Yankees Claim Osvaldo Bido, Designate Braden Shewmake For Assignment
The Yankees have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Angels, according to announcements from both clubs. The Halos had designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired left-hander Jayvien Sandridge from the Yankees. To open a 40-man spot for Bido today, the Yankees designated infielder Braden Shewmake for assignment.
Bido, 30, has been riding the DFA carousel all winter. He finished the 2025 season with the Athletics but has subsequently gone to Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, the Angels and now the Yankees via waiver claims. He has shown enough potential that teams like him but he had a rough season in 2025 and exhausted his final option. That has pushed him to fringe roster status and several clubs are seemingly hoping to get him through waivers and into the minors as non-roster depth.
The righty showed his potential with the A’s in 2024. Still playing in the Oakland Coliseum at that time, Bido gave the A’s 63 1/3 innings in a swing role, allowing 3.41 earned runs per nine. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 24.3% of batters faced.
The A’s moved to Sutter Health Park last year, a minor league facility, as a temporary home on their way to Las Vegas. That proved to be a hitter-friendly venue, with negative impacts for Bido. He had only allowed three home runs in 2024 but saw the ball go over the fence 19 times in 2025, in a slightly larger sample size of 79 2/3 innings. He was optioned to the minors a few times and finished the year with a 5.87 ERA.
Bido does not have a previous career outright and is shy of three years of service. That means he would not have the right to elect free agency if he were eventually passed through waivers, which explains to constant cycle of waiver claims and DFAs.
The Yankees will probably go down that same road. They don’t have room for Bido in the rotation and their bullpen already projects to have Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough serving as long relievers. For now, Bido has a spot and could report to camp with a chance to earn a job, but it’s also possible the Yankees put him back out on waivers with the hope of him clearing. If that is indeed the plan, they will likely put him out there quickly. The 60-day injured list opens up next week, which will open up extra roster flexibility for most clubs.
Shewmake, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Royals exactly a year ago today. He spent 2025 in the Yankee system but never got called up, exhausting his final option season in the process. He’s considered a strong defender at multiple infield positions but hasn’t shown much with the bat. He has a .118/.127/.191 line in 71 major league plate appearances. Over the past four years, he has a Triple-A line of .241/.304/.386, which translates to a 78 wRC+.
Now that he’s in DFA limbo, he will have resolution within one week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Yanks could theoretically take five days to field interest. His interest should be minimal with his light bat and lack of options. Like Bido, he does not have a previous career outright and is shy of three years of service, meaning he would stick around as non-roster depth if he clears outright waivers. With the aforementioned 60-day IL situation, the Yanks could be motivated to put him on the wire sooner rather than later.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Angels Acquire Jayvien Sandridge, Designate Osvaldo Bido
The Angels have acquired left-hander Jayvien Sandridge from the Yankees in exchange for cash, per announcements from both clubs. The Halos added that righty Osvaldo Bido has been designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. New York had designated Sandridge for assignment a couple days ago.
The 26-year-old Sandridge made a brief MLB debut this past season, allowing a pair of runs in two-thirds of an innings with the Yanks. He spent the bulk of the 2025 season in Triple-A, where he pitched to a 4.55 ERA with a huge 33.1% strikeout rate but a 12% walk rate in 31 2/3 frames. Sandridge averaged about 95 mph on his four-seamer and logged an outstanding 15.3% swinging-strike rate during his time in Triple-A. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining.
A former 32nd-round pick by the Orioles, Sandridge has bounced to five organizations since the 2018 draft, primarily doing so via minor league free agency. Baltimore released him in 2020, when most clubs throughout the game were making sweeping cuts to their minor league personnel during the early stages of the pandemic, and he’s since signed minor league deals with the Reds, Padres and Yankees.
Sandridge has pitched in parts of seven minor league seasons but totaled only 241 2/3 total minor league frames. He’s logged a solid 3.99 earned run average in that time and punched out nearly one-third of his opponents — but he’s also issued walks at a 17% clip and plunked another 22 of the 1099 batters he’s faced (2%). Coupled with a whopping 44 wild pitches, it’s more than fair to say that command is a major hindrance for the hard-throwing southpaw.
As for Bido, today’s move is the continuation of an all-too-familiar refrain. He’s already been on waivers four times this winter and now appears poised to head back to the wire for a fifth time. Bido began the winter on the Athletics’ 40-man roster but has since bounced to the Braves, Rays, Marlins and Angels via waivers.
