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Red Sox Sign Daniel Gossett To Minor League Deal

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TODAY: Gossett will earn $750K in guaranteed salary if he makes Boston’s MLB roster, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

JANUARY 4: The Red Sox are signing right-hander Daniel Gossett to a minor-league contract, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). The deal includes an invitation to big league spring training, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter).

Gossett, 28, was selected by the Athletics in the second round of the 2014 draft and became a decently-regarded prospect. After a few years of generally solid minor-league production, he reached the big leagues in 2017. He didn’t find much success at the highest level, however. Gossett threw a fair amount of strikes but never missed many bats (striking out just 16.3% of opposing hitters) and was plagued by home runs. Altogether, he managed just a 5.91 ERA in 115.2 innings over 23 starts.

An ill-timed Tommy John surgery in August 2018 sidelined Gossett through the end of the 2019 season. He was released by the A’s this past July and sat out last season. Gossett is now fully recovered from the procedure and throwing bullpen sessions, Cotillo relays.

Two and a half years removed from his most recent big league work, Gossett will look to work his way onto a Red Sox pitching staff in flux. There’s room for him to claim a starting or multi-inning relief job if he shows well in spring training, particularly with Chris Sale not expected to return until midseason after undergoing Tommy John surgery last March.

Cubs Release Colin Rea

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The Cubs have released right-hander Colin Rea, according to the MLB.com transactions page.  Rea avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $702.5K deal with Chicago on December 2 (the day of the non-tender deadline), but he will now look to sign a new contract with a Japanese team, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets.

The 30-year-old Rea tossed 14 innings for the Cubs last season, posting a 5.79 ERA, 16.1% strikeout rate and a very solid 3.2% walk rate.  Rea started two of his nine outings but was much more effective as a reliever, as seven of Rea’s nine earned runs allowed in 2020 came during his 5 1/3 innings as a starter.  It’s probably safe to assume he’ll look to rebuild his stock as a starting pitcher in Japan, as the bulk of Rea’s pro experience (161 of 203 games) in the majors and minors as come as a starter.

Those 14 innings for Chicago represented Rea’s first MLB action since 2016, as he spent the previous two seasons in the minors with the Cubs and Padres and missed all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery.  Rea’s arm problems stand out as a major what-if for Padres fans, as a seven-player trade in July 2016 that originally sent Rea to the Marlins was partially reversed since Miami felt Rea was already injured at the time of the swap, so Rea was returned to San Diego and the Padres sent another pitcher involved in the deal back to the Marlins — that pitcher was future Reds ace Luis Castillo.

With Rea gone, the Cubs are short another starting candidate as they prepare to roll out an overhauled rotation in 2021.  Free agent departures and the trade of Yu Darvish to the Padres will set Chicago up with a projected rotation of Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, Adbert Alzolay, Alec Mills, and a host of young candidates vying for the fifth spot.  It seems likely that the team will add another veteran to the mix, though probably someone on a minor league deal or on a low-cost MLB contract.

Giants Sign Curt Casali

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The Giants have signed veteran catcher Curt Casali to a one-year major league contract worth $1.5MM, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report. To make room for Casali on its 40-man roster, the team officially sold left-hander Andrew Suarez’s rights to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. Casali is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Casali became a professional when the Tigers used a 10th-round pick on him in 2011, but he has so far divided his major league career between the Rays and Reds. He was a Red for the previous three years, during which he posted a productive .260/.345/.440 line with 18 home runs in 485 plate appearances. As a defender, the 32-year-old Casali has thrown out a respectable 27 percent of would-be base stealers, but the all-around package wasn’t enough for Cincinnati to keep him in the fold. The team non-tendered Casali before the Dec. 2 deadline instead of paying him a projected $1.8MM to $2.4MM in arbitration.

Now that he’s on his way to the Bay Area, Casali seems like the front-runner to back up returning starter Buster Posey, who opted out last season over COVID-19 concerns. Casali will now reunite with right-handers Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani, whom he played with in Cincinnati.

Along with Casali and Posey, the Giants also have fellow catchers Joey Bart and Chadwick Tromp, but those two have all three minor league options remaining. In the event the Casali pickup works out well for the Giants, they’ll be able to keep him around in 2022, as he’ll be eligible for arbitration through then.

Marlins Sign Sandy Leon To Minors Contract

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JANUARY 4: Leon’s deal comes with a $1.25MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster, with additional incentives available, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

JANUARY 3: The Marlins have signed catcher Sandy Leon to a minor league deal.  The contract contains an invitation for Leon to attend Miami’s big league Spring Training camp.  In addition to Leon, the Marlins also officially announced six other players (infielder Eddy Alvarez, catcher Brian Navarreto, and right-handers Zach Thompson, Alexander Guillen, Anthony Bender, and Luis Madero) received spring invites on minor league contracts.

