Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Forrest Whitley

Rays Release Forrest Whitley To Pursue NPB Opportunity

By | at

The Rays announced that they’ve released former top prospect Forrest Whitley to pursue an opportunity in Japan. Tampa Bay had selected him onto the 40-man roster a couple weeks ago to avoid losing him to minor league free agency. When the former first-round pick evidently found a better job overseas, the Rays were willing to let him depart.

Tampa Bay’s release of Whitley and trade of infielder Tristan Gray to Boston clears a couple spots on the 40-man roster. That’s down to 38 as this evening’s deadline to keep eligible prospects out of the Rule 5 draft approaches. It’s likely there are a few more cuts on the horizon for a Tampa Bay team that tends to churn the back of the roster and relies heavily on its farm system.

Whitley was once arguably the most talented pitching prospect in the sport. The Astros viewed the 6’7″ righty as a potential ace as he dominated up through the Double-A level. A failed drug test for a banned stimulant in 2018 was the first setback, and Whitley then suffered through multiple seasons ruined by injuries and underwhelming performance. That included Tommy John surgery in 2021 and a significant lat strain in ’23. Whitley could never find much of a rhythm when he was healthy enough to pitch in Triple-A.

He eventually exhausted his minor league options (even with Houston granted a fourth year) before he’d had much of a look at the big league level. He began this past season on the injured list. The Astros carried him on the MLB roster once he returned but designated him for assignment when he pitched terribly over his first 7 1/3 innings. The Rays acquired him in a cash trade but placed him on waivers after five underwhelming appearances. He cleared and finished the season as a non-roster player in Triple-A.

The final few months of the ’25 season were Whitley’s most promising in years. He fired 55 1/3 innings of 2.60 ERA ball while striking out 30.4% of opponents out of Durham’s rotation. Whitley’s heater averaged around 95 MPH and he leaned more heavily on his cutter and changeup while pulling back the usage of his sinker and curveball. It was encouraging enough for the Rays to keep him out of minor league free agency, but his out-of-options status meant he still would have needed to impress the club in Spring Training or risk heading back into DFA limbo.

Whitley is headed into his age-28 season and presumably has a rotation opportunity lined up in Japan. He has the power stuff and prospect pedigree to be one of the highest-upside NPB returnees a couple seasons from now if he carries over the form he showed in Durham. Doing so would come with a far higher earning ceiling than he was likely to find domestically. He’ll not only lock in a guaranteed contract for 2026, but he’d be able to return to MLB with the benefit of open market bidding if things go well in Japan. Whitley has yet to reach one year of MLB service time and would not have qualified for MLB free agency until his age-34 season even if he’d finally clicked at the big league level.

Rays Claim Jake Fraley; DFA Kameron Misner, Bob Seymour

By | at

The Rays claimed outfielder Jake Fraley off waivers from the Braves, according to an announcement from Atlanta. The Braves evidently weren’t planning to tender him an arbitration contract and put him on waivers this week.

Tampa Bay also confirmed their previously reported option decisions involving Brandon Lowe, Pete Fairbanks and Taylor Walls. They added Forrest Whitley to the 40-man roster to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency while designating four players for assignment: first baseman Bob Seymour, pitchers Brian Van Belle and Nate Lavender, and outfielder Kameron Misner. Meanwhile, three players who DFA’d earlier this week — Caleb Boushley, Alex Faedo and Stuart Fairchild — cleared waivers and are electing minor league free agency.

Atlanta had claimed Fraley off waivers from the Reds in August. The lefty-hitting outfielder collected seven hits in 23 at-bats but suffered a season-ending oblique strain in the middle of September. Atlanta was well out of contention by that point, so the claim was largely about getting an early look to see if they wanted to retain Fraley in arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.6MM salary if he’s tendered a contract for his last year of club control.

Fraley was a second-round pick by Tampa Bay back in 2016. They traded him to Seattle before he made his big league debut. Fraley has played parts of seven seasons in the majors, mostly with the Mariners and Reds, and is a career .261/.344/.432 hitter against right-handed pitching. He’s limited to the corners, where he’s a league average defender. This doesn’t guarantee he’ll stick with the Rays, who have a couple weeks to decide whether they want to tender him a contract. They could try to negotiate a deal lower than his projected salary before November 20 if they see him as a borderline non-tender candidate.

