Braves Release Dany Jimenez
The Braves have released right-handed reliever Dany Jimenez, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He was non-tendered by the A’s in November and signed a minor league deal with Atlanta back in mid-January.
The 31-year-old Jimenez appeared in three spring games for Atlanta but only totaled one inning. He faced ten batters, walked five of them and allowed a pair of runs to score. He was never a likely candidate to make the roster, but he’ll now look for new opportunities rather than head to Triple-A Gwinnett. The Braves selected Hector Neris and Enyel De Los Santos earlier this week, adding to a bullpen that was already anchored by several notable veterans (Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee). Atlanta’s general bullpen depth didn’t leave a particularly strong path toward earning a big league look.
Jimenez posted a 3.43 ERA in 57 2/3 big league innings from 2022-23 despite a pedestrian 23% strikeout rate and bloated 13.4% walk rate. His strike-throwing woes intensified in 2024, when Jimenez walked more than 16% of his opponents en route to a 4.91 earned run average across 25 2/3 frames. His average fastball also fell off noticeably, per Statcast, falling from his career-high 93.9 mph in 2022 to 92.5 mph in 2024.
Given the down year in 2024 and the pronounced struggles when he got his few looks in big league camp with Atlanta, Jimenez will likely be limited to a minor league deal wherever he lands. He does have two option years and another four seasons of club control remaining, but he’d need to pitch his way onto a 40-man roster with a nice performance in Triple-A before those factors much of a consideration.
White Sox Release Omar Narváez, Reassign Chase Meidroth
The White Sox today informed catcher Omar Narváez and infielder Chase Meidroth that they would not be making the Opening Day roster. The news was relayed by James Fegan of Sox Machine. Meidroth, a prospect not on the 40-man roster, will start the season at Triple-A Charlotte. Narváez is a veteran who was in camp on a minor league deal. He had an opt-out in that deal and has now been released, though Fegan suggests it’s possible he re-signs on a new minor league deal.
Narváez, 33, has had some good seasons but is coming off a rough two-year stretch. He signed a two-year, $15MM deal with the Mets going into 2023 but that pact went south quickly. He suffered a significant left calf strain in the first season of the deal. He only got into 49 games and hit just .211/.283/.297. To start 2024, he put up a line .154/.191/.185 and was released in early June. A minor league deal with the Astros didn’t get him back on track, as he hit .196/.325/.304 for their Triple-A club down the stretch.
For what it’s worth, his numbers have been more respectable in camp with the White Sox. He had a .250/.400/.333 line in 30 spring plate appearances. However, the Sox are going to roll with Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss as their catching duo, which squeezed out Narváez.
He’ll now have a chance to see what opportunities are available to him in the next few days. He had a solid track record prior to that ill-fated Mets deal, with a .251/.334/.374 career batting line and 96 wRC+ through the end of the 2022 season. His defense wasn’t well regarded when he first made the big leagues but became stronger as his career progressed. Several clubs in the league are dealing with catcher injuries, so he might get a few calls, but it also seems possible he returns to the Sox to give them some non-roster depth.
As for Meidroth, he was just acquired from the Red Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet deal. He spent last year at Triple-A and hit .293/.437/.400 over 122 games. That perhaps gave him a chance to crack the big league roster out of camp but he hit just .154/.313/.179 here in the spring.
That will get him sent back to the Triple-A level to start the year but a midseason promotion should be attainable with a good stretch of play. He has spent a lot of time at the three infield spots to the left of first base and the Sox don’t have a lot of certainty in their middle infield right now, with guys like Jacob Amaya and Lenyn Sosa seemingly slated for a lot of playing time.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Cardinals’ Nick Anderson Clears Waivers, Will Report To Triple-A
March 24: Anderson was not claimed and will open the season in Triple-A Memphis. He has a straight opt-out clause (as opposed to his current upward mobility clause) on May 30, per Alexander.
March 22: Anderson will indeed be exercising his upward mobility clause tomorrow, KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports.
March 18: The Cardinals reassigned righty Nick Anderson to minor league camp, but the right-hander has an upward mobility clause in his minor league deal, reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. Effectively, that forces the Cardinals to make him available to the 29 other teams and let him go if another club is willing to place him on its 40-man roster.
More specifically, MLBTR has learned that Anderson will be available to other clubs on March 23. They’ll have 24 hours to decide whether they want to claim him and place him on the 40-man roster. If another team is willing to do so, the Cardinals will have 72 hours to counter by placing him on their own 40-man roster; if they choose not to, they have to let him go. Anderson’s deal contains a $1.1MM base salary in the big leagues.
