Red Sox Outright Bobby Dalbec
Sept. 10: Dalbec went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Worcester, per a team announcement. He’ll remain in the organization.
Sept. 8: The Red Sox announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Richard Fitts, whose promotion was reported last night. The club designated infielder Bobby Dalbec for assignment to make room for Fitts on the 40-man roster and optioned right-hander Chase Shugart to Triple-A in order to clear space on the active roster.
Dalbec, 29, was a fourth-round pick by the Red Sox in the 2016 draft who earned plenty of attention with a dominant debut during the shortened 2020 season. After being called up halfway through the 60-game campaign, he emerged as the club’s regular first baseman down the stretch and slashed a torrid .263/.359/.600 with an eye-popping eight home runs in just 92 trips to the plate. Though the Red Sox ultimately finished fifth in the AL East that year and no one expected Dalbec to continue slugging at a 63 homer pace in his first full season in 2021, there was nonetheless optimism regarding the then-25-year-old’s future.
While Dalbec didn’t hit at the same otherworldly level he did during his first taste of big league action, his first full big league campaign in 2021 was a productive one nonetheless. In 453 trips to the plate across 133 games, Dalbec hit a respectable .240/.298/.400 with 25 home runs, 21 doubles, and 5 triples as Boston’s primary first baseman. That strong power production helped to offset his massive 34.4% strikeout rate and make him an above average (106 wRC+) bat overall, but things took a turn for the worse for Dalbec when his power evaporated during the 2022 season. As his isolated slugging dropped nearly a hundred points year-over-year while his strikeout rate held fairly steady, his production cratered and he wound up slashing just .215/.283/.369 with a wRC+ 20% worse than league average in 117 games in 2022.
That wound up being Dalbec’s final opportunity as a regular with the Red Sox, as he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons primarily in Triple-A as optionable infield depth. He hit quite well for Triple-A Worcester in both of those years, but his opportunities at the big league level were sparse and did not see him succeed. In a combined 146 trips to the major league plate over the past two years, Dalbec hit a ghastly .159/.234/.235 while striking out at a whopping 48.6% clip and slugging just two home runs. While Dalbec has increased his versatility these past two years, appearing at all four infield spots and right field in the major leagues, no amount of versatility was able to overcome that brutal production at the plate.
With Dalbec set to be out of options and potentially arbitration-eligible headed into the 2025 campaign, it’s hardly a surprise that the Red Sox have decided to cut bait on the once-promising infielder. Should he go unclaimed on waivers, the Red Sox will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues for the remainder of the 2024 season, though Dalbec will have the opportunity to elect minor league free agency in search of a change of scenery at season’s end.
Marlins Claim Michael Petersen, Designate Brett De Geus
The Marlins announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Michael Petersen off waivers from the Dodgers. Fellow righty Brett de Geus was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Petersen made his big league debut at 30 years old this season, pitching 14 innings for L.A. and recording a 6.43 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate. He’d joined the Dodgers on a minor league deal after spending the rest of his career in the minor league systems of the Brewers and Rockies.
Though Petersen’s brief big league run didn’t turn heads, he was excellent with the Dodgers’ Triple-A club in Oklahoma City, pitching to a 1.64 ERA with a massive 35.2% strikeout rate and tidy 6.4% walk rate in 33 innings of relief. The towering 6’7″ righty sits 97 mph with his four-seamer and complements that with an upper-80s cutter. He’s in the first of three option years, as the 2024 season marked the first time his contract has been selected to a big league roster.
The 26-year-old de Geus pitched 5 2/3 innings with Miami and was tagged for four earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts. He’s also suited up for the Mariners this season (3 1/3 innings, one run) and has previously pitched in the majors with the Rangers and D-backs. Overall, the former Rule 5 pick has 59 big league innings with a 7.17 ERA. 16.9% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate. Now that he’s been designated for assignment, he’ll head to waivers and be made available to the other 29 teams. Because he’s been outrighted in the past, de Geus can reject a minor league assignment if he clears. Even if he accepts, he can become a minor league free agent at season’s end.
Yankees Outright Nick Burdi, Phil Bickford
The Yankees have outrighted relievers Nick Burdi and Phil Bickford, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Both right-handers were designated for assignment over the weekend when the Yanks reinstated Ian Hamilton and Clarke Schmidt from the 60-day injured list.
