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Orioles To Sign Fernando Abad To Minors Contract

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The Orioles are working out the “final details” of a minor league deal with southpaw Fernando Abad, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (via Twitter).  Baltimore also had interest in Abad last season, before he inked a minors pact with the Nationals.

The new contract is a nice early birthday present for Abad, who turns 35 tomorrow.  The veteran left-hander didn’t see any MLB action in 2020, as Washington released him in July and Abad didn’t receive a call-up from the Yankees after New York signed him to another minor league deal shortly after the start of the season.  Abad also had to deal with an asymptomatic COVID-19 diagnosis that caused him to miss the Nats’ Summer Camp due to quarantine.

A veteran of nine Major League seasons, Abad has posted some quality results during his career, including a 3.13 ERA, 2.58 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 233 innings from 2013-17 with the Nationals, A’s, Twins, and Red Sox.  He had a minor league deal with the Mets lined up prior to the 2018 campaign, but that signing fell through after Abad was hit with an 80-game PED suspension.

Abad’s only big league action over the last three years was 13 innings of work with the Giants in 2019, so it remains to be seen if he has anything left in the tank to contribute to the Orioles bullpen.  There’s no real risk for the O’s, however, as if Abad is anything close to his prime form, he can provide some much-needed experience to a young Baltimore pen.

East Notes: Cobb, Mets, Mayza, Nationals

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As the recent trade of Jose Iglesias to the Angels indicates, the Orioles are open to moving any veteran on their roster, particularly those making a significant salary.  Alex Cobb (owed $15MM in 2021) certainly qualifies as a trade candidate, though GM Mike Elias suggested to MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski and other reporters that the Orioles could keep the 33-year-old righty at least into the start of the season.  “I have no doubt if he pitches like Alex Cobb, he’s going to draw interest and we’re going to ultimately see where we’re at and see what the situation is….I think it would be beneficial for us to go into the season with Alex if that’s the way that it shakes out and having that front end spot in the rotation fortified with his ability and veteran presence,” Elias said.

Cobb signed a four-year, $57MM deal just prior to the start of the 2018 season, and after struggling in 2018 and missing almost all of 2019 due to injury, Cobb had solid bottom-line numbers over 10 starts this past season.  The right-hander posted a 4.30 ERA, 2.11 K/BB rate, 54.5% grounder rate, and 6.5 K/9 over 52 1/3 innings, though Statcast was thoroughly unimpressed by his performance.  Those metrics and Cobb’s hefty salary certainly limit his trade value at the moment, so it makes sense that the O’s would see if he can perform better in the early stages of the 2021 campaign in order to possibly leverage him as a trade chip at the deadline.  If Cobb can’t be moved but is able to duplicate his 2020 results, Baltimore would at least benefit (as Elias noted) from a dependable arm on the mound.

Here are some other items from both the AL and NL East…

  • The Mets have been linked to just about every big name free agent this winter, though The New York Post’s Joel Sherman wonders if the team might take a more measured approach to its winter shopping.  Rather than splurge on any of the “big four” free agents (Trevor Bauer, George Springer, J.T. Realmuto, and DJ LeMahieu), Sherman opines that New York could direct its resources towards “dominating the second tier” of the market.  Such roster upgrades would still make the team better “while potentially saving money and prospects for the July trade market — and beyond.”  Signing James McCann rather than Realmuto could be a hint that the team is deploying such a tactic, though the other school of thought suggests that McCann was signed so the Mets could save some money for a bigger push to land Bauer or Springer.
  • After undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2019, Blue Jays left-hander Tim Mayza is looking forward to returning to action in Spring Training, The Toronto Star’s Laura Armstrong writes.  Mayza’s rehab was more complicated the normal TJ recovery process, as Mayza had to also recover from a torn flexor tendon (suffered at the same time as his UCL tear) and spend much of his time working out at home rather than at team facilities due to the COVID-19 lockdown.  If that wasn’t enough, Mayza tested positive for the coronavirus this fall, though he was thankfully asymptomatic during his two weeks of quarantine.  “Although it’s been different, my rehab was not stalled at all through all this,” Mayza said.  “I’ve continued to stay on track and the end goal of being 100 per cent by spring training is very much a realistic goal.”  Mayza has a 4.67 ERA, 2.71 K/BB rate, 48.6% grounder rate, and 10.6 K/9 over 104 innings with Toronto from 2017-19, and he has held left-handed batters to a .217/.288/.349 slash line over 208 plate appearances.  With a lack of southpaw relief options on the Jays’ 40-man roster, there is certainly opportunity for Mayza to win a job if he looks good in camp.
  • The Mets’ signing of McCann took the catching market’s second-best option off the board, further limiting the free agent choices for teams in need of help behind the plate.  The Nationals are one of those clubs, and as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes, “they’re either going to have to spend well north of $100MM on Realmuto or hope one of the remaining lesser options is good enough” if the Nats turn to free agency for catching help.  Realmuto might be out of the picture given the indications that the Nationals aren’t planning on any big spending this offseason, though since Washington still has Yan Gomes, the team might decide that a platoon partner is all that is required at catcher.

