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Rangers, Jonah Bride Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers are in agreement with infielder Jonah Bride on a minor league contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Paragon Sports International client will be in MLB Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.

Bride reunites with Texas manager Skip Schumaker. Bride had his best season with Schumaker’s Marlins in 2024, when he connected on 11 homers with a .276/.357/.461 batting line. That earned him the Opening Day designated hitter job going into this year. Bride didn’t stick on the roster for long, as he batted .100 without an extra-base hit over his first 12 games and was designated for assignment. Miami flipped him to the Twins for cash a few days later.

The 29-year-old didn’t find any more success in Minnesota. Bride hit .208/.275/.236 in 80 trips to the plate, leading to a second DFA on the year. He went unclaimed on waivers that time around and spent the rest of the season with Triple-A St. Paul. Bride hit well against minor league pitching, batting .281/.423/.453 with an equal number of walks and strikeouts in 43 games. A retooling Minnesota team never had much reason to give him another look, though, and he played out the season in the minors.

Bride is a righty bat who plays mostly on the corner infield. The majority of his experience has come at third base, though he has a decent amount of reps at both positions on the right side. He doesn’t have plus power but has a generally patient plate approach that has led to an impressive .294/.430/.498 slash over four Triple-A seasons. His major league track record (.221/.311/.313 in nearly 700 plate appearances) is limited, but he’s a capable depth piece.

Texas has questions at both corner infield spots with Josh Jung and Jake Burger coming off disappointing seasons that could make them trade candidates. Bride isn’t going be a regular but would have a better chance of nabbing a job as a bench bat if one or both of those players — each of whom also hits from the right side — are dealt this winter.

Josh Hader “Back To Normal” After Season-Ending Shoulder Injury

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The Astros played the final two months of the 2025 season without their star closer. Josh Hader suffered an ill-timed capsule sprain in his throwing shoulder a couple weeks into August. The injury came too late into the season for the front office to respond with an impact trade addition. Hader expressed hope that he could make a long shot return in the playoffs, but the Astros struggled down the stretch and found themselves on the outside looking in during the final weekend.

For many players, a capsule injury requires surgery and a potential year-plus absence. The Astros have maintained they expect Hader to be able to return without going under the knife. General manager Dana Brown said at the GM Meetings that the team was hopeful the six-time All-Star would be ready for Opening Day.

Hader offered similar sentiments this evening, saying he’s in a good spot after completing a throwing program a few weeks ago. “It should be normal. Obviously, intensity gets up (in Spring Training) and we’ll see how that goes and how I’m recovering, bouncing back from that,” the veteran lefty said (link via Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle). “But as of now, everything is status quo, back to normal.”

Before the injury, Hader was amidst yet another excellent season. He carried a 2.05 ERA while striking out 37% of opponents across 52 2/3 innings. Hader locked down 28 of 29 save chances and was well on his way to what would have been his sixth straight full season with at least 30 saves. It was a strong rebound effort from a little less consistent first season in Houston. Hader posted a 3.80 ERA, the second-highest mark of his career, across 71 appearances in 2024.

Hader worked more than one inning in seven appearances this year. He completed two full frames four times, including in what wound up being his last outing of the season on August 8. Hader tossed a season-high 36 pitches in that appearance. That could certainly be coincidental — he twice threw 35 pitches in a game earlier in the year and didn’t get hurt — but the timing at least raises some questions about his workload. Hader didn’t throw more than one inning in any regular season game between 2021-23, seemingly out of concern about suffering an injury before he’d locked in a significant free agent contract.

Once the Astros signed him to a five-year, $95MM deal, Hader reversed course. He said tonight he remains open to pitching multiple innings despite the shoulder issue, though he added he hasn’t heard anything from the team regarding their usage plans. “For sure. They committed to me to be here for multiple years and gave me the opportunity to pitch. That’s all I can ever ask for. And my commitment to them is committing to be there and be available as much as possible,” Hader replied when asked about working more than one inning.

The Astros were forced to press Bryan Abreu into the closer role for the final six weeks of the season. Abreu had a rough patch between August 30 and September 9 when he allowed multiple runs in three out of four games. He was otherwise flawless, tossing scoreless appearances in his remaining 14 outings while securing seven saves. Abreu is one of the best setup arms in MLB and could certainly close if necessary, but the Astros felt the effects of losing Hader on the overall bullpen. Kaleb Ort and Enyel De Los Santos were their top right-handers to handle leverage spots that arose earlier in games. That’s not sufficient for a playoff hopeful.

