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Tayron Guerrero

Tayron Guerrero Signs With NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines

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The Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced that they have signed right-hander Tayron Guerrero. Per reporter Francys Romero (X link), Guerrero will make a salary of $600K next year.

It’s a bit of a homecoming for Guerrero, 34 in January, as he also pitched for the Marines in 2022. He was in affiliated ball for over a decade prior to that but was only able to throw 106 major league innings. Splitting time between the Padres and Marlins, he posted a 5.77 earned run average from 2016 to 2019.

He wasn’t able to crack the big leagues in 2020 or 2021 so he headed to Japan in 2022 and had a nice season with the Marines. He tossed 46 innings over 49 appearances with a 3.52 ERA, 32.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate.

He came back to North America after that showing, signing a minor league deal with the Reds going into 2023. He struggled badly for Triple-A Louisville, with an 11.51 ERA over his 20 appearances, walking more batters than he struck out. He was released in June and then signed with the Diablos Rojos of the Mexican League. A 1.17 ERA over his eight appearances there was apparently enough for him to get a minor league deal with the Angels for the 2024 season.

He made 30 appearances at Triple-A Reno this year, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 5.73 ERA doesn’t look great but his 20.6% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate were all solid enough, leading to a 3.47 FIP.

If Guerrero stayed in North America, he surely would have been limited to minor league offers and would have had to fight his way to the big leagues. By returning to Japan, he has locked in a notable salary just a bit below next year’s MLB minimum, which will be $760K.

Angels Reportedly Sign Tayron Guerrero To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Tayron Guerrero has signed a minor league deal with the Angels, reports Francys Romero.

Guerrero, 33 in January, has 106 innings of major league experience but hasn’t appeared in the bigs since 2019. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds going into 2023 but was released in June after posting a dreadful 11.51 earned run average in 22 2/3 innings. That’s a small sample of work and the ERA was surely inflated by unlucky numbers in terms of batting average on balls in play and runners stranded, but he also walked more batters than he struck out.

After being released, he caught on with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Mexican League. He posted a 1.17 ERA there, but in an even smaller sample of 7 2/3 innings. He then joined Naranjeros de Hermosillo for some winter ball in Mexico. He has a 1.10 ERA in 16 1/3 innings for that club, striking out 26 of the 65 batters he has faced while walking 7, respective rates of 40% and 10.8%. Romero relays that Guerrero hit 101.6 mph on the radar gun.

That velocity has long been an enticing part of the package with Guerrero but he hasn’t always been able to harness it. He walked 13.6% of batters faced in his brief major league tenure and 18.8% of Triple-A hitters when with the Reds in 2023. He has been in better form since being released and heading to Mexico, as he didn’t issue any walks for the Diablos and then had a reasonable rate with the Naranjeros.

For the Angels, there’s no risk in bringing him aboard via a minor league deal and seeing what his control looks like early in the year. If everything is clicking, perhaps Guerrero can earn his way onto a roster spot, though he is now out of options and can’t be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

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The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Reds Sign Tayron Guerrero To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced they’ve signed right-hander Tayron Guerrero to a minor league contract. The deal comes with an invite to big league spring training.

Guerrero, 32 on Monday, hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2019, and spent the last year in Japan. He turned in a productive year for the Chiba Lotte Marines, working to a 3.52 ERA in 46 innings of relief work. He gave up just two home runs all year, and struck out 12.3 batters per nine innings.

Originally signed out of Colombia by the Padres back in 2016, Guerrero pitched just two innings for San Diego before being flipped to Miami in the 2016 deadline deal headlined by Andrew Cashner. He’d get plenty of opportunities in the Marlins’ bullpen, but wouldn’t have much success, and between 2018-19 Guerrero pitched to a 5.80 ERA over 104 innings of relief work. His strikeout rate was a tick above average, but he struggled with free passes, and wound up with a career walk rate of 13.6%, well above the league average of 8.4%.

He spent the 2021 season at Triple-A with the White Sox, but after failing to make the major league roster at all that season he was released and signed on to play in Japan. Guerrero boasted a 99mph fastball but like a lot of hard throwers he struggled with command. He gave up just 3.9 walks per nine innings in Japan though, so if he can bring that improved control back to the US he could turn himself into a serviceable reliever for the Reds.

