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Rockies Sign Chad Stevens To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have signed infielder Chad Stevens to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Albuquerque for now but could receive an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Stevens, 27 in February, got to make a very brief major league debut this year. The Angels added him to their 40-man roster in the summer. He got into five games and stepped to the plate 14 times. He notched two singles, the first of which came against future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer, but also struck out seven times. He was outrighted off the 40-man in September and became a free agent at season’s end.

The Rockies are surely looking at his minor league track record, which is greater in both quality and quantity than that major league action. He made 981 plate appearances in the minors over the past two years with a .281/.354/.459 batting line. That translated to a 110 wRC+, indicating he was 10% better than league average. He also stole 28 bases in 37 attempts and bounced around the field. He spent just nine innings at first base but had loads of time at the other three infield positions, as well as a handful of games in both outfield corners.

Colorado has plenty of uncertainty on its roster, as one would expect for a team which just lost 119 games. There are a few guys who seem like lineup locks right now but even those guys might end up traded, depending on what the club plans to do this offseason. Since Stevens can play so many different positions, he’ll have various paths back to the big leagues. Statcast also ranked his sprint speed in the 81st percentile during his brief time in the big leagues, so he could also be attractive as a utility guy who can pinch run.

If he makes it back to the show, he still has options, meaning the Rockies can send him to Triple-A and back relatively freely. He also has just five days of big league service time, meaning he’s years away from qualifying for arbitration and is therefore very affordable.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Rockies Hire Ian Levin As Assistant GM

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The Rockies announced today that they have hired Ian Levin as assistant general manager. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported the hire prior to the official announcement. “Ian brings a proven record of strategic leadership, key roster decision-making, and innovative player performance initiatives,” president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said in the club’s press release. “With extensive experience across major league operations, research and development, player development and amateur scouting, Ian will strengthen every part of our operation. We couldn’t be more excited to bring him to the Rockies.”

Levin has spent the past two decades with the Mets. He was hired as an intern in 2005 on the public relations side, then moved over to baseball operations in 2006. He worked in scouting and player development roles over the years, getting promoted to assistant general manager with that club in 2021, a title he held through 2024. He departed the Mets a year ago to start his own company.

The Rockies have been trying to give their franchise an overhaul. The general perception around baseball is that they have been trailing the other clubs when it comes to data and analytics. That has contributed to a miserable on-field product. Colorado has lost at least 101 games in three straight seasons, with the most recent campaign seeing them drop all the way to 119 losses.

The past few months, the club has been focused on blazing a new trail. They parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt at the end of the regular season. Assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal resigned a week later. The Rockies eventually hired DePodesta to run the front office. DePodesta later added Josh Byrnes as general manager and Tommy Tanous as assistant general manager.

Byrnes came from the Dodgers and Tanous and Levin both from the Mets, though Levin was away from the Mets for a year. What all three have in common is that they all crossed paths with DePodesta years ago. DePodesta has been working in the NFL for the past decade but was in baseball for many years before that. DePodesta and Byrnes were both working for Cleveland in the late ’90s. DePodesta later worked from the Mets from 2011 to 2015 before joining the Cleveland Browns.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Teams Have Shown Interest In Jazz Chisholm Jr.

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Teams have shown interest in infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the Yankees have listened, according to reporting from Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and Jeff Passan of ESPN. Neither report suggests the Yanks are shopping him or are even likely to move him, but it’s notable that other clubs are exploring the possibility.

It’s unsurprising that clubs would call, as Chisholm is very good and coming off the best season of his career so far. He hit 31 home runs and stole 31 bases this year. His 27.9% strikeout rate was a bit high but nothing new for him, while his 10.9% walk rate was a personal best. His .242/.332/.481 batting line led to a 126 wRC+, indicating he was 26% better than league average at the plate.

Defensively, he played a decent amount of second and third base in the first half. The Yanks eventually acquired Ryan McMahon and put him at the hot corner, which allowed Chisholm to settle in as the regular at second. Chisholm was credited with two Defensive Runs Saved and eight Outs Above Average at the keystone on the year. Put it all together and FanGraphs considered him to be worth 4.4 wins above replacement.

That performance makes him very attractive and his contractual situation does as well. Chisholm is under club control for one more season with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $10.2MM next year. That’s less than half of this year’s $22.025MM qualifying offer.

