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Royals Outright Dan Altavilla

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The Royals announced this afternoon that right-hander Dan Altavilla has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Omaha. The right-hander was designated for assignment by Kansas City earlier this week when they activated him from the 60-day injured list but did not add him back to the 40-man roster.

Altavilla, 31, was a fifth-round pick by the Mariners back in 2014 who made his big league debut in Seattle during the 2016 season. He provided solid middle relief for the club in the first few years of his career with a combined 3.28 ERA and 4.32 FIP in 79 2/3 innings of work from 2016 to 2018, but struggled badly over the next three seasons with the Mariners and Padres. In 36 1/3 innings of work across 41 games between 2019 and 2021, Altavilla posted a 5.70 ERA with a 4.55 FIP before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of the 2021 season.

The right-hander’s time with the Padres came to a close shortly after he went under the knife, and though he signed a two-year minor league deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2022 season he never made it into a big league game in Boston. He made his return in the minors with the Red Sox, however, with a 3.00 ERA but a lackluster 14.3% strikeout rate in eight appearances that spanned 12 innings in total before he was released by the club in August of that year. He didn’t catch on with another club down the stretch in 2023 but found a minors pact with the Royals back in December.

In Kansas City, Altavilla found his first big league opportunity since 2021 when the club selected his contract back in June. Unfortunately, the righty made just five appearances that saw him surrender six runs in just 3 2/3 innings of work before he found himself back on the injured list due to an oblique strain. He began a rehab assignment early last month but struggled at the Triple-A level during that time with a ghastly 9.39 ERA in eight appearances. That led the Royals to designate the righty for assignment once he had reached the maximum rehab time in the minor leagues, though he evidently went unclaimed on waivers and now will return to Omaha with the Royals as a non-roster depth option for the club down the stretch.

While the Royals have struggled to get consistent results from their bullpen this year with a relief corps that’s bottom five in the majors by ERA since the calendar flipped to August and bottom six overall this season, it nonetheless seems unlikely that the club would turn to Altavilla down the stretch barring injuries forcing the clubs’ hand. Lucas Erceg, John Schreiber, and James McArthur form a solid enough back-end trio for the club with strong peripherals despite mediocre results, and the trio of Kris Bubic, Sam Long, and Carlos Hernandez have performed well in the middle innings of late to leave few reasons for the club to make a change as they enter the stretch run in position to make the postseason for the first time since their 2015 World Series championship.

Royals Designate Dan Altavilla For Assignment

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The Royals announced that right-hander Dan Altavilla has been designated for assignment. He had been on the 60-day injured list and was on a rehab assignment but it seems they didn’t want him to retake a spot on their 40-man roster, so he’s now in DFA limbo instead.

Altavilla, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason and was selected to their roster in June. He made five appearances for the club, allowing six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings via five hits, three walks and breaking Mookie Betts’ hand.

The righty then landed on the 15-day injured list due to a right oblique strain, later getting transferred to the 60-day IL. He started a rehab August 6 and was coming up to the end of his 30-day maximum rehab window. Since he’s out of options, the club was going to have to add him back onto both the 40-man and active rosters, but they decided to cut him loose instead.

Since it is the post-deadline part of the schedule, Altavilla will be placed on waivers in the coming days. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency, both due to having a previous career outright and at least three years of service time.

His recent major league stint with the Royals adds a small amount of data to his career stats. He now has 119 2/3 innings pitched with a 4.36 ERA in seven different seasons. His 26% strikeout rate is quite strong but his 12.2% walk rate is definitely on the high side. Most of that came from 2016 to 2021 as he didn’t pitch in the majors in either 2022 or 2023, missing most of that time due to Tommy John surgery.

Athletics Claim CJ Alexander

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder CJ Alexander off waivers from the Royals and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Alexander was listed as released on the MLB.com transactions logs but it appears he was still on waivers. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Alexander, 28, was drafted by Atlanta back in 2018 but was one of three players who came to the Royals in the July 2022 trade that sent a Competitive Balance draft pick the other way. The Royals selected him to their roster this summer and he has a small sample of major league experience. He has been sent to the plate eight times with three strikeouts and one hit, a single.

