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Roenis Elias

KBO’s SSG Landers Re-Sign Roenis Elias, Guillermo Heredia

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The SSG Landers of the Korean Baseball Organization have re-signed left-hander Roenis Elias and outfielder Guillermo Heredia, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. The report goes on to note that Elias signed for a $1MM salary while Heredia signed for $1.5MM.

A veteran of seven MLB seasons, Elias began his career as a starting pitcher with the Mariners back in 2014. After missing much of the 2016 and ’17 seasons due to injury, Elias later transitioned to the bullpen. He found success in that role with both the Mariners and Nationals, pitching to a 3.30 ERA across 71 appearances from 2018-19. Unfortunately for Elias, Tommy John surgery in early 2021 would derail his newfound relief career somewhat. He pitched just 7 2/3 innings in the majors following his surgery.

Elias began starting again during the 2022-23 offseason, and initially signed on with the Cubs on a minor league deal that winter. After making four starts with the club at the Triple-A level, he was picked up by the Landers for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. He did fairly well in his return to starting, with a 3.70 ERA in 131 1/3 innings for SSG last season that placed him in the middle of the club’s rotation behind fellow former big leaguers Kwang Hyun Kim and Kirk McCarty. He figures to continue in that role with the Landers in 2024, his age-35 campaign.

Heredia joined the Mariners back in 2016 after defecting from Cuba and spent seven seasons in the majors as a fourth outfielder, slashing .231/.310/.346 while playing solid defense across all three outfield spots for the Rays, Pirates, Mets, and Braves as well as the Mariners. Heredia was non-tendered by the Braves following the 2022 campaign and signed with the Landers shortly thereafter. Heredia excelled in an everyday role with SSG this past season, slashing .324/.385/.461 while hitting 12 home runs, a career-best for him at any level of professional baseball. Heredia figures to continue in his role as the Landers’ everyday left field in 2024 while also seeing occasional time in center.

Roenis Elías Signs With KBO’s SSG Landers

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The SSG Landers of the KBO League announced that they have signed left-hander Roenis Elías, hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net. Elías will take the roster spot of fellow lefty Enny Romero and make a salary of $540K. Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News had previously reported that these moves were close.

Elias, 34, has made 133 major league appearances dating back to the 2014 season, spending time with the Mariners, Red Sox and Nationals. He has a 3.96 ERA in 395 2/3 career innings, striking out 19.6% of batters faced, walking 9% and getting grounders at a 42% clip.

The lefty signed a minor league deal with the Cubs this winter but didn’t make the club out of camp. He made four starts in Triple-A this year, posting a 5.48 ERA, but will now get a chance to test himself overseas, earning a larger salary than he would have garnered if he stayed in the minors.

He’ll take the place of Romero, who signed with the Landers back in December. However, he injured his shoulder back in March, per Kurtz, and hasn’t pitched in an official game yet this season. KBO teams can only carry two foreign pitchers on their roster and the Landers have one spot taken by Kirk McCarty. Romero’s unfortunate injury will open the door for Elías to get an opportunity.

Cubs Outright Rowan Wick, Option Christopher Morel

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The Cubs announced Monday that right-hander Rowan Wick went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa. The team also optioned infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel to Iowa. Non-roster veterans Mike Tauchman and Roenis Elias, meanwhile, have been reassigned to minor league camp. They won’t make the roster out of spring training. Manager David Ross also confirmed earlier in the day that right-hander Javier Assad has made the team’s Opening Day bullpen (Twitter link via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com).

Wick, 30, has enough service time to reject the outright assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting the $1.55MM salary to which he agreed earlier in the offseason when he avoided arbitration. As such, he’s all but certain to accept the assignment and remain in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

Wick has spent the past four seasons with the Cubs, pitching to a combined 3.66 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 44.2% ground-ball rate. His results have dipped over the past two years, however, with his ERA clocking in at 4.24 during that time. Last year’s 23.5% strikeout rate was the lowest of his four seasons with the Cubs.

