Brewers' recently DFA'd starting pitcher clears waivers, heads back to Triple-A Nashville

One of the overlooked obstacles that buying teams face at Major League Baseball's midseason trade deadline is the need to open roster spots, both on the active 26-man and 40-man rosters, for their acquisitions.

A season ago, this need to open roster spots at the deadline resulted in the Brewers parting ways with relievers Elvis Peguero and Bryan Hudson, both of whom were simultaneously claimed by the Chicago White Sox shortly thereafter. Though Peguero's career has stalled since then, Hudson is now an effective member of the White Sox' bullpen, with a 2.83 ERA in 49 appearances this year to prove it.

Fast forward to this season, and the Brewers' need to open roster spots for their deadline additions once again resulted in the front office designating a pitcher from their 40-man roster for assignment, despite entering the trade deadline with just 39 players on their 40-man.

The Brewers' first deadline deal, their four-player swap with the Cleveland Guardians, was a clean two-for-two trade of four players who were all on 40-man rosters, meaning neither team had to DFA any players as a result of the trade. However, since Milwaukee immediately assigned both players they acquired in the deal, Bo Naylor and Codi Heuer, to Triple-A and the two players they traded, Blake Perkins and Craig Yoho, were in the big leagues at the time, the deal opened two spots on the Brewers' active 26-man roster.

As a result, the Brewers still had just 39 players on the 40-man roster when deadline day rolled around, but after adding three big-leaguers, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, and Antonio Senzatela, while giving up only prospects who weren't on the 40-man roster, they had to part ways with two members of their 40-man roster to make room for their deadline additions. One of those players ended up being Heuer, who was flipped to the Baltimore Orioles for cash considerations. The other was two-time Brewers Minor League Pitcher of the Year Carlos Rodriguez, who was DFA'd shortly after the deadline.

However, just three days later, Rodriguez has officially cleared waivers and was subsequently outrighted to Triple-A, meaning he will remain in the Brewers' organization.

Brewers' minor league right-hander Carlos Rodriguez outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers

Given Rodriguez's track record of success in the minor leagues, the fact that he cleared waivers may come as a surprise to some, but his recent performance likely scared other teams away. Though Rodriguez was solidly above-average in Triple-A last year, pitching to a 3.82 ERA in 77.2 innings, and made four poor appearances in the majors, his 8.35 ERA in 36.2 innings with the Nashville Sounds this year suggests his effectiveness has stalled. That said, Rodriguez did appear in four big-league games at the beginning of the year and pitched to a 3.86 ERA in 9.1 innings.

With dominant seasons in 2022 and 2023 on his resume, there's still a dwindling amount of hope that Rodriguez may reach the potential he once held. His fastball velocity has been down a tick in the minor leagues, and the stuff that he flashed in his limited time with the Brewers this year was clearly a step down from where it was a season ago.

Rodriguez will rejoin the Sounds as he continues to work through his struggles and tries to regain his prior form. While retaining him as organizational depth could be viewed as a minor win for the Brewers, there's reason to believe that Rodriguez's time in the organization is quickly coming to an end.

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