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Caleb Thielbar

Twins Designate Joe Smith For Assignment, Select Sandy Leon

By Steve Adams | August 3, 2022 at 10:29am CDT

The Twins on Wednesday selected the contract of veteran catcher Sandy Leon — acquired in a minor league swap with Cleveland yesterday — and designated veteran right-handed reliever Joe Smith for assignment (Twitter link via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). Minnesota also reinstated lefty Caleb Thielbar from the 15-day injured list and optioned catcher Caleb Hamilton to Triple-A St. Paul.

Smith, 38, signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Twins late in the offseason. He’s currently sporting a lackluster 4.61 ERA through 27 1/3 frames, though that number is disproportionately skewed by a nightmarish appearance on July 17, when Smith took a six-run drubbing at the hands of the White Sox in an 11-0 blowout loss. Setting aside that one awful outing, he’s otherwise pitched to a 2.67 ERA.

The Twins, however, rarely gave Smith eighth-inning work and often relied on him in innings five through seven, often entrusting higher-leverage innings to Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and (with far less success) Emilio Pagan and Tyler Duffey. Smith has been homer-prone this year even if one is willing to charitably overlook that White Sox implosion, and lefties have absolutely torched him, posting a .303/.410/.606 batting line in 39 plate appearances.

In the past, the sidearming Smith has excelled in terms of limiting hard contact. After a brief hiccup in that regard in 2020, he bounced back in 2021 — not to his prior peak, granted, but an 87.9 mph average exit velocity and 35.2% hard-hit rate were both solid enough marks. This season, Smith has yielded an average exit velocity of 89.2 mph, however, and a hefty 42.1% of batted balls against him have left the bat at 95 mph or greater.

Smith is still owed about $879K of this year’s $2.5MM salary, and any team that claims him will be responsible for the remainder of that sum. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he can reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining the entirety of that remaining salary. A new team would only be responsible for the prorated portion of the league minimum upon signing Smith and adding him to the big league roster. The Twins, of course, can no longer trade Smith now that yesterday’s deadline has passed, so he’ll be on either outright waivers or release waivers within the next few days.

As for Leon, he’ll give the Twins a defensive-minded backup who’s long drawn praise for his receiving skills and defense — even as they’ve been coupled with anemic offense. At this juncture of his career, the 33-year-old switch-hitter is the consummate veteran backup. He went 2-for-15 with a pair of singles but six walks earlier this season with the Guardians and has a .226/.340/.333 slash in 100 Triple-A plate appearances between Cincinnati and Cleveland on the year. He’ll give the Twins a solid glove and veteran game-caller while they await the return of 25-year-old Ryan Jeffers, who’s out several more weeks with a broken thumb.

It’s possible that the Twins will continue to roster Leon even after Jeffers returns, as Leon would still be a better defensive backup behind the plate than Gary Sanchez, who could revert back to a primary designated hitter role. Beyond that, Major League teams will get a couple of extra roster spots in September, making it easier to roster both Leon and Sanchez. The Twins have regularly carried three catching options in previous seasons.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions Caleb Hamilton Caleb Thielbar Joe Smith Sandy Leon

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Injury Updates: Trout, Rodriguez, Buxton, Thielbar, Meyer

By Mark Polishuk | July 23, 2022 at 8:04pm CDT

Mike Trout hasn’t played since July 12 due to back spasms, and that absence morphed into a stint on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his left ribcage.  The Angels placed the superstar on the IL on July 18, but head trainer Mike Frostad told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) that Trout will miss more than the minimum 10 days.  Trout received a cortisone shot in his back “a few days ago.”

It isn’t yet known when Trout could return, and any sort of lingering problem is obviously bad news for the Angels and their fans — especially after last season, when Trout played in only 36 games due to a seemingly minor calf injury that simply never healed.  Trout returned in 2022 to deliver another outstanding set of numbers, though it isn’t helped an Angels team that has fallen apart after an impressive first five weeks of play.

More injury updates from around baseball…

  • Julio Rodriguez has missed both of the Mariners’ games in the second half, as the rookie star is day-to-day with left wrist soreness.  Rodriguez first suffered the injury while sliding during a stolen-base attempt last Sunday, and he told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer and other reporters) that he felt more soreness after participating in the Home Run Derby on during Monday’s All-Star week festivities.  However, the injury is “feeling better already,” and Rodriguez doesn’t think he’ll miss much time.  Rodriguez has exploded onto the scene in his first season, hitting .275/.337/.477 with 15 homers and 21 steals over his first 380 plate appearances in the majors.
  • Byron Buxton will miss the Twins’ weekend series in Detroit, as the outfielder received a PRP injection in his right knee on Wednesday.  (Megan Ryan of The Minneapolis Star Tribune was among those to report the news.)  Buxton has been plagued by tendinitis in his right knee for much of the season, though he opted to play in the All-Star Game for the first time rather than sit out the entire break.  Since Minnesota has off-days sandwiched around this two-game series against the Tigers, Buxton will receive five days off anyway, and the hope is that he’ll be ready to play when the Twins face the Brewers on Tuesday.
  • In other Twins injury news, Minnesota placed left-hander Caleb Thielbar on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 19) due to a left hamstring strain.  Right-hander Yennier Cano was called up to take Thielbar’s spot on the active roster.  Thielbar has a rather misleading 4.84 ERA over 35 1/3 relief innings this season, as he has outstanding hard-contact and strikeout numbers, plus only a 3.00 SIERA.
  • Max Meyer made only 10 pitches before exiting tonight’s game due to what the Marlins described as right elbow discomfort.  The ominous diagnosis comes on the heels of some ulnar nerve irritation that sidelined Meyer while he was pitching in the minors earlier this season.  One of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Meyer was making his second career start after allowing five runs over 5 1/3 frames in his July 16 debut.
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Los Angeles Angels Miami Marlins Minnesota Twins Seattle Mariners Transactions Byron Buxton Caleb Thielbar Julio Rodriguez Max Meyer Mike Trout Yennier Cano

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Twins Sign Aaron Sanchez, Tyler Thornburg To Minors Deals

By Anthony Franco | June 6, 2022 at 5:10pm CDT

The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with starter Aaron Sanchez, reports Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). Minnesota also signed reliever Tyler Thornburg to a non-roster deal over the weekend, assigning him to Triple-A St. Paul.

