The Indians are in agreement with veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan on a minor league contract, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). The O’Connell Sports Management client will earn a $1.25MM base salary if he’s able to crack the Major League roster.
Hanigan, 37, spent the 2017 season in the Rockies organization, logging 33 games in the Majors and another 17 in Triple-A. He hit .267/.324/.347 with a pair of homers through 112 plate appearances in the Majors last year — numbers that are fairly representative of his overall skill set despite the small sample size. Hanigan has long displayed solid on-base skills, especially for a catcher, as evidenced by a career .344 on-base percentage and 11.2 percent walk rate. That walk rate has trended downward in recent seasons as his strikeout rate has risen correspondingly, however, and he’s never displayed much in the way of power.
The veteran Hanigan will give Cleveland a depth option, though he’s a ways down the depth chart. Both Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez are under guaranteed contracts after signing long-term deals with Cleveland in recent years, and the Indians also have one of the game’s top catching prospects, Francisco Mejia, looming in the upper minors.
This stove on fire! This stove on fire feeling hot hot hot!
Man, I haven’t heard that joke in like, 10 minutes.
Every post about minor league signings gets 1 of 3 outcomes:
– Sarcastic comment about the hot stove
– Sarcastic comment about team ‘x’ now being world series favorites
– Comment complaining about team x’s offseason, prompting replies about how the signing is low risk and there is no such thing as a bad minor league deal.
Here and there we get a bit of insight as to why said player may stick and succeed, and sometimes an anecdote about the player from a fellow fan’s point of view. Let’s get more of that!
Yeah, this signing is easy to figure out. He’ll cover some innings in Spring Training, and then if he decides to hang around he’ll be sent down to AAA Columbus to replace Adam Moore, and most likely share innings there with Mejia.
Don’t forget the comments like the lack of signings are some how ruing their world….
Don’t forget the all- encomposing; you need lots of bodies to fill minor-league rosters!
Bosox90 ding ding ding that is correct
Future coach/manager at the MLB level when he retires. Hope he decides to tough it out thru the minors for a few years 1st.
And it won’t hurt a bit to be around Tito for at least a few weeks. Definitely minor-league manager/MLB bench coach material.
he was in the same spot last year with the Rockies, let’s see if he will get the call up again