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Padres Re-Sign Austin Davis To Minor League Deal

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The Padres are bringing back left-hander Austin Davis on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The KHG Sports Management client returns to the organization after electing free agency early in the offseason.

Davis made seven appearances for the Friars last season. The 31-year-old (32 next month) gave up eight runs across seven innings. He issued five walks and struck out six. Davis had a much better year with Triple-A El Paso. He worked 47 2/3 frames in the Pacific Coast League and managed a 3.40 ERA while striking out nearly 30% of opposing hitters. His 12.5% walk percentage was alarming, though that marked a notable step forward from the previous season. In 2023, he walked more than a quarter of batters faced in Triple-A.

Clearly, Davis’ command is not a strength. The bat-missing ability and solid minor league production is intriguing enough for San Diego to give him another non-roster opportunity. He’ll have an uphill battle to cracking the Opening Day bullpen. The Padres have a few left-handed relievers even after losing Tanner Scott.

Last winter’s free agent signees Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta are back for their second seasons with the team. They’ll have Adrian Morejon on the MLB roster in some capacity, though they’ve left open the possibility of giving him a chance to compete for a role in a rotation that is lacking certainty beyond the top three of Dylan Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish. Tom Cosgrove is also on the 40-man roster but he still has an option remaining and really struggled in his MLB action last year.

Reds, Alex Young Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Reds are bringing back left-handed reliever Alex Young on a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Wasserman client gets a non-roster invite to MLB camp.

Young was a productive member of the Cincinnati bullpen in 2023. He made a career-high 63 appearances and worked to a 3.86 earned run average through 53 2/3 innings. That was a strong return on a small investment, as Young had inked a minor league contract the preceding offseason. He held his roster spot into July before Cincinnati flipped him to the Giants for outfielder Austin Slater. It didn’t wind up being a significant move for either team. Slater appeared in eight games before the Reds dealt him to the Orioles. Young didn’t pitch in the majors for San Francisco, who lost him on waivers to the Mets within two weeks.

The 31-year-old southpaw pitched 13 times for New York. He allowed five runs across 13 2/3 innings. New York opted not to tender him a contract in November, sending him back to free agency in the process. Young didn’t find a major league roster spot but made a strong enough impression during his previous stint in Cincinnati that the Reds will give him a look in Spring Training.

Cincinnati has a pair of left-handers locked into Terry Francona’s bullpen: Sam Moll and Brent Suter. Young and Reiver Sanmartin are among their non-roster options from the left side. Veteran righty Bryan Shaw, a longtime Francona favorite, will also be in camp as a non-roster invitee. The Reds could have two or three middle relief spots for up grabs. Alexis Díaz, Emilio Pagán, Tony Santillan, Moll and Suter will all be in the Opening Day bullpen if healthy.

Pirates Designate Tristan Gray For Assignment

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The Pirates designated infielder Tristan Gray for assignment, the team informed reporters (including Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Pittsburgh had not officially added Andrew McCutchen to their 40-man roster until this evening, so they needed to open a spot. McCutchen re-signed on a $5MM deal last month.

Pittsburgh claimed Gray off waivers from the A’s in the first few days of the offseason. The 28-year-old had spent a couple months on the A’s, as they’d only claimed him from the Marlins at the end of August. Gray has suited up for both those teams and had a brief stint on the Rays in 2023. Despite playing for a trio of clubs, he has just 17 games of MLB experience. He has hit .152 with one homer in 36 plate appearances.

The lefty-hitting Gray has a much more extensive minor league track record. The Rice product has taken nearly 1800 trips to the dish across four Triple-A seasons. Gray has hit .238/.306/.472 with 90 home runs in 443 games at the top minor league level. Strikeouts have kept him from getting an extended MLB look, as he has fanned in nearly 30% of his Triple-A plate appearances.

Gray has some power and a decent amount of defensive versatility. He has upwards of 1000 minor league frames at each of shortstop, second base and third base. Gray has just over 900 professional innings at first base as well. He has mostly played the corner infield in his limited big league time. He’s likely to end up on waivers again this week. Gray has been outrighted once in his career, so he’d have the ability to elect minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed.

Blue Jays Designate Brandon Eisert For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated lefty reliever Brandon Eisert for assignment. That opens a spot on the 40-man roster for Anthony Santander, who has officially signed his five-year free agent deal.

Eisert, who turned 27 yesterday, made his major league debut last season. He came out of the bullpen for three appearances, allowing three runs across 6 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out a pair. The Oregon State product spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Buffalo, where he turned in a 3.86 earned run average through 53 2/3 innings. He fanned an excellent 29.1% of batters faced against a 9.3% walk rate.

That was Eisert’s third consecutive season working mostly in Triple-A. He doesn’t have much else to prove there. Eisert has posted a cumulative 3.83 ERA through 183 1/3 innings. He has missed bats in all three years and owns a career 28.6% strikeout rate at the top minor league level. He pairs that with league average walk and ground-ball numbers.

