Twins Outright Randy Dobnak
As expected, Minnesota Twins right-handed pitcher Randy Dobnak has passed through waivers unclaimed and has accepted his assignment to Triple-A. Dobnak was able to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency having accumulated over three years of MLB service time, but he lacks the five years of service time necessary to do so without forfeiting any salary — $800k for the 2022 season, increasing to $1.5MM next year, $2.25MM in 2024, and $3M in 2025, with team options and buyouts for the 2026-28 seasons.
Dobnak made his Major League debut in 2019, pitching 28 1/3 innings with a 1.59 ERA. He followed that up with a more modest 4.05 ERA in 46 2/3 innings in 2020 before signing a five-year, $9.25MM extension, which could increase to $29.75MM, with the Twins prior to the 2021 season.
Unfortunately, Dobnak then missed the majority of the 2021 season with injuries, pitching only 50 2/3 innings to a poor 7.82 ERA before being shut down with a right middle finger strain that lingered into Spring Training this year. Dobnak’s struggles continued into the 2022 season during his rehab process, giving up nine earned runs in 8 2/3 innings in Triple-A St. Paul, leading to his DFA.
With the Twins’ current core of Bailey Ober, Josh Winder, Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, and Chris Archer (when healthy) there was no space for Dobnak. Even with a roughly average bullpen, 3.85 ERA and 24.7% strikeout rate, the front office decided that Dobnak would not be an addition to the team’s playoff push. Rather than reinstall him onto the 40-man roster after his time on the injured list was up, they moved to pass him through waivers. He’ll try to work his back onto the roster in Triple-A.
Giants Claim Taylor Jones, Designate Jose Rojas
The Giants have claimed first baseman/corner outfielder Taylor Jones off waivers from the Astros and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento. Utilityman Jose Rojas has been designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Houston had designated Jones for assignment earlier this week.
Jones changes organizations for the first time in his career. A 19th-round pick of the Astros in 2016, he’s spent the past six-plus years in the Houston system. The Gonzaga product has typically played well in the minor leagues, posting particularly strong numbers in the upper levels. Through parts of three seasons in Triple-A, Jones is a .279/.377/.487 hitter. That includes a quality .263/.370/.456 showing through 322 plate appearances this year. Jones has connected on 12 home runs and drawn walks at a quality 10.9% clip while striking out at a slightly higher than average rate (24.2%).
Despite the solid work in the minors, the 28-year-old hasn’t gotten much of a look in the big leagues. He’s appeared at the highest level in each of the past three years, but he’s picked up a cumulative 131 plate appearances in sporadic playing time. Jones hasn’t played well in that limited look, managing only a .234/.260/.395 line with a trio of longballs and an alarming 27.5% strikeout percentage.
The Giants are as active as any team at scouring the waiver wire, and they’ll take a shot on Jones’ upper minors productivity. He’s in his last minor league option year, meaning San Francisco can keep him in Triple-A for the final few weeks of the season. He’ll be out of options in 2023, though. If he holds his spot on the 40-man roster all winter, he’ll have to break camp on the MLB club or again be designated for assignment.
Rojas has been part of the Giants waiver wire churn. San Francisco snagged him from the Angels less than two weeks ago, and he’s spent his limited time in the organization with Sacramento. He’s appeared in seven games on optional assignment there and now loses his spot on the 40-man without having suited up in a big league contest.
A left-handed hitter, Rojas has appeared in the bigs with the Halos in each of the past two seasons. He’s not made much of an impact against MLB pitching, carrying a .188/.245/.339 slash with six homers through 241 trips to the plate. Like Jones, Rojas has been a very good hitter at the Triple-A level. Through parts of four seasons there, he sports a .277/.343/.525 line, including a .274/.346/.569 mark this season. The 29-year-old also offers a fair bit of defensive flexibility, suiting up at each of first, second and third base and in the corner outfield.
For the second time this month, Rojas will find himself on the waiver wire. He has an additional option remaining beyond this season and won’t reach arbitration for multiple years, so it’s possible another team will add him as an upper-level depth player. If he goes unclaimed, Rojas would have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Yankees Activate Aroldis Chapman, Designate Ryan Weber
The Yankees announced they’ve reinstated reliever Aroldis Chapman from the 15-day injured list. To clear a spot on the active roster, New York designated righty Ryan Weber for assignment. New York’s 40-man roster tally drops to 38.
