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Yankees Designate Ronald Guzmán For Assignment

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Sep. 12: The Yankees announced that Guzmán was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Since he has over three years of MLB service time, he is eligible to reject this assignment and return to free agency, though it’s unclear if he has chosen to do so.

Sep. 10: The Yankees announced that they have designated first baseman Ronald Guzmán for assignment. Josh Donaldson was activated from the paternity list in a corresponding move.

Guzmán, 27, was just selected to the roster a few days ago to give the Yanks another option at first base when Anthony Rizzo went on the injured list. Since then, the club also placed DJ LeMahieu on the IL, further depleting the depth chart at first. The start at that position has gone to Marwin Gonzalez in each of the past three games as well as today, indicating the Yankees are evidently satisfied enough with his performance to let Guzmán go. Guzmán got six plate appearances in his short time on the roster but went hitless while striking out in five of them.

Despite that poor showing in a very small sample, Guzmán was having a much better season prior to his call-up. In 90 Triple-A games this year, he’s hit 12 home runs while walking in 11.8% of his plate appearances, leading to a .260/.357/.466 batting line that amounts to a 119 wRC+. The strikeouts were present there as well, however, as he went down on strikes 27.6% of the time.

Since the trade deadline has passed, the Yankees will placed Guzmán on waivers in the coming days. He has over three years of MLB service time, meaning he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. Should any team decide to put in a claim, he can be retained for a further three seasons via arbitration.

Marly Rivera of ESPN reported Guzmán’s DFA before the official announcement.

Marlins Select Aneurys Zabala

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The Marlins have made a few roster moves prior to today’s doubleheader against the Rangers, per their transactions tracker at MLB.com (hat tip to Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). Right-hander Aneurys Zabala has been selected to the roster while fellow righty Bryan Hoeing has been recalled as the club’s “29th man” for the twin bill. Left-hander Andrew Nardi was optioned in a corresponding move. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster for Zabala.

Zabala, 25, was first selected to the club’s roster back in June, though he was designated for assignment just two days later. He cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A. He got a second selection in August but was designated again after just a few days, again clearing waivers and being outrighted. Since that was his second outright, he had the ability to reject the assignment and become a free agent but chose to stick with the Fish. He’ll now get a third stint on the roster.

Zabala has pitched just 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the majors so far, in between those transactions. In the minors, he’s been getting his fare share of strikeouts but struggling with control. In 22 innings this year between Double-A and Triple-A, he’s struck out 26.3% of batters faced but walked an awful 24.6%. For context, the major league average walk rate for a reliever is 9.2% this season. No doubt thanks to those free passes, Zabala’s minor league ERA for the year is 9.82.

Jorge Soler Unlikely To Return This Season

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Marlins outfielder Jorge Soler has been on the injured list since July due to low back spasms. Though he’s tried ramping up baseball activities since then, he isn’t likely to make it back to the team this year. Manager Don Mattingly tells MLB.com that Soler’s return is “probably out the window.” Soler himself tells Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base “I don’t think I’ll be back this season.”

It will go down as a disappointing campaign for the slugger, who rode into the offseason riding high, having just helped Atlanta win a championship and earned World Series MVP in the process. The Marlins, stacked with pitching but light on hitting, grabbed Soler and Avisaíl García in free agency, hoping to add some thump to their lineup. Unfortunately, both have dealt with injuries and underperformance this season. Soler only got into 72 games before this back issue cropped up and was a below-average hitter before then. If he is indeed done for the season, he will finish with a batting line of .207/.295/.400. That production is 3% lower than that of the league average hitter, according to wRC+.

The three-year, $36MM deal that Soler and the Marlins signed in the winter allows him to opt-out after each season. Soler tells Álvarez-Montes that he hasn’t thought about his decision and has yet to speak to his agent about it. However, it’s hard to imagine Soler deciding to leave money on the table and return to the open market, especially with this lingering injury situation. He’s earning $12MM this year and is set to earn $15MM in 2023 and another $9MM in 2024, with that 2024 salary able to increase based on plate appearance bonuses.

