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Rangers, Sandy Leon Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers and veteran catcher Sandy Leon have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Leon, a client of the MAS+ Agency, will be in Major League camp this spring.

Leon, 33, split the 2022 season between the Guardians and Twins, batting a combined .169/.298/.211 in 86 plate appearances. It’s a small sample of playing time, but that’s generally representative of the level of offense the switch-hitter has provided over the course of his career. Outside of an anomalous 2016 season that saw Leon post a brilliant .310/.369/.476 batting line (124 wRC+) in 283 plate appearances, he’s generally been a well below-average hitter. Since the conclusion of that career-best 2016 campaign, he’s turned in a .190/.260/.292 line (48 wRC+) in 1167 trips to the plate.

Offense, clearly, isn’t the reason Leon continually draws interest from big league clubs. He’s regarded as an excellent defender and game-caller, generally posting above-average to plus framing marks while doing a good job controlling the running game. Leon has thrown out 30.3% of runners who’ve attempted to steal against him in his big league career, piling up 34 Defensive Runs Saved along the way and regularly stealing a healthy share of extra strikes for his pitchers.

The Rangers don’t have a dire need for catching help — far from it, in fact. On the big league roster, it’s likely that Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver will split the lion’s share of catching duties, and Texas has former top prospect Sam Huff as another alternative on the 40-man roster. Huff hasn’t yet carved out an everyday role for himself, but he’s just 24 years old and carries a .263/.321/.447 line in 165 big league plate appearances. Heim’s defensive prowess, Garver’s power and Huff’s penchant for strikeouts might all combine to push Huff to Triple-A to begin the season, but Garver is a free agent next winter, so Huff could play a more prominent role before long. If Leon heads to Triple-A Round Rock to serve as a backup catcher, he’ll provide a nice veteran mentor to work with Huff throughout the minor league season.

Sandy Leon To Undergo Knee Surgery

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The Twins announced that catcher Sandy Leon has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 24, and will undergo right knee meniscus surgery. Taking his place on the active roster is fellow catcher Ryan Jeffers, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The club already had an opening on its 40-man roster for Jeffers. Should they need another roster spot in the final days of the season, they can transfer Leon to the 60-day IL since this move will keep him out beyond the end of the schedule.

Earlier today, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about Carlos Correa and highlighted the tremendous amount of injuries the Twins have suffered this season. One of the many players missing significant time was Jeffers, who went on the IL in mid-July due to a thumb contusion and has only now returned. He was having a decent season before that injury, having hit .214/.291/.375. That only amounts to a 92 wRC+, which is 8% below the league average hitter. However, this year’s league average slash line for a catcher is .227/.296/.368, 89 wRC+. Jeffers produced strong work on the other side of the ball, accruing four Defensive Runs Saved and a mark of 3.2 from the FanGraphs framing metric, allowing him to produce 1.0 fWAR in just 60 games.

Jeffers and Gary Sanchez had been splitting the time behind the plate in the Minnesota, with Sanchez taking on a larger role after Jeffers landed on the shelf. The Twins also used Caleb Hamilton for a couple of weeks before turning to the veteran Leon, who had been in the minors with the Guardians. The Twins swung a trade for Leon at the deadline and called him up to the big league team. Outside of a scorching hot 2016 season that now seems like an outlier, Leon has never been much of an offensive threat. That continued to the be the case in his time with the Twins, as he hit .179/.270/.232 for a wRC+ of 50. With just over a week remaining in the campaign and the Twins out of contention, this IL placement will finish his season. It’s unclear how long it will take him to recover from this surgery, but he will he will head into free agency in just over a month and look to heal up and find his next opportunity.

Since Sanchez is also an impending free agent, Jeffers is lined up to be the club’s primary catcher for next season. Hamilton will likely still be around as well, but it’s possible the club will look to add another established backstop during the offseason. By returning at this stage of the calendar, Jeffers will have the opportunity to get a handful of games in and finish the season on a positive note before the winter arrives. Both he and the Twins will be hoping for better results in 2023, after injuries caused them to fall short of expectations this year.

Twins Designate Joe Smith For Assignment, Select Sandy Leon

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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.

Twins Acquire Sandy Leon From Guardians

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The Twins and Guardians have swung an inter-division trade, with Minnesota picking up catcher Sandy Leon.  Right-hander Ian Hamilton is headed to Cleveland on the other end of the swap.  The two players have been respectively assigned to their new teams’ Triple-A affiliates.

