The Cards announced the following transaction this morning:
12/9/21: Activated RHP Johan Quezada from the COVID-19 related IL. To make room in the 40-man roster, RHP Junior Fernandez switched from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. 40-man squad still full.
This transaction is largely a procedural step as it does not affect the active squad of the big league club, but is still worth discussing. Quezada bought the cards from the Phillies in a direct money trade a week before the pitcher and catcher reported on the 2021 spring training. I wrote about trading here and stated that while Quezada has been in organized baseball since the 2013 season, he actually has very little experience. Prior to the 2020 season, he had only played 37 games above rookie ball and none above the high-A level. Somehow the Marlins pushed Quezada out of the bullpen for 3 games last September, even though he had never played in AA or AAA. Since he was sent to the alternate training ground so late in the season, he couldn’t spend the necessary 20 days on option to burn an option.
Quezada was put up for election to the minors as part of the first squad cuts in Spring 2021 training and was initially assigned to the alternate training location prior to the start of the AAA Memphis Minor League season, but was given a lat injury on the day the season should begin. This injury made him pass out for about two months. Quezada made 3 rehab appearances at the Card’s Complex League Club before being assigned to AA Springfield. He was only able to put up six games before the Springfield club experienced a COVID outbreak that also claimed five other players. Quezada has been included in the COVID-19-related IL, a move that has also been reported in the media as being placed in the Springfield 60-day IL with a COVID tag. Either way, it cleared a 40-man squad seat for the cards. That cost Quezada about another month, and most recently, starting this month, he spent four games with the Complex League club on another rehab assignment. He is now being added to Springfield’s active list to see if he can get some work before the end of the season. That move required the cards to vacate a 40-man squad room and the club responded by moving Junior Fernandez to the 60-day IL, an easy move since Fernandez will be out for the year. Fernandez joins Ryan Helsley, Jordan Hicks, Dakota Hudson, Carlos Martinez and Max Moroff to make six cards on the 60-day IL.
It’s hard to make something of Quezada’s 2021 season because he’s only thrown 7.2 innings in six games with Springfield. At that level, he was BABIPd in the yard on a .520 tune, allowed 2 homers, and run 5 to 11 strikeouts in those 7.2 innings. He’s spent more time with the Complex League club on a rehab assignment than he has at a reasonable level. Quezada dominated there, but you’d expect a 27-year-old approaching 100mph on his fastball to make those kids glow.
The most interesting thing about Quezada is where he stands on his minor league options. He turned 27 at the end of August, but has not spent any significant time above the level of Class A-Advanced. Quezada spent parts of 5 seasons at rookie-level short-season clubs and lost the entire 2017 season to shoulder surgery. Remember when I went over the explanation of why Justin Williams was eligible for a fourth minor league option in 2021? In this article, I went through the rest of the list of cardinals and outlined how the umpire’s decision would affect other players. Because Quezada spent so much time either being injured or only playing for short-season clubs, the only qualified season Quezada had that year for the purposes of the fourth option rule was 2019. His 2013-2016 seasons did not include because they were all in the rookie ball. His 2017 didn’t count because he didn’t play due to an injury. His 2018 didn’t count because he started in the rookie ball that season too and didn’t have 90 days in an active squad. And his 2020 didn’t count because he was only in the Major League squad for a few days. The only season that mattered was 2019, where Quezada spent the whole year with the Fort Myers Miracle in the Florida State League.
Even at the start of this season, Quezada would have been eligible for a fourth minor league option in 2024 if all three of its options were burned in 2021, 2022 and 2023. As it turns out, the 2021 season will not be a qualifying season for Quezada. be either. The injury list time is only counted towards the 90-day requirement if it is followed by at least 30 days on an active duty roster. And Quezada doesn’t have that because he was inducted into the IL at the start of the minor league season and has only spent 6 days in an active squad so far. Quezada has already burned his option for 2021. If his remaining two options are burned in the next two years, he will still get a fourth option for 2024. But suppose the cards used his option in 2022, and don’t burn the third option in 2023. If they do his third Use option in 2024, he will be eligible for a fourth option in 2025, as he will still only have completed four qualified minor league seasons at that point. Quezada is just an interesting case because he is so old for his level, still has so many options and could be under the control of the team for a long time. Who knows if his talent will ever shine.
There could be another change in the 40-man squad towards the end of the year. If Dakota Hudson is inducted into the Major League bullpen, you will almost certainly see Wade LeBlanc transfer to the 60-day IL to make room as it has been announced that LeBlanc has been closed for the season. Kodi Whitley would likely be the active roster in this case. In that case, if Jack Flaherty somehow manages to make it back, the club wouldn’t need another 40-man roster trim as Flaherty is only on the 10-day IL. The active squad trim in this situation would be much more difficult as at that point the cards would almost have no players left to choose.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/12/ta-9-12-21-quezada-off-covid-19-related-il-fernandez-to-60-day-il/
No comments:
Post a Comment