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Astros Re-Sign Ben Gamel

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The Astros have re-signed Ben Gamel to a one-year major league contract. The Wasserman client is reportedly guaranteed a $200K signing bonus and would secure a $1MM base salary if he breaks camp. The Astros have a 40-man roster opening thanks to the Ryan Pressly trade, so no corresponding move was necessary.

GM Dana Brown has spoken all offseason about the team’s desire for a lefty-hitting outfielder. Gamel fits the bill and has some familiarity in the Houston clubhouse. The Astros snagged him off waivers from the Mets last August. Gamel provided a bit of a boost offensively, hitting .259/.377/.362 in 20 games. His season ended in mid-September when he broke his left fibula, sustained when he crashed into the outfield wall while tracking down a Mickey Moniak fly ball. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that the veteran outfielder is expected to be a full participant in Spring Training.

Gamel, 32, has appeared in the majors in nine straight seasons. He played somewhat regularly with the Mariners, Brewers and Pirates between 2017-22. He has spent the last two years as a depth option. He made six appearances for the 2023 Padres and combined for 38 games between the Mets and Astros last year.

In a little over 2300 career plate appearances, Gamel owns a .252/.334/.382 slash line that is roughly league average. He has middling power with a very patient plate approach. Gamel’s willingness to work deep counts has translated to a strong 10.5% walk percentage, though he has also fanned in around a quarter of his trips to the dish. He has been an excellent Triple-A performer throughout his career, hitting .303/.381/.468 across 420 games at the top minor league level.

While Gamel addresses Houston’s desire for a lefty-swinging outfielder, he doesn’t have huge platoon splits. He’s a career .252/.337/.387 hitter against righties and carries a .252/.324/.364 slash versus left-handed pitching. Gamel is a fringy runner who is limited to the corner outfield, where defensive metrics have graded him as a below-average defender.

Gamel should have a real opportunity to play his way into a decent amount of playing time in Houston. The Astros have a thin outfield following the Kyle Tucker trade. Defensive stalwart Jake Meyers is ticketed for regular run in center field. Chas McCormick will get the bulk of the playing time in right field. He’s looking to rebound from a career-worst .211/.271/.306 showing. Gamel may end up as the Opening Day left fielder. Manager Joe Espada said that he’d prefer to limit Yordan Alvarez’s outfield work to keep him healthy. Taylor Trammell, a career .167/.270/.363 hitter who took eight MLB plate appearances last year, projected as Houston’s left fielder before this signing.

Utilityman Mauricio Dubón will be in the mix at various infield and outfield positions. The Astros have kicked around the idea of giving Jose Altuve some left field work. If Houston re-signed Alex Bregman, that’d push Isaac Paredes to second base and move Altuve into left field every day. While that door remains cracked as long as Bregman remains unsigned, the Astros don’t seem to be confident in their chances of re-signing him. Their pursuit of Jorge Polanco as an infield fallback came up short. Houston could theoretically make Dubón a full-time second baseman and commit to pushing Altuve to the outfield, but that’d limit their versatility off the bench.

Offloading $8.5MM of Pressly’s $14MM salary dropped the Astros below the luxury tax line. RosterResource calculates their CBT around $237MM, making the assumption that Gamel will stick on the roster into the regular season and count for a $1.2MM tax hit. That puts the Astros around $4MM shy of this year’s base threshold. Owner Jim Crane has shown a willingness to exceed the threshold if it meant getting Bregman back at a favorable price — they’ve reportedly had a six-year, $156MM offer on the table for most of the winter — but it doesn’t seem the Astros want to go beyond the line for marginal upgrades.

Chandler Rome of The Athletic first reported that the Astros were re-signing Gamel. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that it was an MLB deal that included a $200K signing bonus and a non-guaranteed $1MM salary. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the condition that the salary became guaranteed if Gamel were on the Opening Day roster.

Image courtesy of Imagn.

Angels Sign Yolmer Sanchez To Minor League Deal

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The Angels signed infielder Yolmer Sánchez to a minor league contract. The former Gold Glove winner was among the Halos’ non-roster invitees to big league Spring Training.

Sánchez, 32, is attempting to get back to the majors for the first time in two years. The switch-hitting infielder played seven seasons with the White Sox between 2014-20. He won the aforementioned Gold Glove at second base in 2019. Sánchez hit .245/.300/.360 in nearly 2500 trips to the plate in a ChiSox uniform. He has spent most of the last four years at the Triple-A level. Sánchez got to the majors briefly again in 2022, suiting up for the Red Sox and Mets.

