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Burch Smith, Daniel Johnson Elect Free Agency

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Burch Smith and outfielder Daniel Johnson have both elected free agency rather than accept outright assignments. There hadn’t been any reporting about either player being removed from the roster but apparently the O’s quietly passed each through waivers quietly in recent days.

Smith, 34, started the year on a minor league deal with the Rays. He had an upward mobility clause in that deal and triggered it at the end of spring training, getting flipped to the Marlins. He stuck with the Fish through the middle of June before getting released and landing with the O’s.

Between those two clubs, he managed to toss 56 1/3 innings this year, allowing 4.95 earned runs per nine. His 19% strikeout rate was subpar but his 5% walk rate was quite strong and his 43.8% ground ball rate around league average. His 63.2% strand rate was a bit on the unlucky side, which was a factor in his 3.66 FIP and 3.79 SIERA being more than a run better than his ERA.

The O’s could have retained Smith via arbitration for 2025, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.6MM salary next year. It appears the O’s didn’t have any intention of doing that, so they put Smith on waivers as an effective early non-tender.

Players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to reject further outright assignments and elect free agency. Smith qualifies on both counts and chose to exercise his right.

Some things last a long time but not Johnson’s tenure on the Baltimore roster. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and had his contract selected on September 21. He got into that day’s game as a pinch runner and later grounded out. He was optioned the next day, making that his only plate appearance of the season.

He has a fairly limited major league track record, also spending some time with Cleveland in 2020 and 2021. He hit 21 home runs in exactly 500 plate appearances at Triple-A this year and slashed .259/.320/.448, but that actually translated to a subpar 97 wRC+ in this year’s inflated offensive environment in the International League.

Johnson still has less than a year of service time and could have been cheaply retained for next year but the O’s decided to move on instead. As a player with a previous career outright, he has the right to reject further outright assignments and exercised that right to return to the open market.

Orioles Activate Jordan Westburg, Ramon Urias

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The Orioles announced this morning that they’ve activated infielders Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias from the 15-day Injured List. Outfielder Daniel Johnson and infielder Livan Soto were optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for the duo’s return on the active roster. Both Westburg and Urias are in the club’s starting lineup for today’s game against the Tigers, with Westburg batting second and playing second base while Urias bats eighth and plays third base.

The reinforcements are greatly appreciated for an Orioles club that that has posted a wRC+ of just 95 in September and ranks 17th in the majors since the start of August, when Westburg was first placed on the IL after suffering a hand fracture on July 31. The 25-year-old was a revelation for Baltimore in 101 games before hitting the shelf, building upon a solid but unspectacular rookie campaign in 2023 to slash .269/.317/.497 (131 wRC+) with 18 homers and 25 doubles in just 420 trips to the plate this year while splitting time between second and third base.

That strong performance quickly turned Westburg into an anchor for the Orioles lineup alongside superstar Gunnar Henderson and veteran slugger Anthony Santander and allowed him to pick up the slack for catcher Adley Rutschman, whose league average performance (104 wRC+) this year is the worst of his career to this point. Westburg’s emergence also made it easier for the club to take things slow with top prospect Jackson Holliday’s adjustment to the big leagues as he’s struggled through his first taste of big league action. With Westburg providing an above-average bat at both second and third base as needed, the Orioles were able to spend much of the early part of the season mixing and matching between Jorge Mateo at the keystone and Urias at the hot corner, with Westburg taking over whichever position was open on any given day.

