Twins Shopping Alex Jackson
The Twins are trying to move third catcher Alex Jackson, a National League evaluator tells Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. If they don’t line up a trade before Opening Day, there’s a decent chance the 30-year-old will land on waivers.
Jackson is out of minor league options. The Twins can’t send him down without getting him through waivers. They acquired him from the Orioles in November, sending minor league utility player Payton Eeles in return. Eeles is a 26-year-old coming off a .253/.379/.321 season in Triple-A. He’s certainly not a top prospect, but the Twins wouldn’t have parted with an upper minors depth infielder if they didn’t feel Jackson had a chance to break camp at the time.
That’s more difficult to envision a few months later. The Twins not only rebuffed trade interest in starting catcher Ryan Jeffers, they added Victor Caratini on a two-year free agent deal in the middle of January. There’s no scenario in which Jackson jumps either player on the depth chart. He’d only remain on the roster if the Twins break camp with three catchers or one of Jeffers/Caratini suffers an injury during the final six games of Spring Training.
It’s not out of the question that Jackson simply clears waivers and sticks in the organization on a non-roster capacity. He and the team agreed to a $1.35MM salary to cover his first year of arbitration. Any team that traded for him or claimed him off waivers would assume that above minimum salary and face the same roster restrictions the Twins do. Jackson’s three years of service time give him the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers, yet he’d walk away from the guaranteed money to do so. He’d almost certainly accept an assignment to Triple-A St. Paul.
Jackson played in 37 games for the Orioles last year. He connected on five home runs and eight doubles over 100 plate appearances. It was easily his best power production at the MLB level, but it came with 37 strikeouts and only five walks. Jackson has fanned at a 40.7% clip to hit .153/.239/.288 over parts of six seasons in the majors. If the Twins trade him or lose him on waivers, they’d be very light on experienced upper minors catching depth. David Bañuelos, who has appeared in exactly one big league game in each of the last two seasons, is their only non-roster catcher with any MLB service time.
Craig Albernaz’s Impact On Orioles’ Catchers
Baltimore moved on from Brandon Hyde during the 2025 season, but they’ll replace him this year with another former catcher. New manager Craig Albernaz was a backstop for nine seasons in the minors. After his playing career wrapped up, he entered the coaching ranks. Albernaz’s first gig at the major-league level was as a catching instructor and bench coach with the Giants.
Albernaz’s lengthy catching experience as a player and coach could come in handy with Baltimore. Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo are two of the club’s key players, both for 2026 and beyond.
“I’m excited,” Albernaz told reporters earlier this month, including Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. “Adley and Basallo both have a ton of talent. Obviously, Basallo coming in, relatively not a lot of experience at the big league level, but you just see the talent jump right at you. And Adley, even before he got to the big leagues, and his pedigree behind the plate.”
The trade of Alex Jackson on Friday could increase Baltimore’s reliance on Rutschman and Basallo. Jackson has mostly been a backup in his career, but he had the second-most plate appearances at catcher for Baltimore last season. There was a chance the team would carry all three catchers next year. Basallo started 20 games behind the plate, but also made a pair of starts at first base and spent time at DH. Scouting reports aren’t glowing about his defensive capabilities, outside of a strong arm. FanGraphs gave him a 30 scouting grade for his current fielding ability and a 40 future grade. MLB.com was more generous, though a 45 fielding grade still isn’t ideal.
Rutschman had 18 appearances at DH in 2025, though oblique issues limited him to a career-low 90 games. He had at least 45 DH appearances in both 2023 and 2024. Rutschman is a solid defender, but injuries have limited his offensive production in back-to-back seasons. The backstop took a ball off the hand midway through the 2024 season. He didn’t go on the IL, but hit just .200 over the final three months of the season. Rutschman strained both his left and his right obliques this past season. He managed just 365 plate appearances, his fewest since his first professional season in 2019.
