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Padres Sign Wes Benjamin To Minor League Deal

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The Padres signed left-hander Wes Benjamin to a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to MLB Spring Training, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The southpaw has already reported to camp with San Diego.

Benjamin returns stateside after a three-year run in South Korea with the KT Wiz. The 31-year-old had a generally solid run in the KBO, turning in a 3.74 earned run average in a little more than 400 innings. His ERA successively climbed in each season, finishing at a less impressive 4.63 mark over 28 starts last year. Benjamin topped 150 strikeouts in each of the past two seasons, including a solid 24.4% strikeout rate last year.

Before his move to Korea, Benjamin spent eight years in the Rangers organization. Texas drafted him in the fifth round in 2014 out of the University of Kansas. He made 21 big league appearances (mostly in low-leverage relief) between 2020-21. Benjamin allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine across 45 innings. He posted a near-6.00 ERA over parts of three Triple-A seasons, as well, though he managed a 3.82 mark across seven starts for the White Sox’s top affiliate in 2022 before catching on with the KBO team on a midseason deal.

The Padres seem likely to keep Benjamin stretched out as rotation depth. They filled the final two spots with late free agent pickups of Nick Pivetta and another KBO returnee, Kyle Hart. That nudges Randy Vásquez, Matt Waldron and reliever conversion Stephen Kolek into depth roles. San Diego hasn’t added any much experienced rotation depth to camp on minor league deals, so it’s a decent landing spot for Benjamin as he tries to get back to the majors for the first time in four years.

Mariners, Garrett Hill Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Garrett Hill, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. The former Tigers righty had elected minor league free agency in November.

Hill, 29, pitched for Detroit between 2022-23. He logged 60 1/3 innings across 17 appearances two seasons ago, turning in a 4.03 ERA. His 15.2% strikeout rate and 11% walk percentage weren’t encouraging. That caught up to him the following year, as he allowed more than a run per inning with as many walks as strikeouts across 15 2/3 MLB frames. The Tigers dropped Hill from their 40-man roster after that season. They circled back rather quickly to re-sign him on a minor league pact.

The San Diego State product opened last season on the injured list. He was reinstated in late May and assigned to Double-A Erie. Hill struck out nearly a third of opposing hitters and earned a promotion to Triple-A Toledo a couple months later. He had a tougher time at the top minor league level. Hill allowed 4.76 earned runs per nine over 28 1/3 frames. His strikeout rate fell to 21.7% while his walks jumped to an alarming 19.4% clip.

Hill isn’t likely to get consideration for an Opening Day bullpen spot in Seattle. He’ll begin the season in the upper minors and look to harness the swing-and-miss stuff he’s shown in the minors. Hill has a 28.7% strikeout rate and a near-11% walk rate over six minor league campaigns.

Mets Acquire Alexander Canario From Cubs

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The Mets acquired outfielder Alexander Canario from the Cubs for cash considerations, the teams announced. New York placed Nick Madrigal on the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot. Chicago had designated the 24-year-old Canario for assignment last week as the corresponding move for the Justin Turner signing. He’s out of options, so he needed to break camp or be made available to other teams via trade or waivers.

It was moderately surprising that the Cubs cut Canario loose. They acquired the righty-hitting outfielder alongside Caleb Kilian in the 2021 deadline deal that sent Kris Bryant to the Giants. Canario popped 37 home runs during his first full minor league season in the Chicago system. Baseball America slotted him among the organization’s top 15 prospects entering both the 2023 and ’24 campaigns.

This winter, BA dropped him to 26th in the Cubs system. Canario still draws praise for his raw power and bat speed, but his pure hitting ability has been an issue throughout his minor league career. He has fanned in 26.3% of his plate appearances over seven minor league seasons. He went down on strikes in 30.4% of his 283 trips to the plate with Triple-A Iowa last year.

Canario drilled 18 homers in half a season’s worth of playing time, leading to a strong enough .243/.336/.514 slash in the minors. The Cubs called him up a few times but only got him into 15 games. He hit .280/.357/.440 with one homer in 28 trips to the dish, though he struck out 11 times while drawing only two walks. It seems the Cubs viewed Canario as a potential Quad-A type whose hit tool would be exposed if they gave him consistent major league run.

