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Yankees Sign Ronaldo Hernandez To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees signed catcher Ronaldo Hernández to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. He’ll be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Hernández, 27, was once a highly-regarded prospect. The Colombian-born backstop ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects entering the 2019 season. He slotted among the top 10 farmhands in the Tampa Bay system through 2020. The Rays dealt him to the Red Sox during the 2020-21 offseason in what turned out to be a lopsided trade that landed Jeffrey Springs. While Springs broke out as a productive starter with the Rays, Hernández stalled out in the upper levels of the Sox’s system.

The Sox called Hernández up for a pair of brief stays on the MLB roster in 2022. He didn’t make it into a game and was outrighted off the 40-man during the ensuing winter. Hernández remained in the Boston system until last offseason, when he joined the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He hit 11 homers with a strong .311/.357/.507 showing over 63 games for their Triple-A club in Reno but didn’t get a major league call.

Austin Wells will get the bulk of the playing time behind the dish in the Bronx. New York traded Jose Trevino to Cincinnati for reliever Fernando Cruz and dealt depth catcher Carlos Narváez to the Red Sox in a minor trade in December. Aside from Wells, J.C. Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez are the only catchers on the 40-man roster.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez hasn’t played above Double-A and won’t be in consideration for the Opening Day roster. Escarra, who turns 30 in April, had a solid season in the upper minors last year. He probably has the leg up on the backup catcher job going into camp, but he has yet to play in the majors. Alex Jackson, acquired from Cincinnati in the Trevino trade, joins Hernández as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Marlins Sign Janson Junk To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins announced that right-hander Janson Junk has been signed to a minor league deal. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client will be in major league spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Junk, 29, spent 2024 bouncing around the league. He started the year with the Brewers as a depth arm, getting frequently recalled and optioned back down to the minors. The club designated him for assignment in late July when Devin Williams came off the 60-day injured list. Junk was put on waivers and claimed by the Astros, then went to the Athletics via another waiver claim about a month later. The A’s outrighted him off their roster shortly thereafter and he was able to elect free agency at season’s end.

Around those transactions, he was only able to toss eight innings in the majors. He also got limited big league work in the previous three campaigns, so he now has a 6.75 earned run average in 40 innings in his career overall. His 18% strikeout rate in that time is subpar but his 5.8% walk rate has been good and his 44.3% ground ball rate around average.

His minor league track record has naturally been larger and more impressive. Over the past four years, he has tossed 367 innings on the farm with a 3.83 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. That includes 60 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2024, working both out of the rotation and bullpen, with a 3.58 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 46.3% ground ball rate.

The Marlins have a fair amount of uncertainty on their pitching staff. In the rotation, they recently traded Jesús Luzardo and lost Braxton Garrett to season-ending surgery. Eury Pérez will return from his surgery this year, but probably not until the All-Star break. As of now, Sandy Alcántara, Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera and Max Meyer project as the front four, with guys like Valente Bellozo, Adam Mazur and others in the mix for back-end jobs.

In the bullpen, the Marlins traded away Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, Bryan Hoeing, Huascar Brazobán and JT Chargois at the deadline. They current have no relievers with more than four years of service time, with Anthony Bender the only one over the three-year mark and Andrew Nardi the only other one beyond the two-year line. In short, it’s wide open.

Since Junk has pitched both as a starter and reliever, he’ll give the Fish a bit of extra depth in both departments. If he makes it to the majors, he is out of options, which will limit his roster flexibility. If he does get a roster spot, he has less than a year of service time, so he can be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future.

Yankees, Tyler Matzek Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees are in agreement with free agent reliever Tyler Matzek on a minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. There’s presumably a non-roster invite to MLB camp for the PSI Sports Management client.

Matzek held a showcase for teams last month. He evidently showed enough for the Yanks to give him a look in Spring Training. Matzek is looking to rebound after injuries limited him to 11 big league appearances in 2024 — none of which came after May 4.

The veteran southpaw began the year in the Braves’ bullpen. Opponents tagged him for 11 runs over 10 innings. Atlanta placed him on the injured list with elbow inflammation during the first week of May. Matzek remained on the shelf for more than three months. Atlanta dealt him to the Giants as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline acquisition.

San Francisco released Matzek rather than plug him into the MLB bullpen when he was healthy. Atlanta circled back to re-sign the 34-year-old to a minor league deal. He pitched four times with Triple-A Gwinnett and didn’t earn a call up. He qualified for free agency at season’s end.

