Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brent Honeywell

Jared Jones Makes Pirates’ Roster; Jared Triolo Likely To Be Named Second Baseman

By | at

Top pitching prospect Jared Jones has won a spot on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster, the club announced to its beat writers this morning (X link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). He’ll likely slot into the team’s rotation. The Bucs will select the contracts of Jones and of right-handers Hunter Stratton and Ryder Ryan (X thread via Stumpf). Pittsburgh will place catcher Yasmani Grandal and infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae on the 10-day injured list to begin the season. Relievers Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski will open the season on the 15-day IL.

Also making the roster are out-of-options pitchers Bailey Falter, Josh Fleming and Roansy Contreras, as well as outfielder Edward Olivares and righty Luis Ortiz. The Bucs will not carry non-roster invitees Brent Honeywell Jr. and Billy McKinney on the roster to begin the season. Those aren’t the only key roster decisions Pittsburgh has faced this spring; Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that manager Derek Shelton last night called it a “very safe assumption” that Jared Triolo will be the Pirates’ starting second baseman to begin the season.

Jones, 22, was the Pirates’ second-round pick back in 2020 and entered spring training ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at each of Baseball America (No. 74), MLB.com (No. 62), The Athletic (No. 39), FanGraphs (No. 62) and ESPN (No. 53).

Those rankings come on the heels of a strong 2023 season split between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, wherein Jones logged a combined 126 1/3 innings of 3.85 ERA ball with a 27.6% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate. The right-hander’s dominant spring showing surely didn’t hurt his chances of making the Opening Day roster; Jones pitched 16 1/3 innings without an earned run during Grapefruit League play, yielding just nine hits against eight walks with 15 punchouts.

The Athletic’s Keith Law writes that Jones has made huge gains with both his heater and his slider since being drafted and now has the potential for three plus pitches. The former two-way standout is an excellent athlete and, as noted by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin at FanGraphs, has also improved his strike-throwing as he’s shifted his focus solely to pitching. Scouting reports on Jones generally agree that there’d mid-rotation potential, and further improvements to any of his command, curveball or changeup could further boost his upside.

Jones tossed 122 2/3 innings in 2022 and 126 1/3 innings last season. That should set the stage for a decent uptick in his workload this season. The Bucs might still be cautious with him on a start-by-start basis, particularly early in the year, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if a healthy Jones approached or exceeded 150 frames this year. Since he’s a consensus top-100 prospect who’s making the Opening Day roster, his performance this season will particularly important for the Bucs. If Jones wins Rookie of the Year this season or finishes top three in National League Cy Young voting, he could net the Pirates an extra pick in the 2025 draft under the 2022-26 CBA’s newly implemented prospect promotion incentives.

Triolo, 26, made his big league debut in 2023 and spent the bulk of his time at third base, filling in for an injured Ke’Bryan Hayes. That’s Triolo’s natural position, but Hayes is one of MLB’s best defensive players at any position, so Triolo will slide over to second base in what could be his first full big league season. The writing for him winning the second base job was on the wall after the Bucs optioned Liover Peguero and Nick Gonzales — particularly with Bae also banged up (and now headed to the injured list).

In 209 plate appearances last season, Triolo batted .298/.388/.398 — production that was buoyed by an enormous .440 average on balls in play and came in  spite of a grisly 30.1% strikeout rate. The punchouts and good fortune on balls in play have both continued this spring. Triolo has taken 45 plate appearances and batted .325/.400/.525 — excellent surface-level numbers that are propped up by a more suspect .458 BABIP. Couple that with a 31.1% strikeout rate, and his production looks similar to his 2023 output — though this year’s pair of homers in his limited spring playing time is a good sign, as Triolo hit just three long balls in last year’s 209 trips to the plate.

Triolo is a strong defender who draws plenty of walks, which should help set a decent floor for him, but he’ll need to cut down on the strikeouts and/or significantly improve his quality of contact (86.6 mph average exit velocity; 32.8% hard-hit rate) if he’s to sustain much in the way of success at the plate in the majors. Strikeouts were an issue in his first taste of Triple-A work last year (26.5%) but weren’t a problem for him in the lower and mid-minor league levels, so perhaps he’ll drop that rate over a larger sample as he gains more experience. If nothing else, a plus defender at multiple positions with a keen eye at the plate has the makings of a useful utility option, but Triolo will get the opportunity to show he can be more than that right out of the gate in 2024.

