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Minor MLB Transactions: 3/27/21

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The latest minor moves around the league:

Most Recent

  • The Diamondbacks have re-signed catcher Bryan Holaday to a new minor league contract, the team announced.  The 33-year-old catcher was in camp as a non-roster invitee and was released last night. Holaday has played for the Tigers, Marlins and Orioles over a big league career that has spanned parts of nine years. He got a little bit of MLB action in Baltimore last year, picking up 33 plate appearances.

Earlier Today

  • The Phillies announced they’ve released reliever Michael Ynoa. The 29-year-old pitched in six games this spring as a non-roster invitee. Ynoa hasn’t pitched in the majors since a 2016-17 stint with the White Sox. Once a top prospect, the right-hander has signed with each of the Royals, A’s and Phillies since being cut loose by Chicago but hasn’t made it back to the highest level. Ynoa has a 4.42 ERA/5.12 SIERA over 59 MLB innings.
  • The Rangers have released right-hander Nick Vincent, per a team announcement. Texas has interest in bringing Vincent back to the organization on another minor-league deal, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning-News (Twitter link). The Rangers also re-signed catcher Drew Butera to a second minor-league deal in a procedural move. Both Vincent and Butera were Article XX(B) free agents- players with six years of service time who were in camp on minor league deals after finishing the 2020 season on big league rosters. As such, they’d have been entitled to respective $100K retention bonuses had Texas kept them on their original contracts without adding them to the major league roster.

Rangers Sign Drew Butera To Minors Contract

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The Rangers have signed catcher Drew Butera to a minor league deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter).  The contract includes an invitation to the Rangers’ big league Spring Training camp.  Butera will be paid $1MM in guaranteed money if he makes the MLB roster, with up to $500K more available in incentives.

Butera has played for five different clubs over his 11-year career in the bigs, most playing for the Rockies for much of the last two-plus seasons.  Long considered a solid defender and game-caller, Butera has used this skillset to keep finding Major League work, as he has hit only .198/.255/.294 over 1437 career plate appearances.

Rangers GM Chris Young knows Butera well, as the two played together with the Royals from 2015-17.  Butera will provide Texas with some veteran depth as the Rangers currently have two inexperienced backstops (Jose Trevino and Aramis Garcia) lined up as their top two catching options.  The Rangers were known to have interest in Jason Castro earlier this winter, so a bigger-name catching addition beyond just Buters might still be in the offing.

Rockies To Select Elias Diaz, Drew Butera

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10:34pm: The Rockies will also select Butera, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets.

7:55pm: The Rockies are planning to select the contract of catcher Elias Diaz and carry him on their Opening Day roster, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Manager Bud Black has since confirmed as much, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. It’s possible still that the Rox will select Drew Butera as well and carry three backstops to begin the season, though it sounds like no final decision has been made on that front just yet.

Diaz, 29, was a rather well-regarded catching prospect when rising through the Pirates’ system and has had some success in Pittsburgh, most notably in 2018 when he appeared to break out with a .286/.339/.452 slash and 10 homers in 277 plate appearances. That set the stage for a more prominent role in 2019, but Diaz was unable to capitalize on his increased playing time. In 332 plate appearances, he mustered only a .241/.296/.307 line.

Problems at the plate weren’t the only issue for Diaz, however, as he also struggled defensively. While his career 28 percent caught-stealing rate is solid, Diaz ranked as baseball’s second-worst pitch framer last year, per Statcast. FanGraphs agreed with those framing woes, and in all he checked in at a staggering -21 Defensive Runs Saved in just 706 innings.

Diaz had never struggled to such extremes on either side of the ball and actually graded out only slightly below average with the glove in that strong 2018 showing. It’s worth noting that he missed all of Spring Training and the first month of last year’s regular season due to a bacterial infection in his stomach, which surely didn’t do him any favors when he returned in late April.

Whether Diaz was actually ready to return when he did, the results spoke for themselves, however. They also convinced the Bucs to non-tender him rather than pay a projected $1.4MM salary in arbitration (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). He’ll now have a chance to prove that last year’s showing was an aberration and that he’s far better than was on display in his illness-shortened 2019 campaign. He’ll likely begin as a backup to Wolters, but given Wolters’ dismal offensive track record, it’s possible that Diaz could play his way into a bigger role.

