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Andrew Knapp

Tigers, Andrew Knapp Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers are in agreement on a minor league contract with Andrew Knapp, as first reported by Complete Baseball News. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press further reports that Knapp’s minor league deal contains an invite to Major League Spring Training. Knapp is repped by Apex Baseball.

The 2022 season was a rough one for Knapp, who posted just a .128/.239/.154 batting line while splitting time between the Pirates, Mariners and Giants. That came in a tiny sample of just 46 plate appearances, however, and his combined .245/.313/.486 output in 230 Triple-A plate appearances between the Mariners and Giants was far better. Current Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris was still with the Giants as their general manager when Knapp signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last July.

Knapp, a former second-round pick (Phillies, 2013), has racked up more than five years of big league service while spending parts of six seasons in the Majors. He’s a career .209/.310/.313 hitter in the big leagues and a .257/.328/.415 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons. Knapp has struggled with a 19% caught-stealing rate and sub-par framing metrics in the Majors, but he’s nabbed 31% of those who’ve attempted to steal against him in the minors — including a strong 8-for-18 showing (44%) in Triple-A Sacramento in 2022.

The Tigers currently have Eric Haase and Jake Rogers as their primary catching options, though Haase has struggled defensively himself and Rogers missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery. Detroit also picked up Mario Feliciano off waivers from the Brewers last month and is still hopeful that 2020 second-round pick Dillon Dingler can force his way into the picture eventually. Dingler hit .238/.333/.419 (107 wRC+) in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2022.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Giants Outright Andrew Knapp

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Sept. 9: Knapp went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Given his Major League service time, he’ll have the ability to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.

Sept. 6: The Giants announced they’ve designated catcher Andrew Knapp for assignment. The move clears a spot on the active roster for Joey Bart, who has been reinstated from the concussion injured list.

It’s the reversal of a move from a week ago, when Knapp was selected to the majors when Bart first went on the IL. He made three appearances with San Francisco, collecting a single and a pair of walks in seven trips to the plate. It was a decent showing in that exceptionally limited look, but Knapp has just a .128/.239/.154 line in 16 games between the Pirates, Mariners and Giants this season. The switch-hitting backstop owns a .209/.310/.313 mark through parts of six big league seasons — all of which came with the Phillies before he’s donned a number of uniforms this year.

While he has not made a huge offensive impact as a big leaguer, Knapp has a solid track record in the minors. He’s a .261/.330/.426 hitter across 670 career plate appearances in Triple-A. A former second-round pick, he’s drawn a fair bit of interest this season as a depth option with clubs always on the hunt for experienced catching help.

The Giants will place Knapp on waivers in the next few days. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment and again set out to minor league free agency.

Giants Select Andrew Knapp, Designate Andrew Vasquez

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The Giants have selected catcher Andrew Knapp to their roster, tweets Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News. Utility player Yermin Mercedes was optioned to make room on the active roster. To open a space on the 40-man roster, left-hander Andrew Vasquez was designated for assignment.

The Giants are in need of another catching option due to Joey Bart leaving Monday’s game after suffering a concussion. He was placed on the seven-day concussion IL yesterday with Yermin Mercedes being recalled in a corresponding move. Mercedes is more of an emergency catcher these days, however, as he’s only donned the tools of ignorance for one inning in the majors this year and eight in Triple-A. With Austin Wynns likely to become the primary catcher in Bart’s absence, the Giants could use a veteran backstop on hand in order for Wynns to get the occasional day off. As such, Knapp will step in with Mercedes heading back to the minors.

Knapp, 30, was a second-round draft pick of the Phillies and spent the first five years of his career there. From 2017 to 2021, he hit .214/.314/.322. A switch-hitter, he’s generally been better as a lefty against right-handed pitchers, though he’s been subpar on each side. He has a 54 wRC+ against lefties and a 73 against righties.

He was outrighted by the Phillies at the end of last season and has leaned into journeyman status since then. He signed a minors deal with the Reds in December but didn’t make the Opening Day roster. He was released and signed with the Pirates, getting designated for assignment after over a month with the Bucs. He then signed a minors deal with the Mariners, eventually getting called up and spending about two weeks with them before getting designated again and landing with the Giants on another minors deal. Between all those transactions, he’s hit .114/.205/.143 in 13 big league games but .259/.316/.540 in 47 Triple-A games.

Vasquez, 28, has seen very scattered MLB action in his career, logging 13 1/3 innings since the start of the 2018 season. He began this year by signing a big league deal with the Blue Jays, though spent most of his time optioned to Triple-A. He lost his spot on the 40-man roster at the end of August as the Jays made other acquisitions, landing with the Phillies on waivers. The Phillies also kept him in the minors, designating him for assignment two weeks later. The Giants followed the same playbook, claiming him off waivers and sending him to Triple-A before designated him a couple of weeks later. Across those three organizations, he’s thrown 19 1/3 Triple-A innings on the year with a 1.86 ERA, 36.5% strikeout rate and 4.1% walk rate. Given those solid results and the fact that left-handed relief is always in demand, it seems like a decent bet he’ll find interest on the waiver wire.

