The Marlins announced on Thursday that they’ve designated right-hander Jordan Yamamoto for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Anthony Bass, whose previously reported two-year deal is now official.
Yamamoto, 24, was one of four players the Fish received from the Brewers in their ill-fated Christian Yelich swap. He debuted with Miami in 2019 and found some success, starting 15 games and working to a 4.46 ERA in 78 2/3 innings. Yamamoto punched out a quarter of the batters he faced but also struggled with control, issuing free passes at an 11 percent clip. The 2020 season, however, was a different story entirely. The right-hander was absolutely tattooed in 11 1/3 frames, yielding 23 earned runs on 27 hits and seven walks. Even more alarming was that eight of those hits cleared the fences for home runs.
Notably, Yamamoto’s 2019 season ended with an IL placement due to a forearm strain. In 2020, his already modest 91.5 mph average fastball dropped to just 89.8 mph. He didn’t spend any time on the injured list in 2020, but it’s certainly plausible that there were physical reasons for his drop in velocity and his abrupt downturn in production.
Yamamoto has never been considered a high-end prospect, but he’s had success in the upper minors and in the big leagues despite being more than three months from turning 25 years of age. He also has above-average spin on his four-seamer and curveball in addition to still possessing a minor league option. All of that could make him appealing to another club via waivers or a minor trade. Miami will have a week to trade Yamamoto, place him on outright waivers or release him.
He should be looking at apartments in Pittsburgh immediately.
Baltimore. should be Pittsburgh but they’ve already let lots of young SP talent slip past them in the past year so clearly they don’t care.
O’s be perfect, for O’s but not for him. Best offensive division in BB hands down.
every division in baseball has good offenses
Ever division has some good offenses but the AL East also features tiny ballparks. That’s a bad combination.
none compare to the East not to mention great offensive ball parks.
Ever heard of the NL East much better lineups
if he were to go to Zona or SF id also be affaid of LAD, SD, and simply throwing in COL, good lineup or not.
NL Central not so much
you forget rays
We have a handful of arms that are gunning for a rotation spot in Cody Ponce, J.T. Brubaker, Wil Crowe, Chad Kuhl and Jose Soriano. However they have let some arms slip through but that was before both Taillon and Musgrove were traded.
It seems if the Pirates are competing for relegation to the International League. Indianapolis Indians will have a better record in the NL.
I was going to say he’s getting claimed by Pittsburgh.
Funny
Even with Yelich’s down year in 2020 his still did far better than any prospects he was traded for 2 years prior. I think it’s safe to say Milwaukee won this trade.
He will prefer to live in Baltimore; rent is way cheaper there.
I’d like to see the Pirates take a chance on Jordan Yamamoto. He’s still got time to figure things out. He’s under team control for a handful of years. Definitely worth a waiver claim.
DD go get that SP depth
I wouldn’t mind if DD signed him to a minors deal. But is he hurt though?
i wouldnt know, but if he’s hurt then ya just put him on the 60 during the season. I’d say its a good use of a roster spot right now anyway. Quezada and probably Irvin should clear.
He won’t be available on a minor league deal. He’ll either get traded, claimed on waivers or clear waivers. The first two would mean he’s still on the 40-man, the third would mean he remains with the Marlins but is no longer on the 40-man.
The only way he’d be available were if he were straight released, but there’s no real reason for Miami to do that right now.
Thanks for sorting out the crazy MLB DFA rules Steve.
Considering his initial success in the majors, the minor league option he has left, his youth, and the Cubs need for starting pitchers, I would be very surprised if the Cubs didn’t target this guy.
one may note he hasnt played in AAA yet. he posted a pWAR near 1.0 in half a season of work as a rookie without said AAA experience.
Watching him early in 2019, his stuff looked pretty nasty too (especially early in the season). Not a huge velocity guy by any means, but good movement on his pitches. I’m cherry picking here, but he gave up just 4 earned runs in his first 29 innings (5 starts) with 30 strikeouts and just 11 hits (the 15 walks isn’t ideal, however).
The Cubs certainly need another guy that throws 86 rounding out that rotation.
A rotation of 3-4 guys throwing under 90 on average would be a heck of a lot of fun to watch, even if 2021 ends up a throwaway season.
I dont want this to sound as if I’m not concerned about the cubs rotation and overall state of the, because I am. but velocity is overrated.
Gets claimed by TB, wins 20 games, ERA under 2.5…
I’m all for that Rays magic
WTF? I loved Yamamoto, I wonder why he was DFAd? Please Rangers, go get him.