Rockies Sign Drew Butera To Minors Contract

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The Rockies have re-signed Drew Butera to a minor league deal, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports (Twitter link).  Butera will received an invitation to Colorado’s big league Spring Training camp.  Yesterday, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweeted about the possibility of Butera rejoining the Rockies on a non-guaranteed deal.

This marks the third time that the Rox have acquired Butera, after initially picking him up from the Royals in an August 2018 trade and then signing him to a minor league deal just prior to Opening Day after Butera was released by the Phillies near the end of their spring camp.  Butera appeared in only 16 Major League games and received 49 plate appearances, his lowest totals in either category since 2013.

Colorado has been on the lookout for catching help this offseason, though Butera is more veteran depth than a real answer to that need.  The 36-year-old journeyman has never been an offensive force (.200/.257/.297 over 1394 career plate appearances), though he has been long been considered a solid hand behind the plate.

Robinson Chirinos Drawing Interest From Several Clubs

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Nov. 20: In addition to the Mets, Chirinos has also received interest from the Astros, the Reds and the Rangers, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. A deal with either Texas-based club would of course represent a reunion scenario, whereas the Reds would be the veteran backstop’s fourth MLB club (and third in the past eight seasons). Both the Astros and Rangers are thin in terms of MLB catching depth. The Reds have Tucker Barnhart signed through 2021 (plus a 2022 option) and Curt Casali on hand as a backup, though there’s certainly room for an upgrade — particularly an offensive upgrade — in Cincinnati.

Nov. 19: The Mets have reached out to veteran catcher Robinson Chirinos in the early stages of the offseason, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports. They’ve also been in contact with well-traveled backup catcher Drew Butera.

New York already has one well-paid catcher on the roster in Wilson Ramos, who is owed $10.75MM through the end of the 2020 season (including a $1.5MM buyout on a $10MM club option for the 2021 season). General manger Brodie Van Wagenen has previously indicated he’s in the market for a backup catcher, but Chirinos profiles as more as a starter than a reserve. The 35-year-old hit .238/.347/.443 with 17 homers, 22 doubles and a triple in 114 games (437 plate appearances) with the Astros in 2019 and logged 113 games with the Rangers in 2018.

Barring a move involving Ramos, it could be hard to entice the 35-year-old Chirinos to sign on for what would surely be reduced playing time, and he’ll likely command interest from other clubs looking to feature him in a larger role than the Mets can offer. Plus, if the Mets are interested in him as a backup — even one who plays a bit more than a traditional second catcher — it seems unlikely that they’d offer more than last year’s $5.75MM salary. New York’s interest isn’t necessarily a surprise, though, given Chirinos’ quality results in 2019 and, to a lesser extent, the fact that he and newly hired skipper Carlos Beltran were brief teammates with the Rangers in 2016.

Chirinos performed well on the whole in Houston and caught every single inning thrown by Justin Verlander in 2019, so there’s certainly reason for the Astros, who have minimal catching depth, to pursue a reunion. The Braves, Brewers, Reds, Angels, Pirates and Rockies are among the many teams that could look at adding some help behind the plate this winter, too, so there should be interest elsewhere.

As for Butera, he’s a candidate to receive a minor league deal and an invite to Spring Training either from the Mets or another club. The 36-year-old wouldn’t be a clear upgrade over currently projected backup Tomas Nido, as Butera has batted just .203/.268/.301 in 408 plate appearances between the Royals and Rockies dating back to the 2017 season. Butera doesn’t have a strong statistical profile in terms of his glovework, either, though he carries a reputation as a backup who works well with pitchers.

Rockies Select Drew Butera, Designate Noel Cuevas

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The Rockies have selected the contract of veteran catcher Drew Butera from Triple-A and designated outfielder Noel Cuevas for assignment, per a club announcement. Colorado also recalled infielder Josh Fuentes from Triple-A.

It’ll be Butera’s second go-around with the Rockies, as the 36-year-old also suited up for Colorado late last season following an August trade. A well-regarded defender and game caller, Butera has managed only a .201/.258/.299 batting line in 1364 plate appearances at the MLB level. He hit .300/.389/.511 in Triple-A this season — a dramatic increase from his career production at that level — and will give manager Bud Black some depth behind the plate to help rest Tony Wolters and Dom Nunez down the stretch. Butera will be a free agent at season’s end.

