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Nationals Sign Nomar Mazara, Richie Martin To Minor League Contracts

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The Nationals announced they’ve signed outfielder Nomar Mazara and infielder Richie Martin to minor league deals. Both players have been assigned to Triple-A Rochester.

Mazara has logged MLB time in seven consecutive seasons. The former top prospect never emerged as the middle-of-the-order bat that evaluators and Rangers fans had expected after he mashed through the minor leagues. Mazara had serviceable numbers as a rookie but didn’t take the anticipated step forward over the next few seasons. The left-handed hitter was a slightly below-average offensive player for four seasons before being dealt to the White Sox going into 2020.

Since leaving Arlington, Mazara has fallen on particularly hard times. He’s suited up for the White Sox, Tigers and Padres, logging between 100 and 200 plate appearances in each season. Going back to the start of 2020, Mazara owns a cumulative .235/.295/.324 line with only six home runs and a 25.7% strikeout rate in 501 plate appearances.

The 27-year-old (28 later this month) signed a minor league deal with the Orioles over the winter. He spent the spring with Baltimore, hitting .231/.286/.308 in 39 at-bats. After failing to crack the roster out of camp, he was released at the end of Spring Training. A couple weeks later, Mazara catches on with the Nationals — the sixth organization of his career.

Martin’s only MLB experience has come in Baltimore. Selected out of the Oakland organization with the first pick of the 2018 Rule 5 draft, he hit .208/.260/.322 over 309 plate appearances as a rookie. That enabled the Orioles to retain his long-term contractual rights but he only appeared in 50 more games for the club over the following three seasons.

The University of Florida product is a career .212/.261/.311 hitter over 170 big league games. Martin carries a .240/.336/.366 line at the Triple-A level. Despite the tepid offense, he’s drawn interest as a depth option for his defense throughout the infield. He’ll add some insurance behind the middle infield tandem of CJ Abrams and Luis García with Rochester.

Mariners Select Tommy Milone, Designate J.B. Bukauskas

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The Mariners announced that they have selected left-hander Tommy Milone. He will take the active roster spot of fellow lefty Marco Gonzales, who has been placed on the paternity list. To open a spot on the 40-man for Milone, right-hander J.B. Bukauskas was designated for assignment.

Milone, 36, is a veteran journeyman who has suited up for the Nationals, Athletics, Twins, Mets, Mariners, Orioles, Braves and Blue Jays in his career. Though he was capable of holding down a full-time rotation spot earlier in his career, he’s mostly been called upon for emergency spot start duties or long relief in recent years. Since the end of the 2019 season, he’s made 22 appearances, including 10 starts, posting a 6.33 ERA over 69 2/3 innings. He doesn’t rack up strikeouts but has strong control, with a 5.6% walk rate in his career.

Last year, Milone made seven appearances for the M’s, posting a 5.40 ERA in 16 2/3 innings. He also tossed 40 1/3 innings in Triple-A with a 2.68 ERA. He signed a minor league deal with the club over the winter and has already made one Triple-A start here in 2023, tossing five scoreless innings back on April 4.

The Mariners went into the season with six solid starters, pushing Chris Flexen to a long relief role in the bullpen. However, Robbie Ray landed on the injured list just a few days into the season, with a rough expectation of an absence of four to six weeks. That required putting Flexen back into the rotation and now Milone will step up to start tonight’s game while Gonzales steps away for the birth of his child. Stints on the paternity list are allowed for between one and three days, so it seems likely this will be just a single spot start for Milone.

That roster shuffling results in Bukauskas being designated for assignment for the third time in as many months. The former first round pick was let go by the Diamondbacks over the offseason. Seattle grabbed him off waivers but quickly DFA him themselves. He went unclaimed that time and stuck in the organization. The M’s brought him back last week but will take him back off the roster following one appearance.

Bukauskas has 22 MLB games under his belt. He’s allowed 21 runs in 18 2/3 innings at the highest level, though he did post a 2.66 ERA over 20 1/3 Triple-A frames last year. The Mariners will have a week to deal him or put him back on waivers. Because he’s already gone unclaimed once, Bukauskas would have the ability to elect minor league free agency if he clears waivers.

Athletics Select Tyler Wade, Designate Cal Stevenson

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves today, recalling left-hander Hogan Harris and selecting utility player Tyler Wade. In corresponding moves, righty Adam Oller and infielder Nick Allen were optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. To open a spot for Wade on the 40-man roster, outfielder Cal Stevenson was designated for assignment.