Speaking of Urias, the 30-year-old has once again excelled in a part time role for the Orioles this year with a .252/.327/.427 slash line (117 wRC+) in 275 trips to the plate this year across 95 games, albeit with some questionable work at the hot corner that’s a far cry from the strong defensive performance that earned him a Gold Glove award back in 2022. Still, Urias’s return to the club’s infield should help further boost an offense that will now be able to rely less on Holliday, who has improved somewhat in his second stint at the big league level but is still hitting just .195/.253/.342 (69 wRC+) with a 30.9% strikeout rate in 49 games since rejoining the big league club at the end of July in place of Mateo, whose season ended due to elbow surgery. In particular, Urias’s return figures to help protect Holliday from left-handed pitching, against whom he’s struck out 36.6% of the time with a wRC+ of just 33 since returning to the big leagues two months ago.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Soto head to Triple-A. It was a brief return to big league action for Johnson, who went 0-for-1 in his lone game with Baltimore yesterday but had previously appeared in 35 games with Cleveland during the 2020 and ’21 seasons. The 29-year-old is now headed back to Triple-A, where he’s slashed a decent .259/.320/.448 in 500 trips to the plate this year. He’ll be joined in the minors by Soto, who was claimed off waivers from the Angels by the Reds this offseason but appeared in just one game with Cincinnati before being dealt to Baltimore at the trade deadline alongside outfielder Austin Slater. Since joining Baltimore, Soto has done well in a bench role with a .462 on-base percentage in 13 trips to the plate. While Soto sports an excellent .351/.400/.494 slash line in the majors for his career, that line comes from just 87 plate appearances across the past three seasons. The 24-year-old is a career .266/.362/.385 hitter at the Triple-A level, which is likely more representative of his true talent level.

Orioles Select Daniel Johnson, Option Coby Mayo

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The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Daniel Johnson from Triple-A Norfolk.  In the corresponding move, infielder Coby Mayo was optioned to Triple-A, as was reported earlier today by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link).

Johnson signed a minor league deal with the O’s during the offseason, and has delivered a solid .259/.320/.448 slash line and 21 homers over an even 500 plate appearances for Norfolk.  This production almost exactly matches his career numbers (.255/.324/.446) over 1542 Triple-A PA and even his minor league career as as whole, covering eight seasons in five different organizations.  Johnson’s only previous Major League experience consisted over 35 games with Cleveland over the 2020-21 seasons, and he has a .582 OPS over 94 PA in the bigs.

In adding Johnson, the Orioles add a bit of outfield depth amidst some uncertainty over Cedric Mullins’ status.  Mullins collided with teammate Austin Slater during Thursday’s game and then didn’t play yesterday due to neck discomfort.  Johnson has almost evenly split his time in the minors as a center fielder and right fielder, so he could step onto the O’s bench to help fill in should Mullins have to miss any more time.

Mayo has hit only .098/.196/.098 over his first 46 plate appearances in the majors, with four singles and four walks.  Almost half (22) of those plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts, and Mayo has looked overmatched by MLB pitching to date.  In the field, Mayo has mostly played third base to help fill the void left behind by the injured Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias, but he has also gotten a few looks at first base since Ryan Mountcastle has also been on the IL.

One of baseball’s top prospects, Mayo has now been twice optioned back to Triple-A since his contract was initially selected to the big league roster on August 2.  Baltimore initially sent Mayo down to the minors on August 15 before bringing him back on September 1 once rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players.  This second visit to the Show didn’t lead to any better results for Mayo, so he’ll return to Norfolk for the tail end of the minor league campaign.

As always, 46 plate appearances is far too small a sample size to cast judgement on Mayo’s future, and countless MLB stars have struggled in their first tastes of big league action.  While obviously the Orioles would’ve loved an early breakout, Mayo remains on the team’s radar for a larger role in 2025.  In the interim, with Baltimore heading for the playoffs and still gunning for the AL East title, optioning an infielder in Mayo could hint that Urias or Westburg are nearing a return from the injured list.

Orioles Sign Daniel Johnson To Minor League Contract

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The Orioles have signed Daniel Johnson to a minor league deal, the team announced. The outfielder is represented by CAA Sports.

