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Jesse Chavez

Braves To Select Jesse Chavez, Designate Hector Neris For Assignment

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11:08am: Atlanta has opted to designate right-hander Hector Neris for assignment, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Chavez will take his spot on the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

11:03am: The Braves are selecting the contract of veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez from Triple-A Gwinnett, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Atlanta has a full 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will need to be made.

The 41-year-old Chavez and the Braves can’t seem to help finding their way back to one another. This is his fifth stint with Atlanta in five years, despite never pitching on more than a one-year deal with the Braves over that half-decade stretch. He’s signed minor league deals with the White Sox, Cubs, Rangers and Angels since 2021 but each time wound up landing back with the Braves.

Despite his age, Chavez has remained effective during that span. In 201 innings since 2021 — all but 16 1/3 coming with Atlanta — the well-traveled righty has compiled a 2.91 earned run average with a 24.5% strikeout rate and a 7.4% walk rate. He’s most frequently held a long relief/multi-inning role in the bullpen but has garnered 26 holds and a save along the way.

Neris, 35, appeared in only two games with the Braves but was still tagged for five runs in that small sample. He yielded three runs without recording an out in his Atlanta debut on Opening Day and was tagged for another two runs in one inning of work yesterday. The Braves could’ve optioned Daysbel Hernandez, moved Joe Jimenez to the 60-day injured list — he’s likely out for the season following late-October knee surgery — and preserved some depth, but Neris’ early struggles were enough for the club to move on entirely.

It’s a rough sequence for Neris, who didn’t even sign with Atlanta until March 3 and only pitched one official inning during spring training before being selected to the Opening Day roster. The extent to which the lack of a more traditional build impacted him is impossible to pin down, but Neris averaged just 91.9 mph on his four-seamer during his pair of Braves appearances; he averaged 93.6 mph on his four-seamer during his first appearance of the 2024 season.

That said, Neris isn’t exactly coming off a dominant 2024 campaign. He finished the year with a 4.10 ERA between the Cubs and Astros but also blew five of his 30 save opportunities, walked nearly 11% of his opponents and posted a 24.6% strikeout rate that was his lowest since his 2015 rookie campaign in Philadelphia. Neris struggled enough in Chicago that the Cubs released him in mid-August.

As recently as 2023, Neris turned in a pristine 1.71 ERA in 68 1/3 innings for Houston. That never looked sustainable, not with a .219 average on balls in play and bloated 91% strand rate, but he still logged a sharp 28.2% strikeout rate and logged 31 holds and a pair of saves. Even with some regression expected, metrics like FIP (3.83) and SIERA (3.89) felt that Neris was a perfectly solid option in the ’pen.

The Braves have the opportunity to explore trade scenarios for Neris, but the likelier outcome is that he’ll become a free agent — whether by way of release waivers or rejecting a minor league assignment after clearing outright waivers. Neris has a lengthy track record in the big leagues and has continued to pitch effectively into his 30s — 3.27 ERA in 267 1/3 innings from 2021-24 — so another club will likely take a look on a minor league deal and hope that a lengthier buildup in the minors will get him back on track.

Braves Sign Jesse Chavez To Minor League Deal

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Fans in Atlanta have been reunited with an old friend today, as veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez signed with the Braves on a minor league deal this morning as relayed by David O’Brien of The Athletic. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that Chavez is in the mix for a spot on the club’s Opening Day roster, with the final spot on the club’s pitching staff seemingly likely to come down to either him or youngster AJ Smith-Shawver.

Chavez, 41, will now have the opportunity to suit up for the Braves in a fifth consecutive big league season. The journeyman reliever was drafted by the Cubs in the 39th round of the 2001 draft but did not sign, only to then be drafted in the 42nd round of the 2002 draft by the Rangers. He kicked off his career in the majors with the Pirates back in 2008 at the age of 24, and since then he’s pitched for nine clubs across 17 big league seasons. The veteran journeyman struggled a great deal early in his career, with a 5.99 ERA in his first 156 big league outings, but he improved with time to become a roughly average middle relief arm in his early to mid 30s with a 4.18 ERA in 755 2/3 innings of work from 2013 to 2020.

The righty’s most notable step forward, however, came in Atlanta. More than a decade after he made his Braves debut (he made 28 appearances for the club back in 2010), Chavez returned to Georgia in 2021 and dominated to the tune of a 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings of work with an even better 2.01 FIP. He went on to pitch 6 1/3 scoreless innings during the club’s run to the World Series, and since then he’s remained a fixture of Atlanta’s pitching staff even as stints with the Cubs, White Sox, and Angels have either seen him depart the organization without making a big league appearance or struggle in a brief stint at the big league level. All of those forays into other organizations have ended in him returning to Atlanta, and it appears this winter’s minor league deal with the Rangers was no different as the veteran was released on Friday prior to his reunion with Atlanta.