A veteran of nine big league seasons, Leon is best known for his five seasons with the Red Sox from 2015-19, a stint that saw him collect a World Series ring in 2018 and unexpectedly step up as an offensive threat (.845 OPS in 283 plate appearances) in 2016.  That 2016 campaign stands out as a big outlier amidst Leon’s overall career numbers, however, as he has a .216/.284/.327 slash line over 1379 career PA.

Leon didn’t even reach that modest level of production in 2020, as he hit .136/.296/.242 in 81 PA with the Indians.  It’s pretty clear Miami isn’t signing Leon for his bat, but rather his well-documented defensive skill — Leon is well-respected as a game-caller and he was an above-average pitch-framer in both 2018 and 2019.  Leon also has some impressive caught-stealing numbers over his career, though those totals have dipped over the last two years.

The signings of both Leon and Navarreto add some depth to a Marlins catching mix that consists of Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach.  Alfaro is coming off a tough season at the plate, but as a former top prospect, he’ll be given plenty more chances to firmly establish himself as a regular backstop.  Wallach is another defense-first catcher, so with Leon now in the mix, Wallach will need a solid showing in Spring Training to retain his job on the active roster.

Navarreto is back in Miami after making his MLB debut with the team last season, appearing in two games.  Originally a sixth-round pick for the Twins in the 2013 draft, Navarreto has hit .214/.264/.307 over 1753 career PA in the minors (in the Twins and Yankees farm systems) without ever reaching Triple-A ball.  He signed a minor league deal with the Marlins last winter but naturally never appeared in the minors due to the cancellation of the minor league season.

Alvarez is the only other member of the group to appear in the majors, as he hit .189/.268/.216 for the Marlins last season in the first 41 Major League plate appearances of his career.  Alvarez’s MLB debut made headlines, as the former Olympic silver medal-winning speed skater became the first former Olympian (in a sport besides baseball, of course) to appear in the majors since the legendary Jim Thorpe.  Beginning his career as an undrafted free agent, Alvarez has hit .278/.375/.413 with 40 homers over 2430 minor league PA, working mostly as a shortstop but also playing a significant amount of second and third base.

Cubs Sign Adam Morgan To Minor League Contract

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JANUARY 4: Morgan’s deal comes with a $900K base salary if he makes the majors, with additional incentives available, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

JANUARY 3: The Cubs have signed left-hander Adam Morgan to a minor league deal with an invitation to Chicago’s big league spring camp, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury (Twitter link).

Morgan chose to become a free agent after the Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man roster at the end of the season.  It was effectively an early non-tender, as Morgan was arbitration-eligible for the third time this winter and wasn’t likely to be retained.  After posting a 5.54 ERA over 13 relief innings for Philadelphia in 2020, Morgan underwent flexor tendon repair surgery in October. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune has good news on Morgan’s recovery timeline, tweeting that Morgan is “expected to be game ready sometime in March.”

On a minor league deal, there isn’t much risk for the Cubs in monitoring Morgan’s health and seeing if he can contribute to their bullpen at some point next year.  A familiar face will be waiting for Morgan in the pen, as former Phillies pitching coach Chris Young is entering his second year as Chicago’s bullpen coach.

Morgan has posted some decent numbers since becoming a full-time relief pitcher, delivering a 3.97 ERA, 2.84 K/BB rate, and 9.6 K/9 over 133 2/3 innings from 2017-19.  Homers have been a consistent issue, as Morgan has a 1.5 HR/9 over his career and allowed three home runs during the smaller sample size of his 2020 workload.  Morgan has some pretty significant career splits (left-handed batters have a .640 OPS against him, but righty swingers have an .859 OPS) but he could provide some help to a Cubs relief corps that is thin on reliable southpaw options.

Tigers Sign Locke St. John To Minor-League Contract

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The Tigers have signed five players to minor-league deals, per a team announcement. Of the group, only left-hander Locke St. John has prior major league experience. St. John (28 later this month) began his pro career as a 32nd-round pick of the Detroit organization but didn’t make it to the majors as a Tiger.

Instead, St. John was selected by the Rangers in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft after the 2017 season. After a year and a half progressing through their minor-league system, St. John got to the big leagues with Texas in 2019. Across 6.2 MLB innings spanning seven relief appearances, he allowed four runs, struck out five and issued four walks. He was outrighted off the Rangers’ 40-man roster last winter.

St. John has struggled with walks in recent seasons but also posted fairly strong strikeout rates in his time in the high minors. He’ll add some depth to a Tiger organization that features Tyler Alexander, Daniel Norris and Gregory Soto as lefty bullpen pieces on the 40-man.

