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Jose Barrero

Cardinals To Select Jose Barrero’s Contract, Option Thomas Saggese

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The Cardinals will select Jose Barrero’s contract prior to Monday’s game with the Reds, according to reporter Francys Romero.  Infielder Thomas Saggese will be optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and the Cards will need to make another transaction to open up space for Barrero on the 40-man roster.

Though Saggese has hit .341/.364/.512 in 44 plate appearances this season, MLB.com’s John Denton writes that the Cardinals would prefer to have Saggese in everyday action at Triple-A rather than more sporadic playing time on a crowded roster.  Injuries to Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn opened the door for Saggese to get called up in early April, though now that both players are back in action, Saggese’s role would be reduced if he remained in St. Louis.

The situation implies that Barrero will be just a depth piece with the Cards, and his out-of-options status means that he might be facing a relatively quick trip to the waiver wire should St. Louis need to make another roster move.  Still, the contract selection puts Barrero on track for what would be his first big-league appearance since the 2023 season.  Barrero might even get a chance to face his old team during this upcoming series, as Barrero spent his entire pro career with the Reds before he was claimed off waivers from the Rangers back in March 2024.

A highly-regarded prospect during his time in Cincinnati’s farm system, Barrero has hit only .186/.242/.255 over 447 career PA in the majors from 2020-23.  Between this lack of production and the rise of several other Reds infield prospects, Barrero found himself the odd man out.  The move to Texas didn’t result in any big-league playing time last year, as Barrero was hampered by injuries and hit .188/.277/.346 in only 188 Triple-A plate appearances.

Barrero chose to become a minor league free agent following the season and quickly signed on with St. Louis on a minors contract.  The change of scenery has worked so far, as Barrero’s bat came alive to the tune of a .301/.396/.530 slash line over 96 PA at Triple-A Memphis.  Barrero has spent the large majority of his career as a shortstop, but he has a good chunk of experience as a second baseman and center fielder, and a handful of games as a third baseman and in right field.

Cardinals, Jose Barrero Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals and utility man Jose Barrero are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to a report from Francys Romero. Per Romero, the deal also includes an invite to big league Spring Training.

Barrero, 27 in April, came up in the Reds organization and received some top-100 prospect buzz following his debut in the shortened 2020 season despite hitting just .194/.206/.194 in 24 games that year. He never quite lived up to that promise as he struggled to establish himself offensively at the big league level, slashing just .184/.248/.267 in the majors from 2021 to 2023 with Cincinnati. Despite that lackluster offensive production in the majors, he has shown some signs of life at the Triple-A level throughout his career. In particular, Barrero hit an impressive .258/.333/.540 with 19 homers, 17 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in just 334 trips to the plate at Triple-A Louisville during the 2023 campaign.

That was Barrero’s final season with the Reds, as he was designated for assignment in March of 2024 when Cincinnati decided he wouldn’t make the club’s active roster despite having no minor league options remaining. That led him to be plucked off waivers by the Rangers, although he was once again designated for assignment in the run-up to Opening Day in order to make room for Jared Walsh on the club’s roster. This time, however, he went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. Unfortunately for Barrero, he wouldn’t crack the majors with the Rangers as he hit just .188/.277/.346 in 49 games with the club’s Round Rock affiliate in an injury plagued season that saw his season debut delayed until May and his final game played on July 4.

Now that Barrero is presumably healthy, however, he elected free agency earlier this month and hit the open market for the first time in his career. That opened the door for him to sign on with the Cardinals, who enter the winter facing plenty of uncertainty as trade rumors swirl around veteran players such as Nolan Arenado. Given the possibility of trades from the club’s positional corps this winter, adding a versatile defender like Barrero could make sense as a potential bench option should he perform in the spring, or even as a non-roster depth piece to protect against injury throughout the year should he remain in the minors.

Barrero’s path to playing time in St. Louis is somewhat complicated, however. The 26-year-old has primarily played shortstop and center field to this point in his career, but the Cards have rookie Masyn Winn locking down shortstop while defensively-gifted youngsters Michael Siani and Victor Scott II figure to vie for regular playing time in center next year. Even so, Barrero could find use as a versatile utility option, as he’s played every position besides first base and catcher throughout his career. It’s even possible that Barrero, should he make his way onto the St. Louis roster next year, finds some playing time as a platoon partner for either Siani or Scott in center field, as both are left-handed hitters with unimpressive offensive numbers against southpaws.

