Pirates Designate Niko Goodrum For Assignment
The Pirates announced they’ve selected left-hander Josh Fleming onto the MLB roster while placing reliever Hunter Stratton on the 15-day injured list due to a triceps strain. To open a spot on the 40-man roster for Fleming, Pittsburgh designated Niko Goodrum for assignment. The Pirates also announced that reliever Ben Heller accepted an assignment back to Triple-A Indianapolis following today’s outright.
Goodrum’s stint with Pittsburgh could last less than a week. The Bucs claimed him off waivers from the Angels on Monday. Skipper Derek Shelton didn’t get him into a game before the need for another pitcher squeezed him off the roster. The 32-year-old utilityman is on his fourth organization of the season. Goodrum initially signed a minor league deal with the Twins. He leveraged an upward mobility clause to secure a 40-man roster spot with the Rays late in Spring Training before bouncing to Los Angeles and Pittsburgh on waivers.
The left-handed hitter appeared in 13 games between the Rays and Angels, hitting .103 with 10 strikeouts and zero extra-base hits. Goodrum had fared well in 17 contests with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A club in Durham, turning in a .270/.387/.444 slash with a trio of home runs. He’ll very likely wind up back on waivers in the next couple days.
Fleming, another former Ray, is back for his second stint of the season. Over the winter, Pittsburgh signed the southpaw to a split deal that pays him at an $850K rate for time spent on the major league roster. Fleming occupied a long relief role early in the year but was tagged for 16 runs over 19 innings. The Bucs ran him through outright waivers in May.
The 28-year-old accepted the minor league assignment and has spent the past month in Indy. His results there haven’t been much better. Fleming has allowed eight runs over 12 2/3 Triple-A frames, striking out five of the 55 batters he’s faced. He’ll work as a multi-inning arm out of Shelton’s bullpen for the time being. Fleming is out of options, meaning the Bucs would again need to run him through waivers if they want to send him back to Triple-A.
Pirates Outright Josh Fleming
TODAY: The Pirates announced this evening that Fleming has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, as relayed by Noah Hines of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
May 14: The Pirates have recalled right-hander Ryder Ryan and designated left-hander Josh Fleming in a corresponding move. Robert Murray of FanSided reported Fleming’s DFA prior to the official announcement.
It’s an unfortunate early birthday present for Fleming, who will turn 28 years old on Saturday. The southpaw signed a split deal with the Pirates in February and has been primarily working out of the club’s bullpen. He technically made one start but went just 2 1/3 innings as the first guy in a bullpen game on April 24.
The results have not been great for the lefty, who has a 5.68 earned run average in 19 innings over 17 appearances. His 15.1% strikeout rate is subpar but right in line with his career rate of 14.9%. He’s still getting ground balls at a good rate, with his 57.1% mark this year just barely below his 58.9% career clip.
The baseball gods have seemingly played a role, as Fleming has a .344 batting average on balls in play and 56.3% strand rate this year, both of which are on the unlucky side. But he also hasn’t done himself any favors with the free passes, as his 10.5% walk rate is above league average and well beyond the 7.1% rate he carried into this season.
Fleming is out of options, so the Bucs didn’t have much choice but to remove him from the 40-man entirely if he’s worn out his welcome on the active roster. They will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Fleming’s deal pays him $850K in the majors and $240K in the minors, per the Associated Press.
He has more than three years of service time and would have the right to reject an outright assignment if he were to clear waivers. However, with less than five years of service time, exercising that right would involve walking away from the remaining money on his deal. Per the recent collective bargaining agreement for minor league players that was signed last year, the minimum salary for a Triple-A player is just $35.8K.
That would be a moot point if another club wanted to acquire Fleming. His career numbers aren’t far off what he’s done this year, as he had a 4.88 ERA with the Rays from 2020 to 2023 before being non-tendered by that club and signing with the Pirates.
Jared Jones Makes Pirates’ Roster; Jared Triolo Likely To Be Named Second Baseman
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’ Trade Talks For Rotation Help Have Slowed
Throughout the late stages of the offseason, the Pirates have reportedly been exploring the trade market for rotation help, with the Marlins (specifically, right-hander Edward Cabrera) being the team most frequently suggested as a potential trade partner. However, while the Bucs talked with the Fish and surely several other clubs about deals to bolster the rotation, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that talks have “lost steam” and that GM Ben Cherington now says he’s increasingly focused on the arms in house.