Now that he’s back with the Braves organization, it would hardly be a surprise to see him return to the big league roster given that he’s posted a sterling 2.53 ERA over the past four seasons while pitching in the club’s uniform. To crack the Opening Day roster, the veteran will need to beat out Smith-Shawver. The 22-year-old has looked quite good this spring, with a 3.94 ERA and a 28.2% strikeout rate in 16 innings of work. Those big strikeout numbers have gotten the attention of the club’s brass and appear to have even entered him into the conversation for starts alongside Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson behind the club’s regular starters Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Reynaldo Lopez. Chavez won’t be in the mix for starts, but if the club opts to round out its rotation with Anderson and Holmes he could slide into a long relief role with the club as Smith-Shawver heads to Triple-A.

Rangers Release Hunter Strickland, Jesse Chavez

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The Rangers announced that they’ve released veteran relievers Jesse Chavez and Hunter Strickland from minor league contracts. Both pitchers are again free agents.

As MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote yesterday, Chavez and Strickland are among at least three dozen players around the league with upcoming opt-out opportunities. The Rangers presumably expected both to trigger their out clauses and weren’t willing to carry them in the MLB bullpen. Neither player showed much in camp. Chavez gave up seven runs over 6 2/3 innings, allowing 10 hits while issuing four walks. Strickland just signed last Wednesday. He was only able to make two appearances and gave up three runs while recording four outs.

Strickland, 36, spent last season with the Angels, where he managed decent numbers in middle relief. He posted a 3.31 ERA across 73 1/3 innings, picking up 12 holds and a save. A below-average 19.4% strikeout rate is the primary reason he nevertheless needed to settle for a minor league deal.

Chavez is trying to get to the big leagues for the 18th straight year. The 41-year-old swingman has bounced around the league but only appeared in the majors with Atlanta over the last two seasons. He turned in a productive 3.13 ERA over 63 1/3 frames as a long man last year. Chavez struck out 20.8% of opponents against a 7.2% walk rate.

36 Veteran Players With Looming Opt-Out Dates

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The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement implemented a new series of uniform opt-out dates for players who qualified as free agents under Article XX(b) of said agreement and sign a minor league deal in free agency. More specifically, that designation falls on players with six-plus years of MLB service time who finished the preceding season on a major league roster or injured list. Some contracts for players coming over from a foreign professional league like Nippon Professional Baseball or the Korea Baseball Organization will also have language written into their contracts allowing them to qualify as an XX(b) free agent despite a lack of six years of service.

The three uniform opt-out dates on those contracts land five days before Opening Day, on May 1 and on June 1. With the regular season set to kick off next week, any Article XX(b) free agents who are in camp on minor league contracts will have the opportunity to opt out on Saturday, March 22. A player triggering one of these out clauses gives his current club 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster or let him become a free agent.

There are other ways to secure opt-outs in contracts, of course. Many players who don’t qualify for XX(b) designation will still have opt-out opportunities negotiated into their minor league deals in free agency.

The following is a list of 36 players who are in camp as non-roster invitees and will be able to opt out this weekend. Most were XX(b) free agents, but there are a handful of names who didn’t meet that requirement but had outs negotiated into their respective deals nonetheless. This is not a comprehensive list of all players with opt-out opportunities this weekend.

All spring stats referenced are accurate through the completion of games played Wednesday, March 19.

Astros: LHP Jalen Beeks

Beeks, 31, was a relatively late sign (March 7) who’s since tossed three spring frames — including two scoreless innings just yesterday. He logged a 4.50 ERA in 70 innings between the Rockies and Pirates last season. He struggled to miss bats last year but typically runs strong strikeout rates. Dating back to 2020, Beeks carries a 4.16 ERA in 192 2/3 innings. In Josh Hader, Bryan King and Bennett Sousa, the Astros already have three lefty relievers on the 40-man. Another veteran non-roster invitee, Steven Okert, has rattled off 8 2/3 shutout spring innings with a 14-to-2 K/BB ratio. Beeks might have long odds of cracking the roster.

Blue Jays: RHP Jacob Barnes, LHP Ryan Yarbrough

The 34-year-old Barnes logged a 4.36 ERA in a career-high 66 big league innings last season. He posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the five preceding seasons (a total of 115 1/3 frames). He’s been tagged for four runs in 5 1/3 innings this spring.