In addition to St. John, the Tigers announced deals with infielder Isrrael de la Cruz and right-handers A.J. Ladwig, Henry Martinez and Zac Shepherd.

Marlins Sign Ross Detwiler To Major League Contract

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TODAY: Detwiler will earn $850K in guaranteed money, Craig Mish reports (via Twitter), with another $100K available in potential incentives.

JANUARY 1: The Marlins have signed left-hander Ross Detwiler to a major league contract, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets. It’s a one-year deal for the CAA Sports client.

Detwiler was the sixth overall pick of the Nationals in 2007, and while he did stick with the organization through 2014, he has bounced around since then. He spent parts of 2015-20 with the Rangers, Braves,  Cleveland, Athletics, Mariners and White Sox, and there were multiple independent league stints mixed in there.

Although Detwiler has seldom posted impressive production in the majors, he did perform well out of the White Sox’s bullpen last season, finishing with a 3.20 ERA/3.90 FIP with 6.86 K/9, 2.29 BB/9 and an excellent 58.3 percent groundball rate in 19 2/3 innings of work. Detwiler spent all of 2020 as a reliever, and if that’s his role in Miami, he could help a bullpen that ranked last in the National League in ERA (5.50) and FIP (5.65) a season ago.

Marlins Designate Stephen Tarpley For Assignment

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The Marlins have announced that left-hander Stephen Tarpley has been designated for assignment.  The move creates roster space for Ross Detwiler, whose signing is now official.

Acquired from the Yankees just shy of a year ago, Tarpley missed a month of the 2020 season due to an oblique strain and otherwise struggled over 11 innings with Miami.  The southpaw posted a 9.00 ERA while allowing two homers and eight walks during his small sample size of work.  While Tarpley has a 5.8 BB/9 and 1.6 HR/9 over his 44 2/3 career MLB innings with the Marlins and Yankees, he has been almost an entirely different hurler over his 450 2/3 minor league innings — he owns a modest 3.0 BB/9 and only an 0.4 HR/9, while posting often extreme groundball numbers.

With this intriguing resume, it isn’t out of the question that Tarpley is claimed by another team during his DFA period in the hope that another change of scenery could unlock some late-career (Tarpley turns 28 in February) potential.  A third-round pick for the Orioles in the 2013 draft, Tarpley also spent some time in the Pirates’ farm system during his career.

Yankees, Socrates Brito Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Socrates Brito, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The MAS+ client will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

Brito, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Pirates last year and opened the shortened season in Pittsburgh’s 60-man player pool at their alternate training site in Altoona. However, Brito opted out of the remainder of the year in September following the tragic loss of his brother to Covid-19.

He’ll now join a Yankees club that has seen plenty of outfield injuries over the past couple of seasons, which could afford him another opportunity in the big leagues. Brito has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors between Arizona and Toronto, but he’s yet to replicate the solid production he posted in his first cup of coffee when he batted .303/.324/.455 in 18 games with the 2015 D-backs. Brito carries just a .525 OPS in 218 Major League plate appearances, but he’s notched a much more impressive .297/.345/.491 batting line in 1541 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

NC Dinos Re-Sign Aaron Altherr, Drew Rucinski

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The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization kicked off the New Year by announcing that they’ve re-signed outfielder Aaron Altherr and right-hander Drew Rucinski to new one-year contracts for the 2021 season. Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net tweets that Altherr’s deal comes with a $1.3MM guarantee and another $100K available via incentives, while Rucinski will be paid $1.6MM with up to $200K of incentives. Altherr is represented by All Bases Covered. Rucinski is represented by Paragon Sports.

Altherr, 30 next month, had some success with the Phillies in 2015 and 2017 but never fully established himself as a big league regular. By 2019, he was designated for assignment multiple times and split the season between three clubs, going just 5-for-61 at the MLB level.

It was a different story in South Korea for Altherr. He mashed opposing pitching at a .278/.352/.541 clip and belted 31 home runs, 20 doubles and seven triples to go along with 22 steals in 25 tries. Altherr was 27 percent better than a league-average hitter, by measure of wRC+, so it’s not a surprise that the KBO-champion Dinos sought to bring him back for a return effort.

Rucinski, who turned 32 just two days ago, will return for a third season with the Dinos. The former Indians and Angels farmhand made it to the Majors as an undrafted free agent, logging a combined 54 innings between the Halos, Twins and Marlins from 2014-18 — albeit without much success. He’s found a home with the Dinos, however, pitching to an identical 3.05 ERA in each of his first two seasons there. Rucinski racked up 183 innings in 2020, averaging 8.2 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine frames along the way.

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