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Yankees Sign Adam Kloffenstein, Payton Henry To Minors Contracts

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The Yankees signed right-hander Adam Kloffenstein and catcher Payton Henry to minor league contracts in December, according to the club’s official transactions page.  7 News Boston’s Ari Alexander writes that Kloffenstein’s deal includes an invitation to New York’s big league spring camp.

Kloffenstein’s MLB resume consists of one perfect inning of relief work for the Cardinals in their 6-5 win over the Giants on June 20, 2024.  He was sent back to Triple-A the next day, and some shoulder problems likely prevented another call-up to the active roster.  St. Louis non-tendered Kloffenstein after the season and he inked a minors deal with the Blue Jays — the team that began the righty’s pro career as a third-round pick in the 2018 draft.

This return to the Jays organization didn’t go well, as Kloffenstein was tagged for 20 homers over 82 innings with Triple-A Buffalo while posting a 6.26 ERA and 11.7% walk rate.  He also spent the first two months of the season on the injured list, Kloffenstein elected minor league free agency at season’s end, and he’ll now head to the Yankees to try and get his career on track.

Kloffenstein has a 5.01 ERA, 21.57% strikeout rate, and 11.55% walk rate over 210 1/3 Triple-A innings, starting 41 of his 45 Triple-A games.  He also had a 4.63 ERA over 175 Double-A frames, further impeding his status as a starting pitching prospect on the Jays’ and Cardinals’ minor league ladders.  Still only 25 years old, there’s plenty of time for Kloffenstein to figure things out, and the Yankees pitching development department has had quite a bit of success helping unheralded or struggling pitchers unlock something on the mound.

Henry also has a limited amount of big league experience, as he hasn’t been back to the Show since appearing in 20 games with the Marlins in 2021-22.  Traded to Milwaukee during the 2022-23 offseason, Henry has spent the last three years in the minors with the Brewers, Blue Jays, and Phillies without getting into another MLB game.  In 2024, Henry was limited to 27 games with Triple-A Buffalo after he was struck in the head by an opposing hitter’s backswing, and spent a three-month stint on the IL.

Henry has a .261/.329/.414 slash line over 862 Triple-A plate appearances, plus a .523 OPS over 51 PA in the majors.  Regarded as a solid defensive catcher, Henry will join Ali Sanchez as minor league signings providing some competition in camp and potentially acting as Triple-A depth during the season.  New York is pretty set behind the plate with Austin Wells, J.C. Escarra, and Ben Rice all on the MLB roster, and though Rice will primarily be used as a first baseman, Henry and Sanchez face a narrow path for much playing time in the Bronx.

Angels Sign Donovan Walton To Minors Deal

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The Angels signed infielder Donovan Walton to a minor league contract last month, according to Walton’s MLB.com profile page.  Walton has been outrighted off 40-man rosters multiple times in his career, so he was eligible to elect minor league free agency and depart the Phillies organization once the season was over.

Walton has appeared in six of the last seven MLB seasons, though 49 of his 72 games in the Show came in 2021-22 with the Mariners and Giants.  After signing a minors deal with the Mets last offseason, Walton was traded to the Phillies in July, and continued to toil away on the farm until his contact was selected to Philadelphia’s active roster in September.  Walton made a pair of starts at second base while the Phils were dealing with a spate of infield injuries, but those two outings represented the entirety of Walton’s 2025 playing time in the majors.

The 31-year-old has hit just .172/.223/.298 over 214 career plate appearances in the bigs, but Walton’s ability to play both middle infield positions and also chip in at third base and in left field has helped him earn some looks at a bench player.  He has hit pretty well in Triple-A ball (.281/.365/.435 over 1479 PA), but expecting those numbers to translate into MLB success this late into Walton’s career might be a tall order.

Having a veteran utility player as a depth option on either the 26-man roster or at Triple-A makes sense for an Angels team that is thin in the infield.  While Vaughn Grissom was acquired in a trade from the Red Sox, the second and third base positions are still question marks in Los Angeles.  The Angels figure to bring in at least one player as an everyday option at either the keystone or the hot corner, leaving Walton and company to battle it out for part-time duty or a bench role.

