Astros To Select Christian Vázquez
The Astros are going to open the season with Christian Vázquez as their backup to catcher Yainer Diaz, manager Joe Espada tells Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. He had been in camp on a minor league deal. César Salazar has been informed he won’t make the team. Since Salazar is out of options, he’ll need to be removed from the 40-man, which means he’ll be traded or placed on waivers in the coming days.
Vázquez, 35, has over a decade of big league experience under his belt. He’s probably not going to provide much offensively at this point in his career. He has had some good performances with the bat before but has a combined .215/.267/.311 line dating back to the start of the 2023 season. That’s why he had to settle for a minor league deal coming into 2026. He was playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic at the time of that pact. He put up a flat .250/.250/.250 line in that tournament and then slashed .222/.364/.222 in 11 spring plate appearances with the Astros.
But he is considered one of the better defensive catchers in the game. He’s been credited with 64 Defensive Runs Saved since the start of 2014, his debut season. Only three other catchers are ahead of him in that category. One of them is Buster Posey, who retired long ago and is now running the Giants’ front office. Another is Roberto Pérez, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2023. The other is Austin Hedges. Vázquez generally ranks near the top of framing leaderboards as well.
The Astros are known as an organization that values catcher defense, as they have often rostered glove-first guys like Jason Castro and Martín Maldonado. They acquired Vázquez at the 2022 deadline and went on to win that year’s World Series, after which Vázquez signed a three-year, $30MM deal with the Twins. That deal didn’t really pan out the way the Twins hoped due to the aforementioned decline in his offense but Vázquez still has enough of a reputation to get back to the majors with Houston.
Rostering Vázquez means the Astros may be ending their relationship with Salazar. He has appeared in 36 games for the Astros over the past three years, putting up a .232/.318/.268 line in 67 plate appearances. He was considered a strong defender as a prospect but has only been able to log 143 2/3 innings behind the plate as a big leaguer.
As mentioned, he is out of options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minors unless he first clears waivers. It’s possible some other club could be interested. He does have the aforementioned strong defensive reputation. He hasn’t hit much in the majors yet but has a .238/.369/.389 line and 113 wRC+ at the Triple-A level dating back to the start of 2024. If any club were to pick him up, he could be controlled for another five seasons and is also two years away from qualifying for arbitration.
If he were to clear waivers, the Astros could keep him as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of service time and doesn’t have a previous career outright, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency. The Astros would probably be happy if that happened, as they don’t have any other catchers on their roster. Carlos Pérez is their only non-roster backstop with big league experience.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Astros’ Peter Lambert Granted His Release
Astros righty Peter Lambert was granted his release after triggering an out clause in his minor league deal, manager Joe Espada tells reporters (link via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). The team told Lambert over the weekend that he wouldn’t make the roster.
Lambert, 29 next month, had a solid spring showing and at one point looked to be in legitimate contention for a bullpen spot. He pitched 12 1/3 innings with the ‘Stros and held opponents to four runs on 16 hits and five walks with eight punchouts. That came on the heels of a decent season in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last year, where he tossed 116 1/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA for the Yakult Swallows.
Lambert has pitched in parts of four MLB seasons, all coming with the Rockies, who originally selected him 44th overall in the 2015 draft. He’s been tagged for an unsightly 6.28 ERA in 243 2/3 MLB frames, battling myriad injuries and the inherent rigors of pitching at altitude in Denver.
This spring, Lambert’s average fastball clocked in at 95 mph — way up from the 93.3 mph he averaged with the Rox from 2019-24. That velocity bump, coupled with a solid (albeit small-sample) swinging-strike rate of 11.4% suggest Lambert could probably be counted on for a better mark than the ugly 14.8% strikeout rate he posted this spring.
It’s always feasible that veterans in these situations will re-sign with the same team on a new minor league deal — perhaps with better minor league pay and/or more additional opt-out dates that grant them some flexibility. The Astros seem to like Lambert’s arm, but he’s also out of minor league options, which makes him a tough fit for a Houston club that currently has four relievers (Bryan Abreu, Enyel De Los Santos, Steven Okert, Roddery Munoz) who can’t be optioned — plus another two (Josh Hader, Nate Pearson) rehabbing on the injured list.
Yankees Trade Zack Short To Nationals
The Yankees have traded infielder Zack Short to the Nationals in exchange for cash, per announcements from both clubs. Short, who’d been a non-roster invitee to Yankees camp, will head to Triple-A Rochester with his new organization for the time being.