Sanchez began the season in the Nationals’ organization after signing a minor league deal in March. He opened the year in Triple-A but was selected to the majors in mid-April. The 29-year-old made seven starts with the Nats but was tagged for an 8.33 ERA as he struck out a career-low 11.3% of opposing hitters. Sanchez threw a fair amount of strikes and induced grounders on over the half the batted balls against him, but he surrendered six home runs in 31 1/3 innings while struggling to miss bats.

Washington designated Sanchez for assignment and outrighted him off their roster late last month, at which point he elected free agency. The Southern California native once looked like a potential rotation building block for the Blue Jays, making an All-Star appearance and leading American League qualifiers in ERA in 2016. Sanchez has assumed more of a journeyman role in the last few seasons, though, particularly since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2019. After working in the mid-upper 90s at peak, he averaged just north of 90 MPH on his fastball with the Giants last year and a pedestrian 92 MPH for Washington this season.

Thornburg has also spent time in the NL East this year, as he began the season with the Braves. Atlanta had signed the veteran reliever to a $900K contract during Spring Training, and he opened the season in the big league bullpen. Thornburg allowed six runs (four earned) in 9 1/3 frames, striking out ten while issuing five walks. His early-season velocity was right in line with career norms, but Thornburg’s swing-and-miss rate was underwhelming and the Braves had consigned him to lower-leverage work. Atlanta designated him for assignment and released him in late May.

The 33-year-old has appeared in parts of nine MLB seasons, suiting up with the Brewers, Red Sox, Reds and Braves. Thornburg was quietly one of the league’s more effective late-game weapons in Milwaukee between 2013-16, but he’s struggled with injuries and underperformance in the years since then. Thornburg, who made his organizational debut with St. Paul yesterday, will try to pitch his way into a Minnesota bullpen that has been middle-of-the-pack thus far.

The rotation was generally expected to be a weakness, but Twins’ starters enter play Monday with the 7th-lowest collective ERA (3.54). That’s a big reason the club is currently sitting 32-24 and four and a half games clear of the competition in the AL Central, but they’ve been hit by a series of injuries over the past month.

Minnesota lost another rotation member this evening, announcing that right-hander Bailey Ober has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 3, due to a right groin strain. That’s the same issue that already resulted in an IL stint earlier in the season, as he was on the shelf for the first three weeks of May.

Ober made it back to the mound on May 22, and he’s made three starts since returning. The 26-year-old has allowed nine runs in 14 innings over that time, and he’ll apparently need some more time to recover. Ober earned himself a season-opening rotation spot with a solid 4.19 ERA showing across 20 starts as a rookie last year. He’d allowed only eight runs in 19 2/3 innings through four April outings prior to his first IL stint.

Minnesota is also without Joe Ryan — currently on the COVID-19 IL — and Sonny Gray, who hit the IL late last week due to a pectoral strain. Josh Winder has been out since mid-May dealing with a shoulder impingement, and the team lost Chris Paddack to Tommy John surgery last month. Dylan Bundy, Devin Smeltzer and Chris Archer are rotation locks, with Cole Sands probably the top depth option on the 40-man roster. Prospects Jordan Balazovic and Ronny Henriquez are already on the 40-man and starting games with St. Paul, but both have struggled mightily this year. Sanchez joins Chi Chi González as experienced, non-roster depth options with the Saints.

In additional procedural moves, the Twins reinstated four players — Max Kepler, Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar — from the restricted list. Jharel Cotton and Ian Hamilton, both of whom had been selected to the roster as designated COVID-19 substitutes before the club’s weekend series in Toronto, have been removed from the 40-man and returned to St. Paul. That’s also true of González, who started Friday’s game but was returned over the weekend.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions Aaron Sanchez Bailey Ober Caleb Thielbar Ian Hamilton Jharel Cotton Max Kepler Trevor Megill Tyler Thornburg

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Twins Select Jharel Cotton, Ian Hamilton

By Anthony Franco | June 3, 2022 at 3:48pm CDT

The Twins announced a series of roster moves ahead of this weekend’s series in Toronto. Minnesota selected the contracts of right-handers Chi Chi González, Jharel Cotton and Ian Hamilton while recalling outfielder Mark Contreras from Triple-A St. Paul. González will start this evening’s game, as had been reported yesterday.

In corresponding moves, four players — Max Kepler, Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar — have been placed on the restricted list. That’s typical procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 on teams heading to Toronto. The Canadian government prohibits unvaccinated athletes from crossing the border, so that quartet will be out of action until next week.

Cotton has bounced on and off the roster a couple times this season. Claimed off waivers from the Rangers last winter, he’s made four appearances in relief for the Twins. Over 6 2/3 innings, Cotton has allowed just two runs but issued six walks. He’s impressed in St. Paul, allowing four runs in 11 2/3 frames while striking out 18 batters against three walks.

Hamilton is in line for his team debut, nearly a year and a half after Minnesota claimed him off waivers from the Phillies. The Twins outrighted the Washington State product off their 40-man roster a few weeks later, and he spent the entire 2021 campaign in St. Paul. He posted a 4.12 ERA across 59 innings last year, striking out an excellent 33.5% of opponents but walking a sky-high 15.2% of batters faced. The 26-year-old maintained that strikeout prowess while getting his walk rate to a more manageable 9.6% this year, allowing only one run in 12 2/3 frames. Hamilton has 14 games of MLB experience under his belt, with the 2018-20 White Sox.

While the Twins didn’t specify that González, Cotton and Hamilton were coming up as designated COVID substitutes, that appears to be the case. Dan Hayes of the Athletic tweets the trio won’t have to pass through waivers when the others are able to return to the roster. That’s unique to COVID substitutes, who won’t occupy a permanent 40-man roster spot.

The commissioner’s office has the unilateral authority to grant teams permission to designate players as substitutes, which it does when it determines a club has been particularly affected by virus protocols. In all likelihood, each of González, Cotton and Hamilton will come off the 40-man roster on Monday.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions Caleb Thielbar Chi Chi Gonzalez Emilio Pagan Ian Hamilton Jharel Cotton Max Kepler Trevor Megill

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Tender Deadline Signings: 11/30/21

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | November 30, 2021 at 8:48pm CDT

With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming tonight at 8pm ET — the MLBPA and MLB jointly agreed to move the deadline up a couple days due to the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement — we’ll likely see a slew of arbitration-eligible players signing one-year deals.

