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Rob Zastryzny

Pirates Announce Several Minor League Deals

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The Pirates announced six minor league deals to reporters today, with Justice delos Santos of MLB.com among those to relay them on Twitter. They include the previously reported deals for catcher Tyler Heineman, as well as right-handers Tyler Chatwood and Nate Webb. Also included in the announcement are three left-handers: Daniel Zamora, Rob Zastryzny and Ángel Perdomo.

Zamora, 30 in April, will be returning to his original organization, as he was drafted by the Pirates in 2015. He was later traded to the Mets and made his major league debut with them. He’s seen scattered MLB action in recent years, reaching the big in 2018, 2019 and 2021, logging 22 innings with a 4.50 ERA. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers for 2022, tossing 63 Triple-A innings with a 3.86 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 41.6% ground ball rate.

Zastryzny, 31 in March, pitched for the Cubs from 2016 to 2018 but didn’t make it to the big leagues in the three subsequent seasons. He returned in 2022, making one appearance for the Mets and three for the Angels after a waiver claim. He spent most of the year in Triple-A between the two organizations, throwing 55 1/3 innings with a 3.42 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. He was non-tendered by the Halos in November.

Perdomo, 29 in May, made 22 appearances with the Brewers over 2020 and 2021 but struggled to the tune of an 8.24 ERA. The Rays claimed him off waivers from the Brewers in July but neither team called him up to the big leagues. He ended up throwing 34 innings in the minors between the two clubs, posting a 1.85 ERA while striking out an incredible 40.3% of batters faced but walking 12.9% of them.

These three southpaws will give the Bucs an extra layer of depth in terms of left-handed relief. Right now, the club only has two lefties on their 40-man roster in Jarlín García and Jose Hernandez, the latter of those two being a recent Rule 5 draftee from the Dodgers. If any of this group separates themselves from the pack, there could be a role for them. All three of them have limited service time, meaning they could be retained cheaply for future seasons if they crack the roster. However, they are all out of options, meaning they can’t easily be sent back down to the minors afterwards.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/18/22

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The deadline to tender contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7:00pm Central. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all arb-eligible players last month. Onto the transactions…

Latest Transactions

  • The Mariners announced that they have non-tendered three players: catchers Brian O’Keefe and Luis Torrens, as well as righty Luke Weaver. Weaver was just claimed off waivers from the Royals a few weeks ago but will now become a free agent.
  • The White Sox announced three non-tenders: outfielders Adam Engel and Mark Payton, as well as infielder Danny Mendick. Engel is generally considered a strong defensive outfielder but he struggled at the plate in 2022. Mendick played all over the diamond while hitting .289/.343/.443 for a wRC+ of 125.
  • The Guardians announced they have non-tendered lefty Anthony Gose and catcher Luke Maile. Gose was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Maile got into 76 games hit at a below-average level with roughly average defensive marks.
  • The Angels announced four non-tenders: lefties Jhonathan Diaz and Rob Zastryzny, as well as righties Touki Toussaint and Nash Walters. The latter three names were designated for assignment a few days ago.
  • The Rays have non-tendered Ryan Yarbrough, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa designated him for assignment earlier in the week.
  • The Blue Jays announced that they have non-tendered outfielders Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer, as well as infielder Vinny Capra. The two former names were designated for assignment a few days ago.

Earlier Moves

  • The Athletics announced that they did not tender contracts to three players: right-hander Deolis Guerra, left-hander Jared Koenig and infielder David MacKinnon. Guerra is the most seasoned of the trio, having made his MLB debut back in 2015 and made 136 appearances. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in April, missing the entire 2022 campaign and possibly some of 2023 as well.
  • The Red Sox are non-tendering outfielder/first-baseman Franchy Cordero, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Cordero appeared in 84 games for the Red Sox this past season, but hit just .219/.300/.397 with eight home runs while grading out very poorly on defense.  The Sox have also non-tendered infielder Yu Chang, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. The versatile infielder began the year with the Guardians but subsequently went to the Pirates in a trade, then went to the Rays and Red Sox on waiver claims. Across those four teams, he hit .208/.289/.315 for a wRC+ of 78.
  • The Astros will part ways with reliever Josh James, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports they’re expected to non-tender him tonight. He spent the entire 2022 campaign in the minors, and underwent flexor tendon surgery in October and is without a timetable to return.
  • The Rangers announced that right-hander Nick Snyder has not been tendered a contract. He only has 4 2/3 innings of MLB experience over the past couple of seasons. He spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, posting a 4.97 ERA over 38 innings, though with a 30.9% strikeout rate.
  • The Royals opted to non-tender lefty Jake Brentz and right-hander Nate Webb, the team announced. That’s no surprise, as both players were designated for assignment earlier this week. They lost their 40-man roster spots as a result, but the non-tender means Kansas City won’t need to run them through waivers before sending them directly to free agency. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that Kansas City is tendering contracts to the rest of their arbitration class, including Brad Keller and Amir Garrett — each of whom seemed to have a small chance of being cut loose after tough seasons.

