Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Matt Sauer

Dodgers Reinstate Emmet Sheehan

By | at

June 18: Sheehan has now been officially reinstated. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full. Sauer was optioned as the corresponding active roster move.

June 14: The Dodgers are planning to activate right-hander Emmet Sheehan from the 60-day injured list this week, according to a report from The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. He’ll join the big league rotation upon being activated, though Ardaya notes that the Dodgers won’t decide exactly when to activate him until after Sheehan throws his next bullpen session. Sheehan will require a 40-man roster spot once activated, so a corresponding 40-man move will be required if the Dodgers’ roster is full at that point.

Regardless of the exact timing of Sheehan’s return, getting him back figures to be a huge boost for a Dodgers rotation that recently had to move right-hander Ben Casparius onto a starter’s schedule after months of excellent numbers in relief due to a lack of viable alternatives. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, and Clayton Kershaw are the only other healthy regular starters L.A. has rostered at the moment, with depth options like Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller, and Landon Knack having more or less disqualified themselves with their significant struggles when called upon for spot starts. Sheehan is a more proven commodity than those options, with 11 big league starts to his name after debuting with the Dodgers last year.

While Sheehan seems a bit safer to give the ball to than the club’s other depth options, that shouldn’t be taken to mean this is a riskless move. After all, Sheehan has a career 5.23 ERA out of the rotation in the majors and has not pitched in the big leagues since 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He looked better than that in his most recent outings, however, with a 3.68 ERA and 4.35 FIP across 22 frames in September. Sheehan seemed likely to be firmly in the Dodgers’ rotation mix for last year despite his uneven performance, but he went under the knife almost exactly 13 months ago to the day and hasn’t pitched at the big league level since.

The right-hander has made four rehab starts this year, with a 3.97 ERA in 11 1/3 innings of work during that time. That overall line doesn’t do Sheehan’s performance in those four outings justice; he’s struck out 44.7% of his opponents while rehabbing and limited opposing batters to just one walk. That’s come against minor league hitters, of course, and the jump from minor league opponents to the big leagues is larger than ever these days. Even so, it’s an undeniably encouraging sign that he’s been able to punch out that many hitters even as he’s rebuilding to a starter’s workload.

Once activated, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Dodgers ease Sheehan into the starting rotation. He’s only built up to 63 pitches so far, which could make him a prime candidate to either be used alongside an opener or perhaps piggyback with another pitcher like Wrobleski or Matt Sauer. In any case, adding another arm to a fraught Dodgers rotation that seems unlikely to get further reinforcements before Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching sometime next month has to be a significant relief for the entire pitching staff.

Dodgers Recall Matt Sauer, DFA José Ureña

By | at

3:50pm: It’s now official, with the Dodgers announcing they have recalled Sauer and designated Ureña for assignment.

8:03am: Speaking to reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) after last night’s extra-innings victory over the Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed that the team is planning to recall right-hander Matt Sauer from Triple-A. Sauer is already with the team in San Diego as a member of the taxi squad, but the Dodgers will need to formally add him to the roster before he can pitch this evening. To do so, they will designate veteran righty José Ureña for assignment (per Ardaya).

Drafted by the Yankees in 2017, Sauer made his MLB debut last season with the Royals, who had selected him in the Rule 5 draft. However, Kansas City DFA’d him after he gave up 14 runs in his first 14 games, and he returned to finish out the season in New York’s farm system. The righty elected free agency this past offseason and signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in December. This will already be Sauer’s fifth stint with the Dodgers this year. He made the travel roster for the Tokyo Series (although he did not appear in a game) and has since been optioned and recalled several times. All told, he has thrown 20 2/3 innings over seven appearances, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 16 hits. The 26-year-old has only struck out 13 batters (16.7% K%), but his low walk rate (3.8%) and high groundball rate (49.2%) have helped him keep runners off the bases and runs off the board. As has been the case each previous time he was recalled, Sauer isn’t likely to stick around on L.A.’s 26-man roster for long. That said, a player can only be optioned five times in a season, so the next time the Dodgers option him will be the last.

