Out Of Options Players To Watch This Spring
The final few days of Spring Training always come with a significant amount of roster shuffling. Prospects play their way onto the team. Veterans on minor league deals trigger opt-out or upward mobility clauses that force teams to decide whether to select their contracts or let them go. Each of those unexpected promotions costs someone else an active roster spot.
For players who still have minor league options remaining, that's less likely to spur roster movement. They can be sent down without going on waivers, so they'll only be designated for assignment if they're the final player on the 40-man roster. Teams face a tougher call when deciding on a fringe player who is out of options. Do they shoehorn them onto the bench or in a low-leverage relief role? If not, there's a decent chance they're losing that player via waivers or a trade for a minimal return.
We've already seen a number of players whose out-of-options status has pushed them around the league. Although it's not technically an offseason consideration, an out-of-options player is more likely to be DFA over the winter if the team thinks they'll inevitably be squeezed off the roster at the end of Spring Training.
Jack Suwinski, Vidal Brujan, Ben Rortvedt, Andy Ibáñez and Marco Luciano are among the players who have changed teams at least once (often multiple times) because of their out-of-options status. The Yankees finally succeeded in getting Luciano through waivers unclaimed. The other four players remain on their clubs' respective 40-man rosters, though with the possible exception of Ibáñez, they're all facing uphill paths to avoiding another DFA a month from now.
We'll run through a few more who could be playing for their jobs this spring. This isn't our annual exhaustive list of every out-of-options player on a 40-man roster. That'll also be published soon and will include a number of names (e.g. Edward Cabrera, Jo Adell) who obviously aren't getting cut. This exercise will set aside any players like those aforementioned who have already changed teams this offseason and plenty more who seem most likely to clear waivers and remain with their current clubs in a non-roster capacity.
- Luis Matos/Jerar Encarnacion (Giants)
The Giants are unlikely to have room on the roster for Matos and Encarnacion. There's a decent chance they both end up squeezed off the roster. They're each right-handed bats with limited defensive value. Matos has played some center field but should be limited to the corners. Encarnacion is a corner outfielder/first baseman.
Matos has the better shot of the two to win a bench job. He's four years younger and not too far removed from being one of the organization's better prospects. Matos has had flashes of capable offense built around his plus bat-to-ball skills, but an aggressive approach has limited his consistency. The 24-year-old owns a .231/.281/.369 batting line with 15 home runs across 593 MLB plate appearances over the past three years. He's a .287/.345/.505 hitter at the Triple-A level.
Encarnacion hasn't produced much in 54 big league games over the past two seasons. His '25 campaign was repeatedly interrupted by injuries. Encarnacion has mashed in Triple-A when healthy and has obvious power upside in a 6'4", 260 pound frame.
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
Nationals Notes: Wood, Cavalli, Williams
Spring Training is a time for players to work at different positions in low-stakes settings. Perhaps the most interesting development from the first week of Nationals camp is that All-Star outfielder James Wood has made a couple starts in right field. Two of his first three Spring Training appearances have come at the position.
The 23-year-old has not played right field in a regular season MLB game. Wood had a little over 400 innings there in the minor leagues. He has been exclusively a left fielder or designated hitter over his season and a half in the majors.
Nats manager Blake Butera hasn’t made any declarations about a position change. There’s no harm in reintroducing Wood to the position even if they intend for him to see the majority of his regular season work in left. The Nationals didn’t get him any action in right field during Spring Training 2025.
Daylen Lile was the primary right fielder after he came up in May. Lile hit the ground running offensively, batting .299/.347/.498 through his first 91 MLB contests. It was a different story on the other side of the ball. Lile was among the worst defensive outfielders in the league. He’s a good athlete with plus speed but turned a handful of easy outs into hits with poor routes or questionable decisions to let catchable balls drop in front of him.
Lile made 21 starts in left field and 52 in right. He didn’t grade well at either position. Wood has also had poor defensive metrics, albeit not to the same extent. If the Nationals feel he’s the better corner defender of the two, they could prefer to have Wood in right field against lineups that skew left-handed. They’ll each get a decent amount of DH work as well.
