The Marlins acquired Smith from the Rays on Wednesday in exchange for cash considerations and selected Smith's contract from Triple-A Jacksonville, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Smith exercised the upward mobility clause in his minor-league deal with Tampa Bay. The 33-year-old will appear in the majors for the first time since 2021, assuming he gets into a game. Smith holds a career 6.03 ERA over 102 appearances (13 starts) across parts of five major-league seasons. He figures to operate in long relief in Miami.
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Rays' Burch Smith: Agrees to minors deal with Rays
Rotowire
Burch signed a minor-league contract with the Rays on Jan. 2.
Smith spent the last two seasons overseas, pitching in Japan in 2022 and in Korea in 2023. The 33-year-old last appeared in the majors in 2021 and holds a career 6.03 ERA and 184:87 K:BB over 191 innings in parts of five seasons at the big-league level.
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Burch Smith: Heading overseas
Rotowire
Smith agreed to a contract with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization on Sunday, Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net reports.
Smith had a 5.40 ERA across 43.1 innings for the A's last season before he was removed from the 40-man roster in September. The 32-year-old has a 6.03 ERA in 102 appearances during his big-league career and will now test his luck overseas.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Outrighted to Triple-A
Rotowire
Smith cleared waivers Thursday and was outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Smith owns a 5.40 ERA this season and a 6.03 ERA for his career, so it's no surprise to see him pass through waivers unclaimed. He'll remain with the A's as organizational depth for now.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Designated for assignment
Rotowire
Smith was designated for assignment by the Athletics on Tuesday.
Smith recorded an unimpressive 5.40 ERA in 43.1 innings of relief for the Athletics, striking out just 14.9 percent of opposing batters. As a 31-year-old with a career 6.03 ERA at the highest level, he's unlikely to get claimed off waivers. Domingo Acevedo's contract was selected to fill Smith's place in the bullpen.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Struggles again Friday
Rotowire
Smith allowed three earned runs on five hits over one inning in a loss to the Yankees on Friday.
The veteran reliever has now given up a total of eight earned runs in his last three trips to the mound, a reminder of why he's been used sparingly since the beginning of July (19.1 innings over 10 appearances). Smith has pitched to a 5.12 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over that span, a far cry from the career-best 2.25 and 0.67 figures he posted in those respective categories in 2020.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Logs rare appearance
Rotowire
Smith fired two scoreless innings in a loss to the Padres on Tuesday, allowing two hits and a walk while recording a strikeout.
The veteran reliever saw his first game action since July 6 and delivered his second consecutive scoreless appearance. Smith's sparse usage could be a reflection of his highly inconsistent season, one that's seen him allow multiple runs in five of 21 appearances on his way to a 5.06 ERA.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Sparingly used at end of first half
Rotowire
Smith, who owns a 1-1 record, 5.94 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 24.2 innings, has logged just two appearances since June 26 as the second half of the season begins.
The veteran reliever has been a lot more hittable this season than during an impressive six-appearance debut stint with the Athletics in 2020, and the more frequent stumbles may be starting to cost him some opportunities. Smith has offered some modest fantasy value in deeper formats by notching four holds, but he's also given up multiple earned runs in five appearances and has seen a precipitous drop in strikeout rate from last year's 29.5 percent to 17.1 percent.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Blown save, loss
Rotowire
Smith (1-1) blew the save and took the loss in Saturday's 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Giants, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits while recording one out.
Smith entered in the bottom of the 10th to protect a one-run lead and induced a Donovan Solano lineout to start the frame, but he then surrendered a Steven Duggar single and Curt Casali double to lose the game for Oakland. He's now allowed multiple runs in three of his last five appearances and owns a high 5.82 ERA.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Hit hard in relief
Rotowire
Smith allowed four earned runs on three hits and a walk over one inning in a win over the Angels on Monday. He also hit a batter and recorded a strikeout.
Smith created plenty of trouble for himself during his one frame, allowing the Angels to mount a modest comeback from an 8-1 deficit. The stumble was the latest hiccup in what's turning into a rocky season for Smith, as he's now pitched to a 9.64 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and 1.9 HR/9 across 9.1 innings in his last eight appearances.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Bouncing back from rough patch
Rotowire
Smith fired a scoreless seventh inning in a loss to the Angels on Sunday, allowing a hit and a walk.