Due to the Dodgers limited rotation depth – Tony Gonsolin recently joined fellow starters Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt and Gavin Stone on the IL – Sauer is likely to pitch multiple innings as part of a bullpen game today. However, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register suggests he will probably come in after an opener rather than start the game.

Ureña signed with the Dodgers last week, shortly after the Blue Jays DFA’d him. As Ardaya notes, the Dodgers will only be on the hook for a prorated portion of the league minimum salary for the few days he spent on their active roster. In that time, Ureña made two appearances for L.A., giving up one run on four hits over three innings. Altogether, he has pitched 18 1/3 innings this season for the Mets, Blue Jays, and Dodgers, with a 5.40 ERA and 5.09 SIERA to show for it. Considering his long MLB track record and versatility – he can pitch into the fifth inning as a starter or touch 98 mph out of the bullpen – he shouldn’t have trouble latching on somewhere else. The journeyman might not be seeing the same success he enjoyed with the Rangers in 2024 (3.80 ERA in 109 IP), but there’s a reason three contending clubs have put him on their roster this season.

Latest On Dodgers’ Rotation

By | at

10:00PM: Roberts provided a few more updates on the pitching staff in today’s meeting with reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times).  Snell and Glasnow will throw bullpen sessions tomorrow, and Sheehan will make another Triple-A rehab start this week with the aim of going four innings deep into the game.  “If he can do that, then he’s sort of going to be a viable conversation” for an activation from the IL, Roberts said.  Matt Sauer has also joined the team in San Diego on the taxi squad, and could be officially recalled if the Dodgers need a fresh arm for the remainder of their series with the Padres.

10:30AM: Right-hander Tony Gonsolin became the latest Dodgers pitcher to hit the injured list over the weekend, but an MRI to evaluate his ailing elbow showed that his surgically repaired ulnar collateral ligament is intact, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Manager Dave Roberts said there’s no timetable yet for Gonsolin to resume throwing. An exact diagnosis of his injury remains unclear.

Even with the uncertain outlook, it’s a sigh of relief for the Dodgers that Gonsolin isn’t facing renewed damage in that UCL. Another tear would’ve sidelined him more than a year and possibly kept him out through the end of the 2026 season. That’d likely have ended Gonsolin’s Dodgers tenure, as he’s owed a raise on a $5.4MM salary this offseason and is only under club control through the 2026 campaign. Any injury that threatens to wipe out significant time in 2026 would result in a non-tender.

The 31-year-old Gonsolin’s return from his 2023 Tommy John procedure has been a mixed bag. He’s pitched in seven big league games this year, looking sharp out of the gate (2.81 ERA, 21-to-4 K/BB ratio in his first 16 innings) before stumbling over his past four trips to the mound. Since May 18, Gonsolin has faced the Angels, Mets (twice) and Yankees. He’s surrendered a combined 15 runs in 20 innings and served up 20 hits with an ugly 17-to-14 K/BB ratio. A whopping seven of those hits have been home runs.

Gonsolin is one of eight starting pitchers on the injured list — a number that doesn’t even include Shohei Ohtani, who’s still working his way back toward a return to the mound. Front-line arms like Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell have barely pitched this year and are on the 60-day IL at the moment. Touted young arms like Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt and Gavin Stone opened the season on the injured list — the first three recovering from 2024 Tommy John procedures and the latter on the mend from a shoulder operation that’s likely to cost him the entire 2025 season. Prized young right-hander Roki Sasaki has been out for a month now due to a shoulder impingement.

