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Braves Agree To Minor League Deal With Charles Leblanc

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The Braves have signed infielder Charles Leblanc to a minor league contract, according to the transaction logs on MLB.com. He had elected free agency earlier this offseason. Atlanta has also added infielder Kobe Kato on a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned.

Leblanc spent his age-28 season with the Angels organization, hitting .254/.379/.437 (108 wRC+) with a dozen homers and a huge 16.4% walk rate in 98 Triple-A games. He also took 28 plate appearances in the big leagues — his second season with MLB work, following a 2022 run in Miami — and popped a pair of homers in that tiny sample.

A fourth-round pick by the Rangers back in 2016, Leblanc is a career .259/.364/.454 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons. He’s slashed .254/.330/.412 in 197 big league games. Leblanc has spent the bulk of his professional career at third base but also has more than 1000 innings at both second base and first base. He’s played 473 frames at shortstop and another 376 in left field.

Kato, 25, was a 13th-rounder by the Astros in 2021. Houston cut him loose early in 2024, but he turned a stint with the independent York Revolution into a new opportunity with the Mariners and climbed three minor league levels, topping out in Triple-A. Kato hit .283/.393/.389 with a homer and eight steals in 135 minor league plate appearances last year. He’s played primarily second base in the minors but has experience at short, third and all three outfield spots as well.

A previous version of this post also had the Braves signing catcher Yohel Pozo, also per the MLB.com transactions logs. MLBTR has learned that Pozo is actually still a free agent and regrets the error.

Rangers Sign Luis Curvelo To Major League Contract

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November 13: The Rangers made it official today, announced they signed Curvelo to a major league deal. Their 40-man roster count climbs to 37.

November 10: The Rangers are closing in on a deal with right-handed reliever Luis Curvelo, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. It will be a major league contract for the 24-year-old hurler.

Earlier this month, Morosi reported that Curvelo was “one of the most popular free agents” at the annual GM Meetings in San Antonio. To be clear, that doesn’t necessarily mean that teams preferred Curvelo to any of the top relievers on the market. More likely, it means they viewed him as a low-risk, high-reward target who could provide meaningful innings at a fraction of the price of a proven big league pitcher.

The Venezuela native signed with the Mariners as an international free agent in 2018 and worked his way up to Double-A Arkansas in 2024. Over 49 games (66 2/3 IP) this past season, he produced the best numbers of his career to date, pitching to a 2.57 ERA and 3.03 FIP. An unusually low 7.8% home run-to-fly ball ratio and an unsustainable .227 BABIP are signs that he’s due for some regression, but even so, it’s hard not to be impressed by his performance – especially his 30.6% strikeout rate.

Curvelo has been a full-time reliever since his age-18 season, which partially explains why he was never a highly-ranked prospect in Seattle’s system. However, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs liked what he saw enough to rank Curvelo as the no. 31 prospect in the Mariners organization this past July. Longenhagen was unconvinced by the righty’s fastball but had nothing but praise for his slider. For what it’s worth, Curvelo was even better from July onward, putting up a 1.86 ERA, a 2.44 FIP, and a 33.6% strikeout rate over his final 29 innings pitched.

As for why Seattle would let Curvelo walk after such a strong season? He was eligible for minor league free agency this offseason, and the Mariners would have had to add him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from leaving. Morosi suggests they simply didn’t have space on the 40-man, and evidently, they weren’t willing to make space either. The Rangers currently have four open spots on the 40-man, giving them plenty of room to add Curvelo to the mix. There’s a good chance he’ll begin the 2025 campaign at Triple-A Round Rock (he still has all of his minor league options remaining), but presumably, Texas is hoping he’ll play a role in the big league bullpen at some point next year.

By almost every metric, the Rangers’ bullpen was one of the worst in the league this past season. Collectively, Texas relievers ranked 26th in ERA, 23rd in SIERA, and 25th in FanGraphs WAR. To make matters worse, those poor numbers came in spite of phenomenal performances from veterans Kirby Yates and David Robertson, both of whom are now free agents. So are swingman José Ureña and Rangers bullpen mainstay José Leclerc. If this team is planning to get back into contention in 2025, and there’s no reason to think they aren’t, the bullpen is an obvious area for improvement. However, owner Ray Davis is reportedly hoping to get back under the $241MM luxury threshold, which means president of baseball operations Chris Young will have limited funds at his disposal. Thus, it makes perfect sense that Young would target the relatively inexpensive upside of Curvelo.

