Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Yankees announced Monday that right-hander Ryan Weber rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, instead electing free agency.
This marks the fourth time the Yankees have designated Weber for assignment and passed him through outright waivers since June. On each occasion, Weber has rejected the outright assignment, renegotiated a new minor league contract and returned to the organization in a matter of days. It seems eminently plausible that’ll happen yet again; Weber and the Yankees have clearly been comfortable with this arrangement all season, and at this juncture of the schedule, it seems unlikely that he’d jump to a new organization for the final couple weeks of the 2022 campaign. Re-signing would perhaps position him for one more run before the end of the season, should the Yanks yet again need to tap into their Scranton depth.
We’ve seen plenty of veterans ride this DFA carousel and routinely return to the same club, though rarely has it been so extreme. (The most recent similar case, oddly, is another Yankees scenario — with righty David Hale back in 2018.) It’s an atypical relationship, to say the least, but it’s also one that has paid dividends. Weber has given the Yankees 10 2/3 innings spread over five games this season and allowed just one run, striking out three and issuing one walk along the way. He’s also been sharp in Triple-A, logging 39 2/3 frames of 3.86 ERA ball with a 27-to-5 K/BB ratio.
Weber’s several stints with the Yankees this year have pushed him north of three years of MLB service time, so if he’s re-selected to the 40-man roster at any point between now and season’s end, he’d technically be controllable via arbitration. That said, given the frequency of this summer’s DFAs and outrights, it’s likely he’d be removed from the 40-man again following the season. Weber now carries a 5.02 ERA, 14.6% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 53.2% ground-ball rate in 177 2/3 Major League innings split between six teams over an eight-year span.
What is the benefit to Ryan Weber for him to elect free agency only to sign a minor league deal? Why not just accept the outright assignment if he is going to stay in their system? Does he get more money by electing free agency vs accepting an outright assignment? Also if the Yankees expect him to elect free agency, why not just put him on release waivers?
If he accepts the outright he can’t sign a major league contract with another team. Apparently no other team offered him a major league deal and he knows he likely will be up in the majors again with the Yankees he just resigns.
I’d still be curious to see who’s coming out on top financially with these deals. Curious if webers team has been able to renegotiate slightly better deals, same deals, or slightly worse each time lol
I don’t know how minor league contracts work but I strongly doubt Weber is losing money every time he opts for free agency, otherwise he would just accept outright assignment or switch teams.
I may be wrong, but I’ll assume every time he opts for free agency he can re-sign with some type of signing bonus.
Maybe he’s increasing his salary very slightly each time, but I doubt he’s agreeing to return for a pay cut. The way he’s doing it means he can see if there’s a team who will put him on the MLB roster so he can get a MLB salary and, most importantly, service time. If not, back to AAA with the Yankees. At this time of year, I don’t think another MLB team will claim him and roster him. We’ve seen a couple better arms cut this month and they’ve yet to land.
The signing bonus angle never occurred to me. You could be spot on. Kudos to you!
Never thought of there being a professional Signing Bonus executive.
Haha. Love it!
Well the Giants did just claim Cotton from the Twins so it’s not out of the question that a team could sign Weber.
I was wondering if it’s so he can renegotiate a opt out / call up date each time he re-signed
The thing is, he knows no other team is going to sign him to a major league contract because he keeps going unclaimed on waivers. No other team wants to devote an active roster spot to him (he is out of options). So you would think he would only elect free agency if he intends to leave the Yankees organization in pursuit of another minor league deal in an organization that him or his agent perceives as having less depth and a more likely major league opportunity. Maybe he is actually making more money this way than an outright assignment, but it raises the question of why any player ever accepts an outright assignment (of those that have the right to decline it and instead elect free agency).
Some teams can have handshake agreements with guys in Weber’s situation. If we DFA you and you go unclaimed, we’ll promise to sign you back again to a MiLB deal. In the meantime, you can keep working out with our staff and use our facilities. That seems to provide some certainty for a fringe player without constantly relocating.
That would make a lot of sense, and that also makes me wonder if he is even reporting to Scranton or if he just stays on the Yankees taxi squad and uses their major league facilities. I also wonder the legality of that “handshake agreement” within the CBA..
I have no idea what the CBA says to that regard. Brett Gardner’s last major league deal had a similiar arrangement. He signed a two-year deal to help the Yankees keep his AAV lower for purposes of their total payroll. Everyone knew it was foregone conclusion he would opt-out of the second year.
The other issue is that if someone signs him now, he is not eligible for postseason play. If the Yankees re-sign him, he is, because he was with them when the month started…
Good point!
In case some other team want to put him in their playoff roster. It would be a lot more than 1 week of minor league pay…..not likely, but it is possible.
Don’t think he’s eligible to be on another teams playoff roster. The old rule stated you must be with a team before Sept 1st to be playoff eligible. I assume that hasn’t changed.
True, I was just brainstorming,… there is only about ten games left in the AAA season. The remaining pay would not be very much.
He’s neither the first nor the last person to elect an uncertain future over taking up residence in Scranton.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: two MLBTR writers walk into a bar with a giraffe and…oops, wrong site.
I o7 Sir Weber
It’s a shame that the Yankees undervalue Weber.
He has been effective when called upon in ’22.
Well 29 other teams have also “undervalued” Weber three times all season.
The Yankees have clearly valued him properly. There’s a place for pitchers like Weber, and it is the AAA shuttle.
More like free agency elects Ryan Weber
Untrade Montas and Bader, get Montegomery and Sears back.
If only we could… but honestly, if Bader means the beginning of the end for Hicks, it may actually be worth it (and I can’t believe I’m saying that).
I’ve been a Hicks apologist for a while but his latest statements during a pennant race is the final straw for me. I’d be shocked if he was still on the team next year.