Red Sox Make Several Roster Decisions
The Red Sox’ Opening Day roster is coming into focus. Boston announced this morning that catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper and infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton were optioned to minor league camp. Non-roster catcher Matt Thaiss was also reassigned to minor league camp. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo suggests that Thaiss was not picked up by another club after using his upward mobility clause, so he’ll head to Triple-A Worcester as catching depth. That slate of moves sets the club’s bench with catcher Connor Wong, utilitymen Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andruw Monasterio, and outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida.
Neither Wong nor Thaiss had a particularly strong spring, though the latter was the more productive of the two. Wong is already under contract for $1.375MM, however. He struggled through a career-worst season in 2025 but had a productive showing at the plate as recently as 2024 (.280/.333/.425).
Monasterio tops Eaton and Gasper for a bench spot after a strong spring showing: .300/.383/.425 in 47 plate appearances. The Sox picked Monasterio up alongside Caleb Durbin in the trade sending Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan and David Hamilton to the Brewers. He’s played in each of the past three seasons with the Brewers and is coming off a career-best .270/.319/.437 slash in 156 plate appearances in 2025. Monasterio gives the Sox a right-handed bat with experience across all four infield positions.
On the pitching side of things, Rule 5 righty Ryan Watson was informed he has made the team, per WEEI’s Rob Bradford. Left-hander Tyler Samaniego has been optioned to Triple-A, Cotillo reports.
The 28-year-old Watson was selected out of the Giants organization in December’s Rule 5 Draft (by way of a trade with the A’s). He’d posted 50 2/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League last year. Watson punched out 28.1% of the opponents he faced in Triple-A, walked only 7% of them and also notched a solid 43.8% grounder rate. He’s had a shaky spring, allowing seven runs on a dozen hits and three walks in 11 2/3 innings (5.56 ERA). He hasn’t missed many bats, either, but the Sox believe in the raw arsenal enough to open the season with Watson locked into a bullpen spot.
As a Rule 5 pick, Watson cannot be optioned to the minors at any point. The Red Sox will need to carry him on the big league roster for the entire season if they want to secure full contractual rights over what would be five additional years of club control. If at any point the Sox remove Watson from the roster, he’ll be placed on outright waivers and made available to every other club before being offered back to the Giants (who would not have to place him on their 40-man roster).
Matt Thaiss Has Upward Mobility Clause In Red Sox Deal
The Red Sox may have to make a decision on catcher Matt Thaiss soon. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that several players in camp on minor league deals have upward mobility clauses or opt-outs in their contracts. Most of those will come during the season. With Thaiss, he has an upward mobility clause five days prior to Opening Day. Cotillo also notes that Thaiss would make a salary of $1.3MM if added to the roster.
When an upward mobility clause is triggered, a player is offered up to the other 29 clubs in the league. If any of them are willing to give the player a roster spot, then the signing club has to either give him a roster spot themselves or trade him to another club that will. If no club offers him a roster spot, then he can be sent to the minors as non-roster depth.
Thaiss, 31 in May, is competing for the job backing up Carlos Narváez. Thaiss’s defense is questionable but he clearly has a keen eye at the plate, having drawn a walk in 13.1% of his career plate appearances. That has helped him produce a .210/.320/.332 batting line. The resulting 84 wRC+ indicates his production has been 16% below a league average hitter but backstops are generally about ten points below par, so that’s not too bad for a backup catcher.
The Sox have Connor Wong on the roster but he still has a minor league option remaining and put up a dismal .190/.262/.238 line last year. Mickey Gasper is optionable and can also play other positions. If the Sox wanted to, they could add Thaiss to the roster and option Wong and Gasper to serve as depth in Triple-A. Doing so would require opening a 40-man roster spot for Thaiss. If they are not willing to do that, it’s possible they could be forced to send him elsewhere.
There are some other contract provisions the Sox will have to consider, but not as urgently. Cotillo adds that right-hander Kyle Keller also has an upward mobility clause but not until April 15th. Cotillo had previously reported a less specific mid-April date for that clause.
