Headlines

  • Astros Sign Martin Maldonado To One-Year Extension
  • No Extension Negotiations Between Braves, Freddie Freeman
  • Adrian Morejon To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Neil Walker Announces Retirement
  • Yasiel Puig To Sign With Mexican League Team
  • Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cardinals Sign Eric Fryer, Jordan Schafer To Minor League Deals

By Steve Adams | December 12, 2016 at 3:34pm CDT

The Cardinals announced today that they’ve signed three players to minor league deals: catcher Eric Fryer, outfielder/left-handed pitcher Jordan Schafer and catcher Gabriel Lino. Each of the three have been invited to Major League Spring Training.

The 31-year-old Fryer should be a familiar face for Cardinals fans after he raked in a small sample as Yadier Molina’s backup last year. Fryer made the roster after expected backup Brayan Pena hit the disabled list with a knee injury and hit a robust .368/.415/.421 in 41 plate appearances across 24 games with St. Louis. He was ultimately designated for assignment and picked up off waivers by the Pirates, with whom he batted .218/.300/.269 in 92 trips to the plate. Fryer spent the 2013-15 seasons in the Twins organization and is a lifetime .254/.332/.328 hitter in 291 MLB plate appearances.

Schafer, 30, was once one of the Braves’ top outfield prospects but went to Houston in the 2011 Michael Bourn trade and was never fully able to realize his potential. He wound up with the Twins in 2014-15, where he got his most recent taste of MLB experience, but is a career .228/.308/.307 hitter in 463 games/1472 plate appearances. His struggles at the plate led him to work out as a pitcher in the Dodgers organization last year, where he posted a 3.83 ERA with 59 strikeouts against 18 walks in 49 total innings. Most of Schafer’s work came at the Double-A level, where he threw quite well. He did ascend to Triple-A briefly late in the year, but he surrendered seven runs in 6 1/3 innings there.

Lino, 23, has spent most of his career in the Phillies organization and reached Triple-A in 2015 before moving back down a level in 2016. He’s a career .230/.303/.341 hitter in parts of seven minor league seasons and has thrown out one-third of the runners that have attempted stolen bases against him in his minor league career.

Share 0 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Eric Fryer Jordan Schafer St. Louis Cardinals Transactions

Dodgers, Justin Turner Progressing Toward Four-Year Deal
Main
Phillies Sign Pedro Florimon, Acquire Mario Sanchez From Nationals
View Comments (26)
newest oldest

Comments

  1. tim815

    4 years ago

    Three low-key, but fairly astute signings.

    Like
    Reply
  2. stl_cards16

    4 years ago

    Fryer will likely make the team as the backup catcher. They needed someoneon a minor league deal so they didn’t gave to make a 40 man roster move. Duke will go to the 60 Day DL and it’s a pretty good bet Fryer starts the year on the 25 man roster.

    Like
    Reply
  3. cardfan2011

    4 years ago

    Yippee!! Fryer was a solid backup catcher, happy to have him back

    Like
    Reply
  4. relic

    4 years ago

    I was thinking about Fryer last week when Mo said that Carson Kelly will likely be at AAA to get at-bats. So Fryer is a nice snag. And I agree – he should make the 25-man roster.

    Like
    Reply
  5. kaido24

    4 years ago

    good to see fryer back.

    Like
    Reply
  6. lesterdnightfly

    4 years ago

    With Molina’s steady decline, the Cards’ catching situation is “out of the frying pan, into the Fryer”.

    Like
    Reply
    • ruthlesslyabsurd

      4 years ago

      I know you’re just making a silly pun, but he improved offensively in virtually every single category last year.. He slashed .365/.398/.529 in the second half

      Like
      Reply
      • mojowo11

        4 years ago

        Not to rain on the Eric Fryer parade here, but Fryer actually slashed .175/.284/.206 in the second half last year. He was awful with the Pirates.

        Like
        Reply
        • stl_cards16

          4 years ago

          He only had 92 PA in Pit. But yeah, he’s not being brought in for offense. He knows the pitching staff so he’s an easy plug and go guy. If anything happens to Molina and there’s regular playing time available, Kelly will be called up and be the starter.

