Dodgers To Sign Hansel Robles
The Dodgers have agreed to a deal with right-hander Hansel Robles, reports Mike Rodriguez of Univision (Twitter link). It’s a minor league contract, tweets Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Robles was released by the Red Sox earlier this week.
Robles, 32 next month, has long been a tantalizing late-inning arm who’s been prone to inconsistent performance despite possessing impressive raw stuff. The right-hander averaged 96.2 mph on his heater with the Red Sox this season, which ranks in the top 15 percent of MLB hurlers, and has fanned more than a quarter of his opponents in 427 1/3 innings scattered across parts of eight big league seasons. However, Robles logged a career-low 18.9% strikeout rate this year against a career-high 12.6% walk rate, and the resulting 5.84 ERA through 24 2/3 innings prompted the Sox to eventually move on.
Walks have always been an issue for Robles (career 10.2%), but at his best he’s shown the ability to miss bats in bunches, thanks to that power fastball and a pair of secondary offerings in his changeup and slider. The changeup has long rated as the better of the two pitches, per FanGraphs’ run values, and that’s all the more true in recent seasons. Opponents slugged .594 against Robles’ slider this season, ripping a pair of doubles and three home runs off the pitch.
The Dodgers’ bullpen isn’t at full strength right now, so it’s only natural that they’d be intrigued by a veteran power arm who has, at times, looked like a very capable late-inning reliever. Blake Treinen has been shelved for the past three months due to shoulder troubles, while Daniel Hudson — who’d been one of the team’s best setup options — suffered an unfortunate ACL tear when fielding a grounder last month. Flamethrowing sinker specialist Brusdar Graterol hit the injured list just yesterday due to a shoulder issue, and the team has yet to announce the results of today’s followup imaging. Right-hander Tommy Kahnle has been out since May due to a bone bruise in his right elbow.
Robles is far from the first veteran pickup whom the Dodgers have opted to stockpile in the minors. They’ve also added righties Pedro Baez and Dellin Betances, although Betances has struggled in Triple-A, while Baez is only just building back up with the Dodgers’ Rookie-level club after a shutdown period. He’s thrown three scoreless innings but is presumably not an option in the very near term.
Robles seems likely to join Betances in Oklahoma City, and if he can get on track in a hurry, there could be a bullpen opportunity before long — particularly if Graterol is to miss an extended period of time. The Dodgers will, of course, be active in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, so it’s certainly possible — if not likely — that they’ll add some more established help to an injury-depleted relief corps in the next 18 days.
Tigers Designate Drew Carlton For Assignment
The Tigers announced Friday that right-hander Jose Cisnero has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and that fellow righty Drew Carlton has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.
Carlton, 26, was Detroit’s 32nd-round pick back in 2017 and made his big league debut with them last season. He’s tossed a total of 12 1/3 innings in the Majors from 2021-22, logging a strong 2.92 ERA but a less impressive 8-to-4 K/BB ratio. Far more concerning, however, are Carlton’s struggles in Triple-A Toledo this season. The Florida State product has been hammered for a 6.91 ERA with the MudHens, yielding 33 hits — five of them home runs — and six walks in 27 1/3 innings.
Prior to this season, Carlton had a strong showing in his first run through Triple-A, working to a 2.92 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate and a 4.8% walk rate in 52 1/3 frames. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher whose fastball has averaged 90.6 mph in his limited big league time. Carlton can be optioned this year and for two more beyond the current campaign. The Tigers will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Cisnero, meanwhile, will rejoin the Tigers’ bullpen and look to build on a strong 2019-21, when he logged a 3.69 ERA with a 24.7% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate in 126 2/3 frames. Cisnero has averaged 96.6 mph on his fastball over that stretch and gone from an indie-ball reclamation project who’d been out of affiliated ball for five years to a valuable member of Detroit’s late-inning relief corps. He’s already 33 years old and will be a free agent after the 2023 season, so if he impresses in his first few outings after activation, it’s at least plausible that he could join several of his bullpen-mates as names of interest on the summer trade market. If not, he’ll give the Tigers a veteran arm to plug into the bullpen for the season’s second half and for the 2023 campaign.
