agency.

The 32-year-old Vincent has appeared in over sixty contests in each of the past three seasons with Seattle. He owns a cumulative 3.62 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. Though Vincent still seems likely to spend plenty of time in a major-league pen in 2019, his projected $3.5MM arbitration salary was obviously deemed too steep.

YESTERDAY, 8:34pm: Morosi now tweets that Ramirez is indeed already going through the waiver process.

8:24pm: Right-hander Erasmo Ramirez is “likely” to be removed from the Mariners’ 40-man roster either via waiver claim or by clearing outright waivers and electing free agency, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (on Twitter). That would suggest that Ramirez, 28, has already been placed on outright waivers, as both of those outcomes involve the team attempting to pass him through the waiver process.

Ramirez has split his career to date between the Mariners and Rays organizations, enjoying success at times with both team but struggling mightily in the most recent season. The Nicaraguan-born righty rejoined the Mariners in 2017 after being traded back to Seattle from Tampa Bay and threw quite well for his original club down the stretch. The 2018 campaign, however, was another story entirely. Ramirez was clobbered for a 6.50 ERA in 45 1/3 innings, allowing a stunning 14 home runs in that brief time while working with a diminished strikeout rate.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Ramirez to earn $4.4MM via the arbitration process this winter, even spite of those alarming struggles, making him a clear non-tender candidate. Rather than waiting until the non-tender deadline at the end of the current month, it seems the Mariners are opting to remove Ramirez now. If he clears, which seems likely, he’ll elect free agency, and the early outright will have granted him some additional time to explore the open market in search of a new opportunity.

For all of Ramirez’s struggles he’s not far removed at all from being a useful big league arm. In 385 1/3 innings from 2015-17, the righty worked to a 3.97 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. Ramirez was bothered by a teres major strain in 2018, spending more than three months on the disabled list with that injury, so with a return to health in 2019 he could be an affordable rotation option or long reliever for a new organization.

Injury Updates: Sale, Erasmo, Donaldson

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The latest on some DL situations around baseball…

  • The Red Sox have activated left-hander Chris Sale from the 10-day disabled list, and he’ll take the hill today for a start against the Orioles.  Righty Brandon Workman has been sent down to Triple-A to create a roster spot for Sale (Boston also sent down right-hander William Cuevas, who was the 26th man on the roster for yesterday’s double-header.)  Sale’s DL placement was retroactive to July 28, and while he missed a bit more than the minimum 10 days, that was more due to some scheduling preferences than any further issue with the inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  The ace southpaw is enjoying another outstanding season, with a league-best 2.04 ERA and 13.2 K/9 over 141 IP.
  • The Mariners have activated right-hander Erasmo Ramirez from the disabled list, with right-hander Nick Rumbelow going to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Ramirez will start for Seattle today against Houston and will be pitching in just his third game of an injury-plagued 2018 season.  He opened the season on the DL due to a lat strain, and then has been sidelined since April 27 due to a teres major strain.
  • Josh Donaldson took a positive step in his rehab, with the Blue Jays telling reporters (including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm) that the star third baseman “will begin baserunning and preparation for game play” if his injured calf responds well to “ramping up intensity” in training over the next few days.  Donaldson has played in only 36 games this season, though if he able to return and prove he’s healthy before August 31, the Jays might still be able to work out a trade to a contender.

Mariners Notes: Felix, Erasmo, Tuivailala, Scouts

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Once among the game’s elite pitchers, former Mariners ace Felix Hernandez has reached a point where he’s so ineffective that he may not continue to keep his spot in the team’s rotation. Hernandez allowed 11 runs (seven earned) on eight hits, including three home runs, in six innings in a loss to lowly Texas on Tuesday, and after the game, manager Scott Servais wasn’t willing to guarantee the 32-year-old would make his scheduled start Sunday in Houston. “We’ll see,” Servais said (via ESPN.com). “You have to take a look at where we’re at going forward here. The next time that spot [in the rotation] comes around, we’ll be over in Houston. They’ve also got a good club.” Hernandez, who’s in the penultimate guaranteed season of a seven-year, $175MM contract, has thrown 124 innings (23 starts) in 2018 and logged a career-worst ERA (5.73), FIP (5.03) and xFIP (4.71).

