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Mets Sign Austin Barnes To Minor League Deal

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The Mets announced that they have signed catcher Austin Barnes and right-hander Craig Kimbrel to minor league deals with invitations to major league springing training. Barnes, an ACES client, would lock in a $1.5MM base salary with another $500K in incentives if he makes the team, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Kimbrel deal was reported last week.

Barnes, 36, has spent his entire big league career with the Dodgers thus far. Over parts of 11 seasons, he consistently graded out as a strong defender behind the plate. His offense was never his carrying tool but was generally passable for a long time. From 2015 to 2022, in 1,357 plate appearances, he hit 32 home runs and drew walks at a strong 12.1% clip. His .225/.333/.358 slash in that span led to a 93 wRC+. That indicates he was 7% below league average but that’s pretty decent for a catcher, especially a backup.

But things declined more recently, with Barnes producing a .217/.283/.272 line and 57 wRC+ from the start of the 2023 season to the present. That drop in offense came as he was getting squeezed by other players. Will Smith took over the full-time catching job in 2020. Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani were later signed to cover first base and designated hitter, respectively, leaving no ability to move Smith elsewhere. The Dodgers wanted to promote catching prospect Dalton Rushing last year and nudged Barnes off the roster. He landed a minor league deal with the Giants last June but was released in August.

The Mets have Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens set to be their catching duo at the big league level. Hayden Senger is on the 40-man but still has options, so he’s likely ticketed for a depth role at Triple-A. Barnes will likely head to Syracuse with Senger and give the Mets an experienced veteran to potentially call upon if the big league catching group is thinned out by an injury or two.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Nationals Claim Richard Lovelady, Designate Mickey Gasper For Assignment

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The Nationals announced that they have claimed left-hander Richard Lovelady off waivers from the Mets. New York designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired Vidal Bruján. To open a spot for Lovelady today, the Nats have designated utility player Mickey Gasper for assignment.

Lovelady, 30, hasn’t found much major league success yet but has received a number of chances due to better numbers in the minors. He has 111 big league innings spread over multiple seasons and in various different jerseys. In that time, he posted a 5.35 earned run average, 21.1% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 50.9% ground ball rate.

Since he’s out of options, he bounced around the league via numerous transactions last year. He went from the Blue Jays to the Twins and then the Mets, the latter club bouncing him on and off the roster multiple times. He only made ten big league appearances around the transactions with an 8.49 ERA. But in Triple-A, he logged 38 innings with a 1.66 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 52.6% ground ball rate.

He didn’t have a roster spot at the end of the season but the Mets quickly re-signed him in October to a split deal which would pay him $1MM in the majors and $350K in the minors. It might seem odd to sign a player and then put him on waivers a few months later but that was likely by design.

As mentioned, Lovelady is out of options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. If he were to clear, he would have the right to elect free agency, since he has at least three years of big league service time. But with his service time below five years, that means Lovelady would have to walk away from the money on his deal in exercising that right. The Mets likely signed him to that deal hoping that it would both disincentivize other clubs from claiming him and also motivate Lovelady to accept an assignment to Triple-A.

The Nationals have foiled that plan by swooping in with a claim. That’s understandable since their bullpen is one of the worst in the majors, if not the very worst. Washington relievers had a collective 5.59 ERA in 2025, highest in the big leagues. The Rockies were second-worst at 5.18.

Washington traded Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners this winter, which thinned out the relief corps generally and also left them fairly light in terms of lefties. Before this claim, PJ Poulin was the only southpaw reliever on the roster, unless the Nats plan to move some of their starters to the pen. Poulin has only 28 big league games under his belt.

It’s possible the Nats try to pass Lovelady through waivers in the future and other moves could change the roster picture, but for now he has landed in a spot where he has a pretty good chance to earn an Opening Day job. If he still has a roster spot at season’s end, he can be controlled for another two seasons via arbitration.

Gasper, 30, hasn’t done much in the majors yet but has strong minor league numbers and defensive flexibility. He made his big league debut with the Red Sox in 2024 and appeared with the Twins last year, slashing .133/.250/.195 in his first 133 big league plate appearances.

He hit .285/.385/.531 in 208 Triple-A appearances last year. He was 29 years old at the time and that was his third season with at least some Triple-A action but the 137 wRC+ was nonetheless impressive. Even if that’s setting the offensive expectations too high, the defensive versatility is real. Gasper has experience behind the plate, at the three non-shortstop infield positions and left field.