“If there are things we can do to make the team better, we’re gonna stay on that,” Cherington tells Mackey. “No guarantee those things happen. We’re mostly focused on the guys who are here.”
The Pirates have three slam-dunk members of their Opening Day rotation: Mitch Keller, Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales. Keller, who recently signed a five-year contract extension, will get the Opening Day nod. There are still a pair of open rotation jobs, however, and Cherington suggested there are six or seven options vying for those two opportunities.
The names currently competing include a mix of young prospects, rebound candidates coming off a down 2023 showing, and veterans hoping to win a spot. While the Pirates have already informed 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes that he won’t make the Opening Day roster, fellow top prospect Jared Jones (No. 74 on Baseball America’s top 100 list) is firmly in the mix. Jones may not have the same ceiling as Skenes, but Skenes pitched just 6 2/3 innings last year following the draft. Jones, on the other hand, logged a combined 3.85 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate in 126 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A in ’23. He’s pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings in camp.
Jones, 22, was specifically called out by manager Derek Shelton as a candidate for a spot in the Opening Day rotation (X link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). He’d need to be added to the 40-man roster, which could potentially work against him. That’s not true of Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Bailey Falter and Kyle Nicolas, each of whom is on the 40-man roster. (Lefty Jackson Wolf is as well, but the Pirates already optioned him to Double-A in their first wave of spring cuts).
Contreras and Falter have the most experience of the bunch. Both are looking to rebound from ugly 2023 showings. Contreras looked like a potential rotation staple as recently as 2022, when he pitched 95 innings of 3.79 ERA ball with passable, if unspectacular, strikeout and walk rates (21.1%, 9.6%). However, he lost more than a mile off his heater in ’23 and took a step back in virtually every rate category of note. He’s still only 24 years old and is just two years removed from being a top-100 prospect himself, so there’s ample time for him to figure things out. He’s out of minor league options, meaning he’ll make the roster one way or another — be it in the rotation or in the bullpen. Pirates fans will want to check out Mackey’s piece in full, as it more fully details some of the gains Contreras has shown thus far in camp.
Falter was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline in a swap sending utilityman Rodolfo Castro to the Phillies. The 26-year-old was never as touted a prospect as Contreras was, but the two followed relatively similar arcs otherwise: brief MLB debut in 2021, solid back-of-the-rotation results in 2022, poor showing in 2023. Falter tossed 84 innings with a 3.86 ERA as the Phillies’ fifth starter in ’22, fanning 21.2% of his opponents against an exceptional 4.9% walk rate. Like Contreras, he saw his strikeout, walk, swinging-strike and home run rates all back up in 2023 as he finished out the season with a 5.36 ERA in 80 2/3 frames. Also like Contreras, he’s out of minor league options and will need to make the roster or else be traded or exposed to waivers.
Priester, Ortiz and Nicolas all have minor league options remaining and have all made their big league debuts (in quite brief fashion, for Nicolas). They all ranked within the organization’s top 15 prospects at Baseball America as recently as 2023. Priester and Ortiz both drew top-100 fanfare prior to their debuts. None of the three has established himself on the roster, however. Priester has the best minor league numbers of the group but has been hit harder than Ortiz in the big leagues. Ortiz throws the hardest but has displayed shakier command than Priester. Nicolas still hasn’t had much success above Double-A, so he seems likely ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the year, particularly since he’s already been hit hard in camp.
The Bucs also have a pair of veterans who could compete for a job. Lefty Josh Fleming is on the 40-man roster after signing a split deal late in the winter. He’s out of options and can’t be sent down, but he’s spent the bulk of his MLB career as a swingman with the Rays and could be headed for a similar spot in Pittsburgh. Righty Chase Anderson is in camp on a non-roster deal. The 36-year-old hasn’t posted a sub-5.00 ERA in the big leagues since being traded by the Brewers following the 2019 season but has shown decently in Triple-A while bouncing around the league since then.
Pirates Sign Josh Fleming
11:12am: The Pirates have announced the signing of Fleming and also confirmed their previously reported one-year deal with veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal. In order to create roster space, right-hander Johan Oviedo and catcher Endy Rodriguez were both placed on the 60-day injured list. Both are expected to miss the 2024 season after requiring surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in their respective throwing elbows.