More from Seattle, which is two games out of a wild-card spot and trying to break a 16-year playoff drought…

  • While the Mariners don’t seem sure if Hernandez will make his next start, it’s fair to say fellow righty Erasmo Ramirez won’t serve as an immediate replacement. Ramirez, who has missed most of the season with lat and shoulder injuries, isn’t quite ready to return, Servais told Greg Johns of MLB.com and other reporters. According to Servais, Ramirez “wasn’t that sharp” and “was off a little mechanically”  in his latest Triple-A rehab outing Sunday, in which he gave up four runs (three earned) in as many innings. With Ramirez still not ready to rejoin the club, it could turn to Robert Whalen, Casey Lawrence or Christian Bergman if it doesn’t want to start Hernandez against the Astros, Johns notes.
  • Reliever Sam Tuivailala left his outing Wednesday with a strained right Achilles tendon, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was among those to tweet. There’s no word on how much time Tuivailala will miss, but it’s fair to expect a lengthy absence in this case. The Mariners just acquired the 25-year-old from the Cardinals on July 27, when they dealt minor league righty Seth Elledge to St. Louis in a one-for-one swap. Since then, Tuivailala has thrown 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball in Seattle, which – combined with his Cardinals numbers – gives him a 3.47 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 32 frames this year. [Update: Tuivailala is in a walking boot and will require a DL stint, Divish tweets.]
  • One more Mariners note: The club has laid off 10 scouts – five on the amateur side, five in the professional ranks – Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.

Injury Updates: Springer, Altuve, Sale, Devers, Erasmo

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The latest on some injury situations from around baseball…

  • George Springer left today’s game in the third inning with what the Astros described as “left thumb discomfort.”  Springer suffered the injury while sliding into second base on an attempted steal, with manger A.J. Hinch telling MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter video link) and other reporters that Springer’s thumb was clipped by the glove of Dodgers shortstop Chris Taylor during the tag.  The severity of the problem isn’t yet known, though McTaggart tweets that Springer’s x-rays were negative.  Jake Marisnick took Springer’s spot in the lineup, and one would think Marisnick or youngsters Kyle Tucker or Derek Fisher would get the bulk of playing time if Springer had to miss significant time.  Losing Springer would be another blow to a Houston team that has suddenly been bit by the injury bug, as such key figures as Lance McCullers Jr., Chris Devenski, and (most of all) Jose Altuve have all been placed on the DL within the last two weeks.
  • Speaking of Altuve, he won’t return from the disabled list after the 10-day minimum, as he’ll instead head to Houston to have his right knee re-examined by team doctors (the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome was among those who reported the news).  The star second baseman hit the DL on July 28, with a backdated placement of July 26, due to knee soreness.  “I don’t know that we can consider it a setback other than we can consider that he needs more time to heal,” A.J. Hinch said, while GM Jeff Luhnow said the team saw the re-examination as a “checkpoint on where [Altuve is] at.”  The absolute earliest Altuve could return is on Thursday for the start of the Astros’ series with the Mariners.
  • Chris Sale will also spend some extra time on the DL, as the Red Sox ace wasn’t listed as a probable starter during Boston’s three-game series in Toronto from Tuesday to Thursday.  (MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith was among those with the information.)  Mild shoulder inflammation sent Sale to the DL on July 31 (retroactive to July 28), and the expectation was that Sale would only miss one start, with a return targeted for Wednesday’s game.  Instead, Brian Johnson will take the hill for the Sox against the Blue Jays.
  • The Red Sox could get third baseman Rafael Devers back for that Wednesday game, as the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato tweets that Devers will rejoin the team in Toronto after playing in a minor league rehab game on Monday.  A hamstring strain sent Devers to the DL on July 28, and Wednesday is the first day he is eligible to return.  Devers also missed some time earlier this month with shoulder inflammation.  The young slugger has been inconsistent (.245/.295/.425 in 396 PA) over his first full Major League season, and his particular struggles against left-handed pitching could put Devers in platoon duty down the stretch rather than an everyday role at third base.
  • Erasmo Ramirez is slated for a rehab outing today and is expected to rejoin the Mariners sometime this week, the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish writes.  Ramirez has been sidelined since April recovering from a teres major strain, and has only made two appearances this season after another DL stint (lat strain) to begin the 2018 campaign.  It isn’t yet clear if Ramirez will work as a starter or reliever when he is activated, as his role could hinge on whether the struggling Felix Hernandez can get on track.

