Weiss is the most notable of the trio. The 32-year-old has pitched in parts of three big league seasons. He tossed a career-high 14 innings between the Red Sox and Angels two seasons ago. Weiss landed with the Twins on a waiver claim last offseason but was outrighted off the 40-man roster without making an MLB appearance. He worked 25 innings with Minnesota’s Triple-A club after clearing waivers. While he posted a middling 5.40 earned run average, he struck out an above-average 26.7% of opposing hitters.
The righty has missed bats in his limited look against MLB competition as well. Weiss has fanned 28% of opponents through 27 1/3 career innings. That has come alongside a lofty 12.7% walk rate, though, contributing to a middling 4.61 ERA. Weiss has allowed 5.37 earned runs per nine in parts of six Triple-A campaigns.
Santos, 24, has yet to reach the major leagues. He was one of two minor league relievers whom the Cards acquired from the Red Sox in what turned out to be the lopsided Tyler O’Neill trade. Santos posted a 5.61 ERA across 77 innings with Triple-A Memphis last year. He’d been pitching in the Dominican Winter League this offseason but seemingly suffered an injury. The Cards announced that he is expected to miss the entire 2025 season, explaining the two-year term of his deal.
Pozo, 27, appeared in 21 MLB games for the Rangers four seasons ago. He hit .284 in 77 plate appearances. Pozo has spent the past two seasons as non-roster depth with the A’s. He hit .324/.335/.538 with 15 homers in an extremely hitter-friendly setting in Triple-A last season. The righty-swinging backstop has one of the most extreme approaches in professional baseball. Among the nearly 1100 minor league hitters who logged at least 300 plate appearances, Pozo had the lowest walk rate (1.9%). His 8.3% strikeout rate was fourth-lowest. No hitter put more balls into play overall.
]]>Weiss, 32, has never appeared in a big league game for the Twins. He was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in February and then began the season on the IL due to a teres major strain, getting transferred to the 60-day version in early April. He recently began a rehab assignment, making five appearances in the minors since the end of June. He was going to need to retake a spot on the 40-man roster but the Twins decided to put him on waivers instead.
Since he passed through unclaimed, he’ll stick in the organization as depth without taking up a roster spot. He doesn’t have three years of service time, nor does he have a previous career outright, meaning he can’t elect free agency.
The Twins will therefore get to keep a guy who has put up some intriguing numbers in recent years. Over 2022 and 2023, he tossed 27 1/3 innings in the majors with a 3.29 earned run average. His 11.4% walk rate was on the high side but he struck out 28.9% of batters. In that same period, he also tossed 91 1/3 innings in the minors with a 4.93 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate.
Weiss will report to St. Paul and try to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster. If he succeeds in doing so, he still has two options and less than a year of service time.
]]>Tonkin, 34, returns to the organization that originally drafted him in the 30th round back in 2008. He’s pitched in the D-backs, Brewers, Braves and Mets organizations since originally leaving the Twins, in addition to stints in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the Mexican League and the independent Atlantic League.
Though he pitched just four innings with the Mets, Tonkin spent the entirety of the 2023 season in the Braves’ bullpen, working to a 4.28 ERA with a solid 23.1% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate in 80 innings of relief. That marked his first MLB experience since 2017. Overall, Tonkin has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons. He carries a career 4.38 ERA with strikeout and walk rates that closely mirror his 2023 levels in Atlanta.
Tonkin originally signed a split one-year deal with the Mets, which calls for just a $1MM base salary. The Twins will owe him the prorated portion of that sum for any time spent on the big league roster, though he’ll have a different rate of pay in the minors if Minnesota designates him for assignment, passes him through waivers and outrights him to Triple-A St. Paul. He’s out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent down unless going through that waiver process first.
The Twins have several relievers on the injured list, most notably including Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar and Justin Topa. None of those injuries are expected to require long-term absences, but Tonkin will add a veteran arm to a group that’s been tested more early on than the front office would’ve hoped. If he can get on track and carve out a role in the Twins’ bullpen, he’s technically controllable through the 2026 season via arbitration.
