Dec. 2: Goody has accepted the assignment and been added to the Rangers’ 40-man roster, per a club announcement. The team’s 40-man roster is now full.
Nov. 26: Indians right-hander Nick Goody has been claimed off waivers by the Rangers, per an announcement from the Texas organization. (MLBTR reported that he’d been claimed by an unknown team this afternoon.) Players claimed off release waivers have five days to accept the assignment to their new club or reject in favor of free agency.
Goody, 28, is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to receive a $1.1MM salary via arbitration this winter. The right-hander had a terrific 2017 season for the Indians, compiling a 2.80 ERA with 11.9 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9 in 54 innings out of the bullpen. Goody logged an eye-popping 16.1 percent swinging-strike rate that season and whiffed nearly a third of the hitters he faced. His slider, in particular, gave opponents fits, as evidenced by a 24.2 percent swinging-strike mark and an awful .147 opponents’ average against the pitch.
An elbow strain caused Goody to miss most of the 2018 season, however, limiting him to 11 2/3 innings of 6.94 ERA ball. He was healthy again for most of the 2019 season and turned out a solid 3.54 ERA with a 50-to-22 K/BB ratio in 40 2/3 innings. Control was an issue for Goody this past season, and his 25.7 percent fly-ball rate was a career-low. But the right-hander’s 92.8 mph average fastball was a career-high, and his slider, which was hammered in 2018, appeared to be back into good form in 2019 (.123 average against; 23.2 percent swinging-strike rate).
If Goody does indeed accept his assignment to the Rangers and go through the arbitration process, he’d be controllable for not only the 2020 season but also the 2021-22 seasons.
Francys01
This is a great move by the Texas Rangers.
Phiilies2020
More like it’s a “good” move!
Goodnight folks
GoAwayRod
Would you say that this move is a goody?
seanm
Bady
GoAwayRod
Claimed off relievers, huh? Is that a new kind of transaction?
boltonbrutality
Claimed off relievers? I think you meant to say waivers.
HalosHeavenJJ
Solid move. Very little cost here and potentially three cost controlled years. I’d be happy if our GM made this type of move.
deweybelongsinthehall
Wonder why he couldn’t have been dealt for international slot money. Seems like his salary was worth the risk. Wish Boston had done this. Not a flashy move but one that could prove valuable as the season unfolds.
Metsfan9
Goody pickup by Rangers
Fire Jon Daniels
Oh goody
nymetsking
I wonder if Rangers fans are saying “Oh Goody!” or “Oh, Goody?”
dynamite drop in monty
He doesn’t drink and he doesn’t smoke.
nymetsking
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
dynamite drop in monty
Lol
canocorn
Norfolk High School cheerleaders chant:
We don’t smoke
We don’t drink
Norfolk!
Norfolk!
bobtillman
Kind of a Two-Shoe guy…..
Relievers are relievers….do a lot of advanced analytics, or flip a coin; gets you the same predictability…. seems like a decent pick-up for 1M
nentwigs
Player is a bit of a flake??
AKA as NUT GOODY (Mfg by Pearson’s Candy, St Paul, MN)
clepto
if you had to explain it, it meant it sucked.
bosox90
Also known as as Nut Goody?
Tha Dilla
Could help cure the headache the Rangers have had the last couple of seasons.
Jeff Zanghi
I think this a solid pickup by the Rangers. The real question is why the Indians waived him in the first place… I mean $1.1M for a RP who had a 3.50 ERA and a really solid K/9 seems like a questionable move. I get that he has his faults (control, fly-ball prone, etc – and also got completely lit up in AAA prior to coming back to the majors) but still he seems like the kind of guy youd want to keep with his ceiling being a shut-down reliever and the risk/cost just being the $1M (only partially guaranteed) through arbitration. Idk maybe they saw something more they didn’t like last season but just from a purely statistical standpoint seems odd.
depressedtribefan
I’m wondering the same thing…I just don’t get it. He’s a good bullpen piece for cheap
indiansfan44
Best guess is he was out of options and the Indians have a habit of shuffling relievers between Columbus and Cleveland and wanted to keep the other relievers with options. Still think there were other players that should have been let go instead.
Col_chestbridge
If it was just options Hunter Wood would have been chosen. So either they’re cheap or they see something on advanced stats that makes them value Hunter Wood more.
Also him getting lit up in AAA was likely to go with him recovering from injury. Most of his bad outings there were in the first month or so.
MadThinker
Yes Goody was out of options & he was very effective in the bullpen pre-injury in 2017.
That said, take a good look at his monthly performance in 2019.
baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=goody…
Goody was very good in July but so-so to poor in June/ August/ Sept-Oct.
I wish him the best moving forward, but I have to wonder if he was fully healthy at the end of the season.
On top of that the Tribe has a number of young relief options in the upper minors at the moment..
sufferforsnakes
Tribe has an abundance of starters if Kluber and Cookie come back strong, so maybe one of the surprise guys from last season slips into a bullpen role?
They would be a better option than Goody.
txrangers13
Spectacular low cost move. How did this guy slip through through the cracks?!?!
Finlander
I’d check that elbow asap to ensure it is right, the increased walk rate is a bit suspicious. But the whiffs, slider action and improved fastball are encouraging. And he is 28, with 3 years of control if he reports. Looks like a nice value move.
charlesk
Shocked that Atkins didn’t sign him. He collects former Indians and I’m sure he was salivating over those 2017 numbers for Goody. There’s always Danny Salazar and Brady Aiken, still. He’s too cheap to get Pomeranz though.
siddfinch1079
Now that trade talk with the Yankees to get Andujar is making more sense!
dynamite drop in monty
Funky butt lovin!
Rangers29
I remember last year, the rangers were playing the Indians, and goody was regarded as their best reliever over the past couple months. I Loved to see this move happen, and now our bullpen is… underrated. Leclerc, Goody, Clase, Montero, B. Martin and imagine if we didn’t get rid of Claudio and Kela… (BTW I know we got rid of C. Martin, but we got Kolby Allard, so I’m fine with that trade, but you could include him.)
Mrtwotone
I’m still pissed they gave up Allard. Dude was like 21 and once was a well regarded prospect. I know he isn’t a high velocity guy but I could easily see him being a #5 or #4 starter. He is young enough to even develop more. Also he’s a lefty. I see him as the rangers #5 starter with an ERA of around 4.5 who will give you some quality innings.
Rangers29
I hear you, i was hoping the rangers would sign back C. martin just to rub it in the braves face… no offense, but I can see him as the rangers 5 starter eespecially if we sign one of the ryu, wheeler, bumgarner.
gv84
When Yanks let go of Goody, seemed like a great pickup on paper for the Tribe. Had a great season to back it up. This seems like another one of those moves that we can’t be patient with. Some of the talent we’ve let slip by in the last 2-3 years is kind of questioning. At the same time, I can understand.