The Rockies have released right-hander Dinelson Lamet, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment by the club last week.
It’s not a shock to see Lamet end up released, given his performance and contract. Claimed off waivers from the Brewers last year, he and the Rockies agreed to an arbitration salary of $5MM for the 2023 season but he hasn’t been able to come anywhere near justifying that expense. He’s made 16 appearances this year, including four starts, with a massive 11.57 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. His 23.1% strikeout rate is solid but his 16.4% walk rate is almost double the league average rate of 8.7%.
In the Rockies’ defense, they put down that $5MM bet on Lamet hoping for a bounceback. He once looked like a budding ace, posting a 2.09 ERA for the Padres in the shortened 2020 season with a 34.8% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He would have been a bargain if he could have got anywhere near that kind of production. However, he’s been on the decline since then thanks to a combination of injuries and underperformance. He was limited to 47 innings in 2021 with a 4.40 ERA that year. He only logged 32 1/3 frames last year with his ERA jumping to 6.12 before it climbed even higher this year.
The Rockies will remain on the hook for what’s left of Lamet’s salary as he heads to the open market. He’ll be free to sign with any of the 29 other clubs, who would only be responsible for paying the prorated league minimum, which would be subtracted from what the Rockies pay. Lamet’s results have obviously been terrible this year but perhaps there’s some club who sees a way to get the 30-year-old back to the brilliant form he showed just a few years ago.
The organization is completely ass backwards. But this was a good gamble. It’s the rockies so it went horribly wrong. But I don’t blame this on them. Very good turn around candidate. I guess he didn’t
hard to give up on thus guy.
hoping my Buccos give him another shot
This guy was good once. Looks like he went bad on what I call real estate (location). Hopefully he will catch on with someone who will get him turned around.
Flash in the pan. Happens all the time and not tragic or surprising as some would have us believe.
He should have had TJ after 2020, but he went with PRP.
Annnnd Midway with a deeeeep blast… it’s wayyyy outta here… HOME RUN!
Andrew Friedman, line 1
Brewers have to be happy now that another team dumped hi:.
He was part of the Hader trade and this underscores what a train wreck that transaction has been for the Brewers.
Maybe im missing something but i think the Brewers made out ok in the deal and subsequent deal.
Ruiz was a top prospect and is doing especially well on the base paths and is decent enough average that he would be dangerous on another team kinda what billy hamilton was supposed to be if he could get on base and thats not including all the extra years you could have got out of him. But even the trade that netted you Contreras whom many teams would have no problem at all with adding him as their regular catcher. and for a few years at controllable costs. Those are just the headliners in deals from sending Hader out.
You still have a potential backend in Gasser who hasnt gotten to the majors yet (was a top 10 for the Padres and is number 5 for the Brewers), on paper seems like a good reliever in Payamps (personally havent seen him so not sure), and an unknown in Yaeger. Rogers actually did better than Hader rest of the year last year which isnt saying much.
Can you verify that Rogers > Hader ROS claim? I’m not necessarily doubting you, it’s just I feel that Hader did a bona-fide job for the Pads post-Trade…
I’m missing the connection for your comment on Ruiz. While your assessment of his season is accurate, he is in oakland, no?
Never mind – wrong Ruiz that Padres traded recently.
SD moved Esteury Ruiz to the Brewers in the 3-team trade for Hader and the Brew Crew shipped him to Oaktown in another 3-team trade for Contreras. (Hader = Ruiz which in turn = Contreras trade-tree)
@gwynning
Hader’s ERA was higher (7.5 vs 5.5), along with whip (1.6vs 1.2), hits per nine (9.6 vs.8) and strike out per 9 (14 vs 12) were higher for rogers along with total innings pitched (23 vs 16). I think rogers was a full strikeout vs walk point higher. Most metrics outside of HR showed Hader regressed a lot down the stretch. I believe he may have been hurt during the end of last season but honestly too lazy to look up that far down the rabbit hole. This year Hader is on fire no doubt but with what they got from him overall and what he earned this year i would say Brewers definitely made out well.
Thanks! Maybe Hader’s ’23 and Postseason success have skewed my memory and recency bias…
Should have had the “t” removed from his last name three years ago.
Or add an “n” before the “t.”
