Dodgers 2023 Waiver Wire Addition Leaves LA, Elects Free Agency
While we’re still a few weeks away from major league free agency, down in the minor leagues, things are definitely already active. In recent days we’ve seen a few players elect free agency and enter the open market early. That was also the case for minor league reliever Zack Burdi who elected free agency last week.
Burdi joined the Dodgers from the Tampa Bay Rays in May on a waiver wire deal. The journeyman right-hander never pitched for the LA big league club but did get into 4 games at Triple-A before being placed on the injured list in June and missing the rest of the season.
Over parts of 3 MLB seasons, Burdi owns an 8.44 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 10 walks in 18 games with the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and the Rays. He’s pitched to a 4.43 ERA in 132 minor league games over 7 seasons.
A former first round pick by the White Sox, Burdi is still just 28 years old but has been slowed by injuries over his career. He underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after being drafted. He also suffered a right knee injury in 2019 that required surgery.
Photo Credit: Dave Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
As a lifetime Angeleno and Dodger fan (the team came to L.A. the year I was born), my first response to this article was to ask: “Zack WHO?”I have never heard of this guy, never seen him pitch, never listened to a Dodger radio broadcast and thought “Wow! What an integral piece in that engine which will propel the team into another World Championship!”. In fact, what I did instead was to scratch my noggin and wonder aloud why I had wasted time on yet another deceptive clickbait article.
I thought the EXACT same thing. Zach who & Zach who cares. Now 2 minutes of my life was wasted.