The Rays announced that they have signed outfielder Roman Quinn to a major league contract. Outfielder Harold Ramirez, who broke his thumb prior to the All-Star break, has been placed on the 10-day injured list to open a spot on the active roster. To create room for Quinn on the 40-man roster, right-hander Cristofer Ogando was designated for assignment. Additionally, righty Cooper Criswell, who was designated for assignment two days ago, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Durham.
Quinn, 29, has spent the bulk of his career with the Phillies, having once been a very promising prospect for them. He cracked Baseball America’s list of top 100 prospects back in 2013. However, he’s been held back by injuries since then. He’s appeared in six different MLB campaigns but has appeared in only 201 total games, never topping 50 in any individual season. Whether it’s due to injuries or not, Quinn’s never really gotten into a groove at the plate, at least at the major league level. Across his time in the bigs, he’s hit .223/.300/.343, production that’s 26% below league average, according to wRC+. He has been valuable elsewhere, however, racking up 43 steals and providing quality defensive work.
This year, Quinn signed a minors deal with the Marlins but was let go and went back to the Phillies. He was put into 23 games but got just 40 plate appearances before being designated for assignment. He then signed a minors deal with the Royals and played well in Triple-A. It was a small sample of seven games with the Omaha Storm Chasers, but Quinn hit .250/.406/.500 for a wRC+ of 142. He was recently released and now has a new opportunity with the Rays, who will coincidentally be starting a series in Kansas City tomorrow night.
The Rays have seen their outfield depth tested this year, particularly in center. Manuel Margot has been out since mid-May with a “significant patellar tendon strain.” Though he could be an option later in the year, he’s still expected to be sidelined for some time. Kevin Kiermaier is also on the injured list, with a hip injury that has the potential to be season-ending. With those players both out of action, the Rays have been using Brett Phillips and rookie Josh Lowe in center. Phillips has always been a glove-first player but isn’t even living up to his own standards with the bat this year. His .147/.219/.259 slash line adds up to a 42 wRC+, barely half of his career rate of 74 wRC+. Lowe is expected to provide more offense at some point but hasn’t hit the ground running in his first taste of the majors. His slash line of .199/.258/.338 adds up to a 72 wRC+.
Quinn hasn’t been a lightning rod with the bat himself, but he is a switch-hitter. With Phillips and Lowe both hitting from the left side, he at least provides the Rays with the opportunity to try out a platoon in center. Even if he doesn’t suddenly break out at the plate, he should at least provide some competent defense and a burst of speed.
As for Ogando, 28, he was just selected to the club’s roster at the start of July, only making a single appearance of two innings before getting optioned back to the minors. In 36 2/3 innings for the Bulls this year, he has a 3.68 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 35.5% walk rate. The Rays will have one week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him.
Criswell, 25, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels last week. The righty made a very brief MLB debut last year, logging 1 1/3 innings for the Angels. The rest of the year was spent in Triple-A, where he threw 47 innings with a 6.51 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 41.8% ground ball rate. He landed on the 60-day IL at the start of this year and recently began a rehab assignment, throwing 18 innings in the minors before the Rays nabbed him on waivers. He’ll stick in the organization without occupying a roster spot.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links 1, 2 and 3) and team broadcaster Neil Solondz (Twitter links) relayed the details of these transactions prior to the official announcement from the team.
Surprised it would be a major league deal.
I’m just curious – why do you have such a stupid username “doesn’t like the Cubs”? There are lots of teams I don’t like but I wouldn’t use it as my handle.
Thank you for giving feedback on how you would create a username, I value your opinion!
Rays need Outfielders. Probably won’t stick but with Tampa you never know
Here’s what scares me; If the Rays like him enough to give him a Major League contract, keeping in mind it’s the Rays, they must see something everyone else doesn’t.
Exactly right!
He was playing/hitting well in AAA for the Royals and he plays center so worth a shot.
He played in 7 games with Omaha how is that playing well?
Well, so far in this game(7/23) he’s broken up a no hitter and then hit a 2 run triple to tie the game off of a nasty reliever that made Arozarena look stupid.
Another under-the-radar move that’s actively paying dividends.
???
Did everyone in all the front offices not pay their phone bill or something? The trade deadline is under two weeks away and NOTHING has happened somehow, it’s getting embarrassing.
One aspect of the extra Wild Card is that the trade deadlines are going to be a bit more dull because hardly anyone is out of the hunt.
Thanks to expanded Wild Card teams, we’ll get even less deals because so many teams are still contending. Just another way the game has been watered down.
“Embarrassing” lol
12 days to go
Yes, the Rays have made some good pickups in the past; no, they have not all panned out. This is a cheap move by a cheap FO that I sometimes wonder about how bad they want to win…Ogando showed some stuff, so he is dfa’d? Yu Chang is on the roster? Aranda is still down, even though he absolutely raked? Injuries have hurt, and many of the hotshot prospects have fizzled. But for goodness sake, get someone who will be worth it. Quinn is going to waste a spot on this roster. Amazingly TB leads the wild card chase…so do something positive.
This is just an L comment, Rays always turn out even when their roster is a bunch of no names. They put guys into successful situations, and while Quinn might not pan out he will be given very opportune chances that swing in his favor.
If the Rays can pick Harold Ramirez off the scrap heap and turn him into a .300+ hitter, I’m 100% positive they can do the same with Roman Quinn
Ramirez also had hit decently in the past. He was always one of those guys who simply could have used more of an opportunity to play.
That’s who they replace their best hitter with? Another center fielder that can’t hit? They need someone who can hit LHP. The cf’s they have active now have about five hits vs. lefties all season.
They are have 2 center fielders who can’t hit. One brings in the lady Rays fans and the other is the clubhouse comedian. Oh yes….he’s great at removing helmets.
Very happy for Roman. He is a battler who has persevered through so many injuries. I hope the rays take him to the next level.
Gee a fast defense first outfielder. We have that,HOW ABOUT SOME OFFENSE!