Outrights: Leon, Vieaux, Kelly
We’ll kick Friday morning off with a trio of outright assignments…
- Veteran catcher Sandy Leon cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Guardians and has been sent outright to Triple-A Columbus, per the league’s transactions page. The team did not formally announce the move, and Leon had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. However, he was back in the lineup with Columbus last night, so he’s clearly accepted the assignment and will remain in Triple-A for the time being (without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster). The 33-year-old switch-hitter batted .133/.381/.133 in a tiny sample of 21 plate appearances with Cleveland in his second big league stint with the organization in the past three years. He’ll remain on hand as a veteran depth option with a strong reputation for defense and receiving but just a .211/.279/.317 batting line in parts of 11 MLB seasons.
- The Pirates announced that left-hander Cam Vieaux went unclaimed on waivers. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Indianapolis and will remain in the organization without requiring a spot on the 40-man roster. Vieaux’s stint with the major league club was fairly brief. Selected to the majors in mid-June, the 28-year-old made five appearances over the next couple weeks. Vieaux began his big league career with three scoreless outings, but he retired only one of three batters faced on June 29. Two days later, he was called upon for mop-up work against the Brewers. Milwaukee sent 13 batters to the plate in one inning against him, plating eight runs on six hits and three walks before he made it out of the inning after a staggering 56 pitches. Pittsburgh optioned Vieaux a few days later and, after two more minor league appearances, designated him for assignment. Now that he’s cleared waivers, he’ll head back to Indianapolis in hopes of building on his 2.12 ERA through 29 2/3 innings and, more importantly, earning his way back to the big leagues.
- Right-hander Michael Kelly cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, per an announcement from the Phillies. The 29-year-old made his big league debut with the Phils in mid-June and has pitched four innings of one-run ball across a pair of stints with the team. However, he’s also been hit hard in Triple-A, where he’s toting a 7.33 ERA through 23 1/3 innings on the season. To his credit, Kelly has punched out 30.8% of his Triple-A opponents this season, and that bloated ERA is at least partially due to a sky-high .439 average on balls in play against him. That said, the former No. 48 overall pick (Padres, 2011) has also walked far too many hitters (11.2%) — a trait that has plagued him throughout parts of five seasons in Triple-A, where he has an 11.7% walk rate through 170 2/3 innings.
Marlins To Promote Max Meyer
The Marlins are set to promote top pitching prospect Max Meyer, the team announced on Twitter (with video of him learning the news). Craig Mish of SportsGrid reports (Twitter link) that Meyer will start on Saturday against the Phillies.
It’ll be the major league debut for the right-hander, who flew through the minors. Miami selected Meyer with the third overall pick in the 2020 draft. The University of Minnesota product was the first pitcher off the board, and he’s excelled over his first two years in pro ball. There was no minor league season during his draft year because of the pandemic, and the Fish aggressively assigned Meyer to Double-A Pensacola for his first game action in 2021.
Meyer handled the assignment with aplomb, pitching to a 2.41 ERA through 20 starts. He punched out an above-average 27.2% of opponents while inducing ground-balls on more than half the batted balls he surrendered. Meyer’s walks were a touch high, but it was a promising showing for his first full pro season. He earned a late-season cameo at Triple-A Jacksonville and headed into last offseason as one of the sport’s better pitching prospects.
Entering the 2022 campaign, each of Baseball America, FanGraphs and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN slotted Meyer among the game’s top 100 overall prospects. He drew praise for a mid-upper 90s fastball and a slider that some evaluators considered the best single pitch in the 2020 draft class. The quality of his changeup was a bit more divisive, with FanGraphs and ESPN projecting it to average or better but BA considering it more of a fringy offering.