Dylan Crews can play anywhere in the outfield, though he doesn’t have much left field experience in pro ball. Jacob Young is easily the team’s best outfield defender. He’ll be in center whenever he’s in the lineup but fits best in a fourth outfield role because of his light bat.
However the outfield sorts itself out, those four players all go into camp with spots on the MLB roster secured. That’s not true of many players on the pitching staff. Free agent signees Miles Mikolas and Foster Griffin join Cade Cavalli and Josiah Gray as likely members of the season-opening rotation. Gray missed all of last season recovering from July 2024 internal brace surgery. Cavalli came back from Tommy John surgery of his own last year. He made 10 starts late in the season, pitching to a 4.25 ERA across 48 2/3 innings.
Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner wrote about the pitchers’ respective rehab processes this week. President of baseball operations Paul Toboni told reporters that Cavalli is “full go” this spring. That might also include a repertoire adjustment.
The 27-year-old righty said he worked with pitching coaches Simon Mathews and Sean Doolittle to incorporate a sweeper. Cavalli’s primary breaking ball is an 86 mph knuckle-curve that has more of a vertical shape. A sweeper would give him something with an east-west profile that he can run away from right-handed hitters. Cavalli tossed two scoreless innings in his exhibition debut this week.
Gray has yet to get into a Spring Training game, though he’s expected to be fully built up by Opening Day. If he secures the fourth starter role, that’d leave one spot available for a group including Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, Brad Lord, Andrew Alvarez and Jake Eder.
Veteran right-hander Trevor Williams is midway through his own surgical rehab. He underwent an internal brace procedure last July and figures to be out at least through the All-Star Break. As Mark Zuckerman of Nats Journal wrote recently, Williams paused his throwing program and went for precautionary imaging after feeling some elbow soreness last weekend. It’s common for pitchers to have pauses along the way in their return from elbow ligament procedures. Butera downplayed the team’s concern on Saturday, though the Nationals haven’t provided any specifics on the MRI results.
Seidler Family Weighing Five Offers For Padres
The Seidler family’s efforts to sell the Padres appear to have accelerated in recent weeks. Sheel Seidler, widow of former Padres owner Peter Seidler, dropped or settled most of her litigation against Peter Seidler’s brothers earlier this month. That cleared the way for the family to ramp up a sales process that began in November.
Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that five prospective buyers have submitted bids. Previous reporting had identified Joe Lacob, José E. Feliciano and Dan Friedkin as suitors.
Lacob, the owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, had previously shown interest in buying the Angels and Athletics. Feliciano is a Santa Monica-based private equity mogul whose firm is a lead owner of the English Premier League team, Chelsea F.C. Friedkin was born in San Diego but is now based out of Texas. He has various business interests and also owns a Premier League club, the Liverpool-based Everton F.C.
Most American sports fans will be more familiar with another potential buyer. Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported this afternoon that Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees has partnered with Vuori CEO Joe Kudla to make a run at buying the franchise. Vuori is a San Diego-based clothing company that specializes in athleisure. Brees played the first five seasons of his career with the Chargers.
Assuming Lacob, Feliciano, Friedkin and the Kudla/Brees groups have made offers, that’d be 80% of what seems to be the remaining field. The identity of the final bidder isn’t known.
Earlier this month, Sportico estimated the franchise value around $2.31 billion. It seems the Seidler family is aiming a fair bit higher. Acee writes that people within the industry anticipate the sale price will land north of $2.5 billion. Rosenthal and Lin report that the Seidlers are seeking a purchase price closer to $3 billion than to the estimation from Sportico.
Anything north of $2.5 billion would be a record for an MLB franchise. Steve Cohen’s 2020 purchase of the Mets from the Wilpon family was for roughly $2.475 billion. That remains the high-water mark. More recent sales of the Orioles and Rays have landed in the $1.7 billion range. Peter Seidler’s group purchased the Padres for $800MM in 2012. The reports from the Union-Tribune and The Athletic — each of which are worth a full read for San Diego fans — suggest an agreement could be reached around Opening Day.