Chapman missed around three weeks recovering from an infection arising from a tattoo. The bizarre issue marked the latest frustration in what has been a disappointing overall season for the flamethrowing southpaw. Chapman has worked to a career-worst 4.70 ERA across 30 2/3 innings.
His formerly elite strikeout rate has fallen to a slightly above-average 25.7%, while he’s walking batters at an unacceptable 16.2% clip. New York already bumped Chapman from the ninth inning in favor of Clay Holmes, and it remains to be seen where he stands in the left-handed pecking order for manager Aaron Boone as the playoffs approach. Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge have each been solid this year, with Peralta thriving against same-handed opponents.
As for Weber, he finds himself in a familiar position. The soft-tossing righty has been on and off the Yankees roster a few times this season, with New York frequently calling upon him as a depth arm. He’s never carved out a permanent spot on the big league club, though, and he’s now been designated for assignment for a fourth time this year. Because he’s out of minor league options, the Yankees continuously have to run him through waivers to take him off the big league roster.
The 32-year-old has remained with New York after each previous DFA, either via accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or quickly returning on a new minor league deal after electing free agency. He’s pitched well through the constant shuffling, tossing 10 2/3 innings of one-run ball at the MLB level while posting a 3.86 ERA over 39 2/3 Triple-A frames. Weber’s 16.5% strikeout rate with Scranton has been typically modest, but he’s induced plenty of ground-balls and only walked 3% of opponents there.
Rays Claim Bligh Madris
The Rays announced Friday that they’ve claimed first baseman/outfielder Bligh Madris off waivers from the Pirates. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Durham. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay transferred right-hander Ryan Thompson to the 60-day injured list due to triceps inflammation.
Madris, 26, made his big league debut with Pittsburgh earlier this season, appearing in 39 games but stumbling to a .177/.244/.265 batting line through his first 123 Major League plate appearances. The lefty-swinging Madris, however, has been far better in Triple-A Indianapolis, where he’s posted a .294/.366/.482 batting line in 2022 (124 wRC+). Because he was just selected to the 40-man roster this season, Madris has two option years remaining beyond the current campaign.
Beyond veteran David Peralta, the Rays’ outfield mix is primarily right-handed at the moment. Each of Jose Siri, Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena swing from the right side of the dish. Tampa Bay has given left-handed-hitting infielder Jonathan Aranda a handful of looks in left field at the minor league level this season, but he’s yet to play the outfield in the Majors. Madris won’t be dropped directly into that mix just yet, but he’s posted a decent .261/.336/.449 against righties this season, so perhaps he’ll get a look as a platoon option at some point before season’s end. He won’t be eligible for any postseason consideration, however, as he wasn’t in the organization prior to Sept. 1.
As for Thompson, he only went on the injured list in late August, so today’s move to the 60-day IL formally ends his season. A Rule 5 pick out of the Astros organization back in 2018, Thompson has risen to be an important member of the Rays’ bullpen. He’s tossed 42 2/3 innings of 3.80 ERA ball this year and, dating back to 2021, carries an overall 3.17 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate 6.3% walk rate and 50% ground-ball rate in 76 2/3 innings of relief work. He’s picked up 21 holds and three saves in that time, drawing high-leverage work with increasing frequency.
Thompson will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. The Rays can control him through the 2025 season, but he can now be officially ruled out for the remainder of the current season and for any postseason games Tampa Bay might play.
Orioles Outright Alexander Wells
The Orioles announced Friday that lefty Alexander Wells has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll remain with the club but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.
Prior to today’s announcement, the Orioles hadn’t designated Wells for assignment or publicly indicated that he was on waivers. He’s been out since May 1 due to a UCL sprain in his pitching elbow but seemingly avoided surgery. Injured players aren’t allowed to be placed on outright waivers, so it seems that Baltimore quietly returned him from the rehab assignment on which he’d been sent earlier this month and passed him through waivers. They’d otherwise have had to place Wells back on the 40-man roster, but that’s no longer necessary.