If Soler is back with the Fish next year, they will surely be hoping for better results from both he and García. As a team, the Marlins have hit .229/.294/.363, producing an 86 wRC+, ranking them 27th in the league. That’s largely why they’ve had another season of poor results, going 57-82 so far. Solar and García are the only players on the team making eight-figure salaries and that is set to be the case again next year. Bounceback seasons from those two will be integral to better performance in 2023, though the club is reportedly going to try to use its pitching depth to improve the offense this winter.

Central Notes: Francona, Anderson, Bednar, Cubs

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Terry Francona’s contract is up after the season, and the veteran manager told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that he has been in talks with team officials about his future with the Guardians.  It seems basically a foregone conclusion that Francona will remain as the Guards’ skipper beyond 2022, and yet given Francona’s multiple health issues, he is cognizant about the potential end of his managerial career.  “I want to enjoy what I’m doing. It’s getting harder to do that, just because physically it’s harder,” Francona said.  “I just want to be careful.  And at the same time, I want to be fair to the team.”  The respect goes both ways with Cleveland’s front office, as president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said that “I want to make sure [Francona] never feels he has this obligation to keep doing the job because he owes us anything.  I want him to do what’s best for him.”

Antonetti and team owner Paul Dolan have both said in the past that Francona can manage the Guardians for essentially as long as he feels up to the job, while Francona told Rosenthal that he might have already retired if he had been with any other team.  Speculatively, it would seem like any sort of formal contract extension between the two sides could perhaps take the form of a one-year deal with a rolling option, to be exercised should Francona feel he is ready to keep managing beyond 2023.  A decision might not be made until after Francona’s latest medical procedure takes place in the offseason — he is scheduled to have drains removed from his back, and Francona estimates that this will be roughly his 46th surgery.

Some items from around both the AL and NL Central divisions….

  • Back on August 11, Tim Anderson underwent surgery to fix a torn ligament in his left middle finger, and White Sox acting manager Miguel Cairo told reporters (including Ryan Taylor of NBC Sports Chicago) today that Anderson was scheduled to visit a hand specialist on Tuesday.  “We’re going to see from there” what the next step is in Anderson’s rehab, Cairo said, adding that the shortstop is “doing good.”  Anderson was hitting .301/.339/.395 over his first 351 plate appearances of the season.  Assuming the visit with the specialist goes well, there should still be time for Anderson to properly rehab and get back to the White Sox before the season is over, thus giving the Sox a big late boost in their push for the AL Central crown.
  • While the Pirates aren’t in a pennant race, they’re also expecting a key player back in closer David Bednar, as GM Ben Cherington said in an interview with 93.7 The Fan radio (hat tip to MLB.com’s Justice delos Santos).  Bednar has been out of action since late July due to lower back inflammation, but Bednar threw a bullpen session yesterday and Cherington said Bednar could begin a rehab assignment this week.  The right-hander has emerged as a major bullpen weapon (and popular trade ask) over the last two seasons, with Bednar posting a 2.70 ERA and a superb 33.5% strikeout rate over 46 2/3 innings in 2022.
  • The Cubs’ season “has been a success” in the view of chairman Tom Ricketts, who told The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan and other reporters that he has been impressed by the team’s progress in bringing along its young players and young pitchers.  Since the Cubs’ last rebuild resulted in the 2016 World Series championship, Ricketts feels that “having done it once, and largely with the same people, it gives me a lot of confidence that we’ll do it the right way again.”  As to whether or not the Cubs will start to invest more into payroll this winter, Ricketts somewhat vaguely said that president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has “got a lot of flexibility, and we’ll let him do it,” adding that the “ball is in Jed’s court when it comes to how and where” any funds are invested.  Of course, this isn’t exactly a full-on declaration that the Cubs are ready to start spending big, as while Seiya Suzuki and Marcus Stroman were two more expensive additions last winter, Hoyer stuck mostly to less-costly, shorter-term free agents.

Pirates To Promote Luis Ortiz

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The Pirates will promote pitching prospect Luis Ortiz to the majors, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter link).  It will be a Major League debut for Ortiz, a 23-year-old right-hander who was an international signing in 2018.  The Bucs will need to make some corresponding moves to create space on the active and 40-man rosters.