Whitley gets back onto the roster after being waived in early July. The former Houston first-round pick gave up 10 runs (eight earned) over five major league appearances with Tampa Bay. He has surrendered 22 runs in 15 1/3 career big league frames. Something appeared to click in Triple-A after the Rays demoted him, however. Whitley fired 55 1/3 innings of 2.60 ERA ball while striking out 30.4% of opponents with their top affiliate in Durham. He would’ve been a free agent if the Rays didn’t reselect his contract tonight. He’s out of options and could be on the roster bubble again next spring, but this suggests the Rays are open to the possibility of carrying him on the MLB roster.

The shuffling required a handful of cuts. Misner, 27, was a former supplemental first-round pick who has shown big physical tools with too much swing-and-miss. He has fanned in 34.1% of his career plate appearances and is a .203/.260/.325 hitter over 232 trips to the plate. Seymour, also 27, had a huge .263/.327/.553 showing with 30 homers in Durham. That got him an MLB opportunity at the end of the year, but the lefty batter struggled to a .205/.253/.282 line over his first 26 major league games.

Van Belle and Lavender were relatively new additions to the pitching staff who didn’t make much of an impact because of injury. Van Belle came over from the Reds in the Zack Littell trade. The 29-year-old made his first four MLB appearances before suffering a season-ending elbow injury.

Lavender was a Rule 5 pick out of the Mets’ system who never pitched with the Rays. He was rehabbing from an elbow procedure at the time he was taken in the Rule 5 and apparently didn’t progress as hoped. He collected a year of major league salary, though he surely wishes he’d had an opportunity to carve out a longer big league role. He’ll be placed on waivers and offered back to the Mets if he goes unclaimed.

Rays Outright Forrest Whitley

By | at

The Rays announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley was outrighted to Triple-A Durham. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times first reported the move. Whitley, once the sport’s top pitching prospect, went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment over the weekend.

It was the second DFA of the season for the former first-round pick. The Astros had carried Whitley on their 40-man roster for years as he battled injuries and struggled to find the strike zone. They finally pulled the plug in mid-June, flipping him to the Rays after taking him off the 40-man roster. Whitley continued to struggle in his brief run in Kevin Cash’s bullpen. He surrendered 10 runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and a pair of walks in 4 2/3 innings.

The 6’7″ righty still has a power arsenal led by a 96 MPH fastball. Yet he has given up 18 earned runs in 15 1/3 major league innings over the past two seasons. His 8% swinging strike rate is well below-average. Whitley managed a 1.89 ERA across 33 1/3 Triple-A frames as recently as last season, but he’s out of minor league options. A claiming team would have needed to carry him on the MLB roster.

Whitley had never been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of MLB service time. He must accept the assignment and report to Durham. The Rays’ player development staff will have a few months to try to get him on track. He would qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if Tampa Bay doesn’t select him back onto the MLB roster before then.

Rays Designate Forrest Whitley, Promote Joe Rock

By | at

The Rays announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley has been designated for assignment.  Replacing Whitley on the active roster is left-hander Joe Rock, who has been called up from Triple-A Durham to make his first appearance on a big league roster.

It was just over two weeks ago that Tampa Bay acquired Whitley in a trade with Houston, after the Astros also DFA’d the right-hander.  The move marked the end of Whitley’s nearly nine-year run in the Astros organization, as the 17th overall pick of the 2016 draft dealt with a bunch of injuries and a 50-game PED suspension (in 2018) over the course of what had been a star-crossed career.  Whitley didn’t make his MLB debut until 2024 when he made three appearances for Houston, and the Astros opted to finally move on after the righty posted a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings this season.

Things haven’t gone much better for Whitley since the trade, as he has a 15.43 ERA in 4 2/3 innings over five appearances with the Rays.  All of the damage came in the final two of those appearances — Whitley didn’t retire any of six batters faced and was charged with all six runs in a disastrous outing on June 22, and he was tagged for four runs (two earned) in an inning of work in yesterday’s 22-8 Rays loss to the Orioles.

As you might expect from such a football-esque score, the Rays ran through a lot of their bullpen last night, so Rock represents a fresh arm for the relief corps.  Whitley is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to first go the DFA route before Whitley can be moved to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster.  Tampa Bay could work out another trade to send Whitley elsewhere during the DFA period, or an interested team could simply claim him away on waivers.