That means the Sox can keep Keller as minor league depth for at least the first few weeks of the season and delay their decision until then. Keller also has other unspecified chances to opt out of the deal beyond that April 15th date, as well as a clause that allows teams from Japan and Korea to pursue him if he doesn’t have a spot on the major league roster. Keller spent the past four years pitching in Japan and put up a 2.42 earned run average in 152 1/3 innings.
The Sox have even more breathing room with some other deals. Infielder Vinny Capra has a June 1st opt-out. Catcher Jason Delay has opt-outs on June 30th and August 15th. Delay is in the same catching mix as Thaiss. If Thaiss ends up elsewhere, then Delay’s chances of getting a spot would improve. If he still doesn’t like his situation this summer, he’ll have a couple of chances to seek out greener pastures.
Capra seems a bit blocked right now. The Sox project to have Isiah Kiner-Falefa as their multi-positional bench infielder. They also have Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler, Nate Eaton, Nick Sogard and Tsung-Che Cheng on the roster. A spate of injuries could change the calculus but Capra will have a chance to walk away if the path doesn’t clear.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Red Sox, Matt Thaiss Agree To Minor-League Deal
The Red Sox have agreed to a minor-league deal with catcher Matt Thaiss, according to Andrew Parker of SoxProspects (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). Thaiss receives an invite to big-league Spring Training.
The 30-year-old was a first-round pick out of the University of Virginia in 2016 by the Angels. He debuted for them in 2019, batting .211/.293/.422 with an 86 wRC+ and a .211 ISO in 164 plate appearances that year. Thaiss has continued to post mid-80s wRC+ values throughout his career. After not getting much playing time from 2020-22, he got an extended look in 2023, making 307 PA in 95 games for the Halos. His 27.0% strikeout rate that year was worse than average, though his above-average 11.7% walk rate kept his on-base percentage above .300 even as he posted a low batting average.
In 2024, Logan O’Hoppe‘s ascension to the starting catcher role limited Thaiss’s playing time. That November, the team signed Travis d’Arnaud as their new backup catcher and designated Thaiss for assignment. He was traded first to the Cubs and then eventually to the White Sox. He split 2025 between the White Sox and the Rays, batting .218/.349/.288 with an 89 wRC+ that was plenty serviceable for a backup catcher. Reviews of his defense were mixed. He was worth 3 Defensive Runs Saved in 411 2/3 innings behind the plate this year, drawing positive marks for his blocking. On the flip side, Statcast rated his caught stealing rate, framing, and pop time all in the 18th percentile or lower.
For the Red Sox, Thaiss is a no-risk depth option behind incumbent Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong. Narvaez had a 97 wRC+ in 446 PA this year and was worth 10 DRS behind the plate. Wong and Thaiss won’t challenge him for starting time, but Thaiss’s consistent mid-80s wRC+ and above-average walk rate could challenge Wong for the backup spot, where Wong was a decent defender but a black hole offensively in 2025 (39 wRC+). Thaiss has over three years of service time and is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
22 Players Elect Free Agency
Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents. Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.
To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back. These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.
We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion. These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.
Catchers
- Matt Thaiss (Rays)
Infielders
- Sergio Alcantara (Diamondbacks)
- Keston Hiura (Rockies)
- Vimael Machin (Orioles)
Outfielders
- Jordyn Adams (Orioles)
- Connor Joe (Reds)
- Jose Siri (Mets)
Utility Players
- Scott Kingery (Angels)
- Terrin Vavra (Orioles)
Pitchers
- Scott Blewett (Orioles)
- Noah Davis (Twins)
- Kevin Herget (Mets)
- Nick Hernandez (Astros)
- Brooks Kriske (Twins)
- Richard Lovelady (Mets)
- Corbin Martin (Orioles)
- Darren McCaughan (Twins)
- Triston McKenzie (Guardians)
- Cionel Perez (Orioles)
- Jose Ruiz (Rangers)
- Jordan Weems (Astros)
- Bryse Wilson (White Sox)
Rays Claim Jesse Scholtens
The Rays announced that they have claimed right-hander Jesse Scholtens off waivers from the White Sox and sent him to Triple-A Durham. Chicago designated him for assignment yesterday. The Rays also announced that catcher Matt Thaiss, who was designated for assignment a few days ago, has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham. Scholtens effectively takes the 40-man spot recently vacated by Thaiss.
