Andrew

Wantz

The 30-year-old right-hander elected free agency from the Rays on Tuesday rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham. Wantz allowed five runs over 1 2/3 innings in his lone appearance in the big leagues this season. He’ll add extra bullpen depth for the Cubs at Triple-A Iowa.

It’s theoretically possible Wantz returns to Tampa Bay on a new minor league pact down the road. The 30-year-old will hit the free agent pool after passing through waivers unclaimed. He allowed five runs over 1 2/3 innings during his lone appearance for the Rays before being designated for assignment over the weekend.

Wantz just had his contract selected from Triple-A Durham on Friday, but after getting blasted for five runs on two hits, two walks and two hit batsmen in 1 2/3 innings, he now loses his spot on the Rays’ roster. Cam Booser was recalled from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move to replace him in the Rays’ bullpen. There’s a decent chance that Wantz slips through waivers unclaimed.

He’ll be the latest fresh arm to shuffle in to the Rays bullpen for depth innings. Wantz was 2-0 with a 7.04 ERA in 18 appearances for the Bulls.

Wantz made just one relief appearance last year for the Halos, but has recorded a strong 3.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 126/48 K/BB ratio across 118 1/3 innings (91 appearances) dating back to 2021. The 29-year-old righty handed out a ton of free passes, but also struck out nearly 32 percent of the batters he faced over 23 1/3 innings last year for Triple-A Salt Lake, which is presumably why Tampa Bay wants to get him into their pitching lab during spring training. He’s a low-risk lottery ticket for the Rays.

Wantz seemed to have the makings of a quality reliever, but the Angels moved him back to the rotation this year and he ended up undergoing elbow surgery in July. The Angels never did reveal exactly what the surgery was; it didn’t appear to be Tommy John but there is doubt about his readiness for the beginning of 2025. Marte underwent shoulder surgery in September and is also a question mark for next year.

Wantz made just one relief appearance for the Angels earlier this month before heading to the injured list and requiring season-ending surgery. The club declined to reveal the exact procedure, which certainly has an impact on our ability to estimate his return timeline. There should be some clarity on his status in the coming weeks.

This move was made to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Keston Hiura, who was added to the major league roster with Luis Rengifo going on the injured list. It’s unclear when Wantz might return from right elbow inflammation, but it won’t be anytime soon with him being transferred to the 60-day injured list.

No word yet on how long Wantz will be sidelined. The 28-year-old righty was recalled last week from Triple-A Salt Lake and made only one relief appearance before hitting the injured list.

With Zach Plesac heading back to Triple-A on Saturday, Wantz will get an opportunity to add a fresh arm to the Halos’ bullpen for the time being. The 28-year-old hurler had registered a 6.17 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and a 34/15 K/BB ratio over 23 1/3 innings in seven appearances (six starts) at Triple-A.