Anderson, 34, has had a rollercoaster career. At times, he’s been flat-out dominant, as was the case in 2019-20, when he pitched 81 1/3 innings of 2.77 ERA ball with a ridiculous 42.2% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. He’s never quite recreated that success but has generally been effective when healthy. That, unfortunately, has proven to be a major caveat for the oft-injured righty.
Though he debuted in 2019 and has more than five years of MLB service, Anderson only has 158 1/3 innings of major league work under his belt. He’s been sidelined by a laundry list of injuries, including a shoulder strain, and internal brace procedure on his right ulnar collateral ligament, plantar fasciitis, a back strain and forearm inflammation. All of those injuries have occurred since 2020.
It’s been a mixed bag for Anderson this spring. He’s had a few solid outings but was tagged for four runs in one-third of an inning midway through camp. In his final appearance before being sent out to minor league camp, he gave up a pair of solo homers in an inning of work. Overall, he’s yielded eight runs on 11 hits and two walks and six strikeouts in 5 1/3 frames — a grisly 13.50 ERA. It’s a small sample that’s heavily skewed by that one particularly awful outing, but it’s still not an ideal set of results when hoping another club might come calling with a 40-man roster opportunity.
Rocky spring notwithstanding, Anderson touts a 3.18 earned run average in the majors and has paired that with plus strikeout and walk rates of 31.6% and 7.2%, respectively. If a club watched him during Grapefruit League play and felt his raw stuff outshined the small-sample run prevention numbers, it’s feasible that his track record and current health could prompt another team to take a look. His $1.1MM base salary is only $340K north of league minimum. However, because he has five-plus years of MLB service, Anderson would need to consent to be optioned with another team, which only throws another layer into the equation when weighing the possibility of adding him once he’s formally available.
Latest On Jordan Montgomery
Diamondbacks left-hander Jordan Montgomery has been a logical trade candidate for a while but remains on the club with Opening Day just around the corner. It was reported last week that talks were still ongoing, perhaps make a late spring deal seem possible. However, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports today that the Snakes have asked at least one team to take on $13MM of the lefty’s salary this year.
Perhaps that is just an aggressive bargaining position, but if that’s what the Diamondbacks are looking to unload, they are unlikely to line something up. The starting pitching market was quite aggressive early in the winter but has cooled off in recent weeks. Since the middle of February, Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana and Kyle Gibson have all signed one-year deals with guarantees between $4.25 and $5.25MM.
Montgomery theoretically has a higher ceiling than anyone in that group. From 2021 to 2023, he made 94 starts and logged 524 1/3 innings. He had a 3.48 earned run average, 22.5% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 10.3 wins above replacement for that span. He was a key part of the 2023 Rangers team that won the World Series.
Quintana had some stretches like that earlier in his career but has been more of a back-end guy in recent years. Heaney has shown some occasional flashes but never been at that level for long. Gibson has been a back-end type for most of his career.
But the reason Montgomery is available is because his 2024 season was so awful. He lingered unsigned until very late and never really got into a good groove. His results were poor enough that he eventually got bumped to the bullpen. He finished the year with a 6.23 ERA in 117 innings. Owner Ken Kendrick publicly slammed the signing, pointing the finger at himself since he encouraged the front office to pursue Montgomery.
The one-year, $25MM agreement came with a vesting player option for 2025. If the southpaw made just ten starts last year, he would unlock a $20MM player option and could bump the value to $22.5MM at 18 starts, which he did. After his rough season, he made the obvious choice to trigger the player option.
There are several clubs around the league with pitching needs after some recent injuries but it would be a shock to see any club take on $13MM of the deal. Most teams are low on remaining payroll space at this point and that $13MM figure would be more than double the Heaney/Gibson/Quintana guarantees.
As mentioned, that could have just been an opening bid and maybe the Diamondbacks are willing to budge, but it also seems possible Montgomery will start the season in long relief. They have a rotation of Zac Gallen, Corbin Burnes, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodríguez and Brandon Pfaadt. An injury could open up an opportunity for Montgomery but Ryne Nelson will also be in the mix after he posted a 3.23 ERA in the second half of last year. That will make it hard for Montgomery to get back into the rotation and in a good swing of things, which will subsequently make it difficult for him to build value as a trade candidate this summer or as a free agent this coming winter.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images
Ranger Suarez To Begin Season On Injured List; Taijuan Walker To Rejoin Rotation
March 24: Suarez will indeed open the 2025 season on the injured list, per Zolecki. Walker will be the Phillies’ fifth starter. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells the Phillies beat that Suarez could potentially pitch in the majors sometime in April if he continues his current progression with no setbacks.
