Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Richie Palacios

Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

By | at

The Rays are getting some bullpen help, acquiring right-handed reliever Bryan Baker from the Orioles in exchange for a 2025 Competitive Balance (Round A) draft selection, No. 37 overall. Both teams have announced the swap.

Baker adds a power arm with potent bat-missing ability to the Rays’ bullpen. The 30-year-old righty has pitched 38 1/3 innings for the Orioles this season and turned in a 3.52 ERA with an even more encouraging 32.5% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate. Baker sits 96.7 mph with his four-seamer, per Statcast, and he’s sporting a strong 13.1% swinging-strike rate on the season thanks in no small part to a changeup that’s graded out brilliantly thus far. Opponents are hitting just .154 and slugging a putrid .205 against Baker’s changeup.

This year’s numbers are skewed a bit by Baker’s outing just two days ago, when the Mets jumped him for four runs. He didn’t record an out and was tagged for a pair of home runs. Baker’s ERA ballooned from 2.58 all the way to its current 3.52 mark.

Baker has had some home run troubles (1.88 HR/9), but he’s also seen a fluky 20% of the fly-balls he’s allowed turn into home runs — well north of the 11.4% league average and nearly triple his career mark entering the season. Metrics like xFIP (2.78) and SIERA (2.37) — which normalize HR/FB to account for potential small-sample spikes like this — feel Baker has been vastly better than his earned run average would indicate. The Rays, presumably, are confident that the home run troubles will prove anomalous while Baker maintains his ability to miss bats and limit free passes.

In parts of four seasons with the O’s, Baker has a 3.73 ERA over the course of 176 1/3 innings. He currently boasts career-best marks in strikeout rate, walk rate, fastball velocity, swinging-strike rate and opponents’ chase rate. On top of that, he’s not yet into his arbitration years, having only amassed two-plus years of service time prior to 2025. He’ll cross the three-year mark this season and be eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. Tampa Bay can control him through the 2028 campaign.

Adding another reliever is typically a goal for all contending clubs, but it’s quite prudent for a Rays club that currently has Manuel Rodriguez (2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings) and Hunter Bigge (2.51 ERA dating back to last summer’s MLB debut) on the injured list at present. As noted just yesterday in our Trade Deadline Outlook on the Rays, Tampa Bay tends to prioritize under-the-radar pickups of just this sort of controllable reliever, as opposed to making plays for more obvious trade candidates with dwindling club control.

Baker has regularly worked in high-leverage spots for Baltimore this season. He’s tallied a pair of saves and 10 holds on the year already. He’ll now join a late-inning mix for the Rays, pairing with Garrett Cleavinger, Edwin Uceta and (once healthy) Rodriguez as a setup option for excellent closer Pete Fairbanks.

For the Orioles, they’ll add more firepower to what’s already a large draft pool. Draft picks awarded in Major League Baseball’s Competitive Balance lottery are the only picks eligible to be traded and may only be traded one time, so Baltimore will hang onto this pick and carry it into Sunday’s draft.

The Orioles, who gained compensatory picks at the end of the first round when Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander signed elsewhere after declining qualifying offers, now have four of the first 37 selections in this year’s draft. In addition to that pair of comp picks, Baltimore also has a pick in Competitive Balance Round B (between the second and third rounds of the draft). That gives them a staggering seven picks in the first 93 selections of this year’s draft and a massive bonus pool worth more than $19MM — the largest of any team in MLB.

The O’s are selling Baker at close to peak value, but they won’t get any short-term help that could impact the team this year or next. Baltimore is 10 games under .500 and seven back of a Wild Card spot in the American League, so it’s not necessarily a shock to see them begin to sell off some big league pieces for future value. The question is whether this will end up as a one-off for now, with the O’s staying the course until closer to the deadline in hopes of a late surge back into the Wild Card chase, or whether this is the beginning of a larger sale.