Yarbrough, 33, had a terrific run with the Jays to close out the 2024 season. Joining Toronto in a deadline swap sending Kevin Kiermaier to the Dodgers, the veteran southpaw posted a 2.01 ERA in 31 1/3 innings. He’s a soft-tosser, sitting just 86.5 mph with his heater, but Yarbrough can pitch multiple innings in relief and has a decent track record even beyond last year’s overall 3.19 earned run average (4.21 ERA in 768 MLB innings). He’s allowed three runs with and 8-to-1 K/BB ratio in 6 2/3 innings in camp.

Braves: RHP Buck Farmer, RHP Hector Neris

Farmer was already reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday, so there’d seem to be a good chance of him taking his out. The 34-year-old turned in a terrific 3.04 ERA in 71 innings for the Reds last year but was probably hampered by his age, pedestrian velocity and subpar command in free agency. With a 3.68 ERA in 193 innings over the past three seasons in Cincinnati, he should find an opportunity somewhere — even if it’s not in Atlanta.

Neris is still in Braves camp. He signed well into camp and thus has only pitched one official inning so far, which was scoreless. (Neris is pitching today as well.) He’s looking to bounce back from a 4.10 ERA and a particularly poor performance in save opportunities last year. Prior to his nondescript 2024, Neris rattled off a 3.03 ERA in 208 innings from 2021-23 between Philly and Houston, saving 17 games and collecting 67 holds along the way.

Brewers: 1B/OF Mark Canha, OF Manuel Margot

He’s had a brutal spring, but the 36-year-old Canha has been an above-average hitter every year since 2018, by measure of wRC+. He’s just 2-for-23 in Brewers camp, but he’s slugged a homer and walked as often as he’s fanned (four times apiece). Milwaukee has Rhys Hoskins at first base, but Canha could chip in at DH and offer a right-handed complement to lefty outfielders Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell.

Margot hasn’t hit well in a tiny sample of 35 spring plate appearances, but he’s outproduced Canha with a .250/.314/.375 slash. He’s coming off a dismal .238/.289/.337 showing in Minnesota, however, and hasn’t been the plus defender he was prior to a major 2022 knee injury. Like Canha, he could complement Frelick and Mitchell as a righty-swinging outfielder, but Canha has been the far more productive bat in recent seasons.

Cubs: RHP Chris Flexen

The Cubs reassigned Flexen to minor league camp after just 3 2/3 innings this spring. He was hit hard on the other side of town with the White Sox in 2024, though Flexen quietly righted the ship after an awful start. He posted a 5.69 ERA through nine starts but logged a 4.62 mark over his final 21 trips to the mound, including a tidy 3.52 earned run average across 46 innings in his last eight starts. Flexen may not bounce back to his 2021-22 numbers in Seattle, but he’s a durable fifth starter if nothing else.

Diamondbacks: INF/OF Garrett Hampson, RHP Scott McGough

The D-backs don’t really have a backup shortstop while Blaze Alexander is sidelined with an oblique strain, which seems to bode well for Hampson. He’s hitting .235/.333/.324 in camp and can play three infield spots and three outfield positions. He had a bleak .230/.275/.300 performance in Kansas City last year but was a league-average hitter for the Marlins as recently as 2023.

McGough was reassigned to minor league camp yesterday after serving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings of spring work. That wasn’t the follow-up to last year’s gruesome 7.44 ERA for which the 35-year-old righty or the team had hoped.

Giants: C Max Stassi, RHP Lou Trivino

Stassi is battling Sam Huff, who’s on the 40-man, for the backup catcher’s role while Tom Murphy is injured. The 34-year-old Stassi is hitting .300/.364/.700 with a pair of homers in 22 spring plate appearances. He’s a plus defender with a scattershot track record at the plate.

Trivino hasn’t pitched since 2022 due to Tommy John surgery and a separate shoulder issue. He also hasn’t allowed a run in 8 1/3 spring innings. (9-to-4 K/BB ratio). Trivino’s scoreless Cactus League showing, his pre-injury track record and his familiarity with skipper Bob Melvin — his manager in Oakland — all seem to give him a real chance to win a spot.

Mariners: RHP Shintaro Fujinami, RHP Trevor Gott, 1B Rowdy Tellez

Fujinami’s command has never been good, and he’s walked more batters (seven) than he’s struck out (four) through 5 2/3 spring innings. He’s also plunked a pair of batters. He’s looking to bounce back from an injury-ruined 2024 season but might have to take his first steps toward doing so in Triple-A.