As a corner outfielder, Canario has limited defensive value. Baseball America credits him with plus arm strength but below-average range, suggesting he profiles as a bench bat. The Cubs didn’t have much room for that type of player. They have Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ in the corner outfield with Seiya Suzuki lined up for the majority of designated hitter work.

It’s tough to see Canario sticking on New York’s major league roster for similar reasons. The Mets already have five outfielders who are locks for the Opening Day roster if healthy: Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Tyrone Taylor, Jose Siri and Starling Marte. They have Jesse Winker at designated hitter. While they’ve entertained trade possibilities on Marte, it doesn’t appear they’ve made much traction in dealing him. The Mets only have a utility infield spot up for grabs in their current bench mix. Madrigal was the favorite for that role until he sustained a fractured left shoulder in yesterday’s Spring Training game.

Unless they lose someone else to injury over the next month, the Mets are unlikely to have room for Canario to break camp. There’s a decent chance they’ll try to get him through waivers later in the spring.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported the trade before the team announcement.

Harold Ramírez Signs With Mexican League’s Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos

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First baseman/outfielder Harold Ramírez has signed with the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. There’s a $0 buyout for MLB affiliates.

Ramírez, 30, appeared in the past six major league baseball seasons with a unique profile. He would rarely walk, strikeout or hit home runs. As a player who put the ball in play almost as much as any other, his production was among the most susceptible to variations in batted ball luck.

Over the 2019 to 2021 seasons, he suited up for the Guardians and Marlins, getting 818 plate appearances in that time. His .315 batting average on balls in play was actually a bit above league average, which is usually in the .290-.300 range. But thanks to a walk rate of just 4% and only 18 home runs in that time, his .271/.308/.405 batting line led to a 92 wRC+, indicating he had been 8% below par overall.

His fortune turned with the Rays in the next two seasons. Over the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, he took 869 trips to the plate with Tampa. His 4.7% walk rate was still quite low and he hit another 18 home runs but his BABIP spiked to .354 in that time. That helped him hit .306/.348/.432 for a 122 wRC+.

Regression came in 2024. His BABIP dropped to .320 and he only walked 2% of the time, with just two homers in 246 plate appearances. That included a brief stint with the Nationals after the Rays released him. After the Nats also released him, he finished the year on a minor league deal with Atlanta, hitting .231/.278/.275 in 97 Triple-A plate appearances.

Ramirez has played first base and the outfield in his career but isn’t considered a strong defender, so his offensive drop-off last year really put a dent in his value. By taking a job in Mexico, he’s surely hoping to carve out some regular playing time and show that he can still swing it. If he looks to be in good form, the no-cost buyout could lead some club to pick him up.

Tigers Sign Andrew Chafin To Minor League Deal

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5:05pm: Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports that Chafin will make $2.5MM if he cracks the roster. There’s also $1.5MM available via incentives and a $250K assignment bonus if he is traded.

4:00pm: The Tigers announced that they have signed left-hander Andrew Chafin to a minor league deal with a non-roster invite to spring training. The southpaw is a client of Meister Sports Management.

Chafin, 35 in June, has spent over a decade as an effective lefty reliever. That includes a couple of previous stints with Detroit. He was with the Tigers for the entire 2022 season, posting a 2.83 earned run average. Last year, he had a 3.16 ERA in 37 innings for the Tigers before being traded to the Rangers at the deadline. His results with Texas weren’t quite as strong, so he finished the year with a 3.51 ERA overall.

His profile has changed over his career, as he was previously a strong ground ball guy but has moved more towards strikeouts in more recent seasons. From 2014 to 2022, Chafin tossed 400 2/3 major league innings with a 3.23 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 50.9% ground ball rate. His pitch mix consisted of 26.6% fastballs, 39.6% sinkers, 32.8% sliders and 1% changeups.

Over the past two seasons, he has bumped the slider usage to 40.6%, mostly at the expense of his fastball, which has been used just 18.3% of the time. That’s led to a 4.10 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate and 37.2% ground ball rate.

Though Chafin has been solid and consistent on the whole, he hasn’t been viewed kindly by the open market. In the past seven full seasons, he has logged at least 49 innings, only once posting an ERA higher than 3.76.

He first became a free agent after a rough showing in the shortened 2020 season, spending most of it on the injured list and tossing just 9 2/3 innings. That led to a one-year, $2.8MM deal with the Cubs for 2021. Chafin posted a 1.83 ERA that year and secured a two-year, $13MM deal with Detroit going into 2022, with the second year being a player option.