It’s commonplace for a large batch of players to sign deals in the hours leading up to the tender deadline. “Pre-tender” deals of this nature often fall shy of projections due to the fact that teams use the looming threat of a non-tender to enhance their leverage. Arbitration contracts at this juncture are often take-it-or-leave-it propositions, with the “leave it” end of that arrangement resulting in the player being cut loose. Given the widely expected lockout, there could be more incentive than usual for borderline non-tender candidates to take those offers rather than being cast out into free agency just hours before a transaction freeze is implemented.

As a reminder, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed. In a typical year, a team can cut a player on an arb contract at any point before the halfway point in Spring Training and only be responsible for 30 days’ termination pay (about one-sixth of the contract). Releasing a player in the second half of Spring Training bumps the termination pay to 45 days of his prorated salary.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for each team’s arbitration-eligible players last month, although for many of the players listed below, this isn’t so much avoiding arbitration as it is avoiding a non-tender. Here’s a look at today’s agreements…

  • The Yankees have agreed to deals with infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Domingo German, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). Urshela will make $6.55MM, while German has agreed to a $1.75MM deal. Urshela has two seasons of control remaining; German is controllable for three years. Urshela is coming off a .267/.301/.419 showing while playing third base and shortstop. German tossed 98 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.
  • The Twins have signed three arbitration-eligible pitchers, per reports from Feinsand and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). Right-hander Jharel Cotton signed for $700K, reliever Caleb Thielbar lands $1.3MM and reliever Tyler Duffey signs for $3.8MM. Thielbar and Duffey were both productive members of the Minnesota relief corps in 2021. Cotton was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Slater on a $1.85MM deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old (29 next month) appeared at all three spots on the grass while hitting .241/.320/.423 over 306 plate appearances in 2021.
  • Reliever Emilio Pagan and the Padres have agreed on a $2.3MM deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 30-year-old worked 63 1/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/3.93 SIERA ball this past season.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $2MM deal with left-hander Caleb Smith, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). The 30-year-old posted a 4.83 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 113 2/3 innings in a swing capacity in 2021.

