Cardinals' Tom Layne: Returns to St. Louis on NRI deal
Rotowire
Layne signed a minor-league contract with the Cardinals on Monday that includes an invitation to major-league spring training.
The southpaw had trouble finding a landing spot last season after a horrible 2017 campaign in the majors. The Cardinals took a chance on him, and he responded by posting a 1.35 ERA and a 34:4 K:BB in 26 frames. Layne figures to compete for a spot in the Cardinals' bullpen during spring training, though he'll need to outperform arms like Chasen Shreve, Brett Cecil, Tyler Webb and Hunter Cervenka to avoid starting the season in the minors again.
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Cardinals' Tom Layne: Inks deal with Cardinals
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Layne agreed to a minor-league contract with St. Louis on Friday, Rob Rains of Stlsportspage.com reports.
Layne didn't make it out of spring training with Boston after appearing in 19 games with the Yankees in 2018. Over those outings, he posted an unsightly 7.62 ERA and 1.85 WHIP with a 9:8 K:BB across 13 innings of relief. The southpaw will report to Double-A Springfield and is unlikely to make an impact at the big-league level in 2018.
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Red Sox's Tom Layne: Signs minor-league deal with Red Sox
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Layne signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox on Saturday, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.
Layne is set to rejoin the Red Sox after spending the past season and a half with the Yankees. Across 19 relief appearances (13 innings) for New York last year, Layne compiled a 7.62 ERA, 1.85 WHIP and 9:8 K:BB. He's just one season removed from posting a respectable 3.63 ERA across 44.2 innings of work, so he could lock down an Opening Day bullpen role with an impressive spring, though he'll more likely spend the year as organizational bullpen depth for Boston.
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Dodgers' Tom Layne: Inks minor-league deal with Dodgers
Rotowire
Layne signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers on Wednesday.
After being cut by the Yankees on July 5, the southpaw reliever will now attempt to make his way back to the majors through the Dodgers' organization. In 13.0 innings with New York this season, Layne gave up 11 runs on 16 hits with nine strikeouts before being outrighted to Triple-A in the middle of June.
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Tom Layne: Cut loose by Yankees
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The Yankees released Layne on Wednesday, Conor Foley of The Scranton Times-Tribune reports.
The Yankees designated Layne for assignment in June, with the lefty reporting to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after being outrighted off the 40-man roster. He made five appearances with the minor-league squad, but with a return to the big club not imminent, Layne will attempt to pursue an opportunity elsewhere. As a left-handed reliever who has previously enjoyed success on some level in the big leagues, Layne shouldn't have much trouble landing a contract.
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Yankees' Tom Layne: Sent outright to Triple-A
Rotowire
Layne was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday.
The southpaw was designated for assignment Saturday, and it seems he didn't garner any interest while he was exposed to waivers after serving up 11 earned runs in 13 innings out of the Yankees' bullpen. Layne has the looks of an organizational depth piece after this development.
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Yankees' Tom Layne: Bumped from 40-man roster
Rotowire
Layne was designated for assignment by the Yankees following Saturday's game.
The Yankees decided to swap out Layne for Domingo German, who can provide more length out of the bullpen in relief of Chad Green on Sunday. Layne struggled in a specialist's role, allowing an .832 OPS to same-handed hitters, with nine strikeouts to eight walks in total.
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Yankees' Tom Layne: Called on four times
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Layne has a 3.86 ERA, two strikeouts and a hold through four appearances so far this season.
The Yankees have only played seven games thus far, so it appears they plan on calling Layne's number frequently. He's only pitched 2.1 innings in those four appearances though, and each time he came in with a left-handed hitter due up first. While he's capable of getting out righties as well, it seems as though he'll mostly be deployed as a lefty specialist, thereby limiting much of his fantasy value to his ability to rack up holds.
Layne agreed to a one-year deal with the Yankees on Friday, avoiding arbitration.
The terms of the agreement were not announced. He has settled in as a solid middle reliever over the past couple seasons, but does not bring much to the table from a fantasy perspective.