The 27-year-old Stratton made his MLB debut with the Bucs in 2023 and pitched 12 innings with three runs on nine hits and three walks. He fanned 10 of his 47 opponents (21.3%) and kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 51.5% rate. He was non-tendered in November but returned on a minors deal two months later. Stratton will now get a second big league look after firing seven shutout frames with a 7-to-2 K/BB ratio this spring.

Ryan, 29 in May, pitched a scoreless frame with the Mariners in 2023. That represents the entirety of his MLB experience. He’s fanned 28.6% of his opponents in 7 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh this spring and done so with a staggering 73.7% ground-ball rate. Ryan has pitched to a sub-4.00 ERA with a strikeout rate north of 24% in each of the past two Triple-A seasons (one with the Mariners and one with the Rangers). The Pirates will give him his first real look in the majors to see if he can carry any of that success over to the game’s top level.

Pirates, Brent Honeywell Agree To Minor League Contract

By | at

Righty Brent Honeywell Jr. has agreed to a minor league deal with the Pirates, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (on X). He’ll get a non-roster invitation to big league camp and will be paid at a $1.25MM rate if he cracks the MLB roster.

A former top prospect with the Rays, Honeywell logged his first extended MLB action at age 28 last season. He inked a major league contract with the Padres over the offseason. Honeywell broke camp with San Diego and held a roster spot until the trade deadline. He logged 46 2/3 innings through 36 appearances, working to a 4.05 ERA. That came with a modest 20.6% strikeout rate and an unspectacular 9.8% walk percentage.

San Diego’s deadline pickups squeezed Honeywell off the 40-man roster. The Friars lost him via waivers to the White Sox. He pitched four times with Chicago, was tagged for seven runs in 5 2/3 innings, and was cut loose. Honeywell cleared waivers after his second designation and finished the year in Triple-A. He chose minor league free agency at season’s end.

A horrible series of injuries — a 2018 Tommy John procedure, ’19 elbow fracture, 2020 nerve decompression surgery and another elbow fracture in 2022 — sidetracked Honeywell in his climb through the minors. While he didn’t turn in great results as a rookie, there’s surely some relief that he made it through the ’23 campaign without any trips to the injured list. He’ll try to crack the middle relief group in Pittsburgh to establish himself at the MLB level.

The Bucs have David Bednar, Aroldis Chapman, Colin Holderman, Ryan Borucki, Carmen Mlodzinski, Dauri Moreta and the out-of-options Roansy Contreras as strong bets to open the season in the bullpen. There might not be a ton of room in the season-opening group, but the Bucs will want to build their minor league depth. Ben Heller, Hunter Stratton and swingman Wily Peralta are also in camp as non-roster invitees. Honeywell is out of options, meaning the Pirates would have to keep him in the majors or DFA him if he earns a big league look at any point.

14 Players Elect Free Agency

By | at

As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR, including a list of 29 players last week. The next group, courtesy of the transaction tracker at MiLB.com:

Catchers

Outfielders

Pitchers

White Sox Outright Brent Honeywell

By | at

The White Sox have sent right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. outright to Triple-A Charlotte, tweets Scott Merkin of MLB.com. He cleared waivers following a designation for assignment on Wednesday.

Chicago had nabbed Honeywell off waivers from the Padres a few weeks ago. As they play out the string on a disappointing season, the Sox have rolled the dice on a few former top pitching prospects (Honeywell, Deivi García and Luis Patiño). While Chicago has been able to keep García and Patiño in Triple-A, they had to carry Honeywell on the major league roster since he’s out of options.

He only got four relief appearances, allowing seven runs through 5 2/3 innings. Honeywell had a larger body of work in San Diego early in the year, pitching to a 4.05 ERA through 46 2/3 frames. His 20.6% strikeout rate was a couple points below league average, while he allowed a few more walks and home runs than the typical reliever. The Friars pushed him off the roster as part of their reshuffling to accommodate their deadline acquisitions.