After posting a 2.83 ERA in 2022, he declined his $6.5MM player option to take another shot at free agency. That didn’t lead to much extra earning power, as he landed a one-year, $6.3MM deal with the Diamondbacks, plus $1MM of incentives. Last winter, another one-year deal was his result, getting a $4.8MM guarantee from the Tigers. This time around, despite a solid campaign, he’s had to settle for a minor league pact.

The Tigers have Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter and Sean Guenther as lefty relievers on the roster. Holton should have a big league job locked down but Guenther has just 41 1/3 innings in the majors with a 5.01 ERA. Hurter just made his MLB debut last year and is also in the rotation mix, so the club might prefer to have him as a frequently-optioned multi-inning guy/depth starter.

If Chafin looks like his old self in camp, he could perhaps get a job as the second lefty in the bullpen alongside Holton. If not, he’ll have chances to look elsewhere. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, Article XX(b) free agents get guaranteed opt-out chances on minor league deals if they are signed more than ten days prior to Opening Day. An Article XX(b) free agent is one with six years of service who finished the previous season on a 40-man roster or 60-day injured list. Those opt-out chances are five days prior to Opening Day, May 1st and June 1st.

Rays Sign Jamie Westbrook To Minor League Deal

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The Rays announced Monday morning that they’ve signed infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook to a minor league contract. The ALIGND Sports client will head to big league camp and provide Tampa Bay with some additional depth at multiple positions. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the agreement.

Westbrook, 29, made his big league debut with the Red Sox in 2024. Originally a fifth-round pick by the 2013 D-backs, he’s begun to bounce around in journeyman fashion. The Sox were the fifth organization of his career and also Westbrook’s fifth in a span of six seasons. The Rays will make six organizations in seven years.

Though he struggled in a limited sample of 48 big league plate appearances, hitting .150/.234/.350, Westbrook posted a much sharper .277/.369/.450 output with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester — about 15% better than league average offensive output. Westbrook has also had big Triple-A seasons with the Yankees, Brewers and D-backs over the years. He’s played in parts of six Triple-A campaigns and slashed a combined .281/.375/.458 with just a 15.8% strikeout rate against a terrific 11.3% walk rate.

Westbrook has primarily been a second baseman in the minors, logging a massive 5372 innings there. However, he’s also tallied an even 2500 innings in the outfield corners (about 90% of that time in left field) in addition to just shy of 900 innings at third base. He’s a right-handed bat who’s typically thrashed left-handed pitching and at least held his own in right-on-right matchups at the top minor league level.

The Rays have plenty of position depth at the spots Westbrook has played most frequently. Brandon Lowe is back as the primary second baseman, while ballyhooed youngster Junior Caminero will get everyday reps at third. Christopher Morel and Josh Lowe appear to be in line for frequent corner outfield work. Utility players Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios offer cover at multiple positions, and former top prospect Curtis Mead has seen plenty of time at both second and third base. Outfielders Kameron Misner and Jake Mangum are both on the 40-man roster and can both play all three outfield spots.

Westbrook will presumably see frequent time at second base and in the outfield in Triple-A, but he could be in the mix for a bench spot with a big enough spring showing and/or some spring injuries thinning out the depth on the major league side of things.

Mariners Sign Trevor Gott To Minor League Contract

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The Mariners signed right-hander Trevor Gott to a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  Gott’s contract includes an invitation to Seattle’s big league spring camp.

This is Gott’s second stint with the M’s, as he previously joined the club on a one-year, $1.2MM guaranteed deal back in November 2022.  Gott went on to post a 4.03 ERA across 29 innings for the Mariners in 2023 before he and fellow righty Chris Flexen were traded to the Mets in July 2023.  Gott then had a 4.34 ERA in another 29 innings with New York before he was non-tendered last offseason, leading to a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Athletics.

However, Gott never officially played for the A’s during this one season in Oakland, as Gott tore his UCL during Spring Training and underwent Tommy John surgery in late March.  Given the usual 13-15 month recovery period for such procedures, Gott projects to be ready to return to a big league mound at some point in May or June, if all goes well with the rehab.