The A’s are surely more interested in his larger sample of work in the minors. That includes 350 Triple-A plate appearances this year with 16 home runs and a line of .303/.352/.554. That production leads to a 130 wRC+, indicating that Alexander was 30% above league average even in the heightened offensive environment in the International League this year.

That production is likely propped up a bit by a .355 batting average on balls in play that will be hard for him to maintain. But even with a bit of regression, his bat could perhaps still be an asset and he also provides some defensive versatility as he is capable of playing all four corner positions. He will still have two option years remaining after 2024, so the A’s don’t need to add him to the active roster any time soon. He also has just a few days of major league service time, meaning he has plenty of cheap club control remaining.

The club effectively had a free roster spot due to the status of Ruiz. He landed on the 10-day IL back in May due to a strained left wrist, so he’s already been out well beyond 60 days already. He is eligible to be reinstated at any point, but that won’t be happening. He began a rehab assignment in July but was shut down due to continued soreness in the wrist. Manager Mark Kotsay said last week that Ruiz won’t be able to return this year, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com on X.

Ruiz will stay on the 60-day injured list for the remainder of the season, collecting major league pay and service time. There’s no IL from five days after the World Series until the start of Spring Training, so Ruiz will need to retake a roster spot in the offseason.

Royals Outright Austin Nola, Release CJ Alexander

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September 4: Nola has been outrighted to Triple-A Omaha and Alexander released, per the transactions tracker of each player at MLB.com.

August 31: The Royals announced that catcher Austin Nola and infielder CJ Alexander have been designated for assignment.  The moves open up roster space for Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, who are now officially part of the K.C. roster after being respectively claimed off waivers from the Cardinals and Rangers.

Nola signed a split contract with the Royals during Spring Training, but the veteran of five MLB seasons has yet to officially bank any big league playing time during the 2024 campaign.  The Royals briefly called Nola up in June but he was sent back to Omaha without appearing in any games, and Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin have stayed healthy and handled every single inning behind the plate for Kansas City this season.  Injuries also cost Nola all of April, and he hasn’t provided much offense with only a .156/.248/.296 slash line over 163 plate appearances in Omaha.

This made Nola expendable, and now Brian O’Keefe and Rodolfo Duran are the remaining catching depth options at Triple-A.  The Royals might conceivably try to shore up the catching ranks with another veteran, or Nola might simply remain with the team if he clears waivers.  Nola has been outrighted before, so he can opt for free agency if he clears waivers and Kansas City tries to outright him off the 40-man roster.

Alexander has neither a past outright assignment on his ledger, nor the minimum five years of MLB service time to reject an outright, so he might just be optioned back to Omaha if no other teams make a claim.  Alexander just made his Major League debut this season, appearing in four games for the Royals and knocking one single in eight trips to the plate during his brief stint in the Show.

A 20th-round pick for the Braves in the 2018 draft, Alexander was acquired by the Royals as part of the Drew Waters trade in July 2022.  His minor league numbers generally consisted of solid power but low averages and OBPs prior to 2024, when he has put it all together to hit .303/.352/.554 with 16 homers over 350 Triple-A plate appearances.  In the field, Alexander has played mostly third base during his minor league career, with some time at first base and in both corner outfield slots.

Since Alexander just turned 28, he isn’t exactly an up-and-coming type of prospect, but could be another waiver claim candidate if a team is looking for some infield depth.  He also has two minor league option years remaining, making him a flexible roster piece going forward.