Over the past two seasons, Sánchez has been in Triple-A. He hit .236/.381/.350 with Atlanta’s affiliate in 2023. He turned in a .226/.346/.393 mark over 399 trips to the plate with New York’s top farm team last season. Sánchez carries a .251/.340/.374 line in more than 3000 career Triple-A plate appearances. He joins Tim Anderson, J.D. Davis and Carter Kieboom in Halos camp as non-roster infielders who have major league experience.

Marlins, Rob Brantly Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Marlins are in agreement with catcher Rob Brantly on a minor league deal with an invite to MLB Spring Training, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The veteran returns to the organization with which he made his MLB debut more than a decade ago.

Brantly, now 35, was a Tigers draftee whom Detroit included in their 2012 deadline deal to acquire Aníbal Sánchez and Omar Infante from Miami. The Marlins called him up within a month of the trade. Brantly appeared in 98 games for the Fish, hitting .235/.298/.325 over 356 plate appearances. Miami lost him on waivers to the White Sox during the 2014-15 offseason.

That kicked off an extended career as a journeyman depth catcher. Brantly has appeared at the major league level in seven of the past 10 seasons. He hasn’t appeared in more than 14 big league games in any of those years. Brantly still has far more MLB experience with the Marlins than he does with any other team. He has appeared in 39 contests with five different teams since the end of the 2013 campaign.

Three of those games were last year as a member of the Rays. Brantly had a brief stint on Tampa Bay’s big league roster while starting catcher Ben Rortvedt was away attending to the birth of his child. He spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Durham, hitting .250/.316/.394 over 179 trips to the plate. Brantly is a .266/.324/.390 hitter over parts of 12 Triple-A seasons.

The Marlins have three catchers on their 40-man roster: Nick Fortes, Liam Hicks and Agustín Ramírez. Hicks is a Rule 5 pick out of the Rangers organization. Ramírez is a highly-regarded prospect who headlined last summer’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade return. Fortes is the only member of that trio who has played in the big leagues. Brantly brings a lot of experience to the upper minors. He could back up Ramírez at Triple-A Jacksonville to open the season.

Cubs Designate Rob Zastryzny For Assignment

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The Cubs announced that they’ve designated lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny for assignment. Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reported the move just before the official announcement. That’s the corresponding move for the Ryan Brasier trade, which is official.

Chicago claimed Zastryzny off waivers from the Brewers in the first week of the offseason. The Missouri product returned to his original organization. Chicago drafted Zastryzny in the second round in 2013. He tossed 16 innings for their 2016 World Series team as a rookie. Zastryzny remained with the Cubs through 2018, when they outrighted him off the 40-man roster.

Zastrynzny bounced around between a few organizations and spent time in the independent ranks. He returned to the big leagues with a brief stint for the Mets in 2022. The southpaw suited up for the Angels later that season and threw a career-high 20 2/3 frames with the Pirates in ’23. He spent last year with the Brewers, making nine MLB appearances and working 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball.

Between five teams, Zastryzny has thrown 67 innings with a 4.30 earned run average in his MLB career. He had a nice year with Milwaukee’s top affiliate in Nashville last year. Zastrynzny managed a 3.03 ERA with an excellent 32.5% strikeout rate across 29 2/3 frames. That intrigued the Cubs enough that they brought him back on waivers, though he had an uphill battle sticking on the roster.

That’s largely because he has exhausted his minor league options. Chicago couldn’t send him to Triple-A without putting him on waivers. The Cubs don’t have a ton of flexibility in a bullpen without many pitchers who can be optioned. The Cubs will probably place him on waivers within the next few days. Zastryzny’s previous career outrights mean he could elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.

Cubs Acquire Ryan Brasier

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The Dodgers announced a trade sending reliever Ryan Brasier and cash considerations to the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Los Angeles had designated the veteran righty for assignment on Thursday when they finalized the Kirby Yates signing. Teams have five days following a DFA to trade a player, so the Dodgers needed to find a deal by tonight or put Brasier on waivers. Chicago designated Rob Zastryzny for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move.

Brasier is quite a bit better than most players who end up in DFA limbo. The veteran righty had a strong season and a half in Los Angeles. He signed a minor league deal midway through the 2023 season after being let go by the Red Sox. Brasier had a dominant finish, turning in a 0.70 earned run average across 38 2/3 innings with Los Angeles. The Dodgers retained him on a two-year, $9MM free agent contract.