Angels Release Ryan Miller

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November 13: Miller has been released by the Angels, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

November 7: The Angels designated righty reliever Ryan Miller for assignment, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. That’s the associated 40-man roster move for the Kyle Hendricks signing.

Miller, 28, earned his first major league call in August. He made 13 appearances late in the year. Miller gave up seven runs (six earned) while striking out 11 and issuing eight walks across 13 innings. The Clemson product showed a fairly typical sinker-slider combination, averaging just under 94 MPH on the fastball. While he didn’t miss many bats in his brief MLB look, he’s coming off a nice year in Triple-A. Miller tossed 62 1/3 innings of 2.45 ERA ball in Salt Lake. He struck out around a quarter of opponents while keeping his walks to a tidy 5.6% clip.

The Halos acquired Miller last offseason, grabbing him from the Red Sox in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. They have five days to explore trade possibilities but are likelier to try to run him through outright waivers.

Twins Re-Sign Daniel Duarte To Minor League Deal; Three Others Elect Free Agency

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The Twins quickly re-signed right-hander Daniel Duarte to a minor league contract after passing him through outright waivers, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Three other players who were outrighted elected free agency, including right-hander Scott Blewett and former top prospects Josh Winder and Yunior Severino.

Duarte, 28 next month, bounced from the Rangers to the Reds to the Twins via the DFA circuit last winter but wound up sticking in Minnesota and getting an early-season look after a nice showing in 12 1/3 spring training innings (2.92 ERA, 12 strikeouts, no walks). He made two appearances in the season’s first week, tossing a total of four innings and allowing one run with three strikeouts and a walk, but Duarte hit the injured list with an elbow issue shortly thereafter. A month later, it was announced that he’d require season-ending elbow surgery.

Duarte has pitched 38 1/3 innings in the majors and turned in a 3.99 ERA, albeit with a sub-par 17% strikeout rate and a bleak 14.5% walk rate. Duarte showed considerably better command in his brief look with the Twins, however, walking just one of the 61 batters he faced between spring training and the regular season. He also flashed a heater that averaged 96.1 mph. It’s a small sample, obviously, but if any of the gains in command prove sustainable, Duarte is fairly intriguing as a mid-20s reliever with a strong fastball and a career 47.3% grounder rate. On a minor league flier, he’s a sensible depth add.

Blewett came to the Twins on a minor league deal last offseason and wound up pitching well both in Triple-A and the majors. The former Royal logged a 3.79 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate in 54 2/3 innings with the Twins’ Triple-A club in St. Paul and added another 20 1/3 MLB frames with a 1.77 ERA. His strikeout and walk rates were both worse than average, however, and he benefited from a 90.5% strand rate that isn’t sustainable over a longer sample. Even with some expected regression, fielding-independent metrics felt he was a solid arm (4.00 FIP, 4.05 SIERA).

Winder, 28, once ranked comfortably within the Twins’ top 10 prospects and even drew some top-100 fanfare back in 2022, placing 78th on FanGraphs’ rankings. The 2018 seventh-rounder raced through the minors with standout showings in 2019 and 2021. However, a series of shoulder injuries has regularly set the 6’5″ hurler back. He’s posted a respectable 4.39 ERA in 110 2/3 MLB frames, fanning a below-average 18% of opponents against a sharp 7% walk rate. He’s also been on the injured list four times since 2022, owing to a shoulder impingement, shoulder strain (twice) and a stress fracture in his shoulder.

Severino, 25, once ranked as highly as tenth among Twins farmhands at Baseball America. He belted 35 homers between Double-A and Triple-A as recently as 2023 but did so with an alarming 32.8% strikeout rate. He cut back a bit in 2024, fanning in 27.6% of his plate appearances, but also saw a downturn in power, with 21 round-trippers on the season. Severino is a .249/.337/.450 hitter in two Triple-A seasons. He clearly has plus raw power but is a below-average defender and runner whose longstanding strikeout issues still remain problematic.

Angels Sign Travis d’Arnaud To Two-Year Deal

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The Angels announced that they have signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year deal. That pact reportedly comes with a $12MM guarantee for the Wasserman client. Right-hander Guillo Zuñiga has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move. The Halos have also hired Sal Fasano, who was with Atlanta as catching coach until being fired last month, as an assistant pitching coach.

d’Arnaud, 36 in February, has been with Atlanta for the past few years. However, that club declined an $8MM club option to keep him around for the 2025, sending him to the open market last week. The veteran has quickly landed on his feet with a new deal at a slightly lower average annual value but with an additional guaranteed season.

