On February 7, the Cardinals trade RHP Guillermo Zuñiga to the Angels in exchange for cash.
After free-agent reliever Keynan Middleton signed, Zuñiga was designated for assignment late last week. The Angels acquired him on Wednesday for monetary considerations, the team confirmed.
After spending time in the Braves and Dodgers Minor League systems, Zuñiga was signed by the Cardinals in December of last year. During the World Baseball Classic last spring, he made waves by consistently throwing pitches that reached triple digits while playing for Colombia. In one WBC match, he faced Team USA and struck out Paul Goldschmidt, who would later be a Cardinal, and Nolan Arenado. For a brief while, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Zuñiga gave the Cardinals hope that he would be a late-inning reliever in their bullpen in 2023.
But in 2023, he only had two appearances in the major leagues, recording six strikeouts in that time. Due to right elbow soreness, he was placed on the 15-day injured list on August 27. He would ultimately end the season on the 60-day IL.
RHP Keynan Middleton signed as a free agent on February 3.
Middleton is the tenth outside pitcher the Cardinals have added this offseason. He divided the 2023 season between the White Sox and Yankees. Go here to learn more about his signing.
Jan. 29: OF Moisés Gómez was assigned; 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas claimed off waivers
The Cardinals grabbed first baseman/outfielder Rivas off waivers from the Angels on Monday, looking to bolster their lineups at designated hitter, pinch-hitter, and corner infield positions.
For the purpose of making room for Rivas on the 40-man roster, the Cardinals designated Gómez for assignment. The 25-year-old Minor League slugger will be able to sign with the Cardinals again if he makes it through waivers.
The Cardinals have been looking for more left-handed hitters to complement Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, and switch hitters Tommy Edman and Dylan Carlson. Rivas, 27, is a left-handed hitter and fielder. Before making 48 appearances with the Padres and Pirates in the previous season, Rivas spent portions of two seasons with the Cubs. Throughout his 167 MLB appearances, he has amassed a slash line of.243/.324/.349/.673 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs. The fact that Rivas still has one Minor League option available probably makes him even more appealing to the Cardinals.
It so happened that Rivas and Edman were both baseball players at La Jolla Country Day High School in La Jolla, California, at the same time. While Rivas attended the University of Arizona in the Pac-12, Edman, 28, continued his baseball career at Stanford.
Gómez was added to the Cards’ 40-man roster in the 2022 offseason after hitting 39 home runs and driving in 94 runs in Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. However, due to the club’s struggles and injury problems during the season, Gómez was frequently passed over for an MLB promotion. Gómez hit.232 with 30 home runs and 79 RBIs with Triple-A Memphis in the previous season. It was his 180 strikeouts, 52 walks, and.293 on-base percentage that was the problem.