March 23: Ranger Suarez has been dealing with a bad back over the last week, and it seems like the Phillies will give the left-hander some extra time to recover by placing him on the 15-day injured list to begin the season. Manager Rob Thomson more or less confirmed the move today, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted that Thomson told reporters post-game that the Phillies “expect Ranger to go on the IL,” but stated in an interview during the game that Suarez would definitively be placed on the 15-day.
The move seems largely precautionary, as Thomson said “We don’t want this thing to linger. So if we do officially IL him, we don’t think it’s going to be long.” Zolecki notes that Suarez might just miss a single start if he spends only the 15-day minimum on the sidelines, due to the three-day backdating available for IL placements and the fact that the Phillies have three off-days within the first 12 days of the regular season.
Back problems hampered Suarez last year, effectively bifurcating what initially seemed like a breakout season for the left-hander. Suarez had a sparkling 1.83 ERA over his first 98 1/3 innings of the 2024 campaign, and then a 6.54 ERA in his final 52 1/3 innings once his back started causing problems. Suarez skipped the All-Star Game to spend the break resting his back, but Philadelphia ended up placing him on the 15-day IL anyway, which kept Suarez out of action for a month.
This early-season IL trip might well help Suarez get in front of any injury problems early, as trying to pitch through his bad back might’ve only worsened the issue last year. The Phillies aren’t really losing much by resting him early, plus Taijuan Walker is on hand to step into the rotation.
Walker has looked good for much of Spring Training, though his last start saw the Yankees tee off for six earned runs over 3 2/3 innings of work from the right-hander. As always, spring results aren’t necessarily as important as process, and Zolecki writes that Walker’s four-seamer has added over three miles miles per hours of added velocity, plus Walker’s splitter has also looked better. In a sense, there’s nowhere to go but up for Walker after a dismal 2024 season that saw him post a 7.10 ERA in 83 2/3 innings.
Offseason In Review: Seattle Mariners
Despite some glaring needs for offense, the Mariners only ended up tinkering a bit with their lineup after a pretty quiet offseason.
Major League Signings
- Jorge Polanco, 2B/3B: One year, $7.75MM (including $750K buyout of $8MM mutual option for 2026, converts to $6MM player option if Polanco has 450 PA in 2025, and $8MM player option if Polanco has 550 PA in 2025)
- Donovan Solano, IF: One year, $3.5MM
2025 spending: $11.25MM
Total spending: $11.25MM
Option Decisions
- Mitch Haniger, OF: Exercised $15.5MM player option for 2025
- Jorge Polanco, 2B/3B: Mariners declined $12MM club option for 2025, paid Polanco $750K buyout
Trades & Claims
- Acquired RP Casey Legumina from Reds for cash considerations
- Acquired IF/OF Miles Mastrobuoni from Cubs for cash considerations
- Acquired IF Austin Shenton from Rays for cash considerations
- Acquired RP Will Klein from Athletics for international bonus pool money
- Acquired minor league C Blake Hunt from Orioles for cash considerations
- Acquired minor league RP Michael Hobbs from Mets for cash considerations
- Claimed RP Hagen Danner off waivers from Blue Jays
- Claimed minor league C Nick Raposo off waivers from Blue Jays (later outrighted off 40-man roster)
Notable Minor League Signings
- Rowdy Tellez, Trevor Gott, Josh Fleming, Adonis Medina, Shintaro Fujinami, Casey Lawrence, Garrett Hill, Jacob Nottingham, Jack Lopez, Jhonathan Diaz, Luis F. Castillo, Neftali Feliz (released), Drew Pomeranz (released), Jesse Hahn (released)
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Haniger, Justin Turner, Yimi Garcia, Josh Rojas, Luis Urias, Sam Haggerty, Austin Voth, JT Chargois
After a few months of scouring the free agent and trade markets for a replacement for second baseman Jorge Polanco, the Mariners ended up signing....third baseman Jorge Polanco, brought back on a one-year deal worth $7.75MM in guaranteed money, and with a vesting option that could guarantee Polanco at least $6MM in 2026. Polanco has played the vast majority of his nine MLB seasons as a middle infielder, but he does have 24 games of experience as a third baseman, with 15 of those games coming as recently as the 2023 season when he was still a member of the Twins.
