Roster Crunch Takes It Toll
With many teams trying to protect guys from the Rule 5 draft deadline tonight at 8pm ET, there were a handful of players around the MLB who were designated for assignment today.
The Oakland A’s have DFA’d Jharel Cotton. The 27-year-old has not pitched in the majors in over two years as he looks to get back to the successful pitcher he was in 2016 when he had a 2.19 ERA in 29 innings.
The Kansas City Royals have announced they have DFA’d four players, outfielder Jorge Bonifacio, catcher Nick Dini, pitcher Connor Greene, and pitcher Arnaldo Hernandez. Bonifacio is the headliner as he had spent the 2017 season as the team’s primary right fielder before a 80 game PED suspension and subsequent lackluster performance has left him expendable.
Dominic Leone has been DFA’d by the St. Louis Cardinals. The right-hander has pitched to a 5.15 ERA in 64 innings as a Cardinal since being acquired from the Blue Jays.
Another casualty of a roster crunch was Nick Goody of the Cleveland Indians. His DFA comes as a little bit of a surprise considering his stellar 2017 season, missing most of 2018 with injury, and his 2019 which resulted in a 3.54 ERA in 40 innings of work. His projected arbitration salary of 1.1 million dollars could have played a part in Cleveland’s thinking as well.
The New York Yankees have designated Greg Bird for assignment. Injuries have had a large impact on the 27-year-old’s career as he has missed plenty of time since his debut in 2015.
With three minor league options left it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team make a trade or claim on the first baseman. The Yankees also announced that they have released center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury . This brings an end to what can only be considered one of the worst free agent signings of recent years.
Other players of note who have been DFA’d by their teams. Taylor Guerrieri (Rangers), Wei-Yin Chen (Marlins), Matt Duffy (Rays), and Nick Martini (Padres).
Rays Make Some Deals
The Cincinnati Reds have traded for Jose de Leon of the Tampa Bay Rays for cash and a player to be named later. Once one of the top pitching prospects in baseball de Leon has struggled in the majors, yet after missing the 2018 season with Tommy John surgery he put together a good season in 2019 with the Durham Bulls.
Tampa Bay was also involved in a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies sending Cristopher Sanchez to the town of brotherly love in exchange for minor league infielder Curtis Mead.
Parra Takes Ring to Japan
Fresh off winning the World Series with the Washington Nationals outfielder Gerardo Parra has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball per Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker On Twitter. No word yet on if he will be taking “Baby Shark” with him.
Teams added to Chirinos market
In addition to the New York Mets, catcher Robinson Chirinos has a few other teams interested in his services. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that the Houston Astros are looking to bring him back.
He also says that the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds could be in the mix for the 35-year-old.