Kepler fouled a ball into his leg recently, creating the contusion that’s currently hobbling him. The 31-year-old is out to a poor start at the plate, having gone just 1-for-20 with a walk and six strikeouts. Kepler had a prolonged slump during the 2023 season as well, struggling badly in May and for most of June before catching fire late that month. He closed out the season hitting .297/.368/.545 with 17 home runs in his final 326 plate appearances. That torrid run erased any doubt that might’ve been rising regarding his $10MM club option for the 2024 season.
With Kepler on the shelf, the Twins can go with fellow lefty swingers Matt Wallner and Alex Kirilloff in the outfield corners — presumably with Wallner in right field. Right-handed-hitting Manuel Margot will work into the mix against lefty starters, and the Twins could also mix in utility players Willi Castro and Austin Martin.
]]>1:00pm: Twins closer Jhoan Duran, lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar, and rotation hopeful Anthony DeSclafani will open the season on the 15-day injured list, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Duran is dealing with a “moderate” oblique strain, while Thielbar will head to the IL with a strained hamstring. DeSclafani has a more ominous forearm strain and is slated to meet with Dr. Keith Meister for further evaluation.
Beyond that trio of surefire big leaguers, the Twins will also see prospect Matt Canterino and roster hopeful Zack Weiss start on the injured list, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Canterino, long one of the organization’s most promising arms, will be on the Triple-A injured list after suffering a subscapular strain in his shoulder. Weiss, a waiver claim out of the Red Sox organization, has been rehabbing a teres major strain and will be on the major league injured list.
Losing Duran even for a short spell is painful for the Twins, given the flamethrower’s emergence as one of MLB’s premier relievers. Since making his big league debut on Opening Day 2022, Duran has pitched 130 innings of 2.15 ERA ball with 35 saves, 19 holds, a 33.2% strikeout rate, a 7.9% walk rate and a massive 63.4% ground-ball rate. He averaged a ludicrous 101.8 mph on his heater last season and 98.4 mph with his splitter/sinker hybrid (“splinker”). The good news for the Twins is that a moderate strain shouldn’t result in excessively lengthy absence, but even Grade 1 strains have been known to sideline players for upwards of a month. The team hasn’t formally announced a timetable for Duran’s expected return just yet.
Wit Duran sidelined, it’ll likely fall to Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart to handle save situations early in the season. Jax has become one of Duran’s top setup men in recent years and offers an above-average strikeout rate and strong command of a slider-heavy arsenal. Stewart returned from a yearslong MLB absence and multiple arm surgeries brandishing an upper-90s cutter that helped him punch out nearly 36% of his opponents while pitching to a 0.65 ERA in 27 2/3 innings for the Twins last saeson.
The 37-year-old Thielbar has flown under the radar since returning to affiliated ball following a five-year absence in 2020, but he’s quietly been one of the team’s most important relievers in that time. Over the past four seasons, the Minnesota native has given his hometown club 174 innings of 3.21 ERA ball, piling up 45 holds while punching out 30.2% of his opponents against a 7.4% walk rate. He struggled against right-handers last season, yielding a .258/.319/.621 batting line, but Thielbar didn’t have glaring struggles against righties from 2020-22. As with Duran, they’ll hope for a relatively brief absence, but the team hasn’t given any specifics on how long he’s expected to miss just yet.
Word of DeSclafani’s injury is the most concerning of the three. Acquired from the Mariners (who’d picked him up from the Giants previously) as part of the trade sending Jorge Polanco to Seattle, DeSclafani had been in the running to open the season as the Twins’ fifth starter. He was slowed early in camp by some discomfort and is now headed for evaluation with one of the sport’s more notable surgeons.
DeSclafani has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. He missed the entire 2017 season with a UCL sprain that never required surgery, pitched a mostly healthy year in 2018 and enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career with the Reds in 2019. A teres major strain hobbled him in 2020 and limited him to 33 2/3 innings of 7.22 ERA ball, however. DeSclafani bounced back with a bit 2021 season in San Francisco, working 167 2/3 frames of 3.17 ERA ball over a mostly full slate of 31 starts.