Steve Blass Disease. Couldn’t find the plate consistently anymore. At least not enough to feel like every strike was a random event.
Still it was worth a gamble in this day of starting pitching at a premium.
A team like KC may take a flier on him… nothing to lose
Mets should make a move and sign him.
In a new development, while passing Lamet in the hallway, Derek Falvey heard him say the words “drive” and “line” and immediately offered him a contract.
He got lucky and was able to string together a few starts in 2020 that made him look better than he is. Look at what it did for Luke Voit. Heck it made Shane Bieber look much better than he is also, and Bieber is still very good. Nothing about the 2020 season should ever count for anything. It would be like judging a player based only on the months of April and May of a season.
The more time passes from that season, the more I look at the stats for players as easily dismissed. Should’ve just cancelled the season but the time they started playing.
I feel the same way now, but in 2020 I really wanted to watch baseball. I was really bored and didn’t understand streaming as well as I do now.
Oh I was desperate, ESPN had the KBO games at the time, I didn’t care that I didn’t know a lot of the players or the weird start times because of the time difference, I was so hungry for baseball.
I never could get into the KBO games. I think the biggest problem was that I didn’t have a rooting interest in either side. It’s kind of like when I watch a Dodgers – Giants game. I hate both teams equally, so for me the game is far less interesting than to someone that prefers one over the other. Consequently I usually skip watching it.
I panned this trade initially but looking back at the results, I don’t think it is as bad as people think.
Estuary Ruiz was essentially flipped for William Contreras and Justin Yeager. Contreras has solidified the Brewers catching which is a thin position throughout the league. While Yeager is probably org filler.
Gassner, the other prospect that came back, is a lefty who has been real solid for AAA. He could be a 4 type which usually turns into a solid 3 with the Brewers’ coaching.
Hader, while great this year, was awful after the trade last year. He will also be a free agent in 2024 and neither of these teams are looking like they’d be able to retain him based on opposite end of the spectrum payroll issues.
And if you’re worried about flipping Ruiz, don’t be. He’s fast, can hit for average and can be solid defensively. But so far the dude legit has zero power. He reminds me of Billy Hamilton.
So the trade was esentially one great year of Hader for 5 years of Contreras and potentially 5-6 years of a solid lefty starter.
If he can hit for average, he ain’t Billy Hamilton. It sounds more like a prototypical leadoff hitter to me. Not every guy on the team needs to hit 20-30 homers. If you have a guy that can consistently get on base in front a guy hitting 20-30 homers, it works the same way.
He has 1 MLB HR so far in 330 ABs. He’s closer to Hamilton than you think. He doesn’t need 20-30 bombs,but managing at least 10 would certainly mean a world of difference.
I wasn’t referring to Hamilton’s power. I was referring to hitting for average. Hamilton hit .239 for his career with an OBP under .300. Ruiz is at .266/.323 so far, Of his 79 hits, 72 are singles, but 39 stolen bases have turned 39 of those singles into doubles. If they factored that into SLG it would jump all the way from .343 to .474.
He needs to do exactly what Hamilton could not do and that is to always hit ground balls. Hamilton hit far too many balls in the air which negated his speed and usually resulted in fly outs.
Not sure it was a good gamble by Rockies to pay him arbitration figure. Not exactly a bad gamble either, just a gamble! Seems like he could have been gotten for much less as a free agent most likely signing minor league deal this spring. Padres gave up on him as did Brewers without letting him throw a pitch. Did he really do that well after joining Rockies late last year that justified keeping him?
Rockies and Brewers probably looked at his 2020 stats and gambled on Lamet being able to replicate some form.
I think he showed enough flashes of brilliance last year that it did justify another shot. It was very similar to Jose Urena. Both pitcher had very good games and also a few clunkers thrown in. The Rockies gambled that the clunkers were the aberration, but have lost both gambles. It happens.
It was a reasonable gamble for the Rockies, as was Urena. They both have good stuff when they can get it over the plate. The Rockies were hoping for a lucky break, which never materialized. Somebody has to throw the ball to stay in the league as a franchise.. And that was before German went down. If you can get it over the plate, there’s a chance the batter will hit it at someone who can field it and get an out.
Seems like a prime candidate for the Rays to snagg for him to toss 50 innings with like a 2.30 ERA.
Guards should have signed him instead of Eikoff. More potential.