At the moment, the Dodgers have a healthy Yoshinobu Yamamoto atop the rotation. He’s followed by franchise icon Clayton Kershaw, right-hander Dustin May and southpaw Justin Wrobleski. Veteran José Ureña is working a multi-inning role in the bullpen but has extensive experience as a starting pitcher. Rotation options down in Triple-A and already on the 40-man roster include Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Nick Frasso and Matt Sauer. Frasso and Miller have struggled in the minors this year. Knack has been hit hard in seven big league starts. Sauer has been sharp in Triple-A and looked solid in a swingman role during limited MLB time.

Even with that laundry list of injuries, however, general manager Brandon Gomes downplayed his team’s need to go out and acquire starting pitching ahead of next month’s trade deadline. Chatting with Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Gomes stated: “With the information we have, and where the guys are now and progressing, the expectation is we will have all we need in-house.”

There could be some gamesmanship at play there, of course. It’s also notable that those comments came before Gonsolin’s placement on the injured list. Further injury troubles or setbacks for any of their on-mend-arms in the next six weeks can always heighten the need for outside help.

As things stand, the Dodgers do appear to have some near-term help on the horizon. The aforementioned Sheehan is about 13 months removed from his Tommy John surgery and is already on a minor league rehab assignment. He’s made three starts — one in the Rookie-level Complex League and two in Triple-A — and tallied nine innings of one-run ball with 14 strikeouts and just one walk (plus another plunked batter).

Sheehan tossed 57 pitches in his most recent outing on June 7. He’ll presumably need at least one more rehab start — very likely another couple — before he’s an option to rejoin the big league club, but Sheehan is a former top-100 prospect and is still just 25 years old. The right-hander’s 96.3 mph average fastball is actually up a bit from his pre-surgery levels, though it’s worth bearing in mind that he’s still effectively throwing short stints and thus not running into any velocity decline as he turns a lineup over two or three times. Regardless, his rehab work is encouraging, and Sheehan could be an option to help the big league staff before the end of the month.

Dodgers Place Evan Phillips On IL With Forearm Discomfort

By | at

The Dodgers announced today that right-hander Evan Phillips has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right forearm discomfort. Fellow righty Matt Sauer has been recalled to take his spot on the active roster.

The club hasn’t provided any details about Phillips but it’s a concerning announcement. It’s always somewhat worrisome when a pitcher’s elbow/forearm are the cause of an IL stint and it only exacerbates what has already been a challenging year for the righty. Phillips was left off the Dodgers’ World Series roster last year. An MRI revealed nerve irritation in his shoulder and he was also dealing with tightness in his lat, triceps and biceps, as well as arm fatigue.

Coming into 2025, he revealed that he has been diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during the playoffs. The issue still wasn’t fully resolved by Opening Day 2025, with Phillips starting the season on the 15-day IL. The club listed his ailment as a right rotator cuff strain. He was reinstated from the IL in mid-April. He has since pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings but is now back on the shelf again.

Time will tell how serious this current issue is. For the time being, the Dodger bullpen is once again deprived of a potential weapon. From 2022 to 2024, Phillips tossed 179 innings for the Dodgers with a 2.21 earned run average, 29.6% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 42.6% ground ball rate. He served as the club’s primary closer for stretches in there, earning 24 saves in 2023 and 18 last year.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

No Structural Damage In Blake Snell’s Shoulder; Dodgers Hoping For Short-Term Absence

By | at

April 8: An MRI confirmed that Snell is not facing any structural damage in his shoulder, per the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. His treatment will likely include an injection of some sort, but the team is hopeful the two-time Cy Young winner will only require a short-term absence.

April 6: The Dodgers have placed left-hander Blake Snell on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  The placement is retroactive to April 3.  Right-hander Matt Sauer was called up from Triple-A to take Snell’s spot on the active roster.

Despite allowing eight walks in nine innings of work this season, Snell emerged with a 2.00 ERA over his first two starts of the season.  It seems as if this shoulder issue developed in between Snell’s last outing on April 2 and a bullpen session today, as Jack Harris of the L.A. Times reports that Snell talked with GM Brandon Gomes and team trainer Thomas Albert in the aftermath of the bullpen.

