Right hand rays Erasmo Ramírez he was withdrawn after being selected for assignment on Wednesday. While the veteran has more than enough service time to test free agency, Tampa Bay announced that he is accepting a direct assignment to Triple-A Durham.
Ramírez seems comfortable with the organization. He played for the Rays from 2015-17 and returned to a minor league contract after being released by the Nationals last summer. Ramírez made it to the majors in 15 appearances last season and signed another undrafted contract over the winter. Tampa Bay selected him to the MLB team in April.
The 34-year-old has played 11 times in the last few weeks. He allowed 10 runs (eight earned) in 16 innings of relief. While his 4.50 ERA was reasonable, he only managed a 9:6 strikeout ratio to walk and gave up four home runs. Ramírez allowed 6.41 earned runs per nine over 60 1/3 innings last year. His most recent MLB success came in 2022, when he pitched the Nats 86 1/3 frames of 2.92 ERA ball.
Shortly after Ramíez’s DFA, captain Kevin Cash praised the veteran’s professionalism and willingness to handle multiple innings (link comes from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). The Rays clearly value him as a deep arm and could call him up again at some point during the season when they need a long relief option.
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