Presumably, if the O’s ultimately end up trading off a larger slate of veteran players, they’ll begin to prioritize young talent that’s closer to MLB readiness. The O’s have rental players like Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, Seranthony Dominguez, Tomoyuki Sugano, Gregory Soto, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin, plus older veterans with reasonably priced 2026 club options like Andrew Kittredge and Ramon Laureano. General manager Mike Elias could field offers on that group while still keeping the core of Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday and Grayson Rodriguez together in hopes of retooling for another run at contention in 2026. In that scenario, adding some young big leaguers or on-the-cusp prospects in Triple-A would be a sensible goal.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Baker was being traded to the Rays. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the return.

Richie Palacios Expected To Miss 4-6 Weeks Due To Knee Injury

By | at

Rays outfielder Richie Palacios was placed on the injured list due to what was termed a right knee sprain yesterday. It wasn’t immediately clear how long Palacios was expected to miss at the time, but manager Kevin Cash provided an update reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) this afternoon. Per Cash, the Rays are still “gathering information” about the specifics of Palacios’s injury, including whether surgery will ultimately be necessary. With that being said, Cash suggested that the Rays’ current expectation is that they’ll be without the outfielder for the next four to six weeks.

It’s the second IL stint of Palacios’s 2025 season. The outfielder missed Opening Day due to a late-spring fracture in his right ring finger and was activated from that injury on Thursday, but lasted just one day on the active roster before being sidelined with this knee issue. He went 3-for-4 with a stolen base in that one game on the roster, a performance that highlights just how much Palacios will be missed by the club while he’s out of action. The soon to be 28-year-old has hit a solid .238/.340/.377 with a 108 wRC+ in 125 games with the Cardinals and Rays dating back to 2023. In 422 trips to the plate during that time, Palacios has swiped 22 bases, swatted 11 homers, and walked at a 12.1% clip despite an 18.5% strikeout rate.

That all-around solid offensive performance is one the Rays could really use in their outfield mix. While the efforts of Christopher Morel, Jose Caballero, Jake Mangum, and Kameron Misner have shockingly led the Rays to the most productive outfield in baseball to this point in the 2025 season, there are plenty of indicators that this production isn’t sustainable. Morel is striking out at an eye-popping 43.8% clip this year, and Caballero’s strikeout rate is at 42.5%. Mangum and Misner, meanwhile, have managed to reach this level of success thanks to BABIPs of .373 and .405 respectively. Morel and Caballero can’t expect to stay productive while striking out in nearly half of their plate appearances, while Misner and Mangum should expect those sky-high BABIPs to come back down to Earth eventually.

A steady bat like that of Palacios would’ve gone a long way to stabilizing the club’s outfield production, but that hope will be put off for at least the next month. With no return in sight for Josh Lowe from his oblique strain and Jonny DeLuca expected to stay on the shelf until sometime next month due to a shoulder strain, that should give recently-promoted outfield prospect Chandler Simpson the opportunity to keep the good times rolling in Tampa’s outfield. Simpson was chosen to take Palacios’s place on the roster when he went on the IL yesterday, and the 24-year-old youngster made waves by stealing 104 bases in 121 attempts in the minors last year.

It’s a tall ask of Simpson, who only just reached Triple-A this year and had yet to hit much at the level across 17 games. The Rays have few remaining viable depth options available in their outfield at this point unless they’re willing to play non-roster DH Eloy Jimenez on the grass, so the speedy prospect figures to be a fixture of the club’s outfield for at least the next few weeks in light of Palacios’s potentially lengthy absence barring a surprise external acquisition that helps deepen the Rays’ outfield mix.

Rays Select Chandler Simpson

By | at

The Rays announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Chandler Simpson. Outfielder Richie Palacios is heading back to the injured list with a right knee sprain. Right-hander Alex Faedo has been transferred to the 60-day IL as the corresponding move to get Simpson onto the 40-man. Faedo started the season on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation. His current status is unclear but he’s now ineligible to return until late May at the earliest. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported the moves prior to the official announcement.

