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Pirates To Sign Davis Wendzel To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates and infielder Davis Wendzel have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Boras Corporation client gets an invite to big league spring training and would make $850K if in the majors.

Wendzel, 29 in May, has a limited minor league track record to this point. He appeared in 27 games with the Rangers in 2024. He didn’t do much to impress in that time, putting up a .128/.163/.234 line in 49 plate appearances.

He’s been much better in a greater sample of playing time in the minors. Over the past three years, he has taken 1,240 trips to the plate on the farm, mostly at the Triple-A level. His 12.1% walk rate and 20% strikeout rate were both good figures and he hit 51 home runs. His combined .248/.355/.444 line in that time translated to a 105 wRC+. He also provides defensive versatility, having spent time at all four infield spots as well as left field.

The Rangers designated him for assignment in July of 2024. He was then sent to the Reds for cash. Cincinnati outrighted him a few weeks later. He spent 2025 at Triple-A Louisville as non-roster depth. He had a decent season but never got called up. He became a minor league free agent at season’s end, which allowed the Pirates to scoop him up.

The Pirates have very little settled in their infield, apart from Spencer Horwitz having first base spoken for. Prospect Konnor Griffin could take over the shortstop job in 2026 but still hasn’t played at the Triple-A level yet. Putting Griffin aside, the Pirates have a cluster of infielders including Jared Triolo, Nick Yorke, Nick Gonzales, Tsung-Che Cheng and Enmanuel Valdéz. Yorke and Cheng are still lacking in big league experience. The other three have a few seasons in the majors but have been light-hitting utility types thus far.

There’s still time to add and the Pirates have been connected to many free agents this winter but without getting anything done. Time will tell how that plays out but there’s no harm in adding some non-roster depth. If Wendzel can earn a roster spot, he has a couple of options and less than a season of service time, so he can provide roster flexibility and cheap control for multiple years.

Photo courtesy of Reggie Hildred, Imagn Images

Rays Trade Tristan Peters To White Sox

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The Rays traded outfielder Tristan Peters to the White Sox for cash or a player to be named later, according to announcements from both clubs. Tampa Bay had designated Peters for assignment on Tuesday when they finalized their two-year deal with Steven Matz. Chicago had a couple openings on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make another move.

Peters, 26, entered the professional ranks as a seventh-round pick by Milwaukee in 2021. The lefty-hitting outfielder was traded twice as a prospect — first to the Giants for reliever Trevor Rosenthal, then to Tampa Bay for infielder Brett Wisely. Peters got his first major league call this past August. He spent a week on the active roster and got into four games, going 0-12 with seven strikeouts. He otherwise spent his second straight full season with Triple-A Durham, batting .266/.355/.429 with 15 home runs across 555 plate appearances.

That was an improvement over Peters’ first season at the top minor league level. He’d hit .238/.344/.402 and connected on 12 homers in 2024. Peters has posted subpar exit velocities but shown solid strike zone awareness while making a decent amount of contact. He’s capable of playing anywhere in the outfield and has a couple minor league options remaining. The Sox can keep him in Triple-A without exposing him to waivers so long as they continue carrying him on the 40-man roster.

Barring a surprise trade of either player, the White Sox will open 2026 with Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. as their respective left and center fielder. The out-of-options Everson Pereira, himself an offseason trade pickup from Tampa Bay, probably enters Spring Training as the favorite in right field. Chicago has journeyman speedster Derek Hill penciled in for a bench role, while utilityman Brooks Baldwin could factor into either corner spot. It’s one of the weakest outfield groups in MLB and would be especially barren if the Sox finally line up a Robert trade by next summer’s deadline.

Yankees’ Allan Winans Granted Release To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

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December 18th: Winans is signing with the Seibu Lions, according to various sources.

December 17th: The Yankees have granted right-hander Allan Winans his release so that he can sign with a team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s not yet clear which team the 30-year-old righty will be joining. His release opens a spot on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, which is now down to 36 players.