After his struggles on the South Side during his limited time in Chicago, Honeywell won’t find an immediate MLB spot. A staggering series of injuries — a 2018 Tommy John procedure, ’19 elbow fracture, 2020 nerve decompression surgery and another elbow fracture last year — have dealt a major hit to his once excellent prospect stock. The longtime Rays’ farmhand appeared among Baseball America’s Top 100 minor league talents each season from 2016-20 but had just three MLB appearances before this year.

The A’s successfully passed Honeywell through outright waivers last September. Players with multiple career outrights have the ability to test free agency in lieu of the minor league assignment. It isn’t clear whether Honeywell will do so. He’d reach minor league free agency at the start of the offseason if he heads to Charlotte and doesn’t make it back onto Chicago’s MLB roster by season’s end.

White Sox Designate Brent Honeywell For Assignment

By | at

The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. for assignment and optioned infielder Zach Remillard to Triple-A Charlotte. Their roster spots will go to righty Edgar Navarro and lefty Sammy Peralta, who’ve both been recalled from Charlotte.

Honeywell, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Padres on Aug. 5 after being designated for assignment in the aftermath of an active deadline in San Diego. He’s since appeared in four games with the Sox, tallying 5 2/3 innings but allowing seven runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts. The former top prospect is out of minor league options, so the Sox opted to designate him for assignment rather than continue to hold out hope for better results.

Once regarded as one of baseball’s most promising minor leaguers, Honeywell has seen his career derailed by a staggering four elbow surgeries — all coming before he turned 28 years old. The former Rays second-rounder was eventually traded to the A’s, for whom he never pitched, before being non-tendered this past offseason. The Padres signed Honeywell to a big league deal in hopes of capitalizing on his once lofty prospect status.

To some extent, the move panned out. Honeywell pitched 46 2/3 innings for the Friars and logged a respectable, if unspectacular 4.05 ERA. That number came in spite of sub-par strikeout and walk rates of 20.6% and 9.8%, however, and Honeywell also served up an average of 1.54 homers per nine innings in San Diego. Fielding-independent metrics cast a less-favorable light on his performance (5.24 FIP, 4.35 SIERA). Things clearly haven’t gone any better in Chicago, and with the trade deadline behind us, Honeywell will be placed on outright waivers or release waivers in the near future.

Honeywell didn’t pitch at all from 2018-20, tossed 86 innings in 2021 and pitched just 20 1/3 innings during the 2022 season. Between the 28 innings he tossed in winter ball over the offseason and the 52 1/3 frames he’s thrown this year, he’s already well north of last year’s workload and approaching the volume he hit in 2021. Honeywell’s career-high innings pitched came back in 2017, when he tossed 136 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in the Rays system.

White Sox Claim Brent Honeywell, Select Lane Ramsey

By | at

The White Sox added a pair of right-handers to their 40-man roster, announcing that Lane Ramsey’s contract was selected from Triple-A and that Brent Honeywell Jr. was claimed off waivers from the Padres.  Right-hander Gregory Santos was placed on the bereavement list in a corresponding move.

San Diego designated Honeywell for assignment on Wednesday, one of a few transactions made to make space for the Padres’ trade deadline acquisitions.  Honeywell has a 4.05 ERA/4.31 SIERA over 46 2/3 relief innings this season, with a solid 48.9% grounder rate but below-average strikeout (20.5%) and walk (10.2%) rates.  The righty had some of the highest hard-contact numbers in the league, and a solid 7.2% barrel rate hasn’t quite been enough to limit the damage, as Honeywell has allowed eight home runs.

These shaky numbers notwithstanding, simply getting onto the mound represented a great result for Honeywell after years of injuries.  A top-100 regular during his days as a prospect in the Rays system, Honeywell has already undergone four different surgeries on his throwing elbow, including a Tommy John procedure.  As a result, Honeywell’s MLB resume prior to this season consisted of a three-game cup of coffee with Tampa Bay in 2021, with Honeywell tossing 4 1/3 total innings.

