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Anthony Castro

Nationals Sign Matt Adams, Three Others To Minor League Deals

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The Nationals announced Wednesday morning that they’ve signed first baseman Matt Adams, infielder Travis Blankenhorn, and righties Tommy Romero and Anthony Castro to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training.

It’s a D.C. reunion for Adams, who won a World Series ring with the 2019 Nationals as a key bench bat for manager Dave Martinez. The now-34-year-old Adams appeared in 111 games that season, offsetting a huge strikeout rate (34.5%) and paltry OBP (.276) with some substantial power contributions: 20 home runs and 14 doubles, despite tallying just 333 plate appearances.

Adams has scarcely appeared in the big leagues since, totaling just 91 plate appearances between the Braves (2020) and Rockies (2021) with a combined .176/.231/.282 slash to show for it. Adams was out of affiliated ball entirely in 2022 but spent the bulk of the season with the Kansas City Monarchs of the independent American Association, for whom he slugged 27 home runs in just 367 plate appearances while turning in a .248/.327/.554 batting line.

Power has long been a part of “Big City’s” game, as he’s thrice had a 20-homer season with fewer than 400 plate appearances. Dating back to his 2012 debut with the Cardinals, Adams is a career .258/.306/.463 hitter, although those numbers are skewed by some dismal performances against left-handed pitching (career .210/.241/.378). When holding the platoon advantage, the lefty-swinging Adams is a .268/.320/.481 hitter. He’ll compete for a part-time first base/DH role this spring.

Romero, too, will be returning for a second stint with the Nats. The 25-year-old landed in Washington via waivers earlier this season and made one start late in the year, during which he yielded six earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings. Romero, however, was a fairly well-regarded arm with the Rays organization as recently as last offseason and enjoyed a solid showing between the Triple-A affiliates for the Rays and Nats: 3.24 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate in 86 innings. He can serve as either rotation or bullpen depth for a Nationals staff that is teeming with uncertainty.

The 27-year-old Castro has pitched in the Majors in each of the past three seasons, showing promising life on his fastball and an ability to miss bats but also struggling with command — particularly as it pertains to home runs. Castro has a 6.00 ERA in 39 big league frames, due largely to an mammoth average of 2.31 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. His heater averaged 95.2 mph in 2022 with the Guardians, and he’s fanned a quarter of the opponents he’s faced in the Majors, but throwing strikes (10.6% walk rate) and avoiding the middle of the plate on the strikes he does throw have both proven challenging.

Castro has a 3.19 ERA in two Triple-A seasons and has punched out 30.2% of his opponents at that level. He’s out of minor league options, so if he’s added to the big league roster at any point, he can’t be sent back to the minors without first passing through waivers.

Blankenhorn, 26, was a third-round pick by the Twins in 2015 and has been a fairly consistent hitter in the upper minors, topping out with a .260/.347/.462 batting line in 598 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s played primarily third base and second base in his pro career but has more recently begun to see time at first base and in the outfield corners. Blankenhorn is just 5-for-29 in a tiny sample of MLB time between the Twins and Mets. He’ll compete for a bench job in Spring Training and otherwise give the Nats a relatively versatile defender and lefty bat to stash in Triple-A for the 2023 season.

15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Orioles Outright Anthony Castro

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that reliever Anthony Castro has gone unclaimed on waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. The right-hander has previously cleared outright waivers in his career, giving him the right to refuse the assignment and elect minor league free agency.

It’s likely the 27-year-old will indeed set out onto the open market in search of a new opportunity. Castro never suited up at the big league level with the Orioles, with Baltimore nabbing him off waivers from the Guardians in early September. He spent the final month of the season on optional assignment to Norfolk, making eight appearances with the Tides without getting an MLB look. Baltimore designated him for assignment last week to free a 40-man spot for catcher Anthony Bemboom, who otherwise would’ve qualified for minor league free agency.

Castro did make 13 MLB outings with Cleveland this year, but the results weren’t what the club envisioned when they acquired him in an Opening Day swap with the Blue Jays. Castro allowed 15 runs (11 earned) in 13 1/3 innings, surrendering five home runs while walking ten batters. He averaged 94.8 MPH on his four-seam and 84.4 MPH on a slider that served as his primary pitch, but the home runs and control issues plagued him at the big league level. He only surrendered two longballs in 38 innings of Triple-A work this year, but he walked an untenable 15.4% of batters faced there.