Wei-Yin Chen Agrees To Deal With Hanshin Tigers

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Southpaw Wei-Yin Chen has agreed to join the Hanshin Tigers for 2021, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

Chen’s MLB career began when the Taiwanese lefty signed a three-year guarantee worth $11.3MM with the Baltimore Orioles before the 2012 season. At that time, he was coming off five seasons starring for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan, where he posted with a 2.48 ERA. He returned to Japan in 2020 with 26 innings of 2.42 ERA baseball for the NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines.

In between, he made his debut for Baltimore as a 26-year-old in 2012, posting a strong 4.02 ERA/4.42 FIP over 192 2/3 innings. He remained a member of Baltimore’s rotation for four seasons, finishing his tenure there with a 3.72 ERA/4.14 FIP across 117 starts totaling 706 2/3 innings. Those numbers were good for 9.4 bWAR, or 2.6 bWAR per 200 innings. While he was never a frontline starter for the O’s, he put together solid seasons in the middle of the rotation for a contender under manager Buck Showalter.

His four seasons with the Marlins were less efficient. He signed a five-year $80MM contract, but injuries marred his time in Miami.  He was released prior to the final season of the deal in 2020. In the four years prior, he amassed a 5.10 ERA/4.54 FIP across 358 innings.

Marlins Acquire Zach Pop From Diamondbacks

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The Miami Marlins have acquired Zach Pop from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named later, the Marlins announced. Pop was taken with the sixth pick of today’s Rule 5 draft from the Baltimore Orioles.

This marks the second deal made with players selected in today’s draft, following the Pirates acquisition of Luis Oviedo, which was announced just moments after the Mets made the selection. Oviedo was selected from the Cleveland Indians organization.

Pop, 24, came to the Orioles as part of the Manny Machado trade. He missed all but eight appearances of the 2019 season with Tommy John surgery, but he remains an intriguing bullpen arm. He boasts a sterling 1.34 ERA across three minor league seasons.

After adding Pop and catcher Paul Campbell from the Rays with their own pick in the Rule 5 draft, the Marlins 40-man roster is currently full.

East Notes: Mets, Jays, O’s, Nats

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The Mets are interested in righty reliever Liam Hendriks, arguably the No. 1 bullpen arm available on the open market, per Andy Martino of SNY. He’d be the second major relief addition this offseason for the Mets, who signed Trevor May to a two-year, $15.5MM guarantee last week. Hendriks, previously with the Athletics, was perhaps the most dominant reliever in baseball during the previous two seasons. In that 108 1/3-inning stretch, the 31-year-old logged a matching 1.66 ERA/FIP, notched 13.21 K/9 against 1.83 BB/9, and recorded 39 saves in 47 opportunities. While the New York club has some level of interest in cross-town star D.J. LeMahieu, David Lennon of Newsday writes, it’s more on the “periphery” in that pursuit at the moment.