Honeywell was a low-cost winter signing for the Padres on a split contract, and it’s safe to say both sides were probably satisfied with how the deal worked out.  It is quite possible San Diego would’ve preferred to keep Honeywell if he wasn’t out of minor league options, so with a 26-man roster crunch, the Padres had to risk losing him on a waiver claim.  It isn’t surprising that the White Sox (and probably some other teams) had an eye on a former top prospect who might finally be healthy and ready to perform, and since Chicago is out of the race, they’ll have the rest of the season to evaluate Honeywell and see if he might be in their plans for 2024.

Ramsey was a 23rd-round pick for the White Sox in the 2018 draft, and the 27-year-old is now on the verge of his debut appearance in the Show.  Now in his third season at Triple-A Charlotte, Ramsey hadn’t much success at the top minor league level, with a 5.79 ERA over 79 1/3 innings (pitching as a reliever in 70 of 72 appearances) with a 25.34% strikeout rate and an ungainly 15.36% walk rate.  Ramsey is something of a prototypical hard-throwing reliever who hasn’t quite been able to translate that velocity into control or a higher-tier strikeout rate, though the White Sox coaches will get a closer look at his live arm during his stint in the majors.

Padres Designate Brent Honeywell For Assignment

By | at

The Padres announced Wednesday that they’ve designated righty Brent Honeywell Jr. for assignment, optioned catcher Brett Sullivan to Triple-A El Paso and placed lefty Tim Hill on the 15-day injured list with a sprained finger on his pitching hand. That sequence of moves will create the necessary roster space to add trade acquisitions Garrett Cooper, Scott Barlow and Ji Man Choi to the roster.

Honeywell, 28, spent five years ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects at Baseball America but was repeatedly set back by injuries. He’s had a stunning four elbow surgeries dating back to 2018, completely derailing what looked to be a potential fast-track to MLB stardom. The 2014 second-rounder was in the upper minors by 22 years of age, tossing 136 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with a 30.3% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate between Double-A and Triple-A in 2017. He didn’t throw another pitch in an official game until the 2021 season in Triple-A.

Eventually traded to the A’s and outrighted off the 40-man roster, Honeywell became a free agent last offseason and signed a big league deal with the Padres. He’s pitched in 36 games out of the bullpen for San Diego this year, working to a 4.05 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate, 48.9% ground-ball rate and 1.54 HR/9. The 46 2/3 innings he’s pitched this year are more than he threw in 2021-22 combined.

Honeywell is averaging 95 mph on his heater but also has a below-average 10% swinging-strike rate and 28% opponents’ chase rate. He’s out of minor league options, so the Padres weren’t able to simply send him to the minors.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, Honeywell’s fate is rather straightforward. He’ll head for outright waivers, where all 29 other clubs will have the opportunity to place a claim. Waiver priority is based on a simple reverse standings — worst record to best — and contrary to common belief is not league-specific. If he’s placed directly onto waivers today, the A’s would have the first chance to claim him, followed by the Royals. He can be controlled via arbitration for another five seasons.

Looking At The Padres’ Rotation Options

By | at

The Padres have been quite aggressive in recent years on all fronts, from signing free agents to trading for stars and extending their own players. That has shot their budget up to record heights, with Roster Resource currently estimating their payroll at $250MM. Up until a few years ago, they had only barely nudged past the $100MM mark, jumping to $174MM in 2021 and $211MM last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Despite all that aggression, they’re going into the season with uncertainty in their rotation, both in the short-term and long-term. They should have a strong front three this year in Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. That leaves two question marks at the back, since Mike Clevinger and Sean Manaea reached free agency and signed elsewhere. Darvish and Snell are both slated to reach free agency after this year, opening up more holes in the future. MacKenzie Gore’s inclusion in the Juan Soto trade also weakened the future outlook. So, who do they have on hand to step up and take these jobs? Let’s take a look at the candidates.

Nick Martinez

Martinez, 32, spent four seasons in Japan and parlayed that into a four-year deal with the Padres going into 2022, a deal that allowed him to opt out after each season. Last year was a mixed bag for Martinez, as he logged 106 1/3 innings with a 3.47 ERA. That’s solid production overall but it came in the form of a 4.30 ERA over 52 1/3 innings as a starter and a 2.67 mark in 54 innings as a reliever.

