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Ryan Tepera

Cardinals Release Ryan Tepera

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The Cardinals have released right-hander Ryan Tepera, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment last week and would have had the right to reject an outright assignment, making this a fairly expected development.

Tepera, 35, has a long track record of being an effective reliever. He came into this year with a career earned run average of 3.50 over 361 appearances, striking out 24.5% of opponents while walking 8.8% of them and keeping the ball on the ground at a 43.5% clip. That included the first season of a two-year, $14MM deal he signed with the Angels prior to 2022.

But it’s been a trying season for him here in 2023. He posted a 7.27 ERA through his first 10 appearances with the Angels this year, leading to him getting designated for assignment and then released. He secured a minor league deal with the Rangers and tossed eight scoreless innings in Triple-A, striking out 37.9% of batters faced at that level. He was able to opt out of that deal when the Rangers wouldn’t give him a roster spot, but he got one with the Cardinals. Unfortunately, they bounced him off after just two appearances when Tyler O’Neill came off the injured list.

Tepera will now be free to sign with any club. The Angels are still on the hook for what’s left of his contract, meaning any other team could sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Halos owe. With the trade deadline a few days away, plenty of clubs will be trading away relievers and likely opening up new jobs. With Tepera’s track record and minimal acquisition cost, it’s possible some club looks to plug him in as a veteran presence.

Cardinals Designate Ryan Tepera For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced that they have activated outfielder Tyler O’Neill from the 60-day injured list, with right-hander Ryan Tepera designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

It’s been quite an unusual season for Tepera, who began the year with the Angels. He had parlayed his track record as an effective reliever into a two-year, $14MM deal with the Halos going into 2022. Last year was par for the course for him, as he posted a 3.61 earned run average in 59 appearances.

This year, however, he struggled through his first 10 outings, with a 7.27 ERA in those. He was released by the Angels and signed a minor league deal with the Rangers. He pitched eight scoreless Triple-A innings while striking out 37.9% of opponents, triggered an opt-out and then quickly landed a major league deal with the Cards. He tossed two innings for St. Louis, allowing two earned runs before getting bumped off the roster.

Since Tepera was released by the Angels, the Cardinals were only paying him the prorated league minimum, with the Halos on the hook for the remainder of his salary. The Cards will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers, though he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. He’ll likely wind up back on the open market, where another club can give him a shot for essentially no financial risk. With several relief pitchers likely to be traded between now and the deadline, some job opportunities might be opening up.

As for O’Neill, he’s been on the injured list since early May due to a lower back strain. He was in top form in 2021, hitting 34 home runs and stealing 15 bases while playing excellent defense, but has struggled since then. Going back to the start of 2022, he’s hit .228/.303/.380 for a wRC+ of 95. He’s played just 125 games while making trips to the IL due to a right shoulder impingement, a couple of left hamstring strains and this year’s back issues.

Despite those recent struggles, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak recently indicated the club plans on having O’Neill serve as the club’s everyday left fielder now that he’s back. With Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, Tommy Edman, Alec Burleson and others in a crowded outfield mix, that’s led to speculation that Dylan Carlson could wind up traded in the coming days, something that MLBTR covered earlier today.

Cardinals Sign Ryan Tepera

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The Cardinals have signed right-hander Ryan Tepera, with Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat relaying word from president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. It seems as though Tepera will take the roster spot of Génesis Cabrera, whose designation for assignment was reported earlier.

Tepera, 35, has plenty of years of effective relief work on his résumé but 2023 has been challenging. He began the year with the Angels but posted a 7.27 earned run average through 10 outings before that club designated him for assignment and released him. The righty then landed with the Rangers on a minor league deal and reported to their Triple-A club. He tossed eight scoreless innings for Round Rock but didn’t get a roster spot with the Rangers and opted out of that deal last week.

Although the results earlier in the year weren’t pretty, there’s plenty of logic to this pickup for the Cards. Coming into this year, Tepera had a 3.50 career ERA in 354 2/3 innings, so the rough patch with the Halos to start this season represents a drop in the pocket in terms of his larger body of work. His strikeout rate was over 30% in each of 2020 and 2021 before tailing off to the 20% range in the past two seasons, but he just struck out 37.9% of opponents during his stint in Round Rock.