Simpson, 24, is one of the most interesting prospects in baseball on account of his base-stealing acumen. The Rays drafted him with the 70th overall pick in 2022, a Competitive Balance Round B selection. In his first full professional season in 2023, he stole 81 bases in 93 attempts, appearing in just 91 games. Last year, he got into 110 minor league games and swiped 104 bags in 121 attempts. He is 8 for 11 so far here in 2025.

His work at the plate has been competent enough, in a powerless sort of way. He has 1,120 minor league plate appearances thus far across various levels. He has just one home run, which was of the inside-the-park variety. But has walked more than he has struck out, a 9.6% rate of free passes compared to an 8.8% rate of punchouts. That has helped him produce a bizarrely level slash line of .324/.389/.371. That translates to a 123 wRC+, indicating he’s been 23% above league average overall.

It’s a very intriguing combination. Many recent speed specialists have had their production undercut by an inability to put the bat on the ball and/or get on base. Billy Hamilton spent many years as baseball’s fastest man but he hit just .239/.292/.325 in his big league career. While he was a good bet for 50-plus steals annually and some highlight-reel catches, the lack of offense made him difficult to roster. Guys like Juan Pierre, Rajai Davis and Dee Strange-Gordon were somewhat similar, swiping hundreds of bags but with subpar hitting.

If Simpson can get on base a bit more than guys in that group, perhaps he can be a bit more of a difference maker. Though even if not, a player with elite speed and can still be plenty valuable on the basepaths and in the outfield.

Prospect evaluators are a bit split on what kind of big league impact Simpson can make. FanGraphs is one outlet that is especially bullish, as they ranked him the #72 prospect in all of baseball heading into this season. They noted that his contact ability is almost at the level of guys like Luis Arráez and Steven Kwan, though a smidge below. However, they also caution that speed-and-defense players like Myles Straw and Nick Madrigal offer a sort of cautionary tale of how things could go wrong for Simpson with little offensive impact.

The report from FanGraphs also adds that the defense is a work in progress. Simpson was a second baseman in college and is still getting used to the outfield. They note that his routes aren’t always great but his speed gives him a lot of room for error. If he can continue to develop his routes, there’s a tremendous ceiling there.

ESPN gave Simpson the #91 spot heading into the season but Simpson didn’t crack the top 100 with Baseball America, MLB Pipeline or Keith Law of The Athletic. BA ranked him #8 in the Rays’ system coming into the year, seemingly with a bit more concern about the defense and lack of power.

The divisive scouting reports mean that the prospect promotion incentive is not at play here. To be PPI eligible, a player must be on two of the BA/ESPN/MLB Pipeline lists and Simpson only cracked one. It’s too late in the season now for Simpson to get a full year of service time. Even if he’s up for good, he won’t be able to qualify for free agency until after 2031, though he has a chance to reach arbitration after 2027 as a Super Two player.

The Rays have three outfielders on the IL in Palacios, Jonny DeLuca and Josh Lowe. Their outfield playing time has been going to Kameron Misner, Christopher Morel, Jake Mangum and José Caballero lately. Simpson will slot into that group and test his mettle against big league pitching.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Rays Place Shane McClanahan, Richie Palacios On Injured List

By | at

The Rays placed left-hander Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list and utilityman Richie Palacios on the 10-day IL today, with both placements retroactive to March 24.  McClanahan is dealing with a nerve problem in his left triceps, while Palacios has a fracture in his right ring finger.  Righty Hunter Bigge and outfielder Kameron Misner were called up from Triple-A and will be part of the Opening Day roster.

Palacios has missed the last week of Spring Training action due to the fracture, which is at the tip of ring finger.  Tampa skipper Kevin Cash told reporters (including Ryan Bass) last Friday that the injury was considered minor and that Palacios would miss “probably…a couple days,” but it appears as though the club has opted to sideline Palacios for a week into the season to give him a bit more time to heal up.