The Cubs had enough faith in Wick to sign him to that $1.55MM deal, and that salary now quite likely helped them pass him through waivers. Since avoiding arbitration with Wick, they’ve signed Brad Boxberger and Michael Fulmer in addition to claiming hard-throwing righty Julian Merryweather off waivers. With a strong showing in Iowa, Wick would figure to put himself back in the mix for a big league spot pretty quickly, given his track record, but he’ll open the year in the minors and off the 40-man roster.

As for Morel, he’ll head to Iowa to receive regular at-bats rather than work in a part-time role on the big league roster. The 23-year-old hit .235/.308/.433 while playing third base, second base, shortstop, left field and center field in his MLB debut last summer. That came on the heels of a huge .306/.380/.565 batting line in Double-A. However, Morel still has only nine Triple-A games to his name, and strikeouts were an issue for him both in last year’s debut (32.2%) and even more so during spring training in 2023 (42.1%). Even though he fanned 24 times in 57 Cactus League plate appearances, he still posted a .269/.333/.577 batting line, but that type of production isn’t sustainable with such pronounced swing-and-miss issues.

The decision to option Morel doesn’t take away from the fact that the Cubs are still hoping he’ll be a major contributor for them over the long term. However, for the time being, the focus will be on reining in his strikeout tendencies in order to better take advantage of his impressive combination of plus raw power and plus speed.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

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The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Cubs Sign Sergio Alcantara, Roenis Elias To Minor League Deals

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The Cubs have inked infielder Sergio Alcántara and reliever Roenis Elías to minor league contracts, the team informed reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). Both players receive invitations to MLB Spring Training.

Alcántara is back for a second stint in Chicago. The Cubs claimed him off waivers from the Tigers in February 2021, and he spent the year in the organization. The switch-hitting infielder played in just over half their MLB contests that season, picking up a personal-high 255 plate appearances. Alcántara hit only .205/.303/.327 with five home runs. Chicago designated him for assignment last March and sold his contract to the Diamondbacks.

For the 2022 campaign, Alcántara bounced between Arizona and the Padres on waivers. The Snakes lost him in May before bringing him back in July. He played out the year in the desert but was taken off the 40-man roster at season’s end. Upon going unclaimed on waivers, he became a minor league free agent.

Over parts of three MLB seasons, Alcántara owns a .209/.281/.343 line in 502 trips to the plate. He’s gone down on strikes at an elevated 26.9% clip and posted below-average power production while generally featuring at the bottom of a lineup. The 26-year-old has only 25 games of Triple-A experience and had a fairly light .261/.340/.317 showing in just under 900 plate appearances at Double-A.

While he’s never been much of a hitter, Alcántara is a well-regarded and versatile infield defender. He has plenty of experience at second, shortstop and third base and has rated favorably at shortstop in the eyes of public defensive metrics (albeit with curiously subpar marks at the less challenging second and third base positions). Scouts consistently credited him as a plus defensive shortstop throughout his time in the minors, even if longstanding questions about his bat have pointed to a utility future. He’ll add some familiarity and upper level experience to Cubs camp and compete for a spot on the bench behind Chicago’s middle infield tandem of Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner. Alcántara is out of minor league option years, so if he cracks the 40-man roster at any point, he’ll either have to stick in the majors or again be made available to other teams.

Elías is a veteran left-hander with parts of seven MLB campaigns under his belt. A starter for his first couple seasons with the Mariners, he has worked primarily out of the bullpen in recent years. Elías had some success with the Mariners and Nationals between 2018-19, but his career was sidetracked when his elbow blew out and he required Tommy John surgery in March 2021.

After losing that season to rehab, he returned on a minor league deal with Seattle in 2022. The 34-year-old briefly made it back to the big leagues, working seven times and allowing three runs over 7 1/3 innings. Elías averaged 93.5 MPH on his fastball in that look. He played the bulk of the season with Seattle’s top affiliate in Tacoma, working primarily as a long reliever. In 65 innings across 37 appearances (nine of which were starts), he managed a 5.12 ERA. Elías only posted a 19.8% strikeout percentage, though he limited walks to a 6.8% clip.