8:45am: The Pirates and lefty Josh Fleming are in agreement on a split major league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Republik Sports client will earn $850K if he’s in the big leagues. Pittsburgh will need to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Fleming to make the contract official.
While Fleming’s deal is a split contract, meaning it comes with different rates of pay in the big leagues and in Triple-A, he’s out of minor league options as well. The minor league salary will only come into play in the event that the Pirates remove him from the 40-man roster and pass him through waivers. At that point, Fleming could reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would require forfeiting the rates of pay on his deal with the Pirates, and he’d be no lock to secure more favorable terms in free agency. As such, he’d likely accept a minor league assignment if that scenario presents itself.
The 27-year-old Fleming pitched for the Rays in each of the past four seasons, working out of both the bullpen and the starting rotation at times. He also operated as a bulk reliever following an opener in Tampa Bay at times. The southpaw has just 2.144 years of Major League service time and can thus be controlled for another four seasons.
Fleming has, at times, looked like a quality fifth starter or swingman. He pitched 51 2/3 innings with the Rays in 2023 and logged a 4.70 ERA with a career-low 11.8% strikeout rate with an 8.6% walk rate while dealing with elbow inflammation. Back in 2020, he made his MLB debut with 32 1/3 innings of 2.78 ERA ball. Overall, Fleming has 223 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 4.88 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate, 7.1% ground-ball rate and a huge 59% grounder rate. The Pirates, per Murray, view him as a long reliever and occasional spot starter.
Although he’s split his time fairly evenly between the bullpen and rotation in the big leagues, Fleming has been far more effective as a reliever (3.73 ERA) than as a starter (6.10 ERA). Right-handed opponents have been a challenge in particular; he’s yielded a .288/.351/.451 slash to opponents who hold the platoon advantage over him.
By the Pirates’ standards, it’s been an active season in free agency. They haven’t handed out any multi-year deals — a common theme throughout Ben Cherington’s time as general manager — but have agreed to one-year pacts with Aroldis Chapman ($10.5MM), Martin Perez ($8MM), Andrew McCutchen ($5MM), Rowdy Tellez ($3.2MM) and Yasmani Grandal ($2.5MM). Pittsburgh also picked up veteran lefty Marco Gonzales in a trade, and he’ll join Perez in filling out the rotation behind Mitch Keller. Pittsburgh has been seeking additional rotation arms, and while Fleming gives them a potential spot starter, he’s unlikely to be penciled in as a full-time rotation member from day one. Further additions to the starting staff, whether via trade or free agency, still seem likely for the Bucs.
National League Non-Tenders: 11/17/23
The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7:00pm CT. Here’s a rundown of fairly minor players on National League teams who have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month.
All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency without being placed on waivers. They’ll be eligible to sign with any of the league’s 30 teams. It’s not uncommon to see non-tendered players almost immediately return to their previous organization on a minor league deal.
The transactions:
Latest Moves
- The Giants non-tendered pitchers Thomas Szapucki, José Cruz and Cole Waites, reports Maria Guardado of MLB.com (X link). None of that trio had been eligible for arbitration.
- No team had a higher percentage of non-tenders than the Braves, who cut seven players loose. As reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (on X), they’re moving on from pitchers Yonny Chirinos, Kolby Allard, Penn Murfee, Angel Perdomo and Michael Tonkin, catcher Chadwick Tromp and infielder Luke Williams. Murfee and Perdomo were recently claimed off waivers.
- San Diego’s non-tenders are covered here.
Earlier
- The Reds have non-tendered relievers Derek Law and Reiver Sanmartin. Cincinnati also confirmed the previously reported non-tender of Nick Senzel.
- In addition to Rowdy Tellez and Brandon Woodruff, the Brewers have non-tendered right-hander J.C. Mejía. He failed a PED test in September, the second such result of his career, and was suspended for 162 games.
- Former Rookie of the Year winner Kyle Lewis was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks. He played in only 16 games after being acquired from the Mariners last offseason.
- The Cubs non-tendered relievers Ethan Roberts, Brandon Hughes and Codi Heuer. All three are recovering from surgeries.
- Right-hander Tommy Doyle was non-tendered by the Rockies. Colorado designated him for assignment when acquiring Cal Quantrill this morning.