All of those factors make Chisholm valuable for the Yankees in 2026 but he may not be in their long-term plans. He has seemingly been more interested in an extension than the club has. That’s probably not an indictment of Chisholm himself as the Yanks don’t do many extensions, with just three in the past decade and none in the past six years. General manager Brian Cashman tells Hoch this week that the club is “open-minded” about trade overtures coming from other clubs as they look for pitching upgrades.

In addition to bringing back pitching, a Chisholm trade would balance out the lineup, as Cashman tells Hoch it is too left-handed. They have two big righty bats in Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton but Chisholm is one of several lefties, alongside McMahon, Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Austin Wells. Bench guys J.C. Escarra and Jorbit Vivas are also lefties, while Jasson Domínguez and Oswaldo Cabrera are switch-hitters, with Domínguez hitting much better from the left side. Prospect Spencer Jones, who could work his way into the picture this year, is also a lefty.

Trading Chisholm would leave a hole in the middle infield in the short term. Shortstop Anthony Volpe recently underwent shoulder surgery and is expected to start 2026 on the injured list. That will leave José Caballero at short to begin the season. Amed Rosario was recently signed but essentially to be a short-side platoon guy, as he’s a righty who hits lefties well. Prospect George Lombard Jr. could be the shortstop of the future but he’s currently only 20 years old and hasn’t reached Triple-A yet. Vivas and Cabrera are in the mix as bench/utility guys alongside Rosario.

Between Lombard, Volpe and Caballero, perhaps the Yankees feel they have enough to cover the middle infield in the long run. But in 2026, Volpe’s uncertain health status and Lombard’s lack of experience make Chisholm a good bridge.

It’s possible the payroll pushes the club to consider a trade now, which is an odd thing to say about the Yankees. Owner Hal Steinbrenner has previously expressed a desire to run a payroll under $300MM. Cashman was recently noncommittal about whether the club would eclipse that number in 2026. RosterResource currently has them pegged for a pure payroll of $261MM with a competitive balance tax calculation of $285MM.

Trading Chisholm wouldn’t save a ton but it would allow them to potentially bolster their roster without going to free agency. They are known to be looking for pitching upgrades and could look to bolster their outfield as well. It’s also theoretically possible to imagine the Yankees trading Chisholm for pitching, followed by a pivot to free agency to replace him, blowing past their payroll concerns. Bo Bichette and Ha-Seong Kim are still out there on the open market.

Front offices generally consider all sorts of trade scenarios that don’t come to fruition. The second base market currently features many theoretical possibilities which may or may not lead anywhere. There have been plenty of rumors surrounding guys like Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks, Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals, Jeff McNeil of the Mets, Brandon Lowe of the Rays and Jake Cronenworth of the Padres. With those other options, that could dilute what teams offer to the Yankees. On the other hand, none of those guys are a lock to move, so perhaps teams are evaluating all potential paths. Clubs like the Giants, Mariners, Pirates, Guardians, Astros and others have been connected to the second base trade candidates.

Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images

Rangers To Sign Tyler Alexander

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December 15th: Alexander’s deal will pay him a $1.125MM base salary and he can unlock another $1.125MM via performance bonuses, rep Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

December 12th: The Rangers are signing left-hander Tyler Alexander to a one-year contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Salary figures for the SSG Baseball client haven’t been reported. Texas entered the night with 35 players on their roster. That’ll jump to 38 once they finalize their contracts with Alexander, Danny Jansen (covered here) and Alexis Díaz (covered here).

Alexander will provide a multi-inning arm out of Skip Schumaker’s bullpen. The 31-year-old logged 97 2/3 innings across 52 appearances between the Brewers and White Sox this year. He started five games, all but one coming with Milwaukee in the beginning of the season, but spent the bulk of the year pitching 3-4 inning stints in relief. While the Rangers could theoretically give him a look in the rotation, it’s more likely they’d view Jacob Latz as a true swing option while pitching Alexander in low-leverage relief.

The southpaw was hit hard over his few months in Milwaukee. He carried a 6.19 ERA in 36 1/3 frames when they designated him for assignment in June. Alexander cleared waivers but found an immediate MLB opportunity in Chicago once he hit free agency. He pitched well enough as a veteran bullpen piece to stick on the roster for the reminder of the season. Alexander worked to a 4.26 earned run average over 61 1/3 innings in a White Sox uniform. He had a modest 20.1% strikeout rate but limited the walks and hard contact reasonably well.

That was enough to earn another big league contract. It comes with the added bonus of being with his hometown club. Alexander is a Southlake, Texas native who played collegiately at TCU. He was a second-round pick by the Tigers in 2015 and has spent the majority of his career in Detroit. Alexander owns a 4.63 ERA over parts of seven seasons. He sits in the 90-91 MPH range but mixes five pitches and did a decent job staying off barrels this year.