Wells, 25, was an international signee out of Australia back in 2015 and made his big league debut with Baltimore this past season. He’s pitched a total of 46 1/3 innings in the big leagues and posted a 6.60 ERA with a 15% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 30.2% ground-ball rate. Wells has never been a hard-thrower, evidenced by an average fastball of just 88.6 mph in his brief big league tenure, but he has some of the best command in the system. Scouting reports gave him potential 70-grade command prior to his MLB debut, and indeed, Wells has walked just 3.9% of his opponents in 544 2/3 minor league innings to this point in his career.
Wells has fared decently on his minor league rehab stint this month, tossing 15 innings across three levels and pitching to a 3.60 ERA with an 11-to-3 K/BB ratio. He’s worked almost exclusively as a starting pitcher to this point in his professional career, and now that he’s seemingly put this elbow issue behind him, he’ll be able to continue working toward an MLB return at the Triple-A level, where he still has just 66 innings of work and just 17 career appearances (including his only five bullpen outings).
Jeurys Familia Elects Free Agency
Sept. 16: Familia cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, tweets Cotillo.
Sept. 13: The Red Sox have designated reliever Jeurys Familia for assignment, the hurler himself told reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive). The club has not officially announced the move. Boston’s 40-man roster tally drops to 39.
Familia spent around a month on Boston’s big league roster. He opened the season with the Phillies but was released by Philadelphia in early August after posting a 6.09 ERA across 34 innings. Within a few days, Familia signed a minor league deal with Boston and was quickly promoted back to the big leagues. He’s continued to struggle, though, allowing eight runs (seven earned) with seven walks and eight strikeouts over 10 appearances in a Boston uniform.
That included a tough outing during tonight’s matchup with the Yankees. Called upon in the tenth inning, Familia issued a leadoff walk to Aaron Hicks. After inducing a Marwin González double play and intentionally walking Aaron Judge, he unintentionally walked Giancarlo Stanton to load the bases. Familia then coughed up a three-run double to Gleyber Torres before recording the final out. He took the loss in a 7-6 Yankees win.
In the wake of that disappointing outing, the Red Sox elected to move on. The 32-year-old is headed for free agency at the end of the season regardless, and any faint hope the Sox had of making a playoff push a month ago has long since been dashed. Rather than continuing to devote a bullpen spot to a scuffling veteran, Boston will turn elsewhere. Cotillo reports that the Sox will go with 13 pitchers for the time being, with the recently-claimed Yu Chang taking the vacated active roster spot.
Familia will land on waivers in the next few days, but his struggles in both Philadelphia and Boston make it a virtual lock he’ll clear. With only a few weeks remaining on the schedule, he plans to turn his attention to the upcoming offseason and opportunities for 2023 (relayed by Jahmai Webster of NESN).
While Familia’s 2022 results have been subpar, he’s only a season removed from being an effective reliever. Familia posted a 3.94 ERA across 59 1/3 innings with the Mets in 2021, striking out 27.5% of batters faced that year. His strikeouts are well down this season, but he’s averaged north of 95 MPH on his fastball. At the very least, he figures to find minor league offers this winter as a result of his relatively recent success and extant arm strength.
Braves Activate Ozzie Albies, Designate Jay Jackson For Assignment
The Braves announced Friday that second baseman Ozzie Albies has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow infielder Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained quadriceps to open a spot on the active roster, while righty Jay Jackson was designated for assignment in order to clear a 40-man spot for Albies.
Albies, still just 25 years old, hasn’t appeared in a game since June 13 thanks to a broken left foot that ultimately required surgery. The Braves, at one point, were hopeful of a mid-August return for the two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, but Albies’ recovery took a bit longer than that best-case scenario. Even without Albies’ all-around excellence, however, the Braves have been one of MLB’s hottest teams. Since his injury, Atlanta has played at a sweltering 52-28 pace, surging to just one game back of the NL East lead.
Inserting Albies back into the lineup will only make the Braves all the more dangerous. He is, after all, a .270/.321/.470 career hitter whose most recent full-season, 2021, was also the first 30-homer campaign of his impressive young career.