AL West Notes: Astros, Stassi, Cano, Erasmo, Mariners, Andrus

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The Astros are checking around on the bullpen market, though a source tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that the team isn’t going to make a move unless a clear upgrade can be found.  “It’s going to be really hard for them to upgrade given that adding someone means pushing a capable — even good — reliever…off the playoff roster.  There’s pressure to do something, but it doesn’t really make sense,” the source said.  Indeed, the argument could more easily be made that Houston is the last team that needs bullpen reinforcements, as Astros relievers collectively rank either first or second amongst all bullpens in ERA, WHIP, HR/9, BB/9, K/9 and hits per nine innings.  Tony Sipp is the bullpen’s only southpaw, though even adding another left-hander isn’t necessary given how well Chris Devenski and Hector Rondon have pitched against left-handed hitters.  If the Astros do add another bullpen arm, Feinsand lists some pitchers controlled for multiple years (Brad Hand, Raisel Iglesias, Blake Treinen, Adam Conley) as possible fits, as well as a rental (Zach Britton) that Houston has pursued in the past.

Here’s more from around the AL West…

  • Max Stassi was removed from Tuesday’s game after his right wrist by hit by a pitch, though Astros manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that the catcher should be back in a day or two depending on the status of his wrist contusion.  With Brian McCann out of action due to knee surgery, Houston would be very thin behind the plate if Stassi also missed significant time, as veteran Tim Federowicz is the only other backstop on the 40-man roster.  Hinch described Evan Gattis as “still available as a third catcher” after receiving minimal work at the position this year, though it isn’t clear if Gattis would move into more of a proper backup role if Stassi did require a DL stint.
  • Robinson Cano has recovered from the fracture in his right hand, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told MLB.com’s Greg Johns and other reporters.  The injury sent Cano to the disabled list just a day before he was hit with an 80-game suspension for use of a banned substance, leaving him unable to return to the Mariners until August 14.  Dipoto said that Cano has been working out at Safeco Field prior to the team’s official pregame warmups, and is on track to play once his suspension his up, though it remains a bit of a mystery about Cano’s eventual role.  “I’ll talk to you about that later,” is all Dipoto said about whether Cano was open to playing elsewhere than his usual second base spot, as Dee Gordon has stepped in as Seattle’s regular option at the keystone.  Earlier this month, Dipoto said that Gordon would continue to receive work at second base in preparation for potential postseason action, so Cano (who isn’t eligible for postseason play) could see time at first base or DH.
  • In another piece from Johns, Mariners swingman Erasmo Ramirez completed another bullpen session today and is closing in on a minor league rehab assignment.  Ramirez has been limited to two games and 9 2/3 innings this season thanks to a pair of DL stints for a strained lat muscle and then a strained muscle in his shoulder.  He’ll need some time to get ramped up after being sidelined for so long, and Ramirez told Johns that he is open to pitching as a starter or a reliever.
  • After missing over two months due to a fractured elbow, it may be unlikely that Elvis Andrus opts out of his Rangers contract after the season.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News thinks Andrus will be with the team not only in 2019, but “I really feel like this is a guy who is going to play his entire career in Texas.”  Andrus’ deal pays him $56MM from 2019-22 (plus a $15MM club option for 2023) and contains opt-outs after both this season and the 2019 campaign.  Grant feels the Rangers could work to ensure Andrus remains in the fold by re-negotiating the deal to add another guaranteed year.  This discussion is speculative, of course, as a number of other factors (i.e. if Andrus hits well over the next three months, the fact that Scott Boras is his agent, or if the Rangers are possibly entering a rebuild) could inspire him to test the open market.
  • Here’s another collection of AL West Notes from earlier today on MLB Trade Rumors.

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