Blue Jays Designate Paxton Schultz For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Paxton Schultz has been designated for assignment.  The transaction clears a 40-man roster spot for Kazuma Okamoto, whose four-year, $60MM deal with Toronto has now been officially announced.

A 14th-round pick for the Brewers in the 2019 draft, Schultz was traded to the Jays in 2021 and he has posted a 4.47 ERA over 203 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball.  A good deal of that damage came when Schultz was being primarily used as a starter in 2023, but his numbers have improved since moving to more or less a full-time relief role.  The move to the pen saw Schultz cut back on his walks and increase his strikeouts, as the Jays saw first-hand when Schultz made his MLB debut this past season.

The righty had a 4.38 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate, and 7.3% walk rate over his first 24 2/3 innings in the Show, working mostly as a multi-inning reliever and making a pair of pseudo-starts during bullpen games.  His 3.43 SIERA was markedly better than his 4.38 ERA, as Schultz was hampered by a .333 BABIP and four homers allowed during his small sample size of big league action.

It was an overall respectable debut for Schultz, yet he’ll now get the unwelcome gift of a DFA just a day before his 28th birthday.  Despite his solid performance, the Blue Jays have enough other right-handed relief options that Schultz may have been a little expendable.  Designating Schultz does run the risk for the Jays that another team could claim Schultz away on waivers, which is a distinct possibility given that Schultz has two minor league option years remaining and plenty of clubs are in need of bullpen help.

Braves Sign DaShawn Keirsey Jr. To Minors Deal

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The Braves signed DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to a minor league contract in December, according to the outfielder’s MLB.com profile page.  Keirsey became a free agent after the Twins designated him for assignment and then non-tendered him in November.

After making his MLB debut in the form of six games with Minnesota in 2024, Keirsey got a longer look in the Show last year, appearing in 74 games.  This still translated to only 88 plate appearances, as Keirsey was used almost exclusively as a late-game defensive substitute, or as a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter.  Keirsey hit only .107/.138/.179 with two home runs over his 88 PA, and he stole 10 bases in 13 attempts.

The 28-year-old Keirsey has shown a lot more at the plate in the minors, including a .284/.363/.448 slash line, 19 homers, and 51 steals (in 58 attempts) over 186 games and 818 PA at the Triple-A level.  Keirsey has also backed up this offense and speed with his ability to play all three outfield spots, with much of his minor league work coming in center field.  Mitigating this skillset is the fact that Keirsey has been prone to strikeouts, and at age 28, he would be a late bloomer if he did emerge as a quality contributor to a big league roster.

A fourth-round pick for Minnesota in the 2018 draft, Keirsey will now change teams for the first time in his career and look to compete for a backup role on Atlanta’s Opening Day roster.  There’s no downside for the Braves in taking a flier on Keirsey, even if the club is becoming increasingly deep in outfield options.  Besides the regulars like Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris II, Jurickson Profar, and the newly-signed Mike Yastrzemski, the Braves also have Eli White and utilityman Mauricio Dubon lined up for bench duty, and Ben Gamel and Brewer Hicklen will also be in camp on minors deals.

Blue Jays Sign Kazuma Okamoto

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TODAY: The Blue Jays officially announced Okamoto’s signing.  Right-hander Paxton Schultz was designated for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot for Okamoto.

JANUARY 3: The Blue Jays have finally made a big strike in the Japanese market, as Toronto has signed infielder Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year, $60MM contract.  It is a straight four-year deal without any opt-outs.  The contract breaks down as a $5MM signing bonus and a $7MM salary for Okamoto in 2026, and then $16MM in each of the deal’s final three years.  Okamoto is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Okamoto’s 45-day posting window was set to expire tomorrow at 4pm CT, so it was expected that the infielder would settle on his first Major League team today and finalize the agreement (i.e. complete a physical) before Sunday’s deadline.  MLB Trade Rumors ranked Okamoto 19th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and our projection of a four-year, $64MM deal was just slightly above what Okamoto landed from the Jays.