Ortiz is rated by Baseball America as Pittsburgh’s 22nd-best prospect, with BA’s scouting report describing Ortiz as “perhaps the most improved pitcher in the Pirates’ system.”  After pitching in A-ball in 2021, Ortiz began the 2022 campaign at Double-A and has a combined 4.56 ERA over 124 1/3 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.  The home run ball has been an issue for Ortiz, but he has solid walk, strikeout, and grounder rates that belie his forgettable ERA.

His most recent outing was a gem, as Ortiz threw six no-hit innings for Triple-A Indianapolis on September 8.  That would seemingly put Ortiz to make his MLB debut on Tuesday, when the Pirates have a doubleheader against the Reds.  It remains to be seen if the Pirates will properly start Ortiz in one of the two games, or if they could look to ease him into action as part of a bullpen game or as a bulk pitcher.

The bullpen might eventually end up being Ortiz’s long-term destination, though naturally the Pirates will first see what he can do as a starter before exploring relief assignments.  Ortiz’s upper-90s fastball profiles well as a signature pitch, and he complements that fastball with a quality slider and an improving changeup.

AL West Notes: Angels, Verlander, Gray, Howard

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Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is considering a bid on the Angels, according to Sportico’s Eric Jackson and Scott Soshnick.  The billionaire isn’t giving official comment, but Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times heard that Soon-Shiong is indeed weighing the possibility of buying the franchise.  The 70-year-old Soon-Shiong is a former transplant surgeon who built a fortune in the medical technology and pharmaceutical industries, and his business holdings also include both the L.A. Times and San Diego Union-Tribune newspapers.

This isn’t the first time Soon-Shiong has tried to get involved in baseball, as his ownership group was the runner-up bidder for the Dodgers in 2012 when Guggenheim Baseball Management bought the franchise.  Now, Soon-Shiong will apparently see if he can purchase the other Los Angeles area team, as Angels owner Arte Moreno said last month that he is considering a sale.  There is expected to be plenty of bidding on the Angels, and it seems quite possible that the price tag could end up approaching the $3 billion mark.

More from around the AL West…

  • Justin Verlander threw a live bullpen session today, simulating one inning of work with some batters stepping in against the veteran righty.  Verlander has been on the 15-day injured list since August 29 due to calf discomfort, and he told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggert and other reporters that he hoped the session would give him more of a natural pitching feel, and allow him to “stop kind of thinking about the calf and just let my mechanics work…during rehab your throwing is very stagnant and robotic.”  Physically, Verlander said he is feeling “great,” and he is hopeful of a relatively quick return to the Astros rotation.  Since Verlander saw today’s outing as a pseudo-start day from a preparation standpoint, Verlander could potentially be back in action as early as September 16, provided that he doesn’t have any recovery issues from the bullpen session.
  • The Rangers will activate Jon Gray from the 15-day injured list on Monday, as interim manager Tony Beasley told reporters (including MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry) that Gray is slated to start the second game of Texas’ doubleheader against the Marlins.  Gray hasn’t pitched since August 1 due to an oblique strain, and he’ll return within the initial 4-6 week recovery timeline.  Between this oblique problem and previous IL stints due to a knee sprain and blisters, Gray has only pitched 103 1/3 innings in his first season with Texas, though he has a 3.83 ERA and solid peripherals.
  • In other Rangers injury news, the team announced that Spencer Howard will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A today.  Howard has pitched only 37 2/3 innings in the majors this season, as he has been both in the minors and battling fingernail and blister problems before his most recent injury, a shoulder impingement.  This shoulder issue sidelined Howard about a month ago, and it remains to be seen if he can ramp up enough to make a return to the majors before the season is over.  The former top prospect has yet to show much at the MLB level, posting a 7.09 ERA over 111 2/3 career innings with the Phillies and Rangers.

Tony La Russa Discusses Health Situation, “Uncertain” About Possible Return

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White Sox manager Tony La Russa has been on a health-related leave of absence since August 30, but he met with his team in person in Oakland this weekend.  La Russa was given the go-ahead by doctors to make the trip from his home in Arizona, as La Russa wanted to be in attendance when Dave Stewart had his number retired by the Athletics today.