The 37-year-old was never going to replicate his late-season ’23 numbers. He had another decent year when healthy, working to a 3.54 ERA with a league average 22.7% strikeout percentage. Brasier kept his walk rate to a tidy 4.5% clip, in large part because he got opponents to chase 40% of pitches off the plate.

Health was the biggest caveat. Brasier suffered a significant strain of his right calf in late April. He was shelved into the middle of August and limited to 28 innings on the season. He had an excellent second half but was nevertheless relegated to low-leverage appearances during L.A.’s World Series run. Brasier allowed five runs with seven strikeouts and three walks across nine playoff innings.

The DFA is less a reflection of Brasier of “losing” his job and much more about L.A.’s bullpen depth. They added Tanner Scott and Yates after re-signing Blake Treinen. They join Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Alex Vesia as bullpen locks. The Dodgers are going to run a six-man rotation, meaning they can only devote seven roster spots to relievers.

Brasier has well over five years of major league service. He cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his consent. The Dodgers could go back to an eight-man bullpen once Shohei Ohtani returns to the rotation, since Ohtani doesn’t count against their 13-pitcher limit as a two-way player. They’re not going to push Ohtani’s elbow rehab merely to get another bullpen spot, so there’s probably only one available if all their relievers are healthy coming out of camp. Anthony Banda is out of options and seems likely to grab the final relief job.

The Cubs don’t have a ton of roster flexibility with their bullpen either. Chicago acquired Ryan Pressly last week. He’ll close games. Brasier joins Porter Hodge and Tyson Miller as high-leverage righties in front of Pressly. The Cubs added Caleb Thielbar on a $2.75MM free agent deal earlier in the winter; he projects as their top left-hander. Colin Rea is probably ticketed for long relief work.

That’d account for six of eight ’pen slots if everyone’s healthy. Eli Morgan and Nate Pearson may be next on the depth chart, but they both have a minor league option remaining. That isn’t the case for Julian Merryweather or Keegan Thompson. They’d each need to be in the majors or be designated for assignment. Thompson’s swing-and-miss ability probably gives him a leg up.

Brasier will make $4.5MM for the upcoming season. He’ll be a free agent at year’s end. It’s unclear how much of that the Dodgers are paying down. The Dodgers will save 110% in taxes on whatever money they managed to offload. If the Cubs had taken on the entire salary, that would have pushed them to around $211MM in luxury tax obligations (courtesy of RosterResource). They’re more than $30MM shy of the base threshold.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Cubs were acquiring Brasier. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic first mentioned the Dodgers receiving cash considerations. Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reported the return as a player to be named later or cash.

Image courtesy of Imagn.

Cardinals, Red Sox Have Reportedly Had “Recent Communication” On Arenado

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The Nolan Arenado trade speculation has quieted in recent weeks. After the eight-time All-Star used his no-trade clause to quash a deal that would have sent him to Houston, the Cardinals have been unable to find a suitable match. St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said at last month’s Winter Warm-Up event that the Arenado saga remained the front office’s top priority. However, both Mozeliak and chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. stressed that dealing the third baseman was not an absolute necessity to get the team’s payroll to levels that ownership finds tolerable.

It’s now an open question whether the Cards will be able to line anything up. In an MLBTR poll last week, nearly two-thirds of respondents felt Arenado would begin the season in St. Louis. That won’t stop Mozeliak and the front office from continuing to explore possibilities. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reports that the Cards have “had recent communication” with the Red Sox regarding Arenado.

That doesn’t necessarily mean talks have gained any kind of traction. Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote in early January that efforts to move Arenado had stalled. Woo suggested at the time that Boston might up end being the only plausible suitor for an offseason trade. Those discussions have perhaps been held up by Alex Bregman’s lengthy free agent stay. Boston is one of a few teams known to be involved on Bregman, though they’re reportedly reluctant to go beyond four guaranteed years. Bregman has seemingly weighed multiple six-year offers, so the Sox appear an unlikely landing spot.

Arenado would be a more challenging roster fit. The Sox’s pursuit of Bregman was likely conditioned on the possibility of moving him to second base. Arenado has expressed openness to a position change to facilitate the right trade, but his third base defense is his primary selling point. It’s unlikely the Red Sox would consider bumping him to the keystone. They’d presumably instead move Rafael Devers off third base. Boston’s longtime third baseman doesn’t appear enthused about a possible position change.

A move would also probably require the Red Sox to bench or trade Masataka Yoshida. The Sox have not moved first baseman Triston Casas for starting pitching, as many speculated they might. Devers would be a superior designated hitter to Yoshida, though Boston may not be keen on relegating him to the bench when he’s under contract for another three seasons. Yoshida is owed $18MM annually on a deal that is well above market value. They’d need to eat the bulk of the contract to deal him for what would be a modest return.