Wade is back in the majors for what’ll be a seventh straight year. A longtime prospect of some regard with the Yankees, the left-handed hitter settled into a depth role in the Bronx. He never tallied more than 145 plate appearances in a season, though he got into 103 games as a frequent pinch-runner and defensive replacement in 2021. Wade’s plus speed has allowed him to swipe 38 bases in his MLB career.

The 28-year-old got his most notable playing time after being traded to the Angels heading into 2022. He picked up 163 trips to the plate but only connected on one home run with a .218/.272/.272 batting line. The Halos outrighted him off their 40-man roster and traded him back to the Yankees last summer. He didn’t return to the majors with New York and elected minor league free agency at year’s end.

Wade hooked on with the A’s on a non-roster deal and has appeared in ten games for Las Vegas. He doesn’t have an extra-base hit but has walked six times while striking out on just seven occasions. Between his contact skills, speed and ability to cover any infield position and all three outfield spots, he’s earned a look on the big league bench. Wade doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so the A’s will have to keep him in the big leagues or designate him for assignment now that he’s secured a spot on the 40-man roster.

While Wade steps into the infield mix, Oakland sends Allen out for the moment. The defensive specialist has long been regarded as one of the better prospects in the A’s system. He’s an excellent gloveman at both middle infield positions but faces questions about his offensive upside. Allen limped to a .207/.256/.291 line over 326 plate appearances as a rookie last season. He’s gotten starts in just five of the first 13 games this year and opened the season in a 1-16 slump. Oakland has given Aledmys Díaz and Kevin Smith most of the shortstop run in the past few days.

Wade’s promotion necessitated bumping a player from the 40-man roster. Stevenson loses his spot despite starting the season with eight hits and six walks over 29 plate appearances for Las Vegas. The 26-year-old outfielder hasn’t gotten much run at the major league level, appearing in 23 games last season with the A’s and struggling to a .167/.261/.217 line after being acquired in the Christian Bethancourt trade.

A former tenth round pick, Stevenson has been involved in a few trades as a professional. He’s also appeared in the Blue Jays, Astros and Tampa Bay organizations and put together an impressive .294/.409/.420 line over parts of five minor league seasons. Stevenson has never gotten much favor from prospect evaluators despite his plate discipline, largely because of limited power potential in his 5’9″ frame. Oakland will have a week to trade him or look to run him through waivers.

Twins Acquire Alex De Goti From Marlins

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The Twins have acquired infielder Alex De Goti from the Marlins in exchange for cash considerations, per an announcement from the St. Paul Saints, Triple-A affiliate of the Twins. He was with the Marlins on a minor league deal and wasn’t on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required.

De Goti, 28, has spent most of his career with the Astros thus far, having been selected by them in the 15th round of the 2016 draft. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and was able to get into a couple of big league games in 2021 as a COVID replacement player. He got two hits and a walk in his seven plate appearances, leading to a career batting line of .333/.429/.333.

He spent all of last year with the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys, hitting nine home runs and drawing walks in 12.7% of his 577 plate appearances. His .253/.352/.377 batting line was actually a bit below average in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, leading to his 87 wRC+. But he also stole eight bases and provided defensive versatility, lining up at all four infield positions.

Since signing De Goti back in December, the Marlins added various infielders to their organization, including Luis Arraez, Jean Segura, Yuli Gurriel, Garrett Hampson, Jacob Amaya and José Iglesias. Those moves cluttered the depth chart and stacked the deck against De Goti making it back to the big leagues in Miami. The Twins, on the other hand, currently have all of Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff, Kyle Farmer, Royce Lewis and Joey Gallo on the injured list. That’s pushed depth options like Donovan Solano and Edouard Julien into regular action and thinned out the safety net a bit. De Goti will change uniforms and provide Minnesota with a bit more infield security, an important factor for a club that was largely undone by injuries last year.

White Sox Claim Nick Solak; Place Yoán Moncada On IL

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The White Sox announced a batch of roster moves this afternoon. Outfielder Eloy Jiménez was reinstated from the injured list, swapping places with third baseman Yoán Moncada, who lands on the 10-day IL retroactive to April 11 with lower back soreness. Infielder/outfielder Nick Solak was also claimed off waivers from the Mariners and optioned to Triple-A Charlotte, with right-hander Matt Foster transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Additionally, right-hander Jesse Scholtens was optioned to Charlotte while left-hander Tanner Banks was recalled.