Elbow issues have derailed Matzek in consecutive seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery during Atlanta’s postseason run in 2022. That cost him the entire ’23 campaign. He’d had a strong three-year run for the Braves between 2020-22. Matzek combined for a 2.92 earned run average while striking out more than 27% of batters faced in 135 2/3 innings. His fastball had sat in the 94-96 MPH range during that time. The velocity ticked down ever so slightly in his return from surgery; he averaged 93.6 MPH on the heater last year.

There should be a decent opportunity for Matzek to break camp if he impresses in Spring Training. New York only has one lefty reliever on their 40-man roster: the recently re-signed Tim Hill. Aside from Matzek, they’re bringing two southpaws to camp as non-roster invitees. Brandon Leibrandt has seven MLB appearances, while Jayvien Sandridge has yet to reach the majors.

Emmanuel Rivera Accepts Outright Assignment With Orioles

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The Orioles announced this morning that infielder Emmanuel Rivera cleared waivers, was assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk, and has accepted the assignment. As a player with more than three years of service, Rivera could’ve rejected the assignment to become a free agent. The O’s also confirmed their signing of righty Dylan Coleman, who’d announced the agreement himself on Instagram over the weekend. It’s a minor league pact with an invitation to spring training.

Rivera, 28, signed a one-year, $1MM contract to avoid arbitration earlier in the offseason. He landed with the Orioles on an August waiver claim out of the Marlins system and immediately caught fire. In 73 plate appearances down the stretch with the O’s, Rivera raked at a .313/.370/.578 clip and popped four home runs.

That massive output dwarfs a more modest track record in the big leagues. Rivera is a career .244/.306/.369 hitter in 1042 major league plate appearances. He’s a solid defender at the hot corner but has below-average plate discipline and (per Statcast) sprint speed that clocks into the 33rd percentile of big leaguers.

Now that he’s gone unclaimed, Rivera will head to camp as a non-roster invitee with Baltimore and try to work his way back into the 40-man roster mix. The O’s have an extremely crowded infield, with Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Urias and (once healthy) Jorge Mateo all in the mix. Top prospect Coby Mayo would probably get the first look if a regular role opened up following an unfortunate injury at the corners, but Rivera can nonetheless provide some depth at the hot corner and join a group of infield NRIs that also includes Terrin Vavra, Vimael Machin, Luis Vazquez and Livan Soto.

Dylan Covey Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Dylan Covey, who was outrighted off the Mets’ 40-man roster last week, has elected free agency, per his transaction log at MLB.com. The Mets never formally announced his decision, but Covey wasn’t included on the team’s list of the 67 players who’ll participate in major league camp this morning. (Infielder Luis De Los Santos, outrighted at the same time as Covey, was on the list.)

Covey, 33, signed a split big league deal with the Mets back in late October that would’ve paid him $850K in the majors or $350K in the minors, per the Associated Press. Since he has fewer than five years of MLB service, Covey would forfeit any guarantees on that deal (presumably just the minor league split) by rejecting the assignment and going back to the market.

Covey hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023, when he logged a sharp 3.77 ERA over 43 innings between the Dodgers and Phillies. That year’s 15.7% strikeout rate was way shy of league-average, but Covey’s 8.9% walk rate was close to average and his 54.3% ground-ball rate was very strong. The right-hander had spent the 2021-22 seasons pitching in Taiwan for the Chinese Professional Baseball League’s Rakuten Monkeys, and he returned with a sinker that sat at 95.1 mph — an increase of 3.1 mph over the 92 he average in 2020.

The Phillies saw enough to keep Covey around in arbitration, tendering him a contract in arbitration and signing him to a one-year deal. A shoulder strain wiped out the bulk of his 2024 campaign, however. Covey didn’t pitch in the majors and logged only a combined 20 1/3 innings in the minors. His 2.66 ERA across multiple levels was strong, however, and Covey backed that up with a decent 22.6% strikeout rate and a mammoth 66.5% ground-ball rate (albeit against an ugly 10.7% walk rate).

Covey’s overall body of work in the big leagues isn’t great. He has a career 6.18 ERA in 307 1/3 MLB innings. That said, he pitched well in Taiwan (3.63 ERA in 198 1/3 innings), came back to North America throwing harder and has now had some degree of success in the big leagues and upper minors with a revamped pitch repertoire. He’s throwing far more sinkers and cutters since returning stateside and has scrapped his four-seamer and curveball entirely. Covey seems to rather clearly be a different pitcher in his early 30s than he was when he was getting hit hard with the White Sox and Red Sox in his 20s. He can provide another club with some depth in the rotation and/or in the bullpen as a long man.

Austin Voth Signs With NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines

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The Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball announced today that they’ve signed right-hander Austin Voth (h/t Yakyu Cosmopolitan). Voth is expected to pitch out of the rotation for the Marines.