Giants, Andrew Knapp Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Andrew Knapp, MLBTR has confirmed. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted last night that the Giants “might be” adding Knapp and sending him to Triple-A Sacramento.

This will be the fourth organization of the year for Knapp, who was in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee with the Reds but exercised an out in his deal in order to sign a Major League contract with the Pirates. Pittsburgh designated Knapp for assignment in mid-May, after which he elected free agency and inked a minor league deal with the Mariners. Seattle selected Knapp to the big league roster late last month and then designated him for assignment two weeks later. Knapp again rejected an outright in favor of a return to the market, and he’ll now head to the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento.

Knapp, 30, is plenty familiar with Giants skipper Gabe Kapler, dating back to the pair’s days together in Philadelphia. The Phillies selected Knapp with the No. 53 overall draft pick back in 2013, and he went on to spend parts of five seasons as their backup catcher (two of which were under Kapler, in 2018-19). The switch-hitting Knapp appeared in 309 games over that half-decade run in Philly, batting a combined .214/.314/.322 through 827 trips to the plate. He’s hitting just .114/.205/.143 this year, but that’s in a minuscule sample of 39 plate appearances. He’s also spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a .252/.322/.389 hitter.

Catching depth became an unexpected area of need for the Giants when Buster Posey abruptly retired on the heels of last year’s sensational rebound campaign. Posey’s age-34 season saw the former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP turn the clock back with a .304/.390/.499 batting line — his most-productive season since 2014. Posey’s decision to retire on a high note prompted the Giants to turn things over to former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart, but Bart has yet to fully find his stride in the Majors.

The 25-year-old Bart is hitting just .185/.307/.361 this season, although he recently returned from a June demotion to Sacramento and showed some improvement in 32 plate appearances leading into the All-Star break. Curt Casali, Austin Wynns, Michael Papierski an Yermin Mercedes have seen time behind the plate as well (just one inning in Mercedes’ case). On the whole, Giants catchers are hitting just .203/.303/.355 in 2022.

With Casali on the injured list due to an oblique strain, Papierski now in Cincinnati following a waiver claim, and Mercedes being more an option at first base/DH than at catcher, the Giants are light on healthy, experienced catchers. Bart and Wynns figure to continue handling the bulk of the workload for now, but Knapp will give them some additional cover in the event of further injuries.

Andrew Knapp Elects Free Agency

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The Mariners announced that catcher Andrew Knapp has elected minor league free agency after passing through outright waivers unclaimed. Seattle designated him for assignment over the weekend.

Knapp’s stay with the Mariners proved quite brief. Seattle added the switch-hitting backstop on a non-roster deal in late May. He spent a bit more than a month with Triple-A Tacoma, hitting .198/.250/.432 with four home runs through 88 plate appearances. The Mariners added him to the major league team during the final week of June upon losing Luis Torrens to the injured list, but they let Knapp go once Torrens returned to health.

The 2022 season has been a bit of a roller-coaster for Knapp, who has appeared with three different organizations. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds during the offseason and spent Spring Training with Cincinnati. Knapp triggered an opt-out clause after failing to make the team out of Spring Training, and he quickly landed a big league deal with the Pirates thereafter. He appeared in 11 games with Pittsburgh before the Bucs DFA him, and he only suited up twice at the MLB level for the Mariners.

Before this year, Knapp had spent his entire career with the Phillies. The former second-round pick appeared in five seasons with Philadelphia, generally in a backup capacity. He hit .214/.314/.322 over that stretch, but he owns a more tenable .252/.322/.389 line through four years in Triple-A. Knapp has never been an impact offensive player in the upper levels, but he shouldn’t have much trouble finding a minor league spot again with teams always on the lookout for experienced catching depth.

Mariners Announce Six Roster Moves

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Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) about a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game with the Blue Jays, including catcher Luis Torrens being activated from the 10-day injured list.  Torrens joins minor league callups Matt Brash and Matt Festa as new faces on Seattle’s roster, while right-hander Ken Giles was placed on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation, catcher Andrew Knapp was designated for assignment, and right-hander Erik Swanson was placed on the paternity list.

Left shoulder inflammation sent Torrens to the IL back on June 27, so he’ll return after missing only just beyond the 10-day minimum.  The Mariners were hoping Torrens’ good numbers in 2021 meant he was ready to take a step forward as a part-time DH and catcher this season, but he has struggled to a .222/.280/.241 slash line over 118 plate appearances.  Cal Raleigh has started to emerge as a solid regular starter behind the plate, and Tom Murphy is gone for the season due to shoulder surgery, so there would seemingly be room for Torrens to remain as the backup catcher for the remainder of the year.

Seattle selected Knapp’s contract when Torrens hit the injured list, and Knapp has appeared in two games in a Mariners uniform.  Due to Knapp’s service time and the fact that he has been outrighted off a 40-man roster in the past, he has the freedom to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate — Knapp already chose free agency when the Pirates DFA’ed him in May, which paved the way for Knapp to sign with the Mariners.  It remains to be seen if Knapp will become a free agent again, or if he’ll choose to remain at Triple-A Tacoma (assuming he clears DFA waivers) as a depth option.