12 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 or MLB.com logs unless otherwise stated.

Infielders

Pitchers

* Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that Dalbec, Westbrook, and Keller have elected free agency. Francys Romero reported that Barrero has elected free agency.

Rangers Place Tyler Mahle On 60-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced today that right-hander Tyler Mahle has been placed on the 60-day injured list. Combined with yesterday’s outright of infielder José Barrero, the club opened two spots to select the contracts of right-hander José Ureña and first baseman Jared Walsh, moves which were previously reported.

Mahle, 29, underwent Tommy John surgery in May while with the Twins. He reached free agency after last year and signed with the Rangers, a two-year deal with a $22MM guarantee, with the club knowing they weren’t going to get any contributions from Mahle in the first few months of that deal. He’ll join Jacob deGrom, who is also rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day IL as both pitchers look to come back later in the year.

Notably, right-hander Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day IL but has not been placed on the 60-day IL and it doesn’t seem like he will, at least for now. He underwent back surgery in December and it was announced at that time that he would probably be sidelined into June or July. However, more recent developments have suggested he may be able to beat that timeline, with manager Bruce Bochy suggesting a few weeks back that Scherzer was ahead of schedule.

“My guess is we do not do that,” general manager Chris Young said about the matter yesterday, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. Today, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News relays that Scherzer threw a bullpen and characterized himself as “early February,” suggesting he’s perhaps about six weeks behind schedule.

Placing Scherzer on the 60-day injured list, whether it’s now or later, would mean he’s ineligible to be activated until late May. It seems like he may be able to return somewhere in that vicinity, so the Rangers are leaving that option open for now. If the timeline changes in the weeks to come, they could transfer him to the 60-day IL at that point and it will be backdated to his recent placement on the 15-day IL. In other words, even if he gets transferred to the 60-day IL a month from now, he could still be reinstated in late May.

The Rangers’ rotation will likely change a lot over the course of the year. They will start the season with Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford but reinforcements will be coming throughout the year. Michael Lorenzen was recently signed but he’ll need a few weeks to build up into game readiness. It sounds like Scherzer won’t be far behind him with Mahle and deGrom to follow as the season progresses.

Rangers To Select Jared Walsh

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The Rangers are going to select the contract of first baseman Jared Walsh, with Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today among those to relay the news. Walsh was in camp on a minor league deal but will be added to the roster prior to Opening Day. Wilson adds that the club outrighted infielder José Barrero, creating an opening on the 40-man roster. They will still need two more roster spots for Wyatt Langford and José Ureña but could perhaps accomplish that by moving Tyler Mahle and Max Scherzer to the 60-day injured list.

Walsh, 30, seems like he will be the club’s regular first baseman for a while. Nathaniel Lowe suffered an oblique strain a couple of weeks ago, forcing the Rangers to pivot to backup plans. Walsh hit three home runs this spring and walked at a 14% clip. He also struck out in a third of his plate appearances but produced a solid batting line of .250/.368/.458.

If he can carry that over into the regular season, it will make for a feel-good comeback story. He hit .280/.338/.531 for the Angels over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, leading to a 130 wRC+ seemingly establishing himself as a mainstay of that club in the process.

But the last two years have been a struggle. He hit just .215/.269/.374 in 2022 and ultimately required surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome. Last year, he had to deal with neurological issues, including insomnia and headaches, while hitting just .125/.216/.279. The Angels outrighted him off the roster at the end of the year and Walsh secured a minor league deal with the Rangers.

If Walsh can overcome those two rough years and get back to the form he showed prior to that, it would be a nice find for the Rangers. It might lead to a bit of a squeeze when Lowe gets back but that would be a good problem for the Rangers to have. Walsh doesn’t have roster flexibility since he’s out of options but he does have between three and four years of service time, meaning he could be retained beyond this season if he hangs onto a roster spot for the whole campaign.

