Yankees Designate Ronald Guzmán For Assignment
Sep. 12: The Yankees announced that Guzmán was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Since he has over three years of MLB service time, he is eligible to reject this assignment and return to free agency, though it’s unclear if he has chosen to do so.
Sep. 10: The Yankees announced that they have designated first baseman Ronald Guzmán for assignment. Josh Donaldson was activated from the paternity list in a corresponding move.
Guzmán, 27, was just selected to the roster a few days ago to give the Yanks another option at first base when Anthony Rizzo went on the injured list. Since then, the club also placed DJ LeMahieu on the IL, further depleting the depth chart at first. The start at that position has gone to Marwin Gonzalez in each of the past three games as well as today, indicating the Yankees are evidently satisfied enough with his performance to let Guzmán go. Guzmán got six plate appearances in his short time on the roster but went hitless while striking out in five of them.
Despite that poor showing in a very small sample, Guzmán was having a much better season prior to his call-up. In 90 Triple-A games this year, he’s hit 12 home runs while walking in 11.8% of his plate appearances, leading to a .260/.357/.466 batting line that amounts to a 119 wRC+. The strikeouts were present there as well, however, as he went down on strikes 27.6% of the time.
Since the trade deadline has passed, the Yankees will placed Guzmán on waivers in the coming days. He has over three years of MLB service time, meaning he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. Should any team decide to put in a claim, he can be retained for a further three seasons via arbitration.
Marly Rivera of ESPN reported Guzmán’s DFA before the official announcement.
Marlins Select Aneurys Zabala
The Marlins have made a few roster moves prior to today’s doubleheader against the Rangers, per their transactions tracker at MLB.com (hat tip to Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). Right-hander Aneurys Zabala has been selected to the roster while fellow righty Bryan Hoeing has been recalled as the club’s “29th man” for the twin bill. Left-hander Andrew Nardi was optioned in a corresponding move. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster for Zabala.
Zabala, 25, was first selected to the club’s roster back in June, though he was designated for assignment just two days later. He cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A. He got a second selection in August but was designated again after just a few days, again clearing waivers and being outrighted. Since that was his second outright, he had the ability to reject the assignment and become a free agent but chose to stick with the Fish. He’ll now get a third stint on the roster.
Zabala has pitched just 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the majors so far, in between those transactions. In the minors, he’s been getting his fare share of strikeouts but struggling with control. In 22 innings this year between Double-A and Triple-A, he’s struck out 26.3% of batters faced but walked an awful 24.6%. For context, the major league average walk rate for a reliever is 9.2% this season. No doubt thanks to those free passes, Zabala’s minor league ERA for the year is 9.82.
Pirates To Promote Luis Ortiz
The Pirates will promote pitching prospect Luis Ortiz to the majors, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter link). It will be a Major League debut for Ortiz, a 23-year-old right-hander who was an international signing in 2018. The Bucs will need to make some corresponding moves to create space on the active and 40-man rosters.
Ortiz is rated by Baseball America as Pittsburgh’s 22nd-best prospect, with BA’s scouting report describing Ortiz as “perhaps the most improved pitcher in the Pirates’ system.” After pitching in A-ball in 2021, Ortiz began the 2022 campaign at Double-A and has a combined 4.56 ERA over 124 1/3 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. The home run ball has been an issue for Ortiz, but he has solid walk, strikeout, and grounder rates that belie his forgettable ERA.
His most recent outing was a gem, as Ortiz threw six no-hit innings for Triple-A Indianapolis on September 8. That would seemingly put Ortiz to make his MLB debut on Tuesday, when the Pirates have a doubleheader against the Reds. It remains to be seen if the Pirates will properly start Ortiz in one of the two games, or if they could look to ease him into action as part of a bullpen game or as a bulk pitcher.
The bullpen might eventually end up being Ortiz’s long-term destination, though naturally the Pirates will first see what he can do as a starter before exploring relief assignments. Ortiz’s upper-90s fastball profiles well as a signature pitch, and he complements that fastball with a quality slider and an improving changeup.
Austin Davis Elects Free Agency
TODAY: Davis has cleared waivers and has chosen to become a free agent.
SEPTEMBER 8: The Twins announced Thursday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Cole Sands from the injured list and opened a spot on the active roster by designating left-hander Austin Davis for assignment. Minnesota had claimed Davis from the Red Sox on Aug. 31 after he was also designated for assignment in Boston.
Davis, 29, struggled to a 5.47 ERA in 54 1/3 innings with the Red Sox this year and wasn’t able to right the ship in a brief stint with the Twins. Though he appeared in just two games, the lefty yielded three runs on a hit and four walks in just 1 2/3 innings. His DFA will drop the Twins back down to two lefties in the bullpen — Caleb Thielbar and Jovani Moran — and open a spot on the Twins’ 40-man roster.
Originally a 12th-round pick of the Phillies, Davis has appeared in the Majors in each of the past five seasons but has never posted a single-season ERA south of 5.00 and currently carries a lifetime mark of 5.61 in 144 frames at the MLB level. He’s fanned 24% of his opponents against an 11% walk rate and kept 39.5% of batted balls against him on the ground.
