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Angels Select Jose Rojas, Juan Lagares

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MARCH 31: The Angels announced they’ve selected the contracts of Rojas and outfielder Juan Lagares. To create 40-man roster space, right-hander Kyle Keller was designated for assignment, while Barreto was placed on the 60-day injured list.

MARCH 27: The Angels have informed José Rojas that he’ll make the Opening Day roster, manager Joe Maddon announced to reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). The club will need to formally select him to the 40-man but has an available roster spot to do so. The 28-year-old is now in line to make his major league debut.

Rojas has made a rather remarkable ascent over the past few weeks. A former 36th-round draft pick, the left-handed hitting infielder only once made Baseball America’s ranking of Los Angeles’ top 30 prospects (coming in at 28th entering 2019). The Anaheim native earned himself a Spring Training invitation this year with strong career numbers at both Double-A (.277/.339/.486) and Triple-A (.284/.347/.539).

He has absolutely torn the cover off the ball this spring. Over 41 plate appearances, Rojas has mashed at a .333/.488/.667 clip. Spring Training statistics aren’t always reliable indicators of a player’s true talent, but Rojas apparently impressed Angels’ brass on an everyday basis. Franklin Barreto’s season-opening injured list stint partially opened the door for Rojas to claim a utility job, but he also simply outplayed Luis Rengifo. Rojas will now back up the Angels’ infield group of Anthony Rendon, José Iglesias, David Fletcher and Jared Walsh/Albert Pujols.

Rockies To Sign Jhoulys Chacin To Major League Deal

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The Rockies are expected to sign right-hander Jhoulys Chacín to a major league contract, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’ll be on the Opening Day roster. Nick Groke of the Athletic noted earlier this evening Chacín was throwing in front of Rockies’ brass.

Chacín is returning to the place where his career began. The right-hander signed with the Rockies as an international amateur in 2004 and made his MLB debut with Colorado five years later. Chacín went on to perform as a durable, effective rotation piece for a few seasons in Denver. Between 2010-14, he tossed 661 innings of 3.76 ERA/4.01 FIP ball, no small feat in the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field. He has been something of a nomad in the years since, appearing in the majors for the Diamondbacks, Braves (two separate stints), Angels, Padres, Brewers and Red Sox.

As recently as 2018, Chacín was arguably the Brewers’ most productive starter. Leaning on his slider almost half the time, he tossed 192.2 innings of 3.50 ERA/4.59 SIERA ball. His 2019 season was a disaster, though, as he slumped to a 6.01 ERA/4.94 SIERA. Chacín only threw five innings last season.

Chacín spent the most recent Spring Training in camp with the Yankees on a minor-league deal. He pitched well but couldn’t carve out a role in a high-upside New York rotation. The Yankees granted Chacín his release earlier this week, and he quickly found a guaranteed job in Colorado.

The Rockies’ rotation looks to be the strength of the roster, although it’s not completely without opportunity. Germán Márquez will take the ball on Opening Day, and he’s likely to be followed by Antonio Senzatela, Jon Gray and Austin Gomber. Fellow projected starter Kyle Freeland will begin the year on the injured list with a shoulder strain. Chi Chi González had looked like the favorite to open the year in the rotation’s fifth spot, but it appears that role will go to Chacín.

Chacín’s signing is also the Rockies’ first major league free agent contract of the offseason. Colorado had been the only team in the league not to hand out a guaranteed deal this winter, but they’ll get on the board the day before the season opener.

Mariners Select Drew Steckenrider

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7:06 pm: The Mariners officially selected Steckenrider’s contract (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Right-hander Ken Giles was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. The veteran reliever will miss most or all of the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last fall.

4:10 pm: Right-hander Drew Steckenrider has earned a spot in the Mariners’ season-opening bullpen, per Corey Brock of The Athletic. Steckenrider is not on the Mariners’ 40-man roster, which is at capacity, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move in order to add him.

An eighth-round pick of the Marlins in 2012, Steckenrider made his debut with the team in 2017 and thrived. He threw 34 2/3 innings of 2.34 ERA/3.04 SIERA ball that year, struck out just under 36 percent of batters and averaged 95.3 mph on his fastball. Steckenrider continued to put up useful numbers the next season – 3.90 ERA/3.55 SIERA with a 27.2 percent K rate and a 94.7 mph mean fastball in 64 2/3 frames – but he barely took the mound over the previous two years.

In his most recent action, the 2019 season, Steckenrider yielded 10 earned runs on nine hits (six of which were home runs) and issued 14 strikeouts against five walks in 14 1/3 innings. His season ended that May on account of a flexor strain, and he hasn’t pitched in the bigs since then. The Marlins went on to outright Steckenrider, who elected free agency last fall and then signed a minor league contract with the Mariners. He earned a roster spot with the M’s after throwing seven innings of two-run, seven-hit ball with nine strikeouts and four walks in the spring.