Voth, 33 in June, was a fifth-round pick by the Nationals back in 2013. He started his career with the Nats in 2018 but struggled with the club throughout his time in Washington. Despite a solid 2019 season where he pitched in 43 2/3 innings of 3.30 ERA (137 ERA+) ball backed up by a solid 3.79 FIP, he was never so much as league average for the rest of his time in D.C. before being shipped out to Baltimore partway through the 2022 campaign. Overall, Voth finished his Nationals career with a 5.70 ERA (75 ERA+) and a 5.12 FIP despite a fairly solid 22.1% strikeout rate.

Upon joining the Orioles, Voth managed to turn things around somewhat. He was quickly installed in the Baltimore rotation for the second half of 2022, making 17 starts and five relief appearances that totaled 83 innings. It was a strong performance as he struck out 20.7% of opponents while walking 7.2% en route to a 3.04 ERA (129 ERA+) and 3.96 FIP. That quality production at the back of the rotation helped to lift the Orioles to their first winning record since 2016 and all but guaranteed the righty a roster spot in Baltimore the following year. Unfortunately, Voth’s numbers took a nosedive in 2023 when he moved back to the bullpen, with a brutal 5.19 ERA (79 ERA+) in 34 2/3 innings of work. Voth’s peripherals largely matched that performance as well; his 21.3% strikeout rate was mostly stagnant as compared to the year prior, but Voth’s walk rate jumped to 9.3% and he gave up a whopping six homers in 25 relief outings.

The right-hander was outrighted off the club’s roster in September of 2023 and elected free agency following the season. He signed with the Mariners on a one-year, big league deal that guaranteed him $1.25MM and was a key part of the club’s bullpen mix throughout the 2024 season. After previously working as a starter and long reliever throughout his career, Voth was used almost exclusively in short relief by the Mariners to decent results. He posted a league average 3.69 ERA in 61 innings of work as his strikeout rate ticked up to 24.6% against a 7.3% walk rate, though home runs continued to be an issue for the righty.

Now that he’s headed to Japan, Voth figures to slot into the Marines’ rotation after the club parted ways with Roki Sasaki via the posting system last month. The Marines surely aren’t relying on Voth to replicate the production of their departing 23-year-old phenom, but his addition should offer them quality back-of-the-rotation innings nonetheless. Should the 32-year-old find success in NPB as a rotation piece this year, it’s certainly within the realm of possibility he could return to stateside ball in hopes of establishing himself as a starter in the majors as well.

Cardinals Sign Rob Kaminsky To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals have signed left-handed pitcher Rob Kaminsky to a minor league contract for the 2025 season, the team announced. This will be the 30-year-old’s third stint with the organization and his 12th professional campaign.

Kaminsky first signed with St. Louis in 2013 as the 28th overall pick in the draft. Despite his young age – he made his pro debut at 18 – the southpaw impressed right away. Over his first three years in the Cardinals system, he threw 217 1/3 innings between Rookie ball and High-A, pitching to a 2.15 ERA and 2.90 FIP.

St. Louis traded Kaminsky to Cleveland ahead of the 2015 trade deadline, in exchange for Brandon Moss. It was after the trade that Kaminsky began to struggle, and questions about his ability to stick in the rotation began to arise. Following a 2017 season almost completely lost to injury, he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in 2018 and ’19, compiling a 3.31 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 84 1/3 innings pitched. While his numbers were solid (if unspectacular), he had largely fallen off of top prospects lists by that time. He elected minor league free agency after the 2019 season.

Kaminsky re-joined the Cardinals on a minor league pact that winter and made his MLB debut the following summer. He pitched 4 2/3 innings in 2020, striking out three and walking two. He gave up three runs, although only one was earned. Despite his serviceable results, the Cardinals DFA’d him after his fifth appearance in September. He has not returned the to major leagues since.

From 2021-24, Kaminsky bounced from the Phillies to the Mariners to the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League and back to the Mariners. He dealt with various injury issues in that time and struggled to make much of an impact when he did take the mound. That being said, it’s worth noting that he made eight starts at Triple-A Tacoma in 2024. It was the first time he had made more than two starts in a season since 2016. Kaminsky is highly unlikely to make the Opening Day roster, but he will offer the Cardinals some left-handed depth for the bullpen, and possibly the rotation, too. Perhaps a return to his former club will help him get back on track as he strives to return to the majors in 2025.

Padres, Gavin Sheets Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Padres and Gavin Sheets have come to terms on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal includes an invitation to big league spring training. Sheets was non-tendered by the White Sox earlier this offseason.