Discussions between the Sox and Cardinals could theoretically involve Yoshida. Chaim Bloom, who will take over as president of baseball operations in St. Louis at the end of the season, was the top executive when the Red Sox signed Yoshida. At one point, Bloom believed strongly that his bat would translate against MLB pitching. Yoshida has been a good, not great, major league hitter. Even if Bloom still feels there’s untapped upside, the Cardinals are unlikely to eat a big portion of the contract. Their efforts to trade Arenado have been largely motivated by finances, recent comments from Mozeliak and DeWitt notwithstanding.

St. Louis owes Arenado $64MM over the next three seasons: $27MM this year, $22MM in 2026, and $15MM in ’27. The Rockies are paying an additional $5MM annually for the next two years. $6MM of the Cards’ obligations in 2025 and ’26 are deferred. Reports indicated the Astros were going to take all but $5MM or $15MM off the Cardinals’ hands had he approved the trade to Houston.

Blue Jays Designate Michael Petersen For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated reliever Michael Petersen for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man roster move for Max Scherzer, who has finalized his $15.5MM free agent deal.

Toronto claimed Petersen, a native of the United Kingdom, off waivers from the Marlins within the opening days of the offseason. That was his second waiver move in a few months. Miami had grabbed him off waivers from the Dodgers in September. He allowed four runs across 5 2/3 innings to finish the year. Petersen had also made 11 appearances with Los Angeles. He closed his debut campaign with a 5.95 earned run average through 19 2/3 innings. He recorded 14 strikeouts while issuing 11 walks.

The 30-year-old Petersen had much better numbers in 33 innings at the Triple-A level with Los Angeles. He posted a 1.64 ERA while striking out a massive 35.2% of opponents. Petersen had also pitched well for the Rockies’ affiliate in 2023. He owns a 2.45 earned run average at the top minor league level. He has fanned 28.6% of batters faced against an elevated 11% walk rate.

Petersen works mostly with a fastball and cutter. His heater checked in at 97 MPH on average in his MLB work and sat just under 98 MPH in the minors. Between that and the strong Triple-A production, it’s possible he’ll draw renewed interest on the waiver wire. The 6’7″ righty still has two minor league options remaining and could be sent to Triple-A if a team is willing to carry him on the 40-man roster. Petersen has never cleared outright waivers, so if he goes unclaimed, he’d stick with the Jays and likely be invited to camp as a non-roster player.

Angels Pursued Anthony Santander On Shorter-Term Deal

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The Angels showed interest in Anthony Santander on a potential three- or four-year deal, writes Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It’s not clear precisely what they proposed, but it seems their reported interest in the outfielder was genuine enough to consider multi-year offers.

Santander ended up with the Blue Jays on a five-year pact. That was initially reported as a $92.5MM contract, though extreme deferrals dramatically cut the net present value. The MLB Players Association valued Santander’s deal with Toronto just below $68.6MM. He can opt out of that contract after three seasons, though the Jays could override that by preemptively exercising a 2030 club option.

It’s not known if Toronto was the only team willing to stretch to five years. Rosenthal reported last week that the Royals made a three-year offer that included an opt-out after the second season. That came with a $66MM guarantee on the surface, though it reportedly also included deferrals that would have dropped the NPV to some extent.

Assuming the Halos use Jorge Soler more or less as a full-time designated hitter, they’ve yet to do anything of note in the outfield. Late last season, they floated the idea of moving Mike Trout into a corner in an effort to keep him healthier. A free agent class led by Harrison Bader didn’t provide many options to step into center field. It has been similarly quiet on the trade front at the position. It looks like the Halos will stick with Trout in center for another season.

Taylor Ward was the subject of some trade speculation, but it seems he’ll return in left field. Santander would have been a major upgrade in right, where the Angels project to run it back with a Mickey Moniak/Jo Adell platoon. Neither one-time top prospect has been a consistent offensive threat in their major league careers. Angels right fielders hit .210/.287/.368 last season. Only the Royals got a lower on-base mark at the position, while their slugging percentage was fourth from the bottom.

At this stage of the offseason, the Angels are unlikely to find a significant outfield upgrade in free agency. There’d been some speculation that the Halos could make a push for Pete Alonso to play first base, allowing them to move Nolan Schanuel to the corner outfield. That’s theoretically still on the table as long as Alonso is unsigned, but it’d probably make for a very poor outfield defense. That’d also be true if the Angels signed Alonso as a designated hitter and put Soler back in right field.