Polanco's defensive metrics as a second baseman were mostly subpar, and his lack of a strong throwing arm raises questions about how well he'll translate to the hot corner. However, the bigger issue might be whether or not Polanco can rebound from a rough year at the plate. The infielder hit only .213/.296/.355 over 469 plate appearances with Seattle in 2024, while also missing a month due to a hamstring strain, and undergoing surgery in October to correct a lingering left knee problem.
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Yankees Sign Ryan Yarbrough
10:57am: The Yankees have formally announced the contract. Gil was placed on the 60-day IL to open a roster spot for Yarbrough.
9:45am: Yarbrough is guaranteed $2MM on the deal and can earn another $250K via incentives, ESPN’s Jorge Castillo reports. Since the Yankees are in the top tier of luxury penalization, that comes with a 110% tax. Yarbrough will cost them a total of $4.2MM.
9:16am: The Yankees and free agent left-hander Ryan Yarbrough have agreed to a major league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Excel Sports client opted out of a minor league deal with the division-rival Blue Jays over the weekend and was granted his release.
Yarbrough, 33, has spent the bulk of his career in the AL East, most of it with the Rays, for whom he pitched from 2018-22. He spent about half the 2024 season with the Jays, pitching well after coming over in a trade with the Dodgers. Yarbrough logged 31 1/3 frames with Toronto and notched a pristine 2.01 ERA with a 22.2% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate.
Yarbrough finished the ’24 season with a career-low 3.19 ERA in 98 2/3 innings, but that came with a paltry 16.3% strikeout rate and one of the tamest fastballs in the sport — averaging just 86.5 mph, per Statcast. Yarbrough sat 89-90 mph as a starter early in his career, but like new teammate Tim Hill, is now more reliant on an unusual delivery and soft contact. Yarbrough rarely allows hard contact (29.4%) and has plus command that helps him offset his lack of missed bats.
That reliance on soft contact does lead to some year-to-year inconsistencies in Yarbrough’s ERA, but the cumulative results have been solid. In 768 big league innings, Yarbrough has a 4.21 earned run average with an 18.7% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. His history as a starter and more recent track record as a multi-inning reliever — last year’s 98 2/3 frames came in 44 appearances — surely held appeal to a Yankees club that has seen its rotation plagued by injuries this spring. Yarbrough probably won’t step into the rotation at any point, but he’s a nice long man to have on hand at a time when rotation depth is thinner than expected. His addition on a big league deal likely pushes waiver claim and fellow southpaw Brent Headrick to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the season.
The Yankees will need to open a 40-man roster spot to make Yarbrough’s deal official, though given that just-mentioned slate of injuries, that shouldn’t be an issue. Gerrit Cole was already moved to the 60-day IL when the team selected Carlos Carrasco‘s contract over the weekend, but the Yankees still have multiple 60-day IL candidates. Luis Gil will miss months due to a lat strain, and while an exact timetable for Giancarlo Stanton‘s return from tendon injuries in both elbows, it doesn’t seem like he’s a candidate to make his 2025 debut anytime soon.
Ryan Borucki Expected To Make Pirates’ Roster; DJ Stewart Unlikely To Make Team, Has Opt-Out Clause
10:34am: Mlodzinski will begin the season in the Pirates’ rotation, Shelton announced to the team’s beat this morning (via Stumpf).
10:25am: Left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki, who’s in camp with the Pirates on a minor league deal, is expected to make the roster, reports Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. Outfielder DJ Stewart, another Pirates non-roster invitee, is not expected to make the team and has an opt-out clause in his contract today, Stumpf adds. Meanwhile, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that pitching prospect Thomas Harrington is expected to open the season in the minors, though he’s yet to be reassigned to minor league camp and is still slated to pitch today’s game.
Borucki, 31 next week, had a terrific 2023 season in Pittsburgh (2.45 ERA in 40 1/3 innings) but struggled through an injury-wrecked 2024 campaign. He signed a $1.6MM deal to avoid arbitration last winter and started strong but landed on the injured list in April due to a triceps issue. He ended up missing five months and was jumped for seven runs in just 7 2/3 innings upon returning.
This spring, Borucki has looked far more like the 2023 version of himself. He’s tossed 8 2/3 frames and held opponents to one run on five hits and five walks with a dozen punchouts. That 13.9% walk rate is obviously discouraging, but Borucki has typically shown strong command, and the 33.3% strikeout rate he’s notched thus far carries some weight as well.