More from the eastern divisions:

  • The aforementioned Hendriks and fellow free-agent reliever Brad Hand “are believed to be” on the Blue Jays’ radar, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet writes (their interest in Hand was previously reported). Either pitcher would further strengthen a Toronto bullpen that finished 24th in the majors in ERA and 28th in K/BB ratio last season. It seems the Toronto organization is still casting rather a wide net in its free agent search. Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star recently linked the team to a number of big names at a variety of positions.
  • Orioles general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday that the team is unlikely to give out any multiyear contracts in free agency (Twitter links via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com and Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun). However, Elias acknowledged the Orioles are hunting for a new shortstop after trading Jose Iglesias to the Angels last week. Elsewhere, Elias said the Orioles plan to keep righty Alex Cobb, who has one year and $15MM left on his contract. Cobb had a decent year in 2020 (4.30 ERA/4.87 FIP in 52 1/3 innings), though he may be a tough sell at his current salary.
  • Sticking with the Orioles, beleaguered first baseman Chris Davis revealed Wednesday (via Melo) that he has no plans to hang up his cleats at this point. “I don’t want it to end the way that things have gone the last few years for me. I think there’s more of a story to be told but as far as my contract is concerned, it is what it is,” said Davis. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not giving up. I’m not throwing in the towel. I understand the club is in a position right now to where they’re trying to cut payroll, and I’m the one big lump that they’re kind of stuck with. But they knew what they were signing up for when they took the job.” Davis’s seven-year, $161MM contract has been an unmitigated disaster for the Orioles, but he’s certainly not obligated to walk away from the remaining two seasons even if the club would prefer it. The 34-year-old is coming off a third-straight woeful season. Davis took just 55 plate appearances, failed to hit a home run and posted a brutal minus-14 wRC+.
  • Moving south on 95, the Nationals have a need for just the sort of player Davis once was. The D.C. organization put in an effort to lure Carlos Santana before he latched on with the Royals, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. Missing on the veteran slugger makes it likelier that the Nats will end up putting together some kind of timeshare at first, as there isn’t a clear everyday alternative available in free agency. It also keeps the door open to a return for Nationals stalwart Ryan Zimmerman, whose intentions remain unknown.

Orioles Claim Ashton Goudeau, Outright Austin Wynns

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The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Pirates and opened a spot on the roster by passing catcher Austin Wynns through outright waivers. Wynns has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk and will no longer count against the 40-man roster after going unclaimed on waivers.

Goudeau, 28, made his Major League debut with the Rockies this past season but totaled just 8 1/3 innings, during which time he allowed seven runs on 15 hits and a pair of walks with only two strikeouts. Those struggles notwithstanding, Goudeau was terrific at the Double-A level in 2019, where he pitched to a 2.07 ERA and 2.05 FIP with 10.5 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 0.46 HR/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate in 16 starts (78 1/3 innings).

The 29-year-old Wynns is a glove-first backup catcher with a career .239/.271/.339 batting line through 192 plate appearances. He’s posted similar numbers, albeit with a better OBP, in parts of three Triple-A, and it seems he’ll stick around as a depth option for the O’s.

Beltway Notes: Spencer Kieboom, Ross, Alberto, Stallings, O’s, Nats

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Catcher Spencer Kieboom elected to become a free agent after the Nationals outrighted him off their roster in October 2019, and Kieboom tells Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post that he decided last winter to retire after eight seasons of pro ball.  Kieboom’s MLB resume consisted of a single game in 2016 and then 52 games with the Nats in 2018, though knowing that he was becoming an afterthought on the team’s organizational depth chart left him “beyond frustrated.”  After twice being called up in 2019 but not appearing in any games, Kieboom decided it was enough.  “From a self-evaluation standpoint, I knew I couldn’t reach my goal anymore.  I wouldn’t have stopped if I had more in the tank.  I just didn’t,” Kieboom said.

The next step in his newfound retirement was returning to Clemson to finish a marketing degree, and Kieboom is now working on starting his own business and also spending time with a growing family that includes a newborn.  We at MLBTR congratulate Kieboom on his career and wish him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.