Bido turned 30 this past October. He spent seven seasons in the minors with the Pirates prior to making his debut as a 27-year-old rookie in 2023, and he’s spent the past two seasons pitching with the A’s, who signed him to a big league deal in the 2023-24 winter after Pittsburgh cut him loose. The wiry 6’3″, 175-pound righty has had an up-and-down run in the majors across the past three seasons, posting ugly numbers in 2023 and 2025 but logging 63 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball with solid rate stats in 2024.
Overall, Bido has pitched 193 2/3 innings as a big leaguer. In that time, he carries a collective 5.07 earned run average. Metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) are a bit kinder. Broadly, he’s pitched like a serviceable swingman/sixth starter for much of his time in the majors.
Bido averages 94.7 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. His strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%) are both worse than league average, but not by much. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher but hadn’t been especially prone to home runs until the 2025 season — though that was surely due to the Athletics’ temporary home at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento playing like an absolute launching pad; Bido surrendered 13 home runs in 44 1/3 home innings but just six in 35 1/3 frames on the road.
The Angels can trade Bido or place him on waivers at any point within the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process. His DFA will be resolved within one week’s time.
Angels Claim Osvaldo Bido
The Angels announced that they have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Marlins. Miami had designated Bido for assignment last week when they acquired Bradley Blalock from the Rockies. The Halos have an open 40-man roster spot for this claim but their agreement with infielder Yoán Moncada is not yet official. By filling up their last 40-man spot today, they will now have to make a corresponding move whenever Moncada’s deal does become official.
Bido, 30, seems to fall into an unfortunate fringe roster position where several teams like him but not enough to hold a roster position for very long. He has worked as an up-and-down swingman in recent years with some encouraging results at times. However, he is now out of options. He ended 2025 with the Athletics but has since gone to Atlanta, Tampa, Miami and now Anaheim via waiver claims.
It seems likely that several different teams would like to pass him through waivers unclaimed, which would allow them to have him in the minors as non-roster depth. He has never been outrighted in his career and has less than three years of service time, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency if he were eventually outrighted.
Bido’s best showing in the major leagues thus far came in 2024. He gave the A’s 63 1/3 innings over nine starts and seven relief appearances, allowing 3.41 earned runs per nine. He struck out 24.3% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 10% clip. His fly ball rate was on the high side but that worked well while the A’s were still playing in Oakland and the pitcher-friendly confines of the Coliseum.
The club moved to a minor league park in 2025, which seemed to significantly hurt Bido’s results. He had only allowed three home runs in 2024 but then allowed 19 in 2025, in a slightly larger sample size of 79 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate also dropped a bit to 18.7%. The result was a 5.87 ERA, which presumably helped launch him into the DFA carousel this winter.
Perhaps he will find himself on waivers yet again but he has a spot with the Angels for now. The Halos have a decent amount of question marks in their rotation. Yusei Kikuchi and José Soriano should be in two spots but there’s not much certainty beyond those two. Reid Detmers is going to get another chance but was in relief last year. Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah will be looking to bounce back from injury absences. Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri, Jack Kochanowicz and various others are on the roster but could be kept in the minors as depth.
The bullpen is also fairly open. Four spots are likely taken by Robert Stephenson, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Kirby Yates. That still leaves four spots for other arms. Chase Silseth is out of options and could have one. Guys like Ryan Zeferjahn, José Fermín, Sam Bachman and Cody Laweryson will be in the mix but have options.
If Bido hangs onto his roster spot with the Angels, there should be opportunities, especially since he has experience both starting and relieving. If he still has a roster spot at season’s end, he can be retained for future seasons via arbitration.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Marlins Designate Osvaldo Bido For Assignment
The Marlins announced today that they’ve designated right-hander Osvaldo Bido for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Bradley Blalock, whose previously reported acquisition from the Rockies is now official.
Miami only claimed Bido off waivers from the Rays four days ago. They’re already the 30-year-old righty’s fourth organization of the offseason. Bido spent the 2024-25 seasons with the A’s and finished the season on their roster. He’s since bounced to the Braves, Rays and Marlins. Today’s DFA could mean he lands with a fifth different club in what would be a span of under two months.