- The Cardinals have non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, first baseman Juan Yepez and starting pitchers Jake Woodford and Dakota Hudson. St. Louis reportedly tried to deal Hudson this afternoon but evidently did not find a taker.
- The Mets have non-tendered relievers Jeff Brigham, Sam Coonrod and Trevor Gott. New York also cut loose infielder Luis Guillorme and confirmed the reported non-tender of Dan Vogelbach.
- Left-hander Josh Fleming was non-tendered by the Phillies, the team announced. Philadelphia just snagged the southpaw off waivers from the Rays a few weeks ago.
- The Marlins have non-tendered catcher Jacob Stallings and infielder Garrett Hampson, per a club announcement. Stallings spent two seasons as the primary catcher after being acquired from the Pirates at the 2021-22 offseason. Hampson signed a minor league deal with the Fish last season.
- The Pirates non-tendered Osvaldo Bido and Hunter Stratton, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Neither had yet been eligible for arbitration. Both right-handers made their big league debuts in 2023; Mackey suggests the Bucs will try to bring them back on minor league pacts.
- The Nationals announced they’ve non-tendered first baseman Dominic Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott. Both players were designated for assignment earlier in the week, making this an inevitability.
Phillies Claim Josh Fleming
The Phillies have claimed left-hander Josh Fleming off waivers from the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The southpaw was one of six players placed on outright waivers by the Rays over the weekend.
Fleming, 27, has appeared in each of the past four seasons with Tampa Bay, oscillating between the bullpen and starting rotation. A bout of left elbow inflammation shortened his 2023 campaign, and he’s previously had IL stints for calf and oblique strains as well.
When healthy, Fleming has at times looked the part of a quality fifth starter or swingman. He logged 51 2/3 frames with the Rays this year and notched a 4.70 ERA with a career-worst 11.8% strikeout rate and against an 8.6% walk rate. Back in 2020, he made his big league debut with 32 1/3 innings of 2.78 ERA ball. On the whole, Fleming has piled up 223 1/3 Major League frames, working to a 4.88 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate. In addition to solid command, Fleming owns a massive 59% ground-ball rate at the MLB level.
Although he’s split his time fairly evenly between the bullpen and rotation in the big leagues, Fleming has been far more effective as a reliever (3.73 ERA) than as a starter (6.10 ERA). Right-handed opponents have been a challenge in particular; he’s yielded a .288/.351/.451 slash to opponents who hold the platoon advantage over him.
The Phillies could look to Fleming as depth for the starting staff and possibly a left-handed option in the ‘pen. He’s out of minor league options, so he’d have to stick on the Major League roster on Opening Day 2024 or else be trade or exposed to waivers at some point between now and then. He comes to the Phillies with an additional four years of club control remaining, so if he’s able to get things on track and carve out a role on manager Rob Thomson’s staff, he could be a multi-year piece. Fleming will be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player this offseason, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz has projected him for a $1MM salary.
Rays Place Six Players On Outright Waivers
The Rays have placed catcher Christian Bethancourt, left-handers Jalen Beeks and Josh Fleming, right-hander Cole Sulser, infielder Tristan Gray, and outfielder Raimel Tapia on outright waivers, the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin reports. The wave of transactions clears some space on Tampa’s 40-man roster, and also acts an essentially an early set of non-tender decisions, as five of the six players (all except Gray) were eligible for salary arbitration and project to make a combined $8.4MM in 2024.
That’s not an insignificant sum for a smaller-payroll team like the Rays. Even if the club has said it’s open to a higher than usual payroll in 2024, some cuts were inevitably coming from Tampa Bay’s large arbitration class, both for financial reasons and for simple roster maintenance reasons. Today’s cuts take the club’s projected payroll for 2024 (per RosterResource) from just under $130MM down to just over $121MM. That figure, of course, is still around $42MM higher than the club’s payroll in 2023.
Bethancourt, 32, was the club’s primary catcher for much of the 2023 campaign. Though he was a capable defensive option behind the plate, Bethancourt posted disappointing numbers on offense with a slash line of just .225/.254/.381 in 332 trips to the plate. That line was good for a wRC+ of 74, which ranks 28th among 31 catchers to make at least 300 plate appearances in 2023. Late in the season, Bethancourt was supplanted as the club’s top option behind the plate by 26-year-old backstop Rene Pinto. Given this, it’s of little surprise that the cost-conscious Rays would look for a cheaper option than Bethancourt to back up Pinto in 2024. Bethancourt’s glove work should still see him garner interest as a potential depth option behind the plate alongside other veteran free agents like Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali.
