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NL East Notes: Harper, Sale, Crick
After his recovery from Tommy John surgery necessitated a move to first base last season, Bryce Harper took well enough to his new position that the Phillies announced in November that Harper would be their regular first baseman in 2024 and beyond. The two-time NL MVP spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb) about the situation today, saying “I wanted them to know that I was on board with anything they wanted to do,” and that Harper left the decision about his position up to the club. “I said if you want me in right field, I’ll play right. If you want me at first, I’ll play first base. I think collectively, they said, first base is where we want you. I said, ’OK, I’ll do everything I can to be there,’ ” Harper said. He is now spending his Spring Training further working on what seems to be his permanent new position, noting that “I don’t think I’ll move back out to right. I don’t. But never say never.”
Harper also confirmed that he is interested in extending his contract, as agent Scott Boras stated in December. The idea caught many by surprise given that Harper still has eight seasons and $196MM remaining on his original 13-year, $330MM contract, and he’ll be turning 39 years old in October 2031. While Harper said “I haven’t really thought too much about” his contract situation, he said that “playing into my 40’s, I mean, that’s the biggest thing for me. So I want to get that done.” It remains to be seen if Harper, Boras, and the Phillies could possibly reach some kind of deal to add two (or more?) years onto Harper’s contract, yet president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has downplayed the idea of a renegotiation.
More from around the NL East…
- Chris Sale has battled through several injury-plagued seasons, but the winter of 2023-24 “was the first time going into an offseason without dealing with something since 2018 or something like that,” the new Braves starter told The Athletic’s David O’Brien and other reporters. “It’s been a long time. I had a lot of fun this offseason, being able to play baseball and do things that I haven’t been able to do.” In both acquiring Sale from the Red Sox and then signing him to a two-year extension, the Braves are putting a lot of faith that the southpaw is ready to rebound as he enters his age-35 season. Atlanta even looked into acquiring Sale during the 2023 season, according to manager Brian Snitker.
- Mets reliever Kyle Crick is recovering from a Grade 4 calf strain and might not start throwing bullpens until closer to the end of spring camp, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. New York signed Crick to a minor league deal in December and he has no issue with pitching in the minors for the start of the season, given how his injury will seemingly prevent him making the Opening Day roster. Crick posted a 3.56 ERA over 187 1/3 relief innings with the Giants, Pirates, and White Sox from 2017-22, though he didn’t pitch in 2023 until surfacing in Dominican Winter League action a few months ago.
- There’s enough happening within the division that this is our second batch of NL East Notes today. Earlier on, Nick Deeds compiled another set of items about the Marlins, Phillies, Nationals, and Braves.
Giants Notes: Soler, Lineups, Transactions, Slater, Zaidi
The Giants’ three-year, $42MM contract with Jorge Soler was finalized and announced earlier today, so Soler, manager Bob Melvin and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi were now officially able to discuss the deal with the media. Melvin told reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic) that Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores played a key role in helping recruit Soler, as the three players are friends. This helped lure Soler to San Francisco and the West Coast in general, as Soler’s preference was to stay on the East Coast, ideally close to his home in Miami.
Soler will now head west for the first time in his career, after playing with the Cubs, Royals, Braves, and Marlins during his 10 previous Major League seasons. Though Soler’s production has tended to vary wildly over his career, he comes to the Giants on the high of hitting .250/.341/.512 with 36 homers for the Marlins in 2023, bringing some needed pop to San Francisco’s lineup.
This power naturally lends itself to the cleanup spot, and Melvin said that Soler will primarily hit fourth in the batting order and act as the regular designated hitter. New arrival Jung Hoo Lee will hit leadoff and be the everyday center fielder, flanked on the grass by Michael Conforto in left field and Mike Yastrzemski in right. Since both corner outfielders are left-handed hitters, Soler might get some time out of the DH spot when a southpaw is on the mound, though Melvin sees the DH role as a natural way to keep Soler healthy and free of the nagging injuries that have bothered him in recent years.