There’s also no financial risk for the Cards. Tepera signed a two-year, $14MM deal with the Angels prior to the 2022 campaign. Though he had a solid 3.61 ERA last year, his struggles a few months back got him released. The Angels are still on the hook for the majority of what’s left of that deal and the Cardinals will only be responsible for the prorated league minimum for any time Tepera spends on their roster.

The Cards have had a disappointing season and are currently 40-53 on the year, putting them in last place in the National League Central and 11.5 games out of a playoff spot. Mozeliak recently admitted that the club will have to go into the deadline as sellers, making moves that set the club up for 2024. The bullpen features some impending free agents like Jordan Hicks and Chris Stratton would would make sense as trade candidates, with Tepera perhaps moving up the bullpen chart in the wake of whatever moves the Cards make. He could theoretically pitch himself into being a candidate himself, though he’ll only two weeks to do so, with the deadline on August 1.

Ryan Tepera Expected To Opt Out Of Rangers Deal

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Veteran reliever Ryan Tepera has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Rangers and is expected to become a free agent, MLBTR has learned. He’d signed there on a minor league pact in mid-June after being released by the Angels.

Signed by the Halos to a two-year, $14MM contract in the 2021-22 offseason, the now-35-year-old Tepera had a solid first year in Anaheim, pitching to a 3.61 ERA with 17 holds, six saves, a 20.3% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in 57 1/3 innings. Things went off the rails in year two of the contract, as he was hit hard in 8 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment and released. Tepera yielded seven earned runs on 15 hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts during those 10 2/3 innings, and his average fastball had dipped to a career-low 91.8 mph.

It’s been the opposite with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, however. The veteran righty has rattled off eight scoreless innings, punching out a whopping 37.9% of his opponents against a 10.3% walk rate. He’s picked some of that velocity back up, with his heater now back up to 93 mph — the same level at which it sat from 2020-22, when Tepera tossed 139 1/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball between the Cubs, White Sox and Halos.

It’s at least mildly surprising that the Rangers apparently don’t feel they have a big league spot for Tepera, given that performance and his broader track record. In parts of nine big league seasons, he’s tallied 363 1/3 innings of 3.59 ERA ball, regularly working in leverage roles — particularly in recent seasons. The Rangers recently acquired Aroldis Chapman to shore up the back end of their bullpen and have also brought familiar faces Ian Kennedy and Matt Bush back to the organization on minor league deals, but given this year’s struggles from expected contributors like Joe Barlow, Jonathan Hernandez, Taylor Hearn and John King, there’s still some need for relief pitching in Arlington. Of course, Texas GM Chris Young is very likely still in the market for additional relief pitching.

However things play out in Texas, it appears Tepera won’t be a part of the solution at this time. He’ll hit the market in search of another opportunity. With upwards of half the league in the market for bullpen help, a nice showing in Triple-A and a strong track record, he ought to draw interest from multiple clubs as he looks for a return to the big leagues. The Angels are on the hook for the remainder of Tepera’s $7MM salary for the current season, so any team that signs him would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.

Rangers, Ryan Tepera Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Rangers are in agreement with veteran reliever Ryan Tepera on a minor league deal, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. He’ll report to Triple-A Round Rock.

Tepera sticks in the AL West, where he’s spent the past year-plus with the Angels. The right-hander signed a two-year, $14MM free agent contract with Los Angeles coming out of the lockout. He’d had a quality run between the Chicago clubs from 2020-21. The Halos surely envisioned something approximating the 3.07 ERA he posted over 86 contests during those two seasons.

Things didn’t play out that way. Tepera didn’t find his footing in Anaheim. He pitched to a 3.61 ERA over 57 1/3 innings last season. That’s solid enough run prevention, but his strikeout rate fell from an excellent 31.9% clip between 2020-21 to a modest 20.3% last season.

His struggles carried into the first month of this season. Tepera allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 15 hits in 8 2/3 frames over ten outings. His average fastball velocity sat at 91.7 MPH, down a tick relative to last season and nearly two miles per hour below his 2020-21 level. His slider lost a similar amount of speed. The Halos designated him for assignment a month ago and released him a few days later.

Tepera is making $7MM this season. The Angels are on the hook for that money; if Texas adds him to the MLB roster, they’d owe him only the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum. There’s no financial downside for the Rangers in giving Tepera a look to see if he can more closely approximate his peak numbers in a new environment.

