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Beau Taylor

Athletics Sign Beau Taylor To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have signed catcher Beau Taylor to a minor league deal, reports Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Taylor has been signed to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Taylor, 32, returns to the organization that drafted him, as the A’s selected him back in 2011. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and made his MLB debut with Oakland back in 2018. Since then, he’s also suited up for Toronto and Cleveland in the big leagues. He’s earned a reputation as a strong defensive catcher but hasn’t hit much at the MLB level so far, with a career batting line of .118/.237/.255, though in a small sample of just 25 games.

This past offseason, he signed a minor league deal with the Orioles after Adley Rutschman suffered an injury before the season began. Taylor himself dealt with injuries this year, however, and was only able to get into 23 games for the Norfolk Tides before being released just over a week ago.

For the A’s, Taylor will add an extra layer of veteran depth at the Triple-A level. The club has Sean Murphy and Stephen Vogt handling the catching duties in Oakland, though Murphy has been the subject of recent trade rumors. If the club were to pull the trigger on a deal before the August 2 deadline, that would likely lead to prospect Shea Langeliers getting promoted to the big leagues and Taylor taking over his spot on the depth chart.

Orioles Sign Beau Taylor To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles have signed catcher Beau Taylor to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. He’ll head to Major League camp as a non-roster invitee.

The 32-year-old Taylor appeared in 75 games for the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021, tallying 234 plate appearances with a .232/.339/.333 batting line and four home runs. He didn’t get a call to the big leagues with Cincinnati and has just 60 Major League plate appearances under his belt in total, which he’s split between the A’s, Jays and Indians.

Taylor hasn’t hit much in his limited MLB time — 6-for-51 with a pair of homers and a double — but he’s posted a solid line in parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where a huge 14.5 percent walk rate has helped him to a .251/.366/.373 in 1032 plate appearances. Defensively, he’s drawn average or better marks both in pitch-framing and pitch-blocking in the upper minors, per Baseball Prospectus. He’s also thrown out 29 percent of would-be base thieves throughout 10 professional seasons.

The Orioles recently signed veteran Robinson Chirinos to a big league deal, and they have baseball’s top overall prospect, Adley Rutschman, knocking on the door to the big leagues. However, Rutschman recently incurred a triceps injury that will see him shut down for up to three weeks, thus prompting Baltimore to bring in a bit of extra depth. Taylor will join Jacob Nottingham and Anthony Bemboom as veteran non-roster invitees who’ve been signed by the O’s this winter. Baltimore also has a pair of in-house options, Brett Cumberland and Cody Roberts, who’ll be vying for opportunity as well.

Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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We’ve seen dozens of players elect minor league free agency over the past couple weeks, and that has continued to be the case in recent days. We’ll round up a few more players who are hitting the open market here, courtesy of the Triple-A transactions trackers.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their careers, and unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Each of this group of players has hit the market within the past week and not yet been covered at MLBTR:

Reds Designate Beau Taylor For Assignment

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The Reds announced Monday morning that catcher Beau Taylor has been designated for assignment in order to open a roster spot for lefty Reiver Sanmartin, whom they’d already announced as today’s expected starter. Cincinnati also placed righty Luis Castillo on the family medical emergency list.

Taylor, 31, was claimed off waivers out of the Indians organization back in April and has spent the season with Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville. He’s appeared in 75 games for the Bats, tallying 234 plate appearances with a .232/.339/.333 batting line and four home runs. He didn’t get a call to the big leagues with the Reds and has just 60 Major League plate appearances under his belt in total, which he’s split between the A’s, Jays and Indians.

Taylor hasn’t hit much in his limited MLB time, but he’s been posted a solid line in parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where a huge 14.5 percent walk rate has helped him to a .251/.366/.373 in 1032 plate appearances. Defensively, he’s drawn average or better marks both in pitch-framing and pitch-blocking in the upper minors, per Baseball Prospectus. He’s also thrown out 29 percent of would-be base thieves throughout 10 professional seasons.

Solid defensive skills and a knack for drawing walks and getting on base could give Taylor some appeal on the waiver wire for clubs hoping to add some catching depth this offseason. If he does go unclaimed, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career (with the A’s in 2018).

Reds Claim Beau Taylor, Designate Deivy Grullon

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The Reds have claimed catcher Beau Taylor off waivers from the Indians, and designated catcher Deivy Grullon for assignment.  Taylor will be optioned to the Reds’ alternate training site.  The club also announced that right-hander Edgar Garcia is also headed for the alternate training site, as Garcia (who was designated for assignment earlier this week) has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the 40-man roster.

The 31-year-old Taylor is moving onto his fourth different organization in as many seasons, with an MLB resume that includes 25 games with Oakland, Toronto, and Cleveland.  Originally a fifth-round pick for the Athletics back in 2011, Taylor has only a .492 OPS over 60 big league appearances, but a much more respectable .256/.373/.385 slash line in 798 PA at the Triple-A level.  Cincinnati now has both Taylor and Rocky Gale at the alternate site as depth options while top prospect Tyler Stephenson and utilityman Kyle Farmer are handling backup catcher duties behind Tucker Barnhart on the big league roster.

Grullon was himself a waiver claim acquisition for the Reds, selected away from the Red Sox back in December.  Grullon has appeared in five total Major League games — four with the Phillies in 2019 and one with the Red Sox in 2020 — and 606 minor league games in a pro career that began back in 2013.  The 25-year-old didn’t hit much until the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and Grullon has delivered a .283/.354/.496 slash line over 457 Triple-A plate appearances.  Considering this resume and Grullon’s well-regarded throwing arm, it’s quite possible another team could pluck Grullon off the waiver wire.