Albernaz has worked with some strong options behind the plate in his coaching career. Buster Posey‘s final year in San Francisco was Albernaz’s first full season as catching instructor. Albernaz’s final season with the team saw Patrick Bailey emerge as an everyday option. Bailey hasn’t been much of an offensive contributor, but he’s been elite at pitching framing and controlling the running game. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner. Rutschman might not be Posey and Basallo probably won’t be Bailey, but figuring out how to utilize both players will be key for Albernaz.
“I’m biased toward catching, having a great tandem behind the plate should help us win a lot of games in itself, and with those two guys, I’m going to lean on them a lot,” Albernaz said. “I’m going to give them a lot of information as far as how to help lead this team, our pitching staff, and also hold the coaches accountable. Because a high-functioning team, those catchers are involved in a lot of the process.”
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images.
Twins Acquire Alex Jackson, Avoid Arbitration With Justin Topa
9:57am: Darren Wolfson of KSTP reports that Topa will be guaranteed $1.225MM in 2026 by his new contract.
8:24am: The Twins have acquired catcher Alex Jackson from the Orioles in exchange for minor league infielder Payton Eeles, according to a report from Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. According to Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, Minnesota has designated outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. for assignment to make room for Jackson on the 40-man roster. The team has also avoided arbitration with right-hander Justin Topa on a one-year deal, per Gleeman.
Jackson, 30 next month, was a potential non-tender candidate ahead of this evening’s deadline. Projected for a $1.8MM salary in 2026 by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, Jackson was the Orioles’ third catcher behind Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo. While Baltimore could certainly consider a three-catcher roster in 2026 given the time Basallo is expected to spend at DH and first base next season, Maverick Handley remains on the 40-man roster as a potential third-string catcher behind the team’s primary tandem. That made Jackson somewhat expendable, and Baltimore has now decided to send him to Minnesota in order to shore up their upper-level infield depth in the minors.
As for the Twins, bringing Jackson into the fold gives the team a backup catcher behind Ryan Jeffers, replacing free agent veteran Christian Vazquez in the club’s catching tandem. Jackson was drafted sixth overall back in 2014 but hasn’t made much noise at the big league level despite his draft pedigree. He’s bounced between Atlanta, Miami, Milwaukee, Tampa, and Baltimore throughout his parts of six seasons in the majors and now seems poised to suit up for Minnesota in his seventh next year.
Jackson has typically been viewed as an adequate defender behind the plate, but his offensive numbers have typically left much to be desired. He entered the 2025 season with a career slash line of just .132/.224/.232 (29 wRC+), meaning he had been 71% worse than league average in his 340 trips to the plate at the big league level. A 37-game, 100-PA stint with the Orioles this year saw him show some signs of life offensively, as he hit a respectable .220/.290/.473 (111 wRC+) during that time.
Unfortunately, Jackson is unlikely to continue hitting at a 30-homer pace as he did in Baltimore this season, and his 37.0% strikeout rate against a walk rate of just 5.0% leaves much to be desired in terms of discipline. Jackson’s advanced metrics suggest his underlying performance remained below average this year, and in 2026 it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take a significant step back with the bat. Still, he should provide the Twins with a cost-effective insurance option behind the plate in a market without much quality available behind the plate. Jackson joins Jeffers, Mickey Gasper, and Jhonny Pereda as catching options on the 40-man roster.
In exchange for Jackson, the Twins are surrendering Eeles. The infielder, who just celebrated his 26th birthday earlier this week, is listed at just 5’5” and hit just .253 with a .321 slugging percentage in 86 games at Triple-A this past year. What Eeles lacks in size and power potential is made up for by a strong understanding of the strike zone and speed on the basepaths, however. He posted an excellent 12.4% walk rate at Triple-A this past year while striking out at a solid 17.2% clip. He went 21-for-28 on the basepaths in just 378 plate appearances, suggesting he could be a threat to steal 30-to-40 bases over a full season.
Eeles has primarily played shortstop and second base throughout his time as a professional but has also made cameos at third base and all three outfield spots. That sort of versatile speedster is something the Orioles have long valued, as seen by the 408 games Jorge Mateo played for the Orioles over the past five seasons before becoming a free agent earlier this month. Given Eeles’s successful stint at the Triple-A level and Mateo’s departure, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him in the mix for a big league bench job in Baltimore at some point next season.