If an outfield splash probably isn’t happening, the Santander pursuit suggests there could be money for a late-offseason move in another area. The Angels were the most active team within the opening weeks of the offseason. They acquired Soler, Kyle Hendricks, Travis d’Arnaud, Kevin Newman and Yusei Kikuchi before Thanksgiving. They haven’t made a single MLB free agent signing or trade of note since the Kikuchi pickup.

The Angels could still upgrade on the pitching staff. Rosenthal reported last week that the Halos were in contact with free agent relievers and could make multiple bullpen acquisitions. They could certainly accommodate someone like Nick Pivetta, Jose Quintana or Andrew Heaney in the rotation. RosterResource calculates their competitive balance tax number around $206MM, putting them about $35MM below next year’s luxury tax threshold.

Angels, Victor Gonzalez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels agreed to a minor league contract with lefty reliever Victor González last month (h/t to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy). The southpaw had been a free agent since the Yankees released him in September.

González is looking to rebound after a tough year in the Bronx. The Yankees acquired him from the Dodgers over the 2023-24 offseason. González got into 27 games and tossed 23 1/3 innings. While his 3.86 earned run average wasn’t bad, that belied an unimpressive strikeout and walk profile. The southpaw walked a career-high 13.4% of batters faced while carrying a meager 11.4% strikeout rate. González had fanned at least 22% of opponents in all three seasons with the Dodgers.

Among pitchers with 20+ innings, González was one of three — alongside Nick Nastrini and Dakota Hudson — who had more walks than strikeouts. New York ran him through outright waivers in June. While his Triple-A strikeout (20.6%) and walk (8.8%) profile was improved in the minors, the Yanks never brought him back up. That could be in part due to a velocity dip. González averaged 93.3 MPH on his sinker last season; that pitch sat in the 94-95 MPH range during his time with the Dodgers.

Before last season, González had been a solid middle innings arm for L.A. skipper Dave Roberts. The Mexican-born southpaw turned in 89 1/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball over parts of three seasons. He posted roughly average strikeout and walk numbers while getting a ton of ground-balls. The grounders carried over to the Bronx, but the precipitous drop in strikeouts and career-worst command pushed him off the roster.

The Halos have a few left-handers ticketed for Opening Day bullpen spots. Brock Burke, José Quijada and José Suárez are each out of options. They’ve all been inconsistent in recent years, but the Angels tendered all three (relatively small) arbitration contracts. The Angels also took left-hander Garrett McDaniels out of the Dodgers system in the Rule 5 draft. If they plan to secure his long-term contractual rights, they’d need to keep him in the majors all season. González is also out of options, so if the Angels call him up at any point, they’d need to keep him in the MLB bullpen or send him back into DFA limbo.

Braves, Dany Jimenez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves agreed to minor league deals with reliever Dany Jiménez and catcher Chandler Seagle last month (h/t to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy). Mike Rodriguez first reported the Jiménez deal.

Jiménez, 31, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons. The past three have come with the A’s, with whom he made at least 25 appearances in each year. Jiménez managed decent results between 2022-23 despite scattershot command. He combined for a 3.43 ERA over 57 2/3 frames during that two-year stretch. He punched out a league average 23% of opponents but walked more than 13% of batters faced.

The walks caught up to him last season. Jiménez struggled to a 4.91 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate ticked down (21.4%) while the walks climbed to a massive 16.2% rate. His fastball speed has trended in the wrong direction. Jiménez averaged around 94 MPH on the heater in 2022. That dropped slightly to 93.3 MPH the next year and sat at a career-low 92.5 MPH last season. He leans more heavily on his low-80s slider, a pitch that generated big swinging strike numbers in 2022 but hasn’t been as effective over the last two years.

At the end of the season, the A’s opted not to tender Jiménez an arbitration contract projected at $1MM. He’ll need to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster with a strong showing in camp and/or at Triple-A Gwinnett. Jiménez still has a couple option seasons, so if he does crack the 40-man, the Braves can move him between Atlanta and Gwinnett without putting him on waivers.

Seagle, 29, is an organizational depth catcher. He spent seven seasons in the Padres’ system. Seagle is a career .201/.272/.286 hitter in the minors. The Padres called him up for the final game of the 2023 season and got him an at-bat. While they outrighted him off their 40-man roster early in the offseason, they re-signed him to a minor league contract last year. He appeared in 38 games with their Triple-A team, hitting .180/.219/.280 in 107 plate appearances.

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