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Earlier Deals

  • First baseman Rowdy Tellez agreed to a $1.94MM deal with the Brewers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Acquired in a midseason trade with Toronto, Tellez impressed with a .272/.333/.481 batting line and seven homers in 174 plate appearances. He’s controlled through 2024.
  • The Yankees and lefty Lucas Luetge agreed to a $905K salary for the 2022 season, per Rosenthal. The 34-year-old returned to the Majors for the first time since 2015 and shined with a 2.74 ERA in 72 1/3 innings of relief. New York can control him through the 2024 season.
  • The Orioles signed lefty Paul Fry to an $850K deal for the 2022 season, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Fry looked like he’d be an in-demand trade candidate well into the summer, but the O’s hung onto him and watched his results crumble after the deadline passed. He finished with a 6.08 ERA on the season but pitched effectively through July. Between thats strong start, a big 28% strikeout rate and an affordable salary, it’s only sensible for Baltimore to hang onto him.
  • Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman agreed to terms with the team on a 2022 contract, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He’ll be paid $1.95MM, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic adds. A Gold Glove finalist in 2021, Newman hit just .226/.265/.309 but was one of the best defensive players at any position. He’s controlled another three seasons.
  • The Rays and Ji-Man Choi agreed to a $3.2MM salary for the 2022 campaign, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The 30-year-old swatted 11 homers in 305 plate appearances and offset a low batting average with a huge 14.8% walk rate. Overall, Choi hit .229/.348/.411. He’s controllable through 2023.
  • The Rockies agreed to a one-year, $1.025MM deal with righty Tyler Kinley, tweets Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The 30-year-old has a 4.88 ERA in 94 innings over the past two seasons, including a 4.73 mark in 70 1/3 frames this past season. Kinley’s big swinging-strike rates and 96 mph fastball velocity suggest he could improve upon this year’s 23.1% strikeout rate.
  • The Orioles are in agreement on a $1.5MM deal with starter Jorge Lopez. The 28-year-old is coming off a tough showing, having worked to a 6.07 ERA over 121 2/3 innings. Lopez induced a fair amount of ground-balls and ate up plenty of innings, though, and he’ll now get another chance to compete for a spot in a wide-open Baltimore rotation. He remains controllable through 2024.
  • The Mariners have agreed on a $1.025MM deal with reliever Casey Sadler, per Murray. The 31-year-old led all pitchers (minimum 40 innings) with a 0.67 ERA over 40 1/3 frames this past season. Along the way, he racked up ground-balls on a massive 62.9% of balls in play against him. He’s controllable through 2024.
  • The Brewers announced they’ve come to terms with reliever Jandel Gustave. The hard-throwing righty worked 18 1/3 innings of 3.44 ERA/4.35 SIERA ball across 14 appearances this past season. He remains controllable through 2024. Gustave’s deal is a split contract that pays him $675K while he’s in the majors, according to Robert Murray of FanSided (on Twitter).
  • The Diamondbacks have agreed to a $1.25MM deal with reliever Noe Ramirez, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 31-year-old (32 next month) is entering his penultimate season of club control. The vertex righty had a quietly solid season in the desert, working to an even 3.00 ERA across 36 innings, albeit with less impressive strikeout and walk numbers.
  • The Padres have come to terms with relievers Austin Adams and Tim Hill, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). Adams will make $925K; Hill is in line for a $1.325MM salary. Both pitchers have an additional two seasons of arbitration control remaining. Adams overcame a staggering amount of hits-by-pitch and walks to post a 4.10 ERA over 52 2/3 innings, striking out 31.5% of opponents. Hill racked up grounders at a 60.6% clip en route to a 3.62 ERA.
  • The Giants have reached a $1.725MM deal with reliever Jarlin Garcia, per Rosenthal. The southpaw pitched to a sterling 2.62 ERA over 68 2/3 frames in 2021 with solid strikeout and walk numbers. He’s controllable through 2023.
  • The A’s and righty Deolis Guerra agreed to a one-year deal worth $815K, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Guerra, 32, posted a 4.11 ERA in a career-high 65 2/3 innings with the A’s in 2021. He’ll give them an affordable arm for the coming season but doesn’t come with a lengthy track record of big league success.
  • The Rockies and Daniel Bard came to terms on a $4.4MM salary for the 2022 campaign, tweets Rosenthal. Bard’s Rockies resurgence after seven years away from the Majors was a remarkable story. The team opted not to trade him at the deadline, and he struggled immensely with a 6.65 ERA thereafter (ballooning his season-long ERA to 5.21). The Rockies view Bard as an important piece in 2022, however, evidenced both by the lack of trade and the $4.4MM commitment despite a shaky finish.
  • Right-hander Ryan Brasier agreed to a $1.4MM salary with the Red Sox for the upcoming season, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. The 2021 season was a nightmare for Brasier, who suffered a broken finger in Spring Training, strained a calf muscle while rehabbing that injury and then was hospitalized after being struck in the head by a comeback liner while working back from the calf issue. The 34-year-old made it back to the mound in September and pitched to a 1.50 ERA in 12 frames.
  • Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander has agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.15MM, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The 27-year-old was a bright spot in the 2020 Baltimore lineup but saw his OBP dip back under .300 in a down year at the plate in 2021. Santander still popped 18 homers and 24 doubles. He’s controllable for another three years, and the O’s will hope for a rebound from this year’s .241/.286/.433 slash.
  • The Braves signed outfielder Guillermo Heredia to a one-year deal worth $1MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Heredia, 32 in January, played a larger role than expected in 2021 given the general tumult in the Atlanta outfield. His .220/.311/.354 batting line isn’t much to look at, but he was a solid hand against lefties (.258/.330/.427) and is a capable defender at all three outfield slots.
  • The Brewers announced that infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson signed a one-year contract. The 31-year-old was arbitration-eligible for the final time after hitting .247/.348/.368 through 302 plate appearances. Peterson split his time between second base, third base, first base and the outfield with Milwaukee in 2021, and that versatility likely tickets him for a utility role again in 2022.
  • Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez signed a one-year deal worth $725K today, tweets Rosenthal. That represents a rare pay cut in arbitration — albeit only by $3,000 — which is understandable after Dominguez missed nearly the entire season while recovering from 2020 Tommy John surgery. He made it back to the mound for one inning in the season’s final game, and Dominguez should be counted on to play a large role in the relief corps next season. In 83 2/3 MLB innings, Dominguez has a 3.23 ERA and a huge 30.3% strikeout rate against a 9.9% walk rate. He saved 16 games for the Phils as a rookie in 2018.
  • Right-hander John Brebbia and the Giants agreed to a one-year deal worth $837,500, Rosenthal tweets. The 31-year-old signed an $800K deal with San Francisco last winter after being non-tendered by St. Louis on the heels of Tommy John surgery. Brebbia returned to throw 18 1/3 innings in 2021 but was tattooed for a 5.89 ERA in that brief time. That said, his 22-to-4 K/BB ratio was excellent, and Brebbia held a 3.14 ERA and 3.39 FIP through 175 career innings in three seasons with the Cards. Given that track record and strong K-BB%, it’s not surprising that the Giants would want to take another look.
  • Zach Buchanan of The Athletic tweets that the Diamondbacks avoided arbitration with reliever J.B. Wendelken, signing him to a one-year deal worth $835K. The 28-year-old Wendelken was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment in Oakland this summer despite a solid track record, and the D-backs pounced on him with the top waiver priority in the game. Wendelken posted a 4.33 ERA in 43 2/3 innings this season but carries a more impressive 3.05 ERA and 3.42 FIP with a 24% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate over his past 118 big league frames.
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Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Colorado Rockies Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Oakland Athletics Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Anthony Santander Austin Adams Austin Slater Caleb Thielbar Casey Sadler Daniel Bard Deolis Guerra Domingo German Emilio Pagan Giovanny Urshela Guillermo Heredia J.B. Wendelken Jace Peterson Jandel Gustave Jarlin Garcia Jharel Cotton Ji-Man Choi John Brebbia Jorge Lopez Kevin Newman Lucas Luetge Noe Ramirez Paul Fry Rowdy Tellez Ryan Brasier Seranthony Dominguez Tim Hill Tyler Duffey Tyler Kinley

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Twins Reportedly Disinclined To Trade Players Controllable Beyond 2021

By Anthony Franco | July 18, 2021 at 8:43am CDT

The Twins have indicated to opposing teams they’re not keen on trading players under team control beyond this season, reports Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). That’s not to say Minnesota’s cutting off talks on longer-term assets entirely, but it casts increasing doubt about the likelihood of stars like Byron Buxton and José Berríos — both of whom are controllable next season via arbitration — changing uniforms within the next couple weeks.

That’s a defensible and generally unsurprising position for the Twins front office to take. While the 2021 season has been a disaster for Minnesota, there’s little reason to think the club needs to embark on any sort of rebuild. The Twins won the AL Central in each of the last two years, and much of the core of those teams is controllable for 2022. At 39-52, the Twins are almost certainly not playoff-bound this season, but there’s enough talent on the roster to reasonably expect a bounceback next year.

The Mets and Cardinals are among the teams to have reached out to gauge Berríos’ availability. Both clubs have come away from those talks feeling the asking price to be extremely high, a reflection of Minnesota’s comfort hanging onto Berríos with an eye towards 2022.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported this week that the Twins had also recently opened extension talks with Buxton. Rosenthal suggested a Buxton trade could be a possibility if the two sides don’t agree on a long-term contract, but the upcoming offseason might be a more opportune time to market him to other clubs. That’d give the front office more than a couple weeks to field offers on the Gold Glover, and there’s still no clear timetable for Buxton’s return from a late June hand fracture. (If the Twins were to make Buxton available before July 30, the Phillies would be among the teams with interest, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network).

Berríos and Buxton are far from the only prominent controllable players on the Twins roster. Third baseman Josh Donaldson still has a pair of guaranteed seasons beyond the year (and a 2024 club option) on his free agent deal. The Mets were loosely linked to Donaldson last month, but it doesn’t seem those talks gained much traction.

