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Guillermo Heredia

Braves Place Guillermo Heredia On Injured List, Recall Cristian Pache

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The Braves announced this morning they’ve placed Guillermo Heredia on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 30, with right hamstring inflammation. Fellow outfielder Cristian Pache has been recalled from the alternate training site in a corresponding move. The team did not provide a timetable for Heredia’s potential return.

Somewhat ironically, Heredia only got his call to the big leagues this season when Pache went on the IL a little less than three weeks ago. The 30-year-old was viewed as something of an emergency stopgap capable of holding down center field, but there wasn’t much expectation he’d produce at the plate. After all, he’d managed only a .231/.311/.354 line for four teams from 2018-20 and had been waived by the Mets in February.

However, Heredia has unexpectedly mashed to begin his Atlanta career. He quickly played himself into the everyday lineup and has hit .300/.429/.575 with a pair of home runs over 49 plate appearances. Pache returned from the IL last week, but the Braves immediately optioned him to the alternate site and continued to play Heredia in center.

Of course, Heredia was likely to take a significant step back offensively at some point. His 74.7% contact rate this season is the lowest of his career, a full eight points below his overall mark. He has always been a patient hitter, but Heredia’s massive 16.3% walk rate is an outlier, likely aided by his frequent work hitting directly in front of the pitcher. And while Heredia’s 87.8 MPH average exit velocity is a new career high, it’s still a bit below the league average of 88.3 MPH.

Even if Heredia were to regress at the plate, he’d probably offer more offense than Pache. The 22-year-old is already regarded as one of the game’s best defenders and is a consensus top prospect, but he’s looked overmatched by MLB pitching so far. In his first 35 plate appearances, Pache has hit just .147/.171/.206 with 13 strikeouts and one walk. Those struggles aren’t particularly surprising for a young player who has never been renowned for his plate discipline and hasn’t had much experience above Double-A. With Heredia joining Ender Inciarte on the IL, though, it seems the Braves are likely to turn to Pache for the time being, where he should at least offer a boost with the glove.

Braves Place Max Fried, Cristian Pache On 10-Day Injured List

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April 14: Both Fried and Pache have been placed on the 10-day IL, the Braves announced. Fried has been diagnosed with a hamstring strain, while Pache has a groin strain. Atlanta recalled outfielder Heredia and lefty Tucker Davidson from the alternate site to fill the roster vacancies. Davidson will head to the ’pen for now, though it seems quite likely that the Braves will make a move to bring up another starter (e.g. Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright) when Fried’s spot is up next in the rotation.

April 13: The Braves received some troubling injury news Tuesday: Left-hander Max Fried will undergo an MRI on his right hamstring, while center fielder Cristian Pache is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left groin issue (Twitter links via Mark Bowman of MLB.com).

Tuesday was a nightmare evening for Fried, who suffered the injury on the base paths and posted a disastrous performance on the mound. The 27-year-old lasted just four innings in a 14-8 loss to the Marlins, who pummeled Fried for eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits, three strikeouts and two walks. It was the second straight subpar start for Fried, owner of a hideous 11.45 ERA in 11 innings. Fried hasn’t been able to follow up on his resounding success in 2020, when he tied for eighth in ERA (2.25) among those who totaled at least 50 frames and wound up fifth in NL Cy Young voting.

Pache, 22, as joined Fried in recording awful production early on, having picked up just three hits in 31 plate appearances with 11 strikeouts against one walk. The Braves are likely to recall outfielder Guillermo Heredia to take Pache’s roster spot, per Bowman. Ender Inciarte seems like the favorite to get the lion’s share of playing time in center, though.

Braves Claim Guillermo Heredia

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The Braves have claimed outfielder Guillermo Heredia off waivers from the Mets, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). New York had designated the 30-year-old for assignment over the weekend. By claiming Heredia, the Braves will become responsible for the entirety of the $1MM salary that he’d previously agreed upon in order to avoid an arbitration hearing with the Mets.