The Rangers constructed their 2025 bullpen mostly with a series of cheap one-year free agent pickups. It worked as well as they could’ve hoped, as the relief corps turned in a 3.62 ERA despite ranking 20th in strikeout rate and finishing third from the bottom in average fastball velocity. It’s not going to be easy to replicate. They’re likely in for a similar effort this offseason.

RosterResource estimated the Rangers’ payroll around $167MM heading into the evening. Evenly distributing Jansen’s salaries would push that close to $174MM. Contract terms for the two pitchers are unreported, though it’s unlikely they cost more than a couple million dollars between the two of them. Texas opened the 2025 season with a player payroll around $218MM. They’ve been clear that number is coming down.

Image courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images.

Royals Continuing To Explore Outfield Market

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The Royals entered the offseason in pursuit of two outfielders — ideally adding one apiece via free agency and trade. They accomplished that last week, signing Lane Thomas to a $5.25MM deal and bringing in Isaac Collins in a trade with Milwaukee.

Collins played mostly left field for the Brewers. He’s loosely penciled in there for now, while Thomas provides a right-handed hitting complement to Kyle Isbel and Jac Caglianone in center and right field, respectively. It’s better than it was at season’s end but still not a great group on paper. Thomas is coming off an injury-riddled season. Caglianone struggled mightily in his first 62 MLB games and could benefit from more time at Triple-A. Isbel is a glove-only center fielder, while Collins’ breakout season came as a 27-year-old rookie.

Unsurprisingly, the Royals haven’t closed the door on the possibility of adding another outfielder. Collins has plenty of minor league infield experience — mostly at second with a handful of starts at third base as well. President of baseball operations J.J. Picollo indicated that while the Royals expect him to play mostly outfield, he has enough defensive versatility for the front office to keep their options open (link via Anne Rogers of MLB.com).

The switch-hitting Collins has a very patient approach. Kansas City ranked 22nd in on-base percentage (.309), and only the Rockies had a lower walk rate than their 7.2% clip. Collins provides a different skillet and generally raises the lineup’s floor, but his limited power means he doesn’t have a huge ceiling as an everyday left fielder. The Royals aren’t going to be in the market for a star outfielder in free agency, yet they’re kicking the tires on a more impactful trade possibility.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Royals could still be a factor for Jarren Duran. Rosenthal suggests that Kansas City has balked at putting star southpaw Cole Ragans in a Duran trade. Whether the Red Sox would insist on Ragans’ inclusion isn’t known, as The Athletic report indicates that Boston executives view the teams’ talks to date as preliminary.

That said, it’s clear the Red Sox are putting a lofty price on their top outfielders. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe writes that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is telling interested teams that the Sox don’t feel any pressure to trade an outfielder. They’ve taken calls on Duran and Wilyer Abreu at least dating back to the summer. Between Abreu, Duran and Roman Anthony, they have three above-average to star caliber left-handed hitting outfielders. (Anthony signed an eight-year extension in August and certainly isn’t getting traded.) Ceddanne Rafaela hits from the right side and has the ability to play the infield, but much of his value comes from his elite center field defense.

Keeping all four players limits the Sox’s flexibility a bit. They can find at-bats for them all by rotating them through the designated hitter role and getting Rafaela occasional infield work. Boston has considered swapping one of Duran or Abreu for controllable starting pitching, though they’re less motivated to do so after acquiring Sonny Gray.

The Royals have been on the opposite end. Picollo said a few weeks ago that they were open to trading a starter for outfield help. He essentially took Ragans out of that mix, though. The 28-year-old lefty finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting two seasons ago. He missed a good chunk of ’25 battling a rotator cuff strain. He’s signed for a combined $12MM over the next two years and will be eligible for arbitration in 2028. He’s a potential ace whom the Royals control for three seasons at what’d likely be no more than $25MM in total.

“We’re in a really good spot (with rotation depth), so if the right trade comes along, and it costs us a starting pitcher, we have to look at it,” Picollo told Rogers at the Winter Meetings. “It’s just not going to be Cole. … We have to ask ourselves: Is this his max value right now? Probably not. If Cole pitches like he did in ‘24, who knows what his value is going to be? We just think right now, three years of control on a really good starting pitcher, it would have to be something crazy, something that’s like, ‘How can we pass this up?'”

