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Geoff Hartlieb

Yankees Sign Geoff Hartlieb To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees and right-hander Geoff Hartlieb are in agreement on a minor league deal, as noted in the transactions tracker on Hartlieb’s MLB.com profile page. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training next year.

Hartlieb, 31 in December, got his start in pro ball as a 29th-round pick by the Pirates in the 2016 draft. The righty made a fairly speedy ascent up the minor league ladder in order to debut with the Pirates during the 2019 season. The then-25-year-old Hartlieb struggled badly in his first taste of big league action as he surrendered a 9.00 ERA in 35 innings of work during his rookie year, thanks primarily to a 10.5% walk rate and a whopping eight home runs surrendered during that time. Things seemed to turn around for the right-hander during the shortened 2020 campaign as he settled in at the big league level and posted a solid 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work, but a look under the hood revealed that Hartlieb walked as many hitters (19) as he struck out that year.

In the years since then, Hartlieb hasn’t gotten very much playing time at the big league level. He’s appeared in the majors during the 2021, ’23, and ’24 seasons but has combined for a total of just 22 innings during that time, posting an 8.59 ERA with a 17.3% strikeout rate against a 16.4% walk rate across stints with the Pirates, Mets, Marlins, and Rockies. Colorado was his most recent stop, and he surrendered ten runs (nine earned) while striking out seven and walking four in nine innings of work for the club this year before being outrighted off the club’s roster back in June.

Despite his lackluster results in the majors, the right-hander has looked solid enough at Triple-A throughout his career with a 4.30 ERA and a 24.8% strikeout rate across 226 career innings at the level. His control leaves something to be desired even at that level, however, as he’s surrendered free passes to 10% of his Triple-A opponents over the years. For a Yankees club that’s currently playing in the World Series, the addition of Hartlieb is far from an obvious needle-mover. With that being said, however, the club’s bullpen has generated generally impressive results by utilizing players like Luke Weaver, Tim Hill, and Ian Hamilton who hadn’t been able to find consistent success at the big league level prior to joining the club.

Given the club’s solid track record of turning the castoffs of other organizations into quality big league contributors in recent years, it’s easy to see why the Yankees might think they could turn Hartlieb and his 97.3 mph heater into a legitimate big league weapon. Unearthing another hidden gem for the bullpen this winter could be extremely helpful for the club given the impending free agencies of Hill, Tommy Kahnle, and Clay Holmes. Each of those arms have been a major part of the club’s success this year, with Holmes in particular serving as the club’s closer in the early part of the season before being replaced in the role by Weaver down the stretch.

11 Players Elect Free Agency

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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. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

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Rockies Outright Geoff Hartlieb

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Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Rockies, per a club announcement. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. As a player who’d previously been outrighted in his career, Hartlieb had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but a source tells MLBTR he’ll accept the outright and return to Triple-A.

The 30-year-old Hartlieb pitched nine innings out of the Colorado bullpen and was tagged for nine runs during his short time with the club. He fanned seven batters, walked four and kept the ball on the ground at a 40.6% clip. While the raw run-prevention numbers obviously weren’t encouraging, Hartlieb sported a career-high 97.1 mph on his heater, per Statcast — a notable uptick from the career 95.9 mph mark he carried into the season. His sinker (95.7 mph vs. 94.3 mph career average) and slider (87 mph vs. 84 mph) also had pronounced velocity increases. Additionally, Hartlieb introduced a new cutter that sat at 92.8 mph.

For now, Hartlieb will head back to the Isotopes to continue working on his new-look arsenal. He’s pitched to a 5.61 ERA in a hitter-friendly setting there but carries a solid overall track record at the Triple-A level, including a nice showing with the Marlins’ affiliate last year (3.63 ERA in 44 2/3 frames). In 205 1/3 innings of Triple-A work, Hartlieb has a 4.21 earned run average while fanning 24.8% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate.

Given the general state of the Rockies’ bullpen (collective 5.73 ERA and 4.52 SIERA — both last in MLB) and the potential for some trades of relievers (impending free agent Jalen Beeks, in particular), there’s a decent chance that Hartlieb could get another big league look later this summer. In parts of five MLB seasons between the Pirates, Mets, Marlins and Rockies, the former 29th-round pick carries a 7.37 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate, a 14.4% walk rate and a 47.9% ground-ball rate.

