After officially announcing the Christian Walker signing earlier today, the Astros have designated infielder Grae Kessinger for assignment to open a spot for Walker on the 40-man roster (per Chandler Rome of The Athletic).
Kessinger, 27, was Houston’s second-round pick in the 2019 draft. The grandson of six-time All-Star Don Kessinger, he showed off excellent bat-to-ball skills in college, hitting .330 with a .904 OPS in his junior year at Ole Miss. However, evaluators had concerns about his ability to keep up against major league pitching. There were also rumblings he wouldn’t be able to stick at shortstop. Indeed, Kessinger struggled at the plate over his first few years in the Astros farm system, and he played all around the infield as the organization looked to maximize his versatility.
After his promotion to Triple-A in 2023, Kessinger seemed to take a step forward at the plate. He improved his walk-to-strikeout ratio and put up an .832 OPS and a 107 wRC+. It was enough to earn him a call-up to the big league club that summer. However, he failed to make an offensive impact at the major league level, going 8-for-40 with 12 strikeouts, good for a .614 OPS and 73 wRC+ in 26 games.
Despite his big league struggles in 2023, Kessinger made the Astros’ Opening Day roster in 2024. Unfortunately, he continued to come up short against MLB pitching. In 25 plate appearances, he didn’t manage a single hit. He walked thrice, reached once on a hit-by-pitch, and struck out seven times. To make matters worse, he regressed at Triple-A as well. His OPS dropped by more than 100 points from the year before, while his wRC+ fell to a well-below-average 83.
Considering all his struggles at the plate, it’s hardly surprising to see Kessinger DFA’d. However, he can still provide value with his versatility – he’s played all four infield positions at the MLB level – and there could certainly be a team that sees enough potential in the former second-round pick to claim him off of waivers. If not, the Astros will have the option to send him outright to the minors and keep him in the organization.
We need to do it with DJ LeMahieu next. Phillies need to do it with Taijuan Walker after Joe Ross signing.
Anything that has the slightest whiff of Cashman admitting error has zero chance of coming to pass in the Bronx. Looks like we’re stuck with his choices of Boone and DJLM- and those are just the worst offenders.
@dank
Please get over yourself. Tired of your constant “Monday morning quarterbacking.” Every GM’s decision can be judged after the fact. DJ was a free agent coming off a fantastic 195 games of .336/.386/.536 with a total of 8 War that ranked 6th behind Trout, Bregman, Bellinger, Rendon, and Betts. He has a positive defensive War playing 3 different infield positions. He was 31 or 32, coming off a strong 2 seasons in a weak mid-inf/3b FA market. He had a bunch of teams going after him. Maybe 5 years would’ve been better than 6, but the aav of $16 mil was justifiable. He used the Yanks greatest advantage, the ability to take financial risks. Sometimes, a reasonable expectation for a slow decline doesn’t happen. He had 2 decent years, albeit a fall-off from the 2 previous but still two decent seasons of 2.5 War each. There the Yanks. They accept those risks because they know they can absorb them if a replacement is worth it. To me, if he can stay healthy, he might redeem himself. He can be a useful utility guy, and if he can hit above a .700 OPS and play even league average defense at 1b, 2b or 3rd, then I’ll take it. But get off of Brian’s cashews. DJ gave him compelling reasons to take the risk
Is it really Monday morning quarterbacking to state that he’s already received too many chances? Or that a clear majority of fans were against starting him after 2023? Or that Boone has stated that LeMahieu deserved second chances based on past production. Let me assure, these moves were roundly condemned at the time.
The issue most fans had with the signing at the time was the contract length.
@Dank
The context was already signed back in 2020. What don’t you get? How many teams are going to cut a guy with 4/$60 left in his context? Boone can’t do anything about it. Cashman is effectively his boss. Of course, he’s going to try and make the best out of it and show public support towards the player. That’s partially boss job. To try and make the most of the roster he’s given. Hey, it didn’t keep the Yanks from moving on and trying to replace him with Rizzo, with Jazz and with Goldy and with whomever they end up being to play opposite of Jazz. And yeah, most GMs and up having to go longer than they want to but often they do it to get it done. That’s the Yanks using their greatest strength. But stop overacting to the deal. The guy was coming off of an incredibly productive 2 seasons.
@KnicksFanCavsFan Well said. DJ had just finished 3rd and 4th in MVP voting. He had won a GG the year before those finishes. 90m for that 32 yo player effectively until retirement, and at positions of need? How do you not do that??