Tellez has had a big camp and looks like he could have a real chance to make the club in a part-time DH/first base role, as explored more yesterday. Gott is on the mend from Tommy John surgery performed last March and won’t pitch until midseason. He’s unlikely to opt out.

Mets: RHP Jose Ureña

Ureña was torched for seven runs in his first 1 1/3 spring innings after signing with the Mets on Feb. 27. He bounced back by striking out all three opponents he faced in an inning this past weekend, but he hasn’t helped himself otherwise. Ureña’s 3.80 ERA in 109 innings with Texas last year was his first sub-5.00 ERA since 2017-18 in Miami.

Padres: 1B Yuli Gurriel, INF Jose Iglesias

Both veterans have a legitimate chance to make the club. Gurriel has had a productive spring (.296/.321/.519) at nearly 41 years of age, while Iglesias is out to a 5-for-18 start since signing in mid-March. Gurriel could split time at first and DH, lessening the need to use Luis Arraez in the field. Iglesias could see frequent work at second base, shifting Jake Cronenworth to first base and pushing Arraez to DH. The Padres probably wouldn’t have put a hefty (relative to most minor league deals) $3MM base salary on Iglesias’ deal if they didn’t see a real path to him making the roster.

Pirates: LHP Ryan Borucki

Borucki was great for the Pirates in 2023 and struggled through 11 innings during an injury-marred 2024 season. The 30-year-old southpaw has allowed one run in eight spring innings. His five walks are a bit much, but he’s also fanned 11 of his 33 opponents.

Rangers: SS Nick Ahmed, RHP David Buchanan, RHP Jesse Chavez, OF Kevin Pillar, RHP Hunter Strickland

Ahmed has more homers in 28 spring plate appearances than he had in 228 plate appearances in 2024 or 210 plate appearances in 2023. He’s popped three round-trippers already and slashed .286/.310/.607. With a crowded infield and versatile backups like Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran, Ahmed might still have a hard time cracking the roster.

None of the three pitchers listed here has performed well in limited work. Buchanan had a nice run as a starter in the KBO in the four preceding seasons, while Chavez has been a mainstay in the Atlanta bullpen for much of the past few years. Strickland had a nice 2024 in Anaheim but signed very late and retired only one of the five batters he faced during his long spring outing.

Pillar may have the best chance of the bunch to make the team. He’s hitting .273/.333/.394 in 39 plate appearances. Outfielders Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia have been banged up this spring, so some extra outfield depth could make sense.

Rays: DH/OF Eloy Jimenez

Jimenez homered for the second time yesterday, boosting his Grapefruit line to .263/.300/.447. He’s coming off a dreadful season in 2024, but from 2019-23 the former top prospect raked at a .275/.324/.487 pace, including a 31-homer rookie campaign (admittedly, in the juiced-ball 2019 season). Durability has been a bigger factor than productivity. If the Rays can get Jimenez to elevate the ball more, he could be a bargain; he’s still only 28.

Red Sox: LHP Matt Moore, RHP Adam Ottavino

Moore signed on Feb. 20 and has only gotten into two spring games so far, totaling two innings. Ottavino has pitched four innings but allowed five runs. He’s walked five and tossed a pair of wild pitches in that time. Both pitchers have long MLB track records, but they’re both coming off lackluster seasons.

Reds: LHP Wade Miley

Miley underwent Tommy John surgery early last season and contemplated retirement upon learning his prognosis. He wanted to return to one of his former NL Central clubs in free agency, and the Reds clearly offered a more compelling minor league deal than the Brewers. He’s not going to be a realistic option until late May, and it seems unlikely he’d opt out while his rehab is still ongoing.

Rockies: RHP Jake Woodford

Woodford isn’t an Article XX(b) free agent, but MLBTR has learned that he still has a March 22 opt-out. He made his fourth appearance of Rockies camp yesterday, tossing 2 2/3 innings with an earned run. Woodford has allowed seven runs on 11 hits and three walks with five punchouts and a nice 47.2% grounder rate in 10 2/3 frames this spring. He has experience as a starter and reliever. The righty doesn’t miss many bats but keeps the ball on the ground and has good command. He’s a fifth starter/swingman who’s out of minor league options.

Royals: C Luke Maile, RHP Ross Stripling

Maile is a glove-first backup who’s had a nice spring at the plate but has done so on a team with a healthy Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin. His path to a roster spot doesn’t look great. Speculatively, his former Reds club, which just lost Tyler Stephenson to begin the year, would make sense if they plan to add an outside catcher. Maile’s .214/.294/.329 performance over the past three seasons is light, but he’s already familiar with the bulk of Cincinnati’s staff. He’s a fine backup or No. 3 catcher for any club, Kansas City included.