In Albies’ absence, the Braves have cycled through several options at the keystone. None of Orlando Arcia, Phil Gosselin or the aforementioned Adrianza hit particularly well in limited action at the position, however, and the organization eventually made the decision to call top prospect Vaughn Grissom up directly from Double-A in an effort to get more production from second base. Grissom has flashed all the tools that make him such a ballyhooed prospect in his initial look at the MLB level, but his bat has also cooled after a blistering start to the his career. Grissom slashed .420/.463/.660 through his first 14 games (54 plate appearances), but he’s batting just .210/.269/.333 in 17 games since and is has only one hit in his past five games.
For now, Grissom will stay on the big league roster despite the fact that Albies will step back into a full-time role at second base. There’s been talk of giving Grissom some time in left field, where neither Eddie Rosario nor Marcell Ozuna has provided much value to the lineup this season. There are also DH at-bats to go around, of course, so it’s possible for both Albies and Grissom to be in the lineup — which would come at the expense of playing time for some combination of Rosario, Ozuna and deadline acquisition Robbie Grossman.
The 34-year-old Jackson wasn’t on the active roster prior to today’s move but had been occupying a 40-man spot while pitching with Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s handled himself quite nicely there, to put things mildly; in 17 2/3 frames with Gwinnett, Jackson allowed just three runs on 13 hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts — good for a 1.53 ERA.
Jackson’s DFA is largely a case of poor timing and unfortunate (for him) circumstances. He missed the first several months of the season due to a lat strain and never really got much of a look in Atlanta thanks to an already loaded bullpen. The Braves are deep in quality veteran options, with Kenley Jansen, Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek, Collin McHugh and Kirby Yates all under contract and pitching well. Rookie left-hander Dylan Lee has quietly been dominant for Atlanta, and the only other spot in the bullpen is currently occupied by out-of-options righty Jackson Stephens, who has pitched to a solid 3.74 ERA in a multi-inning role there.
The Braves could’ve opted to jettison Stephens and go with Jackson, but doing so would have required them to place Stephens on waivers, given his lack of minor league options. Jackson, who returned to the Majors in 2021 after spending the 2020 season in Japan, can become a free agent at season’s end under the terms of the contract he inked, MLBTR has confirmed. As such, the choice effectively boils down to four more years of Stephens versus a few more weeks of Jackson.
Given that Jackson is still owed the balance of a $1.5MM Major League salary, wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for a new team and is a free agent after the season, there’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers even in spite of his big showing in Gwinnett. If that’s the case, he could remain on hand as a depth option who could be summoned in the event of a late injury. Either way, he’ll reach the open market again this winter on the heels of a solid 2021-22 showing in Triple-A and having posted a combined 3.52 ERA with a 30.5% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate in 23 big league innings between San Francisco (21 2/3) and Atlanta (1 1/3) over the past two seasons.
Orioles Release Kelvin Gutierrez
The Orioles released third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez yesterday, as first indicated on the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d have been a minor league free agent this offseason anyhow and will now get an early jump on trying to secure a new landing spot for the 2023 season, likely on a minor league contract.
It feels like far more than just a few months ago that the 28-year-old Gutierrez was the Opening Day third baseman for the O’s, but that is indeed the case. Gutierrez got the Opening Day nod at the hot corner and started 10 games at third base for the O’s early this season (in addition to a pair of pinch-hit appearances). He appeared in a dozen games, hit .143/.250/.179 in 33 plate appearances, and was designated for assignment on May 2.
Gutierrez went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, where he spent the bulk of the 2022 season. In 238 plate appearances with the Tides, he turned in a .242/.315/.384 slash with six homers, eight doubles, a pair of triples, a 21.4% strikeout rate and a 10.1% walk rate. He’s now a .265/.334/.411 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns.
There’s been some turnover in the Baltimore infield, as the O’s have gotten first looks at younger players such as Tyler Nevin, Terrin Vavra and, most recently, top prospect Gunnar Henderson. The latter of that trio has stepped in for six games at third, three apiece at shortstop and second base, and another two at designated hitter. He’s posted a combined .320/.370/.520 in his first 54 big league plate appearances and, in the process, continued his torrid minor league pace and illustrated just why the O’s are so confident he can be a future building block in the infield.