Matching financial expectations is no small feat, given how Tatsuya Imai (three years/$54MM guarantee from the Astros with two opt-out clauses) and Munetaka Murakami (two years, $34MM from the White Sox) both had to settle for shorter-term deals in their trips through the posting window this winter.  Evaluators and scouts didn’t quite view Okamoto, Imai, and Murakami in the same tier as other big-ticket NPB arrivals from past seasons, though Okamoto perhaps had fewer red flags, resulting in his nice payday.

Okamoto’s contract also translates to a $10.875MM posting fee for the Yomiuri Giants, the infielder’s now-former NPB team.  As per the terms of the NPB/MLB posting system, the NPB team’s fee is 20% of the first $25MM of a player’s guaranteed MLB contract, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of all further spending.

It was a little under a month ago that Toronto was first linked to Okamoto, and the 29-year-old now projects to be the Jays’ regular third baseman.  Okamoto also has experience playing first base (making him an overqualified backup option to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) and in the outfield, so he joins Addison Barger and Davis Schneider as Blue Jays players who can contribute in both infield and outfield roles.

For Barger in particular, it now seems like he’ll platoon with Okamoto at third base, while playing in the corner outfield when he isn’t at the hot corner.  This could bump Ernie Clement into primarily a second base role, with Andres Gimenez expected to move from second base to an everyday shortstop role.  The right-handed hitting Clement can also spell the lefty-swinging Gimenez at shortstop when a southpaw is on the mound, with Schneider (another righty bat) moving to second base in those circumstances.

All of these moving pieces don’t even factor in the possibility that Bo Bichette could still re-sign with the Blue Jays, even with Okamoto now in the fold.  If Bichette returns to an everyday role at either shortstop or (perhaps more likely) second base, Barger or Okamoto could see more time in the outfield.  On the flip side, if the Blue Jays were to land another rumored target in outfielder Kyle Tucker, Toronto would then likely have to trade from a crowded outfield mix that would include Tucker, Daulton Varsho, George Springer and Anthony Santander splitting DH duty and one corner outfield slot, Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, Joey Loperfido, and Okamoto, Barger, and Schneider all available in a part-time outfield capacity.

However things play out, it adds to what has already been a fascinating offseason for a Blue Jays team that came within two outs of winning Game 7 of the World Series.  The team’s efforts to add the final piece of the puzzle have mostly focused on pitching to date, with Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce signed to reinforce the rotation, and Tyler Rogers added to the relief corps.

Bichette and Tucker have naturally dominated the rumor mill when it came to possible lineup additions, and players like Cody Bellinger, Ketel Marte, Alex Bregman, and Yoan Moncada were also reportedly on Toronto’s radar.  The Okamoto signing probably closes the door on Bregman and Moncada specifically since the two are third basemen, unless the Jays made the curious decision of using Okamoto primarily as a corner outfielder.

Okamoto’s third base defense was strong enough to earn Golden Glove awards when playing with Yomiuri Giants in 2021-22, though he has played an increased amount at first base in the last three years.  Scouts generally view Okamoto as at least a decent defensive third baseman at the MLB level, and his ability to also capably handle first base and left field adds to his versatility around the diamond.

Moreso than his glovework, however, Okamoto’s biggest plus is his bat.  One of the top hitters in Japan for most of the last decade, Okamoto has hit .277/.361/.521 with 248 home runs over 4494 plate appearances with the Giants.  He had a run of six straight seasons of 30+ homers from 2018-23 before dropping to 27 long balls in 2024, and he hit 15 homers with a .322/.411/.581 slash line over 314 PA in 2025 in a season interrupted by an elbow injury that cost Okamoto roughly three months of the NPB campaign.

A six-time NPB All-Star and a member of Japan’s World Baseball Classic-winning team in 2023, Okamoto is known for his ability to generate power while still making a lot of hard contact without many strikeouts.  This approach fits right into the offensive gameplan that worked so well for the Jays in 2025.  Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins drew raves for his work in helping several Toronto hitters break out last season, and he could certainly aid Okamoto in making a smooth transition to MLB, perhaps particularly when it comes to adjusting to higher-velocity pitching.  As noted by Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, Okamoto has been inconsistent against higher-velo (94mph+) pitches, but he already showed improvement in this department in 2025.