A second-round pick in the 2017 draft, Sheets slugged his way to the majors in 2021. His bat stayed hot throughout the year, and he finished his debut season with 11 home runs, an .830 OPS, and a 123 wRC+ in 54 games. Unfortunately, the big lefty batter has struggled to make an impact at the plate ever since. Over 381 games from 2022-24, Sheets produced a .659 OPS and an 84 wRC+ with just 35 home runs in more than 1,200 trips to the plate. His walk and strikeout rates hovered relatively close to league average, but he just wasn’t impacting the ball the way he needed to – and the way he once seemed like he could, as a promising, power-hitting prospect. On the contrary, his hard-hit rate ranked in the bottom third of the league each year from 2022-24.

As a corner outfielder/first baseman who doesn’t contribute with his legs or his glove, Sheets needs to hit to offer value to his club. Thus, it wasn’t exactly surprising when the White Sox non-tendered him rather than pay his projected $2.6MM salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility. Even for a pitiful White Sox club, Sheets has been a disappointment. His -2.2 FanGraphs WAR over the last three seasons ranks last on the team in that time. Meanwhile, none of the well-known projection systems see him bouncing back. ZiPS, Steamer, and PECOTA all agree that Sheets is more likely than not to be a below-average hitter once again in 2025.

All of that explains why Sheets was unable to land a guaranteed contract entering his age-29 season. Instead, he will head to spring training and look to make a good impression. While the Padres recently addressed a weakness in the corner outfield by adding Jason Heyward and Connor Joe to form a platoon in left field, their designated hitter spot remains wide open. If Sheets earns a job on the Opening Day roster, he and Luis Arraez could share duties at first base and DH. Given the way Sheets has played lately, that’s a huge “if.” Then again, it’s not as if San Diego currently has a glut of better options. The Padres are desperately seeking upside as they try to replace hitters like Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim on a shoestring budget. Barring further additions, they have no reason not to give Sheets every opportunity to prove himself in camp.

Yankees Re-Sign Tim Hill

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TODAY: The move has been officially announced by the Yankees.

February 4: The Yankees are bringing left-hander Tim Hill back on a one-year, $2.85MM contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Hill, a client of Paragon Sports International, will be paid $2.5MM in 2025 and has a $350K buyout on a $3MM club option for the 2026 season.

Hill, 34, opened the 2024 season with the White Sox but was released in June after being tagged for a 5.07 ERA in 23 innings with the South Siders. He turned his entire season around upon signing with the Yankees, for whom he posted a pristine 2.05 earned run average in 48 innings from mid-June through season’s end. He tossed another 8 1/3 innings during postseason play and held opponents to one run during that time.

The veteran Hill is a sidearming sinker specialist who relies far more on grounders than on missing bats. A whopping 68.2% of batted balls against Hill were grounders. Conversely, his paltry 10.7% strikeout rate was the second-lowest among all pitchers who tossed at least 40 innings in 2024. No pitcher allowed a higher contact percentage than Hill’s 88.7%, and none had a lower swinging-strike rate than Hill’s 5.7% mark. Even with the lack of missed bats, that huge ground-ball rate and a terrific 6.5% walk rate (5.2% with the Yankees) helped Hill to mitigate damage.

As one might expect from a player who so rarely misses bats, Hill yielded quite a few hits in 2024. Opponents batted .290 against him — an average of 10.3 hits per nine innings pitched. However, the overwhelming majority were singles. Hill faced 291 hitters and only yielded nine extra-base hits (seven doubles and two homers). He was more effective against lefties than righties, but neither hit for any power against him. Southpaw swingers hit .273/.321/.322, while righties hit .303/.352/.352. Hill’s penchant for allowing contact could theoretically get him into trouble, but with so many singles, so few walks and so many grounders, he saw eight double plays induced behind him; only 11 relievers in all of MLB generated more (five of whom also simply pitched more innings).

Prior to their agreement with Hill, the Yankees didn’t have a lefty projected to be in the bullpen. They didn’t even have a left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster. He’ll now join a relief corps headlined by trade acquisition Devin Williams but also featuring Luke Weaver, Ian Hamilton, Fernando Cruz (another trade pickup), Mark Leiter Jr. and JT Brubaker. Jonathan Loaisiga, on the mend from last year’s April UCL procedure, will join the group eventually but could open the season on the 60-day injured list.

The bullpen could expand further if and when the Yankees trade Marcus Stroman, who they’ve been shopping throughout the winter. The roster would have six starters if the season began today, but a trade of Stroman will thin out the rotation and perhaps free up some money to bring in another lefty and/or add the infielder the Yankees have sought this offseason.