Turning back to Minnesota, the Twins are parting ways with Keirsey to make room for Jackson on the 40-man roster. Keirsey, 28, made his big league debut late in the 2024 season but made it into just six games, going 2-for-14 with a home run and a hit-by-pitch. He got a slightly longer audition in the majors this year, though he was mostly used as a defensive replacement and pinch runner across 74 games in the majors. In 88 trips to the plate this year, Keirsey hit just .107/.138/.179 while striking out at a 37.5% clip. He did manage to go 10-for-12 on the basepaths, but his lack of production with the bat makes him fairly expendable to a Twins club that has plenty of outfield talent already on the roster and in the upper levels of the minors.
In addition to this morning’s trade, the Twins also reached an agreement with Topa on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration. The exact figure isn’t known, but it’s worth noting that the right-hander’s projected arbitration salary sits at $1.7MM. Typically, pre-tender deals come in a bit below the player’s projected salary as the player looks to guarantee their 40-man roster spot. That may not necessarily be the case here, however, as Topa’s 3.90 ERA and 3.04 FIP in 60 innings cast him as a perfectly solid middle reliever. With that being said, Topa’s 18.3% strikeout rate leaves something to be desired even with a solid 47.7% ground ball rate. While Topa’s 2026 salary is not yet known, he’ll be a key part of Twins bullpen next year after Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louis Varland were all traded away at this summer’s deadline.
Orioles Acquire Alex Jackson From Yankees
9:23am: The Orioles have announced that they’ve selected Jackson’s contract and placed Sanchez on the injured list with a right knee sprain. Jorge Mateo was transferred to the 60-day injured list to create room for Sanchez on the 40-man roster.
8:44am: The Orioles have acquired catcher Alex Jackson in exchange for international signing bonus pool money and a player to be named later or cash considerations, per an announcement from the Yankees. Jackson is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will not be necessary unless Baltimore selects Jackson to the roster.
The move comes after catcher Gary Sanchez exited yesterday’s Orioles game with what the club described at the time as “right knee pain.” As noted by Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, interim manager Tony Mansolino did not have a more specific diagnosis available after the game but noted that Sanchez was set to undergo an MRI last night. The results of that MRI are not yet available, but it certainly seems as though a trip to the injured list is on the table. Weyrich was among those to report this morning that catcher David Banuelos had been added to the medical taxi squad following Sanchez’s injury, and now this morning’s acquisition of Jackson adds another potential replacement for Sanchez to the mix.
Jackson, 29, was selected sixth overall in the 2014 draft by the Mariners but didn’t make it to the majors until 2019 as a member of the Braves. He’s notched 124 games in the majors across parts of five big league seasons, with his largest showing coming as a member of the Rays last year. Jackson offers a solid glove behind the plate but virtually no offensive value with a career slash line of just .132/.224/.232. His performance in Tampa was even weaker than that as he hit just .122/.201/.237 in 58 games, leaving him with a 29 wRC+ that was not only 71% worse than league average but the second-worst figure among all players with at least 150 plate appearances in the majors last year.
It’s not exactly an exciting profile, but Jackson still offers the Orioles some depth at a time where additional options are extremely necessary for the club. Starting catcher Adley Rutschman has been sidelined since June 19 by an oblique strain, and since then depth catchers Maverick Handley and Chadwick Tromp were both sidelined by injuries of their own. That’s left backup catcher Gary Sanchez to take the starting role while being backed up by fifth-string backstop Jacob Stallings. With Sanchez now seemingly ticketed for an IL stint of his own, Banuelos or Jackson could be called upon to back up Stallings while the 35-year-old steps into a starting role.