MLBTR Podcast: Royals’ Reinforcements, Promoted Angels, And The Terrible White Sox

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What’s the problem with the White Sox? Is it an owner not willing to spend? Is it inept senior management in getting taken in trades and a poor plan for success? What is it going to take to become competitive again? Are there other factors that keep top free agents from coming to the White Sox? Franchise culture? Moving a family to Chicago? Inability to develop talent? (20:35)
  • Who should the Rangers be looking at this winter? A center fielder? A backup catcher and pitching? (30:50)
  • As a big Braves fan, I am curious to see what they do about shortstop for 2025 and beyond. Whom do you think ends up starting there? It seems unlikely Nacho Alvarez Jr. seizes the position, right? Do we move on from Orlando Arcia? My preference would be to re-sign Whit Merrifield to play there. Could he handle shortstop? What do you guys say? (36:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Royals’ Manager Matt Quatraro To Return To Team On Wednesday

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September 3: Quatraro attended a memorial service after the passing of his mother Dorann Stagnitta at age 84, reports Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star. He is expected to return to the team before tomorrow’s game against the Guardians. MLBTR sends our condolences and best wishes to Quatraro and his family.

September 2: The Royals announced this morning that manager Matt Quatraro is away from the team while he tends to a personal matter. While Quatraro is away, bench coach Paul Hoover is set to serve as the club’s manager. It’s as of now unclear how long Quatraro expects to be away from the club.

Quatraro, 50, took the reins in Kansas City following the club’s decision to fire Mike Matheny after the 2022 season. His rookie season as manager was a tough one, as he piloted the club to a dreadful 56-106 record and a last place finish in the AL Central. A midseason breakout from star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. provided some optimism for the future, however, and the Royals decided to invest in attempting to contend in the short term over the offseason by handing free agent deals to veteran pieces like Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Despite those investments, the Royals entered the 2024 campaign widely expected to miss the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

The club has shattered those expectations under Quatraro’s guidance, however, as the club has posted an excellent 75-63 record to this point in the year that places them firmly in Wild Card position and 3.5 games behind Cleveland for the AL Central crown in a surprising season that has long seemed sure to earn their skipper consideration for the AL Manager of the Year award this fall. As the club gears up for the final month of the regular season, however, they’ll be without Quatraro for an indefinite amount of time.

Taking Quatraro’s place at the helm of the Royals for the time being is Hoover, 48. A former big leaguer who appeared in 40 games across seven seasons between 2001 and 2010, Hoover joined the Royals as Quatraro’s bench coach last year. Prior to taking his current role in Kansas City, he served as the manager of the Rays’ rookie ball team in 2012 before later serving as the club’s minor league catching coordinator and eventually being promoted to the big league staff as the club’s major league field coordinator. He served on Kevin Cash’s coaching staff in that role from 2019 to 2022. Now, Hoover will be tasked with piloting the surprise contenders through at least part of the season’s final stretch, and potentially into the postseason depending on the length of Quatraro’s absence.

Marlins Claim Anthony Veneziano, Designate Three Players For Assignment

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The Marlins announced a huge batch of transactions today, including the previously reported claim of right-hander Lake Bachar. They also claimed left-hander Anthony Veneziano off waivers from the Royals. They also reinstated left-hander Josh Simpson from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville. To open 40-man roster spots for those three, they designated catcher Alí Sánchez, left-hander Kent Emanuel and right-hander Emmanuel Ramírez for assignment. Sánchez and Ramírez were on the active roster, so those two spots will be taken by infielder Xavier Edwards, who has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, and right-hander Anthony Maldonado, who has been recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville.

Veneziano was just designated for assignment on September 1, which happened to be his 27th birthday. He has a minimal big league track record, having tossed 2 1/3 innings with the Royals last year and another two innings this year.

The Marlins are likely interested in his pre-2024 track record, as it hasn’t been the lefty’s best season. He has tossed 90 innings at the Triple-A level this year with a 4.80 earned run average, 19.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate. But in 2023, he had a 3.55 ERA in his 132 minor league innings, striking out 23% of batters faced while limiting walks to an 8.7% clip.

Baseball America ranked him the #5 prospect in the Royals’ system coming into 2024. The results haven’t been as impressive this year but it’s understandable that the Marlins would still have hope of getting him back on track. He will still have two option years remaining after the current campaign, so they can get a close-up look at him in the minors and see if there’s a path towards better results in the long term.