Stripling notched a 3.01 ERA in 124 innings for the 2022 Blue Jays, but it’s been rough waters since. He was rocked for a 5.68 ERA across the past two seasons, spending time with both Bay Area clubs, and has been tagged for 11 runs on 14 hits — four of them homers — with just two strikeouts in six spring frames. He’ll likely need a strong Triple-A showing, be it with the Royals or another club, to pitch his way back to the majors.

Tigers: LHP Andrew Chafin

Chafin surprisingly commanded only a minor league deal this offseason and has struggled to begin his third stint with the Tigers. He’s been tagged for eight runs in four spring innings, walking six batters along the way. It’s a rough look, but the affable southpaw notched a 3.51 ERA in 56 1/3 MLB frames last year and touts a 3.12 mark across the past four seasons combined.

White Sox: RHP Mike Clevinger, INF Brandon Drury, OF Travis Jankowski

The ChiSox signed Clevinger for a third time late this spring and are trying him in the bullpen. He’s responded with four shutout innings, allowing only one hit and no walks while fanning six hitters. His 2025 White Sox reunion is out to a much better start than his 2024 reunion, wherein he was limited to only 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA thanks to elbow and neck troubles.

Drury could hardly be doing more to secure a spot with the Pale Hose. He’s decimated Cactus League pitching at a .410/.439/.821 pace, slugging three homers and seven doubles in only 41 plate appearances. He’s coming off a terrible 2024 showing with the Angels but hit .263/.313/.493 from 2021-23. It’d be a surprise if the Sox didn’t keep him.

Jankowski started the spring with the Cubs, was granted his release and signed with the Sox. The hits haven’t been dropping, but he has six walks in 25 plate appearances. The White Sox already have Michael A. Taylor in a fourth outfield role. Andrew Benintendi, who missed three-plus weeks with a fractured hand, was back in the lineup yesterday, making Jankowski something of a long shot.

Yankees: RHP Carlos Carrasco

With a nice spring showing and several injuries in the Yankees’ rotation, Carrasco looks to have a good chance at making the roster. Jack Curry of the YES Network already reported it’s “likely” Carrasco will be added this weekend. Carrasco has a 1.69 ERA with 15 strikeouts and seven walks (plus four hit batters) in 16 spring innings. He tossed five shutout frames yesterday.

Salary Details For Several Minor League Deals

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Every offseason, the primary focus for baseball fans is on trades and free agent activity. Naturally, major league free agent signings garner the majority of the attention and generate the most buzz. Minor league signees come with less fanfare, typically with good reason. They tend to be older veterans who are looking to extend their playing careers or perhaps younger names looking to rebound from an injury or a disappointing showing the prior season (sometimes the prior few seasons).

As spring training progresses, we’re seeing an uptick in minor league signings. Free agents who’ve lingered on the market and felt their leverage in negotiations dry up begin to concede and accept non-guaranteed pacts to get to camp in hopes of winning a roster spot.

Salary details for minor league signees isn’t as prominently reported on as it is for players signing guaranteed big league deals. The Associated Press just published a list of free agent signings throughout the winter, including within salary details for a handful of (mostly) recent minor league signings. Many of the salaries reported by the AP were already known and reflected here at MLBTR, but the report does include more than two dozen previously unreported base salaries for players on minor league deals. Here’s a quick rundown (player salary links point back to prior MLBTR posts detailing that minor league signing):

Blue Jays: Jacob Barnes, RHP, $1.4MM | Ryan Yarbrough, LHP, $2MM

Braves: Curt Casali, C, $1.25MM | Buck Farmer, RHP, $1MM

Brewers: Manuel Margot, OF, $1.3MM | Mark Canha, 1B/OF, $1.4MM

Cubs: Brooks Kriske, RHP, $900K | Travis Jankowski, OF, $1.25MM | Chris Flexen, RHP, $1.5MM

Diamondbacks: Garrett Hampson, INF/OF, $1.5MM | Scott McGough, RHP, $1.25MM

Dodgers: Luis Garcia, RHP, $1.5MM

Giants: Lou Trivino, RHP, $1.5MM

Mariners: Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, $1.3MM | Trevor Gott, RHP, $1.35MM

Padres: Yuli Gurriel, 1B, $1.35MM ($100K higher than initially reported)

Rangers: Nick Ahmed, SS, $1.25MM | Jesse Chavez, RHP, $1.25MM | David Buchanan, RHP, $1.375MM | Kevin Pillar, OF, $1MM

Red Sox: Matt Moore, LHP, $2MM

Royals: Luke Maile, C, $2MM | Ross Stripling, RHP, $1.75MM

White Sox: Brandon Drury, INF/OF, $2MM | Mike Clevinger, RHP, $1.5MM

A few things bear emphasizing. First, this is clearly not a comprehensive list of minor league signings throughout the league — nor is it even a comprehensive list of the listed teams’ non-roster invitees to camp. Secondly, many of these sums are of little consequence to the team. They’re not even guaranteed, after all, and even if a player makes the Opening Day roster and earns the full slate of his minor league salary, most of these salaries aren’t going to carry significant payroll ramifications.

