Angels Outright Kaleb Ort
The Angels announced Monday that right-handed reliever Kaleb Ort passed through waivers unclaimed following his recent DFA. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. He’s never been outrighted before and has fewer than three years of major league service time (2.108), so he’ll remain with the Angels as a depth option in Salt Lake.
The 34-year-old Ort made his big league debut with the Red Sox back in 2021 and has logged time in each of the five seasons since. He’s spent the past two as a member of the division-rival Astros. Ort pitched well for the ‘Stros in 2024 and was shakier in 2025, but his overall numbers with Houston are respectable: combined 4.08 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 38.2% ground-ball rate in 70 2/3 frames.
The hard-throwing Ort has averaged 96.8 mph on his four-seamer in that time and notched a strong 12.6% swinging-strike rate, generating plenty of whiffs with his slider, in particular. In addition to a walk rate that’s a bit heavy, Ort has been far too homer-prone. Opponents have tagged him for 25 homers in just 122 1/3 career innings in the majors (1.84 HR.9), including 15 dingers across the past two seasons in Houston (1.91 HR/9).
Ort is out of minor league options, which likely contributed to him going unclaimed on waivers. If the Angels select him back to the 40-man roster at any point, he’ll need to stay in the majors or else be designated for assignment and placed on waivers once again. At that point, even if Ort were to clear, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment to a minor league affiliate in favor of free agency, thanks to being outrighted this morning.
Yankees To Designate Yanquiel Fernandez For Assignment
The Yankees are designating outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez for assignment just five days after claiming him off waivers from the Rockies, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. The team hasn’t announced the move or a corresponding transaction, but they still need to open a roster spot to make their reported re-signing of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt official, and this DFA would accomplish that.
Fernandez turned 23 on New Year’s Day but has already exhausted two of his three minor league option years. He made his major league debut with the Rockies this past season but hit just .225/.265/.348 with a 30% strikeout rate in 147 trips to the batter’s box. Fernandez has struggled in parts of two Triple-A seasons as well, hitting a combined .259/.320/.437 through 409 plate appearances despite very hitter-friendly environments.
In the 2023-24 offseason, Fernandez landed on the back end of top-100 lists at Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus. At the time, he was coming off a .265/.313/.486 showing with 25 home runs in 521 plate appearances across three levels, topping out as a 20-year-old in Double-A. Given that power output and his youth relative to the competition he was facing at the time, Fernandez was seen as a potential power-over-hit corner outfielder with a plus-plus throwing arm. A future as an everyday right fielder seemed attainable, but his aggressive approach and lack of plate discipline have hindered the final stages of his offensive development.
The Yankees will surely hope to pass Fernandez through waivers and retain him as depth. The majority of MLB clearly already passed on claiming Fernandez once, given that the Yankees are 27th in offseason waiver priority (which is based on the reverse order of the prior season’s standings). However, with pitchers and catchers now beginning to report to camp and the 60-day IL becoming available to other clubs, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if another club used some of that newfound roster flexibility to place a claim and take what’d basically be a free spring training look at the former top prospect. The Yankees can place Fernandez on waivers or trade him at any point in the next five days.
Twins, Gio Urshela Agree To Minor League Deal
The Twins are bringing back old friend Gio Urshela on a minor league deal, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Urshela, a client of Premier Talent Sports, will be in camp as non-roster invitee and compete for a spot in a crowded infield mix.
Urshela spent the 2022 season in Minnesota after coming over alongside Gary Sánchez in the trade that saw the Twins dump Josh Donaldson‘s contract on the Yankees. He enjoyed one of his best seasons with the Twins, hitting .285/.338/.429 (118 wRC+) with 13 home runs, 27 doubles and three triples. It proved to be just a one-year pairing, however, as the Twins flipped Urshela to the Angels that offseason (receiving minor league pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo) in order to open some playing time for their bevy of young infielders.
It’s been a rocky ride for the now-34-year-old Urshela since leaving Minnesota. He hit for a high average but with no power in two months with the Angels (.299/.329/.374) before suffering a fracture in his pelvis that required season-ending surgery. In parts of two seasons since that uncommon injury, he’s batted .246/.287/.351 (77 wRC+) in 658 trips to the batter’s box.
Now back with the Twins, Urshela provides some depth around an infield that’s full of question marks. Third baseman Royce Lewis has flashed superstar potential at various points in his career, but the former No. 1 overall draft pick has been beset by injuries and is coming off an ugly .237/.283/.388 showing in a career-high 403 plate appearances.