Angels Select Kolton Ingram, Jose Soriano, DFA Three Players

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Ahead of the upcoming Rule 5 protection deadline, the Angels have announced that they’ve selected the contracts of Kolton Ingram and Jose Soriano to their 40-man roster. They’ve also announced that Touki Toussaint, Rob Zastryzny and Nash Walters have all been designated for assignment.

Ingram, 26, was originally drafted by the Tigers in the 37th round of the 2019 draft. He didn’t last long in the Tigers system, pitching just a season in rookie ball before being released in July of 2020. The Angels picked him up before the 2021 season, and he’s blossomed into an excellent relief pitcher in their minor league system. In more than a season’s worth of action at Double-A, Ingram has a 2.40 ERA across 75 innings pitched, giving up just six home runs in that time and posting strong strikeout (10.8 SO/9) and walk (2.8 BB/9) rates.

Soriano, 24, is a hard throwing right hander coming off back-to-back Tommy John surgeries. In 2021, the Pirates picked him up in the Rule 5 draft as he worked his way back from the first surgery, but midway through the 2021 campaign while on a minor league rehab assignment, Soriano re-injured himself and wound up needing a second surgery. The Pirates DFA’d him at the end of the season and he was returned to the Angels, although he does now have a full year of MLB service time to his name. Soriano’s spent much of 2022 rehabbing, but he did feature in seven minor league games, pitching to a 2.08 ERA with 17 strikeouts across 13 innings between rookie and A ball.

Toussaint was once one of baseball’s most prized prospects in the Braves’ system, regularly featuring on top-100 lists in the last decade. It hasn’t worked out for him in the big leagues though. He threw 145 innings of 5.46 ERA ball across four seasons with the Braves before the Angels purchased him in July this year. He didn’t have much success with the Angels either, pitching to a 4.62 ERA in 25 1/3 innings, walking 19 batters and striking out 26. He didn’t go much better in his time at Triple-A either, winding up with a 5.69 ERA across 55 1/3 innings between the Angels’ and Braves’ affiliates.

Zastryzny was claimed off waivers from the Mets late in the season, and only pitched three innings for the Angels in 2022. He’d only pitched a single inning for the Mets as well, but was a solid performer at the Triple-A level, where he spent most of the season. There, Zastryzny had 3.42 ERA across 55 1/3 innings, striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings while walking 3.3. Originally drafted by the Cubs back in 2013, Zastryzny impressed in a small sample in his rookie season, pitching to a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings. He hasn’t been able to follow that up since though, and on the whole owns a 4.66 ERA across 38 2/3 big league innings.

The Angels purchased Walters from the Brewers in September, and the 25-year-old faced just three batters in the big leagues, giving up a hit and walk and recording one out. That’s not quite a big enough sample size to cast meaningful judgement, so Walters threw 47 innings out of the bullpen at Double-A in the Brewers’ system for a 4.60 ERA. He struck out batters at a good clip (33%) and walked them at a 7.5% rate. The Angels used him at Triple-A after acquiring him, where he threw just 5 1/3 innings.

Angels Claim Rob Zastryzny From Mets

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The Angels have claimed Rob Zastryzny off waivers from the Mets, and the left-hander has been optioned to Triple-A.  New York designated Zastryzny for assignment earlier this week.

The Mets signed Zastryzny to a minors contract in May, and he made a single appearance for the Mets (tossing one inning in the Mets’ 4-1 loss to the Phillies last Sunday) before being designated for assignment.  While a brief stint, it was surely a welcome return to the bigs for Zastryzny, whose last MLB appearance came with the Cubs back in 2018.  The left-hander tossed 34 2/3 innings for Chicago in 2016-18 before bouncing around to multiple teams and eventually landing his next chance at the Show.

Zastryzny spent 2019 in the Dodgers farm system, and he’ll now head back to SoCal for an opportunity with Los Angeles’ other team.  He’ll provide the Halos with some relief depth in the minors, and with Jose Quijada increasingly getting some save chances, there could be room for the Angels to call up Zastryzny for more of a traditional lefty relief role.

Mets Designate Rob Zastryzny, Nate Fisher; Select Connor Grey

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The Mets have announced a series of roster moves, including selecting the contract of right-hander Connor Grey. Additionally, catcher Tomas Nido has been cleared to return from the COVID-19 IL, retaking his place on the roster. To make room on the active roster, left-hander Nate Fisher has been designated for assignment and right-hander Jose Butto has been optioned down to Triple-A Syracuse. Left-hander Rob Zastryzny was designated for assignment to open up another spot on the 40-man.