Heredia has spent parts of the past five seasons in the Major Leagues — mostly with the Mariners. Seattle traded him to Tampa Bay for the 2019 season, after which he was non-tendered and subsequently signed with the Pirates. The Mets claimed Heredia off waivers themselves back in August after a lackluster showing in Pittsburgh, and he went on to appear in seven games before season’s end.

Overall, Heredia slashed just .212/.278/.394 in 36 plate appearances between the two clubs. It was a small sample, to be sure, but Heredia’s prior work in the big leagues doesn’t give much more reason for optimism at the plate. He’s a career .239/.316/.344 batter in 1137 plate appearances across those four teams.

Heredia, however, is capable of playing all three outfield positions, has a minor league option remaining and does have a respectable line against left-handed pitching: .274/.337/.397. His right-handed bat will give the Braves some depth and a possible bench bat, though his skill set is somewhat similar to fellow recent waiver claim Phil Ervin. With Marcell Ozuna, Ronald Acuna Jr., Cristian Pache and Ender Inciarte all ahead of him on the depth chart, it seems likelier that he’ll be ticketed for Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the season than for Atlanta’s 26-man roster.

Mets Designate Guillermo Heredia For Assignment

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The Mets have designated outfielder Guillermo Heredia for assignment.  The move was made to create a 40-man roster spot for Kevin Pillar, whose contract with the team is now official.

Heredia appeared in seven games for the Mets after being claimed off waivers from the Pirates in August.  All told, the outfielder hit .212/278/.394 over 36 plate appearances for Pittsburgh and New York.  It isn’t far off the numbers (.240/.317/.342) Heredia posted in his four previous big league seasons, over 1101 PA with the Mariners (from 2016-18) and Rays (2019).

The 30-year-old can provide depth at all three outfield positions, so the Mets are surely hoping Heredia goes unclaimed and can remain in the farm system as a backup option in the event of injury.  The Mets are fairly crowded with outfield options on the active roster, but Heredia and non-roster invite Mallex Smith project as the first men up from Triple-A if a replacement is needed.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/2/20

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With the non-tender deadline coming today at 7pm CT, expect quite a few players to agree to contracts for the 2021 season, avoiding arbitration in advance.  In many (but not all) cases, these deals — referred to as “pre-tender” deals because they fall prior to the deadline — will fall shy of expectations and projections.  Teams will sometimes present borderline non-tender candidates with a “take it or leave it” style offer which will be accepted for fear of being non-tendered and sent out into an uncertain market.  Speculatively, such deals could increase in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty sweeping through the game, although there are also widespread expectations of record non-tender numbers.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through today’s smaller-scale pre-tender deals in this post.  You can also check out Matt Swartz’s arbitration salary projections here.