It doesn’t seem Houston will know if they’re out of the woods with Hader’s shoulder until he fully builds up in March. The early returns are encouraging, though, which is pivotal for a team that’ll again face questions about the bullpen depth. The front office appears to be working under relatively tight payroll constraints from ownership and also needs to solidify the middle of the rotation while ideally adding a left-handed bat.

Cardinals Sign Scott Blewett To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced they’ve signed reliever Scott Blewett to a minor league contract. St. Louis also announced a minor league deal with Sem Robberse, whom they non-tendered last week. Both pitchers will be in big league Spring Training as non-roster invitees, though Robberse won’t pitch after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

Blewett, 30 in April, logged a career-high 44 1/3 big league innings this past season. The righty divided that between three clubs: the Twins, Braves and Orioles. That included two stints in Baltimore, as the O’s traded him to Atlanta in April and reacquired him two months later. Blewett combined for a 5.48 ERA across 26 appearances. He missed bats on a decent 12.7% of his pitches but was unable to convert that into many strikeouts. Blewett recorded a below-average 18% strikeout rate while walking 9.3% of opponents.

A three-pitch reliever, Blewett leaned on his 84 MPH slider almost half the time. He sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball and has a mid-80s splitter that he mixes in against left-handed batters. Blewett has yet to reach a year of service time but is out of minor league options, which limits teams’ flexibility if he secures a spot on the 40-man roster. He’ll battle for a middle relief spot in camp amidst an inexperienced St. Louis bullpen. If Kyle Leahy wins a rotation job, the Cards would only have three relievers on the 40-man who have one full year of service. JoJo Romero is likely to be traded this offseason, which would leave Riley O’Brien and Ryan Fernandez as their most experienced relievers.

Robberse has yet to reach the big leagues. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Blue Jays at the 2023 deadline in the Jordan Hicks trade. Robberse cracked the 40-man roster that offseason because the Cardinals didn’t want to lose him in the Rule 5 draft. He spent the ’24 season in Triple-A and was optioned back there to begin this year. Robberse underwent surgery a few weeks into the season.

The Cardinals declined to tender him a contract last week. That dropped him from the 40-man roster and sent him to free agency without exposing him to the waiver wire. Teams frequently use the non-tender deadline to clear the back of the roster, often with the hope of re-signing the player to a minor league contract. (The Reds did the same with Carson Spiers, who is also working back from elbow surgery, this afternoon.) Robberse will aim for a second-half return with Triple-A Memphis and look to pitch his way onto the MLB radar before year’s end.

Padres To Hire Steven Souza Jr. As Hitting Coach

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The Padres are hiring Steven Souza Jr. as hitting coach and Randy Knorr as bench coach, reports Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. They’re new additions to the staff under first-year skipper Craig Stammen.

Souza’s hiring comes as a surprise. The 36-year-old has never worked on an MLB staff. He retired as a player in 2022 and spent the ’25 season as a special assistant with the Rays. Souza played parts of eight big league campaigns. The righty-hitting outfielder did his best work in Tampa Bay between 2015-17, including a 30-homer showing in his final season at Tropicana Field. Souza hit 72 round-trippers overall, batting .229/.318/.411 in just under 1900 career plate appearances.

While Souza is best known as a Ray, he began his career in the Washington organization. The Nationals drafted him out of high school in the third round in 2007. Souza reached the big leagues briefly in 2014. Stammen was in the Nats’ bullpen at the time. The following offseason, Washington traded Souza to Tampa Bay as part of the three-team deal (coincidentally also involving San Diego) that sent Wil Myers to the Padres and then-prospect Trea Turner to the Nats.

Souza will team up with Stammen again, this time on the coaching side. He replaces Victor Rodriguez, who left to take the same position with the Astros earlier this month. Souza will lead an offense that ranked just 18th in scoring despite a star-studded lineup. They were top 10 in batting average and on-base percentage and had the sport’s third-lowest strikeout rate, but they finished above only the Pirates and Cardinals in home runs.

Petco Park remains relatively favorable for pitchers. That may have played a bit of a role in the team’s pedestrian offense, but they were 23rd in scoring and 28th in homers on the road. Ryan O’Hearn and Luis Arraez have hit free agency. Although the Padres have expressed some interest in bringing Arraez back, first base stands as the most obvious position where the team could try to add power.

Knorr, 57, also knows Stammen from their time in Washington. He was the bullpen coach when Stammen broke into the majors in 2009. He earned a promotion to bench coach three years later and held that role through the ’15 campaign. Knorr subsequently spent time as an advisor in the front office, on Dave Martinez’s staff as first base coach, as a minor league manager, and in their player development department. He remained in the organization until the end of this past season.