That’s the primary spot at which Urshela could hope to factor in. He has experience at shortstop, first base and second base as well, but it’s hard to imagine him returning to short for any meaningful amount of time at age 34 and with that pelvic injury now in his history. He logged two games at first base for the A’s in 2025 and would, at best, be fourth on the depth chart there for the Twins. Urshela has only 28 career innings at second base — five of them coming in 2023 and the other 23 coming way back in 2017.
There’s little harm bringing back a well-liked veteran for the Twins, but Urshela appears to face an uphill battle to grab a roster spot. He doesn’t have the defensive versatility he once did, and his bat has never gotten back on track following that 2023 injury. Still, given the frequency with which Lewis has been injured, there’s some sense in stashing a respected veteran backup.
Keegan Akin Loses Arbitration Hearing
Left-hander Keegan Akin lost his arbitration hearing against the Orioles, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He will earn $2.975MM in 2026. Akin filed at $3.375MM but will earn $400K less than that figure in his final trip through arbitration. Akin is a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management.
The 30-year-old (31 in April) has thrown 368 innings for the Orioles since debuting in 2020. He spent his first two seasons in 2020-21 as a swingman before converting to a full-time reliever in 2022. He had a 3.20 ERA in 81 2/3 innings that year and stood out with a 49.3% groundball rate and just a 6.1% walk rate. He struggled mightily in 2023, posting a 6.85 ERA in 23 1/3 innings and missing most of the season with a lower back injury. He had his best season in 2024. Akin had a 3.32 ERA in 78 2/3 innings that year while posting career-best strikeout and walk numbers (24.9% K-BB rate).
This is the first instance of a team winning an arbitration hearing this offseason. Players had been 5-for-5 before Akin’s defeat. The left-hander is in his final year of arbitration. He made $825K in his first trip through the process, then $1.475MM last season. Akin and the Orioles were able to come to an agreement before heading to an arbitration hearing the first two times.
Akin stepped into the closer’s role over the final two months of the 2025 campaign after Felix Bautista went down with a shoulder injury and Seranthony Dominguez was shipped to Toronto at the trade deadline. The lefty picked up eight saves across August and September, though he also blew three opportunities. Akin’s handedness and middling velocity don’t make him an obvious closer candidate, but he entered the offseason as the potential favorite for the role. Baltimore then added a pair of backend arms in Ryan Helsley and Andrew Kittredge, all but guaranteeing Akin will slide back into a role geared toward the 7th and 8th innings.
Last season saw Akin make a pair of pitch arsenal adjustments. He bumped his changeup usage to a career-high 19.9%. The pitch held opponents to a measly .103 batting average. It was his most effective offering in terms of Run Value (+6). Akin also tweaked the movement of his fastball, adding two inches of horizontal break and more than an inch of vertical drop. That tweak did not go so well, as hitters slugged .566 against Akin’s heater. It generated a negative Run Value for the first time in his career.
Phillies Re-Sign Lou Trivino To Minor-League Deal
The Phillies and reliever Lou Trivino are reuniting on a minor-league deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The deal includes an invite to major-league Spring Training.
Trivino, 34, returns to Philadelphia after spending the end of the 2025 season with them. The club signed him to a minor-league deal in early August and selected his contract at the end of that month. In ten appearances down the stretch, Trivino had a shiny 2.00 ERA in nine innings despite some less-than-encouraging peripherals, including a 4.06 xERA and a 25.0% groundball rate. The same was true of his season overall. In 47 2/3 innings split between the Giants, Dodgers, and Phillies, Trivino posted a 3.97 ERA against an expected figure of 5.10 and a below-average 33.8% groundball rate.
The fact that he was pitching at all was a positive development considering he missed the 2023-24 seasons entirely. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and attempted to rehab in 2024 before suffering a shoulder injury. Prior to that, he had been a steady reliever since debuting with the Athletics in 2018. In 284 2/3 innings with the A’s and Yankees from 2018-22, Trivino had a 3.86 ERA with a solid 24.5% strikeout rate against a 10.6% walk rate. He was predominantly a fastball pitcher and got positive grades on his cutter and four-seamer early on in his career, including a run value of 14 on the cutter in his debut season.