Kansas City has gotten hits on controllable arms like Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. Lefty Kris Bubic might be their likeliest rotation trade candidate, but he suffered a season-ending rotator cuff injury in July and is headed into his final arbitration year. No one from that group is valuable enough to headline a trade for Duran, who is coming off his third straight well above-average season. Duran is set for a $7.7MM salary and is under arbitration control through 2028.

Even if the sides can’t line up value on Duran, the Royals will evaluate other outfield possibilities. They’re also known to be searching for left-handed relief. That was more of a luxury buy around the Winter Meetings but takes on added importance after they traded Angel Zerpa to the Brewers for Collins and righty reliever Nick Mears.

Kansas City is down to Daniel Lynch IV and swingman Bailey Falter as lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Lynch managed a 3.06 earned run average over 67 2/3 innings but did so with a well below-average 15.6% strikeout rate. There are a few one-year deal candidates available in free agency (e.g. Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar, Caleb Ferguson, Danny Coulombe). They could also explore the trade market, with St. Louis’ JoJo Romero known to be available as he enters his final year of arbitration.

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Dodgers Sign Edwin Diaz

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December 15th: The deal also contains a condition club option for 2029, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. That option has a $6.5MM base, with Diaz able to earn an extra $750K for 45 games finished and 50 games finished, plus another $1MM for 55 games finished. The specific conditions for the option aren’t known but Alden González of ESPN reports that it would be available to the Dodgers if Diaz spends a certain amount of time on the injured list.

December 12th: The Dodgers officially announced the signing today.

December 9th: For the second straight offseason, the Dodgers are signing the top relief arm on the market. They’ve reportedly agreed to a three-year, $69MM contract with now-former Mets closer Edwin Diaz. It’s a record-setting annual value for a reliever, breaking the $20.4MM record that Diaz himself already held. Diaz’s contract with the Dodgers contains $4.5MM in deferred salary annually. The net-present value, for luxury tax purposes, is roughly $21.1MM.

Diaz, a Wasserman client, returned to the open market this winter when he opted out of the final two seasons of the precedent-setting five-year, $102MM contract he signed with the Mets the last time he was a free agent. The right-hander had been guaranteed $38MM over the final two seasons of that contract, so by opting out and testing the market, he secured himself an additional one year and $31MM in guarantees. The Mets, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, offered Diaz a three-year, $66MM deal with “slight” deferrals.

The 31-year-old Diaz (32 in March) has spent the past seven years in Queens and, after a rocky first campaign, has turned in a collective 2.36 ERA (2.12 SIERA, 2.15 FIP) with a mammoth 40.8% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate. He’s piled up 144 saves in 332 appearances as a Met.

For the Dodgers, Diaz represents the most on-the-nose means of addressing a problem that nearly doomed them in the postseason: a lack of reliable bullpen help. Injuries to Evan Phillips, Tanner Scott, Brusdar Graterol and others left the Dodgers with a thin enough stock of trustworthy relievers that L.A. turned to Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (one day after he threw nearly 100 pitches) in pivotal high-leverage settings during their World Series run. That they even progressed to the World Series was largely attributable to historic performances from starters Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani in the postseason’s earlier rounds.

The Dodgers have now signed the top reliever on the market in consecutive offseasons. They inked Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72MM pact last winter, though that deal contained $21MM worth of deferred money, thus knocking down the present value. Scott’s first year in L.A. didn’t go at all as hoped; he limped to a 4.74 ERA with improved command but lesser velocity and strikeout rates. After yielding 11 home runs in the 2022-24 seasons combined, Scott served up 11 round-trippers in his first season as a Dodger.

Certainly, they’ll hope for better results with Diaz, whose track record is lengthier and steadier than that of Scott. While he’s naturally had some year-to-year variance in his earned run averages — as is the case for any reliever — Diaz has been at 3.52 or better in each of the past five seasons, including three sub-2.00 campaigns. He’s punched out at least 34.6% of his opponents each season along the way, and since a shaky walk rate in 2021, he’s sat between 7.7% and 9.3% in that regard for four straight seasons.

That’s not to say there aren’t any red flags at all with regard to Diaz. His average fastball velocity has dipped in two consecutive seasons. While this past season’s average of 97.2 mph was still well above average, it’s also two miles per hour shy of Diaz’s 2022 peak. He also gave up considerably more hard contact. Diaz’s 88.5 mph average exit velocity and 39.7% hard-hit rate were both the second-highest marks of his career, trailing only his disastrous 2019 season (his first as a Met). Neither is a glaring issue, particularly considering Diaz maintained elite strikeout and swinging-strike rates (38% and 18%, respectively), but he’ll want to avoid allowing those negative trends to continue, however slight they may currently be.