DeSclafani re-signed in San Francisco on a three-year, $36MM deal that hasn’t at all gone according to plan. An ankle injury that eventually required surgery limited him to 19 frames in 2022. Shoulder fatigue and a pair of flexor strains capped him at 99 2/3 frames in 2023. He’ll now be slowed to begin the 2024 season, though a timeline won’t be known until that appointment with Dr. Meister has taken place.
The Twins are only the hook for $4MM of DeSclafani’s $12MM salary. The Giants sent $6MM to the Mariners in their original trade involving DeSclafani, and the M’s sent that plus another $2MM to Minnesota in the Polanco swap. With DeSclafani headed to the injured list, right-hander Louie Varland should have the fifth spot in the rotation all but locked up. He’ll follow Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack and Bailey Ober in what should be a solid Twins staff if everyone can remain healthy. However, the Twins will undoubtedly feel the losses of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda, particularly now with their top depth option shelved. In the event of additional pitching injuries, Minnesota would likely turn to one of Simeon Woods Richardson, Brent Headrick or yet-to-debut top prospect David Festa.
As for the others, Canterino is still working his way back from 2022 Tommy John surgery. Injuries have regularly slowed him since being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft. Between shaky health and the scrapped 2020 minor league season, he’s still pitched only 85 professional innings. They’ve been excellent — 1.48 ERA, 39.2% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate — but his persistent injury troubles have undercut his considerable upside. As for Weiss, he’s pitched just 27 1/3 MLB frames but has a history of strong strikeout totals in the minors. He could be a bullpen option for the Twins at some point, but for now he’ll collect MLB service and pay while rehabbing. For a 32-year-old with just 91 days of big league service to this point in his career, that’s not insignificant.
It seems unlikely that the Twins will go outside the organization to boost their depth — at least in term of significant salary additions. Owner Joe Pohlad all but declared his team out on top names like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery earlier in camp when stating that his team was not going to “go out and spend $30MM on a player right now.” The Twins shocked baseball with a pair of Carlos Correa signings that came together under similar circumstances, but it doesn’t seem there’s another splash of that magnitude up their sleeves. Minnesota was reportedly interested in Michael Lorenzen earlier in the offseason, so it’s possible they could still circle back on that front. More likely is that they’ll just ride things out with internal options, perhaps adding a veteran on a minor league deal. A particularly lengthy absence for DeSclafani could create some extra urgency, so the results of his evaluation are worth tracking with a close eye for Twins fans.
]]>Weiss, 32 in June, has made 24 major league appearances over the past two seasons with the Angels and Red Sox. In 27 1/3 innings, he’s allowed 3.29 earned runs per nine. He’s paired a strong 29% strikeout rate with a high 11.4% walk rate. He notably leans heavily on his breaking stuff, with Statcast characterizing 63.7% of his pitchers last year as sliders and another 7.1% as cutters. Opponents hit just .121 off the slider and and couldn’t muster a hit against the cutter.
Weiss was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox last year and now the Twins, suggesting clubs are interested in his stuff. He’ll likely need to improve his command a bit but he still has a couple of options and can be kept in the minors as depth until he better harnesses his stuff or is needed at the big league level.
Thompson, 26 in June, is a speedster with questions around his hitting ability. One of the fastest players in the league, he has 22 steals in 27 tries over the past two years but has hit just .242/.286/.305, pairing a 4.6% walk rate with a 29.9% strikeout rate. Since August of last year, he has gone from the Rangers to the Royals, Reds, Yankees and Twins via waiver claims. He still has a couple of options and could be valuable to other clubs as an optionable role player, as his speed naturally helps him both with baserunning and in running down balls in the outfield.
Duarte, 27, has also been a mainstay of the transaction logs this offseason, having gone from the Reds to the Rangers in a cash deal and then to the Twins via a waiver claim. He tossed 31 2/3 innings with the Reds last year with a solid 3.69 ERA. He got grounders on half the balls in play he allowed but only struck out 16.9% of opponents while giving out walks at a 14.7% clip. A .218 batting average on balls in play and 81.6% strand rate helped to keep runs off the board, which is why his 5.84 FIP and 5.52 SIERA weren’t nearly as exciting.