Cuevas, 27, batted .233/.268/.315 in 153 plate appearances for the Rockies in 2018 but has appeared in just one MLB game so far in 2019. Cuevas hit well in Triple-A in both 2017 and 2018 but has put together a rather pedestrian .278/.358/.439 batting line (96 wRC+) in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in 2019. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and does have a minor league option remaining beyond the current season.

Fuentes, 26, batted just .254/.298/.448 in Triple-A this season while striking out at a 27 percent clip. That’s a far cry from last year’s .327/.354/.517 line and 17.4 percent strikeout rate in 586 plate appearances at the same level.

Outrighted: Butera, Hanson

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Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • Veteran backstop Drew Butera cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per a club announcement from the Rockies. While Butera could have rejected the assignment in favor of free agency, The Athletic’s Nick Groke tweets that the 35-year-old will accept the assignment and remain in the organization. Butera went 3-for-17 in his brief run with the Rox this season and has never hit much in the Majors aside from an outlier 2016 campaign with the Royals. In 1364 trips to the plate at the MLB level, Butera owns a .201/.258/.299 slash with 19 home runs. However, he’s long been regarded as a quality defender behind the plate and has carved out a decade-long career at the big league level as a result of his glovework. Should the Rockies incur an injury to either Chris Iannetta or Tony Wolters later this season, Butera will quite likely get a call back to the big leagues.
  • The Blue Jays announced that infielder/outfielder Alen Hanson has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo. Hanson, 26, came over from the Giants in the trade that sent Kevin Pillar to San Francisco, though that trade was driven in large part by salary and Hanson wasn’t necessarily viewed as a long-term piece by the Jays. In 48 plate appearance with Toronto, Hanson hit .163/.229/.163, and while it’s a tiny sample, he’s never hit much a total of 625 MLB plate appearances. Dating back to his debut with Pittsburgh in 2016, Hanson is a .232/.266/.368 hitter. The former top prospect is a .273/.327/.406 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, and it appears he’ll stay on hand as a depth piece for the Toronto organization.

Rockies Activate Chris Iannetta, Designate Drew Butera

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The Rockies have designated catcher Drew Butera for assignment, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (Twitter link). His place on the active roster will be taken by Chris Iannetta, who has been activated from the injured list.

Butera helped fill in for Iannetta, which is just why he was brought in on a minors deal over the winter. He managed only three hits and a walk over 19 plate appearances. Offensive output isn’t the reason that Butera has managed to appear in the majors in each of the past ten seasons. His sturdy presence behind the dish will ensure that he lands back at Triple-A with the Rockies or perhaps with another organization.

Iannetta ended up missing just over two weeks with a strained lat muscle. The 36-year-old will be looking to bounce back from a poor start with the bat this year, which followed a subpar 2018 campaign. He’s earning $4.15MM this year; his contract includes a $4.25MM club option for 2020 ($750K buyout).

Rockies Select Drew Butera, Place Chris Iannetta On 10-Day IL

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The Rockies announced today that backstop Drew Butera’s contract was selected from Triple-A. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow receiver Chris Iannetta, who was placed on the 10-day inured list with a strained lat muscle.

In other roster moves, the club announced that outfielder Noel Cuevas and righty Antonio Senzatela are also joining the big league club. Outfielder Yonathan Daza and righty Yency Almonte were optioned down to make way.

It’s not clear at this point how severe an injury Iannetta is dealing with, but it’s hardly promising to see him go down. He’s the latest veteran position player to hit the IL, further downgrading an already terrible offensive outlook for the Colorado organization.

Butera has loads of MLB experience and represents a worthwhile insurance policy to cash in. But he’s known far more for his sturdy presence behind the dish than his work with the bat in hand. The 35-year-old is a .201/.258/.299 lifetime hitter in the majors.

Rockies Sign Drew Butera

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The Rockies have announced the signing of catcher Drew Butera to a minor-league deal. Other terms of the agreement are not yet known.

Having lost Tom Murphy to a waiver claim, the Colorado club was light on upper-level catching. Butera, meanwhile, was looking for a home after opting out of his deal with the Phillies.

Butera played with the Rox briefly last year, so they’re familiar with one another. He has spent most of the past nine seasons on a major-league roster, though he has rarely played with much frequency. Butera is obviously held in high regard for his steadiness behind the dish, as he carries a meager .201/.258/.299 batting line in 1,345 career plate appearances.

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