Burdi, 31, pitched 9 2/3 innings for the Yankees and allowed only two runs (1.86 ERA), but he also walked nine of his 45 opponents and plunked another pair. Put another way, he allowed 24.4% of his opponents to reach base without putting the ball in play, which obviously made that small-sample ERA feel rather unsustainable. The flamethrowing righty and former top prospect still sits 97.7 mph with his four-seamer, but Burdi’s career has been devastated by injuries and this year hasn’t been an exception. He was twice placed on the 15-day IL due to a right hip injury, eventually moving to the 60-day IL after the second of those two placements.
Burdi was the No. 46 overall draft pick in 2014, going to the Twins after a standout career as Louisville’s closer. Multiple arm injuries, including a pair of Tommy John procedures, have derailed him. He’s appeared in 31 big league games and tallied only 25 MLB innings, pitching to a 6.48 ERA with a big 32.5% strikeout rate but also a glaring 16.4% walk rate in that time.
Bickford, 29, pitched in an even smaller slate of 8 1/3 innings for the Yankees this year. He was tagged for nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and one walk with six strikeouts in that time. Another former top pick — No. 18 overall to the Giants in 2015 — Bickford had a big season with the 2021 Dodgers when he pitched 50 1/3 innings of 2.50 ERA ball out of the Los Angeles bullpen.
He’s been unable to replicate that success in the three seasons since, however, working to a combined 5.07 ERA in 136 1/3 innings while his fastball his dipped by a mile per hour and while his walk and strikeout rates have trended in the wrong direction. Bickford has a lifetime 4.62 ERA in 189 big league frames, but the entirety of his success has been confined to that excellent 2021 showing.
Both Burdi and Bickford can reject their outright assignments in favor of free agency. Even if they accept, they’ll be able to become minor league free agents at season’s end.
Cardinals To Promote Thomas Saggese
The Cardinals are set to call up infield prospect Thomas Saggese for his major league debut, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so St. Louis will need to formally select his contract from Triple-A Memphis. The Cards already have a pair of vacancies on the 40-man, however, so they’ll only need a corresponding move on the active 28-man roster.
Saggese, 22, was acquired from the Rangers in the 2023 deadline trade sending left-hander Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton to Texas. Baseball America currently ranks him as the system’s fifth-best prospect. He’s hitting .253/.313/.438 with 20 home runs, 23 doubles, three triples, nine steals (in 13 attempts), a 23.1% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 528 plate appearances this season. BA describes Saggese as a “bat-first middle infielder” with an aggressive approach but above-average contact skills and a knack for barreling the ball.
Though he’s spent time at all three infield positions to the left of first base, Saggese’s primary position in the minors has been second base. He’s logged more time at shortstop than second base this season, perhaps in a bid to diversify his skill set, but Masyn Winn‘s breakout has solidified shortstop at Busch Stadium and Nolan Arenado remains entrenched at the hot corner. Saggese’s clearest path to a regular role with the Cardinals will be at second base, which scouting reports feel is his best position anyhow. He has competition in the long term, primarily in the form of Nolan Gorman, but the slugging Gorman has struggled this season and has yet to clearly stake his claim as the Cards’ second baseman of the future.
Gorman’s struggles reached a boiling point last month, when he was optioned to Triple-A himself. The Cardinals have been using versatile Brendan Donovan at second base since, but Donovan has been hobbled by a foot injury recently and (speculatively speaking) could be bound for the injured list. Even if Donovan avoids and IL stint, calling Saggese to the majors both gives the Cardinals a short-term alternative and affords them a look at a potential key piece of their future infield.
Saggese also provides some insurance for Winn at shortstop in the event that Donovan misses either a couple more games — he was out of Sunday’s lineup — or heads to the injured list. Prior to the Saggese move, Jose Fermin was the only shortstop option on the roster other than Winn and Donovan. If Donovan is sidelined for any period of time, Fermin would’ve been ticketed to step in and second base, leaving the Cards with no real backup to Winn at short.