Davis has regularly excelled at limiting hard contact, evidenced by a career 87.2 mph average exit velocity and 33.4% hard-hit rate. However, when opponents do square him up, the result is often a worst-case scenario; even with that lack of consistent hard contact, he’s still yielded an average of 1.25 homers per nine innings pitched. With the trade deadline now well in the rear-view mirror, the only options for the Twins will be to place Davis on outright or release waivers. He reached three years of Major League service time earlier this season, so even if he clears he’ll have the right to reject an assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency.
As for the 25-year-old Sands, he’s followed a standout 2021 Double-A campaign (2.46 ERA in 80 1/3 innings) with a rough year both in Triple-A and the Majors. The 2018 fifth-rounder has been saddled with a 5.70 ERA in 53 1/3 Triple-A frames and an even more troublesome 6.56 mark in 23 1/3 MLB innings. That said, Sands has fanned and walked batters at a better-than-average rate while also being plagued by sky-high averages on balls in play (.404 in Triple-A, 3.62 in the Majors).
Orioles Claim Cam Gallagher, Designate Rico Garcia
The Orioles announced that they have claimed catcher Cam Gallagher off waivers from the Padres and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. He was designated for assignment by the Friars on Friday. Right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Gallagher, 29, was drafted by the Royals and spent most of his career backing up Salvador Perez. On deadline day this year, he was sent to the Padres for Brent Rooker but the Friars kept him in the minors until designating him for assignment. He has a career batting line of .240/.302/.355 in 171 career games, all with KC.
Defensively, he’s racked up 12 Defensive Runs Saved in that time, a fairly strong mark for what is barely over a full season of work. For context, only three MLB catchers have more than 12 DRS so far this season. His 171-game career has also resulted in a 10.2 FRM, which is the framing metric at FanGraphs. Jose Trevino is the only catcher who has posted an FRM higher than that this season.
Due to his backup role, Gallagher has never played more than 48 games in a season, so it’s hard to say whether or not he could sustain those solid defensive numbers over a lengthier stretch. He may not have to though, as the O’s are likely considering him for a backup role behind rookie catcher Adley Rutschman. It was recently reported that the O’s are looking to add a backup catcher this offseason, which makes sense as Robinson Chirinos is a free agent this winter. It’s possible that this claim gives them a chance to cross that off their to-do list early, or at least provide them with a backup plan in the event they don’t find an offseason move to their liking.
Garcia, 28, was signed by Baltimore to a minor league deal in the offseason and has logged just eight innings in the majors this year but has solid numbers in the minors. Through 41 frames on the farm the season, he has a 1.76 ERA with a 32.3% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate. He will still have one more option after this year and still has less than one year of MLB service time. If any team feels he can sustain those strong results from this season, they could put in a claim and retain his services at little cost.
Padres Designate Tayler Scott For Assignment, Activate Craig Stammen
The Padres have announced a series of roster moves, with right-hander Craig Stammen reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To create room on the active roster, righty Nabil Crismatt was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. Right-hander Tayler Scott was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
With Pierce Johnson and now Stammen coming off the 60-day IL in consecutive days, the Padres have bolstered their relief corps with a pair of solid right-handers. For Stammen, he last pitched on July 4 before right shoulder inflammation led to an extended stint on the sidelines.
Now in his sixth season with the Padres, Stammen was delivering his usual solid work at the time of his injury. The righty has a 3.34 ERA/3.27 SIERA over 32 1/3 innings, with a 51.5% grounder rate and an elite 3.6% walk rate.
Scott posted a 6.75 ERA over 12 innings for San Diego after his minor league deal was initially selected to the active roster in July. This marked Scott’s first MLB action since 2019, as he has spent the last two seasons pitching in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp. The righty has been on the 15-day IL since mid-August due to a finger laceration, so the Padres first had to activate Scott from the injured list before designating him for assignment.
Red Sox Release Hirokazu Sawamura
The Red Sox have released right-hander Hirokazu Sawamura, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Sawamura asked for his release to pursue other opportunities, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
Sawamura, 34, pitched in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for ten years before crossing the Pacific. He signed a two-year deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2021 season and had a solid debut that season. He threw 53 innings with a 3.06 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate and 51.8% ground ball rate, though a very worrisome 13.7% walk rate.
His performance took a bit of a downward turn here in 2022, however, with his ERA jumping up to 3.73 and his strikeout rate dropping to 18.1%. He was designated for assignment in August, later clearing waivers and being outrighted to Triple-A.
Sawamura’s contract guaranteed him $3MM with a $1.2MM salary both last year and this year, as well as a $600K buyout on a club option for 2023. That club option came with $3MM base but a series of escalators based on the number of appearances Sawamura made. If the club declined their option, Sawamura would then have a player option that also had a value tied to appearances. He had already pitched enough to get the player option up to $1.9MM and would have made it an even $2MM with one more game before he was cut from the roster.
When Sawamura was outrighted, it was reported that the option was still active. However, Sawamura will collect the $1MM buyout and head to free agency instead. He only made a single appearance in Triple-A between the outright and today’s release.