Whitley’s prospect pedigree is such that another club might well pick him, though his out-of-options status complicates matters.  It could be that Whitley might be in for a string of claims/trades and designations, unless he shows enough immediate results to get himself a longer look in a team’s bullpen.  In the small sample of his time with the Rays, he threw his cutter far more often (51% of the time) than he did during his previous MLB stints with the Astros, though that attempted fix didn’t last long.

Rock will be making his Major League debut whenever he officially appears in a game.  The southpaw has a notable draft position in his own right, as the Rockies selected 68th overall of the 2021 draft.  Tampa acquired Rock in a trade in March 2024, and added him to its 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.  After posting a 4.58 ERA in 137 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, Rock has pretty similar numbers in Durham this season, delivering a 4.81 ERA along with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate that are each steps backwards from his metrics in 2024.

Rock has worked primarily as a starter during his minor league career, but could be viewed as an innings-eating long reliever in the Show.  MLB Pipeline (which rates Rock as the 21st-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s farm system) suggests that relief work might be in Rock’s future, as his 55-grade slider and fastball could be an effective one-two punch coming out of the pen.

Rays Acquire Forrest Whitley

By | at

June 16: The Rays announced today that Whitley has been added to the club’s active roster with righty Mason Englert optioned to Triple-A Durham as the corresponding active roster move.

June 13: The Astros announced that they have traded right-hander Forrest Whitley to the Rays in exchange for cash considerations. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com first reported that Whitley was going to the Rays while Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported the cash return. The Rays’ 40-man roster count climbs from 38 to 39. Since Whitley is out of options, they will need to open an active roster spot once he reports to the team.

Whitley, 27, is a complete wild card at this point. Selected 17th overall in the 2016 draft, he put up huge numbers in the lower minor league levels as a teenager, working around a 50-game drug suspension going into 2018. His performance vaulted him towards the top of prospect lists. Going into 2019, Baseball America ranked him #5 overall and the top pitcher on the list.

He has hit a number of speed bumps since then, largely due to injuries. Shoulder problems seemed to hamper him in 2019, as he finished that year with a combined 7.99 earned run average across various minor league levels. The minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020. He required Tommy John surgery in March of 2021, wiping out that season and most of the following year. He got back on the mound in 2022 but showed plenty of rust, posting a 6.53 ERA over his 40 minor league innings. In 2023, a lat strain limited him to 30 minor league innings with a 5.70 ERA.

The Astros added Whitley to their 40-man roster in November of 2020, to protect him from being exposed in the Rule 5 draft. He used up three options in those 2021-23 seasons. The Astros were granted a fourth option for 2024 but the clock was ticking, so they moved him to the bullpen.

He showed some promise in that role last year. He logged 34 innings at the Triple-A level with a 2.12 ERA. His 11.6% walk rate was high but he struck out 31.5% of batters faced and got grounders at a 55% clip. He also made his major league debut, logging 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

He came into 2025 out of options and started the season on the injured list, this time due to a bone bruise in his left knee. He was reinstated from the IL on April 19th but went back on the shelf on April 27th due to a left knee sprain. He was reinstated in late May but didn’t last long before the Astros decided to give up and designated him for assignment. Around those IL stints, he has thrown 7 1/3 innings this year with ten earned runs allowed. He struck out eight opponents but gave out six walks, hit another batter and threw a wild pitch.

Whitley’s future is anyone’s guess at this point. The talent that made him the top prospect in baseball may be in there somewhere. He still averages in the upper 90s with his fastballs. But he’s now out of options and has proved so little. His major league track record consists of just 10 2/3 innings, which haven’t been especially impressive. He was good in the minors last year but has otherwise been hurt and/or ineffective.

The Rays have a strong reputation when it comes to developing pitchers, so it’s a good landing spot for him. However, they are also a contender, currently holding one of the three American League Wild Card spots. Since Whitley is out of options, he will have to produce some results in order to stick on the roster. If he does, the Rays can cheaply retain him for years to come. He came into 2025 with just six days of major league service time, meaning he can’t get to arbitration until after 2027 and isn’t slated for free agency until after the 2030 season. But as mentioned, those will be moot points if he can’t right the ship.

Photo courtesy of Erik Williams, Imagn Images

Astros Designate Forrest Whitley For Assignment

By | at

The Astros announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley has been designated for assignment.  Left-hander Brandon Walter was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land in the corresponding move.