          Like
          Reply
        • Baghtru

          4 years ago

          Actually, Ruthless’ slash line was Yadi’s second half, after his hand was more healed…. i.e. he’s not in steady decline…

          Like
          Reply
      • lesterdnightfly

        4 years ago

        His defense has been in steady decline. His foot speed is approaching his brother Benjie’s. He is not a power threat.
        He may still have a few more years, but not good ones if Matheny makes him catch 140-plus games yet again.

        Like
        Reply
        • stl_cards16

          4 years ago

          He’s a catcher in his mid-thirties that’s been behind the plate virtually every day he hasn’t had something broken for a decade… Of course his defense is declining. But the wrist was finally healthy last year and he put up his highest ISO since 2013. He’s fine and if he’s healthy, he’ll be behind the plate.

          Like
          Reply
        • lesterdnightfly

          4 years ago

          A catcher in his mid-30s as you say….. and with all that mileage on him, and his ability to control the running game in a downward spin, playing him behind the plate for 140 games is counterproductive.
          The Cards have been unable to find a capable backup / guy who can share the load behind the plate. Fryer isn’t the answer.

          Like
          Reply
        • guinnesspelican

          4 years ago

          Fryer did a respectable job with the birds in his limited playing time last year. I was surprised we didn’t see more of him. Yadi needs 125 games maximum behind the plate. Fryer can catch the other 37 games.

          Pena was supposed to be that capable backup last year and this year. That was a mess.

          Like
          Reply
    • stl_cards16

      4 years ago

      With Kelly, the Cardinals catching situation is fine. They just want him to continue getting regular reps in Memphis. Molina had a pretty good year last year, too.

      Like
      Reply
      • lesterdnightfly

        4 years ago

        Pretty good year with the bat, albeit no power threat. Defensively, he fell to around league average.

        Like
        Reply
  7. Just Another Fan

    4 years ago

    Schafer was lowkey filthy last year, might be a legit 2-way guy for real. Him being an extra bat off the bench would make him pretty valuable even if he’s not-great at both, his career OPS is a lowly .615, but that’s still better than almost all pitchers, plus he can play all 3 OF spots. That’s a perfect 25th man.

    Like
    Reply
    • resomnesbenefacere

      4 years ago

      He’d be especially valuable since the Cardinals don’t really have a fifth outfielder besides Jose Martinez, and the fourth outfielder, Pham, is probably going to be injured at some point

      Like
      Reply
      • guinnesspelican

        4 years ago

        Pham just got hurt with your post.

        Like
        Reply
        • cards1029

          4 years ago

          Super funny!

          Like
          Reply
      • lesterdnightfly

        4 years ago

        Pham being out with an injury equals addition by subtraction.

        Like
        Reply
    • AddisonStreet

      4 years ago

      He cant hit tho, which is the whole reason he started pitching.

      Like
      Reply
  8. JFactor

    4 years ago

    I didn’t know about Schaefer and pitching.

    I assume he’ll be an outfielder for us. But could he pitch?

    Like
    Reply
  9. gobraves46

    4 years ago

    The Cardinals just have to do with Schafer the same thing they did with Rick Ankiel, but backwards…

    Like
    Reply
  10. Paul Molitor

    4 years ago

    Someone tell me that fryer is a beast

    Like
    Reply
    • guinnesspelican

      4 years ago

      He approaches beastliness.

      Like
      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Astros Sign Martin Maldonado To One-Year Extension

    No Extension Negotiations Between Braves, Freddie Freeman

    Adrian Morejon To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Neil Walker Announces Retirement

    Yasiel Puig To Sign With Mexican League Team

    Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib

    Jay Bruce Announces Retirement

    Nationals Place Stephen Strasburg On Injured List, Select Paolo Espino

    Cody Bellinger Has Hairline Fracture In Left Leg

    2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

    Recent

    MLBTR Poll: Will Nationals Trade Max Scherzer This Summer?

    Twins To Place Miguel Sano On 10-Day IL; Recall Alex Kirilloff, Nick Gordon

    Mike Trout Suffers Left Elbow Contusion

    Latest On Luke Voit

    Marlins Place Brian Anderson On 10-Day IL, Recall Jose Devers

    Phillies Sign Greg Garcia To Minor League Deal

    Padres Place Dinelson Lamet, Keone Kela On 10-Day IL

    Cubs Place Joc Pederson On 10-Day IL

    MLBTR Poll: Struggling 2020 Playoff Teams

    Dinelson Lamet Leaves Start With Right Forearm Tightness

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Francisco Lindor Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version