After missing all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery, Giles then suffered a strained tendon in his right middle finger that delayed his M’s debut until June 21.  The veteran reliever has allowed no runs and only one hit over 4 1/3 innings of work, albeit with four walks in that small sample size.  Unfortunately for Giles, he’ll now be sidelined again with this latest injury.

Brash and Festa will look to fill the holes in Seattle’s bullpen, and Brash is making his return to the big leagues in a new relief role.  Beginning the year as a starting pitcher, the former top-100 prospect posted a 7.65 ERA over five starts and 20 innings, recording almost as many walks (17) as strikeouts (19).  The Mariners made the aggressive decision to promote Brash to the majors without any time spent at Triple-A, so Brash got his first taste of the top minor league level when the M’s demoted him in May and then converted him to relief pitching.

The results have thus far been impressive.  Over his last 17 innings, Brash has posted a 1.59 ERA, a whopping 37.9% strikeout rate, and only a 7.57% walk rate.  The hard-throwing Brash has the stuff to be a dominant reliever on paper, should he keep his past control problems in check.

Mariners Select Andrew Knapp

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The Mariners selected catcher Andrew Knapp onto the big league roster before tonight’s matchup with the Orioles. Fellow backstop Luis Torrens is headed to the 10-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Seattle already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

Knapp signed a minor league contract with the M’s last month. He’s played at Triple-A Tacoma since then, putting up only a .198/.250/.432 line in 22 games. The switch-hitting backstop also didn’t provide much offense during a brief early-season run with the Pirates, and he’s coming off a .152/.215/.214 showing over 159 plate appearances with the Phillies last year. Aside from an excellent 33-game stretch with Philadelphia in 2020, Knapp has been a below-average offensive player. He owns a .210/.310/.315 line in parts of six MLB seasons.

Despite those struggles at the plate, the 30-year-old gets the call to add some depth behind the dish. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that Torrens was injured during yesterday’s fracas between the Mariners and Angels — one which resulted in the handing down of 12 suspensions. Torrens wasn’t among the players disciplined, but he’ll have his own brawl-induced absence from the playing field.

Seattle has already been without Tom Murphy, and Torrens’ injury left Cal Raleigh as the only healthy catcher on the 40-man roster. The M’s had no alternative but to add a #2 option, and they’ll turn to the veteran Knapp in that role. The club didn’t provide a recovery timetable for Torrens, who is hitting .222/.280/.241 on the season.

Mariners Sign Andrew Knapp To Minors Contract

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The Mariners signed catcher Andrew Knapp to a minor league deal yesterday, Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto reports (Twitter link).  Knapp made his debut with the Triple-A Rainiers today, hitting a home run.

After spending his first nine pro seasons in the Phillies organization, Knapp is now on his third new team since December.  Knapp signed a minors deal with the Reds in the offseason but was released at the end of Spring Training, and the veteran backstop then caught on with the Pirates.  This resulted in 11 games for Pittsburgh before the Bucs designated Knapp for assignment last week, which led Knapp to opt for free agency rather than an outright assignment to the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate.

Tom Murphy recently suffered a setback in his recovery from a separated shoulder, so with Murphy’s timeline unclear, it isn’t surprising that the Mariners have now added another catcher.  Cal Raleigh and Luis Torrens are the two catchers on the big league roster, and Knapp will provide some veteran depth at Triple-A should another injury arise.

Knapp has hit only .210/.310/.315 over 862 MLB plate appearances, spending much of his career in a part-time or backup capacity with the Phillies.  With Raleigh and Torrens both struggling badly at the plate, it probably isn’t likely that Knapp will be seen as a replacement unless the Mariners decide that Raleigh needs more time in the minors.  (Torrens is out of minor league options.)

Andrew Knapp Elects Free Agency

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Catcher Andrew Knapp has cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Knapp had been designated for assignment by the Pirates a few days ago. Players can reject outright assignments and elect free agency if they have been previously outrighted in their careers or have more than five years of MLB service time. Knapp fits both of those categories, allowing him to return to the open market.

Knapp, 30, was signed by the Reds to a minor league deal this winter but didn’t make the team out of Spring Training. After being granted his release, he very quickly latched on with the Pirates to serve as the backup behind Roberto Perez. The switch-hitting Knapp got into 11 games with the Bucs but hit just .210/.310/.315, for a wRC+ of 23.

Perez recently underwent season-ending hamstring surgery, forcing the club to figure out a new plan for who would handle the receiving duties in Pittsburgh. Michael Perez had his contract selected and then the team claimed Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Blue Jays, with Knapp getting nudged out as part of the latter move.

Knapp will now be free to communicate with all 30 clubs and figure out his preferred next step. Over 320 career games, he’s hit .210/.310/.315 for a wRC+ of 70. That’s 30% below league average for all hitters, though backup catchers who can hit at a league-average rate are few and far between. The fact that he can hit from both sides of the plate could perhaps help him find a job with a team whose primary catcher has a notable platoon split.

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