Texas’ bullpen has been the roster’s relative weak point. The Rangers sit at 41-25, three and a half games clear of the Astros in the AL West. The relief corps has struggled, though, ranking 24th with a 4.57 ERA.

Angels Release Ryan Tepera

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TODAY: Tepera is now a free agent after clearing release waivers, the Angels announced.

MAY 14: The Angels have designated right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera for assignment, per a team announcement. Taking Tepera’s place on the active roster will be right-hander Zack Weiss, who was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Tepera, 35, signed a two-year, $14MM contract with the Angels prior to the 2022 season. At the time, Tepera was coming off of a dominant season in Chicago, where he posted a 2.79 ERA (154 ERA+) with a matching 2.73 FIP over 61 1/3 innings split between the Cubs and White Sox. While Tepera was solid in his first season with the Angels, he didn’t quite live up to that promise, posting a 3.61 ERA (113 ERA+) with a 4.21 FIP over 57 1/3 innings of work.

The 2023 campaign has been nothing short of a disaster for Tepera so far, however. In ten appearances, the veteran righty has allowed nine runs (seven earned) in just 8 2/3 innings of work. While Tepera has a decent 21.7% strikeout rate and an excellent 6.5% walk rate so far this season, and a massive .448 BABIP certainly contributed to his struggles, Tepera had already allowed two home runs this season after allowing just 11 over his past 118 2/3 innings of work.

Tepera’s struggles were enough for the Angels to pull the plug despite the club still owing him $7MM for the 2023 campaign. At this point, it’s all but assured that Tepera will clear waivers, allowing him to sign with another club that would only owe Tepera the pro-rated big league minimum while the Angels continue to pay down his 2023 salary.

With Tepera off the roster, the Angels still have plenty of solid options for the back of their bullpen, with Carlos Estevez, Matt Moore, Jaime Barria and Andrew Wantz all having excelled to this point in the season. They’ll be joined by Weiss, 31 next month, who posted a solid 3.38 ERA (123 ERA+) with a 4.16 FIP in 13 1/3 innings for the Angels last season. Weiss’s stint with the Angels last season was just his second in the big leagues, as he debuted with the Reds in 2018 but failed to record an out in the appearance while surrendering four runs.

West Notes: Tepera, Davis, Davies, Gray

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Ryan Tepera left today’s game with a shoulder issue and will receive further examination, Angels manager Phil Nevin told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters.  Tepera needed 33 pitches to get through two-thirds of an inning against the Red Sox today, with two hits, a walk, and two catcher’s interference calls on Matt Thaiss resulting in three runs (one earned).

Losing Tepera to injury wouldn’t help an Anaheim bullpen that has already had its share of struggles in the early going, though Tepera has been part of those struggles with a 13.50 ERA over 3 1/3 innings of work.  The veteran reliever signed a two-year, $14MM free agent deal with Los Angeles during the 2021-22 offseason and was pretty solid in 2022, posting a 3.61 ERA over 57 1/3 innings with some elite soft-contact rates. [UPDATE: the Angels placed Tepera on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation on Sunday. Tepera doesn’t think the injury is too serious, as he told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and other reporters that he plans to start throwing again after a few days off.]

More from around both the AL and NL West divisions as Jackie Robinson Day comes to a close….

  • The Rockies will call up right-hander Noah Davis from Triple-A to start Sunday’s game against the Mariners.  (The Denver Gazette’s Danielle Allentuck was among those who reported the news.)  With German Marquez now on the 15-day IL, Davis was seen as a logical candidate to take Marquez’s spot in the rotation, as Davis is already on Colorado’s 40-man roster and has plenty of experience as a starter during his time in the Rockies’ and Reds’ farm systems.  Davis is just a week away from his 26th birthday, and he made his MLB debut in the form of one inning of relief work with the Rockies last season.
  • Zach Davies was placed on the 15-day injured list due a strained left oblique last weekend, and Diamondbacks Torey Lovullo told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that Davies will need “several weeks” to recover.  Lovullo was a little vague about the nature of Davies’ injury, stopping short of calling it a Grade 2 oblique strain, but also saying it was “more than” a Grade 1 strain.  Regardless, Davies now looks to miss some significant time, so Drey Jameson might get a long look at the replacement in Arizona’s rotation.
  • X-rays were negative on Rangers right-hander Jon Gray after Gray was hit on the elbow by a Yanier Diaz line drive in tonight’s game.  Texas manager Bruce Bochy even told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry and other reporters that Gray isn’t expected to miss his next turn in the rotation.  An upcoming off-day on Thursday will give Gray an extra day to rest and recover, and while plans could change if his elbow/forearm area continues to be sore, it still counts as some real good fortune for Gray in avoiding what looked like a potentially serious injury.  Counting today’s abbreviated two-inning outing, Gray has a 3.21 ERA over three starts and 14 innings thus far in 2023.