Solak, 28, has bounced around the league quite a bit over the past six months or so. After spending four seasons with the Rangers, he was flipped to the Reds for cash considerations in November. He didn’t impress in spring and was designated for assignment on Opening Day. The Mariners acquired him at that time, with Solak being dealt for cash yet again. After a couple of weeks in the Mariners’ system, he was designated for assignment again and now lands with the Sox.

The fact that Solak is in a limbo zone where various teams are interested in his abilities yet he keeps losing his roster spot is a reflection of his uneven career so far. He debuted with the Rangers in 2019 by posting a .293/.393/.491 batting line and 126 wRC+ in 33 games. But he hit just .246/.317/.354 in the next three seasons for a wRC+ of 88. Despite those struggles at the big league level, he’s continued to flash promise in the minors, hitting .289/.368/.503 in Triple-A.

The White Sox will now be the latest team to give him a shot and see what happens. He still has an option remaining and will head to Charlotte for now. A second baseman earlier in his career, he was pushed into a corner outfield role when the Rangers signed Marcus Semien. It remains to be seen how the Sox deploy Solak for the Knights, but they do have a question mark at second base, as Tim Anderson’s injury has moved Elvis Andrus over to shortstop. That leaves utility players like Romy González, Hanser Alberto and Lenyn Sosa covering second, though Moncada’s injury means they’re needed at third base as well. The outfield corners are a bit more secure with Andrew Benintendi and Óscar Colás taking those spots on a regular basis.

Moncada has been dealing with the back issue for the past few days, having last started on Sunday. Just a few days ago, manager Pedro Grifol said it was possible that Moncada could be ready for action by this weekend, per James Fegan of The Athletic, but it seems the club will give him a bit of a breather to recuperate. He was off to a hot start, currently hitting .308/.325/.564, but that will now be put on pause. By backdating the IL placement, he could potentially be back in a week if he heals up as hoped. His roster spot will go to Jiménez, who is back after just a minimum stay on the IL. He was originally expected to miss about two or three weeks but has beaten that timeline slightly. Within days of going on the IL, he told Fegan that he was feeling much better and would have been available to pinch hit if were still active.

As for Foster, he started the season on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain. It’s unclear what his timeline for return is, but he will now be ineligible until late May. The 60-day count goes from his initial IL placement and not today’s transfer.

Yankees Designate Colten Brewer For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they have recalled right-hander Greg Weissert from Triple-A, with fellow righty Colten Brewer designated for assignment in a corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Brewer, 30, began the year in the Rays’ system on a minor league deal. He had a strong performance in spring but didn’t make that club’s Opening Day roster, but a clause in his contract allowed the Yankees to give him the roster spot that the Rays would not. The out-of-options righty was installed into the Yankee bullpen and has served a multi-inning role recently, tossing two scoreless innings in his first appearance and three scoreless innings in his second.

Unfortunately, the club’s pitching staff was dealt a very unfortunate blow yesterday. Starter Jhony Brito was shelled for seven runs while only recording two outs, leaving manager Aaron Boone in a difficult spot to get through the game. Brewer was brought in to get the final out of the first inning and stayed for three more innings after that. He eventually yielded four earned runs over his 3 1/3 innings, tossing 52 pitches in the process. The Yanks also used Ian Hamilton for three innings and Jimmy Cordero for one before throwing utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa in there for a frame in the 11-2 loss. With the low-leverage half of their bullpen essentially torpedoed, they clearly felt the need to get a fresh arm in the mix and Brewer has lost his roster spot as a result.

Prior to this season, Brewer had pitched for the Padres and Red Sox but spent 2022 with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate. He recorded a 4.76 ERA over 36 appearances with a 24.9% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 51.9% ground ball rate. The Yanks will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. In the event he clears waivers, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, by virtue of having a previous career outright.

Orioles Option Cole Irvin

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April 14: The Orioles have now officially announced these moves, optioning Irvin and placing Akin on the paternity list while recalling Watkins and Canó.

April 13: In a surprising move, the Orioles are optioning starter Cole Irvin to Triple-A Norfolk, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). According to Kubatko, the club is also placing reliever Keegan Akin on the paternity list and recalling Spenser Watkins and Yennier Canó from Norfolk.

The most notable of the transactions by far is Irvin’s demotion. The southpaw was one of the Orioles’ biggest acquisitions of the offseason. Baltimore traded well-regarded infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to the A’s in a deal to plug Irvin into the rotation, with pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky also going to the O’s. The Oregon product had been a productive mid-rotation arm for Oakland over the past two seasons. He reached 30-plus starts and surpassed 175 innings in both seasons, combining for a decent 4.11 ERA.