Johnson was once a fairly notable prospect in the Washington and Cleveland farm systems. The Nats dealt him to the Indians in 2018 for catcher Yan Gomes. Johnson made it to the big leagues during the shortened season and appeared in 30 games during the ’21 campaign. The New Mexico State product struggled to a .202/.245/.337 slash while striking out 32 times over 94 plate appearances.

Cleveland sent him off the 40-man roster at the end of the 2021 season. He split the 2022 campaign between the Nationals and Mets systems without reaching the majors. Johnson signed a minor league pact with the Padres last winter. He had a solid year between the top two minor league levels. The 28-year-old ran a .271/.348/.469 slash over 537 cumulative plate appearances.

Johnson has tallied a little more than 1000 plate appearances over parts of four Triple-A seasons. He’s a .254/.326/.446 hitter at that level. Johnson can play all three outfield spots but has more experience in a corner, with his top-of-the-scale arm strength playing best in right field.

Padres Sign Daniel Johnson To Minor League Deal

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The Padres have signed outfielder Daniel Johnson to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

Johnson, 27, was originally drafted by the Nationals but was traded to Cleveland in the 2018 deal that sent Yan Gomes to Washington. Johnson was able to get up to the majors with Cleveland, appearing in 35 games over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He hit four home runs in that small sample but also struck out in 34% of his trips to the plate while walking in only 5.3% of them. His batting line in that time was .202/.245/.337 for a wRC+ of 52.

He was outrighted off the club’s roster after that 2021 season and was traded to the Mets in May of 2022. The latter club released him in July, which resulted in Johnson returning to the Nats on a minor league deal. All that bouncing around didn’t seem to suit him well, as he hit a combined .219/.268/.347 for the year. He was much better in Triple-A in 2021, hitting 14 home runs in 72 games and producing a .222/.314/.444 batting line.

Johnson will jump into San Diego’s outfield mix, which is in a temporary state of flux. Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to man right field eventually but won’t be eligible to play in the regular season until he serves the 20 games remaining on his suspension. For the time being, the likely configuration will have Juan Soto in left and Trent Grisham in center, with right field potentially occupied by players like Matt Carpenter, Adam Engel, José Azocar or Brandon Dixon. Johnson will look to fight his way onto the roster alongside other non-roster invitees such as David Dahl and Preston Tucker.

Nationals, Daniel Johnson Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have agreed to a minor league contract with Daniel Johnson, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Johnson, who had recently been released from a minors deal with the Mets, will presumably head to Triple-A Rochester.

The 5’10” outfielder is a familiar face for the organization. He began his professional career as a fifth-round pick of the Nats back in 2016, spending two years in the system. Johnson reached Double-A before being dealt to Cleveland in the Yan Gomes trade over the 2018-19 offseason. After some strong performances in the upper levels of the system, Johnson reached the big leagues with Cleveland in 2020. He never got an extended MLB look and struggled in his brief action, compiling just a .202/.245/.337 showing in 35 games between 2020-21.

Johnson cleared outright waivers last offseason. After a rough 17-game stretch with Triple-A Columbus to open this year, the Guardians flipped him to the Mets for cash in late May. The left-hander missed around a month to injury and didn’t hit at all during a 14-game stint with their top affiliate in Syracuse before being let go. He’ll try to get things back on track with his original club.

Even including his rough 2022 numbers, Johnson has a decent .255/.324/.449 line in parts of three seasons at Triple-A. The 27-year-old also had some prospect pedigree, generally placing among the middle tier of the Washington and Cleveland farm systems between 2018-20. He has an elite arm and an intriguing combination of power and athleticism, but he’s mostly limited to the corner outfield and has run lofty strikeout totals against upper level pitching.

Mets Acquire Daniel Johnson From Guardians

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The Guardians announced that outfielder Daniel Johnson has been dealt to the Mets for cash considerations.  Johnson will be assigned to Triple-A Syracuse.