The left-handed hitting Palacios appeared in 92 games for the Rays last season, hitting .233/.346/.318 over 316 plate appearances (285 of them against right-handed pitching).  As one would expect from a part-time Rays player, Palacios saw action at multiple positions, primarily at second base and the two corner outfield slots plus a couple of games at third base and shortstop.  Misner is an outfield-only player, but he is another lefty bat who can provide more help in that department while Palacios is out.

It was known earlier this week that McClanahan’s nerve issue would send him to the season-opening IL, and delay his return to the big leagues after he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.  No timeline has been provided for when McClanahan might be ready to pitch, which isn’t unusual given the unpredictable state of nerve-related injuries.  McClanahan and the Rays can only wait for the nerve to calm, and once that happens, a ramp-up plan can be devised to plot out the southpaw’s official return to action.

In other Rays injury news, Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that catcher Danny Jansen’s pulled rib muscle is feeling a bit better, but a simulated game today will determine whether or not Jansen can be available for Opening Day.  If Jansen is still feeling discomfort through the 5-6 simulated innings, Tampa Bay will likely put him on the 10-day IL and use Kenny Piper as the new backup catcher to Ben Rortvedt.  An 18th-round pick for the Rays in the 2021 draft, Piper has yet to make his MLB debut, and the Rays would have to select his contract into their open spot on the 40-man roster.

Rays Getting Jose Caballero, Richie Palacios Work In Center Field

By | at

Defensive versatility is a hallmark of the Rays organization, and they’re expanding the role for utilitymen Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios this spring, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Caballero, who played plus defense at shortstop, second base and third base in 2024, is getting reps across all three outfield spots in camp. He played two innings in left field last season. Palacios already played five positions last year and is also getting reps in center. Topkin calls him the leading candidate to back up presumptive starter Jonny DeLuca.

Caballero, 28, came to the Rays in a Jan. 2024 trade sending Luke Raley to the Mariners. He doesn’t provide much offense, hitting just .225/.308/.338 in 243 MLB games and 763 plate appearances, but he’s been a plus defender around the infield and piled up 70 steals in 89 tries through a season and a half’s worth of games. Caballero logged the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop last year, but with Ha-Seong Kim now in the fold and Taylor Walls healthy, he’ll move into more of a jack-of-all-trades utility role.

The 27-year-old Palacios was acquired from the Cardinals — in exchange for Andrew Kittredge — on the same day the Rays picked up Caballero. He split the bulk of his time between second base and the outfield corners in his first season with Tampa Bay and drew solid or better defensive grades across those positions. Like Caballero, he didn’t hit for much average or power. Also like Caballero, he adds value to his offensive game with another skill, though not his speed; Palacios walked in a massive 14.2% of his plate appearances last season. He chased only 22.3% of pitches off the plate, per Statcast, ranking in the 87th percentile of hitters (min. 300 plate appearances).

That both players are getting looks in center field is of extra note given the lack of an established player at the position. DeLuca is in line to see the bulk of playing time there, but the 26-year-old hit just .217/.278/.331 in 362 plate appearances last year. DeLuca spent more time in right field than in left, and fielded the corner spot quite well (6 Defensive Runs Saved, 5 Outs Above Average). His work in center was graded closer to average (-1 DRS, 2 OAA).

If DeLuca doesn’t provide more offensively and/or prove to be a standout defender in center, it’s feasible that either Caballero or Palacios could get more looks there. Tampa Bay also has outfielders Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum on the 40-man roster, each of whom has experience in center. More broadly, whoever ends up seeing the bulk of the early time in center could prove a placeholder for fleet-footed prospect Chandler Simpson.

Simpson is still relatively new to center field — the 24-year-old was a middle infielder in college ball — but he hit .355/.410/.397 between High-A and Double-A last season and is an 80-grade runner who’ll be one of MLB’s fastest players if and when he debuts. Simpson only hit one home run in 2024 but swiped a staggering 104 bases in only 110 games played — all while fanning in only 8.5% of his plate appearances.

