Cardinals DFA Reliever Luke Gregerson to Clear Roster Spot for Carlos Martinez
By Adam Weinrib
Former Cardinals ace Carlos Martinez is finally back, and his destination is the bullpen (though who knows where he'll end up by end of season?).
In order to get one of the team's most electric options reinstated, however, the Cards had to make a difficult decision, and bite the bullet on a free agent addition that hasn't come close to working out.
Luke Gregerson, a year-plus into a disappointing tenure, has been designated for assignment.
Cardinals Designate Luke Gregerson, Option Dominic Leone https://t.co/TR5G2605lm pic.twitter.com/Z0DrKHQHEi
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) May 17, 2019
Gregerson, signed to a two-year, $11 million deal with a 2020 team-option (good luck with that!), will now be cut loose, sporting ERAs over 7.00 in both of his two seasons in St. Louis, albeit in limited duty.
His 2018 was derailed by arthroscopic surgery on his torn meniscus in mid-June, and he opened a comeback attempt in 2019 by coming down with a right shoulder impingement.
Granted, flights from STL to the Dallas area have been, um, unreliable (at least for one traveler) today, but Carlos Martinez did travel from here to there to join #Cardinals during series, as Hummel reports: https://t.co/ZG2zxixEKi #MLB #stlcards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 17, 2019
The man was simply never right, and though he was such an important cog to so many effective Astros teams, St. Louis knew the right time to cut their losses here.