Outrighted off Seattle’s roster midseason, the veteran reached minor league free agency at year’s end. He’ll battle for a bullpen spot in the spring, with the Cubs lacking in left-handed depth. Brandon Hughes looks assured of one spot, but he’s the only southpaw reliever on the 40-man roster. Elías will battle for playing time with fellow non-roster invitee Eric Stout and, likely, another player or two whom the Cubs bring in this offseason.

13 Players Elect Free Agency

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With the World Series kicking off on Friday, we’re only a couple weeks from the opening of the offseason. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

In recent weeks, we’ve provided periodic updates on players qualifying for minor league free agency. Here are the latest, courtesy of the MiLB.com transactions tracker.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Roenis Elias Accepts Outright Assignment With Mariners

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Mariners reliever Roenis Elias has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The left-hander had the right to elect free agency but he’ll forego that opportunity and report to the Rainiers in hopes of pitching his way back onto the M’s roster.

Elias has spent the majority of the season in Tacoma, tossing 17 1/3 innings over 14 appearances. He’s allowed only seven runs in that time (3.63 ERA), demonstrating strong control in the process. Elias has walked just 6.8% of batters faced, helping to compensate for a below-average 17.6% strikeout rate.

That generally solid work earned him a pair of looks on the big league roster. The M’s first brought Elias up as a temporary COVID substitute in mid-May, then formally selected him onto the 40-man a couple weeks later. Between the two stints, the 33-year-old worked 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball. He fanned six, walked three and allowed one home run before being designated for assignment this week.

This season’s return marked the culmination of a couple seasons of injury rehab for the veteran hurler. Elias spent all of 2020 on the Nationals’ injured list battling a flexor strain in his forearm. The following spring, he required Tommy John surgery after latching on with the Mariners via minor league deal. That cost him all of last season, but Seattle signed him to a two-year minor league contract to see through the rehab process in hopes of a 2022 comeback. He’s now appeared in parts of seven MLB seasons, compiling a 3.96 ERA in just under 400 innings.

Mariners Designate Sergio Romo, Roenis Elias For Assignment

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The Mariners announced four roster moves Monday, reinstating righty Ken Giles from the 60-day injured list and recalling infielder Kevin Padlo from Triple-A Tacoma. In order to create roster space, right-hander Sergio Romo and lefty Roenis Elias were designated for assignment.

Romo, signed to a one-year, $2MM deal late in the offseason after it was learned that Casey Sadler required season-ending shoulder surgery, was sharp through his first month as a Mariner but has seen the wheels come off in dramatic fashion. The 39-year-old sidearmer yielded just one run through his first eight innings before the Orioles tattooed him for five runs in two-third of an inning back on June 1.

That marked the beginning of a monumental meltdown that has seen the three-time World Series champion and former All-Star serve up a dozen runs in his past 6 1/3 frames. Romo has allowed runs in five of his past nine appearances, giving up multiple runs in an outing four times during that calamitous stretch.

Given the extent of those struggles and the fact that he’s on a guaranteed salary (albeit a fairly modest one), Romo is quite likely to go unclaimed on waivers and become a free agent. Any team that wants to speculate on helping him right the ship would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors at that point. Romo hasn’t experienced a velocity drop — he’s still sitting at 85.6 mph with his sinker and in the 77-78 range with his signature slider — and is still inducing chases off the plate at a huge 37.8% clip. Given that context and his broader track record, he ought to have another opportunity out there — particularly if he’s willing to take a minor league deal somewhere.

