Nationals, Taylor Gushue Agree To Minor League Deal
The Nationals have signed catcher Taylor Gushue to a minor league contract, according to the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. The 28-year-old elected minor league free agency after being outrighted off the Cubs 40-man roster at the end of last season.
It’s something of a homecoming for Gushue, who has spent the majority of his career in the Washington organization. Originally selected by the Pirates in the 2014 draft, he was traded to the Nats late during the 2016 campaign for Christopher Bostick. Gushue spent the next few seasons as an upper-level depth piece in the Washington organization. He reached Triple-A late in 2018, then spent the entire 2019 campaign at the minors’ top level. With no minor league season in 2020, Gushue spent the year at the alternate training site before electing minor league free agency.
Last offseason, the switch-hitting backstop inked a minors pact with the Cubs. He spent most of the season with their top affiliate in Iowa but got his first big league call in June. He went hitless in four plate appearances and was placed on waivers not long after, spending the remainder of the season with Iowa after passing through unclaimed. Gushue only has that cup of coffee at the MLB level, but he’s a .269/.326/.449 hitter over parts of three Triple-A campaigns.
The Nationals also inked right-hander Ronald Herrera to a minors pact, according to the transactions tracker. Now 26 years old, Herrera made a pair of MLB appearances with the Yankees in 2017 but hasn’t returned to the highest level since. He spent part of last season in the independent Frontier League and has struggled mightily in a limited look at Triple-A. The Venezuela native has decent numbers as a starter up through Double-A, where he’s worked to a 3.87 ERA with a below-average 19.8% strikeout rate but a stingy 5.9% walk percentage over parts of four seasons.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/8/21
Today’s minor moves:
- The Blue Jays announced they’ve acquired outfield prospect Darlin Guzman from the Reds as the player to be named later in the teams’ January deal that sent right-hander Héctor Pérez to Cincinnati. Guzman joined the Reds during the 2017-18 international signing period and spent the next two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. He hit .306/.361/.537 over 391 plate appearances in the DSL and was with the Reds’ Arizona Complex League team in 2021. The 20-year-old has never appeared on a Reds system ranking at Baseball America or FanGraphs. Pérez, meanwhile, was outrighted off the 40-man roster last month after struggling with Triple-A Louisville. He remains in the organization but hasn’t made a big league appearance with Cincinnati.
- The Cubs announced that catcher Taylor Gushue has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa. The 27-year-old does not have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization as high minors depth. A longtime Nationals farmhand, Gushue signed with the Cubs over the winter and has hit .272/.328/.440 over 137 plate appearances with Iowa this season. That earned him his first promotion to the major leagues last week, but he was designated for assignment having appeared in just two games when Chicago signed Robinson Chirinos to a big league deal.
Cubs Sign Robinson Chirinos To Major League Deal
The Cubs announced they’ve signed catcher Robinson Chirinos to a one-year, major league contract. Fellow backstop Taylor Gushue has been designated for assignment to create space on the active and 40-man rosters.
Chirinos signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the offseason. A Spring Training hit by pitch led to a right wrist fracture that required surgical repair, helping limit the 37-year-old to 45 plate appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. New York, set behind the plate with a combination of Gary Sánchez and Kyle Higashioka, released Chirinos on Sunday.
It only took the veteran a day to land a big league opportunity elsewhere. He’ll immediately step in as Willson Contreras’s backup in Chicago, a role that has been in flux all season. In addition to Gushue, Tony Wolters, Austin Romine, José Lobatón and P.J. Higgins have all taken brief turns as the Cubs #2 catcher. Wolters struggled and was quickly designated for assignment, while each of Romine, Lobatón and Higgins has suffered some form of significant injury.
That turnover will lead to another opportunity for Chirinos. The MDR Sports Management client has seen action in parts of nine big league seasons, including every year from 2013-20. At his best, he was an above-average hitter with solid power from the right-handed batters box, serving as the primary catcher for the Rangers and Astros. Chirinos is coming off a disappointing 2020 campaign, but that only spanned 82 plate appearances and he’s not far removed from a strong .238/.347/.443 line with Houston in 2019. He’s returning to his original organization, having signed with the Cubs as an amateur from Venezuela back in 2000.
Chicago will have a week to trade Gushue or expose him to waivers. The Cubs selected the 27-year-old after Lobatón’s injury last week. He has since made his first two career major league appearances, going hitless in four trips to the plate. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, the former Nationals prospect has hit a solid .272/.328/.440 with Triple-A Iowa this season.
Cubs Place Jose Lobaton On 60-Day Injured List, Recall Taylor Gushue
The Cubs’ rotating cadre of backup catchers turns again today, as Jose Lobaton lands on the 60-day injured list after spraining his shoulder at the end of last night’s ballgame. Taylor Gushue has been recalled to take his roster spot, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma (via Twitter).
Backing up Willson Contreras has proved to be one of the game’s more dangerous professions this year, with Lobaton joining P.J. Higgins and Austin Romine on the 60-day injured list. Tony Wolters actually opened the season as the backup, but he was designated for assignment. Lobaton managed to make it into just six games without recording a hit in 13 plate appearances.
Gushue now steps into the opportunity, prepared to make his Major League debut. The Cubs are Gushue’s third organization after Pittsburgh and Washington. The switch-hitting catcher has played well in his first bit of action with the Cubs, slashing .272/.328/.440 in 137 plate appearances as the primary catcher for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.
Cubs Sign Five Players To Minor-League Deals
The Cubs signed five players to minor-league contracts earlier this week. Outfielder Rafael Ortega, right-hander Jake Jewell, catcher Taylor Gushue and left-hander Jerry Vasto are all joining the organization, relays Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. (Marc Delucchi had previously reported Vasto’s signing). Additionally, outfielder Ian Miller has re-signed with Chicago, as noted by MLB.com’s transactions tracker.
The pair of outfielders are probably the most notable players involved. Miller was once a decently-regarded speed/defense prospect in the Mariners’ system. The 28-year-old has logged 18 MLB plate appearances between the Twins and Cubs over the past two seasons. Ortega has seen big league time in four seasons, picking up 447 plate appearances between the Rockies, Angels, Marlins and Braves. The 29-year-old has a career .229/.287/.290 slash line.
Jewell tossed 28.1 relief innings for the 2018-19 Angels. He got knocked around for a 6.99 ERA/6.67 FIP despite mid-90’s velocity. The 27-year-old made it into the Giants’ 60-man player pool in 2020 but didn’t see any MLB action. Similarly, Gushue got to the Nationals’ alternate training site this summer but never made the majors. The former fourth-rounder has a career .240/.309/.396 line in six minor-league seasons. Vasto, 28, pitched in six MLB games with the Rockies and Royals in 2018. He hasn’t seen any game action since, having spent all of 2019 on the minor-league injured list.
Nationals Add Taylor Gushue To 60-Man Pool
The Nationals announced today that they have added catcher Taylor Gushue to their 60-man player pool. The move comes in the wake of Welington Castillo‘s decision not to participate in the 2020 seaseon.
Gushue is not on the Nats’ 40-man roster. He would need to be added to it in order to take up a spot on the club’s active roster once the season gets underway. In all likelihood, the 26-year-old will be tasked primarily with working with the team’s pitching staff in its satellite training location while staying ready if a need arises.
A former fourth-round pick out of the University of Florida, Gushue has never rated as a significant prospect but is coming off of a nice 2019 season. In 288 plate appearances at Triple-A last year, the switch-hitter popped 11 home runs and posted a strong .312/.358/.517 batting line — good for a 108 wRC+ in a supercharged offensive environment.