Sánchez, 27, was added to the club’s roster in June and got into 31 games for the Fish. Unfortunately, he hit just .167/.211/.190 in his 96 plate appearances. He has generally performed well at the Triple-A level but without bringing it up to the majors. He has hit .276/.348/.409 at Triple-A from 2021 to the present, leading to a 97 wRC+ in a sample of just under 1,000 plate appearances. But he has a career line of .175/.221/.216 in the majors and is out of options.

Emanuel, 32, has been on and off the Marlins’ roster all year. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the winter and this is now the fifth time he’s been designated for assignment. Each time has seen him clear waivers, get outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville and later have his contract selected again. Given that pattern, it wouldn’t be a shock to see it all play out once more. Around those transactions, he has a 6.62 ERA in 17 2/3 major league innings and a 6.15 ERA in 45 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Ramírez, 30, was first selected to the club’s roster back in April and has appeared in 15 big league games, the first of his career. He has a 6.97 ERA in those, though his peripherals are closer to average. He has a 22.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate on the year. His 54% strand rate is on the unlucky side, which is why his 4.63 FIP and 3.85 SIERA are far apart from his ERA. He also has a 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 Triple-A innings this year.

All three of Sánchez, Emanuel and Ramírez will have to be placed on waivers in the coming days since the trade deadline has passed. Since it’s now September, they won’t be postseason eligible with any club that puts in a claim.

Royals Select Yuli Gurriel

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The Royals announced a flurry of roster moves this morning, headlined by the club selecting the contract of infielder Yuli Gurriel. The club acquired Gurriel in a cash trade with the Braves yesterday. Also added to the club’s active roster were outfielders Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, both of whom were claimed off waivers by Kansas City yesterday, and right-hander Alec Marsh, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. In corresponding moves, left-hander Anthony Veneziano was designated for assignment while infielder Nick Loftin and outfielder Tyler Gentry were both optioned to Triple-A.

Gurriel, 40, is returning to the majors for his ninth big league season. The veteran infielder first came to the big leagues at age-32 as a member of the Astros after a 15-year tenure in Cuba’s Serie Nacional and spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Astros. The two-time World Series champion slashed a respectable .284/.328/.448 during his time in Houston and enjoyed a standout season in 2021 where he earned the AL Gold Glove at first base and led his league in batting average with a .319 figure.

Since that excellent 2021 campaign, Gurriel’s performance in the big leagues has been lackluster. He’s taken 913 trips to the plate since the start of the 2022 season with the Astros and Marlins, and in that time he’s hit just .243/.294/.359 with a wRC+ of 82 during that time. That’s well below par for even a part-time first baseman in the majors, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise when Gurriel had to settle for a minor league deal with the Braves back in April after failing to secure a big league roster spot over the offseason. Fortunately for the veteran, however, he excelled with the club at the Triple-A level and slashed an excellent .292/.378/.495 in 333 plate appearances with the club’s affiliate at Gwinnett.

That strong performance opened the door for Gurriel to make it back to the big leagues, albeit not with the organization for whom he put up those numbers. The loss of Vinnie Pasquantino for the remainder of the regular season left the Royals with a clear hole to fill at first base and led them to acquire Gurriel yesterday, just before the deadline to add a player to your organization in order for them to have postseason eligibility. Gurriel now figures to get the lion’s share of playing time at first base down the stretch, though it’s possible that franchise face Salvador Perez could still mix in at the position on occasion when Freddy Fermin is behind the plate.

The Royals are surely hoping for a solid month of production from Gurriel, but even the lackluster numbers he posted with the Marlins last year would be an improvement over Loftin, who had been handling first base in recent days and has struggled to a .189/.282/.236 slash line this year. Gurriel is joined by veteran outfielders Grossman and Pham as last-minute additions to the Royals roster. Both Pham and Grossman have been roughly league average hitters this year with wRC+ figures of 98 and 92 respectively, but the trio of veterans have plenty of postseason experience under their belts and should provide leadership in a young Royals clubhouse and help stabilize a lineup that has struggled to produce outside of Perez, Fermin, and Bobby Witt Jr. this year.