Scholtens, 31, made his major league debut in 2023 but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since then. He underwent Tommy John surgery in February of 2024, which led to him missing that entire season. He spent a decent chunk of 2025 on the injured list as well. Once he was ready to come off the IL, the Sox optioned him to the minors.
His major league track record consists of 85 innings tossed in a swing role a couple of years ago. He made 11 starts and 15 relief appearances for the Sox with a 5.29 earned run average, 15.4% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 41.3% ground ball rate.
Since those numbers don’t jump off the page, the Rays are presumably more interested in his minor league work. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 231 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Most of that was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, as Scholtens was in the Padres’ system through the end of 2022. Over those three years, he had a 4.58 ERA but his 24.3% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate were both better than average.
He hasn’t yet been able to get back to that level. This year, he has thrown 36 minor league innings with a 5.25 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. But as mentioned, he’s coming back from Tommy John and is perhaps still ramping up. Scholtens still has options and hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration, so he’ll give the Rays some cheap Triple-A pitching depth for now. The club has a decent track record of helping pitchers maximize their results, so perhaps they can sprinkle some of their magic dust on Scholtens in the coming years.
Thaiss, 30, was also acquired by the Rays from the White Sox. Chicago had a bit of a squeeze behind the plate and sent Thaiss to the Rays in May for minor league outfielder Dru Baker. Thaiss got into 25 games for the Rays, backing up Danny Jansen, but he slashed just .225/.304/.282 for a wRC+ of 69.
Tampa shook up their catching spot recently. They traded Jansen to the Brewers but also acquired Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia, squeezing Thaiss out of the picture. Since he’s out of options, he got pushed off the 40-man.
His offense has occasionally been intriguing since he draws so many walks but he also strikes out a lot and his defense behind the plate isn’t especially well regarded. There has been enough interest for him to bounce around the league in the past year, going from the Angels to the Cubs, White Sox and Rays in small deals, but every club declined to give him a roster spot this week.
Thaiss has a service clock between three and five years. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment but has to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to do so. He is making $1MM this year, with roughly $300K still to be paid out. Understandably, he had accepted this assignment to keep collecting the rest of that money. He’ll give the Rays some non-roster catching depth for now.
If he’s not added back to the 40-man by the end of the season, he’ll have the right to elect free agency, as is the case for all players with at least three years of service who are removed from a 40-man roster during a season.
Photo courtesy of David Reginek, Imagn Images
Rays Place Jonathan Aranda On IL With Broken Wrist
The Rays announced a number of roster moves before tonight’s series opener against the Dodgers (relayed by Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times). Most notably, first baseman Jonathan Aranda is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left wrist fracture.
Tampa Bay reinstated Ha-Seong Kim from his own IL stint and recalled infielder Tristan Gray from Triple-A Durham. Deadline acquisitions Griffin Jax and Hunter Feduccia have reported to the team and will be active tonight as well. The Rays designated previous backup catcher Matt Thaiss for assignment and optioned lefty Joe Rock and recently acquired outfielder Everson Pereira to Triple-A.
Aranda was injured in yesterday’s game against the Yankees. He was playing first base when Giancarlo Stanton hit a chopper to third base. Junior Caminero double clutched, then threw wildly to first. Aranda reached the ball and collided with Stanton. He went down in pain. Aranda told reporters (including Mark Skol Jr. of Fox 13) that he won’t be able to do any kind of activity for three weeks. The All-Star said he hopes to return this year.
It interrupts a fantastic year for the lefty-swinging Aranda. He’s hitting .316/.394/.478 with 22 doubles and 12 home runs. Aranda has somewhat quietly emerged as one of the best hitters in MLB. It’s a major blow for a Tampa Bay team that has fallen two games under .500 and sits four games out of the last Wild Card spot. Yandy Díaz moved from his usual designated hitter spot to play first base tonight. Christopher Morel is in the lineup as the DH with an outfield of Jake Mangum, Jonny DeLuca and Josh Lowe.