As for the 33-year-old Elias, he’s pitched far better with the Mariners in 2022, albeit in a smaller sample of 7 2/3 innings. During that time, the veteran lefty has fanned six of 33 opponents (18.2%) while walking three (9.1%) and inducing grounders at a robust 50% clip. That marks Elias’ first big league action since the 2019 season, as he was sidelined for much of the 2020-21 seasons due to arm injuries — culminating in Tommy John surgery last March.

Elias has been similarly solid in Triple-A this year, notching a 3.63 ERA with a 17.6% strikeout rate against a sharp 6.8% walk rate and a 44.6% grounder rate in 17 1/3 innings. It’s possible he’ll hold some appeal to bullpen-hungry clubs, particularly those in need of a lefty. In 395 2/3 innings at the MLB level, Elias has a 3.96 ERA — although that mark is at 3.30 dating back to a 2017 move to the bullpen.

Giles, 31, will be activated for his team debut. Signed to a two-year, $7MM contract knowing he’d miss the first year of the deal recovering from 2020 Tommy John surgery, Giles brings a a triple-digit heater and 115 career saves to the Seattle bullpen. His minor league rehab assignment, however, was grisly. The former Phillies, Astros and Blue Jays closer logged 7 1/3 innings between High-A and Triple-A but was shellacked for 16 runs (11 earned) on 15 hits and eight walks in that time. Giles also served up four long balls in that stretch.

Some rust after a long layoff is to be expected, but those minor league struggles are nevertheless eye-opening. However, it’s worth noting that in addition to that 2020 Tommy John procedure, Giles suffered a strained tendon in his pitching hand back in Spring Training, which sent him back to the IL for the first two-plus months of the season.

At his best, Giles has shown the ability to be one of the game’s very best relievers. He tallied 53 innings of 1.87 ERA ball as recently as 2019 with Toronto, striking out 40% of his opponents along the way. And in 351 career innings, Giles boasts a 2.74 ERA with a huge 33.3% strikeout rate against a better-than-average 7.7% walk rate. Time will tell which version of the righty the Mariners are getting, but if he’s back to form, Giles could either be a key bullpen piece down the stretch or, if the Mariners continue to struggle, an appealing trade chip in six weeks’ time.

Mariners Select Roenis Elias

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The Mariners announced they’ve selected left-hander Roenis Elías onto the big league roster. Seattle had optioned reliever Drew Steckenrider to Triple-A Tacoma last night to clear a spot on the active roster. In order to open space on the 40-man, righty Riley O’Brien has been designated for assignment.

It’s the second time Elías has gotten a major league call, although this stint figures to be more lasting. The 33-year-old was brought up for a series in Toronto when a handful of Seattle players went on the restricted list because of their vaccination status. Elías was a designated COVID-19 substitute for that weekend, however, and he was removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Triple-A after a few days. He made one appearance, allowing a run on a hit and two walks in one inning.

Elías has otherwise spent the season in Tacoma, making 14 appearances. He’s worked 17 1/3 innings of 3.63 ERA ball, posting lower than average strikeout (17.6%) and walk (6.8%) marks. Elías has yet to allow a home run this year in spite of a fairly ordinary 44.6% ground-ball rate. He’ll offer manager Scott Servais a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen.

Steckenrider had been a key reliever for the M’s last season. An offseason minor league signee, the righty made the Opening Day roster and eventually pitched his way into high-leverage work. He wound up posting an even 2.00 ERA through 67 2/3 innings, an impact contributor to a bullpen that was among the reasons the M’s overperformed and won 90 games. Steckenrider’s below-average strikeout and grounder numbers suggested he wasn’t likely to be quite so dominant again, but he showed solid control and was generally reliable.

That hasn’t been the case in 2022, as his early performance has dipped more than anyone would’ve seen coming. Through 14 1/3 frames, he owns a 5.65 ERA. His already fringy 21.7% strikeout percentage has dropped to just 14.7%, and he’s surrendered a pair of homers. The M’s can only hope that a stint with the Rainiers can get Steckenrider more reasonably back on track, as Seattle has had one of the league’s least effective relief corps this year.