This is the tenth visit to the injured list Snell has taken over his 10 MLB seasons, and today’s news continues his career-long theme of both health concerns and early-season issues.  Snell is somewhat infamously a slow starter, with a 3.95 ERA over 555 2/3 career innings prior to the All-Star break, and then a 2.32 ERA in 500 innings over the second halves of seasons.

These splits notwithstanding, there are few pitchers in the game better than Snell when he’s in top form, as evidenced by his two Cy Young Awards.  The 2024 campaign was another example of Snell’s hot-and-cold tendencies, as he signed with the Giants late in Spring Training and subsequently spent much of the first three months either injured or struggling, until the switch flipped and Snell posted a 1.23 ERA over his final 80 1/3 frames of the season.

Snell was encouraged enough by this spectacular finish to opt out of the final season (and $30MM) of his contract with the Giants, and that decision proved to be wise, as Los Angeles signed Snell to a five-year, $182MM free agent deal.  The contract is worth “only” around $160MM-$165MM in current value since $65MM of Snell’s salary is deferred, yet it still represented the big long-term payday that eluded Snell in his previous trip to free agency.

The fact that Snell has already gone on the IL will bring some fresh questions about the Dodgers’ investment, yet there isn’t any indication that Snell’s shoulder inflammation is anything serious.  It does leave the Dodgers in a bit of a tricky spot when it comes to filling Snell’s rotation spot, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are both only being used once per week, replicating the standard usage of a Japanese pitching rotation.  Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, and Bobby Miller are the likeliest candidates to receive a Triple-A call-up and at least one spot start in Snell’s place.

In the bigger picture, Tony Gonsolin is on a Triple-A rehab assignment, and Clayton Kershaw (toe/knee surgeries) and Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John surgery) are expected to be available later in the season.  Shohei Ohtani is also slowly ramping up his pitching workload in preparation of his mound debut in a Dodgers uniform, though it will still be at least a couple of months before Ohtani becomes available from a pitching perspective.  In theory, Los Angeles has enough pitching depth available or eventually available to withstand another injury-riddled year like 2024, though Snell’s injury underlines the difficulty the Dodgers face in trying to maintain and preserve a staff of so many pitchers with significant durability questions.

Dodgers Select Matt Sauer

By | at

The Dodgers announced they’ve selected reliever Matt Sauer onto the big league roster before Wednesday’s matchup with the Cubs at the Tokyo Dome. They optioned left-hander Justin Wrobleski in a corresponding move. Clayton Kershaw was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Sauer returns to the majors after signing a minor league deal over the winter. A former second-round pick by the Yankees, he never pitched in the big leagues with New York. The Royals grabbed him in the 2023-24 Rule 5 draft. They carried him on the big league roster for the first couple months. Sauer had a tough time in his first look at major league hitters. He gave up 14 runs across 16 1/3 innings, issuing 11 walks while recording nine strikeouts.

As Kansas City cemented themselves as surprise playoff contenders, they decided they could no longer devote a bullpen spot to a developmental flier. They offered Sauer back to the Yankees in May. New York initially assigned him to Triple-A, but he was blitzed for 15 runs over just 8 1/3 innings in 10 appearances. He found his footing after being demoted to Double-A in July. Sauer closed the year with 24 frames of 2.63 ERA ball before reaching minor league free agency.

The 26-year-old righty took the ball four times this spring. He allowed seven runs over 7 2/3 innings. Sauer recorded eight strikeouts while issuing one walk in that limited sample. His stuff impressed the Dodgers enough that they brought him to Tokyo as part of their travel roster and will carry him on the MLB team for the time being.

Kershaw is rehabbing from surgery to remove a bone spur on his left big toe. He said at the beginning of camp that he would go on the 60-day IL once the Dodgers needed to create a roster spot. He’ll be out through at least the end of May.

Dodgers To Sign Matt Sauer To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Dodgers and right-hander Matt Sauer have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The Paragon Sports International client also receives an invite to major league spring training.