Tayron Guerrero Signs With Chiba Lotte Marines

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Right-hander Tayron Guerrero has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB, per the team (via Twitter). The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

The 30-year-old out of Colombia last pitched in the Majors in 2019 with the Marlins. Prior to his run with the Marlins, he had debuted with the Padres, making just one two-inning outing in 2016. Signed as an amateur free agent back in 2009, Guerrero came up in the Padres system before being included in the 2016 deadline deal that brought Carter Capps, Luis Castillo, Jarred Cosart, and Josh Naylor to the Padres from the Marlins for Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea, and Guerrero. It wouldn’t be until 2018 that Guerrero would get significant run out of a big league bullpen.

Between 2018 and 2019, Guerrero would make 112 appearances for the Marlins totaling 104 innings. Cumulatively, he put up a 5.80 ERA/5.09 FIP, 22.9 percent strikeout rate, 13.6 percent walk rate, and 44.4 percent groundball rate. After the 2019 season Guerrero was claimed off waivers by the White Sox.

Guerrero spent last season in the White Sox system at Triple-A Charlotte. There, he appeared 18 times with a 6.63 ERA over 19 innings. In the NPB, Guerrero will have the chance to pitch professionally and establish value as a bullpen piece. Once upon a time, he had been a top-30 prospect in the Padres system, but control problems have largely kept him from establishing himself at the sport’s highest level.

White Sox Announce Series Of Minor League Deals

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The White Sox announced the additions of fourteen players on minor league contracts with MLB spring training invitations this week. Among the signees not previously-reported are infielder Matt Reynolds; right-handers Ryan Burr, Tayron Guerrero, Alex McRae, Connor Sadzeck and Mike Wright; and left-handers Jacob Lindgren and Kodi Medeiros.

Reynolds and McRae have the most recent MLB experience of this contingent, having played in the big leagues last season. Reynolds appeared in three games for the Royals. Also a former Met and National, the right-handed hitter has compiled a .212/.282/.323 slash line across 251 plate appearances in parts of four seasons. McRae tossed a pair of scoreless relief appearances for Chicago in 2020. The right-hander has a 7.50 ERA/5.64 SIERA in 36 MLB innings with the Pirates and White Sox over the last three years.

Burr, Guerrero and Sadzeck are all righty relievers who last pitched in the majors in 2019. Each brings a power arm and has flashed some bat-missing ability (Guerrero and Sadzeck especially), but all three have been plagued by control problems. Wright was a swing option early in his career with the Orioles and can serve as a potential rotation or long relief depth piece for the Sox. He spent last season with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization, where he started 29 games and posted a 4.68 ERA with below-average strikeout (17.9%) and walk (9.1%) rates. Nevertheless, Wright managed to pitch 157.2 innings last season, perhaps giving him a leg up from a durability perspective on pitchers who spent last year in the United States, where a shorter season led to drastically curtailed innings totals.

Lindgren and Medeiros were both well-regarded prospects at one point whose careers have since been sidetracked. Lindgren has been through a series of injuries and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015, although he’s still only entering his age-28 season. Medeiros, once a top fifteen overall draft pick by the Brewers, has never consistently performed in the minors and has yet to play in the big leagues.

White Sox Outright Tayron Guerrero, Kodi Medeiros To Triple-A

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The White Sox have outrighted right-hander Tayron Guerrero and left-hander Kodi Medeiros to Triple-A, the team announced (hat tip to The Athletic’s James Fegan).  Guerrero and Medeiros each cleared waivers after being designated for assignment since the start of the new year.

Guerrero was claimed off waivers from the Marlins in early December following a season that saw the righty post a 6.26 ERA over 46 innings out of Miami’s bullpen.  The hard-throwing Guerrero has yet to harness his 99mph fastball into a consistent force at the MLB level, as while he has a 9.4 K/9 over his 106 career big league innings, he has also issued a lot of free passes — a 7.0 BB/9 last season, boosting his overall career BB/9 to 5.7.

Control has been a persistent issue for Guerrero throughout his decade-long professional career, as he also has a 5.8 BB/9 (with a 4.02 ERA and 9.0 K/9) over 346 2/3 minor league innings.  Guerrero just celebrated his 29th birthday two days ago, so while he’d count as a late bloomer, there’s still time for him to become a useful relief weapon if the White Sox can get him on track.

Selected 12th overall by the Brewers in the 2014 draft, Medeiros has yet to reach even the Triple-A level through six seasons in pro ball.  Medeiros has a 4.77 ERA, 8.6 K/9, and 1.82 K/BB rate through 545 minor league frames (starting 91 of 139 games).  The southpaw came to the White Sox in July 2018, as part of the trade package in the deal that sent Joakim Soria to Milwaukee.