Brian Esposito has been San Diego’s bench coach this year. He interviewed for the managerial position after Mike Shildt stepped down. The Friars obviously went in another direction. Acee writes that Esposito is expected to remain in the organization in a yet to be revealed role. The Padres are expected to retain highly-regarded pitching coaches Ruben Niebla and Ben Fritz (bullpen coach), each of whom is reportedly on a multi-year contract. It’s not yet known if they’ll make further changes to the hitting side.

Royals Hire Mike McFerran As Assistant Pitching Coach

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The Royals have hired Mike McFerran as an assistant pitching coach, the club announced. The 32-year-old comes over from the Athletics organization, where he’d spent the past two seasons working with minor league pitchers.

McFerran has never previously worked on an MLB staff. His two-year stint with the A’s was his first in a professional organization. McFerran had previously worked in the college ranks. He was at Division III Skidmore College between 2017-20 before spending three years at Wake Forest, where he oversaw their pitching lab. Nine Wake Forest pitchers were drafted over that stretch. Ryan Cusick (2021) and Rhett Lowder (2023) were first-rounders in their respective draft years, while Sean Sullivan went at the top of the second round in 2023.

Brian Sweeney is headed into his fourth season as Kansas City’s lead pitching coach. They needed a new assistant after Zach Bove stepped down to take the top pitching coach job with the White Sox. McFerran joins Sweeney and bullpen coach Mitch Stetter on the pitching side for fourth-year manager Matt Quatraro.

Reds Re-Sign Carson Spiers To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced they’ve re-signed righty Carson Spiers to a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp. Spiers will not be able to pitch in Spring Training anyhow, as he’s working back from July elbow surgery that’ll cost him most of the ’26 season.

Spiers was one of three players, along with Will Banfield and Roddery Muñoz, whom the Reds dropped from the roster at last week’s non-tender deadline. Spiers had technically been designated for assignment a few days earlier as Cincinnati created space to add three Rule 5 eligible prospects to the 40-man roster. They waited until the non-tender deadline to resolve the DFA, which meant they didn’t need to expose him to waivers. That’s a common tactic for teams to try to re-sign those players to minor league deals, keeping them in the organization without requiring a 40-man spot.

The 28-year-old Spiers has pitched in each of the past three big league seasons. He’s a depth arm who has started 14 of 29 career outings. Spiers carries a 5.69 earned run average across 117 innings. His 19.3% strikeout percentage and 9.4% swinging strike rate are each middling and he’s had a difficult time keeping the ball in the park. Most of Spiers’ big league experience came in 2024, as shoulder and elbow injuries cost him almost all of last season.

While Spiers has yet to find much in the way of MLB success, he owns a decent 4.08 ERA in almost 400 minor league innings. He has fanned nearly a quarter of opponents against an 8.9% walk rate. Spiers sits around 92 MPH with his four-seam and sinker while using three more pitches (sweeper, cutter and changeup) with regularity. He’ll remain with the organization that initially signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and attempt to pitch his way back onto the roster once he has put the elbow injury behind him.

Angels Hire Brady Anderson As Hitting Coach

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The Angels are hiring Brady Anderson as hitting coach and John Mabry as an assistant hitting coach, relays Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. A three-time All-Star who played 15 seasons in the majors, Anderson gets his first major league coaching position.

Anderson, 61, spent 14 years with the Orioles. He’s best known for his 50-homer season in 1996 but was consistently a very good player from 1992-99. He hit 210 career homers with a .256/.362/.425 batting line in more than 1800 games. Anderson recorded 1661 hits and stole 315 bases.

A little over a decade after his playing career concluded, Anderson was hired as Baltimore’s vice president of baseball operations. He held that position from 2013-19 until stepping down after one season under Mike Elias. Anderson had played a significant front office role under prior GM Dan Duquette but reportedly had a different vision from the one Elias brought to the front office. Anderson has not worked in affiliated ball since moving on from the Orioles.

That makes it important to have an experienced voice as his assistant. The 55-year-old Mabry certainly qualifies. He has worked on MLB staffs dating back to 2012 after a 14-year big league playing career. Mabry has been a lead hitting coach with the Cardinals and Marlins and spent the ’25 season on Brandon Hyde’s staff in Baltimore as a senior advisor.

Anderson and Mabry will work with an offense that finished 25th in scoring this year. The Halos had an MLB-high 27.1% strikeout rate and a .225 batting average that was worst in the league. Their .298 on-base percentage was better only than those of the Rockies and Guardians, while they were middle of the pack in slugging. The Angels had the fourth-most home runs in MLB — trailing only the Yankees, Dodgers and Mariners — but were too reliant on right-handed power bats with limited on-base skills. They traded Taylor Ward, who’s coming off a career-high 36 home runs, to roll the dice on a Grayson Rodriguez upside play in the rotation.