Bido spent seven seasons in the Pirates system before making his MLB debut as a 27-year-old in 2023. He’s spent the past two seasons with the A’s. Listed at a wiry 6’3″ and 175 pounds, he’s pitched 193 2/3 innings in the majors and pitched to a 5.07 earned run average. It’s been a roller-coaster run, with poor numbers in ’23, strong output in ’24 and more struggles in ’25. Overall, metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) view him a bit more favorably, but Bido has typically pitched like a swingman or sixth starter.
Bido averages 94.7 mph on his four-seamer and sinker alike. He’s only a bit worse than average in terms of strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%), but home runs were a major issue in 2025. Bido is an extreme fly-ball pitcher, and a 2024 season spent pitching home games in the cavernous Oakland Coliseum during the Athletics’ final season there treated him well; conversely, a move to West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, which played like an absolute launching pad, did Bido no favors. He served up 13 big flies in only 44 1/3 home innings this past season, compared to just six on the road (35 1/3 innings).
The Marlins will presumably hope to pass Bido through outright waivers and retain him as non-roster depth. In that scenario, he’d be invited to big league camp to compete for a job on the Opening Day staff and head to Triple-A if he fails to make the club. But Bido has now failed to make it through waivers three different times this winter, never once making it past the tenth team in terms of waiver priority. Even if none of the clubs that has already claimed him earlier in the winter has interest in doing so again, it’s still possible that another club (or multiple clubs) in the remaining two-thirds of the league will place a claim this time around.
Marlins Claim Osvaldo Bido
The Marlins have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Rays, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Tampa Bay designated Bido for assignment last week. Miami has an open spot on the 40-man roster after trading lefty Ryan Weathers to the Yankees, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.
Bido turned 30 this past October. He spent seven seasons in the minors with the Pirates prior to making his debut as a 27-year-old rookie in 2023, and he’s spent the past two seasons pitching with the A’s, who signed him to a big league deal in the 2023-24 winter after Pittsburgh cut him loose. The wiry 6’3″, 175-pound righty has had an up-and-down run in the majors across the past three seasons, posting ugly numbers in 2023 and 2025 but logging 63 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball with solid rate stats in 2024.
Overall, Bido has pitched 193 2/3 innings as a big leaguer. In that time, he carries a collective 5.07 earned run average. Metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) are a bit kinder, but he’s pitched like a serviceable swingman/sixth starter for much of his time in the league. Bido averages 94.7 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. His strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%) are both worse than league average, but not by much. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher but hadn’t been especially prone to home runs until the 2025 season — though that was surely due to the Athletics’ temporary home at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento playing like an absolute launching pad; Bido surrendered 13 home runs in 44 1/3 home innings but just six in 35 1/3 frames on the road.
Bido is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to either break camp with the Fish — presumably in a long relief role — or else clear waivers before he can be sent to Triple-A. Miami has been on the lookout for some rotation depth after trading not only Weathers but also righty Edward Cabrera. Bido provides some for the time being, but an out-of-options journeyman coming off a 5.87 ERA is far from a lock to stick on the roster.
At the moment, Miami’s rotation will include Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez and (health-permitting) Braxton Garrett. There’s no shortage of other arms to compete for starting jobs. Former top prospect Max Meyer will be healthy after a long injury layoff. Janson Junk, like Bido, came to the Marlins as a journeyman long reliever last year but pitched well enough to carve out a spot on the big league roster in ’26 — whether as a starter or swingman. Righty Ryan Gusto, acquired last July for Jesus Sanchez, offers a similar skill set. Former top prospects Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur have missed time with injury but should be healthy and in the mix for innings. Most notably, top prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling — two of MLB’s most highly regarded left-handers — are both on the cusp of the majors.
There’s plenty of talent in the mix for Miami’s rotation but also a lot of injury risk and uncertainty. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them bring in a veteran starter, even if only on a non-roster invitation to spring training, in order to add some stability to the current group.
Rays Acquire Ken Waldichuk, Brett Wisely
The Rays have acquired left-hander Ken Waldichuk and infielder Brett Wisely from the Braves, according to announcements from both clubs. Atlanta receives cash considerations or a player to be named later in return. Tampa designated right-hander Osvaldo Bido and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment to open 40-man spots for their new acquisitions.