Martinez opted out and re-signed with the club on another deal, this time on a three-year pact. The details are unusually complex as there are plenty of incentives, as well as a dual club/player option structure. Whether he can find better results as a starter this time around remains to be seen. It’s certainly a risk for the Friars but at least it seems he comes with the floor of helping out the bullpen.

Should Martinez truly establish himself as a starter, the club will be able to keep him around. Martinez will get paid a $10MM base salary this year and the team will then have to decide whether or not to trigger two $16MM club options for 2024 and 2025, essentially a two-year, $32MM extension. That affords them a bit more control over his future than his previous opt-out laden deal. However, if Martinez does not have a successful campaign and they turn down that option, he will get to decide whether or not to trigger two player options valued at $8MM each, essentially a two-year, $16MM extension. That gives the Friars upside and downside potential in the pact. Those dollar figures can also reportedly change based on incentives, though the exact details aren’t known.

Seth Lugo

Lugo, 33, is a somewhat similar situation to Martinez, as he could potentially wind up in the rotation or in the bullpen. He made 23 starts in 2017-18 but only seven since, largely working as a reliever. That move was at least partially motivated by a “slight” tear that was discovered in his right ulnar collateral ligament in 2017.

Regardless, Lugo has served as an effective reliever since then, posting a 3.56 ERA over the past two years, and there’s some hope that his five-pitch mix can help him transition back into a rotation. It’s another risky move that the Padres were willing to take, giving Lugo two years and $15MM, with Lugo able to opt-out after the first. He hasn’t topped 80 innings in a season since 2018 and it’s hard to know how smooth this switch will be.

If it goes well, there won’t be any long-term upside for the club, since Lugo will make a $7.5MM salary but can opt out of the same figure for 2024. If the experiment works, he’s likely to return to free agency and find a larger guarantee. If it fails, the Padres will still be on the hook for another season.

Adrián Morejón

Morejón, 24 in February, has long been one of the most exciting pitching prospects in the league. Baseball America placed him on their top 100 list for five straight years beginning in 2017. Various injuries slowed him during his ascent to the majors and he’s yet to even pitch 70 official innings in any season of his career, majors or minors or combined.

Tommy John surgery in April of 2021 wiped out most of that season. He returned to health in 2022 but pitched in relief. The club reportedly still views him as a starter but he will likely have workload concerns this year. Between the majors and the minors last year, he logged 47 1/3 frames. He should be able to push that up now that he’s further removed from the surgery, but getting to a full starter’s workload would be a lot to ask. He has just over three years of MLB service time now, giving him the ability to provide some long-term help to the club’s rotation if he stays healthy and makes good on his prospect pedigree in 2023.

Jay Groome

Groome, 24, was a 12th overall pick of the Red Sox in 2016. He was once a highly-touted prospect but has hit various speed bumps. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2018 and most of his 2019, which was followed by the minors being canceled by the pandemic in 2020. He has since returned to health and posted decent results but with some of the prospect shine having worn off.

In 2022, which included a trade to the Padres in the Eric Hosmer deal, he pitched 144 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. The 3.44 ERA is nice, but his 22.8% strikeout rate is right around average and his 10.4% walk rate was on the concerning side. He’s yet to reach the majors and arguably has the greatest chance to provide future value to the club with his six seasons of control and one remaining option year.

Brent Honeywell Jr.

Honeywell, 28 in March, is also a former top prospect. A Rays draftee, he was on BA’s top 100 in five straight seasons from 2016-20. Similar to Morejón and Groome, injuries have prevented him from reaching his potential thus far. Tommy John surgery in 2018 put him on the shelf and he has dealt with various setbacks since then. He was healthy enough to toss 86 innings in 2021 between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham, with the club then dealing him to Oakland. However, more injury setbacks resulted in just 20 1/3 minor league innings for the A’s last year.

Honeywell seems to be healthy again at the moment, as he’s tossed 28 innings in the Dominican Winter League. His 0.96 ERA in that time seems to have been enough to impress the Padres, as they signed him to their 40-man roster last week. It would make for a terrific bounceback story if he were to finally put it all together, but it’s hard to bank on him after hardly pitching in the past five years. He still has less than a year of service time, giving the Padres plenty of upside if it all clicks, but Honeywell is also out of options and will have to produce in the big leagues right away to hang onto his roster spot.

