Nationals To Sign Zack Littell
The Nationals have signed right-hander Zack Littell to a one-year, Major League contract that includes a mutual option for the 2027 season. Financial teams of the contract aren’t yet known. The deal will become official when Littell passes a physical, and when Washington makes a corresponding move for the CAA Sports client to create space on the 40-man roster.
Littell ranked 35th on MLB Trade Rumors’ list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and was predicted to earn a two-year, $24MM deal. He’ll have to settle for just a one-year pact, and the righty could be on the move again relatively soon if the rebuilding Nationals move him at the trade deadline.
Littell, 30, is a veteran of eight big league seasons but spent most of that time in a bullpen role. In the first five seasons of his MLB career, Littell posted a 4.08 ERA (104 ERA+) with lackluster peripherals in 169 2/3 innings of work. After the 2022 campaign, Littell rode the DFA and waiver claim carousel throughout the 2022-23 offseason. He eventually wound up with the Red Sox to start the season, but he made just two appearances in the majors before being once again designated for assignment. That led him to the Rays, with whom he managed to transform himself from a fringe member of the 40-man roster into a solid mid to back of the rotation arm.
Upon arriving in Tampa, Littell moved into a swing role for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. He posted a 3.93 ERA with a nearly matching 3.99 FIP in 87 innings split between 14 starts and 12 relief appearances. Littell’s 19.8% strikeout rate in those outings was hardly exciting, but he made up for it with pinpoint command that allowed him to post a 2.5% walk rate and an 8.2% barrel rate.
That control and command style was enough to earn him a full-time rotation job headed into the Rays’ 2024 season, and he rewarded the team with a career year. In 29 starts for the Rays in 2024, Littell posted a 21.5% strikeout rate against a 4.7% walk rate while pitching to a 3.63 ERA (110 ERA+) with a 3.81 FIP. His 156 2/3 innings of work made him just one of just 71 pitchers to throw more than 150 innings that year, and only 15 of those pitchers surrendered fewer runs than Littell.
Littell remained generally effective in terms of run prevention last year as he posted a 3.81 ERA (111 ERA+) in a career-high 186 2/3 innings of work across 32 starts for the Rays and Reds. Unfortunately, those solid results were not paired with similar peripherals. A look under the hood reveals Littell’s strikeout rate plummeted to just 17.1%, while his barrel rate jumped to 9.8% as he allowed the second-most homers in all of baseball last season. Perhaps some of that can be explained by Littell pitching his home games at the hitter-friendly Steinbrenner Field and Great American Ballpark, but a 4.88 FIP with a 4.40 SIERA suggested that Littell was more of a back-end starter than his results may have indicated.
The result was a soft free agent market for Littell this offseason, with minimal interest in his services being reported. A reunion with the Rays once seemed to be on the table, but Tampa Bay instead brought in Steven Matz and Nick Martinez. No other clubs were publicly connected to the right-hander’s services for most of the winter, though plenty of pitching-needy teams like the Braves and Athletics emerged as speculative fits.
The Nationals were the ones to ultimately bring Littell into the fold, with some past connections possibly helped complete the deal. New president of baseball operations Paul Toboni formerly worked in the Red Sox front office, new manager Blake Butera spent years managing in Tampa’s farm system, and new pitching coach Simon Matthews was the Reds’ assistant pitching coach in 2025, so all three have direct familiarity with Littell’s work.
D.C. is unlikely to compete for a playoff spot this year as they reboot their rebuilding efforts under Toboni. As such, the team has pursued just short-term and relatively inexpensive veteran signings like Littell and Miles Mikolas, and made another move for the future in trading MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers. The Gore trade diminished an already questionable Washington rotation, so Littell will reinforce a starting five that seems set to include Mikolas and another new signing in Foster Griffin. The last two spots in the rotation figure to go to some combination of Cade Cavalli, Brad Lord, Josiah Gray, Jake Irvin, and Mitchell Parker.
ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan were the first to report the agreement between the two sides, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post reporting that Littell had signed a guaranteed contract. The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka (multiple links) had the details about the one-year term and mutual option, and Littell needing to pass a physical.
Inset photo courtesy of Joe Puetz — Imagn Images
Rangers Claim Dairon Blanco
The Rangers have claimed outfielder Dairon Blanco off waivers from the Royals, according to Francys Romero of Beisbol FR. Blanco was designated for assignment by the Royals last week to make room for Starling Marte on the club’s 40-man. The Rangers transferred southpaw Jordan Montgomery to the 60-day injured list to make room for Blanco on their own 40-man.
Blanco, 33 next month, played in the Cuban National Series through his age-22 season but didn’t make it to stateside ball until he was 25 years old back in 2018. Then a member of the Athletics, he was traded to the Royals the following year and eventually made his big league debut during the 2022 season with a five game cup of coffee. The following year he got a much larger role with Kansas City, however, and over the next two seasons he slashed a solid .258/.316/.422 in 270 plate appearances across 157 games. That’s slightly above league average production at the plate, though the vast majority of his production comes against left-handed pitching. Blanco sports a 137 wRC+ for his career against southpaws, compared to a 70 wRC+ against right-handers. It’s also worth noting that he gets a lot of value from his work on the base paths, where he went 55-for-67 (82.1%) in stolen base attempts in 2023 and ’24.
That makes Blanco a useful bench or depth option to be sure, but he ultimately found himself squeezed off the Royals’ roster after the team brought in Marte and Isaac Collins during the offseason to shore up an outfield mix that had rated out as among the worst in the majors in recent years. The Royals already had a crowded bench mix, and Blanco has yet to prove he’s capable of handling more than part-time duties at the big league level. That’s unlikely to be as much of a problem with the Rangers, who are relatively thin on outfield depth (especially when looking for players who can play center field capably) and have plenty of lefties in the lineup like Evan Carter, Joc Pederson, and Josh Smith who could benefit from being spelled against fellow southpaws.
Of course, that isn’t to say Blanco is guaranteed a spot on the team’s bench entering the season. He’ll have stiff competition from veteran Andrew McCutchen for a spot as a right-handed bat, while Sam Haggerty, Michael Helman, and Ezequiel Duran all offer more versatility than Blanco. With that being said, Blanco does have options remaining and could simply start the season in the minor leagues before waiting to get an opportunity in the majors at some point this year. At the very least, Blanco’s wheels should give him a strong argument to join the team when rosters expand in September and perhaps into the postseason if Texas manages to make it that far.
Blue Jays Re-Sign Max Scherzer
TODAY: Scherzer’s contract also contains full no-trade protection, Jon Heyman reports.
MARCH 2: The Blue Jays officially announced they’ve re-signed Max Scherzer to a one-year contract. The Boras Corporation client is reportedly guaranteed $3MM and can earn up to $10MM in incentives. He’d earn his first $1MM bonus at 65 innings and reach another $1MM bonus for every tenth inning, up through 155 frames overall. Toronto cleared a 40-man roster spot over the weekend by waiving infielder Ben Cowles, who was claimed by the Cubs.
It’s the future Hall of Famer’s second season in Toronto. The three-time Cy Young winner signed a $15.5MM deal with the Jays during the 2024-25 offseason. He was coming off an abbreviated season in which he’d been limited to nine starts for the Rangers. Scherzer had undergone back surgery the previous offseason, and a nerve issue in his throwing arm limited him once he recovered from the back procedure.
The arm remained problematic last season. Scherzer left his team debut after three innings because of thumb soreness. That had been traced to the nerve issue and ultimately led the Jays to shut Scherzer down for a couple months. He didn’t return to an MLB mound until late June.
Scherzer was able to avoid the injured list after that point but didn’t perform to his usual level. He allowed more than five earned runs per nine innings for the first time in his career. He closed the season with a 5.19 mark over 85 innings. Scherzer only once allowed more than four runs in a start, but he only went beyond five innings on seven occasions. He had six quality starts in 17 appearances.