Borucki will be one of at least three lefties in Derek Shelton’s bullpen. Pittsburgh signed Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza to one-year deals worth $3MM and $1.15MM, respectively, in free agency this winter. They’re both set. Southpaw Joey Wentz is still in camp as well. He’s out of minor league options. Wentz pitched well after being acquired from the Tigers late last season and has had a big spring, yielding a pair of runs on nine hits with a 12-to-3 K/BB ratio in 8 2/3 innings.
Stewart, 31, has had a decent showing this spring but seems ticketed to be granted his release. The lefty-swinging former first-rounder (Orioles, 2015) slashed .250/.348/.450 in 46 plate appearances but needed a .391 average on balls in play to get there. Stewart hit only one home run during camp and went down on strikes in 34.8% of his plate appearances.
Stewart had a big year with the Mets as recently as 2023, when he slashed .244/.333/.506 with 11 homers in only 185 trips to the plate. However, that’s an outlier relative to the rest of his career, and he followed it up with a .177/.325/.297 output and just five homers in a very similarly sized sample (194 plate appearances) in 2024.
Assuming he indeed opts out, Stewart can seek new opportunities elsewhere. He’ll be an option for clubs looking for some left-handed pop in the outfield corners or at first base (though his experience there is much, much more limited). Stewart strikes out too often but draws plenty of walks and has shown 25- to 30-homer power. Dating back to 2020, he’s batting .205/.329/.396 with 35 long balls, a 13.5% walk rate and a 28.7% strikeout rate in 812 plate appearances.
Harrington, 23, is one of the Pirates’ top minor league arms. A potential path to a rotation spot opened up last week when Jared Jones‘ start was skipped due to an ominous elbow issue. It’s still not clear how things will play out with Jones, who at last update was seeking a second opinion. Harrington’s apparent omission from the roster could be a sign that there was good news with regard to Jones or that the Bucs will simply open the season with four starters and use the early off days to skip the fifth spot in the rotation. Pittsburgh could also give the rotation nod to righty Carmen Mlodzinski, who’s been stretching out this spring and remains in camp. Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter are in the top four spots. Top prospect Bubba Chandler was already reassigned to minor league camp a couple weeks back.
The Pirates will need to open a 40-man roster spot for Borucki. He’ll earn the same $1.15MM as Mayza once his contract is formally selected. The Bucs don’t have a clear 60-day IL candidate, barring bad news on Jones. First baseman Spencer Horwitz is on the mend from wrist surgery, but that early-February procedure came with a recovery timetable of six to eight weeks, so there’s a decent chance he won’t be out long enough to require such a lengthy IL stay.
Buddy Kennedy Will Not Make Phillies’ Roster
The Phillies have made a decision on their final bench spot. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski informed reporters, including Matt Gelb of The Athletic, that Kody Clemens made the team. This means that Buddy Kennedy, who is out of options, will not. Dombrowski says that there’s a bit of trade interest for Kennedy and they will try to work out a swap, but he’ll be designated for assignment on Thursday if they can’t work something out.
Like essentially all clubs, the Phils are expected to carry 13 pitchers on their roster, the maximum allowed. That means there are 13 spots for position players, leaving a four-man bench behind the nine regulars. One of those spots will go to backup catcher Rafael Marchán. With the Phils expected to platoon Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas in center, one of them will take another spot. Edmundo Sosa had another locked down by his ability to provide strong defense around the infield, while also kicking in some roughly average offense. Marchán and Sosa are both out of options.
That left Clemens and Kennedy battling for the final spot. Since both of them are out of options as well, whoever didn’t get picked would end up off the roster entirely. Neither player has hit much in the big leagues thus far. Clemens has a .200/.246/.373 batting line and Kennedy has hit .203/.295/.313. Those leads to respective wRC+ numbers of 68 and 72. Both have hit better in the minors but neither is a guarantee to produce in the bigs.
Defensively, the two have fairly similar skill sets. Both have played all around the infield but neither is really considered a viable shortstop. Both have significant second base innings in the minors, with Kennedy playing a bit more third and Clemens a bit more at first.
That put them on roughly even footing coming into camp, but Clemens has had the better showing in recent weeks. Spring stats are always to be taken with a grain of salt but Clemens has a line of .308/.357/.500, compared to Kennedy’s .162/.347/.432 showing. Kennedy also hits right-handed, the same as Sosa, while Clemens gives the club another left-handed bat.