That the Orioles appear likely to lean on a sixth catcher (and acquired a seventh) amid this rash of injuries underscores their refusal to promote top prospect Samuel Basallo to the majors. The 20-year-old is a consensus top 15 prospect in the sport and has torn the cover off the ball in Triple-A this year, slashing .253/.372/.547 with 16 homers in just 58 games and a 15.6% walk rate. While GM Mike Elias has suggested that he “hopes” to see Basallo play in the majors this year, it’s clear at this point that Baltimore doesn’t have much interest in bringing him up to the majors at this point in time. Perhaps he could be called upon late in the season as a September call-up, or there could be a specific aspect of Basallo’s game that the Orioles feel needs to develop further before he can debut. Potent as his bat has been, there’s long been questions about Basallo’s defensive ability behind the plate that may be leading the Orioles to be cautious about bringing him up to the majors as a regular catcher without more seasoning.
Yankees, Reds Swap Jose Trevino For Fernando Cruz
The Yankees and Reds finalized a trade on Friday night that sends catcher Jose Trevino to Cincinnati for reliever Fernando Cruz and non-roster catcher Alex Jackson.
Trevino is on the move for the second time in his career. The Yankees landed him from the Rangers shortly after Opening Day 2022 in a deal that sent reliever Albert Abreu to Arlington. That was a win for the New York front office, as Trevino developed into a quality defensive catcher in the Bronx. Abreu, on the other hand, pitched seven times with the Rangers before they lost him on waivers.
The 2022 season has been Trevino’s best. He appeared in a career-high 115 games, hitting .248/.283/.388 through 353 plate appearances. Trevino led all catchers with 21 Defensive Runs Saved that season, earning an All-Star selection and a Gold Glove.
Trevino has opened each of the past two years as New York’s primary catcher. His playing time and offensive production have dropped, though he continues to grade very highly for his receiving skills. Trevino has only appeared in 129 games over the past two years. In 2023, that was largely the result of a ligament tear in his right wrist that necessitated season-ending surgery in July.
The 32-year-old stayed mostly heathy this past season. He missed a month between the All-Star Break and the middle of August because of a quad strain. Trevino was otherwise on the active roster but fell into a depth role. Rookie of the Year finalist Austin Wells is a superior offensive player who grades as an elite receiving catcher in his own right.
Trevino was limited to 62 starts behind the plate overall. He’d basically become a non-factor by the end of the year, as he appeared in just 14 games between his return from the injured list on August 15 and the end of the regular season. He only got two starts during the Yankees’ run to the World Series. He took 234 trips to the plate and hit .215/.288/.354 with eight home runs.
Part of the dip in playing time has been attributable to Trevino’s difficulty controlling the running game. According to Statcast, only Yasmani Grandal had a higher average pop time (throw time to second base on stolen base attempts) than Trevino’s 2.07 second mark. Opponents swiped 57 bases out of 70 attempts in his 544 1/3 innings. Trevino continues to grade exceptionally highly for his framing skills and blocking ability, so he remains a valuable defender, but the subpar arm strength has become an issue.
The Reds evidently placed a lot of value on those receiving skills. Trevino should back up Tyler Stephenson, who hit .258/.338/.444 with a career-high 19 homers this past season. Stephenson started 112 games and tallied a little more than 1000 innings. He didn’t play any first base in ’24 but has played there sporadically in prior seasons. Cincinnati could give Stephenson a few more modified rest days at first base or designated hitter if they’re comfortable with Trevino logging 70+ starts behind the dish.
Trevino has over five years of service time. MLTBR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.4MM salary during his last trip through the arbitration process. Taking that on pushes the team’s projected payroll to $104MM (courtesy of RosterResource). The Reds ended the ’23 campaign with a payroll around $100MM and have indicated they’re comfortable matching or exceeding that number.
Stephenson had been the only catcher on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster. They obviously needed to acquire a veteran backup, but it’s still surprising to see the Reds relinquish Cruz for one year of Trevino’s services. Cruz has been a fixture in Cincinnati’s bullpen for the last two years. He has scattershot command but elite bat-missing ability.
Cruz, a native of Puerto Rico, was drafted as an infielder back in 2007. He flamed out as a hitter and was out of affiliated ball entirely between 2016-21. Cruz converted to pitching in 2012 and continued to plug away, however, eventually catching the attention of Reds’ scouts in the independent ranks. He dominated Triple-A opponents in 2022 and earned his first major league call as a 32-year-old that September.