Despite the decline he put up 6.4 bWAR including above average defense the next three years. No one forced the Yankees to play a player who in 2024 was complete toast. That’s a guy you notice and bench after something like 60 PA rather than try to let him play you out of the postseason.
Seriously, negative 1.6 bWAR in 2024, with crumbling defense? And they put him out there for another 160 PA after the first 60? Cashman really is hopeless. The Yankees played 2/3 of the season with a 25-man roster, and Boone didn’t have the guts or the sense to keep DJ’s arse planted on the bench until Cashman let Boone bring up someone in DJ’s place.
—This is one of the areas and above average GM/PBOPs like Stearns will always beat Cashman—he’s just not letting players like DJ in 2024 get anything like 220 PA in a season.
@dankyank No one cared about the length of the deal. In fact DJ did the Yankees a favor by letting them stretch it to 6 years and cut their AAV hit from the expected 4/90m to 6/90m.
He didn’t figure on playing at 36 or 37, but after his 2020-2021 he had the profile of a guy who could be useful even at those ages—so he gave up the value of those two years in order to optimize how much the Yankees were willing to pay him.
@Knicksfan
Excellent comment. Well done. Straight facts, no bad mouthing of another opinion. Would love to see more of these mature comments in the comments. High five my friend, let’s go Knicks
LeMahieu had a .229 BABIP last year with only a slight downtick in EV from the previous two seasons. He should probably bounce back to a 1-2 WAR player. Not ideal for the amount of money but not terrible.
@dank Did he not DFA Aaron Hicks? Why would it be different this time with DJL?
If there are no signs of life from DJL in S.T., I think he’ll be released. Can’t have a dead roster spot on a $300M payroll.
He wont be released. His money is guaranteed either way. He isn’t any worse than Oswaldo Cabrera who would be taking his role.
If he is DFA’ed, we’ll be able to subtract the league minimum salary from what he’s owed. There’s no additional financial cost attached
Why are people assuming Jazz starts at second? Last season was his first time at third and he’ll be given plenty of reps and chances to show improvement. In that scenario we can further bolster the defensive alignment by signing Kim and Hays. That would put us a couple million below last year’s payroll.
But I suspect Hal might be looking for a bigger payroll reduction after calling last year’s spending levels “not sustainable for us financially.”
I figured Grae would be dropped. Really. Was not seeing time. Need to send McCullers out
He is definitely earning a ton for the amount he has played since his 5/85(if I recall). Even before that I think his most inning was about 120-130 and he didn’t even hit that again. On the positive side, he hasn’t pitch in like 3 years so his arm should me plenty rested!
Not likely. They’re already paying Abreu not to be on this team. McCullers making $17.7M the next two seasons.
Never seen a guy have 25 at bats and a zero batting average. Good luck.
21 AB, 25 PA
I’m sure lots of players have had 0-for-21 streaks, must not to start their careers.
Check out Willie Mays’ first 25 ABs!
@gbs @sub
I meant for their career.
Look up Ryne Sandbergs first year with the Cubs
Made that leaping catch in Game 5 of the 2023 ALCS
I wonder if will catch on somewhere and blossom like Mike Yastrzenski did. Obviously the talent is in his genes, maybe he just needs a place to play and prove it.
This is the exact profile Ben Cherington thinks he should have on his 25 man roster 5+ times over. Welcome to the Pirates, kid.
Must suck to get DFA’d two days from Christmas
AA on line one. He needs to sign another dozen of these depth players before spring!
Maybe he could find his way to the Southside of Chicago! His dad did as a player and manager!
Don was his grandad. And if he follows his grandads trajectory, he’ll play for the Cubs first. I can see him as a backup infielder for them.
I remember his Dad, Don Kessinger….wait, not his Dad? His…Grandfather Don Kessinger??? Gulp, I r old.
@billw-2 if his last name was Smith, he wouldn’t of made it past high A
Right because professional teams always waste a roster spot because of a players name
@durhamsbomer Pete Rose Jr got to play in the majors as a scab player. He was horrendous. He got the job because of his name. You really think Dru Jones would have been the second overall pick if his last name was Fitzgerald? How about the amount of chances that Cavan Biggio has received? Wake up, nepotism runs this game
As an Astros fan I’ve seen him play quite a bit. He’s definitely a glove first guy. But something tells me that he might be able to be taught to hit. He’s very athletic