Meyer isn’t necessarily regarded as a future ace. BA and Keith Law of the Athletic (who slotted him fifth in the Miami system heading into the year) each noted that some evaluators point to his lack of pinpoint fastball command as a reason to project a potential bullpen future. That said, all four outlets suggested Meyer has the potential to be an above-average, mid-rotation or better arm if his command comes along. The Marlins will surely give him every opportunity to cement himself in the starting five over the coming seasons.
This year, the 23-year-old has continued to overpower upper minors hitters. He’s made 12 starts with the Jumbo Shrimp, tossing 58 innings of 3.72 ERA ball. He has a 28.4% strikeout percentage with a 50% grounder rate, and he’s cut his walk rate slightly from 9.6% in Double-A to 8.3% this season. Meyer spent a month on the injured list between mid-May and June, but he’s allowed two or fewer runs in each of his four starts since returning.
It remains to be seen whether Meyer will hold a rotation spot for good now that he’s headed to the big leagues, but there should be an opportunity if the club feels he’s ready for consistent run against MLB hitters. Miami’s top three is set in stone. Sandy Alcantara is performing at a Cy Young level, and Pablo López is having another excellent year. Trevor Rogers has had a disappointing first half, but he’s certainly not in danger of losing a rotation spot after an All-Star 2021 campaign.
The final two spots have been more questionable, in part due to injury. Elieser Hernández and Jesús Luzardo opened the year fourth and fifth on the depth chart. Hernández had a dreadful first few months and was eventually optioned to Jacksonville. He’s since been recalled but has worked in long relief. Luzardo, meanwhile, hit the injured list in May with a forearm strain and has yet to return to the big leagues. Sixto Sánchez hasn’t pitched all season, while Cody Poteet and Edward Cabrera have been on the IL for a while.
Former first-rounder Braxton Garrett has pitched well through seven starts since replacing Hernández in the rotation last month. Daniel Castano has stepped into the #5 role and held his own, working to a 4.35 ERA over six starts. He’s only striking out around 13% of hitters, though, so Meyer will certainly be a more high-octane option. Castano still has an option year remaining, and he can head back to Jacksonville or work out of the major league bullpen as needed.
The upcoming series is critical for the Marlins, who sit at 43-45. They’re three games back in the Wild Card standings. The Phils are one of two teams between them and the Cardinals, who currently hold the final playoff spot in the National League. The next two and a half weeks could shape how general manager Kim Ng and her staff approach the upcoming trade deadline, and they’ll turn to one of the sport’s most interesting young arms at this pivotal stage of the season.
Meyer is not on the 40-man roster, so the Marlins will have to formally select his contract on Saturday. Miami’s 40-man roster is full, but they can clear a roster spot by transferring one of their injured pitchers from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list. Reliever Anthony Bender has already missed almost two months and just began a rehab assignment today, so transferring him would be little more than a formality.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Mets Designate Ender Inciarte For Assignment
The Mets have designated outfielder Ender Inciarte for assignment, tweets Tim Healey of Newsday. The move clears an active roster spot for second baseman Jeff McNeil, who’d be on paternity leave. New York’s 40-man roster tally drops to 39.
New York signed Inciarte to a minor league contract last month, then selected him to the majors not long after. The move afforded the club a defense-oriented depth outfielder while Travis Jankowski was on the injured list, but the latter returned a few days ago. Jankowski will reassume his role as the speed and glove option off the bench, while Inciarte’s time in the organization could come to a close.
Inciarte appeared in 11 games for the Mets, primarily as a late-game defensive substitute. He tallied eight plate appearances, his first MLB action of the season. Prior to latching on with the Mets, he’d spent the 2022 campaign on a minor league deal with the Yankees. Through 34 Triple-A games in the Yankees’ system, he hit a decent .252/.336/.408 with four home runs and stolen bases apiece.