The control issues were worrisome enough Castro went unclaimed on waivers, but he’s likely to find some minor league offers this winter (assuming he indeed elects free agency). He’s punched out more than a quarter of opponents in 39 career big league innings, and he owns a 3.19 ERA through 48 Triple-A frames. The Venezuela native figures to get a Spring Training opportunity heading into 2023.

Orioles Select Anthony Bemboom, Designate Anthony Castro

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The Baltimore Orioles have begun their offseason quickly, selecting catcher Anthony Bemboom from Triple-A Norfolk and designating right-hander Anthony Castro for assignment.

Bemboom joined the Orioles on a minor league contract in the offseason, making the Opening Day roster for the 2022 season before being designated for assignment with the arrival of Adley Rutschman. He passed through waivers unclaimed and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk where he spent the rest of the season.

Bemboom had a poor showing in his limited time in the Majors this season, slashing .115/.207/.212 in 52 at-bats for a .418 OPS and throwing out three of eight runners attempting to steal.  This production was nothing unusual for the 32-year-old, with Bemboom posting a combined .160/.231/.265 slash line in 181 at-bats over parts of four seasons. In Norfolk, Bemboom produced a marginally better .228/.292/.350 line in 123 at-bats, but he is a career .247/.340/.392/.732 hitter in Triple-A.

This transaction prevents Bemboom from becoming a minor league free agent, and, with just over one year of Major League service time, the Orioles can retain him as a cheap backup to their star catcher if they keep him on the 40-man roster all winter. Current backup Robinson Chirinos is a pending free agent, and recent waiver claim Cam Gallagher is a non-tender candidate.

Castro joined the Orioles off waivers from the Guardians on September 3rd and was sent straight to Triple-A, not appearing at the Major League level with the Orioles. Nevertheless, he has pitched in each of the last three MLB seasons, all with different teams — the Tigers in 2020, the Blue Jays in 2021, and the Guardians in 2022.

In 2022 with the Guardians, Castro pitched to a 7.43 ERA in 13 1/3 innings with a poor 18.5% strikeout rate and a high 15.4% walk rate. Castro has had more success in Triple-A Norfolk, authoring a 2.16 ERA in 8 1/3 innings, striking out eight but walking eight. Castro will hit the waiver wire in the next couple days. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll be eligible for minor league free agency this winter and will likely sign another minor league deal with a Spring Training opportunity.

Orioles Claim Anthony Castro, Designate Phoenix Sanders

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Anthony Castro has been claimed off waivers from the Guardians, and subsequently optioned to Triple-A.  Right-hander Phoenix Sanders was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.  In addition, Baltimore outrighted infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A, as Martin cleared waivers after being designated earlier this week.

Castro has pitched in each of the last three MLB seasons, all with different teams — the Tigers in 2020, the Blue Jays in 2021, and the Guardians in 2022.  Cleveland acquired Castro from Toronto for Bradley Zimmer back in April, and Castro ended up posting a 7.43 ERA over 13 1/3 relief innings in the majors.

Within that small sample size, Castro issued 10 walks and allowed five home runs.  Control has been a persistent problem for Castro throughout his nine pro seasons, though at least at the minor league level, Castro has been able to mitigate a lot of those free passes due to some solid strikeout rates and grounder rates that routinely sit above the 50% threshold.  Over 596 1/3 minor league innings, Castro has a 3.47 ERA.

Between these decent numbers and a mid-90s fastball, Castro drew the Orioles’ interest, and he’ll now provide some extra bullpen depth for the surprise contenders.  He’ll take the place of Sanders, who was himself a waiver claim off the Rays roster less than two weeks ago.

Sanders has yet to see any Major League action with the Orioles, so his big league resume consists of the 14 2/3 innings he tossed for Tampa Bay earlier this season.  The 27-year-old’s first taste of the Show resulted in a very respectable 3.07 ERA.  Pitching mostly as a reliever during his career, Sanders posted a 3.46 ERA and a 29.55% strikeout rate over 260 innings in the minor leagues.

However, his work at Triple-A this year has been a struggle, with Sanders delivering only a 6.19 ERA over 32 frames.  Some back problems could be partially responsible, or perhaps Sanders had trouble adjusting to his first time being shuttled up and down between the minors and the Rays’ roster.  Given his past track record, it would seem possible that another club might grab Sanders in yet another waiver claim.

Guardians Designate Anthony Castro For Assignment, Activate Cody Morris

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The Guardians have designated right-hander Anthony Castro for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for fellow righty Cody Morris, who’s been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, MLB.com’s Mandy Bell tweets. Infielder Ernie Clement has also been recalled from Triple-A Columbus.