Short, 30, signed a minor league deal with New York back in December and hit .278/.480/.333 in 25 spring plate appearances. He’s played in parts of four major league seasons between the Tigers, Mets, Red Sox, Braves and Astros, tallying a total of 594 plate appearances. In that time, he’s slashed .172/.271/.296 with 15 homers, 10 steals, a stout 11.8% walk rate and a bloated 29% strikeout rate.
The Nationals are relatively thin on infield depth, and Short has experience at second base, shortstop and third base in the majors — more than 300 innings at each position (including 784 at shortstop). He hasn’t posted especially strong defensive grades, but he’s a versatile right-handed bat with modest pop and solid on-base skills. His low batting averages persist even in Triple-A, where he’s batted just .216 in six seasons, but he also sports a .353 on-base percentage in that time.
Looking around the Nationals’ infield, CJ Abrams is the lone established player. Former first-round pick Brady House will get another look at third base, while Nasim Nunez and Luis Garcia Jr. look like options at second base and first base. Infielder Jorbit Vivas also came over from the Nats in a more notable trade and is out of minor league options, so he’ll mix in to some extent, as will righty-swinging first baseman Andres Chaparro.
Marlins To Sign Austin Slater To Major League Deal
The Marlins are in agreement with outfielder Austin Slater on a major league deal, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid. He just opted out of a minor league deal with the Tigers a few days ago. The Marlins will need to open a 40-man roster spot but that should be as easy as transferring right-hander Adam Mazur to the 60-day injured list. Mazur underwent Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago and will miss the entire season.
Slater, 33, just had a strong camp with the Tigers. He stepped to the plate 36 times in 15 games and slashed .267/.389/.467. Detroit’s roster is fairly crowded, however. They are going to carry prospect Kevin McGonigle on the Opening Day roster and have bumped outfielder Wenceel Pérez to the minors.
The Marlins will take advantage of that roster crunch by scooping up Slater. In his career, he has generally combined solid defense in all three outfield slots with strong offense against left-handed pitching. His overall batting line is .248/.336/.384. That’s almost exactly league average, translating to a 101 wRC+. That includes a .267/.357/.430 line and 119 wRC+ against southpaws, compared to a .227/.311/.329 slash and 80 wRC+ otherwise.
That profile should fit well in the Miami outfield. The Marlins are slated to begin the season with Kyle Stowers on the injured list, which will leave Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie and Griffin Conine in the outfield. All four of those guys are lefties, so Slater should have plenty of chances to slot in against southpaw opponents.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Twins Make Several Roster Decisions
The Twins announced Tuesday that they’ve granted right-hander Matt Bowman his release. He triggered an opt-out clause in his contract over the weekend. Minnesota also reassigned non-roster players Dan Altavilla, Orlando Arcia, David Bañuelos and Trent Baker to minor league camp. As Dan Hayes of The Athletic notes, that positions right-handers Cody Laweryson and Zak Kent to take the final two bullpen jobs, barring any outside additions. Matthew Leach of MLB.com did suggest earlier today that Minnesota could make another move or two regarding its patchwork bullpen.
Bowman, 34, had a nice spring, tossing 7 1/3 shutout innings. He allowed six hits and a pair of walks while punching out seven hitters. The journeyman right-hander has pitched in parts of seven major league seasons, compiling a 4.38 ERA over the course of 240 2/3 frames. He tossed 24 2/3 innings for Baltimore in 2025 but was tagged for a 6.20 earned run average.
Laweryson, 27, made his big league debut with the Twins last offseason. He held opponents to a run on four hits and no walks with seven punchouts — a nice follow-up to the 2.86 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate he logged across 44 Triple-A innings. The Twins tried to pass him through waivers in the offseason, only for the Angels to claim him.
The Halos designated Laweryson for assignment in February and released him, at which point he returned to the Twins on a minor league pact. He’s allowed one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 spring innings. Since he was in camp as a non-roster invitee, Laweryson will require the Twins to clear a 40-man roster spot to add him to the Opening Day roster. They’ve been shopping out-of-options catcher Alex Jackson but have no shortage of fringe players on their 40-man roster after last summer’s sell-off.
Whether there are any forthcoming moves or not, a year will make quite a difference for the Twins. They entered the 2025 season with what looked like one of the sport’s best bullpens on paper. Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, Danny Coulombe, Justin Topa and Cole Sands gave the club a very strong top end. When the Twins shifted to sell mode at the deadline, that group was near wholly dismantled. Duran, Jax, Varland, Stewart and Coulombe were all traded for younger and/or more controllable players.