The past few seasons have been a struggle for Inciarte, who combined excellent defense with near league average hitting at his peak with the D-Backs and Braves. Going back to the start of the 2020 campaign, the left-handed hitter owns a .197/.262/.271 line across 228 plate appearances. He’s continued to make a fair amount of contact, but his ball-in-play results have dropped precipitously.
The Mets will have a week to trade the three-time Gold Glove winner or place him on waivers. The latter course of action seems likely, and Inciarte would have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he passes through unclaimed.
Nationals Activate Anibal Sanchez, Transfer Stephen Strasburg To 60-Day IL
The Nationals have activated Aníbal Sánchez from the 60-day injured list, setting him up to start tonight’s game against the Braves. Reliever Mason Thompson was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to free an active roster spot. To create a 40-man roster vacancy, Washington transferred Stephen Strasburg from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.
Sánchez will return to a big league mound for the first time since 2020. The 38-year-old righty sat out all of last season after not finding a contract offer to his liking on the heels of a 6.62 ERA showing during the shortened campaign. He made a comeback effort last offseason, returning to the Nats on a minor league deal. Sánchez made the club out of Spring Training, locking in a $2MM salary in the process, but he suffered a cervical neck impingement just before his first scheduled start.
That ultimately cost him three months of action, but the veteran is set to appear in the big leagues for a 16th year. He’s made three rehab starts with Rochester in recent weeks, topping out at 5 1/3 frames, so he should be capable of working into the middle innings. Sánchez joins a Washington rotation that has by far the league’s worst ERA (5.73) on the season.
Strasburg has contributed just one start to that group. He opened the year on the IL as he continued his rehab from last summer’s thoracic outlet syndrome procedure. The three-time All-Star returned in June, tossing 4 2/3 innings against the Marlins. He felt renewed discomfort in his rib area during a between-starts bullpen session, however, and he was again shut down.
Washington manager Dave Martinez suggested at the time he’d head for further evaluation and the club was concerned he’d had a recurrence of the TOS issues. The club hasn’t provided an update since that point, but he’s now gone over a month without reports of meaningful progress. Today’s IL transfer will officially rule him out for 60 days from his initial placement on June 11. He’ll technically be eligible to return around three weeks from now, but it seems likely he’ll be out well beyond that date given the lack of word on his status.
In another disappointing injury development, Martinez said today that rehabbing reliever Sean Doolittle will meet with doctors after experiencing elbow soreness during a recent bullpen session (via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). The veteran southpaw has been out since mid-April with an elbow sprain. He’s already on the 60-day IL. Doolittle, who signed a $1.5MM guarantee during Spring Training, made six scoreless appearances before the injury.
Yankees Place Luis Severino On 15-Day IL, Select Ryan Weber
The Yankees announced they’ve placed starter Luis Severino on the 15-day injured list due to a low-grade strain of his right lat. Righty Ryan Weber was selected onto the big league club in his place. New York also reinstated reliever Jonathan Loáisiga from the 15-day IL, optioning JP Sears to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last night to clear a roster spot. New York already had a 40-man roster vacancy after designating Weber for assignment last week, a job he’ll now reassume.
Severino left last night’s start against the Reds with shoulder tightness. He’d dealt with slightly diminished velocity and was sent for an MRI this morning. That revealed some degree of injury to his lat, though the Yankees’ specification that it’s a low-grade strain is seemingly a positive development. New York hasn’t provided any specifics on a timetable for his return, but he’ll at least miss a start or two coming out of the All-Star Break.
It’s the first time all season the Yankees are dealing with an injury to one of their top five starters. Severino had joined Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jordan Montgomery and Jameson Taillon in staying healthy to this point. Depth starter Luis Gil was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, but New York seems likely to welcome back Domingo Germán coming out of the Break. Out all season due to shoulder concerns, Germán has been on a minor league rehab assignment for the past few weeks. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Lindsey Adler of the Athletic) the righty will make another start with Scranton tomorrow, but he could be in consideration for activation not long thereafter.