Castro, 27, was acquired in the Opening Day swap that sent outfielder Bradley Zimmer to Toronto. He appeared in a dozen games with Cleveland and posted a 7.43 ERA with a 12-to-10 K/BB ratio in 13 1/3 innings of relief. Castro averaged 95.2 mph on his heater and induced grounders at a 51.2% clip — both solid marks — but the bottom-line results and shaky command clearly weren’t encouraging. He’s notched a 3.94 ERA and an impressive 29.5% strikeout rate in 29 1/3 Triple-A innings this season but also posted a cringe-worthy 15.2% walk rate in that time.

Dating back to 2020, Castro has totaled 39 Major League innings between the Tigers, Blue Jays and Guardians but limped to a 6.00 ERA in that time. He throws hard and has missed plenty of bats in Triple-A, but command has long been an issue and Castro will be out of options in 2023. Cleveland will place him on outright waivers or release him within the next week.

Morris, 25, likely would’ve made his MLB  debut by now were it not for a strained teres major muscle that shut him down back in Spring Training. Cleveland selected him to the 40-man roster back in November on the heels of a 2021 season that saw him log a sparkling 1.62 ERA and 93-to-20 K/BB ratio in 61 innings across three levels.

Though he spent most of the season on the injured list, Morris has been able to go out on a minor league rehab assignment recently, and the results have been outstanding. He tossed three scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and no walks for the Guardians’ Rookie-ball affiliate before jumping to Triple-A and holding opponents to four runs with a 30-to-6 K/BB ratio in 15 1/3 innings of work. Between the past two seasons, Morris has tallied 52 innings of Triple-A work with a 1.90 ERA, a massive 40.6% strikeout rate and an 8.9% walk rate.

Guardians Acquire Sandy Leon, Designate Ian Gibaut For Assignment

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The Guardians announced this morning that they’ve acquired veteran catcher Sandy Leon from the Reds in exchange for cash. He’s being added directly to the Major League roster, and right-hander Ian Gibaut has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Leon’s acquisition comes in conjunction with catcher Austin Hedges being placed on the 7-day concussion list. Meanwhile, righty Anthony Castro has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus to join the bullpen, and lefty Konnor Pilkington has been tabbed as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the division-leading Twins. He’ll start the second game today for Cleveland.

Leon, 33, was with Cleveland for the 2020 season and also spent the bulk of Spring Training with the Guardians this season before being granted his release. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds in mid-April and has spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Louisville, where he’s batted .222/.321/.306 in 84 plate appearances.

A career .212/.277/.319 hitter who’s never hit much outside of a magical 2016 campaign in Boston, when he slashed .310/.369/.476 in 283 plate appearances, Leon is a respected veteran who is generally lauded for his game-calling and defensive prowess. He’s thwarted one-third of the stolen-base attempts against him in his big league career and regularly drawn positive marks for his framing and pitch blocking. In 3621 innings behind the dish, Leon has totaled 36 Defensive Runs Saved.

Cleveland clearly places a premium on defense behind the plate, which is obvious when looking at the glove-first nature of their catching corps in recent years. Beyond Leon, they’ve relied primarily on Hedges, Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes for the better part of a decade — all of whom are considered premium defenders even though they’ve rarely contributed much with the bat. (Perez and Gomes each had a brief run of plus offense but graded out below-average over their Cleveland tenures as a whole.)

Given the nature of his acquisition, Leon could be in for a brief stay with the Guardians. Then again, Luke Maile has batted just .180/.268/.279 through 71 plate appearances this season, so even if Hedges returns in short order, it’s perhaps possible that Leon could supplant Maile as the backup to Hedges.

Leon’s return to the big leagues comes at the expense of Gibaut, who’d only just returned to the Majors himself yesterday. He pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in last night’s blowout at the hands of his 2021 Twins teammates but will now be traded or placed on outright waivers within a week’s time.

Gibaut, 28, has pitched in parts of four Major League seasons, totaling 34 2/3 innings of 5.19 ERA ball between the Rangers, Rays, Twins and Guardians. He’s notched a 3.20 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with Triple-A Columbus this season and carries a career 4.15 ERA, 29% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate in 136 2/3 frames at that level.

Between that solid track record and the fact that Gibaut sat at 97.1 mph with his heater last night — a huge jump from the 95.3 mph he averaged from 2019-21 — it’s possible a bullpen-needy club will look to claim him or strike up a small trade with Cleveland. If not, he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, should he choose, by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career.