Kim makes his return at shortstop. He’s back from a minimal IL stay due to a lower back strain. Kim had missed the first few months of the season rehabbing last year’s elbow surgery. Tonight’s game is his 11th of the season. The defensive stalwart is in the first season of a two-year contract. He can opt out in the fall, making his final couple months significant for the upcoming free agent market.
Jax and Feduccia are in line for their team debuts. The Rays acquired the hard-throwing Jax in a one-for-one swap for former top pitching prospect Taj Bradley. He’ll anchor the back of the bullpen. Feducca, meanwhile, was the key piece of Tampa Bay’s return in the three-team trade that sent Zack Littell to Cincinnati. He’d been in Triple-A with the Dodgers but jumps right onto the big league roster with the Rays. Feduccia will back up another deadline pickup, Nick Fortes, in a completely revamped catching group.
That pushed Thaiss off the roster. Tampa Bay had acquired him from the White Sox in May. The 30-year-old Thaiss had carried a .382 on-base percentage with Chicago but hit .225/.304/.282 in 25 games for Tampa Bay. The Rays clearly prefer Feduccia and are willing to risk losing Thaiss, who is out of minor league options. They’ll need to place him on waivers in the next few days.
Rays Acquire Matt Thaiss
The White Sox have traded catcher Matt Thaiss to the Rays for minor league outfielder Dru Baker, according to announcements from both clubs. Since Baker wasn’t on the 40-man, the Rays transferred outfielder Jonny DeLuca to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot for Thaiss. They will need to open an active roster spot once Thaiss reports to the club. Chicago’s 40-man count drops to 39. In terms of their active roster, catcher Korey Lee has been reinstated from the IL to take the vacated spot.
Thaiss, 30, was just acquired by the Sox in the offseason. They sent cash to the Cubs, bringing Thaiss to the South Side. He has appeared in 35 games and stepped to the plate 110 times, with some positive results. He has just one home run but has walked more than he has been struck out, drawing a free pass in 20.9% of his appearances compared to a 19.1% strikeout rate.
That’s better than his previous work on offense. With the Angels in 2023 and 2024, he made 493 trips to the plate. He had a strong 13% walk rate over those seasons but also struck out at a high clip of 28.6%. He was flipped to the Cubs and then the White Sox in offseason trades.
His work behind the plate has been more of a question mark, as he has never received excellent marks back there. Baseball Prospectus and Statcast have considered his blocking and throwing to be adequate but with subpar framing. FanGraphs agrees that Thaiss hasn’t been a great framer in his career but has him above average so far in 2025.
Though his work for the Sox has been adequate on the whole, he never seemed likely to spend a long time on the roster. Thaiss started the year sharing the catching time with Lee, but the Sox had two top prospects waiting in the wings: Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel.
Lee went to the IL fairly early in the season, landing there due to a left ankle sprain on April 10th. That got Omar Narváez to the big leagues briefly but Quero was up in the majors a week later. Now that Lee is healthy again, he and Quero will share the catching work. Teel is playing great in Triple-A and could be up in the majors soon as well. Those factors have all pushed the out-of-options Thaiss off the roster.
For the Rays, they’ve been deploying a tandem of Danny Jansen and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate this year. Jansen started slow but has been heating up lately, getting his line to .200/.333/.336 for the year, which leads to a 103 wRC+. Rortvedt, on the other hand, has a dreary .100/.194/.117 line. That’s only 67 plate appearances but he now has a .187/.277/.266 line and 61 wRC+ over 572 plate appearances in his big league career.
Rortvedt is out of options, so it’s possible he’ll be designated for assignment once Thaiss is able to join the team. If the switch works, the Rays could keep Thaiss beyond 2025. He came into this year with his service clock at three years and 38 days, meaning this is his first of three arbitration seasons. With Jansen on a one-year deal, Thaiss has a chance to stick with the Rays for 2026 if he holds his spot through the end of this season.
In order to make that potential upgrade behind the plate, they are parting with Baker. Now 25 years old, he was selected by the Rays in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. He is considered a capable outfielder but his bat has stalled out at the upper minor league levels. Since getting promoted to Double-A in August of 2023, he has a .280/.345/.338 batting line and 101 wRC+. That includes a .245/.344/.302 line at the Triple-A level.