Trivino’s stuff wasn’t as sharp in his first year back from injury. While his four-seam velocity of 94.8 MPH in 2025 was still above-average, it was down from 95.6 MPH in 2022. His cutter velocity of 91.8 MPH was his lowest since the 2020 season, while his sinker velocity also declined slightly. Meanwhile, his 17.9% strikeout rate and 33.8% groundball rate were both career-worst marks. The latter was troubling compared to his 47.4% groundball rate from 2018-22, including a 52.6% rate in 2022.
The deal is a no-risk flier for the Phillies. While his performance in 2025 was rusty overall, Trivino excelled at limiting hard contact. His average exit velocity allowed and hard-hit rate were both in the 93rd percentile or better according to Statcast. Those qualities alone won’t return Trivino to peak form, but they will play up if he can induce more strikeouts and groundballs. The Phillies have Jhoan Duran, José Alvarado, and Brad Keller headlining their bullpen. If Trivino performs well in Spring Training, he might vie for a middle-relief role alongside Tanner Banks, Jonathan Bowlan, and Orion Kerkering.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Rockies Sign Conner Capel To Minor League Contract
The Rockies signed outfielder Conner Capel to a minors deal, as per Capel’s MLB.com profile page. The contract apparently doesn’t include an invitation to Colorado’s big league Spring Training camp, as the Rockies already announced their list of spring invites earlier this week.
Capel spent the 2025 season with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting .234/.314/.360 with 10 home runs and 21 steals (out of 25 attempts) over 414 plate appearances. These underwhelming numbers kept Capel from receiving a call-up to the majors, even though injuries and suspensions left the Braves short-handed in the outfield for much of the season. Capel is out of minor league options, which may have factored into Atlanta’s decision — selecting Capel’s contract would’ve meant that the Braves would’ve had to sneak him through waivers before sending him back down to Triple-A and outrighting him off the 40-man roster.
A fifth-round pick for Cleveland in the 2016 draft, Capel made his big league debut in 2022, and hit .278/.359/.398 over 153 PA with the Cardinals, Athletics, and Reds during the 2022-24 seasons. Despite these decent numbers and Capel’s ability to play all three outfield positions, his lack of power kept him from receiving much of a look at the MLB level.
Now 28 years old, the left-handed hitting Capel will try to return to compete for a job on a Rockies team that is already pretty deep in outfield candidates. The rebuilding Rox will be prioritizing at-bats for their younger players and in-house prospects, so Capel might again be viewed purely as a Triple-A depth player. A strong performance in camp could change those plans, or it might help Capel land a job on another team in need of outfield help.
Brewers Sign Jacob Hurtubise To Minor League Contract
The Brewers signed Jacob Hurtubise to a minor league deal earlier this week, according to the outfielder’s MLB.com profile page. Hurtubise has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville, and his contract doesn’t appear to include an invitation to the Brew Crew’s big league spring camp.
An undrafted free agent who started his pro career by signing with the Reds in 2020, Hurtubise has appeared in 41 MLB games, all with Cincinnati over the last two seasons. The Reds designated Hurtubise for assignment in June, starting a whirl of transactions that saw the outfielder claimed by the Mariners, outrighted and released in July, and then Hurtubise joined the Astros on a minor league deal before being released again in September.
The 28-year-old Hurtubise will now look to return to the Show on another NL Central team. Even after trading Isaac Collins to the Royals earlier this winter, the Brewers still have a decent amount of outfield depth beyond starters Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, and Sal Frelick. Hurtubise joins Akil Baddoo, Brandon Lockridge, and Greg Jones as outfielders providing depth behind fourth outfielder Blake Perkins. Though Hurtubise has a minor league option remaining, being an outfield-only player might hamper his roster chances since the Brewers tend to favor more versatile players for their bench.
Hurtubise does have plenty of experience at all three outfield positions, plus his strong speed and baserunning ability makes him a pinch-running candidate. Hurtubise has stolen 130 bases in 153 attempts over his minor league career, while hitting .260/.411/.324 over 576 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. This on-base ability hasn’t manifested itself over the small sample size of Hurtubise’s time in the majors, as he has hit just .167/.291/.212 over 83 PA for the Reds.
Cardinals Sign Bligh Madris To Minor League Contract
The Cardinals have signed first baseman/outfielder Bligh Madris to a minor league deal earlier this week, according to reporter Chase Ford. The deal apparently doesn’t include an invitation to the Cards’ big league Spring Training camp.