The 17-year veteran is still capable of missing bats at a league average level. He struck out a slightly above-average 23% of batters faced against a tidy 6.4% walk rate. The issue is the damage hitters have done when they make contact. Scherzer allowed more than two home runs per nine innings for the first time in his career. It was the fourth-highest homer rate in MLB among pitchers who threw 70+ innings.
Scherzer’s fastball averaged 93.6 mph last season. That’s a tick higher than his 2024 mark, reversing a slight downward trend in his velocity during his late 30s. He nevertheless had a tough time getting hitters to chase his breaking pitches outside the strike zone. Scherzer obviously doesn’t have the same caliber of stuff he did at his peak, which makes him more hittable when he’s forced to challenge hitters. He has allowed a higher than average home run rate in three straight seasons.
At age 41, Scherzer profiles as a back-end starter on paper. Yet he has a wealth of big game experience and showed he’s still capable of getting outs on the biggest stage. The Jays left Scherzer off the roster for their Division Series matchup with the Yankees. They brought him back for the AL Championship Series against Seattle and the World Series showdown with the Dodgers.
Scherzer tossed 5 2/3 frames of two-run ball to get the win in ALCS Game 4. He struggled a bit in Game 3 of the World Series before coming back with one run allowed in 4 1/3 innings in Game 7. Scherzer left the mound with a 3-1 lead in a performance that would have been etched into Toronto sports history if the bullpen had held the lead.
They’ll aim to get over the hump in 2026. Assuming Scherzer builds up in time for Opening Day, he’ll probably slot into a six-man rotation to begin the season. Shane Bieber will begin the year on the injured list after experiencing forearm fatigue during the playoff run. Toronto had been slated to open the season with a starting five of Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, José Berríos and Cody Ponce.
Yesavage is entering his first full MLB season. Ponce is a bit of a wild card in his return from Korea. Scherzer presumably isn’t going to log 150+ innings at this stage of his career. Opening with a six-man rotation would allow the Jays to take some of the burden off a rotation that shouldered as heavy a load as possible into October.
That comes with a trickle-down impact on the bullpen, however. The 13-pitcher limit means the Jays would be down to a seven-man bullpen if they go this route. That increases the importance of having a quality long reliever like Eric Lauer to handle multiple innings.
At the same time, this makes it less likely that Lauer will have a chance to win a rotation spot. The left-hander is an impending free agent and said he’d prefer a starting opportunity. There hasn’t been any indication that Lauer would seek a trade if the Jays keep him in a relief role, though the southpaw told Mitch Bannon of The Athletic he believes that pitching out of the bullpen last season cost him money in arbitration. Lauer lost his hearing, meaning he’ll make the team’s desired $4.4MM salary rather than his camp’s $5.75MM filing figure.
That could be a situation worth monitoring if everyone remains healthy closer to Opening Day. For now, this looks like the ideal outcome for the Jays and Scherzer alike. The $3MM base salary will push their franchise-record luxury tax payroll to approximately $319MM, according to RosterResource. The Jays are taxed at a 90% rate on spending above $304MM. This signing comes with a $2.7MM base tax. Earned performance bonuses are part of a team’s CBT calculation, so the Jays would also pay that 90% fee on any dollars that Scherzer unlocks by hitting innings milestones throughout the year.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the agreement. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet had the $3MM base and $10MM in incentives. Heyman reported the incentive structure. Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images.
Joey Krehbiel Signs With Mexican League’s Guerreros De Oaxaca
The Guerreros de Oaxaca of the Mexican League announced that they have signed right-hander Joey Krehbiel to a contract for the 2026 season. Krehbiel (who turned 33 in December) elected to become a minor league free agent in November after spending the 2025 season pitching with the Rays’ and Royals’ Triple-A affiliates.