Weber rejoins the active roster as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. The journeyman has been on and off the roster a couple times, twice soaking up some frames of relief but being DFA quickly thereafter. Weber has spent the majority of the year with the RailRiders, pitching to a 2.55 ERA through 24 2/3 innings. He has a modest 18.8% strikeout rate in the minors, but he’s walked only one of 101 batters faced while inducing ground-balls at a solid 47.4% clip. That’s also been the general trend over Weber’s parts of eight seasons in the majors — excellent control and a fair number of grounders but below-average velocity and whiff rates.
Guardians Claim Kirk McCarty, Designate Alex Young
The Guardians have claimed left-hander Kirk McCarty off waivers from the Orioles, according to an announcement from Baltimore. It’s a reversal of a transaction from just last week, when the O’s nabbed him from Cleveland. Mandy Bell of MLB.com relays a series of additional transactions for the Guardians (on Twitter). They’ve also selected the contract of southpaw Tanner Tully from Triple-A Columbus, placed starter Aaron Civale on the 15-day injured list with a sprained right wrist and designated lefty Alex Young for assignment. Additionally, outfielder Óscar Mercado has gone unclaimed on waivers and sent outright to Columbus.
McCarty has spent the bulk of his five-year professional career in the Cleveland system. A 7th-round pick in 2017, he reached the majors for the first time in April as a COVID replacement. The following month, the Guardians selected him permanently onto the 40-man roster, and he started two of his three big league appearances. McCarty allowed 13 runs in his first 12 MLB innings, and Cleveland designated him for assignment two weeks ago. Baltimore grabbed the Southern Miss product off waivers, but he made just one start for their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk before being taken off their 40-man roster earlier in the week.
Now that he’s been reclaimed by Cleveland, McCarty will resume his role as a depth swingman. He’s been optioned to Columbus, where he posted a 3.77 ERA with a modest 18.7% strikeout rate but a strong 7.1% walk percentage through 43 innings before his first DFA. He’ll no doubt hope to stick on the 40-man for a more extended stretch this time around. McCarty is only in his first minor league option year, so the Guardians can move him between Cleveland and Columbus for the next few years if he holds a 40-man spot.
Tully, an Ohio State product, has followed a similar path. First added to the roster as virus substitute, he was formally selected last month. Cleveland designated the former 26th-rounder for assignment a few days later, and he passed through waivers unclaimed. Tully has been hit hard in five MLB innings, but he’s been a strike-throwing rotation arm in Columbus.
Through 14 starts with the Clippers, the 27-year-old owns a 4.95 ERA. He’s only fanned 16.9% of batters faced, but he has a pristine 3.3% walk percentage and has induced grounders on over half the batted balls against him in the minors. Like McCarty, Tully has all three options remaining. He’ll join a rotation mix that has to navigate an injury to Civale, who left yesterday’s start against the White Sox early with wrist soreness. The club hasn’t provided a firm table for the righty’s return, but he’ll at least miss the next couple weeks.
It’s the second IL stint of the season for Civale, who has had a rough year even when able to take the mound. Through 12 starts, the 27-year-old sports a 6.17 ERA. That’s easily a career-worst and more than two runs higher than the 3.84 mark he put together through 124 1/3 innings last year. Civale’s strikeout and walk numbers are virtually unchanged relative to last season, but he’s seen a marked decrease in ground-balls and given up quite a bit more hard contact.
Young, meanwhile, loses his roster spot after a lone appearance as a Guardian. Cleveland selected the former Diamondback southpaw on July 3, and he recorded an out in a game against the Tigers a day later. He was promptly optioned back to Columbus and now will be made available to other teams. That’s in spite of his strong production with the Clippers, as Young owns a 3.77 ERA through 31 innings of relief. He’s punched out an excellent 35.9% of opponents, walked only 5.5% of hitters and racked up grounders at a 51.4% clip.