Making way for Gurriel on the 40-man roster is Veneziano, who is celebrating his 27th birthday today. The lefty made his big league debut last year and has just 4 1/3 innings of work under his belt at the major league level, though he’s posted a solid 2.08 ERA with a 3.91 FIP in that limited time. The lefty’s minor league numbers have left much to be desired, however, as he’s posted a 4.80 ERA in 90 innings of work at the Triple-A level this year. That seemingly left Veneziano as an expendable piece in the eyes of Royals brass, who will now have one week to attempt to pass him through waivers. Any team that claims the lefty won’t have the opportunity to use him in the postseason this year, but even so it’s not hard to imagine a rival club having some interest in a lefty with experience both starting and relieving and options remaining, particularly if they have an eye toward 2025 and beyond.

Royals Claim Tommy Pham, Robbie Grossman

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The Royals are bolstering their outfield with a pair of veterans, as K.C. has claimed both Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman off waivers.  The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported (X link) that Pham was claimed off the Cardinals’ waiver wire after St. Louis designated him for assignment yesterday, and MLB.com’s Anne Rogers (via X) reported that the Royals also claimed Grossman away from the Rangers.  Texas placed Grossman on outright waivers on Thursday.

Because these additions were made before September 1, Pham and Grossman would be eligible for the Royals’ postseason roster if K.C. makes it into the playoff bracket.  Coming off a dismal 106-loss season in 2023, the Royals have already far surpassed last year’s win total by posting a 75-61 record — Kansas City is in possession of the second AL wild card berth, and sit 2.5 games behind the Guardians for first place in the AL Central.

Despite this success, the outfield has been a clear weak link for K.C. for much of the season, and the ranks got even further thinned when Hunter Renfroe was placed on the injured list last week.  Beyond losing Renfroe, the Royals’ lineup took another big hit when Vinnie Pasquantino suffered a broken thumb Thursday and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.

The Royals were one of several teams who had interest in Pham prior to the trade deadline, when Pham was a very obvious trade candidate as a veteran rental on a rebuilding White Sox team.  The Cardinals ended up with Pham and Erick Fedde as part of a three-team trade involving the Dodgers and White Sox at the deadline, as St. Louis was hoping that Pham and right-hander Erick Fedde could boost both the lineup and rotation heading into the playoff stretch.

Unfortunately for Cards Nation, no surge materialized, as the Cardinals have an 11-16 record in August.  Pham himself didn’t provide much help, hitting .206/.286/.368 over 77 plate appearances during his brief stint in a St. Louis uniform.

Since Pham both wanted more playing time and wanted to join a contender, he discussed the possibility of a release with the Cardinals, and that wish has now been fully granted with the move across Missouri to the Royals.  From the Cardinals’ perspective, parting ways with Pham both created more outfield playing time for Jordan Walker, and saved a bit of payroll.  Pham has roughly $480K remaining on his original $3MM salary for the 2024 season, and Kansas City will now foot the rest of that bill.

The switch-hitting Grossman also began his season as a member of the White Sox, but was traded in May back to the Rangers, as Texas was thin on right-handed hitting.  Grossman was a known quantity in Arlington after being a regular for the 2023 World Series team, and he posted similar numbers in his second go-around as a Ranger, batting .238/.336/.362 over 122 PA for Texas this season.

The Rangers’ defense of their title has fallen far short of expectations, and thus the team put both Grossman and fellow outfielder Travis Jankowski on outright waivers to see if another team would clear a few dollars off the Rangers’ books.  Grossman has about $240K remaining of his $1.5MM base salary, so it makes for another inexpensive add for the Royals.