Sauer, 26 in January, got to make his major league debut in 2024. The Royals used the second pick of the Rule 5 draft to grab him from the Yankees a year ago. He held a roster spot for a while but allowed 14 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings, leading to a 7.71 earned run average. He gave out 11 walks while only recording nine strikeouts. The Royals returned him to the Yankees before the end of May.

The Yanks then sent him to Triple-A, a level he had never pitched at before, but he struggled there as well. He allowed 15 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings, so the Yanks sent him down to Double-A. He finished the season there on a high note, throwing 24 innings over 17 relief appearances with a 2.63 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, 3.2% walk rate and 46.4% ground ball rate. He was able to elect free agency at the end of the season.

Prior to 2024, Sauer had primarily been a starter. In 2023, he tossed 74 innings over 17 minor league appearances with a 3.41 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. The Royals thought perhaps that moving him to the bullpen could help unlock something, which didn’t work out initially, though Sauer’s second half in 2024 was encouraging.

Sauer is unlikely to crack the Opening Day roster for the Dodgers, given his fairly limited experience in Triple-A and in the majors. But injuries are inevitable and the club will surely have to dip into its depth at some point over a long season. If Sauer can carry over his strong finish from 2024, he could earn his way back to the majors. If he does so, he has a full slate of options and minimal service time.

Rule 5 Draft Update: September Edition

By | at

A few months ago, MLBTR’s Steve Adams took an early look at the progress of last winter’s Rule 5 draftees. Seven of those players were on their teams’ active rosters, while two more were rehabbing injuries. Only one 2023 Rule 5 pick was returned to his original organization before Opening Day — and he went on to be the headlining piece in a key deadline trade. With most of the season in the books, let’s take a look at their performances in a larger sample.

A quick refresh for those unfamiliar with the process: the Rule 5 draft is a means of getting MLB opportunities to players who might be blocked with their current organization. Teams can draft certain players who are left off their original club’s 40-man roster. The drafting team needs to keep that player on the MLB roster or injured list for their entire first season. If they do so, they’d gain the player’s contractual rights permanently.

If the drafting team decides not to carry the player on the roster at any point during his rookie year, they need to place him on waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the player is offered back to his original organization — which does not need to carry him on either the MLB or 40-man rosters to take him back. A team can keep an injured Rule 5 pick on the major league IL, but they’d eventually need to carry him on the active roster for 90 days. If the player misses the entire season, the Rule 5 restriction carries over to the following year.

We’re down to the final two weeks of the regular season, so it’s safe to presume the six players who have held an active roster spot will survive the year. One player has spent the entire season on the injured list, so his Rule 5 status will roll over into next season if he sticks on the 40-man over the winter. Two others were returned earlier in the summer.

On a Major League Roster

Mitch Spence, RHP, Athletics (selected from Yankees)

The A’s had MLB’s worst record in 2023. That gave them the first pick in the Rule 5 draft. They used it on Spence, who had turned in a 4.47 ERA across 163 Triple-A innings in the Yankees’ system. New York’s 10th-round pick in 2019 has been a solid contributor on a more competitive Oakland pitching staff.

Spence opened the year in the bullpen. He worked 25 1/3 innings over his first 11 appearances, pitching to a 4.26 earned run average behind a decent 22.2% strikeout rate and huge ground-ball numbers (54.4%). The A’s moved Spence into their rotation in the middle of May. He has been similarly effective as a starter. Spence has worked to a 4.34 ERA over 21 starts, which is tied for the second-most on the team. His strikeout and grounder rates have each dropped a few points, but he’s still getting worm burners at a solid 48.5% clip. Spence doesn’t issue many free passes and has looked the part of a durable fourth/fifth starter. That’d be a fantastic outcome for a Rule 5 pick. He should at least get to compete for a season-opening rotation job next spring.