Madris (who turns 30 later this month) is a veteran of three MLB seasons, appearing in 72 games with the Pirates, Astros, and Tigers over the 2022-24 campaigns and hitting .204/.273/.286 in 228 career plate appearances in the Show. He has spent his last two seasons in Detroit’s organization on minors contracts, and after getting into 21 big league games in 2024, Madris spent the 2025 season entirely in the Tigers’ farm system.
Injury problems limited Madris to just 60 games last season, with the final 10 of those contests coming on a rehab assignment with A-level Lakeland. The Tigers released Madris in August, and he didn’t resurface until he started posting big winter-ball numbers in Mexico. This recent production and perhaps Madris’ solid career Triple-A production (.252/.343/.440 with 59 home runs in 1803 PA) seems to have caught the Cardinals’ eye as the team builds out its minor league depth.
St. Louis is known to be looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Madris swings from the left side. He has primarily played right field during his pro career with a good dose of work as a first baseman and left fielder. Madris played mostly first base in 2025, though that could’ve been a nod to his health situation rather than necessarily a sign of a bigger-picture position change.
Being limited to first base wouldn’t be great for Madris’ chances of returning to the majors, and it also doesn’t help his case that the Cardinals have left-handed hitting starters at first base (Alec Burleson) and in left field (Lars Nootbaar). Madris does have a minor league option remaining, since the Tigers never called him up to the bigs in 2025.
Angels Release Cody Laweryson
The Angels announced they’ve released reliever Cody Laweryson. He had been designated for assignment earlier in the week when they finalized their one-year deal to bring back Yoán Moncada.
Los Angeles claimed Laweryson off waivers from the Twins early in the offseason. The 6’4″ righty made five appearances with Minnesota as a rookie. He allowed two runs (one earned) across 7 2/3 innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk. Laweryson also pitched well in Triple-A, turning in a 2.86 earned run average while striking out a quarter of opposing hitters. The former 14th-round pick has a solid 3.39 ERA with a 27% strikeout percentage over his minor league career.
Despite the strong production, Laweryson was dropped by a Twins team that has one of the worst bullpens in MLB. His 93.2 mph average fastball isn’t especially imposing. He doesn’t have a power breaking ball either, sitting 85-86 mph with a cutter while mixing in a low-80s changeup. He’ll celebrate his 28th birthday in May.
It’s not clear why the Angels released Laweryson rather than assigning him to Triple-A. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible there’s an undisclosed injury at play, as injured players cannot be outrighted. (He dealt with a forearm strain in the minors midseason but finished the year healthy and on Minnesota’s active roster.) If there is some kind of injury, they’d presumably look to re-sign him to a minor league deal. In any case, Laweryson is now a free agent who can explore other opportunities.
Royals Re-Sign Luke Maile To Minor League Deal
The Royals announced that they have brought back catcher Luke Maile via a minor league deal. The Meister Sports Management client also receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.
It’s a nice birthday present for Maile, who turns 35 years old today. The journeyman catcher has been a big leaguer for over a decade now, having made his debut back in 2015. He was with the Royals in 2025, bouncing on and off the roster throughout the year. He got into 25 games, stepped to the plate 54 times and hit .244/.346/.356.
Maile has never been a huge standing next to the plate, with a career .209/.277/.320 line and 63 wRC+. However, he has received strong reviews for his work crouching behind the plate over the years. FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus consider him to be an above average framer. Statcast ranks him just a smidge below average at framing but gives him strong marks for his blocking.
For the Royals, they should have Maile ticketed for a similar depth role that he had last year. Franchise legend Salvador Perez is catching less as he ages into his mid-30s but he still caught about 90 games per year for the past three seasons. The Royals traded Freddy Fermin to the Padres at last year’s deadline because they felt good enough about prospect Carter Jensen, who made his big league debut last year.
Perez and Jensen will be sharing the catching duties. Both will likely see notable time as the designated hitter as well. They are the only two backstops on the 40-man roster at the moment. The Royals added some non-roster depth by signing Jorge Alfaro last month and now Maile gives them some more.
Maile is an Article XX(b) free agent, which is a fancy way of saying he’s a standard free agent, one who has at least six years of service time and finished the previous season on a club’s 40-man roster. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, such players get uniform opt-outs dates in minor league deals. Those opt-outs are five days before Opening Day, followed by May 1 and on June 1.
That was the case for Maile last year as well. He had signed a minor league deal with the Royals in February. He opted out of that deal in late March but then re-signed with the club on a fresh pact. He was selected to the 40-man roster for a little more than two weeks in May, was outrighted back to the minors, then was selected back to the roster in July.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images