Blue Jays To Re-Sign Max Scherzer
11:07am: Scherzer’s contract includes ten separate $1MM bonuses based on innings pitched, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He’ll unlock the first of those bonuses for pitching 65 innings and then reach another $1MM bonus for every tenth inning, up through 155 frames overall.
Feb. 26, 9:55am: Scherzer still has to pass his physical which should take place in the near future, manager John Schneider tells Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Jays are expecting him in camp sometime this weekend.
Feb. 25: The Blue Jays are reportedly bringing Max Scherzer back on a one-year deal. The Boras Corporation client is guaranteed $3MM and can reportedly earn up to $10MM in incentives. Toronto can open space on the 40-man roster by placing Anthony Santander on the 60-day injured list once the contract is finalized.
It’ll be the future Hall of Famer’s second season in Toronto. The three-time Cy Young winner signed a $15.5MM deal with the Jays during the 2024-25 offseason. He was coming off an abbreviated season in which he’d been limited to nine starts for the Rangers. Scherzer had undergone back surgery the previous offseason, and a nerve issue in his throwing arm limited him once he recovered from the back procedure.
The arm remained problematic last season. Scherzer left his team debut after three innings because of thumb soreness. That had been traced to the nerve issue and ultimately led the Jays to shut Scherzer down for a couple months. He didn’t return to an MLB mound until late June.
Scherzer was able to avoid the injured list after that point but didn’t perform to his usual level. He allowed more than five earned runs per nine innings for the first time in his career. He closed the season with a 5.19 mark over 85 innings. Scherzer only once allowed more than four runs in a start, but he only went beyond five innings on seven occasions. He had six quality starts in 17 appearances.
The 17-year veteran is still capable of missing bats at a league average level. He struck out a slightly above-average 23% of batters faced against a tidy 6.4% walk rate. The issue is the damage hitters have done when they make contact. Scherzer allowed more than two home runs per nine innings for the first time in his career. It was the fourth-highest homer rate in MLB among pitchers who threw 70+ innings.
Scherzer’s fastball averaged 93.6 mph last season. That’s a tick higher than his 2024 mark, reversing a slight downward trend in his velocity during his late 30s. He nevertheless had a tough time getting hitters to chase his breaking pitches outside the strike zone. Scherzer obviously doesn’t have the same caliber of stuff he did at his peak, which makes him more hittable when he’s forced to challenge hitters. He has allowed a higher than average home run rate in three straight seasons.
At age 41, Scherzer profiles as a back-end starter on paper. Yet he has a wealth of big game experience and showed he’s still capable of getting outs on the biggest stage. The Jays left Scherzer off the roster for their Division Series matchup with the Yankees. They brought him back for the AL Championship Series against Seattle and the World Series showdown with the Dodgers.
Scherzer tossed 5 2/3 frames of two-run ball to get the win in ALCS Game 4. He struggled a bit in Game 3 of the World Series before coming back with one run allowed in 4 1/3 innings in Game 7. Scherzer left the mound with a 3-1 lead in a performance that would have been etched into Toronto sports history if the bullpen had held the lead.
They’ll aim to get over the hump in 2026. Assuming Scherzer builds up in time for Opening Day, he’ll probably slot into a six-man rotation to begin the season. Shane Bieber will begin the year on the injured list after experiencing forearm fatigue during the playoff run. Toronto had been slated to open the season with a starting five of Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, José Berríos and Cody Ponce.
Yesavage is entering his first full MLB season. Ponce is a bit of a wild card in his return from Korea. Scherzer presumably isn’t going to log 150+ innings at this stage of his career. Opening with a six-man rotation would allow the Jays to take some of the burden off a rotation that shouldered as heavy a load as possible into October.
That comes with a trickle-down impact on the bullpen, however. The 13-pitcher limit means the Jays would be down to a seven-man bullpen if they go this route. That increases the importance of having a quality long reliever like Eric Lauer to handle multiple innings.