Despite his solid minor league results, Eisert got only the briefest of looks in the Toronto bullpen. The Jays had the worst relief group in the American League last season. The front office seemingly didn’t expect Eisert’s arsenal to play at the MLB level, though. He doesn’t have prototypical power stuff. His fastball averaged 91.2 MPH in the majors and sat around 90 MPH in Triple-A. He threw the fastball around half the time while mixing in a slider and changeup during his minor league work.

Eisert’s upper minors track record and ability to throw multiple innings out of the bullpen could get him some attention. The Jays have five days to trade him or place him on waivers, which are a 48-hour process. Eisert still has two minor league options, meaning another team that is willing to carry him on the 40-man roster could bounce him between the majors and Triple-A for a while.

Braves, Chasen Shreve Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves are in agreement with lefty reliever Chasen Shreve on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee and would lock in a $1.3MM base salary if he makes the big league roster.

Shreve, a former Atlanta draftee who debuted with 15 appearances for the club in 2014, made one MLB appearance as a member of the Rockies last season. He tossed a scoreless inning. That extended the veteran southpaw’s streak to 11 consecutive years logging some major league action. Shreve spent most of the ’23 season in the big leagues. He combined for 50 appearances between the Tigers and Reds, working to a 4.63 ERA across 44 2/3 frames.

While his big league appearance came with Colorado, Shreve played for a trio of Triple-A affiliates last year. He spent time in the Rangers, Yankees and Rox systems. Shreve turned in a cumulative 2.62 earned run average across 34 1/3 innings at the top minor league level. He fanned a strong 26.7% of opponents against a slightly higher than average 9.2% walk percentage. He got swinging strikes at a near-14% clip.

The results were good, but Shreve doesn’t have the velocity that teams prefer to stockpile in the bullpen. His fastball averaged 90 MPH in Triple-A last season. He averaged 89.4 MPH during his only major league appearance. He leans frequently on his slider and splitter to compensate for the fringe velocity. Shreve has neutral platoon splits over his career, so he’s not a great fit for lefty specialist work.

That’s not an issue for an Atlanta team that’ll have Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee in the late innings. Angel Perdomo is out of options and will need to stick on the MLB roster or be made available to other teams. Depending on whether they carry Perdomo and keep Rule 5 pick Anderson Pilar, Atlanta could have two or three middle relief spots up for grabs in camp.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers! Anthony fielded questions about an international draft, where Pete Alonso will end up, the Diamondbacks rotation, trade candidates for the Guardians to address the outfield, the Tigers' competitive outlook, Kyle Stowers' role in Miami, Anthony Rizzo's market, the Giants' next steps, historical comps for the Dodgers and much more!

 

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Marlins Hire Blake Lalli As Third Base Coach

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The Marlins announced their 2025 coaching staff on Friday afternoon. The most notable development was the hiring of Blake Lalli as third base coach. Miami also hired Alon Leichman as assistant pitching coach and assistant pitching director, which Christina De Nicola of MLB.com first reported in December.

Lalli had a brief major league playing career. He suited up with the Cubs, Brewers and Braves between 2012-16. Lalli played parts of 12 years in the minors, including six seasons in Triple-A. He ended his playing days over the 2017-18 offseason and moved into managing. Lalli spent five years as a manager in the Arizona system, including the past two for their Triple-A club in Reno. This will be the 41-year-old’s first MLB coaching position.

Leichman, 35, has pitched and coached for the Israeli national team. He worked as a pitching instructor in the Dodgers and Seattle farm systems before getting his first MLB job with the Reds. Leichman spent two seasons as an assistant pitching coach under Derek Johnson in Cincinnati before making the move to Miami.

Clayton McCullough has an entirely new staff for his first year as a major league manager. The rest of the staff (most of which has been covered previously at MLBTR) is as follows: bench coach Carson Vitale, hitting coach Pedro Guerrero, pitching coach Daniel Moskos, first base coach Tyler Smarslok, assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon, bullpen coach Brandon Mann, catching coach Joe Singley, field coordinator Aaron Leanhardt, and performance/data integration strategist Bryson Nakamura.

Tanner Scott Weighing Multiple Offers, Could Sign This Weekend

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The market may be heating up for free agency’s top reliever. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reports that Tanner Scott is weighing multiple multi-year offers and may choose his team by this weekend.

Morosi suggests that the Cubs are among Scott’s top suitors. Chicago president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week that the bullpen is “probably the area we’ve been focused on most in free agency.” There’d be no bigger upgrade than Scott, though that’d be an out-of-character move for Hoyer’s front office. The Cubs have not signed a free agent reliever to a multi-year deal or a guarantee above $9MM in more than five years.

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic writes that while the Cubs do indeed like Scott, they may be reluctant to meet the asking price. Previous reporting has suggested that Scott’s annual salary could approach $20MM on what’d presumably be a three- or four-year contract. Even if the money doesn’t quite get to that level, this would be a major investment. Scott should easily land the top reliever deal of the winter.