Ryan Jeffers suffered a thumb fracture in mid-July that will keep him out of action for another 4-6 weeks, leaving the Twins short at catcher behind Gary Sanchez.  The veteran Leon will provide some defense-first depth behind Sanchez, with rookie Caleb Hamilton and the more experienced Chance Sisco (on the Triple-A roster) also in the mix.

Leon’s second stint in Cleveland didn’t last long, as the Guardians only acquired him from the Reds in cash deal in late June, and then outrighted him off the 40-man roster two weeks ago.  For the season, Leon has appeared in only eight MLB games and posted a .514 OPS over 21 plate appearances.  Other than an offensive outburst over 78 games with the Red Sox in 2016, Leon has been a defensive specialist for much of his career, well-regarded as a pitch-framer and for his ability to manage pitchers and call games.

Hamilton has amassed 14 2/3 innings over parts of three MLB seasons, including 2 2/3 frames with the Twins this year.  An 11th-round pick for the White Sox in 2016, Hamilton had some excellent numbers at Triple-A this year, with a 1.88 ERA, 32.1% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate in 28 2/3 relief innings.

Outrights: Leon, Vieaux, Kelly

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We’ll kick Friday morning off with a trio of outright assignments…

  • Veteran catcher Sandy Leon cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Guardians and has been sent outright to Triple-A Columbus, per the league’s transactions page. The team did not formally announce the move, and Leon had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. However, he was back in the lineup with Columbus last night, so he’s clearly accepted the assignment and will remain in Triple-A for the time being (without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster). The 33-year-old switch-hitter batted .133/.381/.133 in a tiny sample of 21 plate appearances with Cleveland in his second big league stint with the organization in the past three years. He’ll remain on hand as a veteran depth option with a strong reputation for defense and receiving but just a .211/.279/.317 batting line in parts of 11 MLB seasons.
  • The Pirates announced that left-hander Cam Vieaux went unclaimed on waivers. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Indianapolis and will remain in the organization without requiring a spot on the 40-man roster. Vieaux’s stint with the major league club was fairly brief. Selected to the majors in mid-June, the 28-year-old made five appearances over the next couple weeks. Vieaux began his big league career with three scoreless outings, but he retired only one of three batters faced on June 29. Two days later, he was called upon for mop-up work against the Brewers. Milwaukee sent 13 batters to the plate in one inning against him, plating eight runs on six hits and three walks before he made it out of the inning after a staggering 56 pitches. Pittsburgh optioned Vieaux a few days later and, after two more minor league appearances, designated him for assignment. Now that he’s cleared waivers, he’ll head back to Indianapolis in hopes of building on his 2.12 ERA through 29 2/3 innings and, more importantly, earning his way back to the big leagues.
  • Right-hander Michael Kelly cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, per an announcement from the Phillies. The 29-year-old made his big league debut with the Phils in mid-June and has pitched four innings of one-run ball across a pair of stints with the team. However, he’s also been hit hard in Triple-A, where he’s toting a 7.33 ERA through 23 1/3 innings on the season. To his credit, Kelly has punched out 30.8% of his Triple-A opponents this season, and that bloated ERA is at least partially due to a sky-high .439 average on balls in play against him. That said, the former No. 48 overall pick (Padres, 2011) has also walked far too many hitters (11.2%) — a trait that has plagued him throughout parts of five seasons in Triple-A, where he has an 11.7% walk rate through 170 2/3 innings.

Guardians Promote Nolan Jones, Designate Sandy Leon

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The Guardians announced a series of roster moves to reporters tonight, with Zack Meisel of The Athletic among those to relay them on Twitter. Prospect Nolan Jones has been promoted to the big leagues, while catcher Austin Hedges was activated from the seven-day concussion list. To create room for those two, outfielder Richie Palacios was optioned to Triple-A and catcher Sandy Leon was designated for assignment.

Jones, 24, was a second round selection of Cleveland in the 2016 draft. Considered by most evaluators to be a bat-first prospect, he mashed his way through the lower levels of the minors and jumped onto top prospect lists in 2019. Baseball America ranked him the #96 prospect in the league that year, with Jones pushing up the list as the season went on. However, that campaign ended on a bit of a sour note, as Jones underwent thumb surgery in October of 2019.