All four players involved here have been riding the DFA carousel in recent months, to varying extents. Wisely was put on waivers by the Giants in September. Atlanta claimed him at that time but designated him for assignment last week when they claimed right-hander George Soriano. Waldichuk was DFA’d by the Athletics when they acquired Jeff McNeil and then claimed by Atlanta, then DFA’d again recently when Atlanta re-signed Tyler Kinley. Now Atlanta will convert those two players, who were already off the roster, into some cash or perhaps another player down the line.
The Rays will take advantage of Atlanta’s roster crunch to upgrade their pitching staff and infield. They are losing some cash, or maybe a PTBNL, as well as potentially losing Bido and Cheng. However, those two players were only recently acquired. The A’s put Bido on waivers in December, with Atlanta claiming him at that time, but he went to Tampa a couple of weeks later on another waiver claim. Cheng was claimed off waivers from the Pirates last month.
Waldichuk, 28, is coming off some recent struggles but was once a notable prospect with the Yankees. They traded him to the A’s as part of the 2022 deadline deal which saw them acquire Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino. Waldichuk made his major league debut with the A’s in 2022 and showed a bit of promise. His 4.93 earned run average was a bit on the high side but his 22.6% strikeout rate was around average and his 6.8% walk rate was strong.
But in 2023, he posted a 5.36 ERA in 141 frames. Tommy John surgery in May of 2024 put him out of action for a long time. He got back on the mound in 2025 but was optioned to the minors. He walked 15.9% of batters he faced on the farm last year, which led to an ugly 8.17 ERA. He qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player. He and the A’s avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $825K for 2026, a bit above the $780K league minimum.
His poor 2025 season and slight salary bump haven’t dissuaded teams from being interested. Tampa could use some cheap rotation help. They always have some budgetary concerns and have subtracted some notable starting pitchers in the past year. They sent Taj Bradley to the Twins at last year’s deadline and Shane Baz to the Orioles this offseason. They currently project to have Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane McClanahan, Steven Matz, Joe Boyle and Yoendrys Gómez in the season-opening rotation mix, health permitting.
Waldichuk still has options, so the Rays could send him to Triple-A and try to get him back on track. If it works out, there would be a long-term payoff. He can still be retained via arbitration for another four seasons. It’s also possible they try to pass him through waivers later in the offseason, which would allow him to stick around without taking up a roster spot.
Wisely should help in the middle infield, a clear area of weakness for the Rays. They traded second baseman Brandon Lowe to the Pirates this winter, which led to Cheng losing his roster spot in Pittsburgh. The Rays also moved on from Ha-Seong Kim last year.
Tampa has Taylor Walls, Carson Williams and Richie Palacios in their middle infield mix, though that group doesn’t provide much certainty. Walls has some chops with the glove but has been a poor hitter in his career. Williams was and is a notable prospect but he struck out in 41.5% of his plate appearances in his first taste of the big leagues last year. Palacios has been on the injured list for much of the past two years.
Claiming Cheng gave the Rays some optionable middle infield depth. Wisely is out of options but has a bit more big league experience. While Cheng has only appeared in three big league contests, Wisely has 168 games under his belt, with solid defense at all four infield spots and some experience in the outfield as well. He has only hit .214/.265/.319 in his big league career but has a more impressive .276/.375/.436 line at Triple-A over the past three seasons.
Wisely jumps into Tampa’s infield group for now but it’s also possible they put him back on waivers between now and the start of the season in an attempt to retain him as non-roster depth, depending on what other moves they have in store. If he holds onto his roster spot, he comes with five full seasons of club control.
Cheng, 24, has shown some abilities as a low-power, high-contact hitter who has a solid floor in terms of speed and defense. In 2023, between High-A and Double-A, he stole 26 bases with a 9.7% walk rate and 18.7% strikeout rate. He slashed .278/.352/.456 for a 116 wRC+. That got him a 40-man roster spot with Pittsburgh going into the 2024 season but his offense tailed off in the past two seasons. He slashed just .217/.319/.312 in the minors in that time.
The Rays will have five days to either trade him or put him on waivers. He does still have an option remaining, which could appeal to clubs in need of infield depth. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Tampa could keep him around.
Bido, 30, showed a bit of promise with the A’s in 2024. He posted a 3.41 ERA in 63 1/3 innings. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 24.3% of batters faced. He regressed last year, finishing the season with a 5.87 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.