More from the Nationals and Orioles…

  • Nationals righty Joe Ross is looking forward to returning to pitching after opting out of the 2020 season, a decision he recently discussed with the media (including MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman).  “With the medical professionals in my family – both my parents, my sister, some close family friends – it just kind of made sense to take this as serious as you could,” Ross said.  “There were a lot of unanswered questions going into it.  Not that we know everything now, but the initial shock value of what was happening added up with a few other things, and I decided to take time away, which is always hard to do.”  Now that MLB has had more time to implement and adjust COVID-19 protocols, Ross is “pretty confident going into this year that everyone will have a pre-solidified plan on how to” keep players and personnel safe.  Ross’ decision to opt out cost him a year of service time and the entire prorated share of his original $1.5MM salary, and he’ll now return to Washington’s roster competing for a starting rotation spot.
  • The Orioles non-tendered Hanser Alberto on Wednesday, though GM Mike Elias told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) that the move was made largely due to “the quirks of the arbitration system” and that the O’s will “continue to have interest in pursuing” on a new contract.  “I think that the interest is mutual, but it’s now his right to explore opportunities and we’re going to have to compete for him. But he’s somebody that’s meant a lot to this team and we hope we’re not closing the door on him,” Elias said.  Alberto was projected for a salary in the $2.6MM range in his first trip through the arbitration process, coming off of two decent seasons as a regular starter (mostly at second base) in Baltimore’s infield.
  • Without a 2020 minor league season, trading for prospects is an even riskier proposition than usual considering the lack of fresh scouting information about most young players.  However, the Orioles’ recent acquisition of right-hander Garrett Stallings from the Angels (as part of the return in the Jose Iglesias trade) was aided by the team’s past interest in Stallings as a potential 2019 draft pick, as Elias told The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz and other reporters.  Since the O’s had already scouted Stallings during his time at the University of Tennessee, the team had that background as a comparison point when they saw Stallings finally get back onto a mound in the Angels’ instructional camp this fall.  “We knew what he was in 2019, and then to see those performances a month ago, see the stuff, the velocity, and all of it be a little bit better than what he showed in college, it’s pretty encouraging,” Elias said.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/5/20

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The latest minor transactions from around the sport:

  • The Orioles signed right-hander Conner Greene to a minor-league contract earlier this week, per MLB.com’s transactions page (and confirmed by Greene on Twitter). A 2013 draftee out of a California high school by the Blue Jays, Greene became a prospect of some note after his velocity spiked early in his pro career. He was traded to the Cardinals after the 2017 season and has spent the past two years in the Royals’ system. The 25-year-old struggled badly in the high minors in recent years but was still throwing in the mid-to-high 90’s in 2019, as FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen noted in April. Greene has extensive starting experience in the minors and could be an option for either the rotation or bullpen mix if he shows well in spring training.

Thomas Eshelman Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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The Orioles announced Thursday that right-hander Thomas Eshelman has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency. He was designated for assignment when the O’s set their roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft and is now able to sign with any club.

Eshelman, 26, posted a solid 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 innings with the Orioles in 2020, but his numbers beyond that mark are far less encouraging. The 2015 second-rounder managed only 16 strikeouts against nine walks in that time, and he was tagged for seven home runs in that time as well. Eshelman has tallied 70 2/3 innings in the Majors to this point in his still-young career but has punched out just 38 hitters while walking 20. Unlike many low-strikeout hurlers, he’s not at all a ground-ball pitcher, inducing grounders at a 33.6 percent clip against a 41.3 percent fly-ball rate.

In parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level, Eshelman carries a 4.12 ERA with averages of 6.5 strikeouts and just 1.9 walks per nine innings pitched, and he has a pair of minor league options still remaining. That track record and flexibility makes him a sensible depth pickup for a team in need of pitching depth, though he’ll very likely be looking at a minor league pact in free agency.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/2/20

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With the non-tender deadline coming today at 7pm CT, expect quite a few players to agree to contracts for the 2021 season, avoiding arbitration in advance.  In many (but not all) cases, these deals — referred to as “pre-tender” deals because they fall prior to the deadline — will fall shy of expectations and projections.  Teams will sometimes present borderline non-tender candidates with a “take it or leave it” style offer which will be accepted for fear of being non-tendered and sent out into an uncertain market.  Speculatively, such deals could increase in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty sweeping through the game, although there are also widespread expectations of record non-tender numbers.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through today’s smaller-scale pre-tender deals in this post.  You can also check out Matt Swartz’s arbitration salary projections here.