Bc he was constantly out of shape and throwing mocos for the past year and a half and got leapfrogged by the army of the very talented SP’s the Marlins have in their farm, Big league ball club.
Feel like he’s definitely going to be claimed
if he isnt then that probably says something about his health (same as how Arano got all the way to Atlanta)
Hopefully by DET, then they can drop Miami ex Urena.. because, anyone in rebuild status (well, besides Big Al) would take Yama and his league min, over Urena and his $3.25m any day..
This has Reds written all over it. But Yama is probably 20X better than the Perez’es and therefore, we won’t want him
seemingly perplexing DFA, low risk no cost young guy, visible upside left, forearm strain, decreased velocity. This has “major surgery imminent” written all over it.
they would have to expect he’s gone unless he’s completely cooked. some club will be willing to hold him until the 60 Day opens up.
As perplexing, teams are jumping to pay for injured guys in hopes they return next year
Every team should be interested in a minors deal. We just need depth more than others.
So go get him.
injury prone pitcher and the Angels – a match made in Heaven
He’s not going to make it to a minors deal. The Marlins will keep him if he clears waivers. I highly doubt they’d outright release him. If someone wants to take a gamble on a 40 man slot—they can do that. Likely will happen unless there’s some serious injury that caused the velo drop.
True. Forgot about that. Still, claim him. Angels aren’t bumping anyone notable off the 40 man. Actually think we still have a spot or two open.
They might be trying to squeeze him through dfa , signing should start coming pretty regular now until the start of spring training so teams may pass with having to keep 40 man roster spot starting to be a premium.
I hope Mike Elias is already on the phone.
I would imagine quite a few of the teams will be looking to claim this guy, wouldn’t mind at all if he ended up on the Cardinals. Seems like a guy who just needs the right development to be a very successful ML pitcher.
Yeah. Can’t see him not getting claimed. Too many teams have those open what if slots on the 40 man not to claim him. Maybe in a normal spending year he would clear waivers.
That not the Cardinals, they ruin more pitchers than they help.
it was once Matheney, but now that he’s gone there is no one specific to blame.
Not starting pitchers. Their starters have always outperformed projections. Matheny ruined bullpen arms, but Schildt is better at managing workloads so that shouldn’t be an issue moving forward
Another dart on the board -Let’s go DD
Chaim if you’re here, bring him to Boston.
Yes let’s hope so
nah they are more interested in blocking their prospects with the likes of Perez
Welcome to SF
Pirates are practically holding open auditions for the starting rotation at this point so if they think Yamamoto is healthy I wouldn’t be surprised if they grab him.
That 12 earned runs in 2 2/3 vs. ATL really messed up his stats. He wasn’t great in his first three games, but definitely not 18.26 ERA type of bad.
Yeah, Mattingly hung him out to dry in that game. A season-high 94 pitches for a guy who hadn’t pitched in three weeks.
i mean regardless his sample size on the whole year was small. Its a red flag to be sure, but I wouldnt consider it who he is.
Someone will claim him. The Marlins DFA’d most likely based on his final appearance last season when he went out in mop-up duty and got pounded by the Braves in that 29-9 Falcons/Dolphins game. Most teams will probably view that game as an outlier and take an easy flyer on a young Pitcher they can stash away for depth
They based it on that performance and the previous ones for the past almost 2 years.
Each performance resulted in the same outcome…he got hit hard af each time
That’s a surprising move to just designate him considering his youth and small sample size.
Cubs, possibly.
Yes the Brewers will gladly claim you for pitching depth then when you get called up that can be just a little more salt in the wound. Why not Jeremy Jeffress( who the Brewers should resign again ) and Lorenzo Cain came back too.
What are the Marlins doing? That’s around 6 starting pitchers that they’ve traded away since the 19′ Trade Deadline. Why can’t a rebuilding team like them use all their young pitching by letting them start even if they had to do a 7 or 8 man rotation. Might as well see how they perform at the MLB level.
Bc they have at least 17-18 better SP’s than Yams.
If someone wants to pick him up or trade for him, he’s available. He’ll go back to the Marlins AAA and hopefully can get his game back
Angels
He’s a Jeremy Hellickson type.
Im still pissed at Donny Baseball for leaving him in that Braves game. My guy threw 100 pitches in 2 innings and allowed 10+ runs. Not only an injury risk but completely ruined the guys morale. That’s not what you would do to Sixto, so why do it to another young pitcher?
I was always a Mattingly defender when he managed the Dodgers, but that was a terrible decision. Give the Marlins credit, though. They then played that weird seven-game series with the Phillies and won five of them. That pretty much wrecked the Phillies’ season.