The entire package makes him fairly attractive as a multi-positional bench piece, especially since he’s a switch-hitter. He also has options and doesn’t need to be guaranteed a big league roster spot. The Twins put him on waivers last week and he was claimed by the Nats, one of the clubs nearest the front of the waiver wire priority queue. Washington will now likely put him back on waivers at some point in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Padres To Sign Marco Gonzales To Minor League Deal

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The Padres and left-hander Marco Gonzales have agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA Sports client will make a salary of $1.5MM if he makes the team with an extra $1MM available via incentives.

Gonzales, 34 in February, spent many years as a solid mid-rotation starter in the majors but is coming off a few injury-marred seasons. From 2018 to 2022, he gave the Mariners 765 2/3 innings, allowing 3.94 earned runs per nine. His 17.7% strikeout rate was subpar but he also only gave out walks at a 5.8% clip.

In 2023, nerve issues in his forearm limited him to just ten starts. He required surgery in August of that year. Going into 2024, he was included in the Jarred Kelenic trade with Atlanta, seemingly as financial ballast. He was traded to Pittsburgh a few days later. Due to further forearm strains, he went on and off the injured list and only made seven starts for the Bucs that year. He underwent flexor tendon surgery that August.

The Pirates made the easy decision to turn down his $15MM club option for 2025 since he was looking at a lengthy surgery recovery. He didn’t sign anywhere else and didn’t pitch in any official capacity last year.

It’s anyone’s guess what he can provide after three straight issues more or less tanked by forearm problems. For the Padres, he’s a sensible flier to take as they certainly need pitching. Right now, their on-paper rotation is fronted by Michael King, Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove. There’s not a ton of certainty in there. King was injured for a lot of 2025. Pivetta has been in trade rumors. Musgrove missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Behind those top three, there are guys like Randy Vásquez, JP Sears, Kyle Hurt and Matt Waldron. Vásquez had a 3.84 ERA last year but that seems unsustainable since he only struck out 13.7% of batters faced. The other three all posted ERAs above 5.00 in 2025.

It’s unclear how much spending capacity the Padres have at this stage of the winter. RosterResource currently projects them for a $220MM payroll and $262MM competitive balance tax figure. At the end of 2025, those numbers were $214MM and $266MM.

If the budget is tight, that could explain why the Friars are open to moving Pivetta and his backloaded contract. He made a $3MM signing bonus and $1MM salary last year but his salary jumps to $19MM, $14MM and $18MM in the next three seasons, with an opt-out after 2026. Flipping him would save some money but further thin out the rotation.

Gonzales is hard to bank on after his injury odyssey but he would be nice value for money if he can return to something resembling his prior form. He will join Triston McKenzie as non-roster arms pushing for big league jobs with the Padres this year.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

White Sox Designate Bryan Ramos For Assignment

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The White Sox announced that infielder Bryan Ramos has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a roster spot for right-hander Seranthony Domínguez, whose signing is now official.

Ramos, 24 in March, was an international signing out of Cuba back in 2018. He charged up prospect lists a bit in 2022. He stepped to the plate 519 times that year between High-A and Double-A, hitting 22 home runs. He produced a combined line of .266/.338/.455 and a 114 wRC+. The Sox added him to their 40-man roster that November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Baseball America ranked him the #3 prospect in the system going into 2023.

Things haven’t been going as well for the past few years, however. He still had decent numbers in the minors in 2023 but missed time due to injury, only getting into 81 games. Over the past two seasons, he has a minor league slash line of .228/.314/.392 and an 82 wRC+. He has also stepped to the plate 120 times in the majors with a dismal .198/.244/.333 showing.

Ramos used up his three options over the past three campaigns. Now that he’s out of options, it was going to be tougher for him to hold a roster spot going forward. He has dabbled at first base, second base and left field but has primarily been a third baseman in his career. The White Sox signed Munetaka Murakami to cover first base, which will likely leave Miguel Vargas as the regular at third. The Sox also have guys like Chase Meidroth, Luisangel Acuña, Brooks Baldwin, Curtis Mead and Lenyn Sosa as other options for the infield corners.