He’s now out of options, which is making it tougher for him to cling to a roster spot. He has five years of club control, so there’s still enough interest for him to have been claimed off waivers twice this winter. Like Cheng, he’ll have to be back on the wire or be traded in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images.
Rays Claim Osvaldo Bido
The Rays have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from Atlanta, according to announcements from both clubs. Atlanta designated him for assignment earlier this week when they signed Ha-Seong Kim. Tampa Bay had 40-man space and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.
Atlanta had only claimed Bido off waivers last week. The 30-year-old righty had spent the 2025 season with the A’s. Bido made Mark Kotsay’s season-opening rotation. He was hit hard over nine starts and pushed to Triple-A in the middle of May. The A’s brought him back up a couple weeks later but used him in long relief for the remainder of the season. He only made one more start, a three-inning appearance against the Tigers in which he gave up four runs.
Bido didn’t pitch especially well in either role. He struggled to a 5.87 earned run average across 79 2/3 innings spanning 26 appearances. He did manage to strike out an impressive 27% of batters faced after the All-Star Break, but even that promise was undercut by a massive 2.30 home runs allowed per nine innings. Bido has a little under 200 career big league innings between the A’s and Pirates. He owns a 5.07 ERA with a 20.9% strikeout rate.
The Rays traded Shane Baz this afternoon. They have a top three in the rotation of Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot and Shane McClanahan. They signed Steven Matz with an eye towards building him back as a starter. Ian Seymour and Joe Boyle would compete for the fifth starter role as things stand, though it’s possible they reinvest some of the money they cleared in the Baz and Brandon Lowe trades into another free agent pickup in the Matz mold.
Bido isn’t likely to win a rotation spot out of camp. He could have an uphill battle to securing a long relief role either, as the Rays have the out-of-options Yoendrys Gómez lined up for multi-inning work. Bido himself is out of options, so the Rays would either need to carry him on the MLB roster or send hm back into DFA limbo.
Braves Designate Osvaldo Bido For Assignment
The Braves designated swingman Osvaldo Bido for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man roster move for the Ha-Seong Kim signing, which the club has officially announced.
Atlanta claimed Bido off waivers last week. The 30-year-old righty had spent the 2025 season with the A’s. Bido made Mark Kotsay’s season-opening rotation. He was hit hard over nine starts and pushed to Triple-A in the middle of May. The A’s brought him back up a couple weeks later but used him in long relief for the remainder of the season. He only made one more start, a three-inning appearance against the Tigers in which he gave up four runs.
Bido didn’t pitch especially well in either role. He struggled to a 5.87 earned run average across 79 2/3 innings spanning 26 appearances. He did manage to strike out an impressive 27% of batters faced after the All-Star Break, but even that promise was undercut by a massive 2.30 home runs allowed per nine innings. Bido has a little under 200 career big league innings between the A’s and Pirates. He owns a 5.07 ERA with a 20.9% strikeout rate.
Atlanta has five days to trade Bido or place him on waivers. He has never been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of major league service, so he would not have the right to elect free agency if he goes through waivers unclaimed.
Braves Claim Osvaldo Bido, Anthony Molina
The Braves announced that they have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Athletics and fellow righty Anthony Molina off waivers from the Rockies. There wasn’t any previous indication the players were on the wire but it seems the A’s and Rockies wanted to open roster spots, perhaps for the Rule 5 draft next week, and put these guys out there. Atlanta had one 40-man spot available and opened another by designating left-hander Josh Walker for assignment.
Bido, 30, has shown some promise in the big leagues but is coming off a challenging season. In 2024, he tossed 63 1/3 innings for the A’s over nine starts and seven relief appearances, allowing 3.41 earned runs per nine. His 10% walk rate was a bit high and he seemed to benefit from a .250 batting average on balls in play and 3.8% home run per flyball ratio, but his 24.3% strikeout rate was a solid figure.
For the 2025 season, the A’s moved to a Triple-A park in West Sacramento. The hitter-friendly environment seemed to impact Bido. His BABIP jumped to .315 and 14.7% of his fly balls left the yard. Also, his strikeout rate dropped to 18.7%. Put it all together and his ERA climbed to 5.87. The A’s optioned him to the minors a few times and he had a 5.71 ERA in Triple-A. He exhausted his final option year in the process, which was going to make it harder for him to stay on the roster going forward.