Heading into 2026, the Twins have what looks like one of the game’s worst bullpens by a wide margin. They added left-hander Anthony Banda after he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers and picked up righty Eric Orze in a small trade with the Rays. Left-hander Taylor Rogers, now 35, is back on a one-year deal that guarantees him $2MM. Kent was claimed off waivers after spring training was already underway.
That’s the extent of the team’s bullpen additions this winter. They’ll head into the season with Rogers, Banda, Sands, Topa, Orze, Kent, Laweryson and Kody Funderburk comprising new manager Derek Shelton’s relief corps. There’s no clear closer. Rogers is the only Twins reliever with experience in that role, but he’s been relegated to middle relief work with the Giants, Reds and Cubs in recent seasons. Rogers, Banda, Topa and Sands are the only Twins relievers with even a year of major league service.
As the season wears on, the Twins will surely hope for some young arms to step up and secure roles. Prospects like Connor Prielipp, Marco Raya, Ryan Gallagher and John Klein could eventually emerge as relief options. Starting pitchers who don’t carve out footholds in the rotation could get a look here, too; Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Kendry Rojas and Andrew Morris are among the possibilities. For now, the early iteration of the group looks about as bleak as any team in the game.
Phillies, Oscar Mercado Agree To Minor League Deal
The Phillies are bringing veteran outfielder Oscar Mercado, who spent the 2025 season with their Triple-A club, back on a new minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. Mercado was with the D-backs this spring but was released yesterday. He’s represented by Excel Sports Management.
Mercado had a solid season with the Phillies’ Triple-A club in Lehigh Valley last year, his age-30 campaign. In 115 games and 477 plate appearances, he slashed .249/.369/.373 with 11 homers, 40 steals and more walks (14.5%) than strikeouts (14.3%). After a .242/.265/.333 showing in 34 spring plate appearances with the D-backs, he’ll now re-up with the Phils and head back to Lehigh Valley to begin the season.
It’s only natural to see Philadelphia bring in some familiar outfield depth. They’re going with top prospect Justin Crawford in center field to begin the season. Touted as he is, the 22-year-old has never taken a major league plate appearance and hasn’t had an especially impactful spring, batting .250/.291/.346 in 55 turns at the plate. Johan Rojas, one fallback option for Crawford, will miss the first half of the season after receiving an 80-game PED suspension.
The Phillies had utilityman Dylan Moore in camp as a non-roster invitee and have since signed him to a major league deal. He has 105 career innings in center but has been more of a corner option when playing on the grass. Left fielder Brandon Marsh has plenty of center field experience but is considered a below-average defender there. Waiver claim Pedro León gives the Phillies another 40-man option in center field, though he has only 21 major league plate appearances and hit .241/.312/.422 in 22 Triple-A games last year. Injuries limited him to 25 games overall.
Mercado hasn’t played in the majors since 2023 and was never really able to follow up on a strong rookie showing in 2019, when he batted .269/.318/.443 with 15 homers and 15 steals in 115 games with Cleveland. In 491 MLB plate appearances since that time, he’s slashed .206/.262/.334. Mercado has a solid Triple-A track record though, and he’ll give the Phillies some speed and depth across all three outfield spots.
Brewers Acquire Jake Woodford
The Brewers have acquired right-hander Jake Woodford from the Rays, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. It had been reported by Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times that Woodford had triggered the upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Tampa. The Rays receive right-hander K.C. Hunt in return. Milwaukee placed outfielder Akil Baddoo on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Woodford, per McCalvy.
Woodford, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Rays in November. It was recently reported that the deal contained an upward mobility clause. When such a clause is triggered, a player has to be offered up to the other teams in the league. If any of them are willing to give the player a roster spot, the signing club must either trade him or add him to their own roster. In this case, it seems the Brewers were willing to add him, while the Rays preferred a trade to holding on.
The righty’s best seasons to date came in St. Louis. Over the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, he gave the Cardinals 116 innings, allowing 3.26 earned runs per nine. His 15.4% strikeout rate wasn’t good but he induced grounders on 45.8% of balls in play and limited walks to a 7.5% clip.