Latest Agreements

Earlier Agreements

  • Twins righty Jose Berrios will earn $6.1MM with a $500K signing bonus in 2021, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. Catcher Mitch Garver will rake in $1.875MM, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Center fielder Byron Buxton ($5.125MM) and reliever Taylor Rogers (terms not released) also agreed to deals, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
  • The Phillies have deals with starter Zach Eflin ($4.45MM) and relievers Hector Neris ($5MM), David Hale ($850K) and Seranthony Dominguez ($727,500), Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Heyman and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com relay.
  • The Marlins and first baseman Garrett Cooper have a $1.8MM agreement that could max out at $2.05MM with performance bonuses, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
  • The Brewers are keeping catcher Manny Pina in the fold for $1.65MM, according to Heyman. They’re also retaining first baseman Daniel Vogelbach for $1.4MM, Nightengale reports.
  • The Giants and outfielder Austin Slater have a one-year, $1.15MM deal, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.The club also reached a $925K agreement with lefty Wandy Peralta and a $700K pact with righty Trevor Gott, Heyman tweets.
  • The Cubs are bringing back hurlers Dan Winkler ($900K), Colin Rea ($702,500) and Kyle Ryan ($800K), Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ryan’s agreement is a split contract that features a $250K minor league salary.
  • The Mets are retaining lefty Steven Matz for $5.2MM, Nightengale tweets. Matz had a brutal campaign in 2020 with a 9.68 ERA/7.76 FIP over 30 2/3 innings in 2020, but the Mets will give him a chance to rebound.
  • The Padres and lefty Matt Strahm have a one-year, $2MM deal, Nightengale reports. Strahm gave the Padres a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP in 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia, whom the Mets claimed from Pittsburgh in August, will earn $1MM in 2021, according to Nightengale.
  • The Astros and reliever Austin Pruitt have settled for $617, 500, per Heyman. The right-hander missed the season with elbow issues.
  • The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler have agreed to a one-year, $8.05MM deal with $250K in incentives, Nightengale reports. Soler was a 48-home run hitter in 2019, but his production went backward this past season, in which he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight HRs in 174 trips to the plate.
  • The Red Sox have kept relievers Matt Barnes ($4.4MM) and Ryan Brasier ($1.25MM) and catcher Kevin Plawecki ($1.6MM), per tweets from Nightengale, Robert Murray of FanSided and Heyman. Barnes has been a solid reliever as a member of the Red Sox, though he yielded more than five walks per nine and upward of four runs per nine in 2020. Brasier was more successful this past season, as he tossed 25 frames of 3.96 ERA/3.15 FIP ball and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Plawecki had a nice year as the backup to Christian Vazquez, as he batted .341/.393/.463 in 89 PA.
  • The Giants and southpaw Jarlin Garcia have settled for $950K, according to Heyman. Garcia is coming off an 18 1/3-inning effort in which he posted a near-perfect 0.49 (with an impressive 3.14 FIP) and 6.87 K/9 against 3.44 BB/9.
  • The Marlins have agreed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal with first baseman Jesus Aguilar, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. The 30-year-old slugger put up strong numbers in his first year with the Fish, slashing .277/.352/.457 with eight long balls in 216 plate appearances.
  • The Giants and outfielder Alex Dickerson settled at a year and $2MM, tweets Nightengale. The 30-year-old slugger has a lengthy injury history but has been excellent in limited work with the Giants, including a .298/.371/.576 slash in 170 plate appearances this past season.
  • Luis Cessa will be back with the Yankees on a one-year deal, tweets Nightengale. He’ll earn $1.05MM. The righty notched a 3.32 ERA and 3.79 FIP with a 17-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this past season. Fellow righty Ben Heller will also return, the team announced, though it didn’t disclose financial details.
  • First baseman Matt Olson and the Athletics settled on a one-year deal worth $5MM, tweets Nightengale. The 26-year-old Olson’s .198/.310/.424 slash was an obvious step back from his 2019 campaign, but he’s still viewed as a vital part of the club’s future moving forward.
  • The Braves and righty Luke Jackson agreed to a one-year deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The 29-year-old was rocked for a 6.84 ERA in this year’s shortened slate of games but posted a 3.84 ERA and 3.24 FIP with better than 13 K/9 as one of the team’s steadiest relievers in 2019. The contract is valued at $1.9MM, per a team announcement.
  • The Brewers are bringing back catcher Omar Narvaez for one year and $2.5MM, Heyman tweets. Narvaez was a very good offensive catcher from 2o16-19 with the White Sox and Mariners, but he struggled last season after the M’s traded him to the Brewers. Thanks in part to a career-worst 31 percent strikeout rate, Narvaez could only muster a .176/.294/.269 line and a paltry two HRs in 126 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s in line to return to the Brewers for a second season.
  • The Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2MM contract with shortstop Orlando Arcia, Nightengale relays. Arcia endured serious struggles on offense in prior years, but the 26-year-old managed a respectable .260/.317/.416 line with five home runs over 189 plate appearances this past season.
  • The Phillies and catcher Andrew Knapp have reached a one-year, $1.1MM agreement, per Nightengale. Typically a light-hitting backstop, Knapp batted a career-best .278/.404/.444 in 89 plate appearances in 2020. He’s currently the No. 1 catcher on a Phillies team that could lose J.T. Realmuto in free agency.
  • Pirates infielder Erik Gonzalez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. It was the second year of arb eligibility for Gonzalez, whose glovework will earn him a contract despite a brutal .227/.255/.359 batting line in 193 plate appearances in 2020.
  • The Royals and Hunter Dozier agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.72MM in entirely guaranteed money, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  More is available to Dozier via contract incentives.  Dozier hit .228/.344/.392 over 186 PA after missing over the first two weeks of the season recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
  • The Red Sox agreed to an $870K deal with right-hander Austin Brice for the 2021 season, as per Nightengale.  Brice posted a 5.95 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 5.9 BB/9 over 19 2/3 innings in his first season in Boston, and was considered a potential non-tender candidate.
  • The Twins and righty Tyler Duffey agreed to a one-year, $2.2MM pact, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports.  According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Duffey’s deal is fully guaranteed.
  • The Braves agreed to a one-year, $900K deal with southpaw Grant Dayton, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Dayton had a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in 2020.
  • The Braves announced an agreement with utilityman Johan Camargo on a one-year, $1.36MM deal.  Camargo was thought to be a non-tender candidate after struggling to a .222/.267/.378 slash line in 375 plate appearances over the last two seasons, but he will return for a fifth year in Atlanta.
  • The White Sox and left-hander Jace Fry agreed to a one-year deal worth $862.5K, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Fry posted a 3.66 ERA, 2.00 K/BB rate, and 11.0 K/9 over 19 2/3 innings in 2020, and he has strong overall career numbers against left-handed batters.
  • The Orioles agreed with second baseman Yolmer Sanchez on a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).  Baltimore claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox at the end of October.  A Gold Glove winner in 2019, Sanchez was non-tendered by Chicago prior to last year’s deadline, though after signing a minors deal with the Giants, he returned to the White Sox on another minors deal and appeared in 11 games on the South Side.
  • The Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth roughly $700K with left-hander Caleb Thielbar, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports (via Twitter).  2020 marked Thielbar’s first taste of MLB action since 2015, as the southpaw worked his way back from independent ball to post a 2.25 ERA, 2.44 K/BB rate, and 9.9 K/9 over 20 innings for Minnesota.
  • The Dodgers and left-hander Scott Alexander have agreed to a one-year, $1MM deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Alexander posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season, recording an equal number of walks and strikeouts (nine).  The southpaw was thought to be a potential non-tender candidate given his relative lack of usage and his non-inclusion on the Dodgers’ playoff roster, but the team will retain Alexander for his second arb-eligible year.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) adds the noteworthy detail that Alexander’s $1MM salary is fully guaranteed, as opposed to the usual contracts for arbitration-eligible players that allow their teams to release them prior to Opening Day and only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon salary.