Even though Gott’s deal with Seattle is non-guaranteed, it counts as a good sign in Gott’s rehab that the Mariners felt comfortable to extend an offer in the latter stages of the recovery process.  It’s basically a no-risk investment for the M’s, with the upside of landing a veteran arm at a discount price if Gott recovers as expected.

Gott has suited up for six different teams over his eight seasons in the Show, which is a pretty typical journeyman resume for a reliever who has good but not great velocity and strikeout ability.  Gott mostly relies on a sinker/fastball mix with both pitches sitting around 95mph, and as his best, the 32-year-old has been able to deliver results and eat bullpen innings.  Over his last two healthy seasons, Gott had a 4.17 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 6.9% walk rate in 103 2/3 combined innings with the Brewers, Mariners, and Mets.

Rangers Sign Kevin Pillar To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers announced this morning that they’ve signed outfielder Kevin Pillar to a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training.

Pillar, 36, is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons. After getting his start as a 32nd-round pick with the Blue Jays back in 2011, he made his big league debut in 2013 and has fashioned a solid career for himself as a glove-first outfielder who can provide some offense against left-handed pitching. His peak seasons as Toronto’s everyday center fielder where he posted 8.2 fWAR and 14.0 bWAR from 2015 to 2018 are long behind him, but in more recent years he’s transitioned into being a serviceable fourth or fifth outfielder for a variety of MLB clubs.

In 2024, Pillar started the season with the White Sox but struggled badly through 17 games. The veteran was cut by Chicago but managed to find a job with the Angels in Anaheim after Mike Trout went down for the year due to a meniscus issue. Pillar joined the club’s outfield mix and did fairly well for himself, appearing in 83 games for the club while primarily playing center field. In 282 trips to the plate for the Halos, Pillar slashed .236/.291/.378 with a decent 88 wRC+ that suggested he was a touch below league average as a hitter. That’s perfectly serviceable for a depth piece, but Pillar notably crushed left-handed pitching with a .310/.352/.500 slash line against southpaws last year.

That seems to suggests he could be more productive on a team with a deeper outfield mix who can offer him more platoon protection against right-handed hitters, and that makes the Rangers a decent fit for his services despite their full outfield mix. Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia are expected to be the club’s regular outfielders in the corners, with Evan Carter getting regular reps in center field and Leody Taveras serving as the club’s fourth outfielder. Taveras is a somewhat imperfect complement to the lefty-swinging Carter in center, however, as he’s just a .231/.291/.320 hitter for his career against southpaws including a dismal .189/.270/.244 showing against them last year.

Taveras, who is controlled through the end of the 2027 season and is making just $4.75MM this year, has been bandied about as a potential trade candidate throughout the winter thanks to his questionable fit on the Rangers’ roster and the club’s desire to stay under the first threshold of the luxury tax this year. The club was reportedly receiving interest in Taveras as recently as the end of January, though now that Spring Training has begun the odds of any trade getting done have gone down significantly. Even so, bringing Pillar into the fold offers the Rangers insurance against injury following a season where Carter was limited to just 45 games by back issues while also potentially giving them the flexibility to listen to offers on Taveras more seriously than they would have if trading him would’ve forced them to rely on Garcia or Langford as their backup center fielder.

Rays Sign Kodi Whitley To Minor League Deal

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The Rays have signed right-hander Kodi Whitley to a minor league deal, as noted in the transactions tracker on Whitley’s MLB.com profile page.

Whitley, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Friday, was a 27th-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2017 who made his MLB debut in St. Louis during the shortened 2020 season. His first two seasons in the majors went quite well despite limited playing time at the big league level, as he pitched to a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings of work. He struck out 27.1% of opponents while walking 11%, resulting in a 3.21 FIP, though more advanced metrics such as xFIP (4.13) and SIERA (3.88) painted him as more of a league average arm.

Unfortunately for Whitley, things came off the rails a bit for him during the 2022 campaign. He logged just 12 2/3 innings of work at the big league level for St. Louis that year, and the results left much to be desired. Whitley surrendered a 5.68 ERA as his strikeout rate dipped to just 20.3%. Even more concerning was his walk rate, which was already somewhat elevated even when the right-hander was successful but in 2022 ballooned to an untenable 15.3% rate. While Whitley posted a decent 3.86 ERA with Triple-A Memphis that year, his 21.8% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate still left something to be desired relatively to his past performance in the majors.