All of those factors have squeezed Ramos off the roster and into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox could take five days to explore trade interest. His out-of-options status won’t help him land with another club but perhaps some team out there is intrigued by his former prospect pedigree. If he does land somewhere, he has less than a year of service time and can therefore be controlled for six full seasons.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

White Sox Sign Seranthony Domínguez

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January 29th: The Sox officially announced their two-year, $20MM deal with Domínguez today, adding that it includes a $1MM signing bonus and a mutual option for 2028. According to The Associated Press, he’ll make a $7MM salary this year and $10MM in 2027. There’s a $2MM buyout on the option, which is valued at $12MM. Infielder Bryan Ramos was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

January 23rd: The White Sox and right-hander Seranthony Domínguez are in agreement on a two-year, $20MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan adds that the Epitome Sports Management is expected to be the closer for the Sox. Chicago has a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this official.

Domínguez, 31, has mostly been an effective setup guy in his career. He debuted with the Phillies in 2018 and tossed 58 innings with a 2.95 earned run average. His 9.5% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 32% of batters faced while inducing grounders on 55.7% of balls in play.

He missed most of the next three seasons due to injury, including a Tommy John surgery in 2020. Over the past four years, he has been back on track and his production has had a somewhat similar shape to his 2018 season. He has thrown at least 50 innings in each of those four campaigns. Put together, he tossed 222 1/3 innings for the Phillies, Orioles and Blue Jays with a combined ERA of 3.60, a 27% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate. He racked up 24 saves and 55 holds.

In 2025, he changed up his arsenal. He still featured a four-seamer and sinker in the upper 90s with a sweeper as one of his breaking balls, but he switched out his changeup and slider for a splitter and a curveball. That led to a career-high walk rate of 13.8% but his 30.3% strikeout rate was his best in a full season since his rookie debut. He became one of the top setup guys in Toronto’s bullpen, making 12 postseason appearances as part of that club’s run to the World Series. He had a 3.18 ERA in those, though with more walks than strikeouts.

It’s a bit of a volatile profile but the stuff is tantalizing and his results have mostly been good. Coming into the winter, there was a clear top tier of free agent closers which included Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams and Robert Suarez. Domínguez was in the next tier of solid setup guys, including Tyler Rogers, Luke Weaver, Brad Keller and others. MLBTR predicted Domínguez for a two-year deal worth $18MM and he has come in just a hair above that.

Domínguez was connected to clubs like the Red Sox and Twins in reported rumors but presumably had interest from other clubs as well. The White Sox are an interesting landing spot for him. The club is clearly in rebuild mode, having just finished their third straight 100-loss season. However, a few of their prospects had nice breakout seasons in 2025, including Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel.

The Sox have responded with a somewhat active offseason. They bolstered their rotation by giving Anthony Kay $12MM over two years and Sean Newcomb $4.5MM on a one-year deal. Munetaka Murakami seemingly fell into their laps when no one else wanted to give him a long-term deal, so they signed him for $34MM over two years.

They did subtract Luis Robert Jr. this week, trading him to the Mets for Luisangel Acuña and pitching prospect Truman Pauley, but general manager Chris Getz said that the money saved from that deal would be reinvested in the team. Robert was set to make a $20MM salary this year, with a $2MM buyout on his $20MM option for 2027. Assuming the Domínguez deal is equally spread out across the two seasons, then he’ll be taking half of the money that was slated for Robert’s salary in 2026.

No one is likely to pick the White Sox to win the Central this year but the club is at least trying to make the roster more respectable, which is commendable. Perhaps there’s a scenario where things go especially well and they hover in the race for a few months. If not, all of their pickups have been for one or two years, keeping the long-term payroll wide open for whenever they do return to contention. Of the signees, anyone who plays well could be on the trade block this summer if the Sox are behind the pack.

For Domínguez, it’s possible he may have preferred a more surefire contender but landing in Chicago gives him a chance to close. As mentioned earlier, he has picked up a few saves in his career but has mostly been a setup guy. If he fares well in the ninth-inning job, perhaps that will help him land with a contender via trade and it could help his earning power when he returns to the open market two years from now.

He immediately becomes easily the most experienced arm in the bullpen. Newcomb, who will have a chance to earn a rotation job, is the only other pitcher on the roster with even three years of big league service time.

Last year, eight different pitchers recorded a save for the Sox. Jordan Leasure led the pack with seven, followed by Grant Taylor with six. Those two both have live arms but are still pretty inexperienced. They can work setup roles with Domínguez in the ninth. If the younger guys take a step forward or Domínguez ends up traded, then the roles could change over the course of a long season. It’s also possible the Sox make another move if Getz still has some powder dry.