The signing also represents a breakthrough for the Jays in their efforts to land a high-profile Japanese star.  The Blue Jays’ attempts to sign Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki during the previous two offseasons were all thwarted by the Dodgers, which added some extra sting when all three players (particularly World Series MVP Yamamoto) contributed heavily to Los Angeles’ narrow win over the Jays in the Fall Classic.

While the Dodgers weren’t publicly known to be in on Okamoto, such teams as the Red Sox, Pirates, Cubs, Angels, Mariners, and Padres were all linked to his market.  Earlier this afternoon, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand indicated that San Diego “could be the frontrunner,” but instead it was Toronto who ended up sealing the deal.

Okamoto’s $60MM contract represents another big expenditure for a Blue Jays organization that has already taken spending to team-record heights in recent years, and now put the club in the upper echelons of league-wide spending.  RosterResource estimates a $286MM payroll for the Jays in 2026, and a luxury tax number of around $308.8MM.

This puts Toronto over the highest tax threshold of $304MM, meaning the team will again see their first-round pick in the 2027 draft dropped back 10 places, plus they’ll face a 90% surcharge on any further spending.  It’s clear that the Jays and Rogers Communications (the team’s ownership group) are ready to flex their financial muscle more than ever in pursuit of a World Series banner, so more splurges on Bichette or Tucker can’t be ruled out.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the signing, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the contract’s length and value.  MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand added the details about the $5MM signing bonus and the lack of opt-outs, and the Associated Press had the annual salary breakdown.

Tigers Sign Scott Effross To Minor League Contract

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The Tigers signed right-hander Scott Effross to a minor league contract in December, as per Effross’ MLB.com profile page.  Effross has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo, and will presumably be a non-roster invite to the Tigers’ big league spring camp.

The 32-year-old sidearmer is looking to rebound from three straight injury-marred seasons.  A Tommy John surgery entirely wiped out Effross’ 2023 campaign, and a back surgery during that TJ rehab period kept Effross out of any game action until June 2024, and he ended up tossing 35 1/3 minor league innings that season as well as 3 1/3 MLB frames with the Yankees.  During Spring Training 2025, Effross then suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain that led to three more months on the shelf, and he amassed only 10 2/3 innings for New York while being frequently shuffled up and down from the minors.

While Effross was projected for just an $800K salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility, the Yankees chose to non-tender the righty in November.  It wasn’t an unexpected decision given Effross’ injury woes, and he’ll now look to try and re-establish himself and win a job in Detroit’s bullpen.  He has a minor league option remaining, as well as two more arb-eligible years if he can make the roster and recapture some of his early-career form.

Before the Tommy John surgery, Effross looked to be establishing himself as a bullpen weapon in his first two Major League seasons.  He debuted in 2021 as a member of the Cubs, and posted a 2.78 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate, and 45.1% grounder rate over 71 1/3 combined innings with the Cubs and Yankees during the 2021-22 seasons.  New York was intrigued enough to acquire Effross in a one-for-one swap for Hayden Wesneski at the 2022 deadline, in what ended up being a nice trade for Chicago.

Effross’ few cups of coffee in the majors over the last two seasons have yielded only a 7.71 ERA and a 12.3% strikeout rate across 14 innings.  His K% was also diminished (through not to that extent) during his minor league work in 2024-25, and Effross struggled to a 6.37 ERA in 29 2/3 frames with at the Triple-A level last year.

Yankees Sign Paul DeJong To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees and Paul DeJong are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. DeJong will receive an invite to big league Spring Training next month as part of the deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that DeJong will receive a $1MM salary if he makes the team.

DeJong, 32, was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015. A fast riser through the minors, he made his MLB debut in 2017 and slugged 25 homers in 108 games en route to a second place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting that season. That led St. Louis to lock DeJong up long-term, signing him to a six-year extension that ran through the 2023 campaign and included club options for 2024 and ’25. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, regression almost immediately began to take hold for DeJong. After a few years as a league average hitter who still managed to offer solid power and good defense at shortstop, his offensive numbers began to fall off starting in the shortened 2020 season. After hitting just .196/.280/.351 over the 2020-22 seasons, DeJong bounced back to a roughly league-average level in 2023 across 81 games for the Cardinals.