Anthony Molina, RHP, Rockies (selected from Rays)

Molina, 22, has stuck with a rebuilding Colorado team despite a rough debut season. He’s allowing more than six earned runs per nine through 56 innings out of the bullpen. The Venezuelan-born righty has fanned 15% of opposing hitters with a meager 7.2% swinging strike percentage. While pitching in Coors Field should be a challenge for any rookie, Molina has actually fared much worse away from altitude. He carries a 3.13 ERA in 31 2/3 home innings against a ghastly 11.10 mark over 24 1/3 frames on the road. Molina’s strikeout and walk profile isn’t good no matter where he has pitched, but he’s done a much better job keeping the ball on the ground in Denver.

Tough results aside, the Rox don’t have a pressing need to push Molina off the roster. Their place in the standings and overall lack of bullpen talent affords them rope to continue giving him a chance to develop. He throws reasonably hard (94.7 MPH average fastball speed) and managed decent results as a starting pitcher in the upper minors last year.

Nasim Nuñez, SS, Nationals (selected from Marlins)

A glove-first middle infielder, Nuñez has been the 26th man in Washington all season. Manager Dave Martinez has used him primarily as a late-game substitute. Nuñez has made 13 starts at shortstop and 41 appearances overall. He has 10 hits (nine singles and a double) in 51 plate appearances with eight walks and ten strikeouts. Nuñez has stolen six bases and laid down four sacrifice bunts. There’s minimal offensive upside but he has probably done enough to stick on the 40-man roster as a depth infielder.

Ryan Fernandez, RHP, Cardinals (selected from Red Sox)

Fernandez has had one of the better debut campaign in this year’s class. The 26-year-old righty carries a 3.13 ERA over 63 1/3 innings out of the St. Louis bullpen. Fernandez is narrowly behind Andrew Kittredge for the team lead in relief innings. He has quickly pitched his way into Oli Marmol’s circle of trust. Fernandez is fourth on the team — behind closer Ryan Helsley, Kittredge, and JoJo Romero — in average leverage index (measuring how impactful the situation is when a pitcher enters the game) in the second half.

It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing. Fernandez’s command has come and gone, and he had an atrocious August. He’s capable of missing bats and handling hitters from both sides of the plate, though, and he has posted a nice rebound this month. Even if his command could push him into a sixth or seventh inning role, this was a good pick.

Justin Slaten, RHP, Red Sox (selected from Rangers via trade with Mets)

Losing Fernandez might’ve stung the Red Sox more had they not found a reliever who has been even better. Slaten owns a 3.16 earned run average through 51 1/3 innings with the peripherals to match. The New Mexico product has fanned more than a quarter of batters faced against a tidy 4.4% walk rate. He’s getting swinging strikes at a massive 14.4% clip while leading opponents to chase more than 35% of pitches outside the strike zone.

Aside from a six-week injured list stint because of elbow inflammation, Slaten couldn’t have made a much better first impression. He already looks the part of a late-game weapon and has been used as such by Alex Cora. With Kenley Jansen headed to free agency, Slaten could battle Liam Hendriks for the closer role next season. The Sox had one of the best Rule 5 picks in recent history when they snagged Garrett Whitlock a few years ago. It’s a new front office, but they look like they’ve had a similarly valuable hit on Slaten.

Currently On Major League Injured List

Stephen Kolek, RHP, Padres (selected from Mariners)

Kolek has occupied a low-leverage relief role for San Diego skipper Mike Shildt. The 27-year-old righty has allowed a 5.21 ERA across 46 2/3 innings. He’s getting ground-balls at a massive 55.9% clip but has a well below-average 18.5% strikeout rate. Kolek has done a nice job staying off barrels but hasn’t shown the bat-missing ability to push his way up the bullpen depth chart.

The Padres placed Kolek on the injured list just after the deadline due to elbow tendinitis. They moved him to the 60-day IL at the start of September. He’s eligible to return for San Diego’s playoff run, but his season could be over. Kolek surpassed 90 days on the active roster before the injury, so he won’t be subject to any restrictions next year.