Seattle acquired O’Brien from the Reds in exchange for cash last month. The 27-year-old made just one big league appearance with his hometown club, spending the rest of his time on optional assignment to Tacoma. He’s allowed five runs in ten innings at the minors top level, striking out 14 but issuing 11 walks. O’Brien has worked exclusively in relief this year after starting 22 of his 23 outings with the Reds’ highest affiliate last season, where he pitched to a 4.55 ERA across 112 2/3 frames.

The Mariners will have a week to trade O’Brien or try to run him through outright waivers. The 27-year-old only has a pair of MLB appearances to his name. He’s had success missing bats at the Triple-A level but also dealt with some control concerns. O’Brien still has a couple minor league option years remaining and has already been traded twice in his career, so it’s certainly possible he changes hands again in the coming days.

Mariners Return Roenis Elias To Triple-A

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May 19: The Mariners announced that Elias has been returned to Triple-A Tacoma. That he wasn’t passed through waivers indicates that he was indeed treated as a Covid substitute player, despite the fact that the team did not originally specify him as one. He’ll remain with the organization but won’t occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Steckenrider, meanwhile, has been reinstated from the restricted list.

May 16: The Mariners have selected the contract of left-hander Roenis Elias from Triple-A Tacoma, per a team announcement. Right-hander Drew Steckenrider, meanwhile, has been placed on the restricted list in advance of their forthcoming three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Steckenrider is temporarily removed from the 40-man roster while on the restricted list, so the Mariners didn’t need to make an additional move to accommodate the return of Elias, who pitched with Seattle from 2014-15 and 2018-19.

Elias, 33, returned to the Mariners in hopes of a third stint when he signed a minor league deal prior to the 2021 season. He tore his left elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament during Spring Training 2021, however, and missed the entire season after the subsequent Tommy John surgery. He’s healthy again, having pitched 14 2/3 innings of 4.30 ERA ball with an 11-to-4 K/BB ratio in Triple-A Tacoma so far in 2022.

Elias has spent parts of four previous seasons with the Mariners, and while he’s also pitched with the Red Sox and Nationals, he’s never found much success outside Seattle. In 377 career innings as a Mariner, the Cuban-born southpaw has a 3.75 ERA, 14 saves and a shutout (during his 2014 run as a starter). He’s logged a combined 11 innings between Boston and Washington, surrendering 15 runs in those brief stints.

It could be a short stay on the roster for Elias, although it’s worth noting that the Mariners did not classify him as a Covid-related “substitute” player. Rather, Seattle made formal announcement of his selection to the 40-man roster. Team-by-team terminology tends to vary with respect to Covid substitutes, but the implication in this instance certainly seems to be that there’s some degree of permanence to this move. If that’s indeed the case, Elias can’t be sent back to Triple-A unless he first passes through outright waivers unclaimed. Even then, he’d have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment to a minor league affiliate, should he choose.

As for Steckenrider, he’ll be away from the team for this three-game set and presumably rejoin them Thursday when they continue the current road trip in Boston. Travel regulations in Canada prevent unvaccinated athletes from entering the country to compete against Canadian-based teams.

Steckenrider, 31, was a revelation for the Mariners last year after signing a minor league deal. In 67 innings, he pitched to a flat 2.00 ERA with 14 saves, seven holds, a 21.7% strikeout rate and a 6.4% walk rate. It looked to be the start of an impressive rebound for Steckenrider, who shined as a setup man with the Marlins early in his career before injuries derailed his 2019-20 seasons. However, he’s stumbled again in 2022, limping to a 4.85 ERA with diminished strikeout and walk rates (15% and 8.3%, respectively). To Steckenrider’s credit, he’s been dogged by a bloated .356 average on balls in play, but even if one were to chalk some of his struggles up to that woeful BABIP, the sharp downturn in his K-BB% is nevertheless a concern. He’s being paid a $3.1MM salary this season and can be controlled through 2023 via arbitration.

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