Tigers Sign Carlos Sanabria, Chris Rabago To Minors Contracts
The Tigers have signed right-hander Carlos Sanabria and catcher Chris Rabago to minor league deals, The Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold reports. Presumably, both players will be invited to the Tigers’ big league Spring Training camp whenever the lockout ends and camp opens for Major League players.
Sanabria pitched in the Royals’ farm system in 2021, after spending his first seven pro seasons in the Astros organization. It’s fair to speculate that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had a hand in recruiting Sanabria to Detroit, as Hinch was undoubtedly familiar with the righty when Hinch was managing the Astros from 2015-19. Sanabria didn’t make his big league debut until Hinch had left Houston, however, as Sanabria’s MLB resume consists of two games and two innings with the Astros in 2020.
Still only 25 years old, Sanabria has a 3.82 ERA and 23% strikeout rate over 412 1/3 career innings in the minor leagues, working only as a reliever over the last four seasons. Much of Sanabria’s success has come at the lower levels, as he has a 5.27 ERA at Triple-A, albeit over just 27 1/3 innings of work. A greater concern may be a lack of control that has more or less been an issue for Sanabria over his career, and has particularly manifested itself over the last few years; Sanabria has a 14.75% walk rate over 113 1/3 combined innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.
Rabago was a 13th-round pick for the Rockies in the 2014 draft, and he has played almost all of his career in Colorado’s farm system apart from a seven-game stint with the Yankees’ Double-A squad in 2018. Rabago has hit .248/.327/.348 over 1727 plate appearances in the minors, including a very similar .240/.325/.346 slash in 235 PA at the Triple-A level.
Rabago will provide the Tigers with further depth at a catching position that is headlined by new arrival Tucker Barnhart. The versatile Eric Haase is the primary backup on the big league roster and can also be used in the outfield, while Dustin Garneau is at Triple-A providing more experience. Jake Rogers will miss a good chunk of the 2022 season recovering from a Tommy John surgery from last September.
Yankees Outright Chris Rabago
The Yankees announced that they’ve outrighted catcher Chris Rabago off the 40-man roster. Rabago, who was claimed off waivers out of the Rockies organization just two days ago, will remain in Double-A Trenton for now. It seems that the Yankees claimed him solely with the intent to immediately try to pass Rabago through waivers themselves — a move that’ll now pay some dividends, as they can retain his rights without dedicating a 40-man roster spot.
Rabago was a 13th-round selection by the Rockies back in 2014 and found himself added to the 40-man roster last November on the heels of a .272/.350/.393 batting line in 358 plate appearances in Class-A Advanced. This season has proven more of a challenge, as he’s managed just a .213/.292/.361 slash through 229 plate appearances with Colorado’s Double-A affiliate. (Rabago has yet to even suit up for the Yankees’ Trenton club.) He’s delivered sub-par framing marks in 2018, per Baseball-Prospectus, but does have a 34 percent caught-stealing rate. Rabago wasn’t considered to be among the Rockies’ top prospects and won’t feature prominently on the Yankees’ rankings, either, though he’ll add some depth to the upper levels of their system.
Yankees Place Aroldis Chapman On DL, Claim Chris Rabago From Rockies
The Yankees announced that they’ve placed closer Aroldis Chapman on the 10-day disabled list with inflammation in his left knee and recalled righty Chance Adams from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees also claimed minor league catcher Chris Rabago off waivers from the Rockies and optioned him to Double-A Trenton.
Chapman exited last night’s game with a trainer after throwing his sixth pitch. He’d been displaying diminished velocity prior to that, sitting at about 96 mph with his heater. He’s headed to see a doctor on Friday, tweets Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, though the hope is that he’ll only require a minimal 10-day stint on the shelf. With Chapman sidelined, the Yankees will likely to turn to either Zach Britton or David Robertson to finish off games in save situations, though manager Aaron Boone has not yet tipped his hand as to who’ll be his primary stopper.
As for Rabago, he’ll join the Yankees organization after struggling through a down season in Double-A this year. A 13th-round selection by the Rockies back in 2014, Rabago played his way onto the 40-man roster when he batted .272/.350/.393 through 358 plate appearances in Class-A Advanced last season. In 2018, however, he’s managed just a .213/.292/.361 slash through 229 plate appearances. Rabago, who turned 25 back in April, has thrown out 34 percent of would-be base thieves in his minor league career.