That was the first of a couple of obstacles that slowed his ascent to the big leagues. 2020 saw the minor leagues wiped out entirely by the pandemic, and Jones showed some rust when organized games returned in 2021. He improved as the season went along, though, finishing the year with a .238/.356/.431 line in 407 Triple-A plate appearances, good enough for a wRC+ of 113. Unfortunately, an ankle injury in August finished his season and caused him to start his offseason with a surgery for a second time.

Things seem to be back on track here in 2022, however, as Jones has hit .311/.417/.500 through 108 plate appearances in Triple-A this year, producing a 146 wRC+. If he can carry any of that over to the big leagues, it will provide an offensive boost to a team that’s lacking in that department. Despite an even 40-40 record, the team’s overall slash line is .243/.307/.377 for a wRC+ of 95, ranking them 21st in the league.

Defensively, things are a bit less certain for Jones. He largely played third base in his first few minor league seasons, but due to questions about his abilities there, coupled with the presence of Jose Ramirez, Jones has been moved to other places on the diamond. He started playing right field last year, with that spot becoming his regular home so far this season. He also played one game at first base last year and a couple in left field here in 2020. With Palacios being optioned out, Jones should step into the outfield mix next to Myles Straw and Steven Kwan.

As for Leon, 33, he started the year with the Reds on a minor league deal. The Guardians acquired him recently when Hedges landed on the IL. He got into nine games and hit .133/.381/.133. He’s never been much of a hitter outside of a surprise surge in 2016, instead earning his keep with quality game-calling and defense. The Guardians will have one week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. If he were to clear waivers, Leon would be eligible to reject an outright assignment by virtue of being a veteran with over five years of MLB service time.

Guardians Acquire Sandy Leon, Designate Ian Gibaut For Assignment

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The Guardians announced this morning that they’ve acquired veteran catcher Sandy Leon from the Reds in exchange for cash. He’s being added directly to the Major League roster, and right-hander Ian Gibaut has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Leon’s acquisition comes in conjunction with catcher Austin Hedges being placed on the 7-day concussion list. Meanwhile, righty Anthony Castro has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus to join the bullpen, and lefty Konnor Pilkington has been tabbed as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the division-leading Twins. He’ll start the second game today for Cleveland.

Leon, 33, was with Cleveland for the 2020 season and also spent the bulk of Spring Training with the Guardians this season before being granted his release. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds in mid-April and has spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Louisville, where he’s batted .222/.321/.306 in 84 plate appearances.

A career .212/.277/.319 hitter who’s never hit much outside of a magical 2016 campaign in Boston, when he slashed .310/.369/.476 in 283 plate appearances, Leon is a respected veteran who is generally lauded for his game-calling and defensive prowess. He’s thwarted one-third of the stolen-base attempts against him in his big league career and regularly drawn positive marks for his framing and pitch blocking. In 3621 innings behind the dish, Leon has totaled 36 Defensive Runs Saved.

Cleveland clearly places a premium on defense behind the plate, which is obvious when looking at the glove-first nature of their catching corps in recent years. Beyond Leon, they’ve relied primarily on Hedges, Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes for the better part of a decade — all of whom are considered premium defenders even though they’ve rarely contributed much with the bat. (Perez and Gomes each had a brief run of plus offense but graded out below-average over their Cleveland tenures as a whole.)

Given the nature of his acquisition, Leon could be in for a brief stay with the Guardians. Then again, Luke Maile has batted just .180/.268/.279 through 71 plate appearances this season, so even if Hedges returns in short order, it’s perhaps possible that Leon could supplant Maile as the backup to Hedges.

Leon’s return to the big leagues comes at the expense of Gibaut, who’d only just returned to the Majors himself yesterday. He pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in last night’s blowout at the hands of his 2021 Twins teammates but will now be traded or placed on outright waivers within a week’s time.

Gibaut, 28, has pitched in parts of four Major League seasons, totaling 34 2/3 innings of 5.19 ERA ball between the Rangers, Rays, Twins and Guardians. He’s notched a 3.20 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with Triple-A Columbus this season and carries a career 4.15 ERA, 29% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate in 136 2/3 frames at that level.