Beeks, 30, made his big league debut with the Red Sox back in 2018 but recorded just 6 1/3 innings of work for the club before being shipped to Tampa Bay. Upon joining the Rays in late July, Beeks posted a 4.47 ERA and roughly matching 4.45 FIP in 44 1/3 innings of work. He largely replicated that league average production over a full season in 2019, with a 4.31 ERA and 4.41 FIP in 104 1/3 innings of work. Beeks pitched well in the shortened 2020 campaign with a 3.26 ERA and 1.79 FIP but made just 12 appearances before having his season cut short by Tommy John surgery.
Upon returning to the big leagues in 2022, Beeks enjoyed the best season of his career with a 2.80 ERA and 3.49 FIP across 61 innings of work. Unfortunately, the 2023 campaign proved to be the worst of Beeks’s career; despite his FIP (3.82) staying relatively similar last season, Beeks saw his ERA balloon up to 5.95 in 42 1/3 innings of work this year. Still, as a left-handed relief option who enjoyed considerable success on the mound as recently as last year, the 30-year-old hurler should find plenty of interest from clubs on the open market, though perhaps not at the level of the $1.8MM salary he was projected for in arbitration.
Fleming was a fifth-round pick by the Rays in the 2017 draft and impressed during the shortened 2020 campaign, which was his rookie season. The then-24-year-old southpaw posted a 2.78 ERA in 32 1/3 innings of work that year, though a 4.40 FIP indicated that Fleming may have had some good fortune on his side in those numbers. In 2021, Fleming was given a larger role as he opened the season as a member of the club’s rotation and started off strong with a 3.39 ERA and 4.15 FIP in 13 appearances through the end of June. Unfortunately, the wheels came off for Fleming from there, and his final 13 appearances saw him post an atrocious 8.05 ERA with a 4.49 FIP in 38 innings of work. That tough end to the season carried into Fleming’s performances in the big leagues the past two seasons, where he combined for a 5.40 ERA and 5.16 FIP in 86 2/3 innings of work. That being said, Fleming’s relative youth and past success could make him an interesting depth option for pitching-needy clubs on a minor league pact this offseason.
Though a member of the Rays organization in 2023, Sulser’s only big league appearances with the club came back in 2019, when he made his big league debut for Tampa with seven scoreless appearances. Since then, Sulser bounced between the Orioles, Marlins, and Diamondbacks organizations before returning to the Rays in 2023 after a difficult 5 1/3 inning stint in Arizona that saw him post a 6.75 ERA. Though Sulser didn’t return to the big leagues this year after re-joining the Rays, he did pitch well in 18 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level for the organization, with a 3.86 ERA and a decent 22.4% strikeout rate. The best season of Sulser’s career came in Baltimore back in 2021, when the righty posted a 2.70 ERA and 2.98 FIP in 63 1/3 innings of work. Now on the open market ahead of his age-34 season, Sulser will join a market deep in veteran depth options as he looks for his next team.
Gray, 27, made his MLB debut with the Rays earlier this season. Though his cup of coffee in the major leagues last just five plate appearances, he managed to notch two hits in that limited time, including a home run. Aside from his first foray into big league play, Gray hit decently well at the Triple-A level this year, with a .235/.312/.485 slash line at the level this year. While primarily a shortstop, Gray has experience at every position on the field except for catcher and center field, which when combined with his solid numbers at Triple-A and his impressive (though very brief) first showing in the majors could make him an attractive depth option to clubs on a minor league deal this winter.
Tapia, 29, spent the first six seasons of his big league career with the Rockies, slashing .280/.325/.396 in 439 career games with the club, though those numbers translate to a wRC+ of just 77 thanks to the inflated offensive environment at Coors Field. Prior to the 2022 season, the Rockies and Blue Jays got together on a deal that swapped Tapia to Toronto in exchange for Randal Grichuk, and Tapia found himself performing solidly as a platoon bat and fourth outfielder for the club. In 433 plate appearances with the Blue Jays in 2022, Tapia hit .265/.292/.380 with a wRC+ of 91. That performance wasn’t enough for Tapia to find a big league deal last winter and left him to bounce between three clubs throughout the 2023 season. In 169 plate appearances between Boston, Milwaukee, and Tampa, the 29-year-old took a step back at the plate with a .236/.317/.338 slash line with a wRC+ of just 80. Tapia figures to look for another minor league deal this coming offseason.
