Dodgers Sign Yency Almonte To Minors Contract
The Dodgers have signed right-hander Yency Almonte to a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports (via Twitter). Almonte will get an invite to the Dodgers’ big league spring camp, and he’ll receive a $1.5MM salary if he makes the active roster.
Almonte’s entire big league career has been spent in the NL West, as he posted a 5.30 ERA over 124 relief innings with the Rockies from 2018-21. Not a big strikeout pitcher at either the MLB or minor league level, Almonte has looked effective when he has been able to avoid the home run ball, as evidenced by his solid numbers over 42 2/3 IP in 2018 and 2020 when he allowed three total homers. When Almonte hasn’t been able to maintain an above-average grounder rate, problems have ensued — in 81 2/3 innings over the 2019 and 2021 seasons, Almonte was tagged for 16 big flies.
As one might expect, pitching at Coors Field hasn’t helped Almonte in keeping the ball in the park, so a move to a more pitcher-friendly venue might lead to more consistency. The Dodgers have had a first-hand look at Almonte over his four years in Colorado and will now see what the 27-year-old can do with a change of scenery in the Los Angeles camp. The $1.5MM salary isn’t much of a financial risk for the Dodgers to take, as the club will likely happily pay that price if it means Almonte has earned him a crack at a Major League roster spot.
Nationals Sign Erasmo Ramirez To Minors Deal
The Nationals have signed right-hander Erasmo Ramirez to a minor league contract, MLBTR has learned. Ramirez’s deal contains an invitation to the Nats’ big league Spring Training camp.
The 31-year-old has appeared in each of the last 10 MLB seasons, with the first seven of those years as a member of the Mariners and Rays before bouncing to the Red Sox, Mets, and Tigers from 2019-2021 on minor league deals. Ramirez’s 26 2/3 innings with Detroit last season represented his most Major League action of the last three years, though he struggled to a 5.74 ERA in a Tigers uniform.
Working as a starter and swingman for much of his career, Ramirez has worked only as a reliever at the MLB level since 2019, but can still add length to a bullpen — he threw beyond one inning in 10 of his 17 appearances last year. While it has been some time since Ramirez has posted consistent numbers at the Major League level, his ability to cover innings could be of use to a Washington bullpen that has seemingly been in constant flux for several years. The Nationals also signed another seasoned arm in Steve Cishek yesterday, so both Cishek and Ramirez can provide some veteran knowledge to a bullpen that is overall short of big league experience.
Mariners To Sign Steven Souza To Minors Deal
The Mariners are in agreement on a contract with outfielder Steven Souza, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It’s a minor league deal. (Twitter links) He’ll make a $1MM salary if he cracks the big league roster, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s a minor league deal with a split option, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
Souza’s best season came back in 2017 with the Rays, when he played 148 games and hit 30 home runs. He finished the year with a slash line of .239/.351/.459, wRC+ of 121 and 3.8 fWAR. Unfortunately, the years since then haven’t gone as well. After being traded to the Diamondbacks, he struggled in 2018, then missed all of 2019 after suffering a gruesome injury in Spring Training. In 2020, he only got into 11 games with the Cubs and then only played 17 games with the Dodgers last year. Turning 33 in April, Souza will hope to get a crack at the big league roster and a chance to show he’s still capable of the excellent form he showed five years ago.
For the Mariners, this bolsters the depth in an area where they have many options but little certainty beyond Mitch Haniger manning right field. Jarred Kelenic made his debut last year but failed to impress in his first 93 games at the big league level. He’s likely to get another shot based on his prospect pedigree and strong finish, but will have to produce to keep his playing time. Kyle Lewis had an excellent breakout campaign in 2020 but was limited to just 36 games last year due to injuries. Then there’s a pile of other intriguing-but-unproven options, such as Jake Fraley, Taylor Trammell and Dylan Moore. Top prospect Julio Rodriguez is on the way, but only got as high as Double-A last year, making him more of a long-term option than a short-term one.