Typically, players who don’t reach the majors until they’re in their 30s are quickly dropped from the roster. Cruz pitched well in his late-season cameo, however, and the Reds kept him on their 40-man. He has topped 65 innings in each of the past two seasons, building from middle relief in 2023 to become one of David Bell’s more frequent leverage options in front of closer Alexis Díaz.
The bottom line results have not been great. Cruz has allowed nearly five earned runs per nine in both seasons. He owns a 4.52 ERA across 147 1/3 career innings. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA find him significantly more interesting than the actual run prevention would suggest — a testament to his gaudy swing-and-miss numbers.
Cruz has fanned over 35% of opponents in each of the last two seasons. He carries a cumulative 36.5% strikeout rate over that stretch. Among pitchers with 100+ innings, only Josh Hader and Aroldis Chapman have posted a better mark. Spencer Strider, Kirby Yates, Garrett Crochet, Jeff Hoffman, Bryan Abreu, Paul Skenes and Tyler Glasnow round out the top 10. Cruz is similarly dominant on a per-pitch basis. His 16.7% swinging strike rate ranks fifth among that group — trailing Strider, Hader, Andrés Muñoz and Ryan Helsley.
Pitching isn’t solely about strikeouts, of course, but most pitchers who miss bats at those rates are impact arms. Cruz holds himself back to some extent by issuing too many free passes. He walked 12.2% of batters faced this year and has given out free passes to 11.4% of opponents in his career. That’s a concern, but it’s easy to see why the Yankees identified him as an upside play.
Cruz’s calling card is a low-80s splitter, which is one of the most effective pitches in the sport. Cruz used the offering a little more than 40% of the time this year. Opponents only made contact around 40% of the time they swung at it. Batters hit .116 against it. Cruz used it as the finishing pitch for 88 of his 109 strikeouts.
Exceptional as the splitter was, opponents teed off on his other two offerings — a 94 MPH four-seam fastball and a cutter that sits in the high 80s. Cruz has preferred to mix all three pitches rather than fully unleashing the splitter. Whether that’s because of his own comfort or the preference of Cincinnati’s coaching staff isn’t clear, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Yankees pushed him to lean more frequently on that pitch. New York allowed Tommy Kahnle to abandon his fastball and throw essentially all changeups for his entire playoff run, for instance.
Cruz has just over two years of big league service. He’s under club control for four seasons. The extended control window isn’t a huge factor for a pitcher who’ll turn 35 in March. It’s a boost in the short term, though, as the Yankees can plug him into the bullpen for around the league minimum salary in 2025.
Jackson, who turns 29 on Christmas, rounds out the return to backfill the catching depth. He signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati last month and will not occupy a 40-man roster spot. Jackson appeared in a career-high 58 games for the Rays last season, hitting .122 over 159 plate appearances. He’s a career .132/.224/.232 hitter over parts of five campaigns. Jackson should get a Spring Training invite, where he can compete with 29-year-old J.C. Escarra — who is on the 40-man roster but hasn’t appeared in the majors — for the backup job behind Wells.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Trevino was being traded to Cincinnati. The Post’s Joel Sherman was first with the entire trade. Images courtesy of Imagn.
Reds Sign Alex Jackson To Minor League Contract
The Reds signed catcher Alex Jackson to a minors deal, as per Jackson’s MLB.com profile page. While not specified, the contract presumably includes an invitation for Jackson to attend Cincinnati’s big league spring camp. Jackson chose to become a minor league free agent last month after he was outrighted off the Rays’ 40-man roster in September.
A veteran of five Major League seasons, Jackson’s 58 games and 155 plate appearances last year represented a new career high for the backstop, though he did very little with the opportunity. Jackson hit only .122/.201/.237 over those 155 PA, with his 29 wRC+ was a whopping 71 percent below the league-average 100 wRC+ threshold. These numbers essentially matched Jackson’s career .132/.224/.232 slash line in 340 PA with the Rays, Brewers, Marlins, and Braves.