Selected 17th overall in the 2016 draft, Whitley was once viewed as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, and he was a fixture on top-100 prospect lists even as injuries and a 50-game drug policy suspension in 2018 hampered his career.  Due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and a Tommy John surgery, Whitley went over 21 months (from September 2, 2019 to June 16, 2022) between a proper in-game appearance in the minor leagues.

That long layoff was the turning point in Whitley’s career, as he only showed flashes of his prior form once he returned to the mound.  A lat strain limited him to 30 Triple-A innings in 2023, but a move to full-time bullpen work in 2024 seemed to put Whitley on the right track, as a 1.89 ERA over 33 1/3 relief innings for Round Rock earned Whitley his first taste of MLB action in the form of three appearances for the 2024 Astros.

More injuries arose this year, as a left knee bone bruise and left knee sprain resulted in two separate trips to the IL for Whitley.  It is quite possible his health issues impacted his performance, as the righty struggled to a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings for the Astros, with two home runs and six walks allowed within that small sample.

Whitley’s lack of effectiveness didn’t leave Houston with much choice beyond a DFA, as Whitley is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors without first being exposed to waivers.  Should he clear waivers, Whitley can be outrighted off the Astros’ 40-man roster and returned to Sugar Land, though it is worth wondering if the Astros might be ready to simply move on from Whitley entirely.

Given Whitley’s past pedigree, it wouldn’t be a shock if another team claimed him away to see if a change of scenery could finally unlock the right-hander’s potential.  The pure stuff still seems to be there, as Whitley’s fastball (96.3mph) and slider (96.7mph) have plenty of velocity even if his walk rates have spiraled upwards.  Whitley is still only 27 years old, and might yet be able to join the long list of former top prospects who became late bloomers in terms of big league success.

Astros Activate Kaleb Ort, Place Forrest Whitley On 15-Day IL

By | at

The Astros activated right-hander Kaleb Ort from the 15-day injured list today, and placed righty Forrest Whitley on the 15-day IL (retroactive to April 24) in the corresponding move.  Ort didn’t see any action in today’s 7-3 win over the Royals, so the reliever is still waiting to make his season debut after beginning the year on the IL due to an oblique strain.

Whitley also began the season on the IL due to a bone bruise on his left knee, but after making just one appearance, Whitley now finds himself back on the shelf with a left knee sprain.  Manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters that Whitley’s two injuries are likely linked, and the reliever will undergo more testing on Monday to determine the extent of the issue.  The decision was made to place Whitley on the IL when he reported more knee soreness after a game of catch on Saturday, Espada said.

It represents yet another setback for Whitley, as the former top prospect has dealt with multiple injuries and a 50-game PED suspension during his long minor league career.  Chosen 17th overall in the 2016 draft, Whitley finally made it to the Show last year, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless (despite five hits and three walks) innings over three appearances for the 2024 Astros.  His big league ERA has remained spotless through his fourth career game, as he tossed two more scoreless frames in mop-up duty during Houston’s 7-0 win over the Blue Jays on April 21.

Whitley’s multiple injuries have already altered his career path from starting to relief pitching, and he had very strong results working in a full-time bullpen role with Triple-A Round Rock in 2024.  There is still plenty of opportunity for the 27-year-old Whitley to carve out a niche for himself in the majors, if he can only stay healthy.

Speaking of late bloomers, Ort had a 6.27 ERA in 51 2/3 career MLB innings (all with the Red Sox) before he broke out with Houston last year in his age-32 season.  After being claimed off waivers from the Orioles last May, Ort posted a 2.55 ERA, 28% strikeout rate, and 4.3% walk rate across 24 2/3 innings out of the Astros’ pen.  While Ort benefited from some favorable batted-ball luck, his metrics were still intriguing enough to indicate that he can be a helpful bullpen piece for Espada’s team.

Astros Activate Forrest Whitley From Injured List

By | at

The Astros announced earlier today that they’ve activated right-hander Forrest Whitley from the injured list. Righty Nick Hernandez was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

The move sets up what could be the first extended shot in the majors of Whitley’s career. Selected 17th overall by the Astros all the way back in 2016, Whitley was a consensus top-10 prospect in the entire sport in the late 2010s and considered by many to be the best up-and-coming young pitcher in the minor leagues. Unfortunately, things came off the rails somewhat for the righty from there. He was suspended for 50 games for violating MiLB’s drug policy prior to the 2018 season, and that suspension, shoulder issues, the canceled minor league season in 2020, and Tommy John surgery led to Whitley throwing just 66 innings in minor league games over a four-year period.

