Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…
- The D-backs are in agreement with right-hander Michael Blazek on a minor league contract, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Blazek, 29 in March, has spent his career to date with the Cardinals and Brewers, most recently pitching 8 1/3 innings for Milwaukee last season. He looked like an interesting, controllable bullpen option for the Brewers as recently as 2015, when he tossed 55 2/3 innings with 7.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. Since then, however, he’s struggled to a 6.12 ERA in 50 MLB innings, as his his walk rate has spiked to 5.0 BB/9 and his HR/9 rate has soared from 0.5 to 2.3. Blazek has a 3.91 ERA in parts of six Triple-A seasons.
Earlier Moves
- The Pirates announced a slate of non-roster invitees to Spring Training today, including catcher Ryan Lavarnway, whose minor league deals had not been previously reported. Lavarnway, 30, has appeared in parts of six big league seasons with the Red Sox, Orioles, Braves and Athletics. He spent the 2017 campaign in the Oakland organization, though he appeared in just six games at the Major League level. Lavarnway is a career .201/.262/.318 hitter through 420 MLB plate appearances, but he’s logged a much more palatable .274/.365/.421 slash in parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level. Francisco Cervelli, Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings are all ahead of Lavarnway on the 40-man roster, so he’ll likely head to the minors to begin the year if he sticks with the Pirates through all of Spring Training.
Fact: Red Sox were undefeated in games Lavarnway started in 2014
So they were 2-0?
Good no-risk move. There’s no guarantee that Diaz is ready yet or that Stallings ever will be. Plus, the Bucs usually have a terrible bench, so it wouldn’t hurt to have someone with a little pop as a candidate.
Díaz is 27 years old. It’s about time for him to “be ready” or cut ties.
Agreed. Starting to wonder if we made a mistake dealing Reese McGuire (in the Liriano salary dump) or if he would’ve just been the same way as Diaz is.
No mistake is dealing away McGuire at all. He has the ceiling of a Chris Stewart(good D, not much help with the bat). Those guys are a dime a dozen. Both he and Diaz are ticketed as career back-up catchers but Diaz carries some promise with his power.
No argument from me on that, hence signing a vet like Lavarnway to push him. I think Diaz can be a solid backup but that sadly that’s probably his ceiling. Stallings likely doesn’t have an MLB future. FWIW I think it’s possible that McGuire might not ever be more than Diaz will be, but we’ll find out I guess.
Makes sense. I just don’t see what this team sees in Diaz.
Lavarnway is a good pickup.
Blazek is going to be a nice pick up. He going to help the bullpen with solid inning and can also be an excellent swingman in a pinch
Who gives a crap? Oh and I’m sure you’ve all seen the ticker. Cain and Yelich both acquired by the “cash strapped small market” Brewers. All the while our beloved Pirates made a splash with this digging deep for a backup double a catcher. This FO should just quit and go play in traffic.