Minnesota has a trio of productive, controllable relievers (Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Caleb Thielbar) who would draw attention from contenders, even though both Rogers and Thielbar have struggled this month. Given the year-to-year volatility of bullpen arms, there’s a case to be made the Twins should look to trade one or more of that group, but the front office certainly doesn’t have to do so. There’s never been much expectation of a deal involving Kenta Maeda, Max Kepler or Jorge Polanco, each of whom is under control through at least 2023 on extremely affordable contracts.

Even if the Twins wind up trading only impending free agents, they should still be active over the next two weeks. Michael Pineda’s strike-throwing acumen will make him a target for contenders in need of starting pitching, even as his swinging strike rate has taken a step backwards this season. The market for Nelson Cruz will probably be limited to American League clubs, but he remains an impact bat to plug into the middle of a lineup. Andrelton Simmons isn’t hitting much, but he’s still one of the game’s best defensive shortstops. Hansel Robles is an affordable middle relief target, and someone could take a flyer on Alex Colomé as a change of scenery candidate.

Minnesota’s disinclination to trade controllable players doesn’t entirely foreclose the chance of such a deal coming together. It remains possible another club meets the lofty ask for Berríos, and the front office probably wouldn’t be so absolute as to make a player like Buxton completely untouchable. But their broad reluctance to move long-term foundational pieces of the roster reinforces that the organization sees 2021 more as an aberration than as a suggestion their window of contention with that group is closing.

The Twins have ample financial flexibility moving forward, with just $49.3MM in guaranteed contracts on the books for 2022, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Minnesota looks likely to invest in the pitching staff this offseason and hope to get healthy, productive seasons from their still-strong position player group to contend next year in what might again be a relatively weak division.

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The Twins Are One Of The Keys To The Trade Deadline

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2021 at 9:37am CDT

The Twins have looked like sellers for much of the season, but as we’ve seen in recent years, most clubs prefer to wait until closer to the deadline to chart a course. As noted here recently, Minnesota faces almost exclusively AL Central clubs leading up to the July 30 trade deadline. If there was a 2019 Nationals-esque surge in this group, now would be the time to set it in motion.

The Twins started off taking two of three against an Indians club whose rotation is in tatters, but they’ve dropped their first two against the White Sox to fall 13.5 games out of first place in the division. For a team that needs to be nearly flawless over this pivotal stretch of divisional opponents — particularly versus Cleveland and Chicago — dropping three of the first five games isn’t a great start.

Given that this was a team most expected to contend for the Central, at the very least, it’s not at all surprising that there are several players who’d interest contenders. In fact, ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote in yesterday’s 20 Questions column that the Twins are “the team almost every contender is waiting on.” Minnesota still plays the White Sox eight times, the Tigers a whopping 11 times and the Royals three times before the trade deadline, so maybe they can pull off the macro version of last night’s staggering Angels comeback, but it’s becoming increasingly likely that this goes the direction most onlookers have expected for awhile now.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the Twins could do as the deadline draws nearer…

The Rentals

Michael Pineda, RHP ($10MM salary): Pineda is currently on the shelf with inflammation in his right elbow. He’s been out since June 14, but he’s slated for a rehab start in Triple-A today. Assuming there are no setbacks, Pineda would be one of the most attractive options on the rental market. He’s an established mid-rotation arm who has performed well with the Twins when he’s been able to take the mound (3.86 ERA, 3.92 FIP in 228 2/3 innings over 42 starts). Pineda did get hit with a PED suspension in 2019, although it was one of the rare instances where the league seems to have believed some of his plea of innocence, as MLB reduced his ban from 80 to 60 games. Many undoubtedly recall Pineda’s pine tar-covered hat in his Yankees days and will wonder about him in connection to the current crackdown on foreign substances. On that note, it’s worth pointing out that his spin rates were below-average in the first place and had actually decreased since signing with the Twins. We can’t know anything for sure, of course, but on paper he doesn’t look like your typical “Spider Tack” case.

Nelson Cruz, DH ($13MM): Happy 41st birthday, Nelson! The Boomstick is still swinging it as well as ever, slashing .307/.378/.585 with 18 home runs, 11 doubles and his first triple since 2018. Cruz has been 57 percent better than a league-average hitter, per wRC+, and he’s cut his strikeout rate from 25.7 percent in his first two years with Minnesota down to 19.1 percent in 2021. His market will be limited to AL clubs unless some NL GM really, really wants an interleague/World Series DH and an occasional pinch-hitter. (We’ve all learned never to rule anything out with A.J. Preller by now.) AL contenders who could use an upgrade at DH include the A’s, Blue Jays, Rays and White Sox. Of course, Cruz’s salary may be steep for the A’s and Rays, and it’s hard to imagine the Twins shipping Cruz to their top division rival.

Andrelton Simmons, SS ($10MM): Simmons hasn’t been great with the bat in Minnesota — .245/.316/.328, 81 wRC+ — but the defense looks sharp. Simmons’ defensive metrics took a tumble in both 2019 and 2020 after he suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain and then re-sprained that ankle a second time. In 2021, he’s third among all players, regardless of position, with 12 Outs Above Average, per Statcast. He’s also notched a plus-2 mark in Defensive Runs Saved after registering minus-2 in that regard in just 265 innings last summer. The ankle appears healthy, and his range has seemingly improved as a result. If you want to upgrade your infield defense, they don’t come much better than this.

Alex Colome, RHP ($6.25MM): Colome was the Twins’ biggest offseason pickup in the bullpen, but the outstanding fortune he had on balls in play with the White Sox went up in smoke in 2021. Teams were surely wary of Colome’s .211 average on balls in play over the past two seasons with the ChiSox, which quite likely why the Twins were able to wait him out and get him for just a year and $6.25MM. Colome immediately stumbled out of the gates in Minnesota, blowing a game in his first appearance and floundering through a poor overall showing in April. He’s posted a respectable 3.60 ERA with a huge 58.1 percent grounder rate in 20 innings since, but he doesn’t look anywhere near as impressive as he did for the South Siders. Presumably, the asking price here wouldn’t be too high.

Hansel Robles, RHP ($2MM): Robles’ numbers would’ve looked better had this breakdown been written before his past two appearances, when he’s been tagged for four runs in two innings. But the right-hander is still sporting a 3.63 ERA and 48.3 percent ground-ball rate — albeit with a slightly below-average strikeout rate and a bloated 13.6 percent walk rate. He’s also experienced a rebound in fastball velocity after a dip in 2020, and he’s on a cheap enough contract that a contending club with luxury tax concerns might be particularly intrigued.