In general, it seems like the Giants are going with at least slightly more of a regular lineup under Melvin, as opposed to the matchup-centric style of revolving lineups favored by former manager Gabe Kapler. There are still some obvious platoon or timeshare possibilities built into the roster, including Austin Slater’s role as a right-handed hitting complement to the lefty-heavy starting outfield. However, Melvin said Slater is a little behind the other outfielders in spring work, as Slater spent the offseason recovering from right elbow surgery in October. It doesn’t seem like Slater is in danger of missing Opening Day, though Melvin said Luis Matos will get some extra work as a center fielder.
Since it’s only mid-February, the chance still exists that the Giants might yet add another regular to the mix via free agency or trade. Though some gamesmanship must be acknowledge whenever an executive says they’re happy with their team, Zaidi inferred that further moves to the big league roster were unlikely, if not impossible.
“It’s a little bit more disruptive to add at this point. Anybody who’s a free agent, we’ve theoretically had three and a half months to figure out a deal and if it hasn’t happened yet, at some point organizationally, you just need to turn the page and focus on the players you have,” Zaidi said. “You never rule anything out, whether it’s now or May or June or whatever, but you know, at this point, the calendar makes any further additions unlikely.”
The Giants’ offseasons under Zaidi have largely been defined by the superstar players they didn’t sign (i.e. Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto) than the players they did acquire, leading to some consternation amongst the Bay Area fanbase. Still, Slusser notes that the Giants’ signings of Soler, Lee, Jordan Hicks, and Tom Murphy ranked the team second behind only the Dodgers in free agent spending, and San Francisco also completed a major trade in acquiring Robbie Ray from the Mariners.
Zaidi defended the Giants’ pursuits this winter, saying “we’re going to continue to take the big swing in free agency when it makes sense and some of the guys that we’ve pursued and have landed are top five-10 players in baseball. I’ve said this about a couple of them: I’m always surprised there aren’t more teams in on them rather than that maybe they wind up somewhere else. You expect things like this to be competitive and we always feel like we have to be able to pivot when things don’t work out. We think we’ve added some exciting players and I think we feel that energy in camp.”
Royals Acquire John Schreiber From Red Sox
The Royals have acquired reliever John Schreiber from the Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). Kansas City placed Kyle Wright on the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot.
Schreiber has a 27.4% strikeout rate over his 143 1/3 career innings in the majors, so missing bats has never been an issue for the 29-year-old. Between some home run issues and a lot of bad BABIP luck, however, Schreiber had only a 6.28 ERA over 28 2/3 innings with the Tigers in 2019-20, and he pitched in only a single MLB game with the Red Sox in 2021. The breakout came in 2022, as Schreiber had a 2.22 ERA over 65 relief innings for Boston while also delivering a 28.8% strikeout rate and an above-average 7.4% walk rate.
2023 was more of a challenge, in no small part because Schreiber spent time on the 60-day injured list due to a teres major strain in his right shoulder. Schreiber still posted a respectable 3.86 ERA over 46 2/3 innings and had strong strikeout and barrel rates, though his walk rate spiked up to an ungainly 12.3%. The sinker that was such a weapon for Schreiber the previous season was also less effective — batters had a .395 wOBA against his sinker in 2023, as opposed to a .245 wOBA in 2022.
An argument can certainly be made that the Red Sox might be selling high on Schreiber here, though it’s a risk Kansas City is willing to take for a reliever who is a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday and is arbitration-controlled through the 2026 season. Schreiber had a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings before his IL stint and a 4.85 ERA in 29 2/3 innings after returning, so the Royals might view the righty’s struggles as just a byproduct his injury layoff. Should Schreiber get back to his 2022 form, K.C. suddenly has a big strikeout arm to deploy in high-leverage situations.
Today’s trade continues a very busy offseason for Royals GM J.J. Picollo, who has brought quite a bit of veteran talent to Kansas City in an effort to quickly turn around a team that lost 106 games last season. Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo were the headline-grabbing rotation upgrades, but Will Smith, Chris Stratton, Nick Anderson, and now Schreiber have all joined a reworked bullpen. Schreiber is a bit more of a longer-term add given his years of arbitration control, yet the Royals have put themselves in a position to either directly benefit on the field if these pitchers perform well, or to perhaps benefit in terms of having some trade chips at the deadline if K.C. again falls short of contention.