The past three years have been a struggle, with Woodford finishing all three with an ERA above 6.00. Unsurprisingly, he had to settle for a minor league deal this winter. He threw 7 1/3 innings in camp for the Rays, allowing one earned run while allowing four hits, two walks, hitting one batter while striking out five.
For what it’s worth, his velocity has ticked up slightly. He had mostly been around 92 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker in his career. With the Diamondbacks last year, he got both pitches above 93 mph. He’s been around 94 mph in spring training this year.
The Brewers will take a flier on him to see if that helps him unlock a new gear. Milwaukee has a huge amount of flexibility on the pitching staff. Prior to this deal, Brandon Woodruff and Rob Zastryzny were the only guys on the 40-man who can’t be optioned to the minors. The latter is going to begin the season on the injured list.
Woodford is out of options, so he will be on the active roster, perhaps holding a spot as other arms are shuttled on and off. The club has a reputation for helping pitchers find the best versions of themselves. If they can do that with Woodford and he holds a spot all year, he can be retained for next season via arbitration, though Woodford will obviously have to put up some good numbers before that becomes a consideration. If the club wants to remove him from the 26-man roster at some point, he’ll also have to be removed from the 40-man.
Hunt, 25, spent last year as a starter at the Double-A level. He made 26 starts and logged 121 1/3 innings with a 4.45 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate. FanGraphs ranked him the #51 prospect in the system a few months ago, projecting him as likely to end up as a depth starter. The Rays presumably feel it’s a decent outcome to turn a veteran on a minor league deal into a somewhat notable prospect, even if he doesn’t project to be a future star.
Baddoo was signed to a major league deal this offseason but he suffered a left quad strain a little over a week ago. It’s evidently a pretty bad strain, as this transaction rules him out until at least late May. The Brewers will start the season with Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Christian Yelich will be out there occasionally, when he’s not the designated hitter. Brandon Lockridge will be on the bench. Blake Perkins has been optioned to Triple-A and will likely be the first man up if someone gets injured.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Parker Mushinski Re-Signs With Rockies
March 24: The Rockies announced Tuesday that Mushinski has re-signed on a new minor league contract. He’ll presumably open the season with their Triple-A club.
March 22: Left-hander Parker Mushinski was in camp with the Rockies on a minor league deal but is now heading back to free agency. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports that the southpaw has been informed that he won’t break camp with Colorado and will now opt out of his deal.
Mushinski, 30, had a camp of extremes. He racked up some strikeouts but also saw a lot of runs cross the plate. In 8 2/3 innings, he struck out 12 opponents but allowed ten earned runs via 11 hits and four walks. His .391 batting average on balls in play and 41% strand rate point to some poor luck in that small sample.
The Rockies had an awful pitching staff in 2025 and certainly had room for some new arms but they couldn’t find a spot for Mushinski. They’ll go into 2026 with Brennan Bernardino as the only lefty in their bullpen. Luis Peralta and Welinton Herrera are on the 40-man roster but will begin the season on optional assignment.
Mushinski’s major league track record consists of 33 innings pitched for the Astros over the 2022 through 2024 seasons. In that time, he has a 5.45 earned run average, 17.4% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate. He spent the 2025 season with the Guardians on a minor league deal. He tossed 50 Triple-A innings with a 3.78 ERA, huge 29.6% strikeout rate and strong 47.9% ground ball rate, but an ugly 14.8% walk rate.
He’ll head to the open market to see what opportunities await him now. There’s a ton of roster shuffling happening this week as clubs make their final decisions before Opening Day. As some guys get released or head to waivers, some clubs may find themselves light on lefty relief.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Nationals Return Rule 5 Pick Griff McGarry To Phillies
March 24th: The Phillies announced that McGarry is back in the organization and has been assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
March 22nd: The Nationals announced today that they’ve designated right-hander Griff McGarry for assignment. The move clears a spot for Jorbit Vivas on the 40-man roster, whose previously reported acquisition from the Yankees is now official. McGarry was the Nationals’ Rule 5 draft pick back in December and now will be available to any of the league’s other clubs who are willing to claim him with Rule 5 stipulations attached. If he goes unclaimed, he must be offered back to the Phillies for $50K. If the Phillies pass on reacquiring McGarry, he can be outrighted off the roster into the Nationals’ farm system.