J.A. Happ, LHP ($8MM): Happ got out to a decent start in 2021, but he’s been shelled for most of his past nine appearances. His best performance in that stretch was his most recent, when he held Cleveland to a pair of runs on six hits and no walks with seven punchouts in six innings. If he can string together a few more nice outings like that, maybe some club would pick him up for a negligible return (i.e. partial salary relief) to try to stabilize the back of its rotation.

More Controllable Possibilities

Jose Berrios, RHP ($6.1MM, controllable through 2022): If the Twins were to make Berrios available, he might be the most coveted name on the market. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported recently that the Cardinals have inquired and, unsurprisingly, found the asking price to be quite high. Still, Passan writes that a growing number of executives around the game expect the Twins to be willing to seriously consider a trade. That’s likely indicative of the level of interest in Berrios, as the Twins don’t seem likely to embark on a total rebuild even if they do sell. They’d likely seek young controllable, big-league ready talent in a trade of Berrios, who boasts a 3.41 ERA and matching 3.40 FIP with a career-best 26.5 percent strikeout rate and a 6.4 percent walk rate (the second-lowest of his career). His current salary is eminently affordable, and even with an aggressive raise in arbitration, he’d still be a bargain next year. Any contending club would love to have Berrios — it’s just a matter of how strong the offers are and whether the Twins are willing to compromise their 2022 roster by trading the best pitcher they’ve developed in the past decade.

Taylor Rogers, LHP ($6MM, controllable through 2022): Rogers has put a shaky (by his standards) 2020 season behind him. Through his first 32 innings, he’s sitting on a 2.53 ERA that’s actually higher than his FIP, xFIP and SIERA. Rogers’ 32.6 percent strikeout rate is back in line with his 2019 level, and this year’s 3.9 percent walk rate is the best of his career. He has the fifth-best chase rate of any qualified reliever in MLB. As with Berrios, Rogers could play a key role for the 2022 Twins, so the offer would need to  be strong. But relievers with this combination of swing-and-miss ability and command — particularly lefties — are tough to come by, so the demand will be sizable. This is also a Twins front office that generally hasn’t been keen on committing too much to any individual reliever, and Rogers’ final arbitration raise will push his salary into the $8-9MM range. A trade to a contender is very plausible. (As an aside, it’d be quite the fun story to see twin brothers co-closing games for a contending club. We’re all looking at you, Giants.)

Tyler Duffey, RHP ($2.2MM, controllable through 2022): Duffey hasn’t been the dominant setup man he was in 2019-20, but he’s controlled another season on a cheap salary and has still been effective in 2021. There’s no sugar-coating that his strikeout and walk rates from 2019-20 have dropped from 34.2 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, to 22 percent and 12.6 percent in 2021. He’s improved both a bit over his past 15 outings, though, and only allowed two runs in that time. Overall, he has a 3.52 ERA and 3.84 FIP in 30 2/3 innings. As with Robles, if you’re a contending team with luxury tax concerns, taking a chance on a cheap reliever with a bigger track record probably has some appeal.

Caleb Thielbar, LHP ($700K, controllable through 2024): A Minnesota native and feel-good comeback story from 2020, Thielbar can be controlled another three years beyond the current campaign. That might make dealing him counterintuitive should the Twins be looking for a quick turnaround after a theoretical summer sale, but Thielbar will turn 35 this offseason and relievers are volatile in the first place. The Twins brought him back from indie ball last year, so there’s a “playing with house money” element to marketing him. He’s pitched 50 1/3 innings of 2.86 ERA ball with a 30.1 percent strikeout rate and an 8.1 percent walk rate since returning last summer. Fielding-independent metrics largely support the ERA. With multiple contenders sitting right on the luxury-tax precipice, Thielbar could be an under-the-radar but highly attractive chip for the Twins.

Longer Shots

Like Berrios, Rogers and Duffey, Byron Buxton is controlled only through the 2022 season. However, Buxton is on the injured list after an errant fastball fractured his left hand in a recent at-bat, and it’s nearly impossible to envision the Twins moving their most talented player at such a low point. The durability concerns with Buxton are understandable, and his repeated absences in 2021 have been a major factor in the Twins’ current predicament, but trading him doesn’t feel realistic.

It’s a similar story with righty Kenta Maeda, who has been hit hard this season and spent time on the injured list with an adductor strain. The Twins control him into 2023, and even if his struggles as a starter continue, his $3.25MM base salary is plenty reasonable if he’s in a bullpen or hybrid role. He doesn’t need to be the ace-caliber arm he was in 2020 to justify his contract, and the flexibility he provides the Twins moving forward carries more value than what they’d receive by selling low in a trade.

Right fielder Max Kepler and second baseman Jorge Polanco would no doubt attract interest thanks to their long-term deals, but Kepler is in the midst of his own down season and controlled affordably all the way through 2024. Polanco had a dismal three-week slump to open the year but has hit quite well (.275/.345/.483) since that time. He’s signed through 2025, so there’s little reason for the Twins to consider anything there.

Josh Donaldson is hitting .299/.382/.662 over the past month and has homered in three straight games, but he’s also 35 years old and only in the second season of a four-year, $92MM contract that affords him limited no-trade protection. It’s tough to see something coming together with all the money still owed to him.

The Twins might welcome a taker for strikeout-plagued slugger Miguel Sano, who is hitting .195/.280/.435 this season with a 37 percent punchout rate. But Sano is making $11MM this year, $9.25MM in 2022, and is also owed a $2.75MM buyout on a $14MM option for the 2023 season.

—

With a deep reserve of enticing position prospects, headlined by current big leaguers Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach, plus several key pieces under long-term control and plenty of payroll space this winter, the Twins shouldn’t be expected to completely tear the roster down. It’d make sense to target some controllable arms, however, as they’ve dealt with injuries to several of their top pitching prospects in 2021 (Jhoan Duran, Jordan Balazovic and Matt Canterino among them).

