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Ronny Simon

Pirates Claim Ronny Simón, Designate Tanner Rainey For Assignment

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2:25pm: The Pirates announced that they have claimed Simón and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis, with Rainey designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

1:25pm: The Pirates have claimed infielder Ronny Simón off waivers from the Marlins. The latter club designated him for assignment last week. Right-hander Tanner Rainey has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for Simón. Mike Rodriguez first reported that Simón would be joining the Pirates. Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported that it would be a waiver claim. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported that Rainey was the corresponding move.

Simón, 25, got his first major league call just over a month ago. The Marlins selected his contract on April 20th and he stuck on the roster until he was designated for assignment on May 30th. He got into 19 games and stepped to the plate 56 times, producing a batting line of .234/.327/.277.

That was a fairly unremarkable performance from a statistical point of view but Simón got thrust into the spotlight in an unusual way. As relayed Jason Foster and Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, Simón had a nightmare game against the Padres last week. The Fish were up 6-0 on Tuesday but several errors and general defensive miscues from Simón allowed the Friars to engineer an 8-6 comeback victory.

Amid the chaotic contest, Simón was seen wiping tears from his face. After the game, he received plenty of encouraging messages from his teammates and even his opponents. Per the MLB.com story, Padres such as Manny Machado, Luis Arráez and Fernando Tatis Jr. sent supportive texts to Simón after the game. In addition to that challenging on-field experience, Simón also had to deal with getting sent into DFA limbo a few days later. However, he has quickly found a new home by landing with the Pirates.

Simón’s major league time isn’t much to go on. Presumably, the Pirates are paying more attention to his minor league work. In 2,328 minor league plate appearances, he has a .266/.341/.446 line and 108 wRC+. Before getting called up this year, he got into 15 Triple-A contests and had a massive .354/.441/.521 line in that small sample.

As of July of last year, FanGraphs considered Simón to be one of the top 20 prospects in the Rays’ system, noting that his switch-hitting and defensive versatility gave him a good shot to eventually become a utility player. He has experience at the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as the outfield corners. He’s generally been able to steal about 20-35 bases annually. The Rays didn’t give him a 40-man spot at the end of last year, which led him to sign a minors deal with the Marlins coming into 2025.

He still has a full slate of options, so the Pirates can keep him in the minors if they don’t have room at the big league level. Rainey’s DFA does open an active roster spot but the Pirates might recall a pitcher rather than playing with the pitching staff shorthanded.

Rainey, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in the offseason and was selected to the roster about a month ago. He has since tossed 7 2/3 innings over 11 appearances, allowing nine earned runs. There’s surely a bit of luck in there, especially from a 35.7% strand rate that is ridiculously low, but he also hasn’t done himself any favors by walking 16.2% of batters faced. On the positive side, his 24.3% strikeout rate and 45% ground ball rate are solid numbers.

He’ll now head into DFA limbo, which can last for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Pirates could take five days to try to line up a trade. Rainey’s overall track record includes 197 big league innings with a 5.44 ERA. From 2019 to 2024, he logged 182 1/3 of those innings with a 4.49 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate and 14.1% walk rate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Marlins To Designate Matt Mervis, Ronny Simón For Assignment

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The Marlins are planning to make several roster moves, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. It was already reported earlier today that they would be selecting the contract of outfielder Heriberto Hernández. Kevin Barral of Fish on First reports that infielder Jack Winkler will also be selected to the roster. Per Mish, the club is planning to designate infielders Matt Mervis and Ronny Simón for assignment. That would open two 40-man spots for Hernández and Winkler.

Mervis, 27, was acquired from the Cubs in December with the Fish sending Vidal Bruján to Chicago. Mervis got out to a hot start but with some red flags. Through April 23rd, he already had seven home runs but had also struck out in 36.2% of his plate appearances. The feast-or-famine approach has since pushed hard to the famine side. He hasn’t hit a homer since then while still striking out at a 38.5% clip.

Combining this year’s struggles with his time with the Cubs, Mervis now has a .165/.238/.322 line and 34.5% strikeout rate in 261 major league plate appearances. He had tremendous minor league production in 2022 and 2023, slashing .297/.388/.576, but the strikeouts became a big issue last year. He spent most of 2024 in Triple-A and was punched out at a 30% rate at that level.