Oh yes indeed. That was very fun week. Not that I dislike to Realmuto or Harper, but being a Marlins fan, it was nice taking down what was supposed to be a for sure playoff team.
Thanks to Jordan, the Marlins left Atlanta with a series win and a bullpen ready to face the Phillies. Probably his most important contribution to the Marlins in his career.
Hopefully, this season, in the Marlins AAA he can get properly fit and learn how to make his 5 pitch mix work for him without relying on a hittable 4 seamer.
Not a sure thing that he’s gone, unless traded, claimed or released. It’d be surprise if the Marlins released him.
As for the why…he has shown a difficulty with self-motivation when it comes to conditioning. This may be a wake-up call to him to start some self-discipline.
A claim is highly likely. Even if it’s to just sneak through waivers for the claiming team. He has enough upside for that.
Here’s Yamamoto’s 2019 stats in his 5 best games:
31.2 IP
2 ER
12 H
11 BB
38 K
His other 10 starts (not so good)
47 IP
37 ER
42 H
25 BB
44 K
He’ll be 25 in May, I wouldn’t mind the Phillies claiming him and throwing him in the mix for the 5th starter job.
Mariners bullpen middle relief
Guy needs get in shape. He could probably get back to throwing around 93 consistently. Then he needs to focus on his best pitches. When he first came up aside from the 4 seamer everyone has he had 2 seam and cutter. A slider and a curve ball and a change up (and a sort of split changeup I believe too). It led to him constantly throwing a straight 4 seamer middle in or middle out that guy’s just crushed.
I’m sure someone could get him in shape and have him concentrate on 3 pitches alone. I just don’t know if it will be for us since we have so many young talented arms there waiting for a moment. I rather see Neidert finlt get his chance. Then maybe Cabrera mid season and at the end give Meyer a cup of coffee. Rotate Sixto, Rogers, and Garret to keep them fresh. Let Alcantara and Lopez be the two locks that stick through the whole year. We still have Castano (who showed signs of life) and Eliser who was great (though yeah short sample size).
So I really have no idea how Yams fits in.
I think Neidert looked good in the pen. I think Elieser and Castano definitely should get the #4 and #5 spot. I simply want Neidert in the pen cause I want him to make the big league club.
You mention Yamamotos shape, is that a legit concern? Cause I haven’t heard of that. I mean sure he doesnt look like he’s a Jake Arriera, but he’s in better shape than Sixto.. is his work ethic what’s in question?
I had heard some conditioning concerns at some point and then when this news broke people who know that follow the team like crazy were mentioning it. We could all be wrong. It seemed like it was about gaining a little weight but mainly conditioning his arm.
I still would like to give Neidert a real chance at starting. He looked like a genius pickup from Seattle. He has some fantastic minor league seasons under his belt. Then he came here and bounced between the pen ans the rotation. Sometimes that doesn’t work for players and he could be one of them. He could be a solid #4/5.
Castano looked like he had no chance for a moment. But then over the season his numbers really evened out. As Rogers clearly needs more time and I want Garret to build up arm strength (he used to sit 93 consistently with up to 95-96 last season be peaked at 91). So Castano could be that lefty to start the season .
Mattingly has a major BLANK for Elieser. He’s already gone on to say he has a spot in the rotation locked up (he wouldn’t even say that for Sixto). And I’m ok with that if he builds off what he did in his brief time in 2020. I don’t want Sixto throwing 200 innings unless we somehow make the playoffs.
So for sure to start the season I would do Alcantara, Lopez, Elieser, Castano, and Sixto. If anyone falters you give Neidert his chance. I would give Sixto a break at some point and bring in Cabrera or have them both there If anyone else needs some time below… Also kind of swap out Garret and Rogers. Keep everyone fresh but getting experience. And for sure no matter what let Max Meyer come up in September (or whatever they are doing ag the end of the season) and see what he can do. Scouts said his slider could already get outs in the majors. He averages 98 on the gun. He can be something special there too.
If we make the playoffs, Cabrera, Rogers, and Meyer would be dangerous out of the pen
Not surprised. He’s healthy, he just sucks. Watching him pitch this past season was terrible. He might have the worst “stuff” I’ve ever seen on an MLB mound. I remember he was throwing breaking stuff last year at knuckleball speed and it wasn’t breaking at all. Absolutely brutal.
he had some good games in 2019. With the demand for SP right now I doubt the Marlins give him away for free. Someone probably has to offer something that doesnt require a 40 man spot.