Brewers Re-Sign Brad Boxberger
The Brewers are reuniting with Brad Boxberger, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link) reports that Boxberger has agreed to a new one-year deal. The veteran right-hander will earn $2.5MM in guaranteed money, with up to $550K available in bonuses. The Brewers’ official Twitter feed has announced the signing, and added that the deal contains a club option on Boxberger’s services for the 2023 season. Boxberger will earn $1.75MM in 2022 and has a $750K buyout on a $3MM option, tweets FanSided’s Robert Murray. Boxberger is represented by Paragon Sports International.
After a downturn in performance in 2018 and 2019, Boxberger had to settle for minor league deals with the Marlins prior to the 2020 season, and with the Brew Crew last winter. A 3.00 ERA over 18 innings with Miami in 2020 hinted that Boxberger was starting to return to form, and he bounced all the way back with a strong year in Milwaukee’s bullpen.
The righty posted a 3.34 ERA over 64 2/3 innings in 2021, with a 31.2% strikeout rate that placed Boxberger in the 90th percentile of all pitchers. While his 9.4% walk rate was below average, Boxberger had an otherwise solid showing in most major Statcast categories.
It was enough to land the 33-year-old a guaranteed big league contract, and Boxberger will now aim for an encore as one of the Brewers’ setup men. With Josh Hader still in the closer’s spot, the Brewers are slated to roll out Devin Williams, Brent Suter, and Boxberger for other high-leverage innings, not to mention a plethora of other in-house arms. Milwaukee has also had success in finding unheralded relievers or veterans (like Boxberger) in need of a fresh start, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see more arms added to the relief corps before Opening Day.
Pirates Claim Aaron Fletcher
The Pirates claimed left-hander Aaron Fletcher off waivers from the Mariners, as announced by both teams. Seattle’s 40-man roster now has two open spots, after both the Fletcher claim and the Giants’ claim of Jose Godoy earlier today.
Fletcher has eight total innings (with a 12.38 ERA) pitched in the big leagues, getting brief cups of coffee with the M’s in each of the last two seasons. Originally a 14th-round pick for the Nationals in 2018, Fletcher has some solid numbers over his three minor league seasons — a 2.69 ERA, 25.83% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate in 153 2/3 innings. The southpaw has worked exclusively as a reliever for the last three seasons.
While Fletcher’s small sample size of MLB work isn’t impressive, those minor league statistics were enough to catch the Pirates’ attention, and Pittsburgh will now get another big league-ready arm into the mix in Spring Training. There isn’t much settled in terms of the Bucs’ bullpen alignment, so the opportunity is there for Fletcher to win himself a job with a good performance in camp.
Guardians Acquire David Fry To Complete J.C. Mejia Trade
The Guardians have acquired catcher/infielder David Fry from the Brewers as the player to be named later to complete the November trade that sent right-hander J.C. Mejia to the Brewers. The Brewers announced the move on Twitter.
Fry was a seventh-round selection of the Brewers in the 2018 draft and immediately saw some action that year in rookie ball and A-ball. In 2019, his first full season in the professional ranks, he played 134 games in A-ball, hitting 17 home runs and stealing seven bases, finishing with a line of .258/.329/.444, wRC+ of 123. After the pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020, Fry spent last year primarily in Double-A, playing 75 games there, along with 19 in Triple-A. His line on the year was .255/.348/.449, wRC+ of 122.
Defensively, Fry is quite versatile, often found behind the plate but also seeing significant time at the infield corners, and even rare appearances at second base, shortstop and in the outfield.
Back in December, FanGraphs ranked the 26-year-old as the 33rd-best prospect in the Milwaukee system, noting that his power and positional versatility gave him the chance to be an interesting bench piece.
Giants Claim Jose Godoy From Mariners
The Giants have claimed catcher Jose Godoy off waivers from the Mariners, as announced by both clubs. Godoy made his MLB debut last season, appearing in 16 games with Seattle and receiving 40 plate appearances.
With Buster Posey now enjoying retirement, the Giants are heading into the 2022 season with star prospect Joey Bart set to take a larger share of duties behind the plate, and veteran Curt Casali is still on hand to either work in a timeshare with Bart or in a backup capacity. San Francisco was lacking, however, in any other catchers with Major League experience, so while Godoy doesn’t have a lengthy big league resume, he can still provide the Giants with some depth at the Triple-A level.