The Dodgers have been tied to Scott for months. After landing Roki Sasaki, a back-end reliever is the last box on L.A.’s offseason checklist. The Braves have also shown interest, while the Mets were more recently reported as a suitor. That no longer seems to be the case. New York agreed to terms with A.J. Minter on a two-year, $22MM guarantee this afternoon. Mike Puma of The New York Post reports that the Minter deal means the Mets are expected to drop their run at Scott.

Scott has been one of the best relievers in baseball for two seasons. He fired 78 innings of 2.31 ERA ball for the Marlins in 2023. The 30-year-old southpaw was even better last year. Scott earned his first All-Star nod and combined for a sterling 1.75 earned run average through 72 frames between Miami and the Padres. He averages nearly 97 MPH on his fastball and has punched out at least 28% of opposing hitters in three straight seasons.

Dodgers Trade Arnaldo Lantigua To Reds For Pool Space

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Arnaldo Lantigua to the Reds for international bonus pool space. Cincinnati is reportedly sending $1.5MM in pool room to the Dodgers. Bonus pool money must be traded in multiples of $250K. Los Angeles now has sufficient funds to finalize their $6.5MM deal with Roki Sasaki.

Lantigua, 19, signed out of the Dominican Republic two seasons ago. The right-handed hitter has played two seasons in the Dominican Summer League and has yet to make the move stateside. Baseball America writes that he received mixed reviews from scouts despite a strong statistical performance. Lantigua has raw power projection on a 6’2″ frame but is expected to move to a corner outfield spot long term. That’ll put pressure on him to develop his pure hitting ability.

Cincinnati evidently preferred Lantigua as a development play to other players they may have added in this year’s international class. The Dodgers have added more than $2MM to their pool between this trade and their deal sending outfielder Dylan Campbell to Philadelphia. They had begun the day with $5.1462MM in their allotment.

The Lantigua deal allows the Dodgers to not only sign Sasaki but to finalize other low-cost international signings. L.A. lost a trio of players who had initially committed to join the team. Dominican infielder Darell Morel (Pirates), Venezuelan outfielder Oscar Patiño (White Sox), and Dominican outfielder Teilon Serrano (Twins) have signed elsewhere. Francys Romero reports that L.A. intends to complete its other verbal agreements — roughly 15 in total. Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that the Dodgers finalized a deal with Venezuelan pitcher Carlos Ramirez tonight.

Francys Romero first reported that the Reds were acquiring Lantigua for more than $1MM in pool space. C. Trent Rosecrans and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported the $1.5MM figure.

Blue Jays Remain In Talks With Anthony Santander

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The Blue Jays have been tied to Anthony Santander as much as any team in recent weeks. While there’s still no agreement in place, Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet report that the Jays’ talks with the free agent slugger “picked up” this morning.

Toronto is reeling from another near-miss on a top free agent. Their talks with Roki Sasaki were never linked to the possibility of a Santander move. Sasaki’s hard-capped bonus meant that his decision would not have impacted the Jays’ big league payroll. Still, his decision to sign with the Dodgers leaves the Jays without a headlining free agent acquisition this winter. Their big splash on the open market was the three-year, $33MM deal for reliever Jeff Hoffman. Toronto’s most significant move has come via trade, as they took on the remaining five years of the Andrés Giménez contract from the Guardians.

Giménez is a defensive stalwart at second base, but he doesn’t provide a huge boost offensively. The Jays sorely need a power bat, in particular. They were in the bottom five of MLB in home runs last season. Their .389 team slugging percentage was 20th. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit 30 home runs; no one else on the team had more than 19 longballs. They’re only returning three hitters who slugged over .400: Guerrero, Ernie Clement and Daulton Varsho. Clement is generally a light-hitting utilityman, while Varsho is expected to open the season on the injured list after undergoing rotator cuff surgery in September.

The switch-hitting Santander has four 20-homer seasons under his belt. He has connected on at least 28 longballs in each of the last three years, including a personal-high 44 last season. Santander hit .235/.308/.506 across 665 plate appearances in his walk year for the Orioles. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani had more home runs a season ago.

Toronto has also been linked to Pete Alonso in recent days. Alonso is the only other unsigned free agent who rivals or tops Santander’s power. The latter is a cleaner positional fit. While Alonso would either need to serve as a designated hitter or force the Jays to move Guerrero to third base fairly frequently, Santander would slot into the corner outfield. The Jays don’t have a clear starter in left field. George Springer is expected to play right field, but he’s 35 years old and coming off a mediocre season (.220/.303/.371).

The Jays reportedly had an offer out to Santander a couple weeks ago. Clearly, that didn’t meet his asking price at the time. The Athletic reported last week that he may now be open to a shorter-term contract at higher annual values. Earlier in the offseason, Santander was reportedly seeking five years and a deal at or above $100MM.

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