But his Triple-A work has been much more interesting. In 35 innings at that level last year, he posted a 3.34 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 51.8% ground ball rate. He still has one option year remaining and could serve as optionable bullpen depth, which is why various clubs around the league have acquired him this offseason.
Balazovic, 25, was a fifth-round pick of the Twins in 2016 and shot up prospect lists as he climbed the minor league ladder. In 2019, he posted a combined 2.69 ERA between Single-A and High-A and Baseball America ranked him the #95 prospect in the league going into 2020. The minors were canceled by the pandemic that year but the righty got a roster spot in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He proceeded fairly well in 2021, as he made 20 Double-A starts with a 3.62 ERA, but things seemed to come off the rails the year after that. He was lit up for a 7.39 ERA in 22 Triple-A appearances in 2022, with Baseball America highlighting that his stuff had diminished in terms of velocity.
Last year, he and the Twins were surely hoping for some kind of bounceback, but things got off to an ominous start. It was reported in February that he had a broken jaw due to “an altercation away from the field.” He eventually returned to health and made his major league debut, with a 4.44 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. But he struck out just 15.7% of hitters in that time while walking 11.1%. In 45 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, he had a 5.32 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate, 15.2% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate.
He is now out of options and would have needed an active roster spot if the Twins wanted to hang onto him. It seems they weren’t prepared to do that, so he has been bumped off the 40-man entirely. He’s likely to draw interest from somewhere based on his former top prospect status. The results of late weren’t pretty but he was still getting strikeouts and grounders in the minors last year. But any club looking to acquire him would need to deal with his out-of-options status once the season begins.
]]>In parts of three seasons with the White Sox, Gonzalez is a .222/.239/.361 hitter with five homers and seven steals in 239 plate appearances. Gonzalez’s approach at the plate has been a major issue, however. He’s walked in just 2.1% of his plate appearances against a jarring 36% strikeout rate. On pitches within the strike zone, Gonzalez’s 83.3% contact rate is just slightly under league average. However, his 50.2% contact rate on pitches off the plate is tied for 543 among the 593 hitters who’ve taken at least 200 plate appearances over the past three seasons. That lack of contact on pitches off the plate is exacerbated by the fact that only 39 hitters in that same group of 593 have chased off the plate more frequently than Gonzalez (41.5%).
Big league troubles notwithstanding, Gonzalez has been a reasonably productive hitter in the upper minors. He batted .267/.355/.502 in his lone season at the Double-A level and is a .251/.332/.451 hitter in parts of two Triple-A seasons. When he has made contact in the big leagues, it’s also typically been loud. Gonzalez has averaged 90.4 mph off the bat and put 45% of his batted balls in play at 95 mph or greater.
Defensively, Gonzalez is capable of playing all over the diamond but has spent the bulk of his time at shortstop (847 innings), at second base (616) and in left field (579). He has a pair of minor league option years remaining, too, making him a flexible bench option for the Red Sox for the foreseeable future, however long they choose to continue carrying him on the 40-man roster.
Boston claimed the 31-year-old Weiss off waivers from the Angels back in late August. He spent the remainder of the 2023 campaign in manager Alex Cora’s bullpen, pitching 8 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a pair of runs on three hits and four walks with eight punchouts. Weiss has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons dating back to his 2018 debut and carries a 4.61 earned run average with an impressive 28% strikeout rate but an ugly 12.7% walk rate in 27 1/3 MLB frames.
Those K/BB numbers are near-mirror images of the rates he’s posted in Triple-A (28.2% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate). Weiss averages 94.3 mph on his heater and generates tons of whiffs on his slider, which he threw at a 70% clip in his limited MLB action this past season. His overall 13.9% swinging-strike rate and 33% opponents’ chase rate in his three big league cups of coffee are both intriguing, but those traits are undercut by his lackluster command.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Weiss, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.