Rays Select Kameron Misner, Place Richie Palacios On 10-Day IL

By | at

TODAY: The Rays officially selected Misner and placed Palacios on the 10-day IL yesterday with a right knee sprain.  Manager Kevin Cash told Topkin and other reporters that Palacios will miss roughly 4-6 weeks in recovery, and there is enough uncertainly this early in the rehab process that Palacios could potentially miss the rest of the regular season.

The injury is a tough break for Palacios, who has gotten a nice chunk of playing time as a part of the Rays’ regular rotation of position players.  Palacios has a 104 wRC+, from a slash line of .233/.350/.332 and five homers in 301 plate appearances.  The 27-year-old has also stolen 19 bases in 20 attempts, while getting a lot of action at second base and in the two corner outfield positions.

AUGUST 1: The Rays are planning to promote outfielder Kameron Misner from Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll join the active roster in place of Richie Palacios, who is headed for the 10-day injured list after tweaking his knee in yesterday’s loss to Miami. Tampa Bay will need to select Misner’s contract but has three vacancies on the 40-man roster after their slate of deadline trades.

Now 26, Misner was once a highly-regarded draft prospect. The Marlins selected him 35th overall in the 2019 draft coming out of the University of Missouri. He’d briefly reached Double-A in the Miami system by the time they sent him to Tampa Bay in an intra-state trade to land veteran infielder Joey Wendle.

The book on Misner has been the same dating back to his college days. He has big power in a 6’4″ frame. He takes plenty of walks and has a surprising amount of athleticism for a player his size. Scouting reports have always questioned his pure hitting ability, though, with some evaluators putting a 30 (well below-average on the 20-80 scouting scale) on his hit tool.

Misner has spent nearly two full seasons in Durham and continued to perform to those expectations. He’s a career .236/.360/.453 hitter in nearly 1000 Triple-A plate appearances. Misner has 36 home runs, a massive 15.7% walk rate, and has stolen 48 bases in 57 attempts over 224 games. The left-handed hitter has also struck out in more than a third of his trips to the plate, the biggest reason he hadn’t gotten a major league call despite the big on-base and power numbers.

The Rays have used Misner mostly in center field in the minors. He’ll probably get more action in the corners on the MLB roster. That’s especially true with the Rays losing Palacios, who has started 40 games in a corner outfield spot this season. Palacios has made a career-high 88 appearances overall, hitting .233/.350/.332 through 301 trips to the plate. He’s on his third team in as many seasons after the Rays swapped him from the Cardinals for reliever Andrew Kittredge over the winter.

Tampa Bay and St. Louis lined up another reliever for outfielder deal this week, as the Rays shipped Shawn Armstrong to the Cards while taking a flier on former top prospect Dylan Carlson. The switch-hitting Carlson could get the majority of left field reps while Misner adds a power bat to Kevin Cash’s bench.

MLBTR Podcast: Teoscar Signs With L.A. And The Move-Making Mariners and Rays

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will anything stop this trend of deferred money in contracts? (23:40)
  • Will there ever be a salary floor and would that help baseball in any way? (32:20)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Cardinals Swap Richie Palacios To Rays For Andrew Kittredge

By | at

The Rays and Cardinals got together on a swap this afternoon that sent outfielder Richie Palacios to Tampa and right-hander Andrew Kittredge to St. Louis. Joel Sherman of The New York Post first reported that the sides were in talks regarding the two players, while The Athletic’s Katie Woo first reported that the deal between the two sides was complete.