Carson Coleman, RHP, Rangers (selected from Yankees)

Coleman underwent Tommy John surgery while he was a member of the Yankees system early in 2023. Texas had hoped he’d return in the middle of the season, but GM Chris Young announced in May that wouldn’t happen. He has spent the whole season on the 60-day IL. Texas would need to put Coleman back on the 40-man roster at the start of the offseason. If they carry him all winter, he’ll need to spend at least 90 days on the active roster whenever he’s healthy.

Returned to Original Organization

Matt Sauer, RHP, Royals (returned to Yankees)

Yankees minor leaguers went first and second in the draft. While Spence stuck around, the No. 2 pick didn’t last long in Kansas City. Sauer made the Opening Day roster and pitched 14 times in low-leverage relief. Opponents tagged him for 14 runs on 23 hits and 11 walks over 16 1/3 innings. The Royals couldn’t afford to stash him as a development flier in the bullpen, particularly once it became clear they had a real chance to make the playoffs.

Kansas City returned Sauer to the Yankees in late May. New York initially assigned him to Triple-A, but he was blitzed for 15 runs over just 8 1/3 innings in 10 appearances. New York demoted him to Double-A Somerset in early July. Sauer has found his footing there, pitching to a 2.63 ERA with 21 strikeouts and three walks over 17 outings. He’d qualify for minor league free agency this offseason if the Yanks don’t put him on the 40-man roster.

Shane Drohan, LHP, White Sox (returned to Red Sox)

Drohan never pitched in the majors with the White Sox. The southpaw underwent a nerve decompression surgery in his throwing shoulder in February. He began the season on the 60-day injured list. Drohan was hit hard in a limited sample after beginning a rehab assignment, so Chicago decided not to activate him to the MLB roster. They returned him to Boston in June. Drohan made two Triple-A starts, spent some time on the development list, and is now back on the IL with continued shoulder issues. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t healthy enough to get a legitimate MLB opportunity, but Drohan at least collected major league pay and service time for a couple months while on Chicago’s injured list.

Deyvison De Los Santos, 1B/3B, Guardians (returned to Diamondbacks)

De Los Santos was a surprising pick, as the power-hitting infielder was coming off a mediocre season (.254/.297/.431) in Double-A. He didn’t hit at all in Spring Training and Cleveland returned him to the Diamondbacks before Opening Day. He had a monster first half for the Snakes, blasting 28 home runs in fewer than 400 plate appearances between the top two minor league levels. Within a few months, De Los Santos went from unsuccessful Rule 5 pick to the centerpiece of the Marlins’ trade package for controllable high-leverage reliever A.J. Puk.

He has cooled off substantially since the deal. De Los Santos has another 11 homers in 44 games with Miami’s Triple-A affiliate, but he’s striking out a lot and getting on base at a meager .283 clip. It’s a difficult profile to pull off — particularly since he’s not considered a strong defender who might end up at first base — but the Marlins are likely to put him on the 40-man roster rather than expose him to the Rule 5 for a second straight year.

Royals Return Rule 5 Pick Matt Sauer To Yankees

By | at

The Yankees announced this afternoon that right-hander Matt Sauer had been returned to the organization by the Royals. The 25-year-old was selected by Kansas City with the second-overall pick in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft but was designated for assignment earlier this week. Evidently, Sauer cleared waivers, meaning the Royals had to offer Sauer back to New York for $50K. The Yankees pulled the trigger on that offer and have assigned him to Triple-A.

Sauer was New York’s second-round pick in the 2017 draft and had spent his career prior to the 2024 season climbing the minor league ladder before ultimately topping out at the Double-A level. The righty was impressive in 14 appearances (13 starts) at the level last year as he pitched to a 3.42 ERA with a 29.5% strikeout rate in 68 1/3 innings of work. That performance was clearly enough for the Royals to take a shot on Sauer, and he impressed in 10 2/3 innings of work during Spring Training with a 2.53 ERA and 13 strikeouts.