When he finally made his way back onto the mound in 2022, the results were not good. Whitley struggled to a 6.53 ERA in 40 innings spread across three levels of the minors, including a 7.09 ERA at Triple-A. He struggled again the following year with a 5.70 ERA in 30 innings before being sidelined by a lat strain but stuck around to make his big league debut last year. He threw just three innings in the majors last year but did not surrender a run and also posted an excellent 1.89 ERA with a 31.9% strikeout rate in 32 appearances at Triple-A last year after moving to the bullpen.

A bone bruise in Whitley’s left knee prevented him from making the Astros’ roster out of camp this year, but the issue didn’t keep him sidelined for long. Since Whitley is out of options, he had to either be designated for assignment or added to the Astros’ big league roster once he was ready to be activated from the injured list. Houston chose to bring him back up to the majors, and he’s now set to join a bullpen that has virtually no certainty outside of closer Josh Hader and top setup man Bryan Abreu. Bryan King has looked good as another potential high leverage arm from the left side to complement Hader, but there’s little in Whitley’s way to stop him from becoming the club’s second high leverage arm from the right side after this offseason’s Ryan Pressly trade vacated the role.

With that being said, the righty will need to show better control than he did during his latest stint at Triple-A. While Whitley struck out a solid 26.3% of his opponents during his latest rehab assignment, he walked an unplayable 21.1% of batters as well. Fortunately, that was across a sample of just four appearances. It’s not at all difficult to imagine a player with Whitley’s talent and prospect pedigree finally being able to put things together in the majors this year, particularly now that he’s moved to the bullpen full-time in a move that should help to minimize injury risk.

Making room for Whitley on the Astros’ active roster is the departure of Hernandez, who will head to Triple-A Sugar Land and wait for his next opportunity. Hernandez departs the roster without having made an appearance this year, though he has a 9.00 ERA in seven appearances with the Astros and Padres in his career since debuting with San Diego back in 2023. The 28-year-old’s career 3.34 ERA at Triple-A suggests there’s reason for optimism he could be effective in the majors if offered the opportunity, but he doesn’t appear ticketed for an extended look in the majors any time soon given the current construction of Houston’s bullpen.

Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment

By and | at

The Astros have designated catcher/infielder/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment and placed righty J.P. France on the 60-day injured list as he recovers from last summer’s shoulder surgery. That pair of moves opens two additional spots on a 40-man roster that already had two vacancies. The four openings will go to righty Rafael Montero, lefty Steven Okert, second baseman Brendan Rodgers and top prospect Cam Smith, all of whom have been selected to the 40-man roster and are on the Opening Day club.

Houston also placed outfielders Pedro Leon and Taylor Trammell on the 10-day injured list due to a knee strain and calf strain, respectively. Right-handers Shawn Dubin, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., Kaleb Ort and Forrest Whitley have all been placed on the 15-day IL.

The Astros had telegraphed all these moves. They’d already announced that Montero, Okert, Smith and Rodgers were making the team. Houston had previously informed Hummel that he would not break camp. Since he’s out of options, that made a DFA or waiver placement inevitable. France, who’ll be out into at least July rehabbing last year’s shoulder procedure, was an obvious 60-day IL candidate to open the final roster spot.

Houston claimed Hummel off waivers from the Giants last spring. They outrighted him off the 40-man roster a couple weeks later but reselected his contract in June when they released José Abreu. He spent most of the season in Triple-A, exhausting his final option season in the process. Hummel went 0-8 with a pair of strikeouts in his big league work. He had a solid year in Triple-A, hitting .277/.419/.454 with a massive 17.9% walk rate through 442 plate appearances.

The Astros will have five days to trade Hummel or place him on waivers. He’s not viewed as a regular behind the plate, but he can catch on occasion while playing first base or the corner outfield. His patient plate approach has translated to a .285/.419/.480 career slash in Triple-A. He owns just a .159/.255/.275 line with a 31.9% strikeout rate over 82 major league games.

Trammell, Whitley, Ort and Dubin are all out of options themselves. Their Spring Training injuries delay the Astros’ need to make a decision on any of them, as they’ll begin the year on the major league IL. Ort has the best chance of holding a roster spot once he returns after pitching to a 2.55 ERA with a 28% strikeout rate last season.