Kurt Suzuki is headed into his first season as a big league manager. They’ve added veteran pitching coach Mike Maddux and former manager John Gibbons as bench coach. Base coaches Adam Eaton and Keith Johnson, catching coach Max Stassi, and infield coach Andy Schatzley have also signed on. The Angels have yet to finalize the staff.

Diamondbacks Re-Sign James McCann

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The D-Backs announced they’ve re-signed veteran catcher James McCann to a one-year deal. It’s reportedly a $2.75MM guarantee with another $500K in bonuses for the Ballengee Group client. McCann would receive $100K for reaching 50 days on the active roster, $125K apiece at 75 and 100 days, and another $150K for reaching 125 days. The Snakes opened a 40-man roster spot by non-tendering reliever Taylor Rashi this evening.

McCann commands a big league deal after settling for a minor league contract last time around. The former All-Star signed a non-roster deal with the Braves and spent the first couple months of the season with their top affiliate in Gwinnett. McCann’s deal included an automatic out if any team were willing to add him to the big league roster. That opportunity arose when Gabriel Moreno broke his right index finger in the middle of June.

The Snakes initially signed McCann to back up Jose Herrera while Moreno was on the shelf. It didn’t take long for him to surpass the light-hitting Herrera on the depth chart. McCann recorded nine hits (including a pair of home runs) and six walks over his first nine games with the Diamondbacks. His production tanked from there, as he hit .232/.267/.364 over his final 106 trips to the plate. The early hot streak was still enough to finish with a respectable .260/.324/.431 batting line in 42 games.

Moreno returned in August. The Diamondbacks jettisoned Herrera instead of McCann, keeping the veteran as Moreno’s backup for the final five weeks. He’ll get a chance to reprise that role for a full season. Adrian Del Castillo had been the only other listed catcher on the 40-man roster. He’s more of an emergency/third option rather than a true backup, as his bat has always been well ahead of his glove. McCann has never graded as an excellent defender, but he’s a competent receiver with an acceptable arm who has long been highly regarded for his work with pitchers.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Diamondbacks and McCann were in agreement on a one-year deal. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reported the $2.75MM guarantee and $500K in bonuses, which Steve Gilbert of MLB.com were noted were of the roster variety. David Brandt of The Associated Press had the bonus specifics.

Image courtesy of Mark J. Reblias, Imagn Images.

Pirates, Noah Murdock Agree To Minor League Deal

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Free agent reliever Noah Murdock signed with the Pirates, he announced on social media. It’s a minor league deal that was agreed upon last week, according to the MLB.com transaction log.

Murdock, a 6’8″ righty, made his big league debut this year as a Rule 5 pick of the Athletics. He struggled over his five weeks in Mark Kotsay’s bullpen, giving up 25 runs across 17 innings. Murdock walked 20 and hit two more, far too many free passes around which to work. The A’s designated him for assignment in the middle of May. That sent him back to his original organization, the Royals, where he was assigned to Triple-A Omaha. Murdock allowed six earned runs per nine across 21 frames before suffering a season-ending injury.

The ’25 season clearly didn’t go to plan. Murdock is only a year removed from showing promise against upper minors hitters, though. He combined for 62 2/3 innings of 3.16 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. He posted plus strikeout (27%) and ground-ball (59.7%) rates behind a 95 MPH sinker and a pair of breaking balls — a high-80s cutter and a low-80s slider. Murdock has thus far been held back by an inability to throw strikes consistently. He has walked well over 10% of batters faced at every stop since rookie ball. That included a massive 15.4% walk rate even in his otherwise strong ’24 season.

Pittsburgh will presumably give Murdock a look in big league camp. He has a full slate of options and could bounce between PNC Park and Triple-A Indianapolis if he pitches his way onto the 40-man roster.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/21/25

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Every American League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.

Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the AL, while the National League moves are available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

  • The Angels announced they’ve non-tendered outfielder Gustavo Campero and catcher Sebastian Rivero. Campero is a depth outfielder who has hit .202/.272/.346 over the past two seasons. Rivero operated as the club’s third catcher for most of the season but spent the final few weeks on the active roster. Neither player had been eligible for arbitration. All their arb-eligible players were easy calls to retain.
  • The Astros technically made one non-tender, dropping infielder Ramón Urías after he was designated for assignment earlier in the week. He’d been projected at $4.4MM.
  • The Athletics officially non-tendered outfielder JJ Bleday, the club announced. He’d been designated for assignment on Tuesday, so this was inevitable unless they found a trade partner. Bleday had been projected at $2.2MM.
  • The only non-tenders for the Red Sox were first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and reliever Josh Winckowski, each of whom had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. Lowe was projected at $13.5MM, while Winckowski was at $800K.
  • The Guardians non-tendered outfielder Will Brennan and relievers Sam Hentges and Nic Enright. The latter had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. Hentges hasn’t pitched since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2024. He underwent a right knee procedure a few months ago and will be delayed this offseason. Brennan only appeared in six MLB games this year and underwent Tommy John surgery while in the minors in June. He’d been projected at $900K.
  • The Mariners non-tendered reliever Gregory Santos, reports Francys Romero. He’d only been projected at $800K, narrowly above the MLB minimum, so the move was about dropping him from the 40-man roster. Seattle acquired the 26-year-old righty from the White Sox over the 2023-24 offseason. He has only made 16 MLB appearances with a 5.02 earned run average over the past two years because of lat and knee injuries. Seattle also non-tendered relievers Trent Thornton and Tayler Saucedo (the latter of whom was designated for assignment on Tuesday). Thornton had been projected at $2.5MM and is coming off a 4.68 ERA through 33 appearances. He suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in August.
  • The Orioles non-tendered swingman Albert Suárez, the team announced. Everyone else in their arbitration class was offered a contract, surprisingly including first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan). Suárez, 36, was a solid depth starter in 2024. He was limited to five MLB appearances this past season by a flexor strain but is not expected to require surgery.
  • The Rangers non-tendered each of Adolis García, Jonah Heim, Josh Sborz and Jacob Webb. MLBTR covered those moves in greater detail.
  • The Rays only non-tendered outfielders Christopher Morel and Jake Fraley, each of whom had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported last night that the Rays were open to bringing back Fraley at a lower price than his $3.6MM arbitration projection.
  • The Royals non-tendered outfielder MJ Melendez and reliever Taylor Clarke, per a club announcement. Melendez, who’d been projected at $2.65MM, was an obvious decision. The former top prospect never developed as hoped and is a career .215/.297/.388 hitter over parts of four seasons. Clarke isn’t as big a name but comes as the more surprising cut. He’d been projected at just $1.9MM and is coming off a 3.25 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate over 55 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.
  • The Tigers are non-tendering utility player Andy Ibáñez, according to Romero. He’d been projected at $1.8MM. The righty-hitting Ibáñez had been a solid short-side platoon bat for Detroit between 2023-24. His production against southpaws dropped this year (.258/.311/.403), limiting his value. The Tigers optioned the 32-year-old to Triple-A in early June and kept him in the minors until shortly before the trade deadline. Detroit also dropped the six pitchers they’d designated for assignment earlier in the week: Tanner Rainey, Dugan Darnell, Tyler Mattison, Jason Foley, Jack Little and Sean Guenther.
  • The only Twins non-tender was outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who’d been designated for assignment this morning to make room for the Alex Jackson trade. Everyone in the arbitration class was brought back.
  • The White Sox non-tendered outfielder Mike Tauchman, as first reported by Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. The lefty hitter turned in a solid .263/.356/.400 line in 93 games this past season. Tauchman has gotten on base at plus rates in three straight years but was also non-tendered by the Cubs a year ago. The 34-year-old (35 next month) had been projected for a $3.4MM salary. The Sox also announced they’ve dropped lefty reliever Cam Booser and first baseman Tim Elko. Neither had been eligible for arbitration. The former posted a 5.52 ERA in 39 appearances after being acquired from the Red Sox last winter, while the latter hit .134 in his first 23 MLB games despite a 26-homer season in Triple-A.
  • The Yankees announced five non-tenders. Relievers Mark Leiter Jr., Scott Effross, Jake Cousins and Ian Hamilton were all cut loose, as was pre-arbitration righty Michael Arias. Leiter, who’d been projected at $3MM, never clicked in the Bronx after being acquired at the 2024 deadline. He posted a 4.89 ERA in 70 innings as a Yankee. Hamilton, Effross and Cousins were all projected just above the MLB minimum but are cut to clear roster space. Hamilton was on and off the active roster and posted a 4.28 ERA in 40 big league frames this year. Effross was limited to 11 appearances and has been plagued by various injuries for the past three and a half years, while Cousins is working back from Tommy John surgery. Arias has never pitched in the big leagues and could be brought back on a minor league deal.

The Blue Jays tendered contracts to all unsigned players on the 40-man roster.

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