At the same time, this makes it less likely that Lauer will have a chance to win a rotation spot. The left-hander is an impending free agent and said he’d prefer a starting opportunity. There hasn’t been any indication that Lauer would seek a trade if the Jays keep him in a relief role, though the southpaw told Mitch Bannon of The Athletic he believes that pitching out of the bullpen last season cost him money in arbitration. Lauer lost his hearing, meaning he’ll make the team’s desired $4.4MM salary rather than his camp’s $5.75MM filing figure.
That could be a situation worth monitoring if everyone remains healthy closer to Opening Day. For now, this looks like the ideal outcome for the Jays and Scherzer alike. The $3MM base salary will push their franchise-record luxury tax payroll to approximately $319MM, according to RosterResource. The Jays are taxed at a 90% rate on spending above $304MM. This signing comes with a $2.7MM base tax. Earned performance bonuses are part of a team’s CBT calculation, so the Jays would also pay that 90% fee on any dollars that Scherzer unlocks by hitting innings milestones throughout the year.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the agreement. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet had the $3MM base and $10MM in incentives. Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images.
Yankees, Randal Grichuk Agree To Minor League Deal
Feb. 26: Grichuk will earn a $2.5MM base salary if he makes the Yankees’ roster, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Feb. 25: The Yankees are in agreement with veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk on a minor league contract, reports Jack Curry of The Yes Network. The Paragon Sports International client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported this week that the Yankees continued to look for a righty-hitting platoon bat. Grichuk fits the bill without commanding a guaranteed roster spot. The 34-year-old will try to play his way into a spot on Aaron Boone’s bench during Spring Training. If he does, he’d take at-bats from Trent Grisham against left-handed pitching. Cody Bellinger is one of the best left-on-left hitters in MLB, so he’d play center field with Grichuk drawing into the corner opposite Aaron Judge.
Grichuk isn’t coming off a great season. He’d hit at a league average level for the Diamondbacks and was traded to the Royals at the deadline. His bat cratered in Kansas City, leaving him with a .228/.273/.401 slash line across 293 trips to the plate. That included an underwhelming .227/.273/.430 mark in 183 plate appearances with the platoon advantage.
The 11-year MLB veteran had destroyed lefty pitching in the three preceding seasons. Between 2022-24, he put up a .317/.367/.573 mark against southpaws. He connected on 25 home runs, 34 doubles and four triples in fewer than 500 plate appearances. He had the fifth-highest OPS against lefties over that stretch (min. 450 PAs).
That version of Grichuk would obviously be an excellent piece to have off the bench. His strikeout rate against lefties climbed nearly seven percentage points a year ago, so there’s no guarantee he’ll get back to his 2022-24 form. He’s not going to get a huge sample of short side platoon at-bats during Spring Training, leaving the Yankees with an interesting call in whether to have him round out their bench.
Jasson Domínguez already looked likely to begin the season in Triple-A. If Grichuk makes the team, that’s an inevitability barring multiple Spring Training injuries. It’d leave the Yankees with a very right-handed bench. Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario are locks, leaving backup catcher J.C. Escarra as the only lefty bench bat in that scenario. Oswaldo Cabrera would either start the season in Triple-A or on the injured list, while out-of-options Jorbit Vivas would be traded or placed on waivers.
The Yankees probably need to carry Grichuk on the Opening Day roster to keep him in the organization. He’s an Article XX(b) free agent — a veteran who finished last season on an MLB roster. Those players who sign non-roster invites have three guaranteed opt-out dates under the collective bargaining agreement: five days before Opening Day, May 1, and June 1. Grichuk can return to the open market at the end of Spring Training if he doesn’t break camp with New York.
Poll: Will Both Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter Break Camp With Phillies?
The Phillies mostly ran things back over the offseason. They re-signed Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. Their only notable external acquisitions were Adolis García, Brad Keller and Jonathan Bowlan. They let Ranger Suárez and Harrison Bader walk while parting ways with Matt Strahm and Nick Castellanos.