Diaz will slot into the ninth inning, pushing Scott to a setup role alongside Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda, Brock Stewart and Graterol. Will Klein, Ben Casparius and Jack Dreyer all had solid or better seasons in 2025, but if everyone is healthy — far from a given — there’s only room for one of that trio in the final bullpen spot. Of course, injuries will inevitably create opportunities for many of the Dodgers’ overqualified depth arms, and each of Klein, Casparius, Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez have minor league options remaining.

The Dodgers have paid the luxury tax in (more than) three consecutive seasons and are more than $60MM over the $244MM first-tier luxury threshold, meaning they’ll pay a 110% tax on the AAV on Diaz’s contract. However the annual salaries break down, he’ll cost them an additional $25.3MM in taxes alone. Assuming an evenly distributed $23MM per season, RosterResource, now projects next year’s Dodgers payroll at just over $359MM (although that does not account for substantial deferrals to Ohtani, Scott, Freddie Freeman, etc.).

The Mets would have been subject to those same penalties had they matched or topped this offer. Diaz reportedly entered the market seeking a five-year contract. When that didn’t materialize, he clearly pivoted to a record-setting, shorter-term arrangement. The extent of the deferrals in New York’s offer aren’t yet clear, but there’s no indication (yet, anyway) that the Dodgers’ offer includes any deferred money.

While New York couldn’t have known when signing Devin Williams to a three-year, $51MM pact that Diaz would also sign for three years and a total of $18MM more, the results from those two high-end relievers will now be carefully watched by Mets fans for the next three seasons. If Williams returns to form, it’ll look like a savvy pivot to get a comparable reliever at a lesser rate. If not, there will be plenty of second-guessing and criticism from the fan base.

Of course, owner Steve Cohen also clearly has the resources to have simply won the bidding on both relievers, but that’s ultimately not the route the front office chose. They’ll now look to other avenues as they seek to continue adding to the bullpen. The Mets were open to re-signing Diaz even after adding Williams, and while this deal clearly went past their comfort zone, there are other high-end arms still available — Robert Suarez, most notably. Choosing to let Diaz walk also frees up further resources for a potential re-signing of Pete Alonso or perhaps a run at another target of note.

The Mets bid farewell to Diaz, who rejected a $22.025MM qualifying offer, with only minimal compensation for his departure. Due to their status as luxury tax payors, they’ll receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round of next summer’s draft. The Dodgers, meanwhile, will surrender their second- and fifth-highest selections in next year’s draft. The league-allotted cap on their personal spending pool for international amateur free agents will also be reduced by $1MM.

Such considerations tend to be ancillary for the market’s top-spending clubs. Perennial luxury payors consider them the cost of doing business in the deepest waters of the free agent pool. The Dodgers have punted draft picks to sign Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman (among others) in recent seasons. For them, the allure of adding a closer with nearly unrivaled dominance takes precedence as they try to assemble a roster capable of winning three consecutive World Series for the first time since the 1998-2000 Yankees.

The Athletic’s Will Sammon first reported the agreement. Sammon and colleague Ken Rosenthal were also the first to report the three-year term. ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the total guarantee. Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the Dodgers’ emerging interest in Diaz shortly before the agreement became public. Sherman reported on the deferrals.

Mets, Cristian Pache Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Cristian Pache, reports Pat Ragazzo of Mets On SI. He’ll be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee next spring. Pache is represented by the MVP Sports Group.

Pache, 27, was once considered one of the sport’s top outfield prospects during his earlier days in the division-rival Braves organization. He’s long been touted as a plus-plus defender in center field — a rangy outfielder with good speed and solid raw power but a shaky hit tool that didn’t allow him to get to that pop often enough.

That lack of hit tool has indeed held Pache back. Atlanta traded him to the Athletics as one of four players in return for first baseman Matt Olson, and he’s since bounced to the Phillies, Orioles and Marlins organizations. Pache hasn’t hit in the majors during any of his stops. He’s taken 610 plate appearances at the MLB level and carries just a .181/.243/.275 batting line with a troublesome 30.8% strikeout rate. He has indeed strong defensive grades, but Pache hasn’t hit enough to even profile as a viable fourth outfielder in the majors.