Kittredge, 34 in March, was a 45th-round pick by the Mariners back in 2008 but didn’t make his big league debut until 2017 as a member of the Rays. After riding the shuttle between Triple-A and the majors in the first two seasons of his career, Kittredge earned a more permanent role with the club in 2019, when he pitched to a 4.17 ERA and 3.56 FIP in 49 2/3 innings of work across 37 appearances. Kittredge was relied upon for both single-inning and multi-inning relief appearances while acting as both an opener and a late-inning arm for the club throughout the season. Kittredge went on to impress early in the shortened 2020 campaign with a 2.25 ERA, but saw his season limited to just eight appearances by a UCL sprain.

Kittredge elected free agency following the 2020 season but re-signed with the Rays on a minor league deal shortly thereafter and wound up turning in a dominant 2021 season. Kittredge pitched 71 2/3 across 57 appearances and kept his ERA at a sparkling 1.88 figure during the time. He struck out 27.3% of batters faced while walking just 5.3% and maintaining a strong 53.5% groundball rate. Kittredge’s ERA was third in the majors behind only Jacob deGrom and Ranger Suarez among pitchers with at least 70 innings of work that season, easily earning him the first All Star appearance of his career.

Unfortunately for both the Rays and Kittredge, much of his time has been spent on the injured list since that phenomenal 2021 campaign. He dealt with back tightness early in the 2022 campaign before undergoing Tommy John surgery that June and didn’t return to the majors until mid-August. In 31 appearances between the 2022 and ’23 campaigns, Kittredge performed solidly despite the circumstances with a 3.13 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 31 2/3 innings of work. With that being said, some of the veteran righty’s peripherals took a turn for the worse during that time. The righty’s groundball rate dipped to just 42.7% during that time while his strikeout rate sank to 19.2%.

Even so, the addition of Kittredge offers the Cardinals a veteran arm with late inning experience to supplement the back of their bullpen, which currently features Giovanny Gallegos, Ryan Helsley, and JoJo Romero. Gallegos suffered a down season in 2023 while Helsley and Romero combined for just 73 1/3 innings of work, leaving plenty of uncertainty surrounding the group headed into 2024. While Kittredge has some question marks himself, he provides another quality arm with a track record of success in the majors: since he became a regular fixture in the Tampa bullpen back in 2019, Kittredge owns a 2.85 ERA and 3.43 FIP across 161 innings of work. For a Cardinals club that had made bullpen upgrades and explicit goal this offseason, adding Kittredge could go a long way to achieving that objective.

In exchange for Kittredge’s services, the Cardinals are giving up Palacios. The club acquired the 26-year-old outfielder from the Guardians in a cash deal back in June and the youngster took off in 32 games with St. Louis, slashing .258/.307/.516 in 102 trips to the plate in the majors while posting a .299/.418/.459 slash line in 195 Triple-A plate appearances with the organization. The offensive outburst from Palacios was relatively unexpected, as he had struggled to a .232/.293/.286 slash line with the Guardians in 2022 and mustered just a .217/.351/.318 line in 56 Triple-A games prior to the trade.

Clearly, the Rays are betting that Palacios unlocked a new level during his time in St. Louis. If he can hit at an above-average clip in the majors, the lefty-swinging youngster could provide the Rays with an outfield bat to fill the void left by Luke Raley, who the club swapped to Seattle earlier today. It’s even possible he could chip in at second base, where he has spent 920 1/3 innings in the minors (though he’s only made three appearances there at the big league level), alongside Brandon Lowe.

Tantalizing as the upside Palacios flashed last season was, however, it seems unlikely he would’ve been able to garner more than a bench role in St. Louis due to the club’s deep outfield mix and the presence of both Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman at the keystone. The lack of a clear role for Palacios in St. Louis and Kittredge’s lack of additional team control beyond 2024 make this swap a relatively low-cost gamble for both sides that could pay significant dividends in 2024 (and, in the case of the Rays and Palacios, beyond).