From Boston’s perspective, moving a solid reliever from Schreiber might not be well received at first by Red Sox Nation, given how the fans have been vocally unimpressed with the team’s moves (or lack thereof) this offseason. Craig Breslow has made a lot of lateral moves in his first winter as the chief baseball officer, continuing the franchise’s recent bent towards adding younger talent rather than splurging on win-now stars.
Sandlin brings some intriguing potential to the table, as the righty (who turns 23 next week) has a 3.41 ERA and an outstanding 32.38% strikeout rate in 68 2/3 career minor league innings. An 11th-round pick for the Royals in the 2022 draft, Sandlin had his 2023 season cut short by a lat injury, and he made only two appearances at the high-A level before being sidelined.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently ranked Sandlin as the fifth-best prospect in the Royals’ farm system, while The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the righty seventh. Baseball America was slightly more pessimistic in ranking Sandlin only 20th, but still felt Sandlin might develop into at least a good reliever based on his two primary pitches —- a high 90s fastball and a plus slider. If his changeup and curveball can also develop, Sandlin can perhaps stick in the rotation, though he’s still something of a wild card considering that he hasn’t yet pitched much in pro ball.
MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith reported earlier this week that the Sox were open to offers for not just Schreiber, but also Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin. With Schreiber now out the door, it remains to be seen if Boston is still willing to move either of Jansen or Martin, or if the Sox will stop short of a full-on bullpen overhaul. Jansen or Martin are both free agents after the season and will be prime trade candidates at the deadline if the Red Sox aren’t in contention, so there has been speculation that the Sox might look to increase their return (and cut some salary) by dealing at least one of the veteran relievers now.
Mets Haven’t Yet Had Extension Talks With Pete Alonso
Pete Alonso is slated to become a free agent after the 2024 season, and the first baseman told reporters (including Andrew Battifarano of the New York Post) that there hadn’t yet been any talks with the Mets about a long-term extension. The only discussions between the two sides centered around the one-year, $20.5MM pact Alonso signed in January to avoid salary arbitration.
Alonso said that he would “welcome the idea” of remaining with the Mets for the rest of his career, saying “I definitely have envisioned myself being a lifelong Met, that’s something I’ve definitely thought about. I love New York, it’s a really special place for my family….but I can’t predict the future. And for me, I just want to focus on this season.”
Interestingly, Alonso said he is open to negotiating after Opening Day, which is something of a departure from most players’ stances on contract talks. The majority of players set the opener as an unofficial deadline to complete negotiations so they can get into the season without any financial concerns weighing on their minds as they start play. This deadline often isn’t absolute, of course, as it is common to see extensions announced a few days or even weeks into April, if the two sides are close enough to a deal by Opening Day that there’s willingness on both sides to finalize matters.
It also isn’t too unusual to see players sign extensions with their current teams with just a year remaining until free agency, though Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke about the difficulties of such deals (without naming Alonso specifically) during an interview back in January. Alonso is also represented by Scott Boras, whose clients tend to test free agency rather than sign extensions, though Jose Altuve’s recent extension with the Astros is one of a few high-profile examples of Boras Corporation clients opting to stay put with just a season to go before the open market.
If anything, there has been a lot more trade speculation about Alonso than extension buzz, though Stearns stated even in January that he was “pretty darn confident” Alonso would still be in New York’s lineup on Opening Day. A late deal could obviously still emerge in Spring Training if another team meets what is surely a big asking price, but if Alonso is dealt at all, a trade might be likelier closer to the trade deadline. Or, if the Mets are in contention at the deadline, a trade might simply not come at all, and the team will retain Alonso through at least a pennant race.
Alonso drew interest back at last year’s trade deadline, when the Mets responded to their subpar season by moving a lot of veteran players in an effort to cut some salary and (more importantly) add some younger talent to the organization. Alonso stayed put despite reported interest from teams such as the Cubs and Brewers, and Chicago has also reportedly inquired about Alonso’s services in trade talks this winter. The Cubs have since addressed first base by acquiring Michael Busch from the Dodgers, though that doesn’t necessarily close on the door on an Alonso deal, considering the DH slot or the possibility that Busch could be flipped to the Mets or perhaps to another team to create room.