It’s apparent the front office wanted to leave opportunities for two of their most talented young players to break into what is otherwise one of the older core groups in MLB. The door is open for both Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter to head north out of Spring Training. The 22-year-old prospects will look to cement their spots in camp.
Crawford is coming off a fantastic Triple-A season. He hit .334/.411/.452 while stealing 46 bases (albeit with 11 times caught). He walked in nearly 12% of his trips to the plate against a lower than average 18% strikeout rate. The lefty hitter only connected on seven home runs because his swing is geared to hit almost everything on the ground. While that caps his power potential, there’s no need to mess with the mechanics of a player who has hit .322 with a .385 on-base percentage in his minor league career.
Prospect evaluators had varying opinions on Crawford earlier in his minor league days. He was a first-round pick (and the son of a four-time All-Star), so he has certainly had his share of acclaim, but the unconventional offensive approach gave some scouts pause. It has played at every minor league stop, raising the confidence level that Crawford can continue to hit against the highest level arms.
Crawford probably would have made his big league debut late last season if the Phillies hadn’t acquired Bader. He enters Spring Training as the favorite to start in center field on Opening Day, pushing Brandon Marsh to left field. The Phillies could shield him from left-handed pitching on occasion but are planning for him to be a regular. “If you’re going to give Crawford an opportunity, you’ve got to give it to him, and that’s where we are,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in December. “We’re going to give him an opportunity and have him play a lot.”
Philadelphia won’t officially make the decision until Opening Day. They’ve had Crawford as the starting center fielder alongside their other regulars in the first few Spring Training contests. He should win the job unless he suffers an injury during exhibition play. If he does or struggles badly enough in Spring Training that they reconsider that plan, they’d probably be looking at Johan Rojas and Marsh splitting center field work with a rotating group of corner bats in left.
Painter might have a little more work to do during camp. Zack Wheeler won’t be ready for the start of the season. That draws Painter into the fifth starter role behind Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker. There are a few starters lingering on the free agent market (e.g. Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell, Max Scherzer). It’s early enough in camp that those pitchers could be ready for Opening Day if they sign within the next week or so. The Phillies have monitored the market for rotation depth, so an addition that pushes Painter back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley doesn’t seem out of the question.
Philadelphia’s rotation beyond their projected top six arms (Wheeler included) is thin. If they lose anyone else before Wheeler returns from his thoracic outlet procedure, they’d probably be pressed into using a minor league signee like Bryse Wilson or Tucker Davidson. There’s an argument for signing a Littell type and having Painter be their first man up in the event of an injury.
The 6’7″ righty also hasn’t mastered Triple-A competition the way that Crawford did last year. Painter made 22 starts and tossed 106 2/3 innings but struggled to a 5.40 earned run average with Lehigh Valley. He struck out an above-average 23.4% of opponents while walking just under 10% of batters faced. The stuff was quite good — a 97 mph average fastball headlining a five-pitch mix — but he was more susceptible to the home run ball than the Phils probably anticipated. While he remains one of the most talented pitching prospects in the sport, his seeming fast track to the majors was halted by Tommy John surgery that wiped out 2023-24 and last season’s uneven return.
Crawford and Painter meet the criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. If the Phillies carry them for a full service year, they could each earn the team an extra draft choice if they play well enough to factor into awards consideration. They’d be on track to hit free agency after the 2031 season if they break camp and perform well enough to remain in the majors permanently. Keeping either player in the minors for a couple weeks would delay that by a year unless they finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting.
Will both players be on the roster when the Phillies welcome Texas to Citizens Bank Park on March 26?
Will Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter break camp?
-
Both players are on the Opening Day roster. 53% (1,262)
-
Crawford breaks camp; Painter starts in the minors. 33% (794)
-
Both players begin the season in the minors. 9% (212)
-
Painter breaks camp; Crawford starts in the minors. 6% (133)
Total votes: 2,401
Tigers Sign Colin Poche To Minor League Deal
The Tigers are signing veteran reliever Colin Poche to a minor league contract, as first announced by the training facility Driveline Baseball. Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports that the ISE Baseball client will not receive an invite to big league camp.