Yankees Select Lucas Luetge

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The Yankees announced that they have selected the contract of left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge, whom they signed to a minor league contract in the offseason. To make room for Luetge on their 40-man, the Yankees placed fellow southpaw reliever Zack Britton on the 60-day injured list. Britton will miss the first few months of the season as a result of elbow surgery.

Luetge makes for an interesting story as someone who hasn’t pitched in the majors in several years. A 21st-round pick of the Brewers in 2008, Luetge debuted with the Mariners in 2012 and stuck with the organization through 2015, though he combined for only 89 innings during that stretch. As a member of the M’s, Luetge logged a 4.35 ERA with unimpressive strikeout rates of 19 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, while averaging a little over 90 mph on his fastball. He has since pitched in the minors with a handful of other teams, and he spent last year with the A’s organization.

To Luetge’s credit, he improbably shut down opposing hitters this spring with Yankees, as the 34-year-old tossed 10 1/3 innings of two-run, eight-hit ball with an eye-opening 18 strikeouts against two walks. Thanks to that tremendous performance and injuries to Britton and lefty Justin Wilson, whom the Yankees placed on the 10-day IL with shoulder inflammation, Luetge was able to earn a season-opening spot in the Yankees’ bullpen. He’ll be their relief corps’ top southpaw behind Aroldis Chapman until Wilson returns.

Along with the above moves, the Yankees placed first baseman Luke Voit (left knee) and third baseman/outfielder Miguel Andujar (right wrist) on the 10-day IL, retroactive to March 29. Neither decision came as a surprise – Voit just underwent surgery, while Andujar’s wrist has bothered him for a couple of weeks.

Blue Jays Acquire Juan Graterol From Angels

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The Blue Jays have acquired catcher Juan Graterol from the Angels for cash considerations, according to an announcement from Los Angeles. Graterol will report to the Blue Jays’ alternate site, Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets.

The 32-year-old Graterol has appeared in the majors with three teams – the Angels, Twins and Reds – dating back to 2016. He has batted .218/.227/.266 without a home run in 129 plate appearances along the way, though he has thrown out an above-average 32 percent of would-be base stealers as a defender.

Graterol hasn’t reached the majors since 2019, and Toronto is likely hoping it won’t have to turn to him this year. But he’ll give the team some veteran depth behind the younger quartet of Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, Reese McGuire and Riley Adams – who are all on the Jays’ 40-man roster. McGuire’s spot in that group doesn’t look secure, though, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweeted Wednesday that the club could designate him for assignment.

Kyle Isbel Makes Royals’ Roster

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Outfielder Kyle Isbel has made the Royals’ Opening Day roster, manager Mike Matheny announced Wednesday (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The Royals already have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll have to make room before officially adding Isbel to it.

Isbel, who turned 24 earlier this month, has been a Royal since they used a third-round pick on him in 2018. He hit well at the rookie and Single-A levels during his first two years in the organization, though Isbel batted just .216/.282/.361 (86 wRC+) with five home runs and eight stolen bases in 214 plate appearances during his High-A debut in 2019. Nevertheless, he remains a well-regarded farmhand for Kansas City, as Baseball America ranks Isbel the team’s sixth-best prospect and writes that he could be a high-average, 15- to 20-HR hitter who offers “plus speed” and quality defense in the majors.

There was no minor league season in 2020, but Isbel turned heads at the Royals’ alternate site and then came back strong this spring with a .333/.420/.548 line and five extra-base hits (three doubles, two homers) in 42 at-bats. Along with Isbel, Andrew Benintendi, Michael A. Taylor and Jarrod Dyson figure to be the Royals’ top choices in the outfield at the start of the season.

Cubs Designate James Norwood For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander James Norwood for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to catcher Tony Wolters, whose rumored one-year deal with the club has now been formally announced.

Norwood, 27, has spent parts of the past three seasons in the big leagues with Chicago, pitching to a 4.50 ERA through 22 innings with sub-par strikeout and walk percentages (19.6 percent and 13.0 percent, respectively). He struggled in big league camp this spring as well, serving up eight runs (four earned) on eight hits and nine walks with 14 strikeouts through 7 1/3 innings of relief.

Norwood’s heater averages better than 97 mph, and he has a minor league option remaining, which could appeal to another club willing to take a speculative bullpen flier on a live arm. The 2014 seventh-rounder carries a 3.91 ERA, a solid 26 percent strikeout rate and a 10.3 percent walk rate through parts of six minor league seasons.

Cubs Sign Tony Wolters

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12:30pm: The Cubs announced that they have indeed signed Wolters to a one-year, Major League contract.

9:00am: Veteran catcher Tony Wolters, who recently opted out of a minor league contract with the Pirates, is now likely to sign with the Cubs, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Bruce Levine of 670TheScore reported last night that the Cubs had interest in the longtime Rockies backstop.