With Domínguez now off the board, the relief market gets a bit more barren. Díaz, Suarez, Williams, Rogers, Weaver, Keller, Ryan Helsley, Emilio Pagán, Kyle Finnegan, Raisel Iglesias, Phil Maton, Pete Fairbanks, Kenley Jansen, Gregory Soto and others have all come off the board. The group of guys still available includes Danny Coulombe, Justin Wilson, Andrew Chafin, Evan Phillips, Scott Barlow and more.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Examining MLB’s Parity Situation – Also, Bellinger, Peralta, Robert, And Gore

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Tim’s recent post looking at MLB’s economics and issues of parity (1:20)
  • The possibility of a salary cap coming into existence at some point in the future (5:25)
  • Comparing the salary cap path to alterations to the current revenue sharing system (8:40)
  • The public relations battle with fans knowing all about players and their salaries but not necessarily knowing so much about the owners and their finances (17:35)
  • Is there any hope of the owners working out some new revenue sharing arrangement? (20:45)
  • Are deferrals a massive problem or is the Shohei Ohtani deal just an extreme outlier that had led to increased angst? (26:50)
  • What kind of compromise are we likely to get in the next collective bargaining agreement? (32:45)
  • The Yankees re-signing Cody Bellinger (37:35)
  • The Mets acquiring Freddy Peralta from the Brewers and Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox (47:20)
  • The Brewers’ end of the Peralta trade (53:20)
  • The White Sox’ end of the Robert deal (56:15)
  • The Rangers sending five prospects to the Nationals to acquire MacKenzie Gore (1:02:00)

Check out our past episodes!

  • What The Tucker And Bichette Contracts Mean For Baseball – Also, Nolan Arenado And Ranger Suarez – listen here
  • The Cubs Land Cabrera And Bregman, Remaining Free Agents, And Skubal’s Arbitration Filing – listen here
  • Contracts For Imai And Okamoto, And Thoughts On The Pirates And Giants – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

Nationals To Sign Sergio Alcántara To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals and infielder Sergio Alcántara have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Francys Romero of Beisbol FR. The Movement Baseball client receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Alcántara, 29, has generally been a light-hitting but sure-handed utility player in his career. He has appeared in 193 big league games dating back to his 2020 debut, suiting up for the Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants. He has 506 plate appearances between those clubs with a .207/.278/.340 batting line.

Defensively, he has played all three infield spots to the left of first base. The plurality of his playing time has been as a shortstop, with 532 innings there, plus 300-350 innings at both second and third base. His grades at short have been strong, with three Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average. His grades at second and third aren’t as good, which is a bit odd since most plus shortstops can easily handle the other infield spots.

Teams must feel pretty good about his glovework as he’s not hitting his way into his opportunities. His numbers at the plate have been a bit better in the minors but not by much. Over the past three years, he has a .263/.377/.387 line and 94 wRC+ at the Triple-A level.

There’s plenty of uncertainty in the Washington infield. CJ Abrams has been the club’s shortstop for a few years now but he has appeared in some recent trade rumors. Even if he’s not dealt before the beginning of the upcoming season, he would be a trade candidate at the summer deadline. The top shortstop options behind him are Tsung-Che Chung, Nasim Nuñez and José Tena, who haven’t done much to impress in the big leagues thus far.

There are also question marks at the other spots. Luis García Jr. has been the regular at the keystone but the Nats moved him to first base late last year. That will put more pressure on his bat, which has been subpar. Even if he plays well, he would be a midseason trade candidate like Abrams.

Nuñez may be the heir apparent at second base. Brady House hasn’t seized the third base job as hoped. Both of those two still have options. Andrés Chaparro is in the mix at the corners and also has options. Abimelec Ortiz, just acquired in the MacKenzie Gore trade, is another first base candidate with options. The Nats have former prospect Orelvis Martinez aboard as some non-roster depth, though he hasn’t played shortstop in a few years.

It’s possible there’s a decent amount of shuffling throughout the season as the rebuilding Nats experiment with the guys in that group, with the whole picture potentially changing due to some future trades.. Alcántara adds some glove-first depth on the infield, particularly at shortstop, without taking up a roster spot. If he’s eventually added, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images

Mariners Outright Jhonathan Díaz

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The Mariners announced that left-hander Jhonathan Díaz has been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma, indicating that he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment last week when Seattle acquired Cooper Criswell from the Mets. Díaz has the right to elect free agency but the Mariners did not indicate whether or not he would do so.