The veteran reliever now has back-to-back scoreless appearances after giving up four earned runs over four innings across the three outings immediately preceding the current stretch. Smith retains some modest value in formats that count holds, as he's amassed three of them while also pitching to an impressive 2.93 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across 15.1 innings.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Perfect in return
Rotowire
Smith (groin), reinstated from the injured list Saturday, fired two perfect innings during which he recorded two strikeouts in a loss to the Rays on Sunday.
The right-hander encouragingly got his six outs on just 23 pitches, making it a highly successful return after nearly a month on the injured list. Smith should line up for some consistent later-inning work moving forward and now sports a 1.80 ERA and 0.80 WHIP through five innings (three appearances).
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Reinstated from injured list
Rotowire
Smith (groin) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Saturday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Smith made a rehab appearance for Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday and allowed a run on two hits while striking out two in 1.1 innings. He'll now return to the major-league bullpen after Mike Fiers (elbow) was placed on the injured list in a corresponding move.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Makes rehab appearance
Rotowire
Smith (groin) allowed an earned run on two hits over 1.1 innings in a rehab appearance for Triple-A Las Vegas against Sacramento on Thursday. He struck out two.
Smith logged a relatively solid workload of 31 pitches, suggesting he's nearing a return to full health after more than a month on the shelf. The right-hander made two appearances for the Athletics before going on the injured list April 6, allowing an earned run on three hits over three innings across two appearances. Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports Smith may be on the verge of activation, with manager Bob Melvin commenting Friday he could be activated "pretty soon."
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Sim game on tap
Rotowire
Smith (groin) is scheduled to throw two innings in a simulated game Saturday, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Smith was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain April 6, but he's been running and playing long toss in recent weeks. His two-inning sim game Sunday will be a significant step in his recovery, although it's not yet clear when Smith will be able to return to the major-league bullpen.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Throwing from 100 feet
Rotowire
Smith (groin) has been throwing from 100 feet, Alex Coffey of The Athletic reports.
Smith has been sidelined since April 6 due to a strained right groin. While manager Bob Melvin expects that Smith will be out "for a while" due to the injury, the right-hander has progressed to running and playing long toss recently. Melvin said that he feels as though Smith is starting to get slightly closer to a return, but he still doesn't have a timetable to return to game action.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Out with strained groin
Rotowire
Smith was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a strained right groin.
He gave up one run while striking out one over three innings in his first two appearances of the season. Jordan Weems was promoted to take Smith's spot in the bullpen. Manager Bob Melvin said Smith will be out "for a while" with the injury, Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Makes Opening Day roster
Rotowire
Smith, who owns a 6.48 ERA across 8.1 Cactus League innings, has made the Opening Day roster, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.
Manager Bob Melvin made the announcement that Smith won the final bullpen spot Monday morning, a few hours after the veteran put together his third scoreless relief effort of spring. Smith was touched up for multiple earned runs on two other occasions during Cactus League play and allowed a .351 average to opposing batters overall, but he'll look to regain the consistency that made him a value relief option in 2020 -- over the 12 innings covering his six appearances last season, Smith posted a 2.25 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 13:1 K:BB.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Throwing side session
Rotowire
Smith (forearm) will throw a bullpen session Saturday, Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
Smith missed the second half of the 2020 season due to a forearm strain, but he's now healthy to begin spring training, Matt Kawahara of the Laredo Morning Times reports. He reportedly threw a bullpen session on the first day of camp and will do so again Saturday. Smith recorded a 2.25 ERA and 0.67 WHIP over 12 innings last season.
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Athletics' Burch Smith: Avoids arbitration with A's
Rotowire
Smith (forearm) signed a one-year, $705,000 deal with the A's on Tuesday, avoiding arbitration, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
Given that he ended the year on the shelf with a forearm strain, this is an encouraging sign, as the A's may have non-tendered Smith if they thought the injury would affect his availability for 2021. He logged a 2.25 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 13 strikeouts in 12 innings (six appearances) last season.