Rockies Select Austin Kitchen

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The Rockies announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Austin Kitchen. Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb was designated for assignment in order to make room for Kitchen on both the 40-man and active rosters in Colorado.

Kitchen, 27, will make his big league debut the first time he gets into a game with the Rockies. The southpaw went undrafted out of Coastal Carolina University back in 2019 and spent the 2020 season pitching for the independent Washington League as a member of the Steel City Slammin’ Sammies. After impressing with a 1.50 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 12 innings of work as a reliever in indy ball that year, the Rockies decided to bring Kitchen into the fold and assigned him to Single-A Fresno during the 2021 season.

Kitchen’s first season in affiliated ball left something to be desired, as he struggled to a 4.97 ERA while striking out just 16.6% of batters faced across 50 2/3 innings of work split between the rotation and bullpen. From 2022 onward, Kitchen moved into something closer to a full-time relief role and saw his results improve noticeably. That first season after moving out of the rotation saw Kitchen strike out a far more respectable 21.2% of batters faced while surrendering an ERA of just 3.32 between the High-A and Double-A levels, and the following season saw him return to Double-A with similar numbers across 59 2/3 relief frames. Kitchen got a taste of Triple-A action at the end of last year but was blown up for six runs in a single inning of work across two appearances.

This year, the southpaw has made 18 relief appearances at the Triple-A level that have gone much better. Kitchen sports a 3.00 ERA that’s all the more impressive given the fact that he plays in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, although his strikeout rate has dipped to a somewhat worrying 17.6% figure in 33 innings of work this year. Nonetheless, Kitchen’s performance has been enough to get him an opportunity in the majors with the Rockies, who could certainly use all the help they can get given their disastrous 5.75 ERA out of the bullpen this year, good for dead last among all big league clubs.

Making room for Kitchen on the active and 40-man rosters is Hartlieb, a 30-year-old righty who has pitched in parts of five big league seasons since making his debut with the Pirates back in 2019. Hartlieb’s big league opportunities have been relatively few and far between since the end of the 2020 season, as he’s appeared in just 14 big league games over the past four years. He’s not exactly impressed in those 22 innings of work, however, surrendering an ERA of 8.59 and striking out just 17.2% of batters faced. That includes a rough stint with Colorado this year, where he’s allowed ten runs (nine earned) on 13 hits and five walks while striking out seven in nine innings of work.

The Rockies will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Hartlieb or attempt to pass him through waivers. If Hartlieb clears waivers, the Rockies can attempt to outright him to the minor leagues, although the right-hander would have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency after being outrighted previously in his career.

Rockies Designate Matt Carasiti, Select Geoff Hartlieb

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The Rockies have designated right-hander Matt Carasiti for assignment, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (X link).  The move creates a roster spot for Geoff Hartlieb, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.

Carasiti has pitched for Colorado in each of the last two seasons, rejoining the organization on a minors contract last winter.  The contract was selected to the big league roster two weeks ago, and the righty has struggled to a 10.38 ERA across 8 2/3 innings and seven appearances.

Between these results and a 5.91 ERA in 21 1/3 Triple-A innings, it’s been a rough season all around for Carasiti, and he’ll now head to DFA limbo to await the next step.  If he clears waivers and the Rockies outright him off the 40-man roster, he has the right (due to a previous outright in his career) to reject a Triple-A assignment in favor of free agency.

The 32-year-old has a 7.41 career ERA over 58 1/3 innings across parts of four Major League seasons — with the Rockies in his 2016 rookie season, with the Mariners in 2019, and the last two years in a return trip to Colorado.  Carasiti has bounced around to a few other spots in his journeyman career, including stints in independent ball and with the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball, as well as some time in the Cubs’ and Giants’ farm systems.