Willson Contreras, of course, is the starting catcher for the Cubs and should be in line for a sizable workload this year. However, the Cubs traded backup Victor Caratini to the Padres alongside Yu Darvish earlier in the winter, and they’ve done little to address the position in the subsequent months. Wolters and fellow veteran Jonathan Lucroy were on the Cubs’ radar, per Levine, but it seems the Cubs will go with the younger and more well-regarded defender of that pairing.

Wolters, 28, has spent the past five seasons as the Rockies’ primary catcher despite a meager .238/.323/.319 career batting line (57 wRC+, 62 OPS+). He had a particularly rough year at the dish in 2020’s shortened schedule, batting just .230/.280/.270 in a limited sample of 109 plate appearances.

On the defensive side of the coin, however, Wolters is considerably more appealing. He went just 3-for-20 in thwarting stolen bases last year, but prior to the 2020 season he carried a lifetime 32.8 percent caught-stealing rate that is well above the league average (around 27 percent). Wolters’ framing marks have dipped since 2019, but he graded as one of the game’s better options in that regard for much of his early career. Beyond that, Baseball Prospectus has graded him as average overall in terms of blocking pitches (and quite a bit above average as recently as ’19).

The Rockies non-tendered Wolters rather than pay him a raise on last year’s $1.9MM salary. He still hasn’t reached five full years of big league service, so if Wolters is able to make the Cubs’ roster and stick through the season, he’d be controllable via arbitration through the 2022 campaign.

Dodgers, Steven Souza Jr. Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran outfielder Steven Souza Jr., reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Souza, 31, spent the bulk of Spring Training with the Astros but didn’t make the team after going just 2-for-21 with 13 strikeouts in 27 trips to the plate. The former Rays slugger is still working to establish himself after a disastrous 2019 knee injury derailed his career.

Then with the Diamondbacks, Souza was lined up to serve as the everyday right fielder in Arizona when he tore the ACL, LCL, PCL and posterolateral capsule in his left knee on a play at the plate late in Spring Training. The gruesome knee injury obviously required surgical repair and unsurprisingly wiped out his entire 2019 campaign. Souza rehabbed into the summer of 2020 and wound up resurfacing in the big leagues with the Cubs, but he hit just .148/.258/.333 in 31 plate appearances last year before being cut loose.

At his best, Souza was a solid right field defender with above-average power and plate discipline. He’s always been prone to strikeouts (31.5 percent), but his 2017 campaign produced a .239/.351/.459 batting line and a career-best 30 home runs for Tampa Bay. Three seasons have elapsed since that time, and Souza has been dogged by pectoral injuries in addition to that horrific knee injury since that peak season. Assuming he heads to Triple-A with the Dodgers once that season kicks off, he’ll finally be able to continue his rebound efforts in a normal game setting — something that wasn’t possible in 2020 with last year’s lack of a minor league season.

White Sox To Select Andrew Vaughn

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Prized White Sox prospect Andrew Vaughn has made the team’s Opening Day roster. He isn’t on Chicago’s 40-man, so the team will need to select him.

The White Sox could have gained an extra year of service time by keeping Vaughn down for the first few weeks of the season, but executive vice president Ken Williams said last week that wouldn’t be a motivating factor in their decision. The team was true to its word. If Vaughn doesn’t return to the minors, he’ll be controllable through 2026 and eligible for arbitration after 2023, though the White Sox could certainly extend him before then, as they’ve done on multiple occasions in recent years with offensive building blocks such as Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert.

General manager Rick Hahn stated Tuesday (via James Fegan of The Athletic), “Having Andrew around will be a positive for this offense.” The White Sox expect Vaughn to factor in at designated hitter, first base and left field, according to Hahn.

It became easier to envision Vaughn making Chicago’s season-opening roster when the club received the devastating news of Jimenez’s ruptured pectoral tendon last week. Jimenez underwent surgery Tuesday and remains likely to miss at least five to six months, Hahn said. The hope is that Vaughn will help fill Jimenez’s enormous offensive void.

Now 22 years old, Vaughn is a former University of California standout whom the White Sox drafted third overall in 2019 and then signed to a $7.2MM-plus bonus. Vaughn hasn’t gotten above High-A ball since then, but he has held his own in the minors, having slashed .278/.384/.449 in 245 plate appearances. He has also looked ready for prime time this spring with a .279/.375/.459 line and six extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs and a triple) in 61 at-bats.

Along with Vaughn’s addition, the White Sox made a handful of other roster moves Tuesday. They optioned infielder Danny Mendick to their alternate site and reassigned fellow infielders Tim Beckham, Zach Remillard and Matt Reynolds, outfielder Nick Williams, and right-hander Ryan Burr. The club also made the previously reported release of catcher Jonathan Lucroy official.

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