Poche pitched in the big leagues as recently as last June. He made 13 early-season appearances with the Nationals and had a one-game cameo with the Mets on June 28. Opponents tagged him for 14 runs (13 earned) on 12 hits and 14 walks in just 9 1/3 innings. Poche also had a rough year with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate and was released in August.
The 32-year-old pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League this offseason. He gave up six runs on eight hits and seven walks over 6 2/3 innings. Poche has had a very tough time finding the strike zone of late. That hadn’t been a huge issue for the southpaw before last season. Poche had a 3.63 ERA with an unexceptional 9.2% walk percentage in 208 1/3 MLB frames with the Rays from 2019-24. He struck out 27% of batters faced.
The extent of Poche’s recent struggles will keep him from getting a look in Spring Training. He’s not on the radar for an Opening Day job and should begin the season at Triple-A Toledo. If he can get the strike-throwing back on track, he could put himself in the mix for a midseason middle relief spot. Poche has never had huge velocity, but he has an extreme over-the-top arm angle and a backspinning fastball that can be tough to track at the top of the strike zone. At his best, he missed bats and induced a lot of easy pop-ups by running the four-seamer above barrels.
A’s Notes: Butler, Clarke, Bullpen
A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler is working back from the patellar tendon procedure that he underwent in early October. He has entered camp a little behind schedule as a result, though it seems he’s on track to be ready for the start of the season.
Martín Gallegos of MLB.com writes that the lefty batter has been cleared to take batting practice and do simple defensive drills. He has yet to get the sign-off to play defense at full effort or run the bases, which is holding him out of game action for the moment. Manager Mark Kotsay told Gallegos that the A’s are hoping Butler will be able to make his Cactus League debut midway through the spring. That’d give him a couple weeks to get up to speed before Opening Day.
Butler is coming off a .234/.306/.404 showing across 630 plate appearances. He had a 20-20 campaign and hit 30 doubles, but his rate metrics were around league average. Although it wasn’t a bad season, it was a step back from the huge 2024 second half that established him as a core piece. Playing through the injury probably had something to do with that. Butler took a .251/.326/.433 line into the All-Star Break but hit .203/.268/.351 in the second half.
The A’s could ease him into the lineup early in the season to avoid placing too much stress on the knee. He’ll be an everyday player once he’s fully healthy. Butler should see the majority of his work in right field. He can kick into center if Denzel Clarke struggles enough at the plate that the A’s prefer to swap out his superlative glove to plug a better hitter into the corner outfield mix.
Clarke missed the final two and a half months of his rookie season with an adductor strain in his right hip. He was a human highlight reel in center field over his first 47 big league contests. Statcast credited Clarke with an astounding 13 Outs Above Average in less than 400 innings. He was fifth in MLB among center fielders while logging around 30-40% of the playing time of the players above him in that category.
The bat is a much bigger question. Clarke has posted worrisome strikeout tallies throughout his minor league career. He punched out 61 times while drawing all of six walks in his first 159 MLB plate appearances. He can hit the ball hard when he makes contact, though a lot of that comes at such low angles that it limits his power ceiling.
Clarke appears to be without any restrictions as camp gets underway. He started his first exhibition game as a designated hitter but has played center field without issue during his two most recent appearances. Clarke also signed on to represent his native Canada in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. That’ll give him the opportunity to play alongside his cousins Bo Naylor and Josh Naylor, each of whom is also on the Canadian national team.
Most of the A’s lineup is settled. Assuming Butler is ready for Opening Day and Clarke wins the center field job, the only lineup spot up for grabs is third base. There’s much more variability on the pitching side. The A’s have multiple young pitchers competing for two spots at the back of the rotation. The bullpen is also fairly open, especially in the late innings.
Kotsay said at the beginning of Spring Training that he does not intend to designate a closer by Opening Day (separate MLB.com link via Gallegos). The A’s found success with a committee approach after trading Mason Miller at the deadline. They explored the market for an established closer this offseason but were seemingly priced out of a quick-moving, generally robust free agent relief class.