At the end of the day, the Twins might prefer to hold out a bit longer before waving the proverbial white flag, but they’d need a historic rally to overcome a 13.5-game deficit in the division or a 12.5-game deficit in the Wild Card race at this point in the season. It increasingly feels like a matter of time before they start moving some short-term veterans, with the greater question being how aggressively they’ll sell rather than whether they’ll sell at all.

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Minnesota Twins MLBTR Originals Alex Colome Andrelton Simmons Caleb Thielbar Hansel Robles J.A. Happ Jose Berrios Nelson Cruz Taylor Rogers Tyler Duffey

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COVID Notes: 4/24/21

By Mark Polishuk | April 24, 2021 at 5:38pm CDT

The latest coronavirus-related situations from around baseball…

Latest Updates

  • The Dodgers are placing reliever Dennis Santana on the COVID injured list after he experienced side effects related to the vaccine, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Juan Toribio of MLB.com). The right-hander pitched in mop-up duty against the Padres last night, allowing a pair of runs on two hits and two walks in one inning of work.

Earlier Notes

  • Jose Altuve was placed on the Astros’ injury list on April 14, and the second baseman confirmed to reporters (including the Houston Chronicle’s Danielle Lerner) today that his placement was due to a positive COVID-19 test.  Altuve isn’t in today’s Astros lineup but he did say he’s feeling better, so a return to the field shouldn’t be too far away.
  • The Marlins have closed down their minor league complex through the weekend due to multiple COVID-19 positives, Fox Sports Radio 640’s Andy Slater reports (Twitter link).  A team spokesman told Slater that the shutdown “will not have an impact on the start of the seasons” for Miami’s affiliates, all scheduled to begin play on May 4.  At least five players and staffers tested positive for the coronavirus, according to SportsGrid’s Craig Mish (via Twitter).
  • The Twins reinstated southpaw Caleb Thielbar from the COVID-IL, the team announced, with right-hander Luke Farrell optioned to the alternate site in a corresponding move.  Thielbar was placed on the IL on April 20 along with Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick, though while the two outfielders actually tested positive for the virus, Thielbar was noted only as a close contact.  Thielbar has a whopping 48.4% strikeout rate over seven innings this season but only a 5.14 ERA, thanks in large part to three home runs allowed.
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Twins Place 3 On COVID List, Select Luke Farrell

By Connor Byrne | April 20, 2021 at 3:28pm CDT

The Twins have placed a pair of outfielders – Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick – as well as left-hander Caleb Thielbar on the COVID-19 injured list, the team announced. Kepler tested positive for the virus, manager Rocco Baldelli announced to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com and other reporters. Garlick tested positive over the weekend, while Thielbar is on the list as a close contact.

The Twins have been hit hard by COVID over the past several days, as their games against the Angels on Saturday and Sunday were both postponed. The club was previously scheduled to face the Athletics on Monday, but they were also unable to play then. However, the Twins will return to action Tuesday with a doubleheader in Oakland.

To fill their empty roster spots, the Twins reinstated outfielder Brent Rooker from the 10-day IL, added lefty Lewis Thorpe as the 27th man for their doubleheader, recalled infielder Travis Blankenhorn and selected righty Luke Farrell. The 29-year-old Farrell appeared with four different teams – most recently Texas – from 2017-20 and combined for a 5.00 ERA in 63 innings. The Twins signed him to a minor league deal during the offseason.

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Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/2/20

By Mark Polishuk | December 2, 2020 at 8:05pm CDT

With the non-tender deadline coming today at 7pm CT, expect quite a few players to agree to contracts for the 2021 season, avoiding arbitration in advance.  In many (but not all) cases, these deals — referred to as “pre-tender” deals because they fall prior to the deadline — will fall shy of expectations and projections.  Teams will sometimes present borderline non-tender candidates with a “take it or leave it” style offer which will be accepted for fear of being non-tendered and sent out into an uncertain market.  Speculatively, such deals could increase in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty sweeping through the game, although there are also widespread expectations of record non-tender numbers.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through today’s smaller-scale pre-tender deals in this post.  You can also check out Matt Swartz’s arbitration salary projections here.

Latest Agreements

  • The Giants have a $1.275MM agreement with first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf, Schulman tweets.
  • Pirates righty Jameson Taillon will earn $2.25MM in 2021, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets. Taillon didn’t pitch at all in 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2019. Reliever Michael Feliz will get $1MM, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Earlier Agreements