Astros Release Ben Gamel, Jalen Beeks

By | at

The Astros announced this afternoon that they have released outfielder Ben Gamel and left-hander Jalen Beeks. Additionally, the club announced that infielder Luis Guillorme and right-hander Miguel Castro will not make the club’s Opening Day roster, though they’ll remain with the club through the end of big league Spring Training. The Athletic’s Chandler Rome adds that right-handers Forrest Whitley and Kaleb Ort will begin the season on the injured list. Gamel was on the 40-man roster, so today’s slate of moves drops the club’s 40-man total to 39.

Gamel, 33 in May, played 20 games for the Astros down the stretch last year and re-signed with the club on a one-year big league contract that guaranteed him a $200K signing bonus with a $1MM salary if he broke camp with the club. That will not come to pass, though he’ll head back into free agency having pocketed the signing bonus for his trouble as he searches for a job with a new club. The journeyman is a veteran of nine MLB seasons who has struggles to find a consistent home over the years, but has accumulated more than 700 games in the majors since he debuted with the Yankees back in 2016.

In that time, Gamel has generally been an average to slightly below average hitter at the big league level while mostly playing the outfield corners despite occasional cameos in center field and at first base. His career .252/.334/.382 slash line is good for a wRC+ of 96 that hardly jumps off the page, but makes him a solid enough option in a bench or platoon role for clubs that lack depth in the outfield corners. That’s a situation the Astros found themselves in after trading Kyle Tucker to the Cubs earlier this winter, though they’ve since rectified the issue somewhat by shifting longtime second baseman Jose Altuve into left field. That left Gamel seemingly ticketed for a timeshare with Chas McCormick in right field alongside Altuve in left and Jake Meyers in center, but now Gamel has been pushed off the roster entirely.

Gamel’s departure could make room for non-roster invitee and top prospect Cam Smith, the Cubs’ first-round pick in the 2024 draft who was shipped to Houston alongside Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski in the Tucker deal, to break camp as the club’s starting right fielder. That would push McCormick into a bench role following a brutal 2024 season where he posted a 66 wRC+ in 94 games, though it would register as something of a surprise given that Smith has just five games of experience at even the Double-A level and McCormick was a three-win player as recently as 2023. If the club instead gives the right field job to Chas McCormick, Cooper Hummel appears to be the most likely candidate to round out the club’s outfield mix. As for Gamel himself, his 108 wRC+ against right-handed pitching since the start of the 2021 season and a solid .384 on-base percentage in 99 trips to the plate between the Mets and Astros last year seems solid enough to earn him a look elsewhere, though perhaps only a minor league deal at this stage of the winter.

Beeks, meanwhile, is a 31-year-old lefty who has struggled to a 5.05 ERA with the Rays, Rockies, and Pirates the past two years despite a decent 3.93 FIP. Despite those lackluster numbers, his 3.92 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 26 games for Pittsburgh down the stretch in conjunction with his decent 3.70 ERA and 3.83 FIP with the Rays from 2019 to 2022 offer some reason for optimism that Beeks could provide solid production for a bullpen in need of help from the left side. He’ll re-enter free agency with less than a week left until Opening Day having posted a 2.25 ERA in four innings of work for the Astros during camp in hopes of finding a new job. Lefty Steven Okert and righty Rafael Montero are both non-roster veterans in camp who appear ticketed for the Opening Day roster at this point, though Blake Weiman and Logan VanWey are among the other non-roster players still in the mix.

Joining Beeks in failing to make the team is veteran right-hander Miguel Castro, although the 30-year-old veteran of 10 MLB seasons will remain in Houston’s organization for at least the time being. The same can be said for utility man Luis Guillorme, who won’t make the club’s roster after a 2024 season where he slashed just .205/.301/.273 in 77 games with Atlanta, Anaheim, and Arizona last year. That bench spot that otherwise may have gone to Guillorme instead figures to be occupied by Brendan Rodgers after he was non-tendered by the Rockies back in November and signed a minor league deal with the Astros last month.

Meanwhile, the club’s bullpen takes a bit of a hit as both Whitley and Ort will open the season on the shelf. A former top starting pitching prospect, Whitley toiled through injuries and ineffectiveness in the minors for years before making his big league debut as a reliever last year with 3 scoreless outings. Ort, meanwhile, struggled in parts of three seasons with Boston before delivering a strong 2.55 ERA despite a 5.23 FIP in 24 2/3 innings for the Astros last year. Both players figure to have a role with the Astros this year when healthy enough to take the mound.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top