Arizona Diamomondbacks designate former Toronto Blue Jays reliever for Assignment

Graveman was a former eighth round pick of the Blue Jays in 2013 and was coming off a season that had him climb all the way from Single-A baseball to making five appearances for the Blue Jays late in the season.

In the minor leagues that year through four levels, he posted a 14-6 record and 1.83 ERA.

After Oakland acquired him as part of the Josh Donaldson trade, Gravemen put in a few good seasons as a solid middle to back of the rotation starter for the Athletics.

From 2015-2018, Graveman started 78 games and collected 23 wins. He was forced into reconstructive elbow surgery in 2018 and he did not return to the Athletics.

The right-hander signed on with the Chicago Cubs for the 2019 season, however he was able to only pitch in six innings in their minor league system as he continued to recover.

The Diamondbacks took a low-cost flier on him this offseason. He was a risky play, as he missed 2024 while recovering from shoulder surgery.

However, the $1.35MM guarantee on his deal was barely above the $760K league minimum and he was quite in the years before his surgery.

The gamble hasn't paid off. Graveman has had a couple of stints on the IL, one due to a right lumbar strain and another due to a right hip impingement.

Around those ailments, he has posted a 7.13 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. His 11% strikeout rate and 14.6% walk rates are both awful figures.

Since the trade deadline has passed, he's destined for the waiver wire. Given his performance, no club will want to claim him, as doing so would involve taking on what's left of his salary.

He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so the Snakes might just release him.

At that point, he could sign with another club for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Diamondbacks pay.