That stellar minor league showing could draw Young some attention from other clubs in the next week, as Cleveland will have to deal him or try to run him through waivers. The former second-round pick hasn’t had much big league success (4.90 ERA through 182 career innings), but he’s not yet arbitration-eligible and still in his second option year. Young has been outrighted in his career before, so he’d have the right to elect minor league free agency even if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
That isn’t the case for Mercado, who has never previously cleared waivers nor eclipsed three years of big league service time. He’ll have to accept an assignment to Columbus and hope to play his way back onto the roster before the end of the year. It’s at least a temporary end of a roster flux for Mercado, who’d been designated for assignment three times in fairly rapid succession. He was let go by Cleveland late last month, claimed off waivers by the Phillies, then brought back by the Guardians before being DFA again.
Mercado, 27, is still a strong defensive outfielder, but he’s run into marked offensive troubles since a solid rookie season in 2019. Over the past three years, he has a .200/.258/.330 line in 459 trips to the plate. The extent of those struggles eventually squeezed him off the roster. Mercado is out of options, so he first needed to clear waivers before he could be sent back to the minors. Now that he’s done so, he’ll get his first crack against Triple-A arms this year and try to right the ship.
Royals Add Nick Pratto, Seven Others To Major League Roster
The Royals announced Thursday that they’ve recalled top first base prospect Nick Pratto from Triple-A Omaha as one of eight players joining the Major League roster. Also coming to the Majors are catcher Sebastian Rivero, infielder Maikel Garcia and lefty Angel Zerpa, who’ve been recalled from Double-A Arkansas. Additionally, the Royals selected the contracts of infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton, catcher Freddy Fermin, outfielder Brewer Hicklen and infielder Michael Massey from Omaha.
The deluge of additions comes in conjunction with the previously announced slate of ten current Royals heading to the restricted list in advance of the team’s road series against the Blue Jays, where travel restrictions prevent unvaccinated athletes from entering Canada. Andrew Benintendi, Dylan Coleman, Hunter Dozier, Cam Gallagher, Kyle Isbel, Brad Keller, MJ Melendez, Whit Merrifield, Brady Singer and Michael A. Taylor are all now formally on the restricted list.
As MLB.com’s Anne Rogers tweets, the roster spots of starting pitchers placed on the restricted list (i.e. Singer, Keller) cannot be filled until four days after they last pitched, per MLB rules, which explains the discrepancy between eight players being added versus the ten who went on the restricted list.
The Royals indicated in today’s announcement that they expect to add “up to two more players” to the big league roster over the course of the series. They’ll make another addition tomorrow and another on Sunday. Any players whose contracts were selected to the 40-man roster for this series can be returned to Triple-A without first needing to clear waivers, due to their status as Covid-19-related replacements.
Pratto’s promotion is the most notable of the bunch. The 14th overall pick in the 2017 draft, the California high school product slowly progressed up the minor league ladder. He had an awful 2019 showing in High-A, and the cancelation of the following minor league season dealt his prospect stock a hit heading into 2021. The lefty hitter rebounded in a huge way last year, blasting 36 home runs in a season split between the minors top two levels. That came with some alarming strikeout numbers, but Pratto’s combination of power and huge walk totals was enough to put him firmly in top prospect consideration. He entered the season as Baseball America’s #43 overall farmhand.
Assigned to Omaha to open this year, Pratto has essentially picked up where he left off. He’s hit 17 more longballs and drawn walks at a massive 15.1% clip, but he’s fanned in over 30% of his trips to the plate. The end result — a .240/.374/.484 line through 337 plate appearances — is still excellent. The Royals nevertheless brought up fellow top prospect Vinnie Pasquantino ahead of Pratto, seemingly preferring he get a long leash to iron out the strikeout concerns in the upper minors. It’s very possible he’ll head back to Omaha after the Jays’ series, but Kansas City fans will at least get their first glimpse at a player they hope eventually develops into a middle-of-the-order bat.