Those results in Oakland weren’t without caveats. He never missed many bats, instead relying on excellent control and a low batting average on balls in play. Oakland’s spacious home ballpark certainly seemed to aid him in that regard, as he kept hitters to a .243/.288/.355 line at home while surrendering a .285/.330/.491 mark in road contests.

Baltimore looked past those splits, counting on Irvin’s control to carry over in a more hitter-friendly environment. While it’s far too early to make definitive judgments about that trade, it’s hard to envision a much worse beginning to Irvin’s tenure as an Oriole. He’s been tattooed for 15 runs in his first 12 2/3 innings. Irvin has surrendered a pair of homers and uncharacteristically walked eight batters. The final straw came this afternoon, when his old club teed off for six runs in four innings during an eventual 8-7 Baltimore win.

The O’s were going to be faced with a decision on the starting staff in the coming days. Righty Kyle Bradish is likely to return from the injured list next week. Manager Brandon Hyde suggested a few days ago the club wasn’t interested in going to a six-man rotation. Once Bradish is reinstated, he’ll presumably slot in alongside Kyle Gibson, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and top prospect Grayson Rodriguez in the rotation.

It’s likely Irvin will find himself back in the mix before long. In the absence of any injuries, pitchers can return to the big leagues after 15 days on optional assignment. If another player lands on the IL, the O’s could recall him within that 15-day window. Even without injuries, Irvin could be back in the big leagues by the end of the month. Regardless, it’s a frustrating development for an O’s front office that surely envisioned their trade pickup as a stabilizing presence in an uncertain rotation.

The demotion doesn’t seem likely to meaningfully affect Irvin from a service time perspective. He entered the season with two years and 120 days of MLB service. Players eclipse a full service year at the 172-day mark, so the southpaw only needs 52 days on the MLB roster this year to surpass the three-year threshold. The optional assignment would have to last for multiple months for him to fall short of that, in which case he’d be a non-tender candidate anyhow. As things stand, Irvin is set to reach arbitration for the first time next winter and won’t hit free agency until after the 2026 campaign.

Bad Bunny And Noah Assad Launch Rimas Sports Agency

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Rimas Entertainment CEO Noah Assad, his client Bad Bunny and Rimas executive Jonathan Miranda have launched a sports management agency, per a report from Thania Garcia of Variety. MLB certified agent William Arroyo is working for Rimas, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

“We are thrilled to break into a new industry with the launch of Rimas Sports. In the music world we accomplished success by knowing how to develop talent, helping our clients reach their vision by catering to their unique needs,” said Assad in a statement. “This new venture is an expansion of that mission as we aim to bring greater representation to the Latin community in the world of sports.”

Bad Bunny is already well known on account of his music career, where he has been represented by Rimas for many years. He’s also clearly a baseball fan, as he took part in the Celebrity Softball Game during last year’s All-Star festivities, as covered by Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone. Now he will get involved in baseball in a different way, with he and Rimas getting into the agency side of things.

Per Garcia’s report, Miranda will serve as president of the agency, which will offer a wide range of services from agent management to public relations and more. Former big leaguer and Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez is involved as an ambassador.

They seem to have already inked a number of major and minor leaguers, with Garcia’s report listing the following players as being part of the Rimas roster:

Heyman says that Fernando Tatis Jr. has employed Rimas for marketing but will retain Dan Lozano of MVP Sports Group as his agent for baseball purposes.

Latest On Pirates, Bryan Reynolds

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Opening Day came and went without any resolution on the long-running extension talks between Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates. Negotiations reportedly hit a snag when Reynolds’ camp pursued an opt-out chance following the 2026 season. The parties were apparently both amenable to tacking on seven years and $100MM to cover the 2024-30 seasons but didn’t reach a compromise on Reynolds’ desire to be able to test free agency midway through the deal.

The opt-out wasn’t the only issue, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the Bucs were also resistant to including a no-trade clause. It’s not clear how adamant Reynolds is about receiving at least limited no-trade protection, though that’s perhaps another hurdle the sides will have to clear.

Sorting through the opt-out clause seems a tougher challenge than settling on no-trade rights. The Bucs already control Reynolds via arbitration through the 2025 campaign. A post-2026 opt-out would only ensure Reynolds sticks in Pittsburgh for one additional season. On a contract with guaranteed salaries running through 2030, that provision would give the All-Star outfielder relatively early flexibility to test the market while leaving the team with some extended risk in the event Reynolds suffers and injury or underperforms.