Reiss Knehr/Pedro Avila/Ryan Weathers

These three are all on the 40-man roster and warrant a mention, though they are unlikely to be called upon except in an emergency. All three of them have gotten some big league time in recent seasons, getting fairly brief showings in swing roles. Weathers probably has the most upside of the trio since he’s just 23 whereas the others are going into their respective age-26 seasons. Weathers was considered a top 100 prospect going into 2021 but he has a 5.49 ERA in the big leagues so far and posted a 6.73 ERA in 123 Triple-A innings last year, getting bumped to the bullpen as the season wore on.

Wilmer Font

Font, 33 in May, is a real wild card. He was a journeyman in the majors for many years but went to Korea to play in the KBO in 2021. Over the last two years, he’s been pitching at an ace level for the SSG Landers. He made 25 starts in 2021 with a 3.46 ERA and then 28 starts last year with a 2.69 mark. In that latter season, he got strikeouts at a 23.3% rate, walking only 4.7% of batters faced and he got ground balls on 51.6% of balls in play.

Success overseas doesn’t always translate to success in the majors, but Font wouldn’t be the first pitcher to underwhelm in North America but then return after a breakout elsewhere, with Miles Mikolas and Merrill Kelly some of the recent examples. Font isn’t currently on the 40-man and will have to earn his way back into the mix but he will be an interesting one to watch.

Julio Teheran/Aaron Brooks

These two veterans have also been brought aboard on minor league deals. Teheran spent 2022 in Indy ball and the Mexican League, posting some decent numbers in 13 starts between various clubs. He then went to the Dominican for winter ball and has posted a 3.49 ERA through eight starts there. He had a solid run with the Braves earlier in his career but got lit up in 2020 with a 10.05 ERA and then was injured for most of 2021.

Brooks was great in the KBO in 2020 and 2021, posting a 2.79 ERA over 36 starts in that time. However, his attempted return to the majors didn’t go well. He made five relief appearances for the Cardinals with a 7.71 ERA and got outrighted to the minors. In 15 Triple-A appearances, 13 starts, his ERA was 5.56.

All told, the Padres have lots of options here but all of them have question marks. There’s a handful of faded prospects who still need to put injury concerns in the rearview mirror and another handful of veteran swingmen who still might end up better suited to the bullpen than the rotation. Musgrove-Darvish-Snell gives them a strong front three, meaning the Padres only really need a couple of these guys to step up. On the other hand, they are one injury away from someone in this group suddenly being in the #3 slot.

The Padres could always supplement their staff between now and Opening Day, but recent reporting has suggested they don’t have much more payroll space to work with. If they want to go the trade route, there are certainly options, such as the Marlins having plenty of arms available and the Brewers perhaps in a similar boat.

Padres Sign Brent Honeywell To Major League Deal

By | at

The Padres and right-hander Brent Honeywell are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s a split deal that will pay him $725K in the majors and $200K in the minors. The Padres subsequently announced the signing.

Honeywell, 28 in March, was selected by the Rays with the 72nd overall pick in the 2014 draft. His strong performance in the lower levels of the minor leagues allowed him to quickly shoot up prospect rankings. Baseball America had him on their top 100 list in five straight years starting in 2016.

Unfortunately, the reason that Honeywell stayed on there so long is that a laundry list of injuries prevented him from exhausting his prospect status. He required Tommy John surgery early in 2018, which wiped out that season. In June of 2019, he fractured a bone in his right elbow while working his way back to the mound, knocking him out of action for a second straight year. In May of 2020, while the pandemic had put the season on pause, he underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve. That eventually made it three consecutive campaigns without Honeywell taking the mound in an official game of any kind.

In 2021, he finally was healthy enough to get back into action, making his MLB debut for the Rays. They only let him throw 4 1/3 innings at the big league level, however, leaving him in Triple-A most of the year. He threw 81 2/3 frames there with a 3.97 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. Those were decent numbers, but considering he missed three whole seasons prior to that, it would be hard to characterize it as anything but a very encouraging return.