A veteran of four MLB seasons, Krehbiel made his big league debut in the form of a two-game cup of coffee with the Diamondbacks in 2018, then didn’t return to the majors until 2021. Of his 70 career appearances and 74 career innings, the big majority of that work came in 2022, when Krehbiel posted a 3.70 ERA, 18.4% strikeout rate, and 7.4% walk rate over 56 games and 57 2/3 innings out of the Orioles’ bullpen. He only pitched in six games with Baltimore in 2023 (posting a 1.80 ERA across five innings), however, as the O’s shuttled him back and forth from Triple-A multiple times and twice designated Krehbiel for assignment and outrighted him over the course of the year.
This marked Krehbiel’s last bit of Major League action, as minor league contracts with the Mariners and Rays over the last two offseasons didn’t result in another call-up. The Royals also never called the righty up after acquiring him from Tampa in a trade last July. Krehbiel pitched pretty well with Triple-A Tacoma in 2024 but struggled last year to the tune of a 5.34 ERA over 57 1/3 IP in the Tampa and K.C. farm systems, though that ERA was inflated by some bad batted-ball luck — Krehbiel’s 50% grounder rate was counteracted by a .346 BABIP.
The right-hander will now look to get back on track with the Guerreros in the new environment of Mexican League ball. Because Mexican League contracts generally have out clauses, some solid work early in the season could get Krehbiel some attention from another MLB team on another minors deal.
Astros Sign Christian Vazquez To Minor League Deal
The Astros announced that catcher Christian Vazquez was signed to a minor league contract. The deal contains an invitation for Vazquez (an MDR Sports Management client) to attend Houston’s big league Spring Training camp. Vazquez will presumably head to the Astros’ camp after the World Baseball Classic, as the veteran backstop is playing for Puerto Rico’s team.
This is the second stint for Vazquez in a Houston uniform, after being acquired as a trade deadline pickup during the 2022 season. Vazquez hit only .250/.278/.308 over 108 plate appearances during the rest of the regular season and then .235/.316/.235 over 19 postseason PA, but he ended up winning a ring as a member of the World Series title team. Vazquez was also part of some particularly memorable baseball history when he was behind the plate for the Astros’ combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series, which was just the second no-no in Series history and the third in postseason history.
Despite his lackluster numbers at the end of the 2022 campaign, Vazquez still landed a three-year, $30MM free agent deal from Minnesota that offsesason. Unfortunately for Vazquez and the Twins, the struggles at the plate continued, as he hit just .215/.267/.311 over 884 PA over his three seasons with the team. While Vazquez was signed more with defense in mind, delivering only a 60 wRC+ eventually slated him into a backup role behind Ryan Jeffers.
The combination of Vazquez’s poor numbers and hefty salary made him difficult to trade, though his name surfaced in a few rumors over the last couple of years. Minnesota traded a ton of veterans and impending free agents at last year’s deadline, but Vazquez stayed put, as he finished out his entire three-year term with the team. Perhaps understandably, there wasn’t a lot of buzz about his free agent market, apart from one report from January linking Vazquez to the Astros.
It took more than a month for the two sides to reach an agreement, but Vazquez did indeed end up putting pen to paper with Houston, and he’ll now compete with Cesar Salazar for the backup catching job behind starter Yainer Diaz. Salazar has all of 36 MLB games on his resume over three seasons with the Astros, plus he is out of minor league options. Carlos Perez is in camp on another minors deal, and while Perez has appeared in parts of five big league seasons, he hasn’t played in the Show since 2023.
An opening therefore exists for Vazquez to break camp with the Astros as Diaz’s understudy. The 35-year-old’s bat may not be very productive, but Vazquez remains a strong defender, logging +5 Defensive Runs Saved over 519 innings at catcher in 2025. Statcast wasn’t quite as favorable in giving Vazquez’s an even 0 in its overall Catching Runs metric, but his blocking and throwing (Vazquez tossed out 14 of 56 base-stealing attempts in 2025) were gauged as above average.
Vazquez’s WBC duties leave him with relatively little time to make an impression in Spring Training, but obviously the Astros have some familiarity with what Vazquez brings to the table. The fact that the Astros are making this signing indicates they aren’t entirely satisfied with their current backup catching situation, and there’s no risk for the club in committing just a minor league deal to Vazquez to take a look at him in camp.