An international signing for the Cardinals back in 2011, Godoy had spent his entire career in the St. Louis farm system before inking a minor league deal with the Mariners last winter. Godoy has hit .276/.357/.366 over his 2063 career PA in the minors, with his offensive production slightly ticking upward over the last couple of seasons, though that could also be a function of Godoy being a slightly older player (he turned 27 in October) playing against generally younger competition.
Athletics Claim Sam Selman Off Waivers From Angels
The Athletics have announced that they’ve claimed left-handed pitcher Sam Selman off waivers from the Angels. Selman was one of several players left in “DFA limbo” during the lockout, having been designated for assignment just before the transactions freeze took place.
The southpaw made his debut for the Giants in 2019 and then was one of three players that came over to the Angels as part of the Tony Watson trade with the Giants at the deadline last year. At that point in his career, he had thrown 37 2/3 innings with an ERA of 4.06. Unfortunately, he didn’t fare so well after moving to the Halos, as he logged 17 innings with a 6.35 ERA, striking out just 14.3% of batters faced in that time and walking 10.4% of them.
When the Angels signed Raisel Iglesias just before the lockout began, Selman was designated for assignment to create roster space, only coming out of DFA limbo today when the Athletics claimed him. The 31-year-old will now join an A’s bullpen that is likely to feature A.J. Puk, Adam Kolarek and Sam Moll as the top lefty options. Selman still has one option year remaining, meaning the club could potentially shuffle him between the big league club and the minors as needed.
Nationals Sign Gerardo Parra To Minors Deal
The Nationals have signed outfielder Gerardo Parra to a minor league deal, reports Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post. Parra is in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Parra, who turns 35 in May, is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons and 1519 games played. His best stretch of play was from 2010 to 2015. He was never elite at the plate, but had enough speed and defense to still be valuable in that time. Over those six seasons, he hit .274/.326/.404 for a wRC+ of 94 and 10.8 fWAR.
In 2019, he started the season with the Giants but was designated for assignment in early May. After clearing waivers, he signed on with the Nats and became a fan favorite when he chose “Baby Shark” as his walk-up music. This eventually became an unofficial team anthem as the club went on their incredible run to become that year’s World Series champions. Parra played in Japan in 2020 but came back to the Nats last year on a minor league deal. He ultimately had his contract selected and got into 53 games, hitting .237/.292/.351.
For the Nationals, there’s no harm in adding some veteran depth, especially in the wake of a deadline selloff last year that has left plenty of question marks going forward. Juan Soto obviously has one outfield spot spoken for. Lane Thomas had a nice showing after coming over in the Jon Lester trade and will probably be pencilled in. Victor Robles is still around, though he’s now had two consecutive rough seasons at the plate. Then there’s a handful of other guys who could see some time on the grass but aren’t necessarily guaranteed a long stretch, such as Ehire Adrianza, Andrew Stevenson, Lucius Fox and Yadiel Hernandez. Bringing on a veteran like Parra is a no-risk way of improving the depth behind this group.
Cardinals Sign Nick Wittgren
The Cardinals have announced that they’ve signed right-handed pitcher Nick Wittgren to a one-year contract. Wittgren will make $1.2MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided.
A veteran of six seasons, Wittgren will turn 31 in May. He spent his first three seasons in Miami before being traded to Cleveland, where he spent the past three years. In his career, he’s played in 258 games and thrown 271 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.75. His 23.5% strikeout rate is right around average, though his walk rate of 6.7% is quite good.
Last year was a bit of a setback for the righty, as his ERA jumped up to 5.05, a career high. His strikeout rate also fell to 23.6% after being at 26% in 2019 and 28.6% in 2020. The walk rate was still good, coming in at 6.6%. He was set to go through arbitration for a final time this winter, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a salary of $2.8MM. However, the club decided to put him on waivers at the end of the year, effectively non-tendering him. Wittgren cleared and elected free agency.
For the Cardinals, this is their second bullpen upgrade since the lockout ended, as they also added Drew VerHagen recently. Both Wittgren and VerHagen are righties and will likely join Giovanny Gallegos, Alex Reyes, Ryan Helsley and Jordan Hicks as right-handed options in the Cardinals bullpen to start the year.