Barrero, 26 next week, was just claimed off waivers from the Reds last month. He’s hit just .186/.242/.255 in his big league career thus far but has played both middle infield positions and center field. He’ll stick with the Rangers as non-roster depth.

Rangers Claim Jose Barrero Off Waivers From Reds

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The Rangers announced that infielder Jose Barrero was claimed off waivers from the Reds.  Reporter Francys Romero (X link) revealed earlier today that Barrero was heading to Texas, though Romero indicated that the transaction was a trade rather than a waiver claim.  In a corresponding move, Texas placed right-hander Carson Coleman on the 60-day injured list, as Coleman will be out until at least midseason recovering from Tommy John surgery.

It wasn’t long ago that Barrero was seen as a building block prospect, with Baseball America ranking him as the 33rd-best minor leaguer in the sport prior to the 2022 season.  However, Barrero struggled badly at the plate in both Triple-A and in the big leagues in 2022, even though he got back on track in the minors with a nice .258/.333/.540 slash line with Triple-A Louisville in 2023.  Barrero is now out of minor league options, and since several other Reds infielders have now passed him on the depth chart, Cincinnati apparently viewed the 25-year-old as expendable.

Barrero has hit only .186/.242/.255 over 447 career plate appearances in the majors, and it remains to be seen if he can produce even passable numbers against big league pitching.  Still, it wouldn’t be the first time that a post-hype prospect has become a late bloomer after a move to a new organization, and Barrero’s Triple-A numbers indicate that he hasn’t entirely lost his batting eye.

Even beyond the hitting contributions, Barrero also offers good speed (69 steals in 87 attempts during his minor league career) and quality defense at multiple positions.  Barrero has mostly played shortstop during his pro career, but has also gotten some action as a second baseman and even in center field, as the Reds looked for creative ways to find playing time for their many infielders.

Barrero’s versatility is a benefit to a Rangers team that has some early questions within their infield.  First baseman Nathaniel Lowe is battling an oblique strain and might need to start the season on the 10-day injured list.  Josh Jung was sidelined with a minor calf strain three weeks ago and is showing improvement, though isn’t yet back to full baseball activity.  The duo of Ezequiel Duran and Josh H. Smith can cover third base if Jung needs to miss any regular-season time, though Duran might be needed at first base in Lowe’s absence, Barrero can help pick up the slack.

Matt Duffy and Jared Walsh are also in camp on minor league deals and top prospect Justin Foscue seems ready for his MLB debut, though Barrero’s presence now gives the Rangers more depth to work with as Opening Day approaches.  Since Barrero is out of options, Texas would have to either carry him on the 26-man roster or expose him to waivers in order to send him back down to Triple-A, and this status could make it a little tricky for Barrero to break camp with the team depending on how the Rangers want to line up their roster.

NL Notes: Diamondbacks, Nationals, Reds

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The Diamondbacks have removed Mark Melancon from the closer’s role, writes Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic. Melancon was signed in the offseason to a two-year, $14MM deal, and there’s still value to be extracted from that deal, even if Melancon doesn’t return to the ninth inning. After all, Melancon may still receive some save opportunities, but the Diamondbacks will explore a situation-based approach for the rest of the season. Let’s check around the league for other roster updates…

  • The Nationals have released southpaw Josh Rogers, who elected free agency after clearing outright waivers. Infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon has also been granted his release. Strange-Gordon was in his second stint with the Nationals this season, but he requested a release after not being called up to the Major League club, per Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com. As for Rogers, the 28-year-old began the year in the Nats’ rotation, making three starts before a move to the bullpen. In all, Rogers posted a 5.13 ERA/6.42 FIP over 26 1/3 innings.
  • Kyle Farmer’s run of 192 consecutive starts at shortstop will end with a move to the hot corner, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Youngster Jose Barrero is getting the call-up from Triple-A, and he’ll be given the rest of this season to showcase his ability to be a regular at the position. Farmer, meanwhile, will move to third base and, in the long term, probably back into more of the utility role that he played for most of his career before taking over as the Reds regular shortstop in 2021. Farmer was a substantial defensive upgrade over Eugenio Suarez at the time, but his defensive metrics (-4 OAA, -1 DRS) at shortstop suggest there’s still room to improve for the Reds as a franchise.