Rangers Sign Andrew McCutchen To Minor League Deal
March 6: McCutchen passed his physical, and the Rangers have formally announced his signing.
March 5: The Rangers are bringing veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen aboard on a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Aegis Sports client’s base salary would be $1.25MM if he makes the team, per Grant. It can max out around $2.5MM if he makes the roster and hits his full slate of incentives, per Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports.
McCutchen, 39, is years removed from peak form but still turned in a .239/.333/.367 slash (95 wRC+) last year in what now looks like his final season with the Pirates. His .267/.353/.389 output against left-handed pitching was a bit above average, and he knocked lefties around at a heftier .261/.383/.410 clip as recently as 2023.
For the past three years, McCutchen has suited back up for his original club in Pittsburgh, where he was a first-round pick who broke out as a star and eventually won National League MVP honors. The hope for both McCutchen and the Pirates was that he’d return to play out his final seasons where it all began, leading a more competitive Bucs club back to the playoffs in the twilight of his career.
That storybook ending never came to be. Pittsburgh struggled in each of the past three seasons, finishing under .500 each year along the way. The Bucs fired manager Derek Shelton last May and took a more urgent and aggressive approach to building up their offense this winter. Pittsburgh acquired Brandon Lowe via trade and signed free agents Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna. They had even bigger targets throughout the winter (e.g. Kyle Schwarber, Josh Naylor, Kazuma Okamoto, Eugenio Suárez). All those pursuits cast doubt on whether there was room for one more go-around with McCutchen on what’d have been a more nostalgic/sentimental reunion. Last month’s signing of Ozuna all but confirmed that the book on the three-year reunion with McCutchen had been closed.
McCutchen now heads to the Rangers in hopes of grabbing a bench spot. His right-handed bat makes for a natural platoon complement alongside designated hitter Joc Pederson. Cutch could also see some time in the outfield corners when Texas faces off against left-handed starters, with Wyatt Langford shifting over to center field in place of lefty-swinging Evan Carter, who has just five hits in 68 career plate appearances against southpaws.
There’s little sense citing McCutchen’s career .289/.387/.514 slash against lefties, since so much of that is influenced by otherworldly production during his MVP peak. However, even over the three seasons in his late-career return to PNC Park, McCutchen hit .244/.353/.392 in 435 plate appearances. That sort of production is more solid than eye-catching, but it’d still mark an upgrade over the awful .225/.290/.363 batting line the Rangers turned in versus left-handed pitching in 2025.
Dodgers Outright Jack Suwinski
The Dodgers sent Jack Suwinski outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. The team had not previously designated Suwinski for assignment, so this drops their 40-man roster tally to 39.
Los Angeles claimed the lefty-hitting outfielder off waivers from Pittsburgh last month. They assumed his $1.25MM salary and an accompanying $1.375MM luxury tax commitment in the process. It always seemed like a depth move. Suwinski is out of minor league options and didn’t have a great chance to break camp with the two-time defending champions.
The Dodgers pay a few million dollars to get him into the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Suwinski showed promise a few seasons ago but hasn’t performed well over the past two years. He hit 26 homers with a .224/.339/.454 slash line for the Pirates in 2023. He has been well below the Mendoza line with an on-base percentage under .300 in the two years since then.
Since the start of ’24, Suwinski carries a .169/.271/.297 mark across 455 plate appearances. He has gone down on strikes at a 30% clip and only combined for 12 home runs. Suwinski had a much more impressive .283/.389/.565 showing in Triple-A last year. That also came with a concerning number of strikeouts, though, and he needed to go through waivers before a team could assign him back to the minors.
Suwinski will remain in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. The Dodgers have Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker left to right in the outfield. Alex Call has a decent shot to win a bench job as a righty platoon bat, while Ryan Ward and Michael Siani occupy spots at the back of the 40-man roster.