His time with Atlanta has consisted of a series of deals, all with an AAV of $8MM. He signed a two-year, $16MM deal going into 2020, followed by a two-year, $16MM extension signed late in 2021. Midway through 2023, he and the club agreed to a one-year, $8MM extension for 2024 with an $8MM club option for 2025.

During that stretch, he has missed some time due to injury and his offense has been up-and-down, but it’s generally amounted to solid production. He got into 384 games over his five years with the club, hitting 60 home runs and slashing .251/.312/.443 for a 106 wRC+. His defense was generally well regarded, allowing him to produce 9.3 wins above replacement over that time, in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Despite his competent performance, Atlanta decided to move on. Perhaps that was due to budgetary constraints or the emergence of prospect Drake Baldwin, who is knocking on the door. Either way, that club’s catching tandem is shifting. It has been d’Arnaud and Sean Murphy in recent years but Murphy will need a new partner, whether that’s Baldwin or someone else.

The Angels will be hoping that Atlanta’s loss will be their gain. They already have a strong catcher in Logan O’Hoppe, who doesn’t turn 25 years old until February and can be controlled through the 2028 season, but d’Arnaud can act in a veteran/backup role.

The only other backstop on the Angels’ 40-man roster is Matt Thaiss, who is out of options. General manager Perry Minasian said today that they are still figuring out plans with Thaiss, per Sam Blum of The Athletic on X. Perhaps Thaiss will move to another position but the club could also carry three catchers or make Thaiss available in trades. He is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $1.3MM. The non-tender deadline is November 22, so perhaps some more clarity on his status will emerge between now and then.

It’s possible that Minasian has been waiting for his opportunity to reconnect with d’Arnaud, as he has quickly gotten a deal done shortly after the veteran became available. Minasian worked as a scout for the Blue Jays from 2009 to 2017. It was during that time that d’Arnaud, still a prospect, was traded to the Jays as part of the December 2009 Roy Halladay blockbuster. He would later be traded to the Mets as part of the December 2012 deal that brought R.A. Dickey to Toronto.

Atlanta’s current general manager Alex Anthopoulos was the GM for the Jays for both of those trades and also seemingly made it a priority to reunite with d’Arnaud a few years back. The overlapping careers of Minasian and Anthopoulos have apparently led to good relations extending into the present, as the two clubs have been frequent trade partners of late. Since Minasian was hired in November of 2020, the two clubs have connected on the August 2022 Raisel Iglesias deal, the December 2023 David Fletcher trade, the Jorge Soler deal from a few weeks ago and some other minor swaps. Angels’ manager Ron Washington was also on Atlanta’s coaching staff before joining the Halos.

Today’s news isn’t a trade but it adds to the track record of interchange between the clubs, with the Angels acquiring both d’Arnaud and Fasano after they had been let go from Atlanta. Fasano started his coaching career in 2009 in the minor league system of the Jays when both Minasian and Anthopoulos were there. In the fall of 2017, around the same time Anthopoulos was hired by Atlanta, Fasano got a job as a catching coach with that organization. He held that job until he was dismissed a few weeks ago, though he and d’Arnaud will be reuniting with Minasian in Anaheim.

The move brings the Angels’ projected payroll to $174MM, per RosterResource. That’s above the $170MM they had to start 2024, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Owner Arte Moreno has said that the payroll will go up next year, though it’s unclear exactly how high they plan to go. For clubs that missed out on d’Arnaud, the free agent market still features Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka, Carson Kelly and others.

Zuñiga, 26, was acquired from the Cardinals in February. He has 19 2/3 innings of major league experience with a 5.03 earned run average. In the minors, he has posted some decent strikeout numbers but walks have occasionally been an issue. He has thrown 113 2/3 innings in the minors over the past three years with a 5.62 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate.

He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last a week, as the Angels figure out whether to trade him or put him on waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so a trade would need to come together in the next five days. His fastball averaged 96.9 miles per hour in the big leagues this year and he still has an option season remaining, which could perhaps intrigue other clubs around the league.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first relayed the $12MM guarantee for d’Arnaud (X link). Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register first noted the Zuñiga DFA (X link). Sam Blum of The Athletic relayed the Fasano hire (X link).

Astros, Steven Okert Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with left-handed reliever Steven Okert, per their transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee in spring training and would earn $1.2MM upon making the roster, MLBTR has learned. The contract contains additional incentives and multiple opt-out dates for the veteran southpaw.

Okert, 33, spent the 2024 season with the Twins organization after they acquired him in an offseason swap sending utilityman Nick Gordon to the Marlins. He appeared in 44 games and pitched 35 1/3 innings with a 5.09 earned run average. Minnesota designated Okert for assignment over the summer and sent him outright to Triple-A. He became a minor league free agent at season’s end.