That’s not true across the board, though. For instance, the Rangers are fully intent on remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold. At present, RosterResource projects them at $235.7MM of luxury obligations. Opting to select the contract of Buchanan or Chavez rather than allocating those innings to pre-arbitration players who’s being paid at league-minimum levels (or a few thousand dollars north of it) would inch the Rangers’ CBT number forward. They’re not going to hit the tax line even in if they wind up adding multiple NRIs to the actual roster, but selecting their contracts will further narrow the resources president of baseball ops Chris Young will have at his disposal for midseason dealings.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are effectively seated right at the tax threshold. RosterResource has them with $241.4MM of luxury considerations. Team president Sam Kennedy said after signing Alex Bregman that he expects his team will be a CBT payor in 2025. As things stand, the Sox could duck back under that threshold, but selecting the contract of Moore, Adam Ottavino (also $2MM) or another prominent NRI would further signal ownership’s willingness to return to luxury tax status for the first time since 2022.

There’s probably no getting back under the tax line for the Blue Jays, who currently have a $273.3MM CBT number. However, the front office would presumably like to avoid reaching $281MM in tax obligations, as that’s the point at which Toronto’s top pick in the 2026 draft would be dropped by ten spots. In-season trades will have more of an effect on their tax number than decisions on NRIs like Barnes, Yarbrough, Eric Lauer and others, but it bears mentioning that the Blue Jays are around $8MM shy of what many clubs consider to be the most detrimental impact of straying to deep into CBT waters.

Rangers Sign Jesse Chavez, Cody Thomas To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers announced that they have signed right-hander Jesse Chavez and outfielder Cody Thomas to minor league deals. They also announces previously-reported pacts for righty David Buchanan and catcher Chad Wallach. Chavez is represented by Apex Baseball and Thomas by Octagon. Both of them will be in big league camp as non-roster invitees.

Chavez, 41, has already written a lengthy baseball story. He debuted in the big leagues back in 2008 and has appeared in each season since then, suiting up for nine different clubs, having multiple stints with many of them.

That includes the Rangers. Chavez was drafted by Texas way back in 2002, but was traded to the Pirates prior to making it to the majors. He eventually found his way back to the Rangers, signing with them going into 2018, though he was traded to the Cubs that summer. Going into 2019, he came back to Texas yet again, signing a two-year deal at that time.

Despite his age, he has proven himself still capable of getting major league hitters out. He spent 2024 with Atlanta and tossed 63 1/3 innings over 46 appearances. He allowed 3.13 earned runs per nine frames, though there may have been a bit of luck there. His 20.8% strikeout rate was subpar but his .279 batting average on balls in play and 80.3% strand rate were both on the fortunate side, which is why his 4.43 FIP and 3.81 SIERA were higher than his ERA.

There’s no real harm in the Rangers bringing aboard an old friend via a minor league deal. The club has been trying to remake its bullpen while dealing with some notable financial restraints. Kirby Yates, David Robertson, José Leclerc and Andrew Chafin all hit free agency after last year, but the club has been a bit frugal in replacing them since it seems they want to stay under the competitive balance tax.

They acquired Robert Garcia, who has not yet qualified for arbitration, in the Nathaniel Lowe trade. They’ve also given one-year pacts to Chris Martin, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong, and Hoby Milner, with no one in that group getting more than $5.5MM. It’s unclear what kind of salary Chavez would make if selected to the big league roster, but it’s likely not huge, so he provides the club with yet another modestly-priced addition to the relief group.

Thomas, 30, got into 29 games with the Athletics over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He hit .250/.308/.333 in those but was outrighted off the roster and became a free agent going into 2024. He headed to Asia last year to play for the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He went hitless in 18 at-bats and was mostly kept on the farm by the Buffaloes, slashing .263/.335/.324 in 79 games in the minors.

Rich Hill, Jesse Chavez Plan To Pitch In 2025

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Veteran pitchers Rich Hill and Jesse Chavez are 45 and 41 years young, respectively, and both recently told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that they intend to pitch in 2025. Both hurlers appeared in the majors this past season, albeit quite briefly in Hill’s case.