Mets Claim Guillermo Heredia

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The Mets have claimed outfielder Guillermo Heredia off waivers from the Pirates, tweets Tim Healey of Newsday. Pittsburgh designated Heredia for assignment earlier this week when they claimed Carson Fulmer off waivers from the Tigers. Heredia has been optioned to the Mets’ alternate training site in Brooklyn.

Heredia inked a one-year deal, $1MM contract with the Pirates in the offseason but played in just eight games and took 18 plate appearances before the Bucs optioned him to their own alternate site. Because the Mets are claiming Heredia, they’ll be on the hook for the remainder of his prorated salary — a total of about $172K between now and season’s end.

Heredia has appeared in 390 Major League games, mostly with the Mariners, and posted a combined .239/.317/.339 batting line. As a solid outfield defender with a bit of speed and a career .275/.338/.400 batting line against lefties, he can be a useful bench piece when he’s at his best. The Mets just cut Juan Lagares — a player with a comparable skill set — loose earlier today when they designated him for assignment when Jake Marisnick was activated from the injured list. Unlike Heredia, however, Lagares couldn’t be optioned to the alternate site without his consent, given that he has more than five years of big league service.

Pirates Claim Carson Fulmer, Designate Guillermo Heredia

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The Pirates announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Carson Fulmer off waivers from the Tigers and designated outfielder Guillermo Heredia for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.