It’ll almost certainly be a brief stint for the group of players temporarily added to the 40-man roster. Hicklen was called up briefly as a COVID replacement earlier in the season. Fermin, Massey and Eaton all have opportunities to make their big league debuts in the coming days. Fermin, a former international signee out of Venezuela, is hitting .242/.357/.422 with Omaha this season.
Massey, a fourth-round pick out of Illinois in 2019, was recently named the #8 prospect in the Kansas City system by Baseball America. He owns a .348/.408/.630 line with six homers in 24 games since being bumped up to Omaha last month, and he’ll almost certainly land a permanent 40-man roster spot by next offseason (when Kansas City would need to add him to keep him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft). Eaton is a former 21st-round pick out of VMI. BA recently slotted him 29th in the farm system in recognition of his .329/.388/.591 showing with the Storm Chasers.
Giants Place Jake McGee On Release Waivers, Claim Aaron Fletcher
The Giants announced Thursday that left-hander Jake McGee, whom they designated for assignment over the weekend, has been placed on unconditional release waivers. San Francisco also claimed lefty Aaron Fletcher off waivers from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento. Lefty Jose Alvarez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
McGee, 35, is in the second season of a two-year, $5MM contract that pays him $2.5MM and contains a $4.5MM club option (with a $500K buyout). He’s still owed the balance of that salary and the full weight of the buyout. It’s quite rare for players with any salary of note to be claimed off outright waivers or release waivers during the season, making it likely that he’ll clear and become a free agent. At that point, any team could sign McGee and owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors. The Giants would remain on the hook for the remainder of his salary.
The contract looked brilliant last season, when McGee turned in 59 2/3 innings of 2.72 ERA ball. The lefty led the Giants with 31 saves, struck out 24.3% of his opponents against a tiny 4.2% walk rate, and served as a key member of a bullpen that propelled San Francisco to an MLB-best 107 wins.
Things haven’t gone nearly as smoothly in 2022, however. Though his velocity has remained mostly the same, McGee’s strikeout rate has plummeted to 11.5% as his walk rate has jumped to 6.3%. Beyond the freefall in his strikeout rate, McGee has been unable to strand runners this season, with his 49.7% left-on-base rate checking in miles below the 74.4% career rate he carried into the season. The end result is a disastrous 7.17 ERA through his first 21 1/3 innings.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle spoke to McGee in the wake of the move. The southpaw called it a “letdown” to be cut loose, given how much he’s enjoyed his time there, but he took the move in stride and was understanding of the team’s decision. Once he clears waivers, he’ll be able to sign with any team he wishes, and there are quite likely several clubs who’d be in the market for an effectively free look at a reliever with McGee’s track record.
Fletcher, meanwhile, will step into McGee’s place as a lefty relief option for the club. The 26-year-old split his time between Pittsburgh and their top affiliate in Indianapolis, making nine appearances with the Bucs and 14 in Triple-A. Fletcher allowed nine runs in 11 2/3 innings with the big league club, striking out six while walking four. He allowed just six runs (three earned) through 18 2/3 frames in Indianapolis, however, apparently catching the Giants’ attention in the process.
While Fletcher has yet to have success in brief big league stints with the Mariners and Pirates, he owns a 2.56 ERA in parts of four minor league campaigns. He’s typically posted gaudy ground-ball numbers throughout his professional tenure, including a 55.2% clip in Triple-A this season. Fletcher is in his second minor league option year, so he can bounce on and off the active roster for the foreseeable future.
As for Alvarez, he’ll be out for an extended period. The veteran southpaw just landed on the IL on July 5 with elbow inflammation, and he’ll now be ineligible to return until early September. Signed to a one-year guarantee heading into 2021, Alvarez posted a sparkling 2.37 ERA through 64 2/3 innings. The club exercised a $1.5MM option on his services for this year, but he posted a 5.28 ERA in 21 outings. He’ll now miss at least the bulk of the second half of the season, and it remains to be seen whether he’ll be healthy enough to take the mound again before hitting free agency next winter.