]]>MLB Trade Rumors readers are also familiar with Imanaga from our NPB Players To Watch series, as Dai Takegami Podziewski has regularly written about the southpaw as Imanaga looks to be on the verge of heading to the majors. Imanaga will draw plenty of attention from pitching-needy teams, and the Sox certainly figure to make rotation upgrades a major part of their offseason plan under their next head of baseball operations. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the top name available among NPB pitchers this winter, but with at least ten MLB clubs (including the Red Sox) interested in Yamamoto’s services, it is possible Imanaga might be something of a solid backup plan for teams that either can’t land Yamamoto or can’t afford his big price tag.
More from Fenway Park…
Weiss, 31, has been on the Angels’ roster just under a year now, getting added last September. Since that time, he’s been an up-and-down depth arm, getting frequently optioned to the minors. He has thrown 18 2/3 major league innings in that time with a 3.86 earned run average. He struck out 30.9% of batters faced but also walked 11.1%.
He’s spent more time this year in Triple-A, tossing 37 1/3 innings with a 6.03 ERA. He walked 14% of hitters at that level but struck out 29.2%. Those control issues pushed him off the Angels’ roster but the Red Sox will see if they can help him rein in that command and get better results. He can still be optioned for two more seasons after this one and has yet to reach one year of major league service time, meaning they can cheaply retain him for the foreseeable future as long as he continues to hold a spot on the 40-man.
Kluber’s transfer is little more than a formality since he’s already been on the injured list for more than 60 days at this point, having landed there in June due to right shoulder inflammation. He’s eligible to return whenever healthy but he was shut down in late July after experiencing a setback. There’s been no public reporting to indicate he’s close to a return and may have trouble getting back on the mound this year with just over a month left on the schedule.
]]>Weiss, 31, was first added to the Angels’ roster in September of last year. In that span of just under a full year, he’s served as a frequently-optioned depth arm for the club, tossing 18 2/3 innings in the majors, allowing 3.86 earned runs per nine frames in that time. He struck out 30.9% of batters faced but also walked 11.1%.
This year, he’s spent the majority of his time in Triple-A, tossing 37 1/3 innings with a 6.03 ERA. That’s been in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but Weiss has still walked 14% of opponents, which hasn’t helped matters. It seems those control issues have nudged him off the roster. Since the trade deadline went by long ago, the Angels will have to put Weiss on waivers in the coming days. Despite his struggles with the free passes, he’s always had decent strikeout numbers to go with and could perhaps garner interest from other clubs.
He has less than a year of service time and a full slate of options, which could appeal to a club in search of some depth and with the ability to have some long-term patience. If he were to clear waivers, he lacks the previous career outright and three years of major league service necessary to elect free agency, though he would qualify for minor league free agency if not on a roster at season’s end.
Marte, 27, will take that roster spot from Weiss. He was placed on the injured list in March due to a right elbow stress reaction and has only just now been activated. He’s a similar pitcher to Weiss, in that he generally pair high strikeout numbers with high walk totals. In 15 major league innings, he’s punched out 26.3% of opponents while giving free passes to 27.6% in that small sample. In Triple-A last year, he had a 29.5% strikeout rate and 14.7% walk rate.
]]>Moronta, 30, made his big league debut for the Giants in 2017. He would remain a part of the club’s bullpen mix until 2021, when the club outrighted the righty off the roster, leading him to declare free agency. During his time with the Giants, Moronta excelled on the mound, with a 2.65 ERA that was 52% better than league average by ERA+ and 3.44 FIP in 132 1/3 innings of work. Despite the excellent results leading him to be seen a quality late-inning option, the Giants elected to part ways with the right-hander after shoulder surgery, which cost Moronta his entire 2020 season, proved to have sapped his velocity. While he averaged 97.2 mph on his four-seamer in 2019, the pitch’s velocity had dropped more than three ticks to just 93.9 mph when Moronta returned to the mound in 2021.
Following his departure from San Francisco, Reyes spent 2022 as a member of the Dodgers and Diamondbacks organizations, with a 4.30 ERA and 4.41 FIP in 37 2/3 innings of work. Despite the downturn in performance, he secured a minor league deal with the Rangers during the offseason, though the club released him once it was clear he would not make the roster out of camp. That led him to sign a minor league deal with the Angels earlier this month. Now, Moronta join the Halos’ bullpen just ten days after signing with the organization.