Even if he doesn’t hit much, Baker at least has wheels. He stole 49 bags in 2023 and 42 last year. For the Sox, they were probably going to cut Thaiss soon anyway, so they have traded him in for a flier on Baker. Baker could perhaps serve as a speedy bench outfielder, with any offensive developments on top of that being a bonus.
As for DeLuca, he suffered a shoulder strain in early April. His 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he will be eligible for reinstatement on June 6th. He just started a rehab assignment on the weekend, so he could perhaps be ready to return to the big leagues once that date rolls around.
Photo courtesy of Denny Medley, Imagn Images
White Sox Acquire Matt Thaiss From Cubs
The Chicago teams have lined up on a minor trade. The White Sox acquired catcher Matt Thaiss from the Cubs for cash, the teams announced. The Sox had an opening on the 40-man roster, so there was no corresponding move.
Thaiss was only an offseason acquisition for the Cubs. They landed him from the Angels in a cash trade last month. He had a path to backup job behind Miguel Amaya at the time. That’s no longer on the table. Chicago signed Carson Kelly to a two-year free agent deal last week. Amaya and Kelly will split the catching reps at Wrigley Field.
Kelly’s signing made a Thaiss move all but inevitable. He’s out of options, so the Cubs couldn’t send him to the minors without putting him on waivers. Teams rarely carry three catchers on the active roster for an entire season. The Cubs could have carried Thaiss into Spring Training as injury insurance, but they’d likely have been squeezed into a roster move if their top two catchers were healthy on Opening Day.
Trading Thaiss now gives him some clarity and opens a spot on the Cubs’ 40-man roster, which had been at capacity. Thaiss has a decent chance at breaking camp on the South Side. Korey Lee had a .210/.244/.347 showing in a career-high 394 plate appearances this past season. Chuckie Robinson, who has 51 MLB appearances and turned 30 this week, was the only other catcher on the 40-man roster.
The Sox have a pair of highly-regarded catching prospects, Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero, who aren’t far off major league readiness. They were each the headliners of recent trades. Teel led a four-prospect return from the Red Sox in last week’s Garrett Crochet deal, while Quero was the big piece in the 2023 deadline deal that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López to the Halos. Both players should make their big league debuts next season, though they might each open the season at Triple-A Charlotte.
Thaiss, a left-handed hitter, brings more on-base ability than Lee provides. He’s a career .208/.313/.342 hitter who posted a .204/.323/.299 slash across 186 plate appearances with the Angels this year. Thaiss takes plenty of pitches, which allows him to work a lot of walks but contributes to lofty strikeout rates. He has never graded as a particularly strong defender, which led the Angels to move him from catcher to first base early in his minor league career. He moved back behind the dish in 2022 but grades as a below-average pitch framer with subpar arm strength.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/22/24
The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.
These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.
Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.
All salary projections in this post come via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day/evening as deals are announced and/or reported.
- The Mets announced that they have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, though salary figures have not yet been reported. He was projected for a $900K salary next year after posting a 1.66 ERA but in just 21 2/3 innings due to injury.
- The Rangers announced they avoided arbitration with right-hander Josh Sborz, who was projected for a $1.3MM salary next year. He’ll come in just shy of that at $1.1MM, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link). He underwent a shoulder debridement procedure recently, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and will likely miss the first two or three months of 2025.
- The Tigers and infielder Andy Ibanez have agreed to a salary of $1.4MM next year, per Francys Romero (X link). That’s a shade below his $1.5MM projection. Ibanez hit .241/.295/.357 in 99 games for the Tigers in 2024.
- The Guardians avoided arbitration with right-hander Ben Lively, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). He’ll make $2.25MM next year, below his $3.2MM projection. Lively had a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings for the Guards this year.
- The Cubs and right-hander Julian Merryweather have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $1.225MM, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). That’s just shy of his $1.3MM projection. Merryweather had a 6.60 ERA in 2024 but was injured most of the time and only made 15 appearances. He had a solid 3.38 ERA the year prior in 72 innings. The Cubs also agreed to terms with catcher Matt Thaiss and righty Keegan Thompson, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link), though salary figures have not yet been reported.