Angels Select Gerardo Reyes, Ryan Aguilar

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The Angels announced a host of roster moves before tonight’s series in Toronto. Relievers Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera and outfielder Taylor Ward were all placed on the restricted list. That’s standard procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 and are thus prohibited from traveling into Canada. In order to replace them on the roster, the Halos recalled righty José Marte and selected the contracts of reliever Gerardo Reyes and outfielder Ryan Aguilar. All three players have been designated as “substitutes,” meaning they can later be taken off the roster and returned to the minor leagues without passing through waivers.

It’s likely to be a temporary promotion for that trio, but Reyes and Aguilar have long-awaited opportunities to make an impact at the major league level. Reyes has a bit of big league experience, having come out of the bullpen 27 times for the 2019 Padres. The right-hander posted a 7.62 ERA over 26 innings. He spent 2020 at the alternate training site and was dealt from San Diego to Anaheim that deadline in exchange for veteran catcher Jason Castro.

Reyes was outrighted off the 40-man roster last March and underwent Tommy John surgery not long after, but he’s returned to action in Salt Lake this season. Through 39 innings with the Bees, the 29-year-old has a 3.69 ERA. He’s punched out an above-average 29.2% of opposing hitters but issued walks at an elevated 15.7% clip.

Aguilar, meanwhile, could get a chance to make his MLB debut. A 31st round pick of the Brewers out of the University of Arizona in 2016, he remained in the Milwaukee farm system through the end of last season. The 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Halos over the offseason and has spent the year at Double-A Rocket City. He’s posted an excellent .280/.427/.517 line with a massive 19% walk rate (albeit against generally younger competition) to earn a big league call. A left-handed hitter, he’s played primarily right field with the Trash Pandas.

Loup, Tepera and Ward will miss the weekend series. They’ll presumably rejoin the club on Monday, when they return home to host the Yankees. Sam Blum of the Athletic tweets that hitting coach Jeremy Reed also did not make the trip to Toronto.

Major League Baseball Issues 12 Suspensions For Angels – Mariners Brawl

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Major League Baseball has handed down 12 suspensions arising from yesterday’s bench-clearing brawl between the Angels and Mariners. The league also handed out undisclosed fines. Nine of the individuals disciplined are from the Angels, while the Mariners lose a trio of players. The discipline is as follows:

Angels

  • Interim manager Phil Nevin: Ten games
  • Third baseman Anthony Rendon: Five games
  • Assistant pitching coach Dom Chiti: Five games
  • Right-hander Andrew Wantz: Three games
  • Right-hander Ryan Tepera: Two games
  • Right-hander Raisel Iglesias: Two games
  • Bench coach Ray Montgomery: Two games
  • Interpreter Manny del Campo: Two games
  • Catching coach Bill Haselman: One game

Mariners

The fight occurred during yesterday afternoon’s contest (video link). Wantz, who opened the game for the Halos, threw a pitch behind Rodríguez in the first inning. That came on the heels of the Angels taking umbrage to an up-and-in offering from Erik Swanson to Mike Trout the night before, and it resulted in warnings from the umpiring crew. Wantz nevertheless hit Winker with the first pitch of the following inning. The Seattle left fielder initially seemed as if he’d simply take first base, but he wound up making his way towards the Angels’ dugout. That kicked off a few minutes of fighting that eventually resulted in the ejections of Wantz, Winker, Crawford, Rodríguez, Nevin, Tepera, Iglesias and Seattle manager Scott Servais.

Wantz’s suspension is for “intentionally throwing at Winker while warnings were in place,” according to MLB. Nevin has been suspended for Wantz’s pitches, while everyone else involved was banned for their roles in the melee itself.

Players are afforded an appellate right for on-field discipline. MLB announced that Wantz has already foregone his appeal and will begin serving his suspension today. The league didn’t indicate that any other players had done that, so they’ll remain on the roster while their suspensions are being heard. Rendon is on the injured list after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery two weeks ago. His suspension won’t take effect until he’s back on the active roster — meaning he’ll presumably miss the first five games of the 2023 season.