Reds Activate Jose Barrero From IL, Option Him To Triple-A

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The Reds announced they’ve activated shortstop José Barrero from the 10-day injured list. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Louisville, so no additional move is necessary.

Barrero has been on a rehab assignment with Louisville since May 20, and he’ll remain with the Bats for the time being. Position players are allowed up to 20 days on rehab stints before the team must either reinstate them from the IL or recall them from the stint and shut them down for at least another five days (if the player has suffered a setback or a new injury). Barrero’s rehab window was set to wrap up on Wednesday.

The team evidently determined Barrero needs more reps against minor league arms, though, so they’ll keep him on optional assignment. The 24-year-old hasn’t played in a major league game this season after suffering a left hamate injury in Spring Training. While he’s obviously now healthy enough to play, he’s shown some signs of rust with Louisville. Barrero has punched out in 24 of his 57 plate appearances (42.1% rate) on the rehab stint, although he’s also collected a trio of home runs and doubles apiece.

Barrero will spend some more time with the Bats, but he figures to make his return to Cincinnati at some point in the not too distant future. The native of Cuba has been one of the organization’s most promising young players for the past few years, and he entered the 2022 campaign as Baseball America’s #33 overall prospect. He looked a strong candidate to open the season as the Reds shortstop before his Spring Training injury.

Between 2020-21, Barrero tallied 124 plate appearances over 45 MLB games. He’s stumbled to a .197/.242/.248 line, striking out 34.7% of the time against a tiny 3.2% walk rate. He combined for a huge .303/.380/.539 mark between Double-A Chattanooga and Louisville last season, though, and he’s regarded by prospect evaluators as a potential above-average defender at shortstop. It stands to reason the Reds will want to get an extended look for Barrero against big league arms after he gets his timing down in Triple-A, particularly since the club has floundered to an 18-35 start and is a virtual lock to miss the postseason.

Kyle Farmer has been the Reds’ primary shortstop this season, just as he was last year. The former catcher has held his own, entering play Monday with a .258/.314/.421 slash that checks in right around league average by measure of wRC+. It’s the second straight solid season for Farmer, who has surprisingly developed into a regular in his early-30’s.

Farmer will continue holding down the shortstop job while Barrero is in the minors, but it stands to reason other teams will inquire about his availability leading up to the August 2 trade deadline. Cincinnati is likely to listen on veterans this summer given their first-half struggles, and Farmer could be an affordable target for shortstop-needy teams. He’s playing this season on a $3.155MM salary, and while the former eighth-round pick is controllable through 2024, Barrero’s presence and Farmer’s age (32 in August) could push the Reds to deal him in the next couple months.

The Reds are soon to get some help on the other side of the second bag, as the club informed reporters that Jonathan India will start a rehab assignment in Louisville this week (via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). India has been out of action for a bit more than a month dealing with right hamstring trouble, and the reigning NL Rookie of the Year says he’s targeting June 17 for a return to the big league club. India has only appeared in 11 games this year on account of a pair of IL stints.

Reds Return Aquino, Ashcraft, Motter To Minors

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MAY 23: As expected, Cincinnati announced this morning that Mahle, Almora, Kuhnel and Drury have been reinstated from the restricted list before tonight’s series opener with the Cubs. Aquino, Aschraft and Motter have been returned to the minors and are no longer on the 40-man roster.

MAY 20: The Reds announced a host of roster moves before their series against the Blue Jays. First baseman Joey Votto has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list. Outfielder Aristides Aquino, righty Graham Ashcraft and utilityman Taylor Motter have all been selected to the majors as designated COVID “substitutes.”

Cincinnati placed four players — Tyler Mahle, Albert Almora Jr., Joel Kuhnel and Brandon Drury — on the restricted list. That’s standard procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 playing on teams that are headed to Toronto. The Canadian government prohibits unvaccinated players from entering the country, so that quartet will be unavailable for this weekend’s series.

Votto returns after missing more than two weeks because of virus concerns. The six-time All-Star began experiencing COVID symptoms during the first week of May, and he wound up missing enough time the organization sent him on a brief minor league rehab assignment. After a pair of appearances with Triple-A Louisville, the Toronto native returns for a set against his hometown club. He’ll look to right the ship offensively after the time off; Votto has opened the season in a dreadful .122/.278/.135 slump through 22 games.