Athletics Outright Brent Honeywell
The A’s announced that right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Honeywell, 27, was drafted by the Rays in 2014 and spent years being considered one of the best prospects in the game. He cracked Baseball America’s top 100 list for five straight years from 2016 to 2020. He stayed on that list for so long both because of his talent and because repeated injuries prevented him from exhausting his prospect status.
Honeywell required Tommy John surgery in early 2018, which wiped out that entire season. In June of 2019, he fractured a bone in his right elbow while working his way back to the mound, making it two straight lost seasons. In May of 2020, while the pandemic had put the season on pause, he underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve. That eventually made it three consecutive campaigns without Honeywell taking the mound in an official game of any kind.
In 2021, he finally was healthy enough to pitch, making his MLB debut for the Rays. They only let him throw 4 1/3 innings at the big league level, however, leaving him in Triple-A most of the year. He threw 81 2/3 frames there with a 3.97 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate.
Those weren’t eye-popping numbers, though it probably would have been unrealistic for Honeywell to just jump to ace-like results after three lost seasons. The A’s acquired him from the Rays in November, hoping that another healthy year could perhaps allow Honeywell to rediscover some of the form that made him such a hot prospect in previous years. Unfortunately, he was dealt another injury setback, diagnosed with an olecranon stress reaction in his elbow in March. That landed him on the 60-day IL to start the year, where he’s been until today. The club didn’t announce that Honeywell had been designated for assignment but they evidently passed him through waivers in recent days.
Since he was on the 60-day IL, Honeywell wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. He was about to, however, as he began a rehab assignment August 16. Rehab assignments for pitchers come with a 30-day maximum, meaning Honeywell was nearing his activation point. Instead, the A’s put him on waivers and passed him through. This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time. He will stick with the A’s without retaking a spot on the roster. In 11 2/3 innings as part of his rehab, he logged an ERA of 8.49, though likely somewhat marred by a .405 BABIP. He’s struck out 19.3% of batters and walked 7% in that small sample.
Twins To Place Chris Archer On IL, Select Jharel Cotton
The Twins are placing right-hander Chris Archer on the 15-day injured list due to a pectoral injury, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Fellow righty Jharel Cotton will have his contract selected to take Archer’s place on the active roster. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster.
Archer, 33, started yesterday’s game but was removed after two innings and 40 pitches due to this pec issue. Park relays that Archer is confident he can return after the 15-day minimum, though it’s still a noteworthy development for the club. With just over three weeks remaining in the season, even a minimum stay on the IL will keep Archer out of action until there’s only about a week remaining.
With Tyler Mahle also landing on the IL about a week ago, the club’s rotation has taken a couple of blows at a crucial time of the year. The Twins are 3 1/2 games behind the Guardians in the AL Central race, with the White Sox in between. Minnesota will be trying to play catch-up in the home stretch with a diminished pitching staff. Josh Winder was recalled today and will take a spot in the rotation next to Dylan Bundy, Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan. That four-man crew will need reinforcements as the club has an off-day on Monday before embarking on a stretch of 14 games in 13 days, with a doubleheader on September 17.
Archer is taking on a significant workload for the first time since 2019, as he missed the 2020 season entirely and only logged 19 1/3 innings last year. Through 102 2/3 frames this season, he has a 4.56 ERA, though his 19.2% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate are both career worsts. He’s likely returning to free agency this winter, as his deal with the Twins has a mutual option for 2023, with those rarely being executed by both sides.
Cotton, 30, has already been designated for assignment by the Twins three times this year, each time accepting an outright assignment to St. Paul and getting selected back to the roster later. He’s pitched well when called upon, registering a 2.83 ERA in 35 big league innings on the year. A .182 BABIP and 89.7% strand rate are likely putting a little shine on that, however, with advanced metrics like FIP and xFIP pushing over 5.00.
A’s Designate Domingo Tapia, Select Collin Wiles
The Athletics announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Collin Wiles. Fellow right-hander Domingo Tapia was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Tapia, 31, came to the A’s on a waiver claim in April and has been shuttled back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues all year. In 27 2/3 innings for the Las Vegas Aviators, he has a 1.95 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 51.9% ground ball rate. However, he hasn’t been able to bring that kind of performance up to the show with him, registering an ERA of 8.47 in 17 MLB innings, along with a 13.3% strikeout rate and ghastly 15.6% walk rate.
He’ll be placed on outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days, since the trade deadline has passed. He’s never previously been outrighted and has less than three years of MLB service time, meaning he wouldn’t have the ability to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Wiles, 28, was originally drafted by the Rangers, getting selected 53rd overall in 2012. He worked his way up the minor league ladder but never got the call to the big leagues, reaching free agency after 2021. He signed a minor league deal with the A’s and has spent his entire season in Triple-A so far. In 143 1/3 innings over 26 starts for Las Vegas, he has a 5.40 ERA. His 17% strikeout rate isn’t great but he’s only walking 4.3% of batters faced. Since he’s been working as a starter in the minors, he’ll give the A’s a bullpen option who should be capable or working multiple innings. He’ll be making his MLB debut as soon as he gets into a game.