Hartlieb’s career arc is somewhat similar, as the Rockies represent his fifth MLB organization since was initially a 29th-round pick for Pittsburgh in the 2016 draft.  He has a 7.17 ERA over 70 1/3 career innings with three different teams at the big league level, with all but four of those frames coming with the Pirates and Mets from 2019-21.  After spending 2022 in the Red Sox farm system, he then spent most of 2023 also in the minors with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate, though he did make it back to the Show for two appearance and four innings for Miami.

He’ll now get another shot as a fresh arm in Colorado’s bullpen, and any sort of good results will help Hartlieb stick on a Rockies team starved for any kind of relief help.  The Rox rank at or near the bottom of the league in most major pitching categories, particularly on the bullpen side of the ledger.  Hartlieb is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to be designated for assignment himself if the Rockies wish to move him back to Triple-A.

Rockies, Geoff Hartlieb Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent righty Geoff Hartlieb, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The former Pirates and Mets reliever, a client of Paragon Sports International, will presumably head to spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Hartlieb, 29, spent the 2023 season in the Marlins organization and tossed four innings of one-run ball in the Majors. The rest of his season was spent in Triple-A Jacksonville, where he notched a solid 3.63 ERA with a 23.8% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 47.6% ground-ball rate in 44 2/3 innings of bullpen work.

Through parts of four Major League seasons, Hartlieb has been tagged for a 7.17 ERA in 70 1/3 innings, due largely to lackluster command. He’s averaged better than 96 mph on his four-seamer and better than 94 mph on his sinker, generating grounders at a healthy 49% rate and missing enough bats (20.4% strikeout rate) to get by if he could pare down the free passes. Hartlieb, however, has walked 15.1% of his opponents in the Majors, which has unsurprisingly proven untenable.

The Rockies have minimal certainty in their bullpen and figure to have multiple spots up for grabs heading into the 2024 season. It stands to reason that Hartlieb will be one of many experienced bullpen options brought in on minimal or no-commitment deals such as this one. He’s out of minor league options, so if he cracks the big league roster at any point, he’ll have to stick in the Majors or else be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers.

29 Players Elect Free Agency

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October brings postseason play for a handful of teams and their fanbases. Just over two-thirds of the league is now in offseason mode after being eliminated, however. As the season comes to a close, a number of veterans will hit minor league free agency.

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. The first group, courtesy of the transaction tracker at MiLB.com:

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Marlins Outright Geoff Hartlieb

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The Marlins have sent reliever Geoff Hartlieb outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to his transaction log at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment on Wednesday.

Hartlieb pitched only twice for Miami since his contract was selected in early August. He threw four innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts and walks apiece. The 29-year-old righty has spent the bulk of the season in Jacksonville after signing an offseason minor league pact. He has performed well in a hitter-friendly environment, working to a 3.29 ERA while striking out over a quarter of opponents through 38 1/3 innings.

A former 29th round pick of the Pirates, Hartlieb has logged parts of four big league seasons between Pittsburgh, the Mets and Miami. He has a 7.17 ERA in 70 1/3 MLB frames. He has a far better 3.86 ERA in parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level.

Hartlieb has been outrighted twice in his career, meaning he can decline this assignment in favor of free agency. If he chooses to stick with Miami, he’d qualify for minor league free agency at the beginning of the offseason unless the Fish call him back to the majors.

Marlins Place Sandy Alcantara, Jorge Soler On IL

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The Marlins announced that they have placed right-hander Sandy Alcantara on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm flexor strain. Also, outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler going on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain and right-hander Geoff Hartlieb has been designated for assignment. Outfielder Dane Myers and right-hander Edward Cabrera have been recalled while left-hander Devin Smeltzer had his contract selected.

It’s a batch of unfortunate and ill-timed news for the Marlins, who are in the thick of a playoff race. They haven’t qualified for the playoffs in a full season since 2003 but have a chance this year, currently just half a game behind the Reds for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The club hasn’t provided any specifics about the expected absences but it seems possible they might have to undergo the rest of the race without either their best pitcher or their best power hitter.