Given Whitley’s struggles, it was hardly a shock when the club outrighted him off their 40-man roster following the 2022 season. He stuck with the Cardinals at Triple-A to open the 2023 campaign but put up lackluster results even in the minor leagues with a 5.19 ERA in 32 appearances. That led St. Louis to release Whitley midway through the season, and though he was picked up in July by the Braves things got even worse for him at Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett as he surrendered a 6.43 ERA in 14 frames with the club.

That difficult stint with the Braves stands as Whitley’s most recent pro experience. He stuck with the Braves throughout the 2023-24 offseason but was released last March and did not sign with an organization afterwards. That’s now changed, however, and he’ll look to get his career back on track with one of the top pitching development organizations in baseball this year. The Rays are known for churning through bullpen arms nearly constantly, so if Whitley manages to recapture the success he had earlier in his career there’s little doubt that Tampa would find a spot for him in their big league bullpen at some point this year. That could take time, however, given Whitley’s apparent yearlong layoff from game action.

Brewers Sign Mark Canha To Minor League Deal

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Outfielder and first baseman Mark Canha has signed with the Brewers on a minor league deal, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training.

Canha, who celebrated his 36th birthday last week, is vying for a big league job ahead of what would be his 11th MLB season if he makes it onto a roster this year. The veteran was a seventh-round pick by the Marlins all the way back in 2010 but did not make his big league debut until 2015 as a member of the Athletics. Canha spent seven seasons in Oakland and, after struggling early in his career, broke out to become one of the club’s most important players from 2018 to 2021. That four year stretch saw Canha slash a solid .249/.366/.441 (126 wRC+) while splitting time between all three outfield spots.

During that time, Canha walked at an excellent 12.1% clip and struck out only 21.2% of the time. That solid plate discipline made up for Canha’s relatively lackluster power production. The veteran has only ever eclipsed 20 homers in a season once, when he crushed 26 bombs during a 2019 campaign that saw a league-wide power surge. Canha’s solid work with the A’s was enough to earn him a healthy two-year, $26.5MM guarantee from the Mets in free agency prior to the 2022 season. His work in a Mets uniform was mostly solid, and in 2021 his 126 wRC+ was enough to make him a key cog in the 101-win team’s lineup alongside fellow outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte.

He took a step back in his age-35 season last year, however, and hit just .245/.343/.381 with a pedestrian 104 wRC+ in 89 games for the Mets in the first half of the season. Canha wasn’t alone in struggling on that Mets club, and the under-performing team sold aggressively that summer ahead of the trade deadline. Canha was among the players moved, and he found himself traded to Milwaukee on deadline day. The veteran split time between the outfield, first base, and DH for the Brewers down the stretch and enjoyed a resurgence at the plate, hitting .287/.373/.427 with a 120 wRC+ over his final 50 games as he helped lead the club to a division title.

The Brewers held a $11.5MM club option on Canha’s services for the 2024 season, but did not have interest in bringing him back into the fold at that price tag. That didn’t mean Canha was headed back into free agency, however, as Milwaukee instead traded him to Detroit in order to avoid paying the $2MM buyout and acquire minor league reliever Blake Holub. The Tigers then exercised his option and seemed poised to make him a key part of their outfield mix early in the year. Strong performances from players like Wenceel Perez and Parker Meadows largely squeezed Canha out of the outfield, however, and he instead wound up splitting time between the outfield corners, first base, and DH throughout the first half of the season until he was traded to the Giants just before the trade deadline over the summer.

Canha returned to free agency on the heels of a decent campaign where he slashed .242/.344/.346 (102 wRC+) overall. The now-36-year-old offers virtually no power at this point in his career, having slugged just seven homers in 2024, but his plate discipline and on-base ability remain well above average. Canha figures to offer the Brewers a solid depth option in case of injuries throughout the Spring, but it’s difficult to see where he fits on the club as presently constructed. Rhys Hoskins remains entrenched at first base even after a down 2024 season thanks to his $18MM salary, and a combination of Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich, and Sal Frelick appear to have the outfield mostly covered. If Canha manages to force his way onto the roster, perhaps he can serve as a right-handed complement for an entirely left-handed Brewers outfield that recently lost switch-hitting center fielder Blake Perkins to the injured list due to a shin fracture while also occasionally spelling Hoskins at first base.

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