Pirates, Reds Swap Tyler Callihan For Kyle Nicolas
The Pirates announced they’ve traded relief pitcher Kyle Nicolas to the Reds for left fielder/second baseman Tyler Callihan. Both players were on the 40-man roster, so there’s no corresponding move.
It’s a swap of talented but largely unproven players between the NL Central rivals. Nicolas, 27, has the more significant MLB experience of the two. A second-round pick by the Marlins in 2020, he was traded to Pittsburgh as one of two prospects the following year for Gold Glove catcher Jacob Stallings. Nicolas was a starting pitcher at the time but always projected to a bullpen future because of spotty command.
Nicolas debuted as a September call-up in 2023. The Ball State product has opened each of the following two seasons on optional assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis. Nicolas has posted below-average numbers at the MLB level but remains an intriguing depth piece with big stuff.
In 98 MLB innings, Nicolas carries a 4.68 earned run average. He has struck out a league average 22% of opponents while issuing walks at a lofty 12.2% rate. He split his time evenly between the majors and Triple-A last year. While he allowed nearly five earned runs per nine at the MLB level, he posted a 3.79 ERA with an excellent 31% strikeout rate against minor league opposition. Nicolas walked more than 12% of Triple-A opponents and has posted double digit walk rates at almost every stop of his professional career.
The command will probably keep Nicolas in middle relief. He’d have the raw stuff to pitch at the back of a bullpen if he can find a way to throw more strikes. Nicolas sits in the 97-98 mph range with his heater and has a pair of power breaking balls: a 90-91 mph slider and mid-80s curveball.
He also uses his 6’3″ frame to get down the mound and generate a lot of extension, though the long levers have also seemingly held him back from finding consistency in his delivery. Nicolas commanded the ball better down the stretch last season. He walked only 8.4% of opponents while posting a 3.46 ERA in 26 innings after the All-Star Break. It’s a small sample but perhaps something to build off as he tries to earn a permanent bullpen spot.
Nicolas has a little over one year of service time. He’s at least two years away from arbitration and five years from reaching free agency. He has one minor league option remaining, so the Reds can send him to Triple-A Louisville without exposing him to waivers. Nicolas tossed two scoreless innings this spring before joining Team Italy for the World Baseball Classic. (He’s from Ohio but has a family link to Italy that made him eligible to participate.)
Cincinnati doesn’t have a ton of roster flexibility in the bullpen, where six of their relievers cannot be optioned. Graham Ashcraft has options but is a lock to begin the season in the late innings. Unless the Reds move on from Sam Moll, they’d only have one bullpen spot available between Nicolas, Luis Mey, Connor Phillips and Zach Maxwell. The latter four pitchers all have big arms but come with strike-throwing questions.
The Pirates subtract from their bullpen depth to take a flier on an intriguing hitter who hasn’t found a position. The 25-year-old Callihan was an overslot third-round signee out of high school in 2019. Scouts have praised the lefty hitter’s offensive aptitude while panning his defense. The Jacksonville native has a career .262/.332/.417 batting line over six minor league seasons.
Callihan’s performance in the low minors was a little inconsistent. He has posted better numbers as he’s climbed the minor league ladder. Callihan hit .271/.345/.413 in Double-A two seasons ago and was out to a .303/.410/.528 start over 24 Triple-A contests last year. The Reds called him up at the end of April.
Unfortunately, Callihan didn’t get a chance to establish himself as a rookie. He suffered a gruesome injury just six days into his big league career.
Callihan was playing left field against the Braves on May 5. Matt Olson hit a line drive that sliced away from him down the left field line. Callihan slid to try to catch the ball and was unable to brace himself before hitting the wall with his outstretched glove hand. The collision broke his arm and forced him to undergo season-ending surgery. (Adding insult to injury, Olson trotted around for an inside-the-park home run because Callihan had touched the ball in fair territory.)
That ended his debut campaign after six at-bats, in which he collected his first career hit and run batted in. Callihan entered Spring Training without any restrictions and has gotten into seven exhibition contests, going 2-9 with a home run.