Pittsburgh will be the third team in 2020 to try its hand in helping Fulmer to right the ship. The 26-year-old was selected by the White Sox with the No. 8 overall pick back in 2015. At the time, the Vanderbilt star was viewed as a potential high-end starter or at the very least a high-probability late-inning reliever. But he’s struggled virtually every step of the way since Triple-A, pitching to an ugly 5.39 ERA in parts of four seasons there and a less-palatable 6.57 mark in 101 1/3 MLB frames. The Tigers claimed him last month after the White Sox designated him for assignment.

Fulmer’s average fastball in 2020 sat at 92.3 mph — a far cry from the righty’s college days, when scouting reports pegged him as touching 97 mph with regularity. He boasted elite spin rates on his four-seamer and curveball as recently as last season, though, and Fulmer did manage a career-best 12.8 percent swinging-strike rate in this year’s tiny sample of 6 2/3 innings with the Tigers. That’s about all that went right for Fulmer, but the pitching-hungry Pirates were quick to snap him up on waivers in hopes that their staff can coax something more out of him. Fulmer is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to stick on the Bucs’ big league roster or else be designated for assignment a third time.

As for Heredia, he signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Pirates over the winter but hasn’t delivered for the club. The 29-year-old appeared in just eight games and tallied a mere 18 plate appearances earlier this year before being optioned to the club’s alternate training site. Clearly the team wasn’t happy with what it saw there.

Heredia has appeared in 390 Major League games, mostly with the Mariners, and posted a combined .239/.317/.339 batting line. As a solid outfield defender with a bit of speed and a career .275/.338/.400 batting line against lefties, he can be a useful bench piece when he’s at his best, but he won’t get that opportunity with the Pirates, it seems. Pittsburgh will have a week to trade Heredia, release him or attempt to run him through outright waivers. He’d have enough service time to reject the outright assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his guaranteed salary.

Pirates Sign Guillermo Heredia

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5:03PM: The Pirates officially announced the signing.

1:24PM: The Pirates have agreed to a deal with free-agent outfielder Guillermo Heredia, as first reported by Francys Romero of Los Mayores (Twitter link). It’s a Major League deal, MLB.com’s Adam Berry adds. Heredia is represented by Magnus Sports.

The 28-year-old Heredia was with the Rays in 2019 and spent the three prior seasons with Seattle. He’s seen action in 382 big league games and batted a combined .240/.317/.342 with 17 homers, 46 doubles, a triple and six stolen bases in 1101 plate appearances. While Heredia’s overall profile isn’t exactly eye-catching, he’s been a solid producer against left-handed pitching, hitting at a .274/.335/.401 clip in 487 plate appearances when holding the platoon advantage (including a sharp .281/.339/.456 slash in 2019).

Heredia is capable of handling all three outfield spots, and while he doesn’t have plus marks for his work in center field, both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved feel he’s a strong defender in either corner slot. Despite playing in only a part-time role and being shuffled between the Majors and Triple-A, Heredia ranks 21st among 565 big league outfielders with 19 Outs Above Average dating back to 2016, per Statcast.

The Rays non-tendered Heredia back in December despite a rather timid $1.1MM projected salary in arbitration. He has three-plus years of Major League service time, meaning that the Pirates can control him via arbitration all the way through 2022 should they see fit. Just how he fits into the club’s outfield picture is largely dependent on the fate of Starling Marte, for whom the organization is listening to trade offers.

Rays Non-Tender Guillermo Heredia

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The Rays have non-tendered outfielder Guillermo Heredia, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). He’ll head onto a market that’s hurting for center field capable players.

Heredia had projected to earn a relatively modest $1.1MM salary. But the Rays decided against paying it and obviously weren’t able to find another team that was interested in doing so instead.

Heredia lasts just one season in Tampa after coming over alongside Mike Zunino in a trade with the Mariners. In 231 plate appearances as a Ray, Heredia slashed just .225/.306/.363 (82 wRC+), right in line with his career body of work.