Owner Steve Cohen would ultimately be calling the shots when it entails the type of mega-contract it would take to retain a top-tier slugger like Alonso. However, given how Cohen has finally landed Stearns to run the front office, it stands to reason that Cohen might not immediately overrule his PBO if Stearns doesn’t feel it would prudent to extend Alonso at the kind of price tag that Boras will naturally demand. Such contracts are also somewhat uncharted territory for Stearns, since apart from Christian Yelich’s extension, Stearns didn’t have the financial resources in his past job with the Brewers to consider locking up star players as they approached free agency.
Diamondbacks Sign Randal Grichuk
2:03PM: The Diamondbacks have officially announced Grichuk’s signing, and created 40-man roster space by moving right-hander Drey Jameson to the 60-day injured list. Jameson underwent Tommy John surgery in September and is expected to miss the entire 2024 season.
10:45AM: The Diamondbacks have signed outfielder Randal Grichuk to a one-year deal worth $2MM in guaranteed money, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (X link). Grichuk will earn $1.5MM in base salary in 2024, and there is a $500K buyout on a mutual option for the 2025 season. If the mutual option is exercised by both sides, Grichuk will earn $6MM in 2025. Grichuk is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Grichuk hit .267/.321/.459 with 16 homers over 471 plate appearance for the Rockies and Angels last season, translating to a perfectly average 100 wRC+ for the 32-year-old. This matches the 100 wRC+ Grichuk has posted over his entire 10-year career in the Show, with a .249/.296/.465 slash line and 191 home runs over 4261 plate appearances. Within those overall numbers sits a decidedly superior set of numbers against left-handed pitching, as the right-handed hitting Grichuk has an .822 career OPS against southpaws as compared to a .735 OPS against righties.
Since the start of the 2020 season, Grichuk’s splits have grown wider, as he has All-Star level numbers against lefties and sub-replacement level production against righties. With the door quite possibly closing on Grichuk’s viability as an everyday player, this perhaps makes him an ideal fit for a Diamondbacks team looking for some right-handed balance within a lefty-heavy outfield mix.
Reports surfaced last week that Grichuk was one of the players the Snakes were eyeing as a veteran complement to outfielders Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas, as well as the newly-signed Joc Pederson. All three of those players are left-handed bats and only Carroll is a lock for everyday duty, so Grichuk should be able to find plenty of at-bats filling in for Pederson or Thomas when a lefty is on the mound. Grichuk can play all three outfield positions and is at least passable defensively in center, adding to his value as a part-timer.
Coming off a surprise NL pennant, the Diamondbacks have been aggressive in bolstering their roster this offseason. Eduardo Rodriguez was signed to a four-year, $80MM contract, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was brought back for a three-year, $42MM commitment, and Pederson will earn $12.5MM in guaranteed money for his one-year deal (with a mutual option for 2025). Between these signings, Grichuk, and the trade that brought Eugenio Suarez from the Mariners, Arizona has both upgraded the rotation and added a lot of balance, power, and veteran experience to the position player mix.
The D’Backs are projected to have a payroll slightly lower than $143MM next season, as per Roster Resource. While still a pretty modest payroll by league-wide standards, it stands as the larger payroll in Arizona’s franchise history, and a sizeable bump over the club’s $116.1MM Opening Day payroll from 2023. Between these expenditures and new extensions for both GM Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo, the Diamondbacks clearly feel 2023 was just the beginning of a new contention window, and have used their extra playoff revenue to reinvest in the roster.
Mariners Claim Levi Stoudt, Designate Canaan Smith-Njigba
The Mariners announced that right-hander Levi Stoudt has been claimed off waivers from the Reds. To create 40-man roster space, Seattle designated outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba for assignment.
The move is a bit of a homecoming for Stoudt, who returns to the organization that made him a third-round pick in the 2019 draft. Stoudt was one of the four prospects the Mariners dealt to the Reds at the 2022 trade deadline as part of the Luis Castillo blockbuster, and Stoudt’s time in Cincinnati saw the 26-year-old make his Major League debut. Appearing in four games last season, Stoudt posted a 9.58 ERA in his first 10 1/3 innings of big league work.
Despite the achievement of making it to the Show, 2023 was a difficult season overall for Stoudt, who had a 6.23 ERA in 82 1/3 innings with Triple-A Louisville. The righty was rocked for 20 homers over those 82 1/3 frames, and his 58 strikeouts only slightly exceeded his 50 walks. Stoudt has a decent fastball that averaged 94.4mph in his abbreviated MLB tenure but his strikeout rates have been decreasing over his three pro seasons while his control has always been somewhat inconsistent.
This was enough to make the Reds feel Stoudt was an expendable piece, as Cincinnati designated the righty earlier this week. A return to the Mariners might help Stoudt get on track, and the M’s will get a chance to more closely evaluate him during Spring Training. If Stoudt can stabilize his performance, he can act as a big league-ready depth arm to be called upon at Triple-A, should the Mariners be in need of a spot starter or long reliever to eat some innings.
Smith-Njigba’s time in Seattle might not last long, as the Mariners only claimed him off waivers from the Pirates 10 days ago. Like Stoudt, the 24-year-outfielder also has a pretty brief MLB resume, posting a .493 OPS over 44 plate appearances with Pittsburgh over the last two seasons. His numbers at the Triple-A level have been a lot more impressive, as Smith-Njigba has hit .273/.366/.439 in 686 PA with the Pirates’ top affiliate since the start of the 2021 campaign.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Smith-Njigba change teams again via waiver claim, if another club is intrigued by this Triple-A protection and the outfielder’s set of tools, even if Smith-Njigba has yet to really manifest his potential. Baseball America ranked him as the 28th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system, with concerns about a “lack of speed or defensive value,” but Smith-Njigba has power potential and an “above-average approach and a good balance of aggression and patience.”
Pirates Sign Chase Anderson To Minor League Deal
The Pirates have signed Chase Anderson to a minors contract, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link). The veteran right-hander will receive an invitation to Pittsburgh’s big league Spring Training camp.
Anderson pitched for three different organizations in 2023, beginning when he signed a minor league deal with the Reds last offseason. Cincinnati traded Anderson to Tampa in May before he could enact an out clause in his contract (since hadn’t yet been placed on the active roster), and Anderson made two relief appearances for the Rays before he was designated for assignment and then claimed off waivers by the pitching-needy Rockies.
The result was a 5.42 ERA over 86 1/3 innings in 2023, with all but five of those frames coming in a Rox uniform for the right-hander. Anderson didn’t provide much in the way of results for Colorado and he missed around six weeks due to shoulder inflammation, but he at least ate some innings for a Rockies team desperate to find any healthy starters for any period of time.
The Pirates’ pitching situation isn’t as dire as Colorado’s, yet the Bucs are heading into 2024 with a lot of questions in their rotation. Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales were acquired as bounce-back candidates, joining Mitch Keller and a host of younger and more unproven rotation candidates. Rumors continue to swirl that Pittsburgh might yet bolster its rotation with a more higher-profile starter, but adding a veteran depth starter like Anderson is standard operation procedure for any team heading into Spring Training.
As he enters his age-36 season, Anderson is getting further and further away from his prime years with the Diamondbacks and Brewers. Anderson posted a solid 3.94 ERA over 857 innings (starting 160 of 166 games) from 2014-19, but the last four years have been a major struggle. Since the start of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Anderson has only a 6.19 ERA in 192 innings for five different teams at the Major League level. Should he appear in a big league game with his new team, the Pirates will be the eighth different club of Anderson’s 11 MLB seasons.
Tanner Scott Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Marlins
Left-hander Tanner Scott won his arbitration hearing with the Marlins, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (X link). The Marlins were looking to pay Scott $5.15MM in 2023, but the reliever will instead earn his desired figure of $5.7MM.
The salary checks in just slightly under the $5.8MM that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected for Scott, but it’s still a very nice raise for the southpaw in his final year of arbitration eligibility. Scott avoided arbitration in his first two winters of eligibility, and his $5.7MM salary is more than double the $2.825MM he earned in 2023.
The payday comes in the wake of the best season of Scott’s seven-year MLB career. The lefty posted a 2.31 ERA over 78 innings for Miami, and only four pitchers topped Scott’s total of 74 appearances. Beyond the durability, Scott’s Statcast page is a veritable sea of red, as he ranked in at least the 90th percentile of almost every major statistical category. The eye-popping numbers included a 33.9% strikeout rate, 26.3% hard-hit ball rate, and 35.3% chase rate that all ranked among the league’s elite.
Scott’s 7.8% walk rate was modest in comparison, sitting at “only” the 60th percentile of all pitchers. Yet this stat was perhaps the key element to Scott’s success, given how control problems have plagued his career — Scott had a career 14.2% walk rate prior to his greatly improved 7.8BB% last season. Pundits and scouts have long felt that Scott had elite potential if he could ever harness his stuff, and 2023 is a very promising sign that Scott has now turned the corner at age 29.
Scott moved into the closer’s job down the stretch for Miami and looks to assume that same role heading into the coming season. Since he is set to hit free agency next winter, Scott stands out as a potential trade chip if the Marlins aren’t in contention by the deadline. There was even some speculative trade buzz around Scott this winter given the Marlins’ surplus of left-handed relievers, though the Fish already moved another southpaw last week when Steven Okert was dealt to the Twins for Nick Gordon.
Scott’s case was the final pending arbitration hearing of the 2023-24 offseason, and the players emerged with a winning record from this year’s slate of hearings. Players won nine of the 15 cases that went to arbitration.
White Sox Sign Bryan Shaw To Minors Deal
The White Sox announced that right-hander Bryan Shaw has been re-signed to a minor league contract. The deal contains an invitation for Shaw to attend Chicago’s big league spring camp.
This is Shaw’s third minor league deal with the Pale Hose in a little under a year’s time, as he initially signed with the team last spring and then inked a new contract in April after not making the Opening Day roster. Shaw was eventually selected twice to Chicago’s active roster during the season, with a DFA and an outright assignment in between.
On the field, Shaw delivered a 4.14 ERA over 45 2/3 innings out of the White Sox bullpen. It was a nice bounceback from the 5.40 ERA that Shaw posted with the Guardians in 2022, as Shaw allowed a lot less hard contact and drastically cut back on his home run rate. The righty’s 40.2% grounder rate was the lowest of his 13 MLB seasons, which was a bit of a concern since Shaw doesn’t miss many bats (only a 20.9% strikeout rate). Shaw enjoyed a big finish to his year, as he had an 0.92 ERA over his last 18 appearances and 19 2/3 innings.
Shaw was a quality bullpen workhorse during his prime 2013-17 years with Cleveland, though his results have been much more inconsistent over the last six seasons. Since Opening Day 2018, Shaw has a 5.07 ERA over 314 innings with the Rockies, Mariners, Guardians, and White Sox, with his 2021 and 2023 seasons standing out as the only successful campaigns within that six-year run.
Now entering his age-36 season, the White Sox can see what Shaw still has left in the tank, and there’s no risk for the club on just a minor league deal. Depending on how things play out in camp, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Shaw perhaps again end up as a late cut, only to rejoin the Sox again on another minors contract once their roster situation is a little more settled.
Shaw’s return does provide one familiar face within a relief corps that has undergone a big overhaul both this winter and even dating back to last season’s trade deadline. The five pitchers who made the most appearances for the White Sox last season (Aaron Bummer, Gregory Santos, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo Lopez, Keynan Middleton) are no longer on the roster, while Shaw’s 45 2/3 frames ranked sixth on Chicago’s list. While the Sox seem to be leaning towards a rebuild, however, they have also added some veteran arms to fill those gaps in the bullpen, such as John Brebbia, Tim Hill, and minor league signings like Shaw, Jesse Chavez, Dominic Leone, Corey Knebel, and several others.