Indians Designate Beau Taylor For Assignment

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The Indians are designating catcher Beau Taylor for assignment, Mandy Bell of MLB.com was among those to pass along. Right-hander Cam Hill is going on the 60-day injured list, per Zack Meisel of the Athletic (Twitter link). The moves clear a pair of 40-man roster spots for outfielder Ben Gamel and lefty reliever Oliver Pérez, who made the Indians’ Opening Day roster. Cleveland will need to make another 40-man move to accommodate the addition of right-hander Bryan Shaw.

Taylor has only managed 60 MLB plate appearances between the A’s, Blue Jays and Indians over the past two seasons. The 31-year-old backstop carries a .256/.373/.385 line over parts of three years at Triple-A. In addition to that high minors productivity, Taylor still comes with a pair of minor-league option years, so it’s possible other clubs will have interest in him as a depth catcher. Cleveland will have a week to trade him or place him on waivers.

Indians Select Beau Taylor, Designate James Hoyt

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The Indians have selected catcher Beau Taylor, designated right-hander James Hoyt for assignment and optioned outfielder Daniel Johnson, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com reports.

Taylor, formerly an Athletics prospect whom the Indians signed to a minor league contract last offseason, is up as insurance as the the Indians await word on Roberto Perez. The Indians’ starting backstop and one of their most valuable contributors a year ago, Perez is dealing with right shoulder soreness at the moment. They should know more on his condition Wednesday, but for now, they’re down to Taylor and former Red Sox starter Sandy Leon as their top two catchers.

Since he debuted in the majors with the Astros in 2016, the 33-year-old Hoyt has amassed 80 innings – including 8 1/3 during his first season in Cleveland in 2019 – and put up a 4.16 ERA/3.92 FIP with 11.7 K/9 and 2.92 BB/9. Notably, Hoyt carries a rather impressive track record in Triple-A, where he has logged a 3.09 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 over 218 2/3 frames. And considering Hoyt has another minor league option remaining, it wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see another team take a chance on him.

Indians, Beau Taylor Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Indians and catcher Beau Taylor are in agreement on a minor league deal with a non-roster invite to spring training, according to a team announcement from Friday.

Taylor has spent the majority of his career in the Athletics’ organization, although a late-season designation saw him latch on with the Blue Jays for a spell last year. He’s received a scant 30 at-bat audition in the majors since the beginning of 2018 but is a .258/.355/.372 hitter with 41 home runs in over 2400 minor league at-bats.

For the tribe, this represents a reasonable depth signing at a position where extra bodies are always at a premium. The club already moved to acquire Sandy Leon this offseason as a complement to Roberto Perez, and now Taylor will presumably serve, along with Eric Hasse, as a high-minors insurance piece.

Position Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

Here are the position players that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

West Notes: Angels, Maddon, Giants, Sabean, D-backs, A’s

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Angels manager Brad Ausmus has only been on the job for a year, but the club “would consider” firing him to hire Joe Maddon after the season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription link). That would require the Cubs to move on from Maddon, whose contract is up, while the Angels would likely need to make the 65-year-old a substantial offer. The first part of that equation looks like a real possibility, but it appears the second would pose a problem. Angels owner Arte Moreno likely doesn’t want to pay two managers, per Rosenthal, who adds it’s very doubtful he’d be willing to match Maddon’s current salary of $6MM. Notably, though, there is quite a bit of history between Maddon and the Angels. He spent 31 years with the organization in a variety of roles before his managerial career began with the Rays prior to the 2006 season.

  • Recent speculation has linked longtime Giants executive Brian Sabean to the Marlins, but the 63-year-old told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that he isn’t going anywhere. Although Sabean’s contract is about to expire, he and the Giants are in talks to keep him in place for what would be his 28th year with the organization in 2020. “We’re in the process of sorting that out as we speak,” Sabean said. “I’m quite sure my Giant career will continue in some form or fashion. I’m not interested in looking to go anywhere else. We’ll see how it develops in the next month or so.” While Sabean was at the helm of the Giants’ baseball department during all three of their World Series wins this decade, he has taken on a lesser role since the team hired Farhan Zaidi to steer the ship last offseason. Sabean spent a large portion of this season scouting, which is his passion, Schulman notes.
  • The Diamondbacks have shut right-handers Luke Weaver and Zac Gallen down for the season, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. Weaver sat out all of June, July, August and most of September with forearm and UCL injuries, but he made a successful two-inning return last weekend to cap off his 2019. He and Gallen, whom the D-backs acquired at the trade deadline, figure to slot in near the top of the club’s rotation in 2020. Fellow righty Taijuan Walker could join them if he overcomes the arm problems that have essentially shelved him for two straight seasons. Walker could, however, take the ball for the first and only time of the season in Arizona’s finale on Sunday, Piecoro relays.
  • The Athletics just designated catcher Beau Taylor for assignment for the second time this year, but that doesn’t mean his days with the organization are over. On the contrary, chances are “good” that the A’s will try to re-sign Taylor in the offseason, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Judging by the glowing reviews of Taylor that prized young catcher Sean Murphy and manager Bob Melvin offer in Slusser’s piece, he clearly has the respect of the A’s players and coaches.
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