Webb, meanwhile, posted a 2.47 ERA over 76 2/3 innings of work as a member of the Braves from 2019-2021, though a 3.99 FIP indicates there was some good luck baked into those excellent top line results. Webb did not appear in the majors last season, posting a 6.06 ERA in 35 2/3 innings during an injury-plagued 2022 campaign. Webb elected free agency during the offseason, eventually signing with the Angels on a minor league deal. While Webb has struggled to a 6.75 ERA in 17 1/3 innings of work so far for Salt Lake this season, the Angels will hope he can get things back on track in the major league bullpen going forward.
The pair of right-handers are joined in the Angels bullpen by Loup, who is returning from the injured list after suffering a hamstring injury earlier this season. Loup signed a two-year, $17MM deal with the Angels ahead of the 2022 season, and delivered a 3.84 ERA with a 3.76 FIP in 58 2/3 innings of work last season. Now in his age-35 season, Loup struggled in nine innings of work this year prior to his injury, posting a 7.00 ERA on nine hits and seven walks (two of which were intentional) against just eight strikeouts. Of course, the veteran lefty came into the 2023 campaign with a career ERA of just 3.15 over his eleven previous seasons in the majors, leaving the Angels with reason for optimism he can turn things around and join Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore as a late-inning option going forward.
The 27-year-old Wantz has performed the best this season of the three righties ticketed for Triple-A, with a 3.32 ERA in 21 2/3 innings so far this season. Herget, 29, has struggled to a 4.38 ERA in 12 1/3 innings so far this season after posting a sterling 2.48 ERA in 69 innings of work for the Angels last season. Weiss, meanwhile, made just two appearances for the Angels prior to his demotion, with three hits, a home run, and a walk against two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of work. All three figure to be depth options for the Angels’ bullpen going forward.
]]>MAY 14: The Angels have designated right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera for assignment, per a team announcement. Taking Tepera’s place on the active roster will be right-hander Zack Weiss, who was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move.
Tepera, 35, signed a two-year, $14MM contract with the Angels prior to the 2022 season. At the time, Tepera was coming off of a dominant season in Chicago, where he posted a 2.79 ERA (154 ERA+) with a matching 2.73 FIP over 61 1/3 innings split between the Cubs and White Sox. While Tepera was solid in his first season with the Angels, he didn’t quite live up to that promise, posting a 3.61 ERA (113 ERA+) with a 4.21 FIP over 57 1/3 innings of work.
The 2023 campaign has been nothing short of a disaster for Tepera so far, however. In ten appearances, the veteran righty has allowed nine runs (seven earned) in just 8 2/3 innings of work. While Tepera has a decent 21.7% strikeout rate and an excellent 6.5% walk rate so far this season, and a massive .448 BABIP certainly contributed to his struggles, Tepera had already allowed two home runs this season after allowing just 11 over his past 118 2/3 innings of work.
Tepera’s struggles were enough for the Angels to pull the plug despite the club still owing him $7MM for the 2023 campaign. At this point, it’s all but assured that Tepera will clear waivers, allowing him to sign with another club that would only owe Tepera the pro-rated big league minimum while the Angels continue to pay down his 2023 salary.
With Tepera off the roster, the Angels still have plenty of solid options for the back of their bullpen, with Carlos Estevez, Matt Moore, Jaime Barria and Andrew Wantz all having excelled to this point in the season. They’ll be joined by Weiss, 31 next month, who posted a solid 3.38 ERA (123 ERA+) with a 4.16 FIP in 13 1/3 innings for the Angels last season. Weiss’s stint with the Angels last season was just his second in the big leagues, as he debuted with the Reds in 2018 but failed to record an out in the appearance while surrendering four runs.
]]>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
]]>Duggar, 28, was a sixth-rounder with the Giants back in 2015 and had some solid showings in San Francisco. He never established himself as a consistent presence in their outfield, however, in part due to injury troubles. Duggar suffered a torn labrum that required surgery in 2018, ending his rookie campaign. He avoided surgery on a second shoulder injury, sustained in August of 2019, but that issue still ended his season.