Though Kennedy is getting squeezed off the Philly roster, he could find interest elsewhere. Dombrowski says they’ve been getting some calls, which lines up with Kennedy’s popularity on the waiver wire. In late 2023 and early 2024, he went from the Diamondbacks to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers via waiver claims. He got nudged off Detroit’s roster in June and flipped to the Phillies for cash.
As mentioned, he can bounce around to various different positions. While his bat still hasn’t clicked in the majors, he put up a line of .290/.404/.456 in the minors over the past two years, with that production translating to a 121 wRC+. He has less than a year of service time. Though he’s out of options, any club willing to give him a roster spot would therefore gain six potential years of control.
Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images
Montero, Okert Will Make Astros’ Roster; Singleton Will Not
Veteran right-hander Rafael Montero has made the Astros’ Opening Day roster, reports Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2. Lefty Steven Okert has also made the cut, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Righty Luis Contreras has also made the club, per Alexander. Lefty Bryan King will also break camp, while non-roster righty Logan VanWey will head to Triple-A. McTaggart adds that first baseman Jon Singleton has been informed that he will not make the team. Both Montero and Okert were non-roster invitees in camp, meaning both will need to be selected to the 40-man roster.
Yesterday’s release of Ben Gamel opened one vacancy on the 40-man for the Astros, and it seems another will be created by designating Singleton for assignment, trading him or releasing him. Singleton is on the 40-man roster but out of minor league options, so one way or another he’ll be coming off between now and Opening Day. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he could potentially remain with the organization by accepting an outright assignment — but he’d also have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.
Montero, 34, is in the final season of an ill-fated three-year, $34.5MM deal signed when the Astros were operating without a general manager in place. Owner Jim Crane and advisor Jeff Bagwell were reported to be running baseball operations at the time, having parted ways with James Click following the 2022 season. That period produced regrettable agreements with both Montero and the since-released Jose Abreu, to whom the ‘Stros still owe $19.5MM this season.
Montero’s deal quickly blew up in similar fashion to that of Abreu. He pitched to a 5.08 ERA in 2023, allowing an average of 1.47 homers per nine frames along the way, and was tagged for a 4.70 mark in 38 1/3 innings in 2024, proving even more homer-prone that season. Houston passed Montero through waivers last summer, and he opted to accept a minor league assignment despite the fact that he could’ve elected free agency and retained his entire salary.
The hard-throwing Montero will now return to Houston’s bullpen, at least for the start of the season. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and seven walks with 10 strikeouts in 8 2/3 spring innings. Statistically speaking, Montero didn’t have the best spring of Astros NRIs (particularly with regard to that 18.4% walk rate), but the Astros are paying him $11.5MM regardless, so they’ll try to recoup some value and hope he can trend closer to his outstanding 2022 form.
Okert, 33, is another story entirely. He signed a minor league deal back in November and promptly gave the ‘Stros no choice but to carry him on the roster. In 11 spring frames, Okert held opponents scoreless. The veteran southpaw allowed only four baserunners — two hits, two walks — and fanned 17 of the 36 batters he faced (47.2%). His minor league deal carries a $1.2MM base salary.
Okert was a productive reliever with the Marlins in 2022-23 but struggled through 35 1/3 innings with the Twins in 2024. His lone season in Minnesota resulted in a 5.09 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate (second-lowest of his career) and 10% walk rate. On top of a diminished strikeout rate and shaky command, Okert yielded a career-high 1.53 HR/9.
The 28-year-old Contreras, like Okert, made it hard for the Astros to leave him off the roster. He’s already on the 40-man and could’ve been optioned, but he rattled off 9 2/3 shutout frames during camp, fanning 32.5% of his opponents. His 10% walk rate could stand to come down, but if Contreras can continue to miss bats at that level, he could get by with a higher-than average rate of dishing out free passes. He made his big league debut for Houston last year but was tagged for six runs in six innings. His strong spring will earn him another look, though.
As for Singleton, this wave of decisions will cost him his 40-man roster spot. The former top prospect returned to the Astros in 2023 after a brief appearance with the Brewers. That MLB comeback came on the heels of an eight-year absence. He wound up serving as Houston’s primary first baseman in 2024, after the club cut Abreu. Singleton hit .234/.321/.386 and popped 13 home runs but struggled with the glove and on the basepaths. He hit just .171/.239/.195 in 46 spring plate appearances. Those struggles, plus the offseason signing of Christian Walker to play first base, left Singleton with a tough path to the roster and a limited role if he’d made it.