Pache’s numbers in the upper minors have been better but are still lackluster, particularly considering how hitter-friendly most of the environments in which he’s played have been. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Pache carries a .257/.332/.397 batting line. He spent the 2025 season with the D-backs’ top affiliate in Reno, hitting .251/.351/.389 in 288 plate appearances. That looks decent on the surface, but in that exorbitantly hitter-friendly setting, it’s actually about 20% worse than league-average production, by measure of wRC+.

In many ways, Pache is an even more extreme version of Tyrone Taylor, who’s already on the Mets’ big league roster. Both are right-handed hitting center fielders with questionable bats and strong gloves, but while Pache is the better defender of the two, his bat is even lighter than that of Taylor (who hit .223/.279/.319 with the Mets in 2025).

Pache is out of minor league options, so if he’s added to the big league roster at any point, he’d need to stick or else be designated for assignment and passed through waivers. He gives the Mets some versatile outfield depth, but there are enough offensive question marks surrounding him that he profiles mainly as glove-first insurance in the event of multiple injuries at the big league level.

Rangers Sign Anthony Veneziano To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed left-hander Anthony Veneziano to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. The KHG Sports Management client also receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Veneziano, 28, has pitched for the Royals, Marlins and Cardinals over the past three big league seasons. He briefly crossed paths with Rangers manager Skip Schumaker, as Veneziano came to the Marlins via a waiver claim in September of 2024, when Schumaker was still the skipper in Miami. Veneziano has thrown 40 2/3 innings in the majors, allowing 3.98 earned runs per nine. He has averaged 93 to 95 miles per hour with his four-seamer but has thrown his slider more often while also mixing in a changeup. In 2025, he added a sinker to his arsenal in the big leagues.

That sinker seems to have helped him keep the ball on the ground. He tossed 25 innings this year, split between the Fish and the Cards, with a 4.68 ERA. He had just a 30.6% ground ball rate coming into 2025 but got grounders on 49.4% of balls in play this year, notably above the 41.8% league average. His 21.4% strikeout rate and 9.4% wak rate were both worse than league average but by less than 1% in both cases.

The Cardinals claimed Veneziano off waivers from the Marlins in August but then outrighted him off the 40-man in November. He was able to elect free agency, which allowed the Rangers to add him on this pact.

The southpaw came up as a starter but has primarily been working out of the bullpen in recent years. The 2025 Rangers built out their bullpen by signing a number of veterans to one-year deals. That worked fairly well but it meant that almost the entire relief group hit free agency last month. Phil Maton, Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Danny Coulombe and Chris Martin all hit the open market at season’s end. Texas also non-tendered Jacob Webb and Josh Sborz shortly thereafter.

Jacob Latz might get a chance at a rotation job next year, which means Robert Garcia is the top lefty in the bullpen. The Rangers added Tyler Alexander last week. If Veneziano can earn a 40-man spot, he still has an option, meaning he could be sent to Triple-A and back throughout the year. He also has less than a year of service time, meaning he could be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future if he can hold a roster spot through the upcoming season.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Sign Isaiah Campbell To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Isaiah Campbell to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The ACES client has been assigned to the Triple-A Reno Aces but will presumably receive an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Campbell, 28, has appeared in each of the past three big league seasons. Suiting up for the Mariners and Red Sox, the righty has thrown 43 innings in the majors, allowing 5.65 earned runs per nine. His 21.9% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate are close to average while his 47.7% grounder rate is a few ticks better than par. His .341 batting average on balls in play and 66.6% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side, so metrics like his 4.34 FIP and 3.89 SIERA are a bit more optimistic than his ERA.

Only 7 2/3 of those innings came in 2025, as he spent most of the season with Triple-A Worcester. He logged 57 2/3 at that level this year with a 3.90 ERA. His 18.1% strikeout was a bit on the low side but he got grounders on 50.5% of balls in play. He averages in the mid-90s with his four-seamer and sinker but throws his slider more than half the time. He added a curveball in 2025 and mixed that in sporadically.

Campbell exhausted his final option season this year and will be out of options going forward, which will make it harder for him to hold a roster spot. The Sox outrighted him off their 40-man in October and he was able to elect free agency.

The bullpen was a big problem for the Snakes in 2025. They had planned for A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez but both were felled by UCL surgeries and other guys dealt with injury problems as well. Their relief corps had a collective 4.82 ERA this past season, which was better than just the Angels, Rockies and Nationals.

They will surely make some more moves to upgrade their bullpen before Opening Day but Campbell gives them some extra non-roster depth for now. He has just over a year of MLB service time. If he can earn a roster spot and hold it, he can be cheaply retained beyond the 2026 season.

Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images

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