It has been something of an unexpected career arc for Jackson, whose was seen as something of a hit-first catcher when the Mariners selected him sixth overall in the 2014 draft. Jackson instead morphed into a quality defensive backstop who has simply been unable to hit big league pitching. The Rays were content enough with Jackson’s defense to give him semi-regular playing time in 2024, but finally moved on by removing him from their 40-man roster in September.
Cincinnati declined its club option on Luke Maile and Austin Wynns became a minor league free agency after the season, leaving the Reds in sore need for a backup catcher to spell starter Tyler Stephenson. Jackson and Stephenson are the only catchers in the organization with any MLB experience, and it is likely the Reds will bring in one or two more catchers to compete with Jackson in Spring Training.
34 Players Elect Free Agency
As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.
Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.
Catchers
- Alex Jackson (Rays)
- Andrew Knapp (Giants)
- Andrew Knizner (D-Backs)
- Reese McGuire (Red Sox)
- Jakson Reetz (Giants)
- Ali Sánchez (Marlins)
- Brian Serven (Blue Jays)
Infielders
- Diego Castillo (Twins)
- José Devers (Marlins)
- Thairo Estrada (Giants)
- Danny Mendick (White Sox)
- Cole Tucker (Angels)
- Jason Vosler (Mariners)
Outfielders
- Billy McKinney (Pirates)
- Cristian Pache (Marlins)
Designated Hitter
- Willie Calhoun (Angels)
Pitchers
- Phil Bickford (Yankees)
- Ty Blach (Rockies)
- Nick Burdi (Yankees)
- John Curtiss (Rockies)
- Kent Emanuel (Marlins)
- Cole Irvin (Twins)
- Casey Kelly (Reds)
- Matt Koch (Rockies)
- Steven Okert (Twins)
- Yohan Ramírez (Red Sox)
- Gerardo Reyes (A’s)
- Trevor Richards (Twins)
- Ryder Ryan (Pirates)
- Kirby Snead (Mariners)
- Touki Toussaint (White Sox)
- Tanner Tully (Yankees)
- Jordan Weems (Nationals)
- Mitch White (Brewers)
Rays Designate Alex Jackson For Assignment
The Rays announced Thursday morning that they’ve designated catcher Alex Jackson for assignment and selected the contract of left-hander Mason Montgomery from Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay also optioned lefty Tyler Alexander to Durham and recalled infielder Austin Shenton.
Tampa Bay has stuck with the 28-year-old Jackson all season, giving him 158 turns at the plate as the team’s backup catcher despite a .122/.201/.237 batting line and sky-high 34.2% strikeout rate. Jackson has played strong defense, but that lack of productivity in the batter’s box has now reached its tipping point, as Tampa Bay seems poised to turn his role over to recently promoted Logan Driscoll, who’s enjoyed a strong year in Durham and will now pair with defensive standout Ben Rortvedt to comprise the Rays’ catching corps.
Jackson was taken by the Mariners with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2014 draft and for years ranked as a top prospect thanks to huge raw power and one of the most impressive high school performances in recent memory. He was in play as a possible No. 1 overall pick during his draft season and viewed as a potential middle-of-the-order hitter. The M’s were bullish enough on his bat and athleticism to move him to right field immediately in pro ball, in hopes of fast-tracking his path to the big leagues.
Instead, Jackson’s hit tool never came around to match his power. He’s bounced around the league in a series of small-scale trades and minor league contracts but never cemented himself as a consistent big leaguer. In parts of five MLB seasons, Jackson has taken 340 plate appearances and batted .132/.224/.232 with a staggering 41.8% strikeout rate.
As he’s moved back behind the plate and continued to hone his defensive skills in the minors, Jackson has become a quality defender at catcher. However, his persistent strikeout troubles extend even to the Triple-A level (29.3%). He’ll now head to waivers and be made available to the other 29 clubs. If he clears, he’ll have the opportunity to elect free agency, as is the case with all players who’ve been previously outrighted in their career.
Montgomery, 24, was the Rays’ sixth-round pick in 2021 and ranked as one of the system’s top arms for the past few seasons. He’s had a dismal year in the Triple-A rotation and is currently sitting on a 6.26 ERA in spite of a sharp 26.1% strikeout rate and an only slightly higher-than-average 8.9% walk rate. Home runs have been Montgomery’s downfall, as he’s yielded an average of 1.95 long balls per nine innings pitched.
