photo: Tyson Ross (Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports)
St. Louis Cardinals announcement on Sunday, August 5:
The #STLCards announced today that they have claimed RHP Tyson Ross off waivers from San Diego. He will join the team in Miami.
The former National League All-Star was 6-9 with a 4.45 ERA (123.1 IP) and 107 strikeouts in 22 starts for San Diego this season. pic.twitter.com/nGo3LGKzmz
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 5, 2018
Brian Walton’s take
Even before Adam Wainiwright, Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha were injured, the Cardinals needed starters to log innings and Ross will fit that bill. The open question is how effective he will be.
Ross got off to a good start in 2018 before stumbling recently. Specifically, in his first 16 starts, he posted a 3.32 ERA to go with 90 strikeouts and 35 walks in 95 innings. However, since the start of July, his ERA is 8.26 with the walks up and strikeouts down, both at 17, over 28 1/3 innings and six starts.
In October 2016, Ross underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition that hastened the end of Chris Carpenter’s career and contributed to the decline in effectiveness of Jaime Garcia and even more recently, Matt Harvey.
The Padres non-tendered Ross that December, and he signed with Texas for 2017. He was released by the Rangers last September after logging a 7.71 ERA in 49 innings. The 31-year old returned to San Diego for 2018 on a minor league deal worth just $1.75 million plus incentives if he was in the majors.
Based on the waiver claim, St. Louis will assume the remaining salary of about a half-million dollars for this season, which is low, but also has to pay $200,000 per start from 20 through 29. Ross is currently at 22, so add another $1.4 million to the commitment if he makes seven more starts. He can return to the free agent market in the fall.
After last week’s flurry of deals, the Cardinals had two open 40-man roster spots. Ross will use one. It remains to be seen who will get sent down to Memphis when he is added to the 25-man active roster. Perhaps one of the starters from among the trio of Austin Gomber, Daniel Poncedeleon and Dakota Hudson will be returned to Triple-A on Monday.
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