- The Blue Jays got a deal done with right-hander Erik Swanson, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X. The righty was projected for $3.2MM next year but will make a smidge less than that, with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (X link) relaying that Swanson will make $3MM. He had a 5.03 ERA in 2024 but was at 2.97 the year prior and also finished this year strong, with a 2.55 ERA in the second half.
- The Yankees reached agreement with center fielder Trent Grisham on a $5MM salary, reports Jorge Castillo of ESPN (on X). The deal contains another $250K in incentives. The two-time Gold Glove winner had been projected at $5.7MM. Grisham had an underwhelming .190/.290/.385 showing during his first season in the Bronx. The Yankees will nevertheless keep him around for his final year of arbitration, presumably in a fourth outfield capacity. The Yankees also announced that they have a deal with righty JT Brubaker, though figures haven’t been reported. He was projected for a salary of $2.275MM, the same figure he made in 2023 and 2024, two seasons he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
- The Rockies reached deals with outfielder Sam Hilliard and lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath, Feinsand reports (on X). Hilliard gets $1MM, while Gilbreath signed for $785K. Both figures come in shy of the respective $1.7MM and $900K projections. Hilliard popped 10 home runs over 58 games as a depth outfielder. Gilbreath only made three appearances after missing the entire ’23 season to Tommy John surgery. He posted a 4.19 ERA across 43 innings two years ago.
Earlier Agreements
- The Dodgers and right-hander Tony Gonsolin have agreed to a $5.4MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link), an exact match for his projection. He had signed a two-year, $6.65MM deal to cover the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He made 20 starts for the Dodgers in the first year of that pact but he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
- The Guardians and Sam Hentges have agreed to a $1.337MM deal, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. That’s right in line with his projected $1.4MM salary. The left-hander has been an effective reliever for Cleveland over the past three seasons (2.93 ERA, 2.82 SIERA, 138 IP), but he missed the latter half of 2024 with a shoulder injury. After undergoing surgery in September, he will miss the entire 2025 season.
- The Orioles and infielder Emmanuel Rivera agreed to a $1MM deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’d been projected at $1.4MM. He hit .238/.312/.343 this year.
- Right-hander Brock Stewart and the Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth $870K, MLBTR has learned. He’d been projected at $800K. Stewart, who missed much of the season due to injury, can earn another $30K via incentives. He’s been lights-out for the Twins when healthy over the past two seasons (2.28 ERA, 33.5 K%, 10.8 BB%). Minnesota and righty Michael Tonkin also agreed to a $1MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’d been projected at $1.5MM. The Twins later announced that they had reached deals with Stewart, Tonkin and righty Justin Topa. Hewas projected for $1.3MM next year but will come in just shy of that in terms of guarantee. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune (Bluesky link), it’s a $1.225MM guarantee in the form of a $1MM salary and then a $225K buyout on a $2MM club option for 2026.
- The Padres and Tyler Wade agreed to a one-year deal worth $900K, Heyman tweets. There’s a club option for an additional season. Wade, who hit .217/.285/.239 in 2024, was projected for that same $900K figure.
- Infielder Santiago Espinal and the Reds settled on a one-year deal at $2.4MM, Heyman tweets. That’s well shy of his $4MM projection and actually represents a slight pay cut after Espinal hit .246/.295/.356 for Cincinnati.
- The Rangers and righty Dane Dunning agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.66MM, Heyman reports. It’s a 19% cut after Dunning struggled to a 5.31 ERA in 95 innings this past season. He was projected at $4.4MM.
- The Giants and right-hander Austin Warren agreed to terms on a one-year deal, reports Justice de los Santos of the San Jose Mercury News. He missed most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery but returned late with 10 2/3 innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen.
- The Brewers announced that they’ve signed catcher/outfielder Eric Haase to a one-year deal for the upcoming season. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that the deal guarantees Haase $1.35MM with the chance to earn more via incentives. He’d been projected for a $1.8MM salary. Haase will fill the backup catcher role in Milwaukee next season. He’s controllable through the 2027 season.