Bullpen Moves: Marlins, Cubs, Guardians

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Given the way the game is played these days, bullpens are dynamic entities constantly changing shape. Though longer injured list stints and option limits were intended to somewhat slow this ebb-and-flow of arms moving in and out, the game of musical chairs continues. Let’s check in on some of the changes being made in bullpens around the game today…

  • The Marlins have placed Louis Head on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement, recalling Zach Pop from Triple-A, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com (via Twitter). Head’s contributions on the year haven’t necessarily been additive, as the 32-year-old reliever owns a 7.23 ERA/5.29 FIP across 23 appearances totaling 23 2/3 innings. The injury is a bit peculiar as well since it’s not his throwing arm. Pop was a Rule 5 pick from the Orioles by the Diamondbacks, whom the Marlins then acquired via trade. He appeared in 50 games for the Fish last season, pitching to a 4.12 ERA/3.77 FIP across 54 2/3 innings.
  • The Cubs have placed veteran southpaw Daniel Norris on the 15-day injured because of a finger strain. To take his roster spot, they have recalled Adrian Sampson from Triple-A, per Meghan Montemurro of The Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Norris hasn’t had a great season, but if he’s healthy, he made draw some trade interest simply as a veteran southpaw. Currently, however, he owns a 7.24 ERA/5.73 FIP in 24 appearances covering 27 1/3 innings. Sampson has been up and down, designated for assignment, and brought back. Despite his frequent travels, he has tossed just 5 2/3 innings with the Cubs this season without giving up an earned run.
  • The Guardians have optioned Anthony Castro to Triple-A and recalled right-hander Yohan Ramirez, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (via Twitter). Castro, 27, with his third team in three years, has slogged through eight appearances, surrendering eight earned runs in eight innings on 11 hits and seven walks to 10 strikeouts. The Guardians acquired Ramirez from the Mariners via trade for cash and a player to be named later. He made seven appearances with the Mariners, posting a 7.56 ERA across 8 1/3 innings of work.

Guardians Designate Logan Allen, Bobby Bradley For Assignment

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The Guardians have designated left-hander Logan Allen and first baseman Bobby Bradley for assignment.  In another roster move, righty Anthony Castro was activated from the COVID-related injured list, and then optioned to Triple-A.

In the short term, the Guardians have reduced their roster from 28 to 26 players in advance of tomorrow’s roster reduction deadline.  In the bigger picture, however, these moves could mark the organizational end of two players who (not long ago) were considered two possible building blocks.  Both Allen and Bradley were former top-100 ranked prospects, but that promise didn’t translate into consistent MLB success.  Allen and Bradley are both out of minor league options, so Cleveland had to expose them to the DFA wire in order to try and send either player to Triple-A.

Allen was an eighth-round pick for the Red Sox in 2015, and he has thus far been involved in two major trades in his young career.  Allen was one of the four prospects Boston sent to the Padres for Craig Kimbrel in November 2015, and Allen was then one of the seven names involved in the huge three-team swap between San Diego, Cincinnati, and Cleveland prior to the 2019 trade deadline.  That deal saw Cleveland end up with Franmil Reyes, Yasiel Puig, prospects Scott Moss and Victor Nova, plus Allen, who had made his Major League debut earlier that year with the Padres.

After the trade, Allen appeared in one game with his new team in 2019, then only three games in the shortened 2020 season.  Last year was Allen’s first semi-extended look at the big league level, and he posted a 6.26 ERA, 16.7% strikeout rate, and 7.7% walk rate over 50 1/3 innings.  That walk rate was a positive sign considering some of the control problems Allen had faced in the minors, but as had been the case for Allen at Triple-A, his time in the majors was hampered by the long ball.  The southpaw allowed 12 home runs over his 50 1/3 frames.

Between the lack of success in both the majors and at Triple-A Columbus, Allen became an expendable piece for a Guardians organization that is brimming with young talent.  The same could be said of Bradley, as Owen Miller and Josh Naylor have emerged as the Guards’ preferred options at first base only about a season after Bradley was seen as a first baseman of the future.

A third-round pick in the 2014 draft, Bradley displayed plenty of power in the minor leagues, even if his batting averages and on-base numbers weren’t always as impressive.  A big Triple-A season in 2019 earned him a call-up and a 15-game cup of coffee in Cleveland, but Bradley didn’t see any game action at all in 2020 — the minor league season was canceled, and the Guardians never promoted Bradley from their alternate training site.