The A’s added a pair of veteran arms, Mark Leiter Jr. and Scott Barlow, on cheaper one-year contracts. Barlow has a decent amount of closing experience but has been in lower-leverage roles for the last two seasons. Both righties are reclamation types rather than lockdown arms at the back end. Of the A’s returning arms, Hogan Harris led the way with four saves last season. He’s likely to be in high-leverage roles alongside Justin Sterner, with Tyler Ferguson and Elvis Alvarado potentially in the mix as well.
Twins Notes: Ryan, Raya, Merryweather
A few days after being scratched from his start on Saturday, Joe Ryan is already throwing. Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters that the pitcher played catch from 90 feet this morning (link via Matthew Leach of MLB.com). Ryan was sent for imaging over the weekend after experiencing lower back discomfort, but he’s dealing only with inflammation.
There should still be ample time for Ryan to be ready for the start of the season. If healthy, he’d be a lock to take the ball on Opening Day after Minnesota lost Pablo López to Tommy John surgery. That’s already a massive hit to the Twins’ uphill path to competing for a playoff spot, making it all the more imperative that Ryan stay healthy. It’s a bigger question whether the All-Star righty will be back in time to represent the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic in a couple weeks.
Assuming Ryan is ready for the start of the season, he’ll be followed in the rotation by Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson. There should be a camp battle for the final two spots among Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, Mick Abel and potentially David Festa.
One pitcher no longer in the rotation conversation: Marco Raya. The 23-year-old prospect moved to the bullpen while pitching at Triple-A St. Paul in the middle of August. That’s a permanent move, as Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune writes that the Twins informed Raya he’ll be a full-time reliever this year. The righty pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout against a handful of Tigers minor leaguers in his spring debut on Monday.
Raya’s move to the bullpen doesn’t come as a huge surprise. The former fourth-round pick has good stuff but hasn’t thrown enough strikes in his minor league career. He walked almost 13% of opponents over 98 2/3 Triple-A frames a year ago, turning in a 6.02 earned run average in the process. Raya used six pitches in the minors but could pare down the repertoire now that he’s working in short relief. The bigger hope is that Raya’s below-average control won’t be as big an issue in brief stints.
There’s ample opportunity in the Minnesota bullpen. Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk and Cole Sands are probably penciled into the Opening Day relief corps. That still leaves three jobs up for grabs. Most of Minnesota’s depth arms on the 40-man roster have little to no MLB experience. They compensated by bringing in a number of veteran arms on minor league contracts with Spring Training invites.
Julian Merryweather is among the non-roster invitees trying to pitch his way onto the roster. Merryweather’s team debut got out to a less than ideal start. The right-hander departed his first Grapefruit League appearance after suffering a left hamstring strain, Nightengale relays. Merryweather walked Justyn-Henry Malloy and struck out Ben Williamson before departing.
Mariners, Brendan White Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners are signing reliever Brendan White out of the independent ranks, according to an announcement from the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Stormers. White finished last season with the Stormers after being released from a minor league contract with the Tigers in July.
White, 27, pitched in the majors for Detroit a couple seasons ago. He made 33 appearances and tossed 40 2/3 innings of 5.09 ERA ball as a rookie in 2023. He struck out a quarter of batters faced against a league average 8.5% walk rate. He sat in the 94-95 mph range with his four-seam fastball while using a mid-80s breaking ball almost two-thirds of the time.
The right-hander lost most of the ’24 season to injury. Detroit non-tendered him at the end of the year but brought him back on a minor league contract. White had a rough return to Triple-A Toledo last season. His strikeout rate fell to 17% as opponents rocked him for more than seven earned runs per nine innings. He continued to struggle after landing with the Stormers, giving up six runs while handing out 10 free passes (six walks and four hit batters) across 9 2/3 innings.
White will look to put the down year behind him as he joins a new MLB organization for the first time in his career. He’ll presumably open the season at Triple-A Tacoma.