A fifth-round pick for the Nationals in the 2016 draft, Johnson was acquired as part of the Yan Gomes trade in 2018, and it seemed like Cleveland might have gotten a steal.  Johnson hit a combined .290/.361/.507 with 19 homers over 547 plate appearances with Double-A Akron (167 PA) and Triple-A Columbus (380 PA) in 2019, putting him on the radar to win a job with a team in constant need of outfield help.

However, over 35 games with the Guardians in 2020-21, Johnson has hit only .202/.245/.337 over his 94 career plate appearances in the majors.  While not a huge sample size, the Guards appeared ready to move on from Johnson after the season, as he was designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man roster back in November.

Johnson’s Triple-A numbers came back to earth in 2021, and he has full-on struggled this year, batting .217/.217/.337 in 69 PA with Triple-A Columbus this season.  He’ll now head to the Mets organization for a fresh start, and he’ll provide New York with some depth at all three outfield positions.  Johnson’s defense has been well-regarded, and he possesses a strong throwing arm that makes him ideal for right field in particular.

Diamondbacks Claim Kyle Nelson From Guardians

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The Diamondbacks have claimed reliever Kyle Nelson off waivers from the Guardians, per announcements from both teams. Cleveland also announced that outfielder Daniel Johnson, right-hander Justin Garza and left-hander Alex Young have all cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Columbus. Arizona’s 40-man roster is now full.

Nelson has briefly appeared in the majors in each of the past two seasons. He’s tallied just 10 1/3 combined innings, allowing fourteen runs with nine walks and eight strikeouts. The southpaw has struggled to a 5.26 ERA in 37 2/3 career frames at the Triple-A level as well, but he’d kept runs off the board and punched out batters in droves up through Double-A.

During his limited MLB time, Nelson leaned primarily on a cutter and slider mix. He averaged just under 89 MPH on the cutter and worked in the low-80s with his slider, relying more on movement than velocity. The D-Backs have almost no certainty in the bullpen, as they’re not returning a single reliever who tossed 20+ innings with a SIERA below 4.00 this past season. There should be an opportunity for Nelson to compete for a role in Spring Training, if he sticks on the 40-man roster all winter. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so the D-Backs could shuttle him between Phoenix and Triple-A Reno through 2023 as long as he remains on the 40-man.

Each of Johnson, Garza and Young was designated for assignment last Friday, as Cleveland somewhat remarkably overturned around one quarter of their 40-man roster before the deadline to keep prospects from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft. The Guardians also traded Harold Ramírez and J.C. Mejia (to the Cubs and Brewers, respectively), while losing Scott Moss on waivers to the Phillies.

Johnson has been a fairly well-regarded prospect during his days in the Nationals and Cleveland farm systems, but he hasn’t hit well over his first 94 big league plate appearances. He’ll remain in the organization as non-roster depth and hope to play his way back into an uncertain Guardians’ outfield mix next spring.

Garza and Young logged some big league time in the bullpen this past season, with Young coming over from the D-Backs as a waiver claim in July. Garza pitched to a 4.71 ERA/4.79 SIERA across 28 2/3 innings; Young worked 10 1/3 innings of 7.84 ERA/6.24 SIERA ball with Cleveland. Both hurlers have ample starting experience during their pro careers as well.

Guardians Designate Seven Players For Assignment

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The Guardians announced Friday that they’ve designated outfielders Daniel Johnson and Harold Ramirez; righties Justin Garza and J.C. Mejia; and lefties Kyle Nelson, Alex Young and Scott Moss for assignment.

Cleveland also added a whopping 10 players to the 40-man roster, headlined by top prospects Tyler Freeman and George Valera. Also added to the 40-man roster are Brayan Rocchio, Richie Palacios, Steven Kwan, Jose Tena, Cody Morris, Bryan Lavastida, Konnor Pilkington and Jhonkensy Noel.

Finally, the Guardians have also acquired right-hander Tobias Myers from the Rays in exchange for minor league infielder Junior Caminero, tweets FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen. Myers will also be added to the 40-man roster.