That spring performance was enough for the Royals to offer Sauer a spot on their Opening Day roster, and he responded by delivering solid results throughout the month of April with a 2.38 ERA in 11 1/3 innings of work. That being said, Sauer’s peripherals left something to be desired as evidenced by his 17% walk rate and 9.4% strikeout rate during that time. Unfortunately, Sauer’s results began to catch up to his peripherals in May as he was lit up to the tune of a 19.80 ERA in five appearances throughout the month, prompting the club’s decision to designate him for assignment.

Were the Royals still the rebuilding club many expected them to be entering the 2024 campaign, it’s possible they would have retained Sauer on the roster for longer in hopes he could right the ship. Unfortunately for the righty, Kansas City has played like anything but a rebuilding club this year with a fantastic 34-19 record that puts them in control of the top AL Wild Card spot and just 1.5 games back of the Guardians for first place in a surprisingly competitive AL Central division. Given the Royals arrival as contenders, the club evidently decided they could not afford to hide Sauer in its final bullpen spot.

That’s great news for the Yankees, who were able to re-acquire Sauer when he went unclaimed on waivers. Now back in the minors with his original club, Sauer figures to continue his development at the Triple-A level and await his next big league opportunity while serving as non-roster depth for New York alongside non-roster veterans such as Phil Bickford and Duane Underwood Jr.

Royals Designate Matt Sauer For Assignment

By | at

The Royals have designated right-hander Matt Sauer for assignment and selected the contract of left-handed reliever Sam Long from Triple-A Omaha, per a team announcement. Sauer was selected out of the Yankees organization in December’s Rule 5 Draft. The Royals will have a week to trade him or place him on waivers, and if he goes unclaimed he must be offered back to the Yankees for $50K. If he lands with a new team, his Rule 5 restrictions will roll over to that new club.

A second-round pick by the Yankees back in 2017, the now-25-year-old Sauer made his big league debut when he first took the mound for Kansas City this season. He held opponents to just two runs through his first 9 1/3 MLB innings but did so with an ugly ratio of just four strikeouts to eight walks. The lack of command and a put-away pitch proved problematic in the weeks since. Dating back to April 29, Sauer has been torched for a dozen runs in seven innings.

Overall, Sauer pitched 16 1/3 innings for the Royals and yielded a 7.71 ERA. He fanned only 10.7% of his opponents against an ugly 13.1% walk rate in that time. Were the Royals at or near the bottom of the division, perhaps they’d have been more patient, but at 29-19 on the year and standing in second place, Kansas City clearly felt that they couldn’t continue the experiment if it meant getting such minimal production out of a bullpen spot.

Long, 28, has spent the past three seasons in the majors with the Giants (2021-22) and A’s (2023). He’ s pitched 128 innings for the two Bay Area clubs, logging a 4.92 ERA with an 18.5% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 40.5% grounder rate. The southpaw averages 93.8 mph on his heater and couples that four-seamer with a curveball as his primary breaking pitch. Long used a changeup quite a bit during his Giants days but swapped that out for a slider with Oakland last season.

Though he doesn’t have a great track record in the majors, Long has been nails with the Royals’ Omaha affiliate this season. In 20 2/3 innings, he’s pitched to a tiny 1.31 ERA with an impressive 27.4% strikeout rate against a 6% walk rate. He hasn’t given up run since April 25, rattling off 8 1/3 shutout innings with nine punchouts and just one walk during that hot streak.

Long opened the season on a similarly impressive run of nine straight scoreless frames with a 12-to-3 K/BB ratio. Add in 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball with a 48.4% strikeout rate and 3.2% walk rate in spring training (15-to-1 K/BB), and it’s become increasingly difficult for the Royals to overlook his contributions to date.

Show all

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top