Grey, 28, was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 20th round of the 2016 draft. He got as high as Triple-A in Arizona’s system but was released in May of 2020. After reaching free agency, he signed a minor league deal with the Mets. This year, he’s made 12 appearances for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, 11 of those being starts. In 93 innings, he has a 5.52 ERA, 17.9% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 49.3% ground ball rate.

Fisher, 26, was just selected to the club’s roster yesterday with the feel-good story of having been out of baseball and working at a bank just over a year ago. He threw three shutout innings for the Mets, helping them secure a 10-9 victory in a seesaw battle. Unfortunately, he will have to relinquish his roster spot after that Cinderella story. He’s logged 72 innings in the minors this year between Double-A and Triple-A, registering a 3.37 ERA with a 23.2% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate.

It’s a somewhat similar trajectory for Zastryzny, 30, who was just selected to the Mets’ roster two days ago. He pitched one inning for the club on Saturday before being optioned yesterday and designated today. He’s thrown 47 1/3 innings for Syracuse this season with a 3.61 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate.

With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the Mets will have no choice but to put Fisher and Zastryzny on waivers, either the outright variety or the release variety. Zastryzny has been previously outrighted in his career, meaning he would have the ability to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if he clears waivers. Fisher, on the other hand, would not have that right.

Tim Healey of Newsday first relayed that Grey had a locker in the Mets clubhouse. Mike Puma of the New York Post tweeted the news of Butto’s optioning and Fisher’s DFA (Twitter links).

Mets Select Rob Zastryzny

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The Mets made a few roster moves in between games of their doubleheader with the Phillies, as left-hander Rob Zastryzny’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Syracuse.  In other transactions, left-hander Sam Clay was optioned to Triple-A, while recently-designated right-hander R.J. Alvarez was outrighted to Syracuse after clearing waivers.

Zastryzny pitched 34 2/3 innings for the Cubs over parts of the 2016-18 seasons, and has since bounced around with three other MLB organizations (Dodgers, Orioles, Marlins) and the independent Long Island Ducks before joining the Mets back in May.  The 30-year-old has made a solid accounting of himself in Syracuse, with a 3.61 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, and 9.1% walk rate in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings, starting six of his 26 games.

While the Mets’ bullpen has been good overall, left-handed batters have found some success against the team, in part due to New York’s lack of southpaw relievers.  Joely Rodriguez has been the only left-handed constant in the relief corps all season, so if Zastryzny is able to even come close to his Syracuse numbers, he could earn himself a longer look in his return to the big leagues.

Marlins Moves: Zastryzny, Bender

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The Marlins purchased the contract of left-hander Rob Zastryzny from the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League on Tuesday. The Ducks announced the move, adding that Zastryzny will report to the Marlins’ extended spring training site. The Marlins also selected the contract of righty Anthony Bender, as Craig Mish of SportsGrid first reported.

The 29-year-old Zastryzny joined the Ducks back in March, but he exited before ever throwing a pitch for the team. Prior to signing with the Ducks, the former second-round pick (2013) appeared in the bigs from 2016-18 with the Cubs, who drafted him. He also had stints with the Dodgers and Orioles, though he didn’t make it to the majors with either of those organizations.

During his time in Chicago, the soft-tossing Zastryzny logged 34 2/3 innings and posted a 4.41 ERA with a 51.5 percent groundball rate, a 20.1 percent strikeout rate and a 10.4 percent walk rate. Zastryzny was tough on lefties as a Cub, holding them to a pitiful .154/.313/.154 line, but righties teed off on him for a .330/.387/.468 mark. In his most recent professional action, the 2019 campaign, Zastryzny racked up 113 frames between the Dodgers’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. He managed a 5.58 ERA with 104 strikeouts against 38 walks that year.

As for the 26-year-old Bender, he saw action in the minors with the Royals and Brewers from 2016-19. While Bender notched a rock-solid 3.30 ERA in that 239 2/3-inning stretch, he only threw 5 2/3 frames above the High-A level. Bender spent last season with the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association, and then Miami took a flyer on him on a minors contract over the winter.

After joining the Marlins, Bender held his own in spring training with 8 1/3 scoreless innings, flashing a 97 mph sinker and a high-spin slider, as Ely Sussman of Fish Stripes points out. Thanks to Bender’s intriguing repertoire, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranks him as the Marlins’ 32nd-best prospect and writes that he could turn into one of their regular middle relievers as early as this season.

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