Coaches do not have the right to appeal their suspensions. Nevin, Chiti and del Campo will begin serving their bans tonight; Montgomery and Haselman will be out once Chiti returns five games from now.

Notably, players suspended for on-field rules violations cannot be replaced on the active roster. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that the Mariners will be permitted to stagger any bans for their suspended players so as not to have the position player group decimated at the same time — it’s unclear if a similar setup will be in place for the Halos’ bullpen — but the teams will both be playing short-handed for a while once the appeals process is sorted out. While the Angels were dealt significantly more suspensions in terms of quantity, Seattle will feel the bigger hit in on-field production (assuming the suspensions aren’t overturned on appeal) with the subtraction of a trio of regulars from the lineup.

Angels To Sign Ryan Tepera

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March 19: The Angels have officially announced Tepera’s signing. As a result of the signing, however, Kyle Tyler has been designated for assignment. Tyler, 25, tossed 12 1/3 innings for the Angels in 2021 over five games with a 2.92 ERA. The former 20th-round draft pick logged a 3.66 ERA over 86 innings in Triple-A, mostly pitching out of the rotation.

March 17: The Angels continue to bolster the relief unit, agreeing to terms with Ryan Tepera on a two-year, $14MM deal. It’s the second notable free agent pickup of the day for the Halos, who agreed to terms with Archie Bradley this morning. Tepera is a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management.

Tepera was one of the top relievers remaining on the market. He’d been a capable but mostly nondescript middle innings option for a few seasons in Toronto, but the right-hander has taken his game to new heights since signing with the Cubs in advance of the 2020 season. Tepera worked 20 2/3 innings over 21 appearances during the shortened campaign, posting a 3.92 ERA. That run prevention was mostly in line with his career track record, but he saw a massive uptick in swinging strikes and punchouts.

The Sam Houston State product struck out 34.8% of batters faced in 2020, nearly ten points higher than his previous career-best mark. Among the 141 relievers with 20+ frames that season, Tepera ranked 15th in strikeout percentage, but he was even more effective on a pitch-by-pitch basis. He generated whiffs on an incredible 19.5% of his offerings, a mark that trailed only those of Devin Williams, Tanner Rainey and Edwin Díaz among that same group. Tepera’s results were overshadowed a bit by the accidental MVP vote he received at the end of the year, but he legitimately had an excellent showing for Chicago.

That improvement came in a small sample, however, and it didn’t seem teams around the league completely bought into his new form. Tepera’s fastball continued to sit in its customary 93 MPH range, and while he did lean more liberally on his excellent cutter-slider, the market didn’t reflect that he’d made significant strides. Tepera re-signed with the Cubs on a one-year, $800K guarantee in February.

He mostly doubled down on his new form over a larger body of work last year. Tepera made 43 appearances and worked 43 1/3 innings of 2.91 ERA ball with the Cubs, striking out 30.3% of opponents while cutting his walk rate from 13.5% to 7.3%. As part of their trade deadline teardown, the North Siders flipped him to their crosstown rivals for prospect Bailey Horn, and Tepera continued to excel. He pitched to a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings with the White Sox, fanning 32% of batters faced with a 9.3% walk rate. His 16.3% swinging strike rate was again amongst the league’s best, checking in ninth out of 138 relievers to work 50+ innings.

At 34 years old, Tepera was always a long shot to land a deal that exceeded two years. Yet his back-to-back seasons of strong performance earned him a multi-year pact at a $7MM annual rate. If evenly distributed over the two seasons, that’ll push the Angels’ projected payroll to around $186MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That nudges ahead of last year’s $181MM franchise-record Opening Day expenditure. Their luxury tax ledger will jump to around $202MM — still well shy of this year’s $230MM base threshold.

Los Angeles has invested heavily in the bullpen this winter. They re-signed closer Raisel Iglesias to a four-year contract and have added each of Bradley, Tepera and southpaw Aaron Loup via free agency. They’ll join in-house options like Mike Mayers and Austin Warren as late-game possibilities for manager Joe Maddon.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic was first to report the Angels and Tepera were working on a deal. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported an agreement had been reached. MLBTR’s Steve Adams was first to report it was a two-year, $14MM pact.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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