The Dodgers announced a trio of roster moves, with Andy Burns joining the active roster after the infielder’s contract was selected from Triple-A. Right-hander Dennis Santana was designated for assignment to open up a spot for Burns on the 40-man roster, and right-hander Mitch White was optioned to Triple-A.
Burns’ big league resume consists of 10 games with the Blue Jays back in 2016. Since being drafted as an 11th-round pick in 2011, Burns’ pro career has been mostly spent in Toronto’s farm system, but he also spent parts of three seasons playing overseas in South Korea and Australia. After signing a minor league deal with Los Angeles last winter, Burns has been ripping up Triple-A pitching, with a .330/.427/.598 slash line over 117 plate appearances with Oklahoma City.
As is typical with most Dodgers players, Burns offers defensive versatility. The 30-year-old has mostly played second and third base over his career, but also has quite a bit of experience at shortstop, first base, left field, and a handful of games as a right fielder. Burns joins Zach McKinstry and Matt Beaty as L.A. bench options who can handle multiple positions, while Albert Pujols remains limited to first base and pinch-hit duties.
Santana has appeared in each of the last four seasons for the Dodgers, totaling a 6.42 ERA and 18.7% strikeout rate over 40 2/3 Major League innings. Control has increasingly emerged as a problem for Santana, with inflated walk totals at both the MLB and Triple-A levels in 2019 and 2021 — this season, the righty has 11 walks against only eight strikeouts.
is there a reason why bWAR despises White so much?
I was thinking the same thing. Good bottom line ERA and only a high three FIP. Doesn’t allow a ton of homers, with a pedestrian strikeout rate. Only real issue is a lot of walks but a guy hasn’t pitched awful but somehow has a -0.8 WAR???
Last I checked on it, bWAR weighs defense more than fWAR. So, pitchers-especially relief arms-generate lower values in WAR where defense isn’t considered as much.
Unearned runs allowed.
wow, that is a lot of UER
And why war for relievers is dumb and useless
There was a game against the Angels where he was on the mound for six unearned runs.
Bwar is based on RA, White has 8 unearned runs allowed to 5 ER allowed.
On the one hand, Santana is only 25 and already has a lot of experience. On the other hand, he’s been getting beaten like a drum both in the majors and in AAA for a couple of years now. Dodger fans: can you see teams making a claim on Santana?
Atlanta? they’ve grabbed more than a few arms on waivers recently.
I was wondering if the Pirates might take a stab at him but their bullpen has actually not been bad overall, so maybe not.
He needs a chance to pitch regularly. Perhaps not a starter, but worth a look by someone. Good movement on his pitches. He needs to trust his stuff and throw strikes, which is the case with so many of these guys.
If he’s claimed, someone’s bullpen is being decimated by injuries atm. His innings are just not comfortable. He works himself into trouble seemingly every outing. Many times not finishing the inning
I think he was a starter in the minors, so I guess someone could think there’s a chance he needs to go back to more consistent used to reach his potential . But he’s never earned that in LA
Blue Jays need an arm.
Back in the day Angels would grab every washed up has been star on their way to retirement. Especially if they were just on the Dodgers. Maybe they start grabbing the kids who need the good Ole change of scenery.
Santana is a mystery. Not sure why he ever got so much play to begin with. Never really performed well but nice numbers coming up in milb.
Rangers should go after Santana, I thought he was a lot better than he actually was.
Welcome to MLBTR, Yogi!
“And then they paid me in cash, which is even better than money!”
So he’s not good, but they should go after him?
With Josh Sbortz already there, the Rangers can become the Dodgers project home.
They snagged Bret degeus in the rule 5 draft too
I have a feeling the giants are gonna pick up Santana. He’s the type of player they pick up
Thinking the same thing. Then the Dodgers beat him to clinch NL West.
Good for Andy! Man, Rangel Ravelo has been crushing it here in OKC this year. Surprised they aren’t giving him Pujols’ at bats.
Pujols is doing the job. In 60 plate appearances, he has two doubles, five homers, 13 RBI and is .317/.571/.888.
And proving every Angel fan wrong, he’s been a fantastic clubhouse guy
He seems to be enjoying himself. I don’t know if it’s related, but he and Muncy are often shown chatting in the dugout. When Pujols arrived, Muncy had slumped down to .212. A while later, Muncy actually hit a few balls the other way and up-the-middle and was on a hot streak. The Dodgers have benefitted from these older perspectives in recent years. Utley, Freese, Pujols.
Not just every Angels fan. As a Giants fan I thought someone might pick him up for promotional reasons. I was totally surprised when it was the Dodgers.
Clearly, it was not merely for the purpose of promotion. They don’t need that. They saw that he still had something to offer.
If it hadn’t been for a great Tauchman catch, robbing him, he’d have one more HR on the total. I have no problem admitting I was wrong. And, just as clearly, Friedman is a whole heck of a lot smarter than I am.
Yeah not quite. Try .268/.317/.571. Obviously you were off a column. Still, more than I expected.
His OPS is .888, which is outstanding. There is no reason the Dodgers would want to replace that.
Cey Hey:
Yeah an .888 OPS is very good, but what you wrote is usually BA/OBP/SLG, which implied .888 was his SLG. Babe Ruth has the highest career SLG and it’s .690. For a guy to have an .888 SLG he would have to average better than 21 TB every 6 games. That would be something like 5 HRs and a single, 7 triples, 10 doubles and a single, or 21 singles, every 6 games.
Also, Ted Williams has the highest career OBP at .482.
Okay, although anyone who understands baseball math would know what I meant. Looking back at your previous post, I was as surprised as anyone by the Pujols signing. The Dodgers must have figured proper rest would be the answer. Bellinger and Muncy out tonight, but the bench looks a whole lot better than a month ago.
Re Ted’s OBP: I once heard Mad Dog Russo argue that he was overrated as a hitter because he walked too much. “I think it was one of the last times I listened to sportstalk radio.
Proper rest, but really, motivation and playing to win has to be a factor. Let’s be honest. Albert went from a perennial title contender to playing in 1 playoff series over the last 9 years of his career. Playing for something imo has done just as much if not more for Albert than the extra down time
Happy for Burns, hope he takes this chance and runs with it. Always routed for him to get a shot with the Jays especially in the lean years after 16.
He wasn’t good enough for AAA back in 2016 let alone the majors. He didn’t earned the shot.
Santana would be a good “little risk, possible rewards” move for many teams, but the Angels seem like a perfect landing spot for him.
Pirates should pick him up. Considering this season is lost, might be a good guy to work with for the future.
Surprised Santana got outrighted, he won’t last long No doubt …wish it was White, who Ive been down on for a long time.
White’s fastball is too flat, he pitches scared, can’t pitch from behind in the count ,and folds like a lawn-chair anytime he faces adversity. What’s Carrillo up to these days? Like him twice as much as both guys combined.
Dodgers arms thinning out slowly down below. I’m ready for Miller time come Sept, Big Boy, bodies MLB ready, mind is his best tool supposedly – Why Not?