The Rays traded Honeywell to the A’s in November, with Oakland surely hoping that better days were ahead with the injuries in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with an olecranon stress reaction in his throwing elbow in March. He was shut down at that time and then was placed on the 60-day injured list when the season began. He started a rehab assignment in August but the club outrighted him off their 40-man roster in September. He continued pitching in the farm system of the A’s, finishing the year with a 7.08 ERA over 20 1/3 innings.

He reached free agency at the end of the year and has been pitching for the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League. He’s made seven appearances so far, including six starts, posting a 0.96 ERA over 28 innings. That’s evidently been enough to convince the Padres that Honeywell is worth a roster spot, as they have added Honeywell to the 40-man. Financially, there’s little risk, since Honeywell’s salary will be just barely above the $720K league minimum. The fact that it’s a split deal suggests that the Padres aren’t fully committed to Honeywell holding onto that spot, which is a fairly logical position given his lengthy injury history. However, he’s out of options, meaning that they would have to pass him through waivers before sending him to the minor leagues.

It’s unclear if the Padres intend to deploy Honeywell as a starter or a reliever, but they’ve shown a broadly flexible approach in that department when it comes to building out their pitching staff. The rotation is headlined by three locks in Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, but who slots in behind them is less certain. Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo are candidates for a couple of spots, but both of them also have experience as relievers. Martinez started 2022 in the rotation but was eventually moved to the bullpen and had better results there. Lugo has just 38 career starts at the big league level but has an extensive repertoire of pitches that could allow him to move to a starting role.

Honeywell is currently acting as a starter in winter ball but hasn’t logged 100 innings in a season since 2017, before his lengthy absence. Counting on him for anything resembling a full starter’s workload would certainly be risky, but he’s just one of a handful of options for the Friars. In addition to Martinez and Lugo, they also have prospects Adrian Morejon, Jay Groome, Ryan Weathers and others on the 40-man roster. For a minimal financial investment, the Padres have thrown Honeywell into the mix and will see if he they can be the ones to benefit from his long-awaited breakout. If that comes to fruition, Honeywell has less than a year of service time and can be retained by the club for the foreseeable future.

Athletics Outright Brent Honeywell

By | at

The A’s announced that right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Honeywell, 27, was drafted by the Rays in 2014 and spent years being considered one of the best prospects in the game. He cracked Baseball America’s top 100 list for five straight years from 2016 to 2020. He stayed on that list for so long both because of his talent and because repeated injuries prevented him from exhausting his prospect status.

Honeywell required Tommy John surgery in early 2018, which wiped out that entire season. In June of 2019, he fractured a bone in his right elbow while working his way back to the mound, making it two straight lost seasons. In May of 2020, while the pandemic had put the season on pause, he underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve. That eventually made it three consecutive campaigns without Honeywell taking the mound in an official game of any kind.

In 2021, he finally was healthy enough to pitch, making his MLB debut for the Rays. They only let him throw 4 1/3 innings at the big league level, however, leaving him in Triple-A most of the year. He threw 81 2/3 frames there with a 3.97 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate.

Those weren’t eye-popping numbers, though it probably would have been unrealistic for Honeywell to just jump to ace-like results after three lost seasons. The A’s acquired him from the Rays in November, hoping that another healthy year could perhaps allow Honeywell to rediscover some of the form that made him such a hot prospect in previous years. Unfortunately, he was dealt another injury setback, diagnosed with an olecranon stress reaction in his elbow in March. That landed him on the 60-day IL to start the year, where he’s been until today. The club didn’t announce that Honeywell had been designated for assignment but they evidently passed him through waivers in recent days.

Since he was on the 60-day IL, Honeywell wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. He was about to, however, as he began a rehab assignment August 16. Rehab assignments for pitchers come with a 30-day maximum, meaning Honeywell was nearing his activation point. Instead, the A’s put him on waivers and passed him through. This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time. He will stick with the A’s without retaking a spot on the roster. In 11 2/3 innings as part of his rehab, he logged an ERA of 8.49, though likely somewhat marred by a .405 BABIP. He’s struck out 19.3% of batters and walked 7% in that small sample.

Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top