Adding Hill’s guarantee to the books pushes the Yankees’ projected cash payroll to just over $285MM, per RosterResource. They’re already in the top tier of luxury penalization, which means Hill will come with a 110% tax against the $2.85MM AAV of his contract. That weighs in at a $3.135MM tax hit, bringing the total expenditure for re-signing Hill to $5.985MM. RosterResource now has the Yankees’ luxury ledger at a bit more than $305MM. Of course, trading Stroman could reduce that bill substantially, though there’s no feasible way that the Yankees would duck the tax entirely (or even scale their overages back to less than $40MM, which would be required to avoid the penalty that drops next year’s top draft pick by 10 spots).

Padres Sign Connor Joe

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TODAY: The Padres have officially announced Joe’s contract. Joe will earn $1MM in guaranteed money, Acee reports, and another $1.25MM is available in incentive bonuses.

FEBRUARY 7, 9:45pm: The sides have an agreement on a one-year deal, writes Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

5:20pm: The Padres are nearing a deal with infielder/outfielder Connor Joe, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Financials for the John Boggs & Associates client aren’t publicly known at this time. The Padres have multiple 40-man vacancies, so no corresponding move will be required.

Joe, 32, has been roughly a league average bat in his career but decent in a platoon capacity. In his 1,582 plate appearances, he has hit .242/.337/.391 for a wRC+ of 97, indicating he’s just been 3% below par. A right-handed hitter, Joe has a .254/.350/.415 slash and 107 wRC+ against lefties, compared to a .235/.329/.377 line and 91 wRC+ against righties.

Defensively, he is capable of playing at first base or in an outfield corner. He has five Defensive Runs Saved as an outfielder in his career. Outs Above Average is a bit more pessimistic, giving him a -7 score. However, both metrics consider him above average as a first baseman.

The Pirates could have retained Joe for 2025 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $3.2MM salary, but the Bucs decided to non-tender him instead. That sent him into free agency without being exposed to waivers.

Though the financials of this deal haven’t been reported yet, it’s surely a fairly modest guarantee by MLB standards. That’s obviously attractive for the Padres, since the budget is clearly a major concern, as it has been for a while. Last winter, the payroll crunch was tight enough that they dealt Juan Soto to the Yankees. This winter, they’ve been fairly quiet, but rumors have swirled around players like Dylan Cease, Michael King, Luis Arráez, Robert Suarez and others.

The tight payroll situation is awkward because they have a few clear holes on the roster. Jurickson Profar hit free agency and signed with Atlanta, leaving an opening in left field. The first base/designated hitter situation is also somewhat open. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim hit free agency and signed with the Rays. The Padres are going to move Xander Bogaerts from second base, his primary position last year, back to short. That will seemingly allow Jake Cronenworth to move from first base to second base on a regular basis. Arráez, who served as the designated hitter a lot last year, could be the regular first baseman. Useful part-time players like David Peralta and Donovan Solano also hit free agency at the end of last season, subtracting from the bench/depth area.

Having Joe in the mix gives the Padres some options. He could see time at first base, pushing Arráez back into the DH spot. In left field, Tirso Ornelas projects as the top option at the moment despite having no major league experience. Bringing Joe aboard will push Ornelas down the depth chart, though he could still push for and earn playing time, with depth options like Eguy Rosario and Brandon Lockridge also possibilities to earn at-bats. Ornelas is a lefty bat, so perhaps a platoon with Joe is possible.

The market for part-time outfielders has been moving steadily in recent days. In the past two weeks, Austin Hays, Adam Frazier, Ramón Laureano, Randal Grichuk and Harrison Bader have signed one-year deals ranging from $1.5MM to $6.25MM. Joe’s details haven’t been reported yet but it’s possible he’s in there as well. For clubs still looking for outfield help, players like Alex Verdugo, Jason Heyward and Peralta are some of the unsigned options.

RosterResource currently puts the Padres at a payroll of $205MM and a competitive balance tax number of $245MM. It’s unclear exactly how much wiggle room they have in terms of the pure payroll. As far as the CBT goes, they are currently just $4MM over the $241MM base threshold. It’s presumed that they would want to be below that line, which is understandable, given how close they are.

They didn’t pay the tax in 2024, so they would be a “first-time” payor if they did so in 2025, which would lead to a modest 20% base tax rate for their overages. However, paying the tax also leads to lesser compensation when it comes to players rejecting a qualifying offer and signing elsewhere. Cease, King and Arráez are all impending free agents and candidates for a QO if they stick with the club through the end of the year, which could incentivize the Padres to duck under the tax line by season’s end if they’re at all close.

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