Latest Agreements

Earlier Agreements

  • Twins righty Jose Berrios will earn $6.1MM with a $500K signing bonus in 2021, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. Catcher Mitch Garver will rake in $1.875MM, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Center fielder Byron Buxton ($5.125MM) and reliever Taylor Rogers (terms not released) also agreed to deals, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
  • The Phillies have deals with starter Zach Eflin ($4.45MM) and relievers Hector Neris ($5MM), David Hale ($850K) and Seranthony Dominguez ($727,500), Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Heyman and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com relay.
  • The Marlins and first baseman Garrett Cooper have a $1.8MM agreement that could max out at $2.05MM with performance bonuses, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
  • The Brewers are keeping catcher Manny Pina in the fold for $1.65MM, according to Heyman. They’re also retaining first baseman Daniel Vogelbach for $1.4MM, Nightengale reports.
  • The Giants and outfielder Austin Slater have a one-year, $1.15MM deal, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.The club also reached a $925K agreement with lefty Wandy Peralta and a $700K pact with righty Trevor Gott, Heyman tweets.
  • The Cubs are bringing back hurlers Dan Winkler ($900K), Colin Rea ($702,500) and Kyle Ryan ($800K), Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ryan’s agreement is a split contract that features a $250K minor league salary.
  • The Mets are retaining lefty Steven Matz for $5.2MM, Nightengale tweets. Matz had a brutal campaign in 2020 with a 9.68 ERA/7.76 FIP over 30 2/3 innings in 2020, but the Mets will give him a chance to rebound.
  • The Padres and lefty Matt Strahm have a one-year, $2MM deal, Nightengale reports. Strahm gave the Padres a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP in 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia, whom the Mets claimed from Pittsburgh in August, will earn $1MM in 2021, according to Nightengale.
  • The Astros and reliever Austin Pruitt have settled for $617, 500, per Heyman. The right-hander missed the season with elbow issues.
  • The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler have agreed to a one-year, $8.05MM deal with $250K in incentives, Nightengale reports. Soler was a 48-home run hitter in 2019, but his production went backward this past season, in which he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight HRs in 174 trips to the plate.
  • The Red Sox have kept relievers Matt Barnes ($4.4MM) and Ryan Brasier ($1.25MM) and catcher Kevin Plawecki ($1.6MM), per tweets from Nightengale, Robert Murray of FanSided and Heyman. Barnes has been a solid reliever as a member of the Red Sox, though he yielded more than five walks per nine and upward of four runs per nine in 2020. Brasier was more successful this past season, as he tossed 25 frames of 3.96 ERA/3.15 FIP ball and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Plawecki had a nice year as the backup to Christian Vazquez, as he batted .341/.393/.463 in 89 PA.
  • The Giants and southpaw Jarlin Garcia have settled for $950K, according to Heyman. Garcia is coming off an 18 1/3-inning effort in which he posted a near-perfect 0.49 (with an impressive 3.14 FIP) and 6.87 K/9 against 3.44 BB/9.
  • The Marlins have agreed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal with first baseman Jesus Aguilar, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. The 30-year-old slugger put up strong numbers in his first year with the Fish, slashing .277/.352/.457 with eight long balls in 216 plate appearances.
  • The Giants and outfielder Alex Dickerson settled at a year and $2MM, tweets Nightengale. The 30-year-old slugger has a lengthy injury history but has been excellent in limited work with the Giants, including a .298/.371/.576 slash in 170 plate appearances this past season.
  • Luis Cessa will be back with the Yankees on a one-year deal, tweets Nightengale. He’ll earn $1.05MM. The righty notched a 3.32 ERA and 3.79 FIP with a 17-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this past season. Fellow righty Ben Heller will also return, the team announced, though it didn’t disclose financial details.
  • First baseman Matt Olson and the Athletics settled on a one-year deal worth $5MM, tweets Nightengale. The 26-year-old Olson’s .198/.310/.424 slash was an obvious step back from his 2019 campaign, but he’s still viewed as a vital part of the club’s future moving forward.
  • The Braves and righty Luke Jackson agreed to a one-year deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The 29-year-old was rocked for a 6.84 ERA in this year’s shortened slate of games but posted a 3.84 ERA and 3.24 FIP with better than 13 K/9 as one of the team’s steadiest relievers in 2019. The contract is valued at $1.9MM, per a team announcement.