Díaz, 29, has appeared in five big league seasons but with limited action in each one. He pitched 15 1/3 innings or less in each, bringing him to a combined total of 46 1/3 innings, with 4.66 earned runs allowed per nine.

Some websites list Díaz as still having a minor league option but he was optioned for extended stretches throughout the 2022, 2024 and 2025 seasons. Teams are sometimes granted a fourth option on a player but only if they don’t have five “full” professional seasons, where a “full” season is defined as 90 active days. Díaz first reached full season ball way back in 2017 and has been fairly active since then, so he shouldn’t qualify for a fourth option.

Regardless of his option status, he was facing a tough path to a rotation gig in Seattle. The Mariners have a strong front five consisting of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller. The depth isn’t amazing but the M’s added Criswell and also have Logan Evans, Emerson Hancock and Blas Castano on the roster. They have added Dane Dunning and Randy Dobnak via minor league deals.

Díaz would have been somewhere in that mix but got squeezed out and the other 29 clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers. His minor league numbers aren’t bad, considering that he has been pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Over the past three years, he has thrown 343 1/3 innings in that league with a 4.33 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and ground balls on roughly half the balls in play he allowed.

The lefty has a previous outright in his career, which means he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. Since he just cleared waivers, it’s apparent that no club is willing to give him a 40-man spot, so he would be limited to minor league offers. With spring training just around the corner, it’s possible he decides to simply stick with the Mariners, which would give them some extra rotation depth.

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images

Rockies Acquire Edouard Julien, Pierson Ohl

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The Twins have traded infielder Edouard Julien and right-hander Pierson Ohl to the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. Minor league right-hander Jace Kaminska and cash considerations are going to the Twins. The Rockies freed up two 40-man spots earlier today by trading Angel Chivilli to the Yankees and designating Yanquiel Fernández for assignment. Ohl was already off the 40-man because he was designated for assignment last week. Trading Julien drops Minnesota’s count to 39, as Kaminska does not require a spot.

Julien, 27 in April, has shown flashes of potential with a three-true-outcomes approach. His best showing was in his rookie season with the Twins in 2023. He struck out in 31.4% of his 408 plate appearances but also drew walks at a huge 15.7% clip and hit 16 home runs. Even with all the punchouts, his .263/.381/.459 batting line led to a 134 wRC+, indicating he was 34% better than league average.

Most of that damage came with the platoon advantage, as he had an awful .196/.229/.217 line against lefties, but it was still enough for him to finish seventh in American League Rookie of the Year voting and inspire a troubadour.

He hasn’t been at that level since then, however. He has taken 509 plate appearances over the past two seasons with just 11 home runs. His 10.8% walk rate is still above average but not otherworldly, while his strikeout rate stayed high at 32%. That led to a combined line of .208/.299/.324 and a 79 wRC+ for that span. Julien has experience at second and first base but isn’t a particularly strong defender at either position, which made the declining offense more problematic.

As he struggled, the Twins often sent him to the minors. He still hit well down there, with a .261/.406/.440 line and 125 wRC+ in Triple-A over the past two years, but he exhausted his option seasons in the process. That was going to put him on the fringes of the roster going forward. The Twins signed Josh Bell to play first base and seem likely to give Luke Keaschall run at second. They have Austin Martin, Eric Wagaman and Tristan Gray also in the mix.

Julien’s path to playing time in Colorado is much better. The Rockies don’t really have a clear option for first base or second base. At first, waiver claim Troy Johnston is one option but he has just 44 games of big league experience and can still be optioned to the minors. The Rockies just got T.J. Rumfield in the Chivilli trade today but he still doesn’t have a roster spot or any major league experience.

Since Julien isn’t a standout defender, he would be a better fit at first. But if the Rockies are willing to play him at the keystone, there’s not much in the way. The Rockies probably want to give some playing time to Adael Amador but he has a .176/.242/.250 line in his career thus far and can still be optioned to the minors. Ryan Ritter is in a somewhat similar situation. Willi Castro can bounce around to other positions.

Julien may play both positions, with his playing time at each determined by which other players on the roster are healthy and producing. He can be controlled for four full seasons, so the Rockies could keep him around if he bounces back to his 2023 form.