That said, there’s reason to perhaps look at Montgomery in a more favorable light. Beyond the intriguing K-BB profile, Montgomery moved to the bullpen on a full-time basis in early August and has been borderline untouchable since. He’s fired 9 2/3 shutout innings since moving to short relief, yielding just five hits and five walks while punching out a mammoth 20 of the 38 hitters he’s faced in his new role. He’ll give the Rays a fresh arm for now but also has the potential to develop into a long-term relief weapon for manager Kevin Cash.
Rays Select Alex Jackson, Option Rene Pinto, Designate Colby White
The Rays announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of catcher Alex Jackson from Triple-A Durham, reinstated outfielder Jonny DeLuca from the 10-day injured list, and optioned catcher Rene Pinto and utilityman Niko Goodrum to Triple-A. Right-hander Colby White was designated for assignment to open a spot on the roster for Jackson.
Pinto, the team’s Opening Day backstop, has posted a .214/.292/.429 slash with a pair of homers in 49 plate appearances. That’s technically 9% better than average, by measure of wRC+, but nearly all of Pinto’s production this season came in a single game. Pinto homered twice for the Rays back on April 14 but has batted .125/.300/.188 since. He’s since ceded the lion’s share of playing time to Ben Rortvedt, whom the Rays acquired from the Yankees just prior to Opening Day. Rortvedt is out to a strong start, batting .333/.419/.389 in 62 plate appearances (albeit with the benefit of a sky-high .500 average on balls in play).
The 28-year-old Jackson is a former top-10 draft pick — No. 6 by the 2014 Mariners — and longtime top prospect who’s played in parts of four big league seasons but hasn’t yet found any success. He’s a career .141/.243/.227 hitter with an enormous 48.1% strikeout rate in 185 big league plate appearances.
Jackson has generally hit well in the upper minors, particularly in 2021 with the Braves and in his current run with the Rays. He’s opened the season with a stout .282/.344/.612 slash in 93 trips to the plate, swatting seven homers, five doubles and a triple along the way. He’s only walked at a 7.5% clip and has struck out in 25.8% of his plate appearances. That walk rate is right in line with his career mark in parts of six Triple-A seasons. The strikeout rate is about par for Jackson since 2021 and marks an improvement over his earlier Triple-A seasons, when he would fan in around a third of his turns at the dish.
White, 25, was Tampa Bay’s sixth-round pick in 2019. He missed the 2022 season and much of the 2023 campaign due to Tommy John surgery but returned late last season to pitch 22 frames across three minor league levels en route to a 1.64 ERA. Impressive as that number appears, it came in spite of an alarming 19.5% walk rate that cast significant doubt on White’s ability to replicate his run-prevention numbers moving forward.
Regression, indeed, has come in abundance for White this season. He’s pitched 7 2/3 innings but been tagged for a whopping 15 earned runs on 10 hits and 10 walks. He’s issued a base on balls to nearly 22% of his opponents and plunked another pair as well. Command wasn’t an issue for White in 2021, when he notched a 1.44 ERA across four levels, striking out a superhuman 45% of his opponents against a tidy 6.4% walk rate.
Baseball America ranked White 15th among Tampa Bay farmhands prior to the 2022 season, but his injury and the astounding nature of his command issues has clearly dropped his stock. The Rays will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass White through outright waivers. If he clears, he’ll remain in the organization and continue to work to get his command back in the wake of his 2022 surgery.
Tyler Alexander To Begin Season In Rays’ Rotation; Team Still Considering Bench Additions
Left-hander Tyler Alexander has won the final spot in the Rays’ rotation, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll actually pitch the fourth game of the season, with Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale and Zack Littell expected to line up for the first three and Ryan Pepiot apparently taking the fifth game. Topkin adds that Alexander could pitch behind an opener, but for all intents and purposes, he’s the final rotation member, beating out righties Jacob Waguespack and Chris Devenski. Waguespack and Devenski will be in the Rays’ bullpen. Also of note, Topkin reports that the Rays still haven’t decided on their backup catcher and final bench spot and could consider external options for either.