Aquino, Motter and Ashcraft all occupy temporary spots on the roster. That the club specified they were COVID substitutes suggests it’s likely to be a brief stint for all three. Players whose contracts are selected with that designation can be removed from the 40-man roster and returned to the minors without passing through waivers as the team returns to full strength. In the Reds’ case, that’ll be after this series, so each of Aquino, Motter and Ashcraft is probably only up for three days.

The righty-hitting Aquino opened the year in the majors but got out to an awful start. He was outrighted off the roster earlier this month, but he’s tattooed Triple-A pitching (.314/.405/.743 with four homers) through ten games. Motter signed a minor league deal last month. The righty-hitting utilityman is hitting .245/.344/.566 with Louisville and offers some multi-positional depth in Drury’s place.

While this figures to be a brief stint for Ashcraft, the 24-year-old will probably play a notable role on the roster before too long. A sixth-round pick out of UAB in 2019, the 6’2″ hurler has quickly developed into one of the better arms in the farm system. Ashcraft split last season between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga, posting an even 3.00 ERA across 111 innings. He’s spent this year with Louisville, working to a 1.65 ERA over seven starts, albeit without great strikeout or walk numbers.

Baseball America recently ranked Ashcraft the #12 prospect in the Cincinnati organization, praising a mid-90s cut fastball that serves as his primary offering. Both BA and FanGraphs — which slotted him #17 in the system — suggest that Ashcraft’s below-average changeup and inconsistent control point to a long-term bullpen future, but he’s remained a starter to this point as a pro. Ashcraft will have to be added to the 40-man roster next offseason to keep him from selection in the Rule 5 draft, and potential trades by the last-place Reds could open an extended opportunity for him later this summer.

Cincinnati also announced that shortstop José Barrero will begin a rehab assignment with the Bats. The club’s anticipated regular shortstop, he hasn’t played this season after suffering a hamate injury during Spring Training. Position players can spend up to 20 days on rehab assignments, suggesting Barrero’s set to make his 2022 debut within the next three weeks assuming all goes well in the minors.

Reds’ Jose Barrero Expected To Miss Six Weeks With Hamate Injury

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Reds infielder Jose Barrero has been sidelined with a sore left wrist, and that injury has now been revealed as issue with his hamate bone, The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans reports (via Twitter).  Barrero is going to visit a hand specialist for a second opinion, but the expectation is that he’ll miss six weeks of action.

The injury appears to have originally occurred earlier in the offseason, as Reds manager David Bell told The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters that Barrero “said he felt something this winter and took a little bit of time off, then it was fine.  He did something on the field a couple of days ago that re-aggravated it.  It’s one of those things without having the ability to talk to him [during the lockout], we had no idea that it was going on.”

The result is that Barrero looks set to begin the season on the injured list, which is an unfortunate setback for one of the Reds’ most promising youngsters.  Barrero has seen a bit of action in each of the last two MLB seasons, hitting only .197/.242/.248 over 124 total plate appearances.  Much more production came at the minor league level in 2021, as Barrero hit a combined .303/.380/.539 with 19 home runs over 380 plate appearances with Double-A Chattanooga (180 PA) and Triple-A Louisville (200 PA).

It was a nice showing for the player Baseball America ranks as the top prospect in Cincinnati’s farm system, and the 33rd-best prospect overall in the sport.  According to BA’s scouting report, Barrero projects as “an above-average defender at shortstop,” and Reds GM Nick Krall said earlier this week that Barrero’s spring work would focus on the shortstop position rather than in center field.  Barrero made seven appearances as a center fielder last year as Cincinnati looked for way to get him into the lineup, as Kyle Farmer emerged as the Reds’ regular shortstop.

Since Farmer can play multiple positions, Barrero isn’t exactly blocked as the potential shortstop of the future, though his development will be put on hold as he recovers from his hamate injury.  With the Reds’ recent selloff of higher-priced veteran players, contending doesn’t seem to be the team’s top priority for 2022, so Barrero may likely get a longer stretch of playing time later in the season when he’s healthy and if the Reds have fallen out of the pennant race.

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