That was enough to make him a trade asset for the rebuilding Cards, and he was swapped to the Blue Jays in a minor trade just before the trade deadline as protection against injury for shortstop Bo Bichette. Unfortunately, DeJong went an atrocious 12-for-93 over the final two months of the season while playing in Toronto and San Francisco. That .129/.128/.183 slash line in a nearly 100 plate appearance sample tanked whatever value he might have recouped prior to free agency, and DeJong wound up signing with the White Sox on a $1.75MM guarantee. DeJong managed to put together a decent season for Chicago (and Kansas City) in 2024, with 24 homers and a 96 wRC+ across 139 games that saw him split time between third base and shortstop.

While DeJong’s numbers improved, his prospects in free agency did not. Last offseason he was once again relegated to signing with a rebuilding club, and his $1MM guarantee from the Nationals clocked in even lower than the one he received from the White Sox the previous year. This time, however, DeJong’s season was derailed by an errant pitch that struck him in the face, fracturing his nose and causing him to miss ten weeks. He returned to the Nats’ bench mix in July but did not turn in especially inspiring results. The veteran ended 2025 with a 76 wRC+ in 208 trips to the plate and returned to free agency looking for a chance to bounce back.

Now that he’s with the Yankees, DeJong figures to compete for a spot in what could be a crowded bench mix for the Yankees. Amed Rosario and backup catcher J.C. Escarra figure to fill two of the four spots on the club’s bench, meaning DeJong will compete with Oswaldo Cabrera, Jorbit Vivas, and Braden Shewmake for those last two spots on the bench. The Yankees’ bench figures to get squeezed even more with time. After all, if the team winds up re-signing Cody Bellinger or otherwise adding an outfielder to the roster, that would push Jasson Dominguez to the bench. Likewise, the eventual return of Anthony Volpe to the roster when he completes his shoulder rehab figures to push Jose Caballero into a bench role. That leaves a relatively narrow window for DeJong to make the Yankees’ roster, though injuries and trades could theoretically create space for DeJong to find a role.

Angels To Sign Tayler Saucedo

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The Angels are signing left-hander Tayler Saucedo, as Saucedo himself indicated recently on his personal Instagram account. The exact details of Saucedo’s contract aren’t yet known, but it’s likely to be a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training.

Saucedo, 32, made his big league debut as a member of the Blue Jays back in 2021 but got the majority of his work over the years with the Mariners after Seattle picked him up off waivers prior to the 2023 season. Saucedo proved to be a viable middle relief arm for the Mariners across two seasons, pitching to a 3.54 ERA in 86 1/3 innings of work with a 21.7% strikeout rate against a walk rate of 11.0%. That latter figure is elevated relative to Saucedo’s strikeout ability, but the lefty was able to make up for it by generating an excellent 55.0% ground ball rate. Saucedo’s 3.79 FIP and 4.05 SIERA were more pedestrian than elite, but there was still reason for optimism regarding the southpaw’s profile.

That’s because Saucedo’s combination of strikeouts and grounders was very encouraging. Among relievers with a ground ball rate of 55.0% or higher between 2023 and ’24, the lefty’s strikeout rate ranked tenth. That combination of strikeouts and grounders is hard to come by, and among those who fit that bill are high-end closers like Andres Munoz and Jhoan Duran. Saucedo was held back from reaching those elite levels primarily by a his penchant for allowing free passes. While ground ball pitchers like Camilo Doval and Aaron Bummer have managed to make walk rates in the 11-12% range work in high leverage situations, they do so with a much healthier helping of strikeouts than Saucedo can muster.

Despite his flaws, Saucedo entered 2025 figuring to be a key piece of the Seattle bullpen. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out as the lefty struggled in ten MLB appearances this year. His 7.43 ERA across 13 1/3 innings in the majors this season left him to spend most of the season at Triple-A Tacoma. After being optioned to the minors, he was sidelined for two months by a lat strain that sent his season further off the rails. The lefty looked good for Tacoma upon his return to action, with a 2.75 ERA overall across 22 appearances at the level to go with a 27.9% strikeout rate. That performance wasn’t enough to convince the Mariners to keep him in the fold, however, and he was non-tendered back in November as a result.