Baseball America ranked Callihan the #20 prospect in the Cincinnati system over the offseason, while Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted him 29th in the organization. Callihan has improved his plate discipline and has above-average raw power, but his strikeout rate has climbed in the upper minors.
He’s a below-average defender at second base who probably fits better in left field or at first base. There are some similarities to last winter’s Spencer Horwitz pickup in that regard, though Horwitz had a much longer track record of hitting in Triple-A than Callihan does.
Callihan has less than one year of service and has two minor league options remaining. He’ll battle for a bench job in camp but seems likelier to begin the season in Indy. He can factor in as a bat-first utility type throughout the season if he’s hitting well in the minors.
Respective images via Jordan Godfree and Sam Greene, Imagn Images.
Blue Jays Re-Sign Joe Mantiply To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays announced they’ve re-signed lefty reliever Joe Mantiply to a minor league contract. The ISE Baseball client receives a non-roster invite to MLB camp.
Mantiply finished last season in the Toronto organization. Released by the Diamondbacks in June, he signed a minor league deal with the Jays shortly after the All-Star Break. Mantiply spent a couple weeks building up at the team’s Florida complex before reporting to Triple-A Buffalo. He finished the season with the Bisons, allowing eight runs (six earned) across 15 2/3 innings.
The run prevention was unexceptional, but Mantiply posted a 19:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio against 64 Triple-A opponents. It didn’t get him a big league look. The Jays were impressed enough to bring him back on an NRI after he elected minor league free agency over the offseason.
Mantiply was a surprise All-Star in 2022 — a season in which he posted a 2.85 ERA across a career-high 60 innings. The 35-year-old southpaw has strong command and gets grounders but has below-average velocity. Mantiply averaged 88.4 mph on his sinker last year. He gets good movement on the sinker and his changeup and was a solid middle reliever as recently as 2024. He was knocked around for 17 runs in 9 2/3 MLB frames last year.
The Jays have one of the better rosters in MLB but are light on established left-handed relief. Eric Lauer is set for a multi-inning role. Mason Fluharty is a soft-tossing cutter specialist, while Brendon Little has much bigger raw stuff. Both pitchers can miss bats but aren’t reliably around the strike zone. Ricky Tiedemann could factor into the rotation or relief mix as a rookie, but the oft-injured former top prospect is again battling elbow discomfort early in camp.
Royals Designate Dairon Blanco For Assignment
The Royals announced they’ve designated outfielder Dairon Blanco for assignment. That’s the necessary 40-man roster move to finalize their one-year deal with Starling Marte, which is official.
Blanco has been a depth outfielder in Kansas City for the past four seasons. He played in nearly half the team’s games between 2023-24 but wasn’t much of a factor last year. Blanco got into nine contests and only took eight plate appearances at the major league level. He went 1-6 with a double while stealing three bases in five attempts.
The 32-year-old (33 in April) missed the first six weeks of the season battling Achilles tendinopathy in his right foot. He returned to health in mid-May and spent the majority of the year on optional assignment. The Cuba native batted .253/.332/.405 with eight homers across 294 plate appearances in Triple-A. He stole 32 bags while getting cut down just three times over 77 games.
A right-handed hitter, Blanco has league average numbers (.257/.312/.416) over 285 MLB plate appearances. The Royals have seemingly been skeptical that’d remain the case over a larger sample. Kansas City outfielders had an MLB-worst .225/.285/.348 batting line last season. Although the outfield has been an issue for the better part of a decade, the Royals never gave Blanco much of a starting opportunity.
They had kept him on the big league roster for the second half of 2023 and all of ’24 as a bench piece. Blanco’s top-of-the-scale wheels made him an asset as a pinch runner. He went 55-67 in stolen base tries over that season and a half. Blanco entered 48 games as a pinch runner. No one else in MLB reached even 20 pinch-running appearances over those two full seasons.
Kansas City has five days to trade Blanco or place him on waivers. He still has a pair of minor league options remaining. He’s on the older side for a player whose game is built so much around his legs, as he didn’t depart his home country until he was 23 and made his MLB debut at 29.