Hill made clear from the beginning of the 2023-24 offseason that his plan was to sign midseason. Doing so, he hoped, would keep his arm fresh down the stretch after he faded badly in 2023. More importantly, it would afford him more time to be at home early in the year with his family and to coach his son’s team. He wound up signing an incredible eighth contract with the Red Sox in August but pitched just 3 2/3 MLB frames before being designated for assignment and released.

As recently as 2022, Hill pitched a full season and was generally effective, despite that being his age-42 campaign. That year saw him make 26 starts, pitch 124 1/3 innings and notch a respectable 4.27 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate — despite averaging just 88.5 mph on his four-seamer. He was out to a solid start in 2023 with the Pirates, working to uncannily similar numbers through 13 starts (4.23 ERA, 21.5 K%, 7.4 BB%). Hill hit a wall at that point, however, and limped to a 6.57 ERA over his final 74 innings.

Hill hinted earlier this offseason that while he was still (at the time) undecided about pitching in 2025, if he did so it would likely again be on more of a full-season schedule. He’s also suggested he wouldn’t limit himself to pitching with teams near his Boston-area home. Only time will tell whether a club takes a look, but there’s little harm in what would surely be a minor league deal and non-roster invitation to camp.

As for Chavez, he’s coming off a much different year. Though he’s on the “wrong” side of 40, Chavez looked solid. In 63 1/3 innings for the Braves, he notched a sharp 3.13 ERA with a passable, albeit below-average 20.8% strikeout rate and a quality 7.2% walk rate. Chavez’s sinker sat at a career-low 90.7 mph, and his cutter lagged further behind at 88.5 mph on average. But the crafty right-hander nevertheless enjoyed plenty of success, due in no small part to solid command and a plethora of weak contact.

Atlanta generally used Chavez in low-leverage spots last year, but he was a member of the team’s setup core as recently as 2023, when he picked up 13 holds and regularly appeared in medium- and high-leverage situations over the life of 36 games.

Despite his age, Chavez has now turned in four straight seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA. His collective earned run average dating back to 2021 is a sparkling 2.91, and he’s logged at least average walk rates every year along the way, with the ’24 campaign being the only one of the four wherein his strikeout rate was below-average. Chavez has posted better-than-average grounder rates in each of the past two seasons, too.

Chavez seems to find his way back to the Braves every season. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in 2021, was selected to the major league roster in June and quickly emerged as a key bullpen piece. He inked a minor league deal with the Cubs in 2022, made the Opening Day roster with Chicago, and was traded to the Braves less than three weeks later in exchange for Sean Newcomb, who’d been designated for assignment. The Braves traded him to the Angels at that year’s deadline, but when the Angels placed Chavez on waivers late in August, there were the Braves to once again claim him back.

Chavez signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in November 2022 and spent most of the 2023 season on their roster. He inked a minor league deal with the White Sox last winter, was cut loose late in camp and, to the shock of no one, signed a minor league deal with the Braves. They selected him to the 40-man roster three days later.

Another minor league deal between Chavez and the Braves isn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion, but it sure wouldn’t come as much of a surprise, either. The fit is even more sensible with Atlanta already having lost right-hander Joe Jimenez to knee surgery that’ll probably wipe out his entire 2025 season.

Jackson Stephens Elects Free Agency

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March 27: Stephens rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency, tweets Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

March 26: The Braves have sent right-hander Jackson Stephens outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, with Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution among those to relay the news. Both Toscano and Mark Bowman of MLB.com suggest that the opened roster spot will go to right-hander Jesse Chavez.

Stephens, 30 in May, has been on and off Atlanta’s roster over the past two years. Since he’s out of options, he can’t be easily sent down to the minors, which has resulted in him being frequently getting bumped off the roster but always coming back.

He was signed by Atlanta to a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season and had his contract selected that year. He was non-tendered after that campaign but was re-signed in December, only to be outrighted in March. He had his contract selected in September of last year but was outrighted again in November. He signed another major league deal a week later and has lasted on the club’s roster until now.

Amid all of those transactions, he has tossed 65 2/3 innings for Atlanta over the past two years with a 3.56 earned run average. His 20.2% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate are both a bit worse than league average, but he has kept 45.4% of batted balls on the ground while also doing a good job of limiting hard contact and missing barrels. In 2022, when he pitched a far larger sample of innings compared to last year, he was in at least the 82nd percentile in terms of average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate.

Despite that generally solid performance, he continues to pass through waivers unclaimed. A player with a previous career outright has the right to reject another outright assignment and elect free agency, though it seems Stephens is comfortable with Atlanta and might either accept his assignment or quickly re-sign a new deal of some kind.