Johnson and Ramirez have been part of a revolving door in an uncertain Cleveland outfield in recent seasons. Neither has hit well enough to lock down a permanent roster spot, although Ramirez did start more than half the team’s games in 2021. Ramirez would have the right to elect minor league free agency if he clears waivers.

Mejia logged significant action as a depth starter this year but struggled. Garza, Nelson and Young saw some bullpen work, while Moss has yet to make it to the major leagues.

The massive turnover highlights the high minors depth Cleveland has stockpiled in recent seasons. The selection of ten prospects is highly atypical, but it’s a testament to the Guardians’ scouting and development staffs that they’ve managed to accumulate so much talent they’re afraid other teams might jump on. That’s particularly true on the position player side, with much of this group being hitters with advanced bat-to-ball skills who could factor onto the big league roster in relatively short order.

Freeman, Valera and Rocchio might be the most notable. All three appeared on FanGraphs’ Top 100 list entering the 2021 season. They’ve all topped out at Double-A Akron, where each posted above-average offensive performances despite being 22 years old or younger. Valera plays center field, while Freeman and Rocchio are middle infielders. Palacios is another infielder with great high minors numbers, while Lavastida is regarded as one of the better catching prospects in the minors.

Indians Place Eddie Rosario On 10-Day IL, Select DJ Johnson

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The Indians announced a series of moves prior to today’s doubleheader with the Rays, including the placement of outfielder Eddie Rosario on the 10-day injured list due to a right abdominal strain.  Left-hander Logan Allen was also optioned to Triple-A.  To fill these roster spots, the Tribe selected the contract of right-hander DJ Johnson from Triple-A and called up outfielder Daniel Johnson and infielder Owen Miller (for the doubleheader, Miller will serve as the 27th man).  To create 40-man roster space for Johnson, Josh Naylor was shifted to the 60-day injured list in the wake of his recent leg surgery.

Rosario has been bothered by abdominal issues for the last week, and after he was an early removal from Monday’s game, an IL placement was deemed necessary to give the outfielder a chance to fully heal.  With a .309/.330/.489 slash line over his last 100 plate appearances, Rosario is finally starting to heat up at the plate, and his absence will remove another bat from the struggling Cleveland lineup.

Signed to a one-year, $8MM free agent deal last winter, Rosario’s first two months with the Tribe were rough, resulting in an overall .254/.296/.389 slash line in 306 PA despite his success over the last four weeks.  The dropoff in slugging is of particular concern, as Rosario was (if anything) a power-first player during the previous four seasons with the Twins.  Since Rosario has never posted good hard-hit ball numbers or taken many walks, the lack of power has curtailed Rosario’s offensive production, though his numbers in June provide some hope that he can get on track in the second half of the season.

A platoon of Daniel Johnson and Oscar Mercado could be the Tribe’s top option to fill in for Rosario in the outfield, and even if Rosario is able to return from the IL pretty quickly, it’s fair to assume that Cleveland will continue to explore trading for an outfielder as the deadline approaches.  The Indians are 42-40 but still within striking distance of the postseason, 6.5 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and 4.5 games back of a wild card berth.  Between a lack of hitting and a bunch of injuries within the rotation, however, the Cleveland front office has a lot of needs to address while at the same time keeping payroll in check and (as always) keeping an eye towards the future.  If the team slumps over the next two weeks, the Tribe’s deadline activity is likely to lean more towards selling than buying, though the Indians have often tried to accomplish both goals in multi-player trades over the last few years.

DJ Johnson inked a minor league deal over the winter, and now looks on the verge of his first big league action since the 2019 season.  After posting a 4.88 ERA over 31 1/3 innings with the Rockies in 2018-19, Johnson played in Japan in 2020, and was also in the mix for a spot on the U.S. Olympic baseball team at the upcoming Summer Games.

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