While defensive metrics have never loved Heredia in center field, he’s typically rated quite well in the corners and continues to garner some time up the middle. Prior to last season, he’d shown strong bat-to-ball skills, and he’s always been a patient hitter. Teams presumably won’t view Heredia as an everyday option, but it’s not hard to imagine him generating interest from teams in search of outfield depth. If Heredia gets on track elsewhere, he’ll be arbitration-eligible twice more.

The Rays Have Some Roster Decisions On The Horizon

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The Rays’ decision to waive C.J. Cron on the heels of a 30-homer campaign in the offseason raised plenty of eyebrows — particularly when it became apparent that the plan to replace him was to entrust the bulk of first base/designated hitter duties to Ji-Man Choi, Yandy Diaz and reclamation project Avisail Garcia. To this point in the season, that trio has been reasonably productive.

Through 294 plate appearances, Choi has batted .257/.348/.410 with nine homers, nine doubles and a triple. He’s walked at a healthy 11.4 percent clip against a 20.4 percent strikeout rate and done so while playing for less than $1MM as a pre-arbitration player. Up until recently, Choi was even more productive. The endpoint here is arbitrary, admittedly, but Choi carried a .287/.363/.467 line as recently as June 14. Since that time, he’s floundered with a .160/.306/.220 slash line in 62 plate appearances. He’s drawn 10 walks in that time against 11 strikeouts, so he’s maintained his discipline. However, Choi has been plagued by a .179 average on balls in play over that stretch, and the swoon has tarnished his season line.

A slump of that nature is never welcome for any hitter, but Choi’s downturn in performance is of particular concern for him given the offensive explosion of rookie/top prospect Nate Lowe. Since being summoned back for his second stint of big league work this season (when Choi landed on the IL due to an ankle injury), Lowe has obliterated big league pitching. It’s only 41 plate appearances, but the former 13th-round pick has belted five homers and three doubles with a .371/.463/.886 slash that’s impossible for the Rays to ignore. Overall, Lowe is hitting .315/.386/.589 in 75 plate appearances in his debut season.

Choi (who was activated from the IL two days ago) and Lowe can coexist in the same lineup for now, but as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times mentions in his latest Rays notebook, the organization could soon have to choose between the two. The Rays will get Brandon Lowe back from the IL in the near future, which muddies the roster. His return will push Joey Wendle back to a utility/bench role, where he’ll join another hot-hitting rookie, Mike Brosseau, and whichever of Travis d’Arnaud or Mike Zunino isn’t starting on a given day. Choi is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent to the minors without being exposed to waivers.

Wendle does have a minor league option remaining, which is of note given that he hasn’t hit well at all since returning from a fractured wrist (.198/.272/.253). However, he’s capable of playing virtually any position on the diamond, whereas Choi is a first baseman only. Optioning Wendle to accommodate the return of Lowe (Brandon, that is) wouldn’t leave manager Kevin Cash with much in the way of defensive flexibility. An in-game injury to Willy Adames in that scenario would prove particularly problematic, given that Wendle is the only real alternative to him at shortstop.

The Rays could delay any potential decision by dropping a reliever and going back to a four-man bench, but if they go that route, the preferred choice could be to bring outfielder Guillermo Heredia back up to the Majors. Cash called the decision to option Heredia the “toughest send-down” of the season earlier this week. Heredia rejoined the team as the 26th man for yesterday’s doubleheader but has since been sent back to Triple-A Durham.

As if that didn’t present enough options for a limited number of roster spots, the Rays will soon see infielder/outfielder Daniel Robertson and third baseman Matt Duffy embark on minor league rehab assignments, as Topkin reported last weekend (Twitter links). Both have minor league options remaining, but their impending returns only add another variable to the equation.

Certainly, the upcoming trade deadline could alter the roster construction and resolve some of these issues. It’s possible, too, that additional injuries will arise and render some of the decisions moot for an additional period of time. But as things currently stand, the Rays seem like they’ll have a tough call on their hands in the not-too-distant future.

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