Medeiros’ first full year in Chicago’s farm system was far from a success, as he had a 5.10 ERA over 83 innings for Double-A Birmingham.  However, Medeiros saw much more work as a reliever than in the past, starting only nine of 28 games, and he fared much better out of the bullpen — a 2.55 ERA over 42 1/3 relief innings, as opposed to a 7.75 ERA over 40 2/3 frames as a starter.  This could hint at a new direction for Medeiros, who is still just 23 years old.

White Sox Designate Tayron Guerrero

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The White Sox have designated right-hander Tayron Guerrero for assignment, the team announced. The move makes room for outfielder Luis Robert, whom the White Sox signed to a long-term contract Thursday.

This ends a very short run with the White Sox for the 28-year-old Guerrero, whom the White Sox claimed off waivers from the Marlins on Dec. 6. Although Guerrero’s average fastball approaches 100 mph, he hasn’t been effective in the majors since he debuted in 2016 with the Padres. Through 106 innings, including 46 in 2019, Guerrero has only managed a 5.77 ERA/5.08 FIP with 9.42 K/9 and 5.69 BB/9.

White Sox Claim Tayron Guerrero

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The White Sox have claimed righty Tayron Guerrero off waivers from the Marlins, per a club announcement. He had been designated for assignment on non-tender day to clear roster space.

Guerrero pumps 99 and increasingly proved capable last year of drawing swings and misses (13.3%) while also getting his first pitches over for strikes (63.4%). But he hasn’t yet figured out how to consistently convert his physical tools into big-league outs.

Last year, Guerrero averaged over seven walks per nine innings to go with 8.4 K/9 and an ugly 6.26 ERA. Perhaps the Chicago organization has mechanical or pitch usage ideas to help the towering hurler as he moves from South Beach to the South Side.

Marlins Acquire Jonathan Villar

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The Marlins have acquired infielder Jonathan Villar from the Orioles, as Craig Mish of MLB Network first reported (via Twitter). Lefty Easton Lucas is going back in return.

The Marlins have designated JT Riddle and Tayron Guerrero to create roster space. Previously dropped from the Baltimore 40-man, Villar was projected by MLBTR to earn $10.4MM in arbitration.

Villar enters his final season of arbitration control, so he’s not necessarily a long-term asset for the rebuilding Marlins. That said, it’s not hard to understand the thought process here. Villar has been a productive player the past few seasons, especially in 2019. Last year, he slashed .273/.339/.453 (107 wRC+) while playing in all 162 games for Baltimore. He started 158 of them somewhere on the middle infield. Between that durability, defensive profile and offense (bolstered by elite baserunning), Villar was worth exactly 4 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs. Finding that level of player for around $10MM isn’t easy.

Miami has Miguel Rojas and prospect Isan Díaz ticketed for much of the club’s middle infield work, so it’ll be interesting to see how manager Don Mattingly deploys Villar. Rojas, while a gifted defender, has never hit much, so it’s possible he’ll take on more of a utility role with Villar in the fold. It’d be a bit more surprising to see Villar cut into Díaz’s playing time. Speculatively, though, Díaz has faced some questions about his ability to stick at second base coming up through the minors. Perhaps Miami could look to expose him to other positions as they identify who shapes up as a long-term piece.

Riddle and Guerrero, meanwhile, will head out to make way for Villar and Jesus Aguilar, who was acquired from Tampa Bay on waivers. Riddle, a 28-year-old infielder, has never hit in parts of three seasons in Miami, combining for a .229/.269/.368 slash over 718 plate appearances. Guerrero, also 28, flashed power stuff out of the bullpen but never got quite as many swings and misses as one might expect. With an untenable 13.6% career walk rate, he ran out of leash in Miami.

It’s possible Villar and Aguilar could themselves wind up as trade candidates next season. If they produce, Miami could be motivated to flip them off to a team more positioned to contend in the short-term. Given the low acquisition costs of today’s moves, it’s hard to question the logic.

In Lucas, Baltimore brings aboard a recent 14th round pick out of Pepperdine. GM Mike Elias voiced an expectation that Lucas could someday mature into a back-end starter  (via Roch Kubatko of MASN), but he was not rated among the Marlins’ top prospects. Instead, the decision to waive, and eventually trade, Villar seems motivated almost entirely by a desire to clear his projected salary off the books.

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