Alexander, 29, came to the Rays by way of a Nov. 10 waiver claim after the Tigers designated him for assignment. He entered camp expected to stretch out to three innings in order to serve as a long reliever — same as Devenski — but the pectoral strain suffered by young righty Taj Bradley opened up a rotation job that Alexander has now seized.
Starting is a familiar role for the left-hander, as Alexander has started 43 games in his MLB career — all coming with the Tigers. He started 32 games from 2021-22, at times functioning as an opener but also stretching out to a full starter’s workload. He’s completed six innings on seven different occasions in his career and has three starts of seven-plus innings. In all, Alexander has pitched 199 innings as a starter. He’s recorded a 4.70 ERA, 17.4% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate in that time, as compared to a 3.92 ERA, 21.1% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate in 142 1/3 frames out of the bullpen.
Alexander has pitched well this spring. He’s tossed nine innings in official games and yielded just two runs on a dozen hits and one walk with five strikeouts. Alexander worked six innings and climbed to 89 pitches in a minor league game Sunday, per Topkin — numbers that aren’t reflected in his “official” spring statistics.
The Rays’ rotation is fluid enough right now that an early assignment in the rotation shouldn’t at all be viewed as a season-long spot on the staff. Alexander has a pair of minor league options remaining, and the Rays will be getting various pitchers back from injury as the year progresses. In addition to Bradley, whose timetable is still TBD, the Rays will also welcome back right-hander Shane Baz (2022 Tommy John surgery), left-hander Jeffrey Springs (April 2023 Tommy John surgery) and Drew Rasmussen (July 2023 internal brace surgery) at various points this season.
That said, injuries elsewhere in the rotation are an inevitability. Eflin has dealt with chronic knee injuries dating back to his amateur days. Civale has never reached even 125 innings in an MLB season due to frequent IL trips. Littell only just converted back to the rotation last summer, and Pepiot opened the 2023 season on the 60-day IL with the Dodgers due to a Grade 2 oblique strain. He pitched only 64 2/3 innings between the majors and minors combined. There should be innings to go around, if Alexander proves he’s up for the challenge.
The Rays can control Alexander through the 2025 season via arbitration. A successful season making starts would bode well for his arbitration outlook in a way that a season spent primarily in a swingman/mop-up role would not. He’s earning $1.95MM this year, so even if he steps up as a legitimate MLB starter, he won’t break the bank next winter.
As for the remaining bench spots, Topkin’s report on that front is plenty notable. The Rays already reassigned Francisco Mejia to minor league camp, leaving non-roster invitee Alex Jackson as the favorite to take the backup job behind Rene Pinto. That’s been the plan for much of the offseason, but Jackson also owns a woeful 48% strikeout rate in 192 MLB plate appearances and entered Monday’s Grapefruit League game hitting just .194/.235/.226 with a 32.4% strikeout rate in 34 plate appearances. To his credit, he went 2-for-2 and swatted his first spring homer, but Jackson has no MLB track record of which to speak and also hasn’t been particularly productive in Triple-A.
As for the final infield spot, Topkin lists 26-year-old Austin Shenton as a candidate. He’s yet to make his MLB debut but posted a massive .304/.423/.584 line with 29 homers and 45 doubles between Double-A and Triple-A last season. He’s had a poor showing this spring, however, hitting just .205/.225/.256 with a 32.5% strikeout rate in 40 trips to the plate (including today’s 0-for-4 with three strikeouts). The Rays are without infielders Taylor Walls and Jonathan Aranda to begin the season, as both are on the injured list.
There’s no shortage of veteran options and/or trade candidates the Rays could consider at either position. The Royals released veteran backstop Sandy Leon over the weekend, and out-of-options Giants catcher Joey Bart has been a speculative trade candidate for much of the spring. Infielders hitting the market late this spring include Eduardo Escobar, Elvis Andrus and old friend Matt Duffy.