The Yankees announced that outfielder Taylor Trammell has been sent outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on the weekend.
Trammell, now 26, was once a highly-touted prospect. He was selected 35th overall by the Reds in 2016 and cracked Baseball America’s top 100 list in three straight years from 2018 to 2020. He was traded to the Padres in the 2019 deal that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Yasiel Puig to Cleveland, then was flipped to the Mariners in the 2020 deal that also sent Ty France and Andrés Muñoz to Seattle.
Along the way, Trammell has continued to perform well in the minors but has struggled whenever given opportunities in the big leagues. He has 359 major league plate appearances over the four most recent seasons, but has hit just .167/.270/.363 in that time. His 11.1% walk rate in that stretch is quite strong, but he’s also been punched out at a huge 37% clip.
Since the start of 2021, he stepped to the plate 812 times at the Triple-A level, with a 14% walk rate and 24% strikeout rate. He hit 38 home runs and produced a combined batting line of .274/.381/.506 for a wRC+ of 116.
He exhausted his three option years from 2021 to 2023 as he struggled in the majors, continually getting sent back down to the minors. That left him out of options here in 2024, but the past prospect pedigree and strong minor league numbers still led to interest from other clubs.
The Mariners designated him for assignment on Opening Day, with the Dodgers claiming him off waivers. He received only six plate appearances in two weeks with the Dodgers before getting designated for assignment again. The Yankees put in a claim but didn’t give him playing time either. He got into five games but mostly as a late-game substitute, getting just two plate appearances in over two weeks in pinstripes before his third DFA of the year.
Now that Trammell has finally cleared waivers, he will reported to the RailRiders and look to work his way back to the majors. This is his first career outright and he doesn’t have three years of service time, meaning he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency.
Yeah. Supposedly he was the center fielder of the future for the Padres. They got rid of him quickly. Is he uncoachable? Can’t hit off speed? Humm…
MLB is hard.
H was also the Reds cf of the future..maybe they will claim him and he will be again.
A guy who was DFAed a few times…prime Reds material under the current administration.
He never looked like a good defender in seattle.
I’m surprised more teams weren’t interested. 359 at-bats over 4 seasons is not a lot of opportunity.
Might be that .167 BA, .270 OBP, and nearly 40% SO rate.
Dang Mariners could really use his bat now.
I know a fairly recent Cy Young winner with a 1.96 ERA in Mexico so far this year who they can sign right now for the league minimum…
AAAA like Trammell.
AAAA players don’t win Cy Young awards.
So did Bieber. He’ll win the Fernando Valenzeula award in Mexico if he stays there, a nice companion piece to the COVID Cy Young.
@Bucket Number Six Your comments never make any sense dude!
In other words you’re suggesting MLB expand active team rosters to 50 players so all the guys no team is willing to sign, such as everyone in the Mexican league, might get picked up?
He is pretty well travelled but can’t stick in the majors. Another top prospect that didn’t pan out.
NPB might be a good opportunity for Trammell after this season
I agree I think it would be great for him.
Dominguez right around the corner baby
Right on! I’m glad he didn’t get claimed!