Grossman has continued to mash left-handed pitching and Pham has continued to post solid numbers against southpaws as well, giving Kansas City two new options to work within the lineup.  Either player could slot into Renfroe’s role as a regular right fielder who cedes some at-bats against righties to Adam Frazier, or either Pham or Grossman could spell MJ Melendez (another left-handed bat) in left field.  With the DH spot also up for grabs, it isn’t hard to imagine Pham or Grossman moving into more or less everyday roles, at least until Renfroe is able to return.

The Royals will be the ninth team Pham has suited up with at the MLB level over the course of his 11 big league seasons, while Grossman is joining his eighth team in a 12-year career in the Show.  The duo bring plenty of experience to a young Royals team, and we just need to look back to 2023 to see how Grossman and Pham (after he joined the Diamondbacks) can help out a playoff contender.

With a playoff berth hanging in the balance, general manager J.J. Picollo has now moved aggressively to try and address his team’s lineup needs before the September 1 cutoff date.  Depending on what happens in the pennant race, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Royals make other additions to try and just get into October, even if any newcomers after September 1 wouldn’t be part of any playoff rosters.

Royals To Acquire Yuli Gurriel

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4:49pm: While Gurriel has been on the minor league injured list with the Braves for just over a week now, Romero reports that the veteran is en route to Houston to report to the big league Royals amid their series against the Astros. The Royals did not need to add Gurriel to their 40-man roster upon acquiring him today due to the fact that he was on a minor league deal, but they’ll need to make corresponding moves to add him to the 40-man and active rosters in order to promote him to the majors.

4:19pm: The Royals are acquiring first baseman Yuli Gurriel, according to a report from Francys Romero. Gurriel, 40, has been with the Braves on a minor league contract this year. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Braves are receiving cash considerations in return for Gurriel’s services. Despite the trade deadline having passed last month, Gurriel was still eligible to be traded because he hasn’t played in the major leagues yet this season. The Royals subsequently announced the move.

Gurriel, 40, has played in the majors each of the last eight seasons after coming over following 15 years in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. Most of the veteran’s time in the majors was spent in Houston, for whom he played first base with occasional cameos at second and third. In seven years with the Astros, Gurriel slashed a solid .284/.328/.448 with a wRC+ of 111. That includes an excellent 2021 season with the club where he hit .319 en route to the AL batting title and earned his only career Gold Glove award. After a down 2022 season, Gurriel departed the Astros (who replaced him at first base with an ill-fated contract for Jose Abreu) but found a roster spot in Miami as a part-time first baseman and DH.

The veteran’s time in Miami did not produce the bounceback season he was surely hoping for, as Gurriel slashed just .245/.304/.359 (76 wRC+) with a career-high 13.4% strikeout rate and a career-worst .114 isolated slugging percentage. A second straight difficult season left Gurriel unable to find a roster spot ahead of his age-40 season, leaving him to catch on with Atlanta back in April. With the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, Gurriel has looked impressive with a .292/.378/.495 slash line with 12 homers, 18 doubles, and a triple in just 333 trips to the plate this year.

Amid injuries around the Braves infield to Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies and that strong performance, the Braves even began to experiment with Gurriel at second and third base as they seemingly toyed with the possibility of a big league call-up for the veteran, though big league deals for Whit Merrifield and Gio Urshela closed the doors to joining the major league club in fairly short order. While Gurriel won’t make the majors with the Braves this year, another door has now opened up for the veteran as he searches for an opening to participate in his ninth major league season. Much like the Braves, the Royals also lost a key piece of their infield mix to injury recently when first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino suffered a broken thumb that Kansas City announced yesterday will sideline him for six to eight weeks.

That leaves a young Royals club that’s surging toward what would be their first playoff appearance since their World Series championship back in 2015 without one of their top hitters, and while the team added veterans Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman to their outfield mix earlier today those moves did little to shore up first base. Gurriel does just that by adding a longtime veteran at the position to the fold, offering them additional depth and a contact-oriented bat at the position down the stretch. The Royals have been relying on a combination of Nick Loftin and veteran backstop Salvador Perez on days where he isn’t behind the plate to take over for Pasquantino since he went on the shelf.

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