Diamondbacks Release Greg Holland

The Diamondbacks have released right-hander Greg Holland, officially announcing the move today after designating the reliever for assignment earlier this week.

It isn’t surprising to see Holland clear DFA waivers without a claim, as a team interested in his services can now sign him for merely a prorated portion of the minimum salary for the remainder of the season.  Between guaranteed salary and already-achieved bonuses, Holland has roughly $1.08MM still owed to him, the bulk of which (subtracting the minimum salary on any new contract) will be paid by the Diamondbacks.

Finances aside, it isn’t out of the question that another team will take a chance at adding Holland, given both his career track record and the fact that he was still posting good results only weeks ago.  Holland had a 2.08 ERA over his first 26 innings for the D’Backs, and as recently as July 22, had a 3.00 ERA over 33 innings.  Over his last five outings, however, the righty was crushed for a 23.63 ERA and six walks with just one strikeout in 2 2/3 innings of work.

Advanced metrics raised an eyebrow at Holland’s early-season success, however, and given that Holland’s velocity and swinging-strike rate both began to drop off as the season continued, it isn’t a surprise that his numbers took a big dip.  Any club looking to sign Holland would be hoping for a repeat of his late-season run in 2018, when he signed with the Nationals (after struggling with the Cardinals and being released) and proceeded to post an 0.84 ERA over 21 1/3 frames for Washington.  Speculatively, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Nats themselves perhaps check in on Holland again, given that the Nationals are still looking for bullpen reinforcements.