Rays Promote Osleivis Basabe
August 13: The Rays have now officially recalled Basabe, with left-hander Josh Fleming optioned in a corresponding move.
August 12: The Rays will promote infield prospect Osleivis Basabe to the majors prior to tomorrow’s game with the Guardians, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El ExtraBase (Twitter link). Basabe is already on Tampa’s 40-man roster, and his first in-game appearance will mark the 22-year-old’s Major League debut.
The Rangers signed Basabe during the 2017-18 international signing period, but then dealt Basabe to Tampa Bay as part of the five-player swap that saw Nathaniel Lowe end up in Arlington. While Lowe has gone onto become a fixture in the Rangers lineup, it’s rare to see the Rays ever come up short in a trade, and now Basabe looks like an interesting candidate for big-league infield work after a solid season at Triple-A Durham.
Basabe’s hitting took a step up during his 2022 minor league campaign at the high-A and Double-A levels, which earned him his first trip to Triple-A in 2023. His season at Durham has resulted in a .297/.350/.427 slash line and four homers over 424 plate appearances, with 16 steals as well as 24 doubles and seven triples. This performance has boosted his prospect stock, as MLB Pipeline (6th) and Baseball America (7th) each rank Basabe within the top seven minor leaguers in the deep Rays farm system.
Both outlets view Basabe as a 60-grade hitter with 55-grade speed, able to beat out some of the many balls that he puts into play with his excellent contact skills. The power is a question mark, but Basabe’s approach at the plate and ability to draw walks makes him a decent offensive threat even if he might need a bit more pop to stick as a big league regular. Defensively, Basabe is yet another Rays versatile infield prospect, as he has gotten a lot of time at shortstop, second base, and third base and played solidly well at all three spots.
Speculatively, it could be that Basabe might replace Curtis Mead on the active roster, as Mead hasn’t done much at the plate since making his own MLB debut last week. The Rays might prefer to give Mead more regular playing time at Triple-A to get his groove back, whereas Basabe might fit more smoothly into a right-handed hitting, part-time infield role. While the Rays are known for juggling lineups, they’ve gotten into a somewhat regular alignment of Wander Franco at shortstop, Yandy Diaz at first base, Brandon Lowe at second base, and Isaac Paredes at third, leaving little room for Mead, Basabe or anyone to really clock regular at-bats behind these established starters.
Rays Reinstate Josh Fleming, Transfer Shane McClanahan To 60-Day IL
The Rays have reinstated left-hander Josh Fleming from the 60-day injured list, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In corresponding moves, right-hander Cooper Criswell was optioned to Triple-A while lefty Shane McClanahan has been transferred to the 60-day IL. McClanahan will now be ineligible to come back until early October, meaning he won’t return in the regular season. Manager Kevin Cash said a few days ago that it was “highly unlikely” McClanahan would return this year.
Fleming, 27, tossed 48 2/3 innings for the Rays earlier this year, allowing 4.62 earned runs per nine frames. He landed on the injured list in early June due to elbow inflammation but has now returned after just over two months. He had previously been working in a multi-inning role, making starts or serving as a bulk pitcher behind an opener. He will likely return to that role, as his four rehab outings were all two innings or longer.
The Rays have a fair amount of rotation uncertainty, with Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen already out for the year due to elbow surgery. It also seems highly likely that McClanahan could be in that category as well. As mentioned, Cash has said it’s not likely he’ll be back this year, with “everything on the table.” That includes Tommy John surgery, which would put McClanahan’s 2024 season in doubt as well. The path forward hasn’t been confirmed, but this transfer means that the best-case scenario has him returning for the playoffs in October.
The current rotation consists of Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale and Zack Littell, with Fleming likely factoring in as well, either via traditional starts or bulk outings. All of those guys have fairly significant injury histories, to various degrees, making rotation depth a key focus for the club going forward. Taj Bradley has been optioned to the minors and could be recalled at some point.
The Rays are 70-48 and currently possess the top Wild Card spot in the American League. They will surely be hoping to keep their remaining starters as healthy as possible for the rest of the regular season schedule and a potential postseason push thereafter.