McGarry, 26, was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies back in 2021 and got some top-100 prospect attention earlier in his career. That was before his career took a turn for the worse in 2023, when he posted an ugly 6.00 ERA in 17 starts thanks to lackluster command. Those command issues caused the organization to move McGarry to the bullpen for the 2024 season, but his already-high 18.5% walk rate from 2023 ballooned to a whopping 24.0% when he moved into a relief role. That led the Phillies to return the right-hander to the rotation for 2025, and he turned in decent numbers across 21 starts, most of which were at the Double-A level. He still walked too many batters, with 13.9% of his opponents getting a free pass, but he managed to make up for that elevated walk rate with a sensational 35.1% strikeout rate.
That improvement was enough for the Nationals to roll the dice on McGarry back in December, but his signature command issues once again resurfaced during Spring Training. While he managed a decent 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings of work, he walked (five) nearly as many batters as he struck out (six) in that time, leaving him with an 18.5% walk rate that would be difficult to justify carrying on a big league roster even for a rebuilding club. With optionable youngsters like Brad Lord and Ken Waldichuk capable of offering multi-inning relief with considerable upside and no Rule 5 restrictions, it’s not necessarily a surprising decision that the Nationals would opt for those arms rather than McGarry as they fill out their roster.
Should he go unclaimed on waivers, his upside is still considerable enough that it would be a surprise if the Phillies didn’t jump at the opportunity to reacquire him and continue his development throughout the 2026 campaign. Of course, it’s not impossible that he could be claimed; after all, McGarry was just the third-overall selection in the draft, meaning a number of teams later in the draft may well have considered drafting him themselves if he had fallen to them. Of course, it’s also a lot easier to draft a Rule 5 pick in December than it is to actually carry that player on their roster come March, so McGarry’s trip through the waiver wire will be one to watch over the coming days.
Braves Claim Osvaldo Bido
Yankees right-hander Osvaldo Bido has been claimed off waivers by the Braves, per announcements from both clubs. Atlanta placed left-hander Joey Wentz on the 60-day IL to create a spot on the 40-man roster. Wentz suffered a torn ACL midway through spring training and is expected to miss the 2026 season.
This marks the second time since last season concluded that Atlanta has acquired Bido. They also plucked him off waivers from the A’s back in early December. That claim set off a series of transactions in what went on to become one of the most whirlwind winters any player has experienced in recent memory. Bido went from the A’s, to the Braves, to the Rays, to the Marlins, to Angels, to the Yankees in a dizzying sequence of DFAs and waiver claims. Hopefully for his sake, today’s return to an Atlanta organization in dire need of innings is the last move for some time.
Bido has had a solid spring with the Yankees, tossing seven innings and holding opponents to a run on five hits and three walks. He’s been working one-inning stints with New York but has worked as a starter and swingman in recent seasons with the Pirates and Athletics.
Bido spent seven seasons in the Pirates system before making his MLB debut as a 27-year-old in 2023. He’s spent the past two seasons with the A’s. Listed at a wiry 6’3″ and 175 pounds, he’s pitched 193 2/3 innings in the majors and pitched to a 5.07 earned run average. It’s been a roller-coaster run, with poor numbers in ’23, strong output in ’24 and more struggles in ’25. Overall, metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) view him a bit more favorably, but Bido has typically pitched like a swingman or sixth starter.
Bido averages 94.7 mph on his four-seamer and sinker alike. He’s only a bit worse than average in terms of strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%), but home runs were a major issue in 2025. Bido is an extreme fly-ball pitcher, and a 2024 season spent pitching home games in the cavernous Oakland Coliseum during the Athletics’ final season there treated him well; conversely, a move to West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, which played like an absolute launching pad, did Bido no favors. He served up 13 big flies in only 44 1/3 home innings this past season, compared to just six on the road (35 1/3 innings).
The Braves entered camp thin on rotation depth and have seen their limited stock of arms ravaged by injury. In addition to Wentz’s ACL tear, right-handers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep both required elbow surgery to remove loose bodies. Fellow righty Spencer Strider was diagnosed with an oblique strain just this week and will open the season on the injured list.
Atlanta will open the season with Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes locked into rotation spots. Lopez pitched only once last year due to shoulder surgery. Holmes suffered a UCL tear last summer and rehabbed without surgery. Sale’s injury history is well known.
Righty Bryce Elder and lefty José Suarez are both out of minor league options and both expected to fill out the rotation, though the team hasn’t formally said as much. Non-roster veteran Martín Pérez seems to at least still be under consideration. Bido, like Elder and Suarez, is out of minor league options. He’s now in strong position to break camp in a swing role, giving Atlanta a bit of extra depth.