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Yankees' Tom Layne: Credited with win Thursday
Rotowire
Layne faced just one batter Thursday -- notching a strike out -- and got the win over the Rays.
Layne came into a tied game in the ninth inning with two outs for a lefty-lefty matchup, and was the beneficiary in the win column of Tyler Austin's walk off homer in the home half of the inning. The southpaw has been highly effective since joining the Yankees, as he's working on a 2.79 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in pinstripes, but he's been used on an almost exclusively matchup basis. Layne has faced just one batter in each of his last five appearances, though it's allowed him to rack up eight holds in 17 outings.
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Yankees' Tom Layne: Signs major league deal with Yanks
Rotowire
Layne signed a major league deal with the Yankees on Tuesday, the Boston Globe reports.
Released by the Red Sox on Saturday, Layne will join the Yankees and is expected to be in uniform and available Tuesday night against his former team. The 31-year-old appeared in 34 games for Boston in 2016, amassing a respectable 3.77 ERA. The Red Sox's addition of Fernando Abad at the trade deadline prompted Layne's release.
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Tom Layne: Placed on release waivers
Rotowire
The Red Sox placed Layne on release waivers Saturday, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.
Layne will be released if he is not claimed on waivers, but it's possible that he will be, given that he's a left-hander with a 3.21 ERA over 168 big league appearances.
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Red Sox's Tom Layne: Designated for assignment Tuesday
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Layne has been designated for assignment, ESPN's Scott Lauber reports.
The Red Sox DFA'd Layne and Michael Martinez to make room for top prospect Andrew Benintendi and deadline acquisition Fernando Abad. The latter is a left-handed reliever, which made the 31-year-old Layne (also a southpaw) expendable.
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Red Sox's Tom Layne: Could see occasional save chances
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Layne may see situational save chances against left-handed hitters in the absence of Craig Kimbrel and Koji Uehara, Mike Silverman of the Boston Herald reports.
Robbie Ross can be used in a similar manner, while Red Sox manager John Farrell is expected to lean primarily on Brad Ziegler as his primary ninth-inning option in the coming weeks. The two lefties could be used as matchup-based options if Ziegler is needed earlier in the game.
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Red Sox's Tom Layne: Finds pitch for right-handed batters
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Layne is throwing more curveballs and has incorporated a splitter against right-handed batters, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. "We talked in spring training about something slow to throw to righties," said Layne. "I was basically fastball-slider last year, so I picked up a split and I've thrown quite a few curveballs the last couple of weeks. Just those two offerings, having a third or fourth pitch if I need it, that's made a big difference."
The Red Sox have used Layne as a lefty-specialist the last two seasons and will continue to optimize him in the role, but there are times when he needs to face right-handers. Like last Friday, when David Price was bounced after 2.1 innings and Boston needed length. Layne pitched two scoreless innings against hitters from both sides of the plate. This season, he's limiting right-handed batters to a .294 slugging percentage and .584 OPS, a vast improvement over 2015 (.517, .950) and 2014 (.500, .929).
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Red Sox's Tom Layne: Throws for first time in 16 days
Rotowire
Layne pitched two scoreless innings in Friday night's loss to the Mariners.
Finding opportunities for the lefty specialist has been difficult -- his last appearance was on June 1 -- but after two consecutive games in which Boston's starters failed to go deep, Layne was needed for a rare multi-inning appearance. His scoreless outing Friday snapped a three-game streak in which Layne's allowed at least one run.
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Red Sox's Tom Layne: Avoids damage in Saturday's win
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Layne pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks while striking out one in Saturday's extra-inning win over the Astros.
Layne's primary job is that of a lefty specialist, and in that respect he did his job Saturday. He closed out the seventh inning, striking out left-handed hitter Colby Rasmus. However, Layne was asked to give Boston multiple outs, and he ran into trouble in the eighth, giving up a leadoff double to Marwin Gonzalez. Layne got lucky when Gonzalez strayed off the bag and was put out in a rundown. On the whole, Layne has performed well with a 1.93 ERA in 12 appearances, including limiting right-handed hitters to a .619 OPS.