Cleveland fans were notably impatient to see Bradley get a look in 2021, especially with Jake Bauers struggling as the team’s regular first baseman.  Once Bradley finally got his chance, however, he hit a modest .208/.294/.445 with 16 home runs in 279 PA.  His power was still apparent, but Bradley struck out 99 times, and particularly struggled against left-handed pitching.  This season, Bradley had only two hits in 17 at-bats, striking out nine times.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see either player taken via waiver claim, or for another club to work out a trade with the Guardians.  Both players are still young (both have May birthdays, with Allen turning 25 this month and Bradley 26), and they have each shown enough flashes of promise that a new team might think the flaws can be fixed.

Guardians Announce Several Roster Moves

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11:20am: Mandy Bell of MLB.com relays word from manager Terry Francona, who confirms that Quantrill, Miller and Castro are on the Covid-IL. Zack Meisel of The Athletic provides a quote from Francona, who says “I don’t know that we’re out of the woods yet. I hope we are, but I don’t know that that’s going to be the case. We’ll see.”

10:45am: The Guardians announced a series of transactions prior to today’s doubleheader against the White Sox, placing right-hander Cal Quantrill, infielder Owen Miller and righty Anthony Castro on the injured list. No designation was provided, likely indicating that all three are being placed on the Covid-related IL. In their place, Cleveland has selected the contracts of right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and lefties Kirk McCarty and Tanner Tully. Additionally, top shortstop prospect Gabriel Arias is up as the 29th man for today’s twin bill — as first reported last night by Andrea Alejandra Gil of Brujula Deportiva 106.3 FM in Maracay, Venezuela (Twitter link).

It’s not clear whether any of the players placed on the injured list today tested positive or have been deemed close contacts and thus require testing that leaves them unavailable for today’s games. The 2022 health and safety protocols jointly agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA technically call for a 10-day absence for players who test positive, but players are able to return more quickly than that — provided they receive a pair of negative PCR tests, show no signs of fever and are then subsequently approved by a team medical staffer and a joint committee of one MLB-appointed and one MLBPA-appointed medical expert. Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, for instance, returned to the team in less than half that 10-day window.

Of the players added to the big league roster today, only De Los Santos has prior MLB experience. A well-regarded prospect during his time with the Padres and the Phillies, De Los Santos debuted with Philadelphia in 2018 but has yet to carry his strong Triple-A production over to the big league level. He’s seen action in parts of three MLB seasons but carries a 6.06 ERA in 65 1/3 innings. De Los Santos has fanned 24% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate, but he’s also yielded an average of 1.9 homers per nine frames — far too many to succeed over any lengthy sample. He’s fared vastly better in Triple-A, where he sports a career 3.37 ERA in 237 2/3 innings and just 1.1 HR/9.

The 27-year-old Tully, meanwhile, was a 26th-rounder back in 2015 who posted a 3.50 ERA in 113 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year. He’s never posted particularly high strikeout or ground-ball rates, but Tully has walked only 4.5% of the hitters he’s faced in his pro career.

McCarty, 26, was Cleveland’s seventh-rounder back in 2017 and has gotten out to a fast start in Triple-A Columbus, holding opponents to one run on seven hits and five walks with a dozen punchouts through 11 1/3 innings. He was knocked around for a 5.01 ERA in 124 Triple-A frames a year ago.

As for Arias, the 22-year-old infielder is regarded as a potential key piece down the line for the Guardians. Acquired from the Padres (alongside Miller and Quantrill) in the trade that sent Mike Clevinger to San Diego, Arias entered the season ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at Baseball America (No. 100), MLB.com (No.  73), Baseball Prospectus (No. 57), FanGraphs (No. 95) and ESPN (No. 73).

Arias hit .284/.348/.454 with 13 home runs, 29 doubles, three triples and five steals in 483 trips to the plate last season, and he’s out to a near-identical start in 2022, hitting .278/.350/.472 in 40 plate appearances. He’s starting at second base in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader.

In all likelihood, it’ll be a one-day look for the highly touted Arias, but he’ll give Cleveland fans a brief glimpse of the future. The fact that he’s both on the 40-man roster and being considered for roles like this speak to his general proximity to MLB readiness, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he were to get a lengthier audition at some point in 2022. Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez are getting a good portion of the middle-infield time early in the season, but Rosario has at least some outfield experience and, of course, injuries are inevitable over the course of a 162-game schedule. Arias is one of many high-end middle infield prospects in the upper levels of the Cleveland system; Brayan Rocchio, Tyler Freeman and Jose Tena, among others, have all received a good bit of fanfare.

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