Meeting with reporters (including Janie McCauley of The Associated Press and Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times) today, the 77-year-old La Russa said it was still “uncertain” about whether or not he would be able to return to the White Sox dugout.

“I don’t plan to be in uniform until [doctors] say it’s time to be in uniform,” La Russa said. “I don’t know if they want me at the park or not.  The most important thing for me is you don’t want to be a distraction.  I don’t want to be a distraction.  That’s why it’s best to let it run its course, and in the meantime [the team is] concentrating on the game they’re playing.”

The exact nature of La Russa’s health problem wasn’t known, but he told McCauley that he had a pacemaker inserted.  The manager told the media that he also had a heart issue during Spring Training, and on August 30, doctors “had some information they needed to address” about the problem that required La Russa to immediately step away from the White Sox.  “They fixed it, now it’s a question of regaining strength….I’ve had my issue fixed, I’m mending,” La Russa noted.

La Russa hasn’t entirely stepped away, as he said he still makes multiple calls per day to bench coach and acting manager Miguel Cairo.  The Sox have posted a 9-3 record in La Russa’s absence, a surge has kept Chicago in the hunt for the AL Central title and on the outskirts of the wild card race.  Apart from three games against the Padres and four games against the division-leading Guardians, the White Sox have one of the easier remaining schedules of any team in baseball, making them a team to watch down the stretch.

Anthony Varvaro Killed In Car Accident

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Former big league reliever Anthony Varvaro died in a car accident this morning, according to multiple media reports.  The 37-year-old Varvaro became a New York/New Jersey Port Authority police officer after retiring from baseball, and the car accident took place while he was heading for duty at the September 11th memorial service today in downtown New York City.

A Staten Island native, Varvaro’s pro baseball career began when the Mariners selected him in the 12th round of the 2005 draft.  Varvaro made his big league debut with the Mariners in 2010, and then spent the next four seasons pitching with the Braves before tossing 11 innings with the Red Sox in 2015, his final MLB season.

Varvaro had some very solid numbers in the majors, posting a 3.23 ERA over 183 2/3 career innings.  He emerged as a workhorse in Atlanta’s bullpen in 2013-14, with 123 appearances and 128 innings over those two seasons (with an impressive 2.74 ERA).  The Red Sox acquired him during the 2014-15 offseason, though his work in 2015 and a would-be trade to the Cubs were both cut short by flexor tendon surgery.  After pitching with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in 2016, Varvaro then decided to retire at age 31, and pursue a new career in law enforcement.

A GoFundMe has been established for Varvaro’s family. We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Varvaro’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Daulton Jefferies Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Athletics right-hander Daulton Jefferies underwent a Tommy John surgery on Friday, the team announced.  Jefferies had already undergone a season-ending thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in July, and now this TJ procedure will surely keep him out of action until the start of the 2024 season.

It is a brutal turn of events for the 27-year-old right-hander, who now faces dual rehabs and a lot of uncertainty about his future.  This is also the second Tommy John procedure of Jefferies’ young career, as his first surgery wiped out most of his 2017 and 2018 seasons in Oakland’s farm system.  Given this checkered health history, it is fair to wonder if Jefferies will be able to return to the mound whatsoever, let alone return and become an effective Major League pitcher.

The 37th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Jefferies was seen as one of the Athletics’ top pitching prospects on his way up the minor league ladder, and he has appeared in each of the last three MLB seasons.  After tossing two innings in 2020, Jefferies threw 15 frames in 2021 and then 39 1/3 innings this year, with a 5.75 ERA to show for his career to date in the Show.

The A’s were hoping Jefferies could step into a regular role in the starting rotation this year, and things seemed promising early, when the righty had a 1.17 ERA over his first three starts and 15 1/3 innings.  However, batters then began to find a lot more success against Jefferies, whose 16.3% strikeout rate didn’t help his cause.  While Jefferies has some respectable strikeout totals in the minors, he hasn’t been able to miss many bats at the big league level.

Jefferies will continue to amass big league service time while on the injured list, and while he is controlled through the 2027 season, that long-term view isn’t as important to the A’s as the more immediate need to just get Jefferies healthy.  With another rebuild taking place in Oakland, the Athletics were hoping that Jefferies could step forth as a potential cornerstone for the next winning A’s club.

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