It’s not clear if the Bucs would be amenable to including an opt-out later on in a potential extension. Doing so after 2027, for instance, would ensure the club tacks on at least two more seasons of control. That might not be all that appealing to Reynolds, however. The switch-hitter is already 28 and won’t hit free agency until after his age-30 campaign even if he proceeds through arbitration. A post-2027 opt-out wouldn’t allow him to explore the market before he’s headed into his age-33 season, when the chance for a long-term free agent pact might’ve passed regardless.

Given the challenge of finding an opt-out date that could make mutual sense, Heyman writes the Pirates are open to “(moving) money around” in extension talks. Whether that’s merely restructuring the $100MM offer — which would’ve reportedly been backloaded — to get Reynolds more money up front or involves a boost to the overall guarantee isn’t clear. In any event, it’s apparent the Pirates aren’t closing the door on continued negotiations.

General manager Ben Cherington confirmed as much in a conversation with the Pittsburgh beat earlier in the week (link via Kevin Gorman of the Tribune-Review). “We’ve never had any team policy about (a deadline) on Opening Day,” Cherington said. “Out of respect to players and the team, we try to keep those conversations to the offseason and Spring Training. But if it makes sense for all parties to have a conversation during the season, there’s no policy against that. We’re open to that. … He’s playing well. From his play, it looks like he’s focused on the season. We’re focused on supporting him. If there’s anything more to talk about, we’ll keep that between him and us.”

Reynolds’ camp had reportedly pushed for an extension to be done by Opening Day. It’s not uncommon for teams or players to work beyond self-imposed “deadlines” of that nature if the sides are close enough a deal isn’t far out of reach. (For instance, Manny Machado and the Padres signed his extension a little more than a week after Machado’s initially proposed cutoff in February.)

As Cherington pointed out, Reynolds hasn’t seemed at all fazed by the absence of a Spring Training agreement. He’s off to a .340/.352/.720 start through 54 plate appearances. His five home runs are tied for third in the majors, one behind the six longballs of Pete Alonso and Ryan Mountcastle.

Braves Place Orlando Arcia On IL, Recall Vaughn Grissom

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April 14: As expected, Atlanta announced today that Arcia has been placed on the 10-day injured list with Grissom recalled in a corresponding move.

April 13: The Braves announced today that shortstop Orlando Arcia has a microfracture in his left wrist. They did not provide a timeline on his absence but said he will be placed on the injured list. They have tonight off so that transaction won’t need to take place until tomorrow. Mark Bowman of MLB.com relays that Vaughn Grissom is not in the lineup for Triple-A Gwinnett tonight, making it possible he will be recalled, though that’s just speculation at this point. The club also announced that Ian Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery, a development that had been reported on earlier this week.

Arcia was hit by a pitch on his left wrist during last night’s game, a 98 mph fastball from Hunter Greene of the Reds. Though Arcia initially stayed in the game to run the bases, he was later removed and replaced by Ehire Adrianza. X-rays done last night were negative but the club announced today that an MRI and CT scan revealed the microfracture.

This is the latest plot twist in the Atlanta shortstop battle, a storyline that has had many since the end of the previous season. Dansby Swanson had held that job since 2016 but reached free agency and signed with the Cubs. It never seemed like Atlanta had much interest in meeting Swanson’s asking price to return, seeming to have confidence that Grissom could step up to replace him. The youngster had shortstop experience in the minors but prospect evaluators questioned his long-term viability there and he mostly played second base during his major league debut last year.

It was a risky move for a competitive club to leave a premier position open for a 22-year-old player with legitimate doubts about how likely he was to succeed, but Arcia was also around as the more-seasoned fallback option. He finished last year with 642 games of big league experience. He had been a full-time shortstop earlier in his career with the Brewers but had transitioned into more of a utility role in recent years.

Towards the end of spring, Grissom was optioned to the minors, with Arcia winning the Opening Day job. The latter was off to a strong start here in 2023, hitting .333/.400/.511 through 13 games. He wasn’t going to sustain that kind of pace all year, given his career batting line of .245/.298/.372, but it’s still a frustrating development for him to be shut down when he was in a nice groove.

Though nothing is official yet, it seems like Grissom will now get a shot at stepping up and seeing how he fares. There’s not much doubt about his offensive prowess, as he hit .291/.353/.440 in his debut last year and has a .366/.458/.585 line through 10 Triple-A games this year. The bigger question will be with his glove, which will undoubtedly get a lot of attention in the coming weeks. Depending how things play out between now and Arcia’s return to health, Atlanta will potentially have a difficult decision about how to proceed.

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