Duggar received minimal playing time in the shortened 2020 season but returned with a career-best .257/.330/.437 batting line in 297 trips to the plate in 2021. That success hasn’t carried over to the current campaign, however. He’s appeared with three different teams this season and batted .153/.225/.222 in 80 trips to the plate. Duggar, who’s capable of playing all three outfield spots, has already been traded once and claimed off waivers this season, so it’s possible there’s another club out there who’ll be interested in carrying him on the 40-man roster once he hits waivers. That outcome is a formality at this point; he’s ineligible to be traded and thus will be placed on outright or release waivers in the coming week.
Rojas, 29, has appeared in 83 games with the Halos over the past two seasons but managed just a .188/.245/.339 batting line in 241 plate appearances. He’s a .277/.344/.524 hitter in parts of four Triple-A campaigns, however, and has a minor league option remaining beyond this year, which enhances his appeal. Rojas also has notable amounts of experience in both outfield corners and at every infield slot other than shortstop, although he doesn’t have strong defensive grades at any of those spots in mostly limited MLB action.
Aguilar, 28 later this month, made his big league debut this year as a replacement player during the Angels’ series in Toronto. He’s in his first season with the Angels organization after spending his career in the Brewers system. Through 342 plate appearances of Double-A ball, he’s slashed .280/.427/.517 with 15 homers, 13 doubles, two triples and 11 steals.
Weiss, 30, is also in his first season with the Angels organization. The former Reds farmhand signed a minor league deal in the offseason and has turned in 50 innings of 4.50 ERA ball with a 29.7% strikeout rate against a 9.6% walk rate. Weiss received an extremely brief cup of coffee with the 2018 Reds but did not retire any of the four batters he faced (two walks, two home runs allowed). He’ll obviously hope for a shot at redemption four years after the fact.
]]>Guilmet, 31, tossed 10 big league innings between the Cardinals and Blue Jays this past season but was tagged for 13 runs in that time. He was virtually unhittable with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Memphis, though, pitching to a 0.93 ERA with a 35-to-5 K/BB ratio in 29 innings of work there. Guilmet has struggled in parts of four big league seasons, albeit in just 33 total innings of work. He also spent the 2017 campaign pitching for Japan’s Yakult Swallows, where he turned in a solid 3.62 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 54 2/3 innings of relief.
Weiss, 26, made his big league debut with the Reds in 2018 but appeared in just one game without recording an out. He’ll hope for a better outcome with the Twins — just his second professional organization after spending six years with the Reds, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2013 draft. Weiss’ career has been slowed by injuries, most notably Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2016 season, but he’s averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings pitched across 221 2/3 minor league innings while working to a 2.88 ERA.
Cesar, 24 in January, hit .296/.348/.428 with 10 homers for Houston’s Double-A affiliate while splitting his time evenly between first and third base in 2018. Harper, 30 in Spring Training, pitched to a 3.60 ERA with 86 strikeouts against just 10 walks in 65 innings between the Twins’ Double-A and Triple-A clubs this past season. The 27-year-old Sawyer batted .257/.387/.347 in a limited sample of 124 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A with the Twins in ’18.
]]>Weiss, 26, has never known any organization other than the Reds. The organization drafted him in the sixth round all the way back in 2013, and he’s come up through their system as a reliever. His only major-league appearance, however, was an unmitigated disaster. On April 12th, Weiss faced the Cardinals and allowed four earned runs on a pair of walks and a pair of homers without recording a single out.
Even in the minors, Weiss has exhibited extreme control issues. At Triple-A this season, he walked 15 batters in just 11 1/3 innings pitched en route to a 12.27 BB/9, while also allowing 11 earned runs in that span. There’s at least some cause for intrigue surrounding the righty, though, as he managed 11.89 K/9 across 28 Double-A innings last year. His ERA in that span came out to a respectable 2.89, and if Weiss can harness some of that ability at the major-league level, he’d certainly be a useful arm to a major-league club.
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