  • The Brewers are bringing back catcher Omar Narvaez for one year and $2.5MM, Heyman tweets. Narvaez was a very good offensive catcher from 2o16-19 with the White Sox and Mariners, but he struggled last season after the M’s traded him to the Brewers. Thanks in part to a career-worst 31 percent strikeout rate, Narvaez could only muster a .176/.294/.269 line and a paltry two HRs in 126 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s in line to return to the Brewers for a second season.
  • The Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2MM contract with shortstop Orlando Arcia, Nightengale relays. Arcia endured serious struggles on offense in prior years, but the 26-year-old managed a respectable .260/.317/.416 line with five home runs over 189 plate appearances this past season.
  • The Phillies and catcher Andrew Knapp have reached a one-year, $1.1MM agreement, per Nightengale. Typically a light-hitting backstop, Knapp batted a career-best .278/.404/.444 in 89 plate appearances in 2020. He’s currently the No. 1 catcher on a Phillies team that could lose J.T. Realmuto in free agency.
  • Pirates infielder Erik Gonzalez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. It was the second year of arb eligibility for Gonzalez, whose glovework will earn him a contract despite a brutal .227/.255/.359 batting line in 193 plate appearances in 2020.
  • The Royals and Hunter Dozier agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.72MM in entirely guaranteed money, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  More is available to Dozier via contract incentives.  Dozier hit .228/.344/.392 over 186 PA after missing over the first two weeks of the season recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
  • The Red Sox agreed to an $870K deal with right-hander Austin Brice for the 2021 season, as per Nightengale.  Brice posted a 5.95 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 5.9 BB/9 over 19 2/3 innings in his first season in Boston, and was considered a potential non-tender candidate.
  • The Twins and righty Tyler Duffey agreed to a one-year, $2.2MM pact, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports.  According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Duffey’s deal is fully guaranteed.
  • The Braves agreed to a one-year, $900K deal with southpaw Grant Dayton, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Dayton had a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in 2020.
  • The Braves announced an agreement with utilityman Johan Camargo on a one-year, $1.36MM deal.  Camargo was thought to be a non-tender candidate after struggling to a .222/.267/.378 slash line in 375 plate appearances over the last two seasons, but he will return for a fifth year in Atlanta.
  • The White Sox and left-hander Jace Fry agreed to a one-year deal worth $862.5K, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Fry posted a 3.66 ERA, 2.00 K/BB rate, and 11.0 K/9 over 19 2/3 innings in 2020, and he has strong overall career numbers against left-handed batters.
  • The Orioles agreed with second baseman Yolmer Sanchez on a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).  Baltimore claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox at the end of October.  A Gold Glove winner in 2019, Sanchez was non-tendered by Chicago prior to last year’s deadline, though after signing a minors deal with the Giants, he returned to the White Sox on another minors deal and appeared in 11 games on the South Side.
  • The Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth roughly $700K with left-hander Caleb Thielbar, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports (via Twitter).  2020 marked Thielbar’s first taste of MLB action since 2015, as the southpaw worked his way back from independent ball to post a 2.25 ERA, 2.44 K/BB rate, and 9.9 K/9 over 20 innings for Minnesota.
  • The Dodgers and left-hander Scott Alexander have agreed to a one-year, $1MM deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Alexander posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season, recording an equal number of walks and strikeouts (nine).  The southpaw was thought to be a potential non-tender candidate given his relative lack of usage and his non-inclusion on the Dodgers’ playoff roster, but the team will retain Alexander for his second arb-eligible year.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) adds the noteworthy detail that Alexander’s $1MM salary is fully guaranteed, as opposed to the usual contracts for arbitration-eligible players that allow their teams to release them prior to Opening Day and only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon salary.
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