There’s clearly some pop in the bat but the Marlins ran out of patience. Mervis is only really capable of playing first base, so he needs to hit in order to have any value. Eric Wagaman isn’t doing much better, with a .227/.277/.382 line this year, but it seems he’ll be the regular first baseman now.

The Marlins will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so that gives the club five days to see if there’s any trade interest. He does still have an option, so it’s possible some club out there grabs him and sends him to the minors to try to catch lightning in a bottle.

Simón, 25, was was just added to the 40-man roster last month. He had signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He has since received 56 plate appearances and hit .234/.327/.277.

He got an unfortunate moment in the baseball spotlight this week, as recapped by Jason Foster and Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Simón made several errors and other defensive miscues as the Marlins blew a 6-0 lead to the Padres on Tuesday, eventually losing 8-6. Simón was seen wiping tears from his face amid the ordeal. But later, he received plenty of encouragement from his teammates and even text messages from players on the opposing team such as Manny Machado, Luis Arráez and Fernando Tatis Jr..

But he’ll now have to endure another challenge, as he’s heading to DFA limbo. He was putting up good numbers in the minors earlier this year, which is why he got up to the big leagues in the first place. He had hit .354/.441/.521 in 15 Triple-A games. That was bolstered by an unsustainable .410 batting average on balls in play but he was drawing walks at a 15% clip while only striking out 16.7% of the time.

As recently as July, FanGraphs considered him to be one of the top 20 prospects in the Rays’ system. But he didn’t get called up last year and hit free agency, which led to his deal with the Marlins. He’s a switch-hitter and capable of bouncing around the diamond while stealing 20-35 bases a year. He still has a full slate of options.

Winkler, 26, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. He’s never really been a top prospect but the Fish nabbed him from the Athletics in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in November. He has gone on to hit .275/.331/.423 at the Triple-A level this year. That’s propped up by a .351 BABIP but Winkler already has 15 steals. He has played all four infield positions in his career as well as the outfield corners.

Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Imagn Images

Marlins Select Cade Gibson, Ronny Simon

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The Marlins announced a series of roster moves this morning. Left-hander Cade Gibson and infielder Ronny Simon were both promoted to the majors. Outfielder Griffin Conine was placed on the 60-day injured list with a dislocated left shoulder, and lefty Patrick Monteverde was designated for assignment. Fish On The Farm first reported Gibson’s call-up, while Mike Rodriguez was first to report Simon’s promotion. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald was the first to report that Conine was headed for the 60-day IL.

Conine’s placement on the shelf is hardly a surprise given that his injury was announced last night. Still, it’s notable that the outfielder will be out for at least the next two months. An exact timetable for his return has not yet been made available, as Jackson reports that while Conine will be out quite a while it’s not yet clear if he’ll require surgery or if his season is in jeopardy. The Marlins are using Javier Sanoja in left field today in Conine’s absence, with Kyle Stowers remaining in right and a platoon of Jesus Sanchez and Dane Myers still handling center field.

Replacing Conine on the roster is Simon, who could theoretically partake in the club’s left field mix alongside Sanoja despite primarily working as an infielder over the years. The 25-year-old initially signed with the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic back in 2018 but was traded to the Diamondbacks during the 2020 season as part of the Andrew Chafin deal. He was then traded to the Rays in a deal that shipped Jordan Luplow to Arizona before reaching minor league free agency and signing with the Marlins on a minor league deal. Now in his fourth organization, Simon has gotten off to a very hot start at Triple-A with a .354/.441/.521 slash line across 15 games and 60 trips to the plate.

That was enough to convince the Marlins to give Simon a shot in the majors. While he’s primarily a second baseman, Simon will bring experience all around the infield and even in the outfield to the Marlins’ bench, offering some valuable versatility for a club that’s struggled to stay healthy early in the year. Simon is also a quality baserunner, with 127 career stolen bases in the minors including two separate 30-steal seasons. Simon could pair with Sanoja in left field while also backing up Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards, and Connor Norby around the infield dirt.