Cardinals Acquire Richie Palacios From Guardians

By | at

The Cardinals announced that they have acquired infielder/outfielder Richie Palacios from the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations. Palacios, who was designated for assignment by the Guards on the weekend, has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, outfielder Tyler O’Neill has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Palacios, 26, was originally selected by Cleveland in the third round of the 2018 draft. He’s generally been considered a bat-first utility player and hit his way up the minor league ladder. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November of 2021 to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

He spent last year as a frequently-optioned depth piece, getting into 54 major league contests. But in his 123 plate appearances, he hit just .232/.293/.286 for a wRC+ of 65. He continued his strong offensive work whenever in the minors, finishing the year with a line of .279/.371/.458 in Triple-A and a 121 wRC+. However, this year, he’s slumped badly while sticking in the minors. He currently sports a line of .217/.351/.318 through 269 Triple-A plate appearances on the year.

Palacios has been bounced around the field a bit in his career to get his bat into lineups. He’s played second base and left field in the majors and also the other outfield positions in the minors. But since his bat is considered his best trait, his struggles this year got him bounced from the Guards to the Cards. The Cardinals have a penchant for developing versatile position players and will now try to get the most out of Palacios. He still has options and less than a year of service time, allowing him to serve as an optionable and versatile depth piece for the foreseeable future.

As for O’Neill, he was placed on the injured list in early May due to a lower back strain. There’s been nothing to indicate he’s particularly close to a return since he’s yet to start a rehab assignment that would be required before rejoining the big league club. That makes this transaction a mere formality as the 60-day count goes from his initial IL placement, not today’s transfer. He’ll be eligible to be reinstated in early July if he makes significant progress in the next two weeks.

Guardians Designate Richie Palacios For Assignment

By | at

The Guardians made a series of roster moves this morning, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Infielder Richie Palacios has been designated for assignment and left-hander Tim Herrin has been optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for right-hander Cody Morris, who was activated from the 60-day IL this morning.

A third round pick by Cleveland in the 2018 draft, Palacios made his MLB debut for the club last year, though he struggled to a .232/.293/.286 slash line (good for a wRC+ of just 65) in 54 games with the club. Those struggles came in spite of fantastic minor league numbers, as Palacios hit at an above average level at every stop on his minor league journey until his major league debut. That includes a 2021 campaign where he slashed an impressive .297/.404/.471 in 103 games split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse for Palacios in 2023, as the young infielder has failed to hit even at the Triple-A level, with a meager .217/.351/.318 slash line that’s good for a wRC+ of just 78 in 56 games with Columbus this season. Those struggles have seemingly caused the Guardians to pull the plug on Palacios, who they will now have seven days to trade or attempt to pass through waivers.

As a 26-year-old infielder with positional versatility, past success in the minors, and options remaining, Palacios seems likely to be an attractive option for infield-needy clubs on the waiver wire, though if he were to pass through waivers he would not be able to reject an outright assignment from the Guardians.

Herrin, 26, heads to Columbus after making his major league debut earlier this season. In ten appearances with the Guardians, the lefty struggled to a 6.39 ERA across 12 2/3 innings of work, allowing two home runs, five walks, and hitting a batter. Those issues with the long ball and control hampered Herrin even as he posted a solid 25.5% strikeout rate in the majors. Herrin figures to act as bullpen depth for Cleveland going forward in Triple-A, where he has posted a 3.63 ERA in 17 1/3 innings of work this season.

Those moves pave the way for the return of Morris, a 26-year-old right-hander who made an impressive big league debut with the Guardians last season. In seven appearances split between the bullpen and the rotation, Morris posted a 2.28 ERA (170 ERA+), though his 4.34 FIP indicates there may have been some good fortune in those run prevention numbers, particularly given the fact that his 12% walk rate and 35.4% groundball rate all leave something to be desired.

Still, Morris’s minor league numbers are certainly intriguing, with a career 1.68 ERA and a 37.8% strikeout rate in 80 1/3 innings of work between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. After opening the season on the injured list with a teres major strain, Morris now figures to assist the Guardians pitching staff as an option for both the rotation and the bullpen going forward, though he seems ticketed for the bullpen for the time being.

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