Saggese would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and would’ve been a slam-dunk to be selected, so the Cardinals were always going to add him to the roster prior to mid-November’s protection deadline. The current health status of their infield group may have forced the issue a bit sooner, but that’ll only serve to get Saggese some late-season reps against big league pitching — a notable development for him given that he’d almost certainly have been called to the majors at some point in 2025 anyhow. He obviously won’t receive a full year of service at this point, so Saggese remains on track for free agency no earlier than the 2030-31 offseason and arbitration eligibility no sooner than the 2027-28 offseason.
Yankees Promote Jasson Domínguez
The Yankees have promoted outfielder Jasson Domínguez ahead of tonight’s game against the Royals at Yankee Stadium, the team announced. To make room on the active roster, they placed infielder DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day IL with right hip inflammation. In addition, the Yankees reinstated utility man Jon Berti from the 60-day IL. They had already cleared a spot for him on the 28-man roster by optioning outfielder Duke Ellis on Sunday. To make room for Berti on the 40-man roster, the team designated left-hander Anthony Misiewicz for assignment.
Domínguez made his hotly-anticipated MLB debut last September, putting up a .980 OPS and 160 wRC+ in eight games as the Yankees’ center fielder before he tore his UCL and required season-ending Tommy John surgery. The team reinstated him from the injured list this past June but optioned him to Triple-A rather than put him back on the active roster. It made enough sense at the time, considering New York’s crowded outfield picture; in addition to mainstays Aaron Judge in center and Juan Soto in right, Alex Verdugo was enjoying a solid season as the starting left fielder (108 wRC+, 1.1 FanGraphs WAR at the time). Moreover, Giancarlo Stanton was playing every day at DH. Thus, the Yankees decided to give Domínguez regular reps with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Yet, Verdugo has struggled tremendously over the past three months, batting .210 with a .568 OPS and 62 wRC+. Meanwhile, Domínguez has thrived over the past month at Triple-A, batting .318 with an .893 OPS and 132 wRC+ across his last 27 games. He has also 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts during that time. The 21-year-old was briefly called up to be the 27th man in a doubleheader last month, but he returned to the minors the next day. With the Yankees holding onto the slimmest lead (0.5 games) of any division leader in MLB right now, their hesitance to call up the star prospect seemed strange, to say the least. Now, however, that point of discussion is finally moot.
Domínguez would not have been called up if he weren’t going to get frequent playing time, a point that GM Brian Cashman emphasized last week (per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Indeed, he will start tonight in center field and bat sixth in the Yankees’ lineup. Judge will DH, while Stanton takes the day off against Royals right-hander Brady Singer. The lefty batting Verdugo remains in the lineup, playing left field. It’s safe to presume that Domínguez will eventually take some playing time away from the floundering Verdugo, but he is also a valuable asset as a replacement for Judge in center field. The MVP candidate has held his own at the position, but he is better suited for a corner outfield spot. Furthermore, Judge could surely benefit from some days as the DH when he can stay off his feet for most of the game.
Berti, whom the Yankees acquired from the Marlins this past offseason, has spent almost the entire year on the injured list, first with a groin strain and more recently with a calf strain. He has played just 17 games for New York this year, 16 of them at third base. However, the 34-year-old can also play second base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions in a pinch. Berti is not in the starting lineup tonight, but he will provide the team with versatility off the bench.
LeMahieu has not played since last Tuesday. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that the veteran’s hip has been an issue for several weeks now, and it’s unclear if he will be able to return before the end of the regular season (per Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News). That’s not necessarily much of a loss for the Yankees, considering the former batting champ is hitting .204 with a .527 OPS and 51 wRC+ in 67 games during his age-35 season.
Misiewicz, 29, first joined the Yankees as a waiver claim in July 2023. He re-signed with the organization on a minor league deal this past offseason, and the big league club selected his contract in June. The southpaw made one scoreless appearance for the Yankees before he was returned to Triple-A, where he has pitched to a 3.33 ERA in 54.0 innings this year.
The Yankees claimed Ellis, 26, off of waivers from the Mariners at the end of August. They promoted him to the big leagues when rosters expanded on September 1, and he appeared in three games, collecting one hit and one stolen base. He will return to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Travis Blankenhorn Elects Free Agency
The Nationals announced that infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn elected free agency following last week’s DFA. The left-handed hitter had that right once he cleared waivers because he has been outrighted multiple times in his career. Washington took him off the 40-man roster when they claimed reliever Michael Rucker from Philadelphia.