The club doesn’t need 40-man roster spots, as they are now down to just 36 guys in that department, but they do need an active roster spot if they want to add Chavez. The only guy in their projected bullpen who can be optioned is Dylan Lee, but it seems Atlanta preferred to keep him up with the big league club and remove Stephens from the 40-man. Lee has a 2.95 ERA in his career and keeping him in the majors gives them an even four-four split of righties and lefties.

Chavez, 40, has bounced around the league in recent years but always seems to end up back in Atlanta. Last year, he made 36 appearances for the club with a 1.56 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 51.7% ground ball rate. He signed a minor league deal with the White Sox but posted an 11.57 ERA in a small sample of seven innings. He didn’t make that club’s Opening Day roster and was released, either because he triggered an opt-out or because the club proactively let him loose to pursue other opportunities.

That led to him returning to Atlanta on a minor league deal yesterday and he now seems poised to be on the club’s Opening Day roster.

Braves Sign Jesse Chavez To Minor League Deal

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Jesse Chavez is headed back to the Braves. Again. Atlanta announced this morning that the veteran right-hander has been signed to a minor league contract. He’ll head to big league camp for the final few days of spring training. Chavez spent the majority of spring training with the White Sox but was cut loose over the weekend. The Apex Baseball client will now head back to the Braves organization for what’ll be a fourth straight season (and a fifth overall).

Chavez, 40, has been excellent with the Braves in each of the past three seasons but struggled through shorter stints with the Angels and Cubs. Even accounting for rough showings in Anaheim and Chicago, however, he’s notched a tidy 2.81 earned run average in 137 2/3 innings over the past three seasons. Along the way, he’s fanned 26.2% of his opponents, issued walks at a strong 7.6% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a roughly average 42.3% clip (including a 51.7% mark last year). Metrics like FIP (2.97) and SIERA (3.33) generally agree that Chavez has been a highly effective reliever — one who’s often worked in multi-inning roles.

It was a rough spring for Chavez with the ChiSox. He tossed seven official innings and was tagged for ten runs (nine earned) on a dozen hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. That comes out to an 11.57 ERA, albeit in a tiny sample of work. Chavez also posted quality strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates (22.2%, 5.6%, 56%, respectively) and only allowed one homer while serving up a .458 BABIP, so take the spring ERA — as always — with a grain of salt.

The Atlanta bullpen is quite full at the moment, with only one reliever — left-hander Dylan Lee — who can even be optioned to Triple-A. The Braves are set to roll out a heavily veteran ’pen including Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Joe Jimenez, Pierce Johnson, Tyler Matzek and Aaron Bummer. Right-hander Jackson Stephens is out of minor league options and thus stands as a favorite to win the final bullpen spot.

That could ticket Chavez for early-season work in Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’d presumably be one of the first men up in the event of an injury. It’s at least possible he’ll overtake Stephens for that final bullpen spot, as Stephens has a limited big league track record and has walked seven hitters in 7 1/3 frames this spring.

White Sox Release Jesse Chavez

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The White Sox announced that veteran reliever Jesse Chavez has been released.  Chavez inked a minor league deal last month, but as per his status as an XX(B) free agent, the White Sox had until yesterday to add Chavez to the Opening Day roster or else the right-hander could opt out.

Kevin Pillar and Mike Moustakas were in similar situations prior to being released yesterday, and as with Chavez, it isn’t clear if any of these players actually triggered their opt-outs or if the White Sox simply released them since none were slated for the 26-man roster.  The result is effectively the same, as Chavez now re-enters the free agent market as he looks to extend his career into a 17th Major League season.

Chavez is still pitching well beyond his 40th birthday, as he posted a 1.56 ERA over 34 2/3 innings with the Braves in 2023.  The righty’s 51.7% grounder rate combined with some good batted-ball luck (.273 BABIP) to help deliver that outstanding ERA, yet Chavez’s 27.1% strikeout rate and 33.3% hard-hit ball rate were also above average.  It wasn’t all positive for Chavez, however, as he spent over three months on the injured list after he was hit in the leg with a comebacker.

Chavez said in an interview last month that 2024 is “probably” going to be his last season as a player, as he will then look to stay in the game in a coaching capacity.  Given how well Chavez has pitched in each of the last three seasons, it seems almost a lock that another team will sign him to another minor league deal, and another return to the Braves would certainly seem like a possibility.  Chavez has already had four separate stints with Atlanta, including three in the last three years alone and a World Series ring as part of the Braves’ 2021 championship team.

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