Despite the rough run-prevention numbers in ’24, Okert has a solid track record of missing bats. His strikeout rate dipped to 20.6% with the Twins, and it’s of note that he did lose about a mile per hour off both his four-seamer and slider. However, from 2021-23, Okert was a mainstay in the Marlins’ bullpen and pitched well, logging a 3.51 ERA in 146 frames while picking up plenty of punchouts. He fanned 28.9% of his opponents in that stretch, and while his 10.7% walk rate was a couple percentage points north of average, he generally avoided opponents’ barrels well enough to mitigate those free passes.

Okert still avoided hard contact nicely with the Twins — in fact posting career-low marks in average exit velocity and opponents’ hard hit rate. When opponents did barrel him up, however, it was too often for maximum damage. Okert’s 1.53 homers per nine frames were the highest of his career by a wide margin. That, paired with more balls in play due to the dip in strikeout rate, worked against the 6’2″ southpaw.

The Astros will try to restore some of the velo and whiffs that Okert lost in 2024. If they’re able to help him right the ship, they’ll be picking up a lefty reliever who pitched quite well from ’21-’23 at a low cost. Beyond closer Josh Hader, the ’Stros only have two other left-handed relievers on their 40-man roster: Bryan King, who has all of 26 1/3 MLB innings to his credit, and Bennett Sousa, who has 29 1/3 MLB frames and missed the 2024 season following thoracic outlet surgery. Adding some affordable lefty depth to the bullpen makes sense, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another signing or two along these lines.

Nicky Lopez, Sammy Peralta Elect Free Agency

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The White Sox announced that both infielder Nicky Lopez and left-hander Sammy Peralta cleared waivers and elected free agency in lieu of accepting outright assignments. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 36.

There wasn’t any previous indication that either player had been removed from the roster, but it’s a common time of year for a bit of shuffling. The Rule 5 protection deadline is coming up on November 19, meaning that all clubs are likely going to be needing a few spots to shield young players from that draft. As that deadline date approaches, roster spots around the league will be at a premium, increasing the chances of a player being nudged off and then passing through waivers unclaimed.

Lopez, 30 in March, has a decent track record now as a glove-first utility player. He was acquired by the White Sox as part of the November 2023 trade that sent Aaron Bummer to Atlanta, then went on to appear in 124 games for Chicago this year. He hit just one home run in 445 plate appearances, leading to a pyramid-shaped slash line of .241/.312/.294. That production translated to a 77 wRC+, indicating he was 23% worse than league average at the plate.

That season brought his career batting line to .248/.312/.314, which equates to a 73 wRC+. Lopez has been able to bounce around the field, playing all four infield spots and even a small amount in the outfield, stealing some bases here and there as well. But the bat is clearly subpar, with seven career homers in 2,346 trips to the plate.

The Sox could have retained him for one more season via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $5.1MM, but it seems the Sox weren’t planning to do that. Lopez has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment, so he’ll head to the open market. He’ll likely garner interest from clubs interested in a depth infielder, either on a minor league deal or a major league pact with a modest guarantee.

Peralta, 27 in May, was first selected to Chicago’s roster in May of 2023, but he’s been on and off since then. He was designated for assignment in March of this year, went to the Mariners via waivers, but then came back to the Sox via another waiver claim in May. Shortly after coming back to the Sox, he was put back on waivers and cleared, getting outrighted to Triple-A. He was selected back to the 40-man in June but has now been outrighted for a second time.

Around those transactions, he has thrown 35 big league innings with a 4.37 earned run average, 17.9% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. His Triple-A track record consists of 125 2/3 innings over the past three years. He has a 4.80 ERA at that level, along with a 24.1% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.

Since this is his second career outright, he has the right to elect free agency and has done so. He will market himself to other clubs around the league and will likely be looking at minor league offers.

KBO’s Kia Tigers To Sign Adam Oller

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Right-hander Adam Oller has agreed to terms with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2. It’ll be the Gaeta Sports Management client’s first stint overseas, and he’ll join the reigning KBO champs.

Oller, 30, has pitched in each of the past three big league seasons. Originally a 2016 draftee of the Pirates, he wound up out of affiliated ball by 2019 but parlayed stints in the independent Frontier League (2019) and in the Australian Baseball League (2020-21) into a minor league opportunity with the Mets. He made the most of that, pitching his way into prospect status with an outstanding age-26 season split between Double-A and Triple-A. The A’s were intrigued enough to acquire Oller and fellow righty J.T. Ginn as their return from the Mets in the trade sending Chris Bassitt to Queens.