Blankenhorn has gotten to the majors in five consecutive seasons without ever getting consistent playing time. He has tallied exactly 100 trips to the plate at the highest level. That includes 32 plate appearances since the Nats selected his contract around the time of the trade deadline. Blankenhorn only hit .129 with one walk and nine strikeouts in that limited look. He has a career .154/.230/.264 slash against MLB arms.
While he hasn’t performed in his sporadic MLB chances, the 28-year-old has a solid minor league track record. Blankenhorn popped 23 home runs in Triple-A for the Nats a year ago. He connected on another 26 longballs in 106 contests with their top affiliate this season. Blankenhorn has power but has also struggled to make contact consistently in the minors. That continued this year, as he fanned in 26% of his plate appearances.
A third-round pick of the Twins in 2015, Blankenhorn has also had a brief stint with the Mets and spent time in the Mariners’ and Dodgers’ farm systems. He should be able to find another minor league opportunity heading into 2025. Speculatively speaking, his Triple-A power numbers could lead to offseason interest from teams in foreign leagues as well.
Red Sox Release Rich Hill
The Red Sox released Rich Hill, tweets Christopher Smith of MassLive. The veteran southpaw can latch on elsewhere for the final few weeks of the regular season. Since he’d be signing after the start of September, he will not be eligible for this year’s postseason if he continues playing.
Boston designated the 44-year-old Hill for assignment on Friday when they promoted rookie righty Luis Guerrero. That ended his latest stint with the Sox after four big league appearances. Hill logged 3 2/3 innings of two-run ball. He struck out five of 15 batters faced while issuing a trio of walks. With his fastball sitting in the mid-80s, Hill leaned most frequently on a 70 MPH breaking ball in that limited sample.
Whether Hill signs with another team or sits out the rest of the season, he managed to get to the majors for a 20th straight year. This was the Massachusetts native’s eighth different stint with the Red Sox, including minor league deals, and his fourth separate appearance at the big league level in Boston. Hill deliberately waited until the tail end of the season to sign, inking a minor league contract with the Sox in mid-August. The team called him up ten days later.
MLB’s oldest active player now returns to the open market. If he signs anywhere for the stretch run, it’d be with a contender. Hill can’t play in the postseason but could potentially work in a swing role to help push a team to October. He reportedly drew interest from the Yankees, Dodgers and Twins when he was building up earlier in the summer.
All three of those teams occupy a playoff spot. New York holds a half-game lead on the Orioles in the AL East, while a slumping Minnesota team is trying to hang onto a 3.5-game edge on the American League’s final Wild Card spot. Los Angeles has all but wrapped up another NL West title, but they’re looking to lock down the top seed in the National League while dealing with a number of rotation injuries.
Mariners Claim Austin Kitchen, DFA Jason Vosler
The Mariners have claimed left-hander Austin Kitchen off waivers from the Marlins, per a team announcement out of Miami. In a corresponding move, Seattle has designated first baseman Jason Vosler for assignment.
Kitchen, 27, was designated for assignment over the weekend after a brief, but meaningful, stint with the Marlins. The club claimed him off waivers from the Rockies in June, and he made his MLB debut at the end of July. Unfortunately, his first few tastes of big league action in Miami weren’t particularly successful; he gave up 12 runs (11 earned) over seven innings before his DFA. On the bright side, he has a 2.96 ERA and 3.74 FIP across 48 2/3 minor league innings this season split between the Rockies and Marlins organizations.
The left-hander will now report to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. He will not be eligible to pitch for Seattle in the postseason, but he offers a bit of additional depth down the stretch. What’s more, he still has two option years remaining, so if the Mariners like what they see from Kitchen, they could easily choose to keep him around in 2025.
Vosler, 31, played 10 games with the Mariners this season during a brief call-up between mid-July and early August. He went 5-for-28 with a .519 OPS. However, he has looked much better at Triple-A, batting .299 with 28 home runs and a .934 OPS in 111 games. Despite his minor league success, he did not have a path to meaningful playing time in Seattle, so it’s not too surprising to see him cut from the 40-man roster. It’s likely he clears waivers, after which he will presumably elect free agency, either right away or at the end of the season. Vosler has played for five different organizations, including three at the MLB level, over a professional career that has spanned more than ten years.