Alcantara is one of the best pitchers in the sport when at his peak, which he showed last year. He finished 2022 with a 2.28 earned run average over 228 2/3 innings, earning the National League Cy Young in the process. He struck out 23.4% of batters, walked just 5.6% and kept the ball on the ground at a 53.4% rate. Here in 2023, his ERA has jumped to 4.14, but he seemed to have righted the ship after a rough start. He had a 5.08 ERA through June 21 but has a much more palatable 3.13 ERA since then. Soler, meanwhile, is an incredibly inconsistent hitter but is one of the best in the league when on a heater. He has 35 home runs this year and is slashing .240/.329/.513 overall for a wRC+ of 124.

Subtracting that arm from the pitching staff and that bat from the lineup is obviously less than ideal, especially when considering the timing. There’s just over three weeks remaining in the regular season, which doesn’t give either player much time to get healthy before it could be too late. Further updates will undoubtedly come after more tests, but both injuries are worrisome. Oblique strains are notoriously frustrating and can often keep players sidelined for weeks, even in mild cases.

A flexor strain, meanwhile, can be even more serious. Both Dustin May of the Dodgers and Drew Rasmussen of the Rays were diagnosed with flexor strains earlier this year before each required season-ending surgery. That’s not to say that Alcantara is necessarily going to follow the same path, but it shows the potential severity of today’s news.

Looking ahead to the winter, Alcantara won’t be significantly impacted from a financial perspective as he signed an extension that runs through 2026 with a club option for 2027. Soler, on the other hand, has one year and $9MM remaining on his deal but can opt out at season’s end. Assuming he is healthy, he should be able to top that guarantee on the open market based on his strong season and the lack of impact bats available this winter.

For now, it seems as though Cabrera will jump into the rotation to replace Alcantara. The 25-year-old posted a 4.79 ERA in 17 starts earlier this year, with an unsightly 15.4% walk rate, before getting optioned down to the minors. In five Triple-A starts since then, he has a 2.22 ERA with a 10.6% walk rate that’s still high but a marked improvement over his major league results this year.

Hartlieb, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason and had his contract selected a month ago. He’s only been able to get into two big league games in that time, spending much of it on optional assignment. He has a 3.29 ERA in 38 1/3 Triple-A innings this year, with a 25.3% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.7% ground ball rate. He has less than two years of service time but will be out of options next year. The Marlins will place him on waivers in the coming days. If he were to clear, he would have the right to elect free agency by virtue of having a previous career outright.

Smeltzer, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason and has been on and off their roster all year. This is the fourth time the club has selected his contract this season, with each of the previous three instances eventually resulting in him being designated for assignment and accepting an outright assignment. He’s tossed 18 2/3 innings for the club this year with a 5.79 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 4.8% walk rate and 32.8% ground ball rate.

Craig Mish and Jordan McPherson, both of the Miami Herald, relayed the details of these transactions prior to the official club announcement.

Marlins Select Geoff Hartlieb

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Prior to today’s game with the Rangers, the Marlins selected Geoff Hartlieb’s contract from Triple-A Jacksonville.  Left-hander Ryan Weathers was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding transaction.

The move brings a fresh arm into Miami’s bullpen, as Weathers threw 3 2/3 innings of relief on Saturday and was hit hard, allowing six earned runs against the powerful Texas lineup.  It is possible Hartlieb’s stint in the majors lasts for only a day until the Marlins need a roster spot to bring Eury Perez back to the Show, but Hartlieb pitched an inning against the Rangers, marking his first MLB appearance since 2021.

Hartlieb signed a minor league deal with Miami during the winter and has spent the entire season in Jacksonville, though injuries kept him on the shelf until May.  This late start might’ve cost the right-hander an earlier look on the big league roster, as Hartlieb has a 3.18 ERA over 34 relief innings and some solid peripherals (25.5% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate, 47.2% grounder rate).

A 29th-rounder for Pittsburgh in the 2016 draft, Hartlieb tossed 66 1/3 innings over 57 games with the Pirates and Mets from 2019-2021, posting a 7.46 ERA.  The Red Sox acquired him via waiver claim in September 2021 but he didn’t receive any Major League action in over a year in the organization, as Hartlieb had a 5.16 ERA over 61 innings for Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in 2022.

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