Now with the Angels, Saucedo figures to enter Spring Training with an opportunity to grab a spot in a mostly unsettled Angels bullpen. Robert Stephenson, Drew Pomeranz, and Kirby Yates figure to handle the late innings, while Ben Joyce will be a factor later in the year upon his return from last year’s shoulder surgery. If Saucedo finds a role in Anaheim, it figures to be in the middle innings. Besides Pomeranz, the only other lefty in the team’s current projected bullpen is Brock Burke. Burke turned in a dominant 2022 season as a member of the Rangers but has been less impressive in the years since; he posted 3.36 ERA with a 4.16 FIP in 69 appearances for the Angels last year. That’s solid enough production for a middle relief lefty, but there could still be room for Saucedo to join Burke (as well as righty Jordan Romano) in the middle innings.

Twins Sign Orlando Arcia To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed infielder Orlando Arcia to a minors contract, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports.  The deal presumably includes an invitation for Arcia to attend Minnesota’s Major League spring camp.

Arcia is now a veteran of 10 Major League seasons, after amassing 214 plate appearances over 76 games with the Braves and Rockies in 2025.  The majority (62 games) of that work came in Colorado, after Atlanta released Arcia in May and the Rockies quickly moved in to bring Arcia aboard on a big league contract.  While Arcia has never been known for his bat, he hit only .202/.238/.291 over those 214 PA.  His 33 wRC+ was both a career low and the second-lowest of any player who took at least 200 trips to the plate in 2025.

Once an excellent defensive shortstop back in his time with the Brewers, Arcia’s glovework has declined to just passable levels, and he played at all four infield positions in Colorado (including his first bit of MLB work at first base).  Becoming a full-fledged utilityman is probably Arcia’s best ticket to sticking in the majors as a versatile backup off the Twins’ bench.

For the shortstop job in particular, Arcia provides some cover if presumptive starter Brooks Lee struggles, but Minnesota is naturally going to give a former top prospect like Lee plenty of rope.  If Arcia doesn’t break camp with the Twins and sticks around in the minors, he’ll be far and away the most veteran member of a farm system that is lacking in big league experience.

Astros Designate Kaleb Ort For Assignment

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The Astros announced they’ve designated reliever Kaleb Ort for assignment. That opened the 40-man roster spot to finalize their three-year free agent deal with Tatsuya Imai.

Ort landed in Houston on a waiver claim from Baltimore early in the 2024 season. He turned in a 2.55 earned run average across 22 games the rest of the way. Ort made a career-high 49 appearances last year but was unable to maintain the numbers he showed in a smaller sample. He allowed 4.89 earned runs per nine across 46 innings.

The righty missed bats at an above-average clip and struck out more than a quarter of opposing hitters. That came alongside a near-14% walk rate, however, well above the 4.3% mark he’d posted in his MLB work a year earlier. Ort also allowed a higher than average home run rate for a third consecutive season. While manager Joe Espada preferred to use him in the middle innings, he was pressed into a few higher-leverage spots when Josh Hader and Bennett Sousa were lost to injury in August. That pushed Bryan Abreu into the closing role and left Ort as one of their more established right-handed setup arms.

It unfortunately didn’t take long before Ort joined his bullpen mates on the injured list. He went down with elbow inflammation at the beginning of September. That knocked him out for the rest of the season. There’s no indication he won’t be ready for Spring Training, but he was already on the roster bubble. Ort is out of minor league options and approaching his 34th birthday.

Houston has Hader, Abreu, Sousa, Steven Okert and Bryan King in the season-opening bullpen, assuming health. Enyel De Los Santos and Nate Pearson are out of options and near-locks to break camp. Pearson signed a $1.35MM free agent deal, while De Los Santos is guaranteed a $1.6MM salary after avoiding arbitration. There wouldn’t have been much flexibility for in-season maneuvering if they also carried Ort. He’ll be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days. Ort has less than three years of MLB service and no prior outright assignments, so the Astros could keep him around as a non-roster invitee if he gets through waivers unclaimed.

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