Angels Select José Suarez, Move Jo Adell To 60-Day IL
The Angels have selected the contract of left-handed pitcher José Suarez from Triple-A, the team announced. To make room for Suarez on the active roster, the club optioned right-hander Hans Crouse to Salt Lake. Meanwhile, the Angels opened a spot for Suarez on the 40-man by transferring Jo Adell to the 60-day injured list, marking the end of the outfielder’s season.
Suarez, 26, signed with the Angels as an international free agent just over ten years ago. He has pitched for the big league club in each of the past six seasons. He was a solid contributor in 2021 and ’22, pitching a total of 207 1/3 innings over 45 games (34 starts) with a 3.86 ERA and 4.16 SIERA. However, he lost most of his 2023 season to a shoulder injury, and he was ultimately DFA’d this past June after a poor start to his 2024 campaign. Over 35 1/3 innings, the southpaw gave up 34 runs (32 earned) on 44 hits and 22 walks.
After clearing waivers, Suarez accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, where he has pitched to an unsightly 6.54 ERA and 5.10 FIP over 11 starts. While his results have been poor, he offers the Angels a much-needed fresh arm for the bullpen. Top prospect Caden Dana only recorded three outs in his second career start on Sunday, and the bullpen was forced to pitch the rest of the game. Crouse, who was recalled yesterday, tossed 1 1/3 innings in that 7-4 loss to the Rangers, walking two and striking out one.
Adell, 25, landed on the 10-day IL over the weekend with a left oblique strain. By moving him to the 60-day IL with just three weeks left to go in the regular season, the Angels have officially ended his 2024 campaign. The former top prospect seemed to be enjoying a long-awaited breakout over the first eight weeks of the season, but he had since fallen back to earth. Over his last 90 games, Adell was batting .190 with a .611 OPS and 70 wRC+. He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this coming offseason.
Guardians Designate Anthony Gose For Assignment
The Guardians designated left-hander Anthony Gose for assignment … again. Cleveland announced Monday that Gose has been DFA in favor of fellow southpaw Joey Cantillo, who has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus.
It’s the fourth DFA of the past month for the out-of-options Gose, who has fully embraced the depth role in which the Guardians have placed him. He can’t be optioned to the minors, so Cleveland has continually designated him for assignment and passed him through waivers, at which point Gose has either accepted an outright assignment or briefly elected free agency and near-immediately re-signed on a new minor league deal.
It’s an odd cycle but not an entirely unfamiliar one. The Yankees have gone this route with righties David Hale and Ryan Weber in the past. The Marlins have done the same this year with lefty Kent Emanuel, just as they did with Devin Smeltzer in 2023. Gose is clearly fine with the tumultuous and somewhat unconventional arrangement, as he’s getting frequent MLB service time and pay out of it and agreeing to return to the organization each time. Granted, not all of those situations featured such rapid-fire selections to the majors and immediate DFAs, but it’s conceptually the same scenario.
Gose allowed two runs in an inning of work during his most recent brief stint with the Guards. He’s pitched in three games this season and yielded runs in all of them, combining for five runs on nine hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He’s posted better run-prevention numbers in Triple-A, logging a 3.27 earned run average with a hearty 32.8% strikeout rate against a more troubling 14.7% walk rate.
The 2024 season is Gose’s first year back from a Tommy John procedure that wiped out his entire 2023 campaign. A former second-round pick who ranked as one of the top prospects in the game during his days as a center fielder, he’s still looking to establish himself as a viable big league option in the bullpen. Gose has pitched 32 innings in the majors since making the switch to the mound and recorded a 4.78 ERA with big strikeout numbers (29.7%) and also big walk issues (12.3%).
A two-way star in high school who had some draft interest as a pitcher, Gose was brandishing a fastball that averaged 99.3 mph when he made his mound debut in 2021. He’s since undergone elbow surgery and seen that average heater dip to 95.2 mph — still a well above-average mark (particularly for a lefty), but not the same type of overpowering offering it was a few years back. Gose is still piling up strikeouts in Triple-A, but the command of his fastball/slider combination is a work in progress. He’ll head back to waivers and likely clear quickly before returning to the Guardians, whether via outright assignment or again electing free agency and signing a new minor league pact while he awaits his next call to the majors.