Outrights: Mazeika, Davis, Arihara
An update on a trio of players who’ll remain with their prior organizations after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers…
Latest updates
- The Giants outrighted catcher Patrick Mazeika to Triple-A Sacramento, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Mazeika, who’d been DFA this week, didn’t make a big league appearance with San Francisco. Claimed off waivers from the Mets last month, he’s spent the past couple weeks on optional assignment to Sacramento. Mazeika hasn’t hit well there, but he’d posted solid numbers with New York’s top affiliate earlier in the season. Mazeika has never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so he’ll stick in the organization for this year’s final few weeks. He’d reach minor league free agency over the offseason if he’s not added back to the 40-man roster.
Earlier
- Red Sox outfielder Jaylin Davis went unclaimed on outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Worcester, tweets Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The 28-year-old Davis has spent time with the Twins, Giants and Red Sox organizations over the past five years but has never carried his stout Triple-A production over to the big league level. Granted, none of those clubs has given him much of a look in the Majors; Davis has just 95 plate appearances in the big leagues, during which time he’s posted a tepid .207/.274/.299 batting line. Davis turned in a colossal .306/.397/.590 slash with 35 homers in 541 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for Minnesota and San Francisco in 2019, but even his Triple-A output has deteriorated since that standout showing. He’s had 353 turns at the plate in Triple-A this season and hit just .211/.317/.343 with a 30.9% strikeout rate.
- Right-hander Kohei Arihara, designated for assignment by the Rangers this week, cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. That’s not particularly surprising, given Arihara’s struggles and the fact that he’s still owed the balance of this season’s $2.6MM salary. It’s “only” about $286K, but given that Arihara has yielded 21 earned runs in 20 innings this season and carries a 7.57 ERA in 60 2/3 frames dating back to 2021, he was never likely to be claimed. Texas signed the now-30-year-old righty on the heels of a solid six-year run in NPB (3.74 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate), hoping that he could provide some innings at the back of the rotation. That two-year, $6.2MM contract hasn’t panned out, however, and this is now the second time Arihara has been outrighted by the Rangers.
Tigers Sign Daniel Ponce de Leon To Minor League Deal
The Tigers signed right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon to a minor league contract this week. He made his organizational debut with Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday, tossing six innings of one-run ball.
It’s the third organization of the season for Ponce de Leon, who is still searching for his first big league call of the year. He opened the season on a non-roster deal with the Mariners, spending three months with their top affiliate in Tacoma. Ponce de Leon struggled to a 7.95 ERA there and was released in mid-July. He caught on with the Nationals not too long after, making seven Triple-A starts before being released earlier this month.
Between the three clubs, the 30-year-old has a 6.96 ERA in 24 starts at the minors highest level. He’s punched out a solid 25.7% of batters faced over that stretch, but he’s also walked an alarming 11.5% of opponents and struggled to keep the ball in the yard. Before this season, the former 9th-round pick had a stronger track record in the upper minors. Over parts of five Triple-A seasons, he owns a decent 3.88 ERA.
Despite his series of minor league deals this year, Ponce de Leon has only appeared in the majors with one club, the Cardinals. He suited up as a swing option in St. Louis from 2018-21, starting 22 of 57 outings. Through 147 2/3 MLB frames, Ponce de Leon owns a 4.33 ERA with a 23.9% strikeout rate but a 12.7% walk percentage.
The Tigers rotation has thinned out significantly in the past few months. Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal have long since been lost for the season, and Rony García was also knocked out for the year. Meanwhile, Detroit released Michael Pineda last week. Of late, Detroit has turned to a starting five of Eduardo Rodríguez, Matt Manning, Joey Wentz, Tyler Alexander and Drew Hutchison. Rodríguez and Manning are the only members of that group who are likely to open next season in the rotation (although Wentz may get an opportunity to compete for a job in Spring Training), so there’s room for Detroit to take a look at Ponce de Leon during the season’s final few weeks if they’re intrigued by his form in Toledo.