Between that solid track record and the fact that Gibaut sat at 97.1 mph with his heater last night — a huge jump from the 95.3 mph he averaged from 2019-21 — it’s possible a bullpen-needy club will look to claim him or strike up a small trade with Cleveland. If not, he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, should he choose, by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career.

Reds, Sandy Leon Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Reds and free-agent catcher Sandy Leon have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Leon, 33, will give Cincinnati some extra catching depth after they traded Tucker Barnhart to the Tigers this offseason. The emergence of young Tyler Stephenson played a large role in prompting that trade, and Stephenson is locked in as the primary backstop for manager David Bell, but Leon could eventually get a look in the big leagues should Stephenson incur an injury or should current backup Aramis Garcia struggle or get hurt.

Leon spent the 2021 season with the Marlins, where he slashed .183/.237/.267 in 220 plate appearances. Outside of what now looks like an anomalous 2016 campaign that saw him slash .310/.369/.476 in 283 trips to the plate, Leon has never provided much value with the bat. He’s regarded as a strong defensive backstop, however, evidenced by plus framing rates, a career 33% caught-stealing rate and a total of 36 Defensive Runs Saved in 3621 career innings behind the plate.

Sandy Leon Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Guardians

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Veteran catcher Sandy León has triggered an opt-out clause in his minor-league deal with the Guardians after being informed he would not make the Opening Day roster, tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. He’ll return to the open market.

It’s not uncommon to see non-roster veteran players either trigger opt-outs or request their release late in spring camp after being informed they won’t make the big league club. Most veterans of León’s ilk would prefer to scour the market to see if a more immediate big league opportunity awaits rather than head to Triple-A.

That said, León’s opt-out comes as a bit of a surprise — not that he didn’t accept a Triple-A assignment, but that he didn’t break camp with the major league team. The 33-year-old had seemed the favorite for the #2 catching job behind Austin Hedges to start the year. Luke Maile is expected to open the season on the injured list due to a strained left hamstring. That leaves 23-year-old Bryan Lavastida as the only other healthy backstop on the 40-man roster.

The Guardians could roll with Lavastida as Hedges’ backup, but he has just 36 games of experience above A-ball in his professional career. Cleveland’s #16 prospect according to Baseball America, Lavastida is a fairly well-regarded young player, but he’d probably stand to benefit from a few more reps against high minors pitching. León’s release leaves just organizational veteran Mike Rivera and 22-year-old prospect Bo Naylor — both of whom are coming off rough minor league seasons — as non-roster invitees in MLB camp. The Guardians could still look to acquire another veteran backstop via waivers or minor trade in the next week, but it seems as though Lavastida is now the favorite to break camp behind Hedges.

León, meanwhile, heads back to free agency in search of a new landing spot. He’s offered very little at the plate in recent seasons, but he’s earned a big league look in ten straight years based on his acumen behind the dish. León is coming off a .183/.237/.267 showing in 220 plate appearances with the Marlins.

Guardians Sign Sandy Leon To Minor League Deal

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The Guardians have added some extra depth at catcher, signing veteran backstop Sandy Leon to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, per a club announcement. It’ll be the second stint in Cleveland for Leon, who is represented by the MAS+ Agency.

Leon, 32, spent the 2021 season with the Marlins, appearing in 83 games and batting .183/.237/.267 with four homers and five doubles in 220 plate appearances. That marked the tenth consecutive season in which Leon has logged at least brief Major League action.

While the switch-hitting veteran posted a strong .310/.369/.476 slash back in 2016, that sample of 283 plate appearances now looks like a clear outlier. In five seasons since that time, Leon has batted just .192/.257/.298 through nearly 1100 plate appearances. It’s not a strong offensive profile, but Leon regularly posts strong framing and blocking numbers. His caught-stealing rates have dipped in recent seasons, but last year’s 27% mark was still a bit better than the leaguewide average of 25%.

Roberto Perez and Austin Hedges combined to handle the bulk of catching duties in Cleveland this past season, but Perez’s 2021 club option was declined at season’s end after a second straight year of struggles at the plate. Hedges currently projects as the starter, but there’s a clear opportunity for a veteran — be it Leon or someone else — to come in and win at least a backup job. Prospect Bryan Lavastida was added to the 40-man roster last Friday, but he’s only played seven Triple-A games to this point in his career and likely needs some more development.

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