Things didn’t work out for Oller in Oakland, however. He was in the majors early during his first season with the organization but hit hard in both 2022 and 2023, yielding a combined 7.09 ERA in 94 frames. The A’s tried to pass him through waivers in July of ’23, but the Mariners claimed him and optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma. He’d spend the remainder of the season with Seattle’s top affiliate, eventually clearing waivers and electing free agency after being dropped from the roster in October.

Oller caught on with the Guardians and Marlins on minor league deals in the year that followed, the latter of whom selected him to the majors this past July. He pitched another 42 1/3 MLB frames across eight starts but was tagged for a 5.31 ERA. Oller did have a handful of nice outings in Miami, but it was an up-and-down tenure with more lows than highs. He was passed through waivers again at the beginning of this month, elected free agency and will quickly find a new opportunity overseas.

Despite his lack of MLB success, there’s reason to think Oller could fare well in the KBO. He posted sharp numbers in Triple-A in 2021-22, struggled through a disastrous season with the Athletics’ Triple-A Vegas club in 2023, and then again pitched to a 2.88 ERA with the Marlins’ top affiliate this past season. His 6.22 Triple-A ERA in 2023 skews his career-long mark to 5.01, but he’s typically been a solid arm at the top minor league level. Oller averages 93.7 mph on his four-seamer, complementing the pitch with a curveball and lesser-used changeup.

It’s at least feasible that Oller could spin one strong KBO season into a big league return, though success overseas can also open further opportunities in Asia. It’s common for players who thrive in the KBO to re-sign for a pay raise in their second season or perhaps to draw interest from teams in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. However it plays out, the earning power for Oller overseas is surely greater than it would be on a minor league deal in North America, and for a pitcher who’s already turned 30 and is still not into arbitration, that’s a compelling selling point.

A’s, Alejo Lopez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have agreed to terms with infielder Alejo Lopez on a minor league contract, Lopez himself announced on Instagram. The former Reds infielder will presumably head to spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Lopez, 28, has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues, all coming with Cincinnati. He’s a .265/.309/.329 hitter in 181 major league plate appearances, showing little power but an excellent feel for contact. Lopez has fanned in only 14.9% of those trips to the plate (against a lackluster 5% walk rate) and has consistently posted even lower strikeout rates in the upper minors. In parts of four Triple-A campaigns, he’s a .294/.387/.407 hitter with nearly as many walks (11.7%) as strikeouts (12.1%) in just over 1500 plate appearances.

Defensively, Lopez has played all over the diamond, though the vast majority of his time has been split between second base (3260 innings) and third base (2023 innings). He’s logged 653 innings at shortstop and a combined 715 frames between the two outfield corners.

The A’s don’t have a set third baseman and could have multiple bench spots up for grabs in spring training, depending on how their offseason plays out. The switch-hitting Lopez will give them some depth all over the infield and could nab a reserve role if he shows well in camp. He’s coming off a nice year with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, wherein he slashed .307/.392/.397 with four homers, 21 doubles, a pair of triples and 21 stolen bases in 112 games (473 plate appearances).

Braves, Enoli Paredes Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves are in agreement with reliever Enoli Paredes on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). Paredes will get a non-roster invite to major league camp.

It was a short free agent stay for the 29-year-old righty. The Cubs sent him through outright waivers last week. He elected free agency at that point but apparently emerged as a priority depth target for the Atlanta front office. Paredes posted strong numbers in a limited sample with the Brewers and Cubs this year.

In 21 2/3 innings between the two teams, he combined for a 1.66 earned run average. Discouraging peripherals led teams to pass on claiming him off waivers last week. Paredes only managed an 18.4% strikeout rate and walked more than 11% of opponents. Throwing strikes has always been an issue. Paredes posted double digit walk rates as a member of the Astros between 2020-22.

While he hasn’t missed many bats at the big league level, Paredes posted monster strikeout numbers with Milwaukee’s Triple-A team. He fanned nearly 40% of hitters en route to a 1.73 ERA over 26 innings at the top minor league level. He sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his fastball and features a mid-80s slider as his secondary pitch.

Paredes is out of options. If he pitches his way to an MLB job in Atlanta, the Braves would need to keep him on the roster or send him back into DFA limbo. They have a solid high-leverage core but a few spots up for grabs in the middle innings. A.J. Minter hit free agency while Joe Jiménez underwent knee surgery that might cost him the entire season.

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