Meanwhile, the pitching side of things sees Cade Gibson come to the big leagues ahead of his major league debut. The 27-year-old lefty was a tenth-round pick by the Marlins back in 2022, and he turned in excellent results in a swing role while splitting time between the High-A and Double-A levels last year. He struck out just 21.1% of hitters but limited opponents to a 2.45 ERA in 80 2/3 innings of work. That performance earned him a promotion to Triple-A this year, where he’s surrendered a 4.50 ERA in ten frames of multi-inning relief work. Despite that lackluster run prevention, Gibson has struck out 29.8% of opponents this year while walking 10.6%. That intriguing jump in strikeout rate could be the reason that the Marlins have opted to give Gibson a shot in the majors after just four appearances with the club’s Jacksonville affiliate.

Making room for Gibson on the roster is Monteverde, who was promoted to the majors just yesterday. The southpaw was an eighth-rounder by the Marlins back in 2021, and he’s worked as a starter primarily throughout his minor league career before moving to a multi-inning relief role this year. Monteverde threw 3 2/3 innings in his MLB debut during yesterday’s game, but surrendered four runs on nine hits while striking out four and walking one. The Marlins will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Monteverde or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed by the rest of the league, Miami will have the opportunity to outright him to the minors as non-roster depth.

Diamondbacks Acquire Jordan Luplow From Rays

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The Rays have traded outfielder/first baseman Jordan Luplow to the D-Backs for infield prospect Ronny Simon, the teams announced. Arizona designated right-hander Brett de Geus for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster now sits at 39.

Luplow is a five-year big league veteran, although he’s spent the bulk of his time in a platoon capacity. The right-handed hitter has never tallied more than 261 plate appearances in any given campaign, as he’s instead been leveraged heavily against lefty pitching. That’s a role in which he’s had great success, as Luplow has a massive .245/.360/.539 showing against southpaws. While that batting average isn’t eye-catching, Luplow’s combination of a huge 14.3% walk rate and 23 home runs in 378 plate appearances (essentially a little less than two-thirds of a full season’s workload) when holding the platoon advantage has made him an impact player in those situations.

Yet Luplow’s struggles against same-handed hurlers have kept him from being an everyday regular. He’s a career .205/.291/.369 hitter in 358 trips to the dish against righties. The 28-year-old actually had reverse splits in fairly limited playing time this past season, but it’s likely the D-Backs put more stock in his career-long track record of mashing against southpaws and will continue to use in a platoon capacity next season.

Luplow has between three and four years of major league service, so he remains controllable through 2024 via arbitration (barring changes to the service time structure in the next collective bargaining agreement). MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to receive a salary in the $1.5MM range next year. That’s certainly not an onerous sum, but it might be more than the cost-conscious Rays would have been willing to spend since they’re already fairly deep in outfield options.

The D-Backs’ outfield is far less settled, particularly if the club tries to trade David Peralta this winter. Young options like Pavin Smith, Stuart Fairchild, Jake McCarthy and Daulton Varsho could all get some run in 2022, but Fairchild’s the only right-handed hitter of that bunch. Adding Luplow gives the D-Backs an affordable, proven righty bat to help balance out the group.

In exchange, the D-Backs will send back a switch-hitting infield prospect. Simon spent most of the 2021 campaign with Low-A Visalia, where he hit .249/.343/.475 with fifteen homers and twelve steals across 349 plate appearances as a 21-year-old. Simon, who was acquired from the Cubs last November as the player to be named later in the teams’ Andrew Chafin deal, spent the bulk of his time in the middle infield, in addition to a handful of starts at third base. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster next offseason or be made available in the 2022 Rule 5 draft.

de Geus split the 2021 campaign between the Rangers and D-Backs. Selected out of the Dodgers’ organization in last year’s Rule 5, the 24-year-old worked 47 innings across 50 outings. He posted just a 7.56 ERA with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (17.2% and 10.5%, respectively). de Geus’ 7% swinging strike rate was the second-lowest mark among the 255 relievers with 20+ innings pitched, but he did rack up ground-balls at a strong 52.1% clip on the strength of his low-mid 90s sinker. Arizona will have a week to trade de Geus or try to pass him through waivers.

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