The White Sox announced today that they’ve claimed outfielder Rymer Liriano off waivers from the Brewers. The addition of Liriano gives Chicago a full 40-man roster.
Liriano, 25, was long rated as one of the top prospects in the Padres’ farm system but was traded to Milwaukee last offseason. Liriano seemed to have a decent chance at getting a look with the rebuilding Brewers, but he was struck in the face by a pitch in Spring Training and didn’t recover in time to even play a game in the minors this year. His most recent work in Triple-A was impressive, though, as he batted .292/.383/.460 with 14 homers and 18 steals in 131 games back in 2015. In total, he’s a .311/.399/.483 hitter in parts of two seasons at Triple-A.
Liriano did get a brief trial run with the 2014 Padres, but he managed just a .555 OPS in 121 plate appearances and looked overmatched as a 23-year-old, striking out in nearly a third of his plate appearances. Strikeouts haven’t been a major problem for him throughout his minor league career, though, and he’ll give the ChiSox a somewhat intriguing option in the outfield this season if he’s ultimately able to rebound from last spring’s frightening injury.
This is a bit of a surprise. The Brewers had nothing to lose by keeping him. Weird..
Agree, he’s still pretty young and has a chance to reboot in the hopes of becoming the player he was projected to be.
Good investment by Milwaukee. There is still potential there
Except it was the White Sox that claimed him from the Brewers.
whoops. brain fart
Oakland currently has zero options in RF or CF, why would they sleep on this guy? So they could keep Brett Eibner? This is a huge fail by Beane, these moves are his bread and butter. Liriano’s still an intriguing player, he floor still is still a 4th OF type.
Actually no, his floor is a AAAA guy
Just so everyone knows, the problem with Liriano is that he’s out of minor league options. Which means now the Sox have to either carry him on their Major League roster or put him back on waivers. This is a fairly decent claim tho. Liriano never really got a shot with the Padres or Brewers. There’s essentially no risk here for the Sox.
Chances are pretty good that Liriano will be in another organization by opening day 2017. He’s exactly the sort of guy who could see multiple waiver claims over the course of the offseason.
It’s not like the White Sox have a plethora of MLB ready OF’s in their minor league system anyway so Rymer Liriano’s place on the 40-man roster is worth the gamble. The White Sox most highly rated OF prospects are at least two years away from making their MLB debuts and won’t require a precious roster spot anytime soon.
If Jerry Reinsdorf actually opens his wallet to sign a premium free agent or two this off-season there are plenty of other candidates on the reserve roster who can be launched to make room for them.
According to RR, Liriano is projected to make the Sox bench. That’s not even factoring in the likely non-tender of Avi Garcia (possibly moving Melky to DH, at least I’ve heard). Honestly, considering the only other options available are JB Shuck (also a probable NTC) and Coats- Liriano has an outstanding chance to make the White Sox OD roster. I hope it works out. He’s one of my favorites in the league- he’s a blast to watch play.
This couldn’t have been said any better.
Goodbye Garcia
Sounds more and more like Avi is going to be paired with Sale, Robertson or Quintana.