- The Dodgers and right-hander Dustin May settled at $2.135MM, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (X link). That’s the exact same salary he had in 2024. May will be looking to bounce back after spending all of this year on the injured list.
- The Phillies and right-hander José Ruiz settled at $1.225MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). That’s slightly above his $1.2MM projection. The righty can also unlock a $20K bonus for pitching in 30 games and $25K for pitching in 40. He made 52 appearances for the Phils in 2024 with a 3.71 ERA. Philadelphia also announced agreement with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs on a one-year deal. The Phils did not reveal the salary figure. Stubbs hit .207 in 54 games this year.
- The Tigers and infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry agreed to a $1.65MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X). That’s slightly ahead of his $1.3MM projection. He hit .215/.277/.337 this year while stealing 16 bases and playing each position except or first base and catcher,
Cubs Acquire Matt Thaiss
The Angels announced that they have traded catcher Matt Thaiss to the Cubs for cash considerations. The Halos had designated him for assignment last week. The Cubs have designated right-hander Trey Wingenter for assignment to open a roster spot, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune on X.
Thaiss, 30 in May, leaves the Angels for the first time in his professional career. He was a first-round pick of that club in 2016, getting taken 16th overall. He was a catcher in college but the Angels announced him as a corner infielder when they drafted him, clearly more interested in his bat.
As he worked his way up the minor leagues, he did indeed show that his offense could be an asset. He hit .279/.363/.445 for a 117 wRC+ across multiple minor league levels from 2016 to 2019. However, his major league work hasn’t been nearly as impressive. At this point, he has 771 big league plate appearances with a .208/.313/.342 line and 83 wRC+.
That production would be unacceptable for a corner infielder but not bad by backup catcher standards. The Halos often had a crowded mix of guys vying for playing time as the designated hitter or the corner spots over the years, such as Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, Jared Walsh and others. That prompted them to move Thaiss back behind the plate in 2021. Most metrics view Thaiss as a subpar defender back there, perhaps not surprising for a guy who spent several years away from that spot.
Though he’s been a passable backup to Logan O’Hoppe in recent years, the Angels decided to move on. After Travis d’Arnaud was let go by Atlanta, the Halos quickly swooped in and signed him to a two-year deal. That nudged Thaiss down to #3 on the catching chart. Since he’s out of options, they designated him for assignment, which led to today’s deal.
For the Cubs, he’s a sensible landing spot for now, as they have question marks behind the plate. They released Yan Gomes in June, Tomás Nido in August and then outrighted Christian Bethancourt in November. Prior to acquiring Thaiss, Miguel Amaya was the only catcher on their 40-man roster. It was reported back in August that they would be looking for catching help this winter.
Amaya performed well down the stretch for the Cubs but was subpar for the season overall. He’s out of options and not far removed from being a top prospect, so he probably has a decent grip on a roster spot, but he’s far from established as a big leaguer. He has 170 major league games under his belt with a .227/.300/.357 batting line and 87 wRC+.
Perhaps the Cubs envision a platoon arrangement, since Amaya hits from the right side and Thaiss from the left, though Amaya has reverse splits in his short career so far. It’s also possible that the Cubs will sign a more established catcher and try to pass Thaiss through waivers later in the offseason. Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka and Carson Kelly are just some of the many backstops available in free agency.
Perhaps Moisés Ballesteros will be a factor as well, as he is considered one of the top 100 prospects in the game and has reached Triple-A. However, he has only 68 games at that level and is still just 21 years old, so keeping him on the farm a little longer is also possible.
Time will tell if the Cubs continue addressing their catching mix throughout the winter, but for now, they’ve taken a flier on a sensible stopgap. For what was surely a small amount of money in baseball terms, they’ve added an experienced catcher with an intriguing past pedigree, without doing anything to block the possibility of other moves down the road.
Wingenter, 31, was just claimed off waivers in August and made five appearances for the Cubs late in the 2024 season. They could have retained him for next season via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.4MM salary next year. It seems they didn’t plan on doing that, so they have sent him into DFA limbo today. They will have a few days to see if there’s any trade interest, but he could end up back on waivers or non-tendered later this week. In his 95 1/3 major league innings, he has a 5.66 earned run average, 30.5% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate.