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David Bote Exercises Upward Mobility Clause In Dodgers Deal

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Dodgers non-roster invitee David Bote triggered an upward mobility clause in his minor league contract yesterday, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. That clause forces the Dodgers to make the veteran infielder available to all 29 other teams and let him go if another club is willing to put him on its 40-man roster. Los Angeles would be able to counter by instead selecting Bote to its own 40-man. If no team wants to scoop Bote up and place him on the 40-man, he’ll likely head to Triple-A Oklahoma City to begin the season with the Dodgers’ top affiliate.

Bote, 31, had a monster spring performance, hitting .400/.471/.700 with a pair of homers in 34 plate appearances. He also enjoyed productive looks in the majors and in Triple-A with the Cubs last year. Bote slashed .259/.341/.546 (124 wRC+) in 123 plate appearances with Triple-A Iowa and hit .304/.333/.391 in a smaller sample of 48 big league plate appearances. He’s a career .234/.318/.392 hitter in 1213 plate appearances at the MLB level, dating back to 2018.

Originally an 18th-round pick by Chicago back in 2012, Bote debuted in 2018 and looked to have carved out a utility role on the Cubs’ bench in 2019, when he logged what’s still a career-high 356 plate appearances and hit .257/.362/.422. He signed a surprising extension with the Cubs that April, locking him in for five years and $15.0025MM and giving Chicago a pair of club options. The deal bought out all of Bote’s arb seasons, and the options covered his first two free agent seasons.

The deal went south quickly. Bote hit poorly in 2020-21, and he was passed through outright waivers in 2022. Bote didn’t have the service time to reject an outright assignment and retain the remainder of his guarantee, so he headed to Iowa and was used as an up-and-down bench player over the next couple seasons.

Even with the rocky track record, Bote has hit well in small samples during his most recent MLB looks (.272/.320/.420 in 175 plate appearances since ’22 — albeit with a 33% strikeout rate). He’s been a perennially productive hitter in Triple-A as well, and he has at least 400 career innings at all four infield spots and in the outfield (primarily the corners). Teams looking for a right-handed bat with some versatility could consider him for a bench spot. He technically still has a minor league option remaining, but he’s four days from reaching five years of service, at which point he’d have to consent to being optioned.

Nationals’ DJ Herz Recommended For Tommy John Surgery

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March 26: TalkNats reports that Herz has been diagnosed with a UCL tear and recommended for Tommy John surgery, but the southpaw will seek a second opinion before making a decision regarding the procedure.

March 25: The Nationals announced this morning that left-hander DJ Herz has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. Herz had been optioned to Triple-A last Friday, but that option has been rescinded in favor of a major league IL placement, presumably after testing revealed an injury sustained in big league camp.

While the team hasn’t announced a formal timetable or treatment plan, it’s an ominous injury. The sprain, by definition, indicates some stretching/tearing of the ligament. The majority of UCL sprains result in Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure, either of which would wipe out Herz’s entire season. Andrew Golden of the Washington Post reports that Herz has experienced a dead arm throughout camp and saw his velocity drop this spring, which only further adds to the level of concern.

Herz, 24, came to the Nationals in the trade sending Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs back in 2023. He made his big league debut last summer and quickly showed that he has a place in the team’s long-term plans. After logging a 3.89 ERA in 10 Triple-A starts, Herz started 19 games and tallied 88 2/3 MLB frames, working to a solid 4.16 earned run average. The 2019 eighth-rounder fanned an impressive 27.7% of his opponents and also radically improved his command in the majors; Herz has walked more than 15% of his opponents throughout his minor league tenure, including a ghastly 19% in Triple-A last year, but he cut that to a 9.4% rate in the majors. That’s only one percentage point north of league-average and is plenty passable for someone who can miss bats at Herz’s levels.

Even without any knowledge of the dead arm, a cursory glance at Herz’s spring stats would’ve suggested something was amiss. After that strong output between Triple-A and the majors last year, he’s been rocked for nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and nine walks in Grapefruit League play. He’s fanned only four of the 49 batters he’s faced and yielded a pair of home runs.

Having been optioned to Triple-A Rochester already, Herz wasn’t in the Nationals’ immediate rotation plan. Now, the question is whether he’ll factor into their plan anytime before the 2026 season. With Herz sidelined for the short term at the very least, Washington’s rotation will feature MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and offseason signees Michael Soroka and Trevor Williams (the latter of whom re-signed with the Nats on a two-year deal after also spending the 2023-24 seasons there). The Nats optioned another free-agent addition, former NPB lefty Shinnosuke Ogasawara, to Rochester to begin his career in North American ball. They also have righty Josiah Gray and former top prospect Cade Cavalli both on the comeback trail after undergoing Tommy John surgery to address their own UCL injuries.

Ryan Johnson Makes Angels’ Roster

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The Angels will break camp with righty Ryan Johnson on their big league roster, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. It’s a remarkable ascent to the majors for Johnson, a 2024 second-round pick who hasn’t pitched a single minor league inning. They won’t need to open a 40-man spot after releasing Mickey Moniak earlier today.

Johnson, who signed for a $1.74MM bonus last summer, pitched 11 1/3 innings during camp and allowed five runs on 11 hits and a walk with 10 punchouts — good for a 3.97 ERA. He’ll be the first player to skip the minor leagues entirely since Garrett Crochet, though Crochet’s rapid ascent came under different circumstances, as he was drafted and debuted in 2020 when there was no minor league season. Prior to Crochet, Mike Leake was the most recent player to skip the minors entirely.

The Angel are known for being the most aggressive team in the sport with promoting prospects. They typically focus on polished college players with their top picks, and Johnson is no exception. In 252 career innings at Dallas Baptist University, he posted a 3.46 ERA — including a 2.21 mark in 106 frames as a junior this past season. Baseball America ranked him seventh among Halos farmhands this year, noting that he had the potential to stick as a starter but could be a particularly quick-to-the-majors arm if moved to the bullpen. That’s indeed how it’ll play out, likely in faster fashion than anyone anticipated.

In recent years, the Angels have pushed Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel, Chase Silseth and Ben Joyce through the minors in a year’s time or less. They were reportedly weighing a late promotion of last year’s first-round pick, Christian Moore, and while they ultimately held off, it’s plausible — if not likely — that he could debut at some point in the first few month of the 2025 campaign.

Johnson is the latest and most extreme example of the Angels’ rush-to-the-majors gambit. He’ll join a bullpen anchored by offseason signee Kenley Jansen and the aforementioned Joyce — baseball’s hardest-throwing pitcher. Others in the Angels’ bullpen include righties Ryan Zeferjahn and Ian Anderson and lefties Brock Burke, Angel Perdomo and Reid Detmers.

Diamondbacks To Sign Jalen Beeks

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The Diamondbacks and left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks are in agreement on a one-year deal, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Beeks, a Frontline client, will earn $1.25MM on the new contract. He opted out of a minor league deal with Houston and was granted his release this weekend. The agreement is pending the completion of a physical.

Beeks, 31, is a veteran of six big league seasons. He split the 2024 campaign between the Rockies and Pirates, logging a combined 4.50 ERA with a 17.6% strikeout rate, an 8.7% walk rate, a 45.1% grounder rate and an average of 0.77 homers per nine innings pitched. His best work came with the 2022 Rays, when he pitched 61 frames of 2.80 ERA ball and punched out 28% of his opponents. He’s since moved away from a pure four-seam/changeup pairing to incorporate more cutters, but the results haven’t been as favorable.

Overall, Beeks has pitched 347 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He carries a 4.40 earned run average in that time. Both his strikeout and walk rates are a bit worse than league-average overall, but he keeps the ball on the ground and avoids homers at better-than-average clips.

Arizona has incurred some injuries in the bullpen recently, which likely helped pave the way for Beeks to join the team. Righty Kevin Ginkel, one of the team’s top late-inning arms, will open the season on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation. Kendall Graveman is IL-bound due to some back discomfort that’s hobbled him in camp. Veteran southpaw Jordan Montgomery, who was likely looking at a long relief role, will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season.

Beeks gives manager Torey Lovullo a third lefty to deploy. Fellow southpaw A.J. Puk will be in the closer’s mix with Justin Martinez, however, which had previously left Joe Mantiply as the only southpaw option in the middle innings or setup corps. Beeks now presents an alternative, allowing Lovullo to more freely play matchup in the middle stages of a game if needed.

Astros Release Jon Singleton

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First baseman Jon Singleton has cleared waivers and will be released by the Astros, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. He has actually already been officially released, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. It had been reported yesterday that Singleton would not be making the club’s Opening Day roster. Since he’s out of options, that meant his removal from the roster was inevitable.

Singleton served as the Astros’ primary first baseman in 2024 after the team released Jose Abreu. He delivered roughly league-average offense, by measure of wRC+, batting .234/.321/.386 with 13 homers. His defense and baserunning both drew negative grades, however, and he followed with a tepid .171/.239/.195 performance in 46 plate appearances this spring.

Houston signed Christian Walker to a three-year, $60MM contract this offseason, installing him as the new everyday first baseman. With Yordan Alvarez locked into the Astros’ DH spot, Singleton’s only real path to a roster spot was as a left-handed bench bat. He’s been outperformed at the plate by Cooper Hummel, however, a switch-hitter with far more defensive utility. Hummel has experience at first base, behind the plate and in the outfield corners. It’s not a lock that Hummel will make the roster, but he’s out of minor league options, which could give him an edge.

Now that Singleton has been released, he’ll be free to explore opportunities with other clubs. He might need to take a minor league deal, but a club seeking a lefty bat and/or depth at first base could take a look in the days ahead.

Cubs To Select Brad Keller; Ben Brown To Be Fifth Starter

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The Cubs have informed Brad Keller that he has made the Cubs’ roster for domestic Opening Day. Manager Craig Counsell passed the news along to Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Cubs will have to make a corresponding move to get him onto the 40-man. Also, per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, Ben Brown has won the final rotation spot over Colin Rea.

Keller, 29, pitched to a 4.22 ERA in 10 2/3 innings this spring but turned heads with improved velocity and sharper breaking pitches. He’ll grab a spot in the Chicago bullpen. Given his background as a starter and his 10 2/3 innings in just six appearances, he’ll give Counsell an option who can pitch multiple innings.

Keller was a Rule 5 pick by the Royals out of the D-backs system back in 2017, and for three years he was a solid, durable member of the Kansas City rotation. His effectiveness began to wane in 2021, however, and injuries plagued him in the coming seasons. By 2023, his command had completely eroded. He walked 45 batters in 45 1/3 innings before landing on the injured list. A series of tests eventually led to a thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosis and season-ending surgery. He returned to the majors with the White Sox and Red Sox in 2024 but struggled in both spots.

The 25-year-old Brown came to the Cubs in the 2022 trade that shipped David Robertson to the Phillies. Brown made his big league debut last year, tossing 55 1/3 innings with a 3.58 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate, 38.7% grounder rate and 0.81 HR/9. He sits 96-97 mph with his four-seamer and couples that offering with a plus curveball. Brown has at times worked with a changeup in the minors as well but has deployed a two-pitch arsenal in the major thus far. He allowed a pair of runs in 2 2/3 innings versus the Dodgers in the Tokyo Series, but Brown also whiffed five of his 15 opponents there. Similarly, he’s allowed six runs in a small sample of eight spring frames but did so with a pristine 9-to-1 K/BB ratio.

Brown gets the nod over the veteran Rea, who’ll open the season in the bullpen after signing a one-year, $5MM deal in free agency this winter. The 34-year-old righty carries a 4.40 ERA in 292 innings for the Brewers across the past two seasons. He’s worked both as a starter and long reliever in that time. Rea may not start the year in the rotation, but it seems likely he’ll make a handful of starts as injuries and/or poor performance elsewhere in the rotation dictate the need for a fresh arm or even a more permanent replacement.

Mickey Gasper, DaShawn Keirsey Make Twins’ Roster; Twins Exploring Bullpen Market

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March 25: Castellano has cleared waivers and been returned to the Phillies, per Nightengale.

March 24: The Twins optioned infielder/outfielder Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul this morning, per a team announcement. They’ve also informed catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper and outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. that they’ll break camp on the Opening Day roster, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That sequence likely locks infielder Edouard Julien into the final spot on the position-player side of the roster.

Gasper, 29, came to the Twins in a December trade sending lefty reliever Jovani Moran back to the Red Sox. He has just 18 MLB plate appearances to his credit, but Gasper is a .317/.422/.498 hitter in 70 Triple-A games and a .276/.401/.455 batter in 176 Double-A games. He’s had a big camp, batting .308/.417/.487 with more walks than strikeouts. Gasper’s status was briefly up in the air after an infield collision yesterday resulted in a laceration on his ankle that required six stitches. He’s patched up and been cleared to start the season on a big league roster for the first time in an eight-year professional career.

Like Gasper, the 27-year-old Keirsey is a 2018 draftee who’s making his first Opening Day roster. He hit .275/.375/.375 this spring and is coming off a .300/.368/.476 performance in Triple-A last year. Keirsey is a plus runner and outfield defender who can handle all three slots. He made a brief big league debut last year, getting into six games and going 2-for-13 with a homer in that debut effort.

The pitching side is largely set, but Minnesota does appear to have one bullpen vacancy, at least in the short term. Righty Brock Stewart was already on the mend from arthroscopic shoulder surgery and also suffered a hamstring strain in camp. He’ll start the 2025 season on the injured list alongside Michael Tonkin, who’s dealing with a shoulder strain.

On top of Stewart’s injury, the Twins have already informed Rule 5 pick Eiberson Castellano that he won’t make the club. He’ll presumably be placed on waivers soon if he hasn’t been already. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune adds that they’ve also told non-roster relievers Scott Blewett and Anthony Misiewicz that they won’t make the club. Both will head to Triple-A.

Both Nightengale and Dan Hayes of The Athletic suggest Minnesota could look to bring in a reliever who’s not currently a part of the organization. There’s space to place a waiver claim or scoop up a veteran who’d been a non-roster invitee with another club but has since opted out. Jalen Beeks, Adam Ottavino, Drew Pomeranz, Ross Stripling and Jake Woodford are among the names who were recently granted their release after triggering opt-out clauses. Righty Tyler Phillips was DFA by the Phillies over the weekend, too.

Reds Select Ian Gibaut

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The Reds announced that they have selected right-hander Ian Gibaut to their roster. They had a 40-man vacancy after recently returning Rule 5 pick Cooper Bowman to the Athletics, so no corresponding move is necessary today.

Gibaut, 31, is no stranger to Cincinnati. He’s spent the past two and a half seasons in a Reds uniform and has logged a bit more than three quarters of his 147 career innings with them. He was non-tendered back in November but quickly returned on a minor league deal and has pitched his way back into the bullpen with a solid spring effort. In 11 innings, the righty allowed five runs on 13 hits and three walks with 12 strikeouts (4.09 ERA).

In his two-plus seasons as a Red, Gibaut has logged a 3.77 earned run average. That’s come in a sample of 112 1/3 frames, and he’s struck out 24.5% of opponents against a 9.8% walk rate along the way. He’s not likely to land in many high-leverage spots, but he’ll join Taylor Rogers, Emilio Pagan, Scott Barlow, Graham Ashcraft, Sam Moll, Tony Santillan and Brent Suter in rounding out the Opening Day bullpen for manager Terry Francona’s first year at the helm in Cincinnati.

Gibaut has 3.077 years of big league service time, meaning he’s controllable for two years beyond the current season if the Reds choose to retain him via arbitration. He’s out of minor league options, so he’d need to pass through waivers before he could be sent to Triple-A. Even if he were to clear, Gibaut could reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Giants Designate David Villar For Assignment

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The Giants announced Tuesday that infielder David Villar has been designated for assignment in order to open a roster spot for Lou Trivino, whose contract has been selected. Trivino will make San Francisco’s Opening Day roster.

The writing has been on the wall for the out-of-options Villar for some time. The Giants extended Matt Chapman late last year, blocking Villar at third base. He’s struggled in limited big league playing time and isn’t a backup option at shortstop like fellow infielders Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely — both of whom also have minor league options remaining.

That has led to the perception that Villar has been essentially auditioning for other clubs this spring, but he didn’t do much to help his cause on that front. He struck out in 36.7% of his plate appearances and hit .200/.265/.444 in Cactus League play.

Now that he’s been designated for assignment, the Giants will have five days to see if any club has trade interest. The DFA limbo period can last a week but the waiver process can take 48 hours, leaving five days for trade talks.

In addition to that poor showing this spring, Villar has hit .170/.243/.346 over the past two major league seasons while striking out 32.8% of the time. For any club to be interested, they would have to look past that. He had a strong showing in 2022, putting up a .231/.331/.455 line. Though even then, he was punched out at a 32% clip. He has also continued to hit in Triple-A, even while struggling in the big leagues. He slashed .265/.365/.465 at that level over the past two seasons. He struck out 26.1% of the time in that span but also drew walks at a 12.7% clip.

The strikeouts are a concern but Villar can bounce around to the non-shortstop infield positions and has less than a year of service time. If some club were willing to take a shot and then got a breakout, they could theoretically control him through the 2030 season.

As for Trivino, the 33-year-old reliever has some good work on his track record but has been beset by injuries for a while. In his 284 2/3 innings, he has allowed 3.86 earned runs per nine. His 10.6% walk rate is a bit high but he has punched out 24.5% of batters faced while getting grounders on 47.4% of balls in play.

He hasn’t pitched in a big league game since 2022, however. He underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2023, wiping out that season. In 2024, further elbow inflammation and a shoulder issue prevented him from getting back on the mound.

That meant he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Giants, one that came with a reported salary of $1.5MM if he made the team. He made the decision fairly easy for the club by throwing 9 1/3 scoreless innings in the spring. His four walks were a bit much but perhaps not surprising for a guy who missed the past two seasons. He also struck out 10 opponents and got grounders at a 55.6% clip.

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