It also shouldn’t be a shock if Julien ends up traded again before those four years are up. Colorado has lost at least 101 games three years running, including an awful 43-119 season in 2025. That led to an organizational overhaul, with Paul DePodesta taking over as the new front office leader. Presumably, the club’s decision makers aren’t expecting a return to contention in the short term.

But it does appear that they see value in buying low from the fringes of other rosters. Earlier this winter, the Rockies acquired Jake McCarthy from the Diamondbacks. Like Julien, he has some major league success but is coming off a down year. Since he is out of options, the Snakes were going to have a tough time keeping him on the roster. The Rockies acquired him and his three remaining years of control. Since it will be difficult for Colorado to be good again in that window, the apparent hope is that McCarthy bounces back and can be traded after he has rebuilt some value. Julien is controlled for one more season than McCarthy but the situations are somewhat analogous.

As for Ohl, 26, he’s in a different boat. He only made his major league debut last year and has just 30 big league innings under his belt with a 5.10 earned run average. He can be controlled for six full seasons and also has a full slate of options, so he can be kept in the minors or shuttled up and down fairly regularly.

He doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging around 92 miles per hour with his four-seamer last year, but he has the intriguing combination of possessing strong control of a diverse arsenal. He mostly threw his four-seamer and changeup last year but also mixed in a cutter, sinker, curveball and even dabbled with a knuckleball. He tossed 71 1/3 innings across multiple levels of the farm last year, making six starts and 18 relief appearances, with a 2.40 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 3.9% walk rate.

The Rockies need pitching more than any other team. Their collective 5.99 ERA was easily the worst in the majors last year. Since Ohl has experience starting and relieving, and also has options, he can move around based on the club’s needs. The Rockies presumably want to give starts to young pitchers like Chase Dollander, McCade Brown and Carson Palmquist but Ohl can step up if those guys struggle or need more time in the minors. He could also eat some innings out of the bullpen or be stashed in the minors as depth.

While those are intriguing pickups for the Rockies, the Twins probably feel they are mostly giving up guys who were getting squeezed out anyways. As mentioned, Ohl was already designated for assignment, while Julien is out of options.

In return, they are getting a bit of cash and some non-roster depth. Kaminska, 24, was a tenth-round pick of the Rockies in 2023. He hasn’t featured on top prospect lists but had good numbers a couple of years ago. In 2024, he tossed 87 1/3 innings at Single-A with a 2.78 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate. He required Tommy John surgery in March of 2025 and missed the entire season. The Twins will try to get him back on track whenever he’s healthy. He will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December of 2026 if not added to the 40-man roster.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Nick Wosika, Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Rockies, Patrick Weigel Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies and right-hander Patrick Weigel have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Sammon doesn’t specify if the GSI client will be receive an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Weigel, 31, made four big league appearances a few years ago. One of those came with Atlanta in 2020 and three with Milwaukee in 2021. Put together, he allowed four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings via six hits, seven walks and one hit-by-pitch while striking out nine opponents. The Brewers outrighted him off the roster in 2021. Since then, he has been bouncing around professional baseball by playing in the minor leagues, indy ball and the Mexican League.

He spent 2025 with the Nationals on a minor league deal, tossing 33 2/3 innings out of their Triple-A bullpen. He threw his slider 62.2% of the time, followed by his sinker at 27% and a changeup at just a 0.5% clip.

There’s no doubting that his 8.29 earned run average was poor but there were some more encouraging things under the hood. He struck out a strong 29.3% of batters faced. His 10.3% walk rate was a bit high but not by too much. His .346 batting average on balls in play allowed and 51.2% strand rate were both to the unfortunate side. His ten home runs allowed also played a role in putting more runs on the board, though that was an unusually high number for him, as was his 27% home run to flyball ratio.

The Rockies are one of the clubs most in need of arms. As a team, they had a 5.99 ERA last year, easily the worst in the majors. They have made a few additions this winter. They signed Michael Lorenzen in free agency. They acquired Brennan Bernardino in a trade with the Red Sox. They claimed Keegan Thompson off waivers from the Reds. They took RJ Petit from the Tigers in the Rule 5 draft.

They have also bolstered the non-roster depth by signing John Brebbia, Parker Mushinski, Ryan Miller and now Weigel to minor league deals. Those arms will be looking to earn jobs on the roster throughout the season. If Weigel makes it, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of John David Mercer, Imagn Images

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