Atlanta will take a flier on him today. If he stays on the roster through the winter, he could compete for a job on the staff in spring training. It’s also possible they put him back on waivers later in the offseason. If he were to clear at some future date, they could keep him in the system as non-roster depth.
Molina, 24 in January, was a Rule 5 pick out of the Rays’ system in November of 2023. He has managed to stick on Colorado’s roster since then but has a ghastly 6.96 ERA in 94 1/3 major league innings. The Rockies have made a number of front office changes in recent months and it appears the new regime is less enamored of Molina, so he has been bumped to the waiver wire.
Atlanta seems to have a fondness for getting pitchers away from Coors Field. They have acquired Rockies pitchers such as Pierce Johnson, Brad Hand and Tyler Kinley in recent years. They also acquired Ryan Rolison from Colorado just last month.
Molina hasn’t had much major league success and doesn’t strike guys out, even in the minors, but he has generally avoided walks and gotten ground balls. He has only given a free pass to 6.3% of batters faced in his minor league career and just 6.6% of major league opponents. He still has a couple of options and can therefore be shuttled between Triple-A and the majors for the foreseeable future.
Walker, 31, was just claimed off waivers last month. He hasn’t yet found major league success, with a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, but has intriguing minor league numbers. He tossed 131 2/3 innings on the farm from 2022 to 2025 with a 3.90 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and grounders on about half the balls in play he allowed. His 11.6%walk rate in that time wasn’t amazing but there’s been enough good stuff to entice teams.
Walker signed with the Blue Jays a year ago, then was acquired by the Phillies and the Orioles during the 2025 season. He exhausted his final option season this year, meaning he’ll now be out of options going forward. The O’s signed him to a guaranteed deal and tried to pass him through waivers but Atlanta claimed him. Atlanta will now have a week to try to trade him or pass him through waivers themselves. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
A’s To Place Jacob Lopez On Injured List With Flexor Strain
A’s starter Jacob Lopez has been shut down after sustaining a Grade 1 flexor strain, manager Mark Kotsay tells reporters (including Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). He’ll go on the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Kotsay said the A’s still hope Lopez can make it back this season, likely as a reliever in the final few days.
Lopez has quietly been one of the American League’s best rookie pitchers. Acquired from the Rays alongside Jeffrey Springs in a deal sending Joe Boyle to Tampa Bay, Lopez was on and off the active roster early in the season. The 6’4″ southpaw has grabbed a firm hold on a big league roster spot since late May. He fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Phillies in his first start after being recalled and has occupied a rotation spot since then. Lopez has had a few blow-up outings but has shown glimpses of dominance, including five scoreless starts over the course of the year.
Four of those came consecutively between July 26 and August 12. He had the two best performances by an A’s pitcher all season in back-to-back outings earlier in the month. Lopez punched out 10 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Washington on August 7, then blanked the Rays on nine strikeouts over seven frames five days later. He tossed another quality start — six innings of three-run ball with eight strikeouts in Minnesota — last Tuesday.
Lopez had by far his worst outing of the season yesterday. He walked six and gave up nine runs in two innings in Seattle. The A’s revealed postgame that he’d been dealing with forearm tightness that initially cropped up during his start against the Twins. Yesterday’s appearance pushed his season earned run average to 4.08, but he’d entered the game with a 3.28 mark while striking out 29% of batters faced. That’s excellent production anywhere and especially impressive considering the A’s temporary home field in Sacramento has been the most difficult park for pitchers outside of Coors Field.
The 27-year-old Lopez is arguably the A’s most promising pitcher going into next season. Highly-touted prospect Luis Morales is in the big league rotation now as well. Morales has erratic command but power stuff headlined by a 97 MPH heater. J.T. Ginn has posted better than average strikeout and ground-ball numbers over 60 MLB frames, though it hasn’t translated to great results. Springs and Luis Severino are each signed for next year and will probably be in trade rumors in the offseason.
Osvaldo Bido is listed as the probable starter for tomorrow night’s game against the Tigers. It’ll be his first start since mid-May. Bido has been working 3-4 inning stints out of the bullpen and could take a few turns through the rotation in Lopez’s absence. He owns a 5.37 ERA in 65 1/3 frames over 19 appearances.