  • Twins righty Jose Berrios will earn $6.1MM with a $500K signing bonus in 2021, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. Catcher Mitch Garver will rake in $1.875MM, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Center fielder Byron Buxton ($5.125MM) and reliever Taylor Rogers (terms not released) also agreed to deals, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
  • The Phillies have deals with starter Zach Eflin ($4.45MM) and relievers Hector Neris ($5MM), David Hale ($850K) and Seranthony Dominguez ($727,500), Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Heyman and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com relay.
  • The Marlins and first baseman Garrett Cooper have a $1.8MM agreement that could max out at $2.05MM with performance bonuses, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
  • The Brewers are keeping catcher Manny Pina in the fold for $1.65MM, according to Heyman. They’re also retaining first baseman Daniel Vogelbach for $1.4MM, Nightengale reports.
  • The Giants and outfielder Austin Slater have a one-year, $1.15MM deal, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.The club also reached a $925K agreement with lefty Wandy Peralta and a $700K pact with righty Trevor Gott, Heyman tweets.
  • The Cubs are bringing back hurlers Dan Winkler ($900K), Colin Rea ($702,500) and Kyle Ryan ($800K), Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ryan’s agreement is a split contract that features a $250K minor league salary.
  • The Mets are retaining lefty Steven Matz for $5.2MM, Nightengale tweets. Matz had a brutal campaign in 2020 with a 9.68 ERA/7.76 FIP over 30 2/3 innings in 2020, but the Mets will give him a chance to rebound.
  • The Padres and lefty Matt Strahm have a one-year, $2MM deal, Nightengale reports. Strahm gave the Padres a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP in 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia, whom the Mets claimed from Pittsburgh in August, will earn $1MM in 2021, according to Nightengale.
  • The Astros and reliever Austin Pruitt have settled for $617, 500, per Heyman. The right-hander missed the season with elbow issues.
  • The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler have agreed to a one-year, $8.05MM deal with $250K in incentives, Nightengale reports. Soler was a 48-home run hitter in 2019, but his production went backward this past season, in which he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight HRs in 174 trips to the plate.
  • The Red Sox have kept relievers Matt Barnes ($4.4MM) and Ryan Brasier ($1.25MM) and catcher Kevin Plawecki ($1.6MM), per tweets from Nightengale, Robert Murray of FanSided and Heyman. Barnes has been a solid reliever as a member of the Red Sox, though he yielded more than five walks per nine and upward of four runs per nine in 2020. Brasier was more successful this past season, as he tossed 25 frames of 3.96 ERA/3.15 FIP ball and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Plawecki had a nice year as the backup to Christian Vazquez, as he batted .341/.393/.463 in 89 PA.
  • The Giants and southpaw Jarlin Garcia have settled for $950K, according to Heyman. Garcia is coming off an 18 1/3-inning effort in which he posted a near-perfect 0.49 (with an impressive 3.14 FIP) and 6.87 K/9 against 3.44 BB/9.
  • The Marlins have agreed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal with first baseman Jesus Aguilar, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. The 30-year-old slugger put up strong numbers in his first year with the Fish, slashing .277/.352/.457 with eight long balls in 216 plate appearances.
  • The Giants and outfielder Alex Dickerson settled at a year and $2MM, tweets Nightengale. The 30-year-old slugger has a lengthy injury history but has been excellent in limited work with the Giants, including a .298/.371/.576 slash in 170 plate appearances this past season.
  • Luis Cessa will be back with the Yankees on a one-year deal, tweets Nightengale. He’ll earn $1.05MM. The righty notched a 3.32 ERA and 3.79 FIP with a 17-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this past season. Fellow righty Ben Heller will also return, the team announced, though it didn’t disclose financial details.
  • First baseman Matt Olson and the Athletics settled on a one-year deal worth $5MM, tweets Nightengale. The 26-year-old Olson’s .198/.310/.424 slash was an obvious step back from his 2019 campaign, but he’s still viewed as a vital part of the club’s future moving forward.
  • The Braves and righty Luke Jackson agreed to a one-year deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The 29-year-old was rocked for a 6.84 ERA in this year’s shortened slate of games but posted a 3.84 ERA and 3.24 FIP with better than 13 K/9 as one of the team’s steadiest relievers in 2019. The contract is valued at $1.9MM, per a team announcement.
  • The Brewers are bringing back catcher Omar Narvaez for one year and $2.5MM, Heyman tweets. Narvaez was a very good offensive catcher from 2o16-19 with the White Sox and Mariners, but he struggled last season after the M’s traded him to the Brewers. Thanks in part to a career-worst 31 percent strikeout rate, Narvaez could only muster a .176/.294/.269 line and a paltry two HRs in 126 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s in line to return to the Brewers for a second season.
  • The Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2MM contract with shortstop Orlando Arcia, Nightengale relays. Arcia endured serious struggles on offense in prior years, but the 26-year-old managed a respectable .260/.317/.416 line with five home runs over 189 plate appearances this past season.
  • The Phillies and catcher Andrew Knapp have reached a one-year, $1.1MM agreement, per Nightengale. Typically a light-hitting backstop, Knapp batted a career-best .278/.404/.444 in 89 plate appearances in 2020. He’s currently the No. 1 catcher on a Phillies team that could lose J.T. Realmuto in free agency.
  • Pirates infielder Erik Gonzalez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. It was the second year of arb eligibility for Gonzalez, whose glovework will earn him a contract despite a brutal .227/.255/.359 batting line in 193 plate appearances in 2020.
  • The Royals and Hunter Dozier agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.72MM in entirely guaranteed money, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  More is available to Dozier via contract incentives.  Dozier hit .228/.344/.392 over 186 PA after missing over the first two weeks of the season recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
  • The Red Sox agreed to an $870K deal with right-hander Austin Brice for the 2021 season, as per Nightengale.  Brice posted a 5.95 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 5.9 BB/9 over 19 2/3 innings in his first season in Boston, and was considered a potential non-tender candidate.
  • The Twins and righty Tyler Duffey agreed to a one-year, $2.2MM pact, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports.  According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Duffey’s deal is fully guaranteed.
  • The Braves agreed to a one-year, $900K deal with southpaw Grant Dayton, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Dayton had a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in 2020.
  • The Braves announced an agreement with utilityman Johan Camargo on a one-year, $1.36MM deal.  Camargo was thought to be a non-tender candidate after struggling to a .222/.267/.378 slash line in 375 plate appearances over the last two seasons, but he will return for a fifth year in Atlanta.
  • The White Sox and left-hander Jace Fry agreed to a one-year deal worth $862.5K, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Fry posted a 3.66 ERA, 2.00 K/BB rate, and 11.0 K/9 over 19 2/3 innings in 2020, and he has strong overall career numbers against left-handed batters.
  • The Orioles agreed with second baseman Yolmer Sanchez on a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).  Baltimore claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox at the end of October.  A Gold Glove winner in 2019, Sanchez was non-tendered by Chicago prior to last year’s deadline, though after signing a minors deal with the Giants, he returned to the White Sox on another minors deal and appeared in 11 games on the South Side.
  • The Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth roughly $700K with left-hander Caleb Thielbar, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports (via Twitter).  2020 marked Thielbar’s first taste of MLB action since 2015, as the southpaw worked his way back from independent ball to post a 2.25 ERA, 2.44 K/BB rate, and 9.9 K/9 over 20 innings for Minnesota.
  • The Dodgers and left-hander Scott Alexander have agreed to a one-year, $1MM deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Alexander posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season, recording an equal number of walks and strikeouts (nine).  The southpaw was thought to be a potential non-tender candidate given his relative lack of usage and his non-inclusion on the Dodgers’ playoff roster, but the team will retain Alexander for his second arb-eligible year.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) adds the noteworthy detail that Alexander’s $1MM salary is fully guaranteed, as opposed to the usual contracts for arbitration-eligible players that allow their teams to release them prior to Opening Day and only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon salary.
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    Brewers Sign Robert Stock To Minor League Deal

    Red Sox Have Shown Interest In Matt Moore

    Gary Peters Passes Away

    Mariners Outright Justus Sheffield

    Orioles Designate Darwinzon Hernandez For Assignment

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