Situations such as this one tend to benefit all parties. The Yankees will lose some depth, but Winans wasn’t a lock to last the whole offseason on their 40-man roster anyhow — particularly since he’s out of minor league options. Japanese teams typically pay a release fee of a few hundred thousand dollars to a player’s MLB club in order to facilitate the release. Winans, meanwhile, will earn far more pitching overseas than he would on a split big league deal that sees him oscillate between Triple-A and the majors.

Winans has pitched in each of the past three major league seasons, albeit sparingly. He’s totaled 49 1/3 innings between Atlanta and New York but been roughed up for a 7.48 ERA in that time. His track record in Triple-A is superlative, however. He’s spent parts of fours seasons between the Braves’ top affiliate in Gwinnett and the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, combining for a 2.79 ERA with a 23.1% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate in 355 1/3 innings.

Despite that success at the top minor league level, Winans has been hit quite hard in the majors. The flat 90 mph he’s averaged on his four-seamer in the big leagues is well below the average in today’s era of increased velocity but is more common in NPB, where the average heater sits closer to 91 mph. Given his sharp command and strong track record in the minors, Winans should command a rotation spot in NPB and could fare quite well.

It’s increasingly common to see pitchers thrive overseas and come back to North America on notable free agent deals, though most typically throw harder than Winans. Pitching well in Japan could also position him to re-sign on a more lucrative deal in subsequent seasons. There are plenty of former fringe 40-man players in the majors who’ve gone overseas and enjoyed lengthy, lucrative careers pitching in NPB, the Korea Baseball Organization and/or Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Reds Sign Caleb Ferguson

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December 18th: The Reds officially announced Ferguson’s signing today. He’ll make $4.5MM, per Wittenmyer.

December 16th: The Reds are reportedly in agreement with reliever Caleb Ferguson on a one-year contract, pending a physical. Salary terms for the Excel Sports Management client have not been reported. Cincinnati has an opening on the 40-man roster.

Ferguson adds a needed left-handed option to Terry Francona’s bullpen. The Reds bought out Brent Suter at the beginning of the offseason. That left them with Sam Moll as their only lefty reliever. He had been up-and-down from Triple-A this year and gave up 16 runs across 18 1/3 MLB innings. Moll gets a decent number of whiffs and ground-balls and was a solid middle reliever between 2022-24, but the Reds couldn’t enter the season relying on him as their best option.

The 29-year-old Ferguson is coming off a solid season split between the Pirates and Mariners. He made a career-high 70 appearances and posted a 3.58 earned run average through 65 1/3 innings. He recorded 14 holds while relinquishing five leads. Ferguson got a lot of weak contact, but he benefitted from an unsustainably low home run rate and batting average on balls in play. That will probably tick back up in 2026, though it’s possible he compensates by missing more bats than he did this past season.

Ferguson is coming off an 18.9% strikeout rate that is by far the worst mark of his career. He had punched out at least a quarter of opposing hitters in each of his first six seasons. That’d be greater cause for concern if it were accompanied by a drop in his raw stuff. Ferguson’s 94 MPH average fastball speed was in line with that of prior years. He cut back on the four-seam fastball to more frequently use a sinker against left-handed batters. The result, as one might expect, was a drop in whiffs but a spike in ground-balls. Ferguson also did a much better job throwing strikes against southpaws, whom he held to a .184/.261/.204 line with zero home runs in 115 plate appearances.

Against left-handed opposition, Ferguson used his sinker roughly half the time and threw his four-seam fastball and cutter at a near-25% clip. He only sporadically mixed in a slurve. That was a much more frequent pitch for him without the platoon advantage. Ferguson almost never threw the sinker to righties, against whom the pitch’s arm-side run could leak back out over the heart of the plate. He instead mixed the four-seam, slurve and cutter versus opposite-handed opponents.

Ferguson is the second addition to Cincinnati’s bullpen this offseason. They also brought in out-of-options swingman Keegan Thompson on a split deal to compete for a long relief role. Their biggest move was to re-sign closer Emilio Pagán to a two-year, $20MM contract. He’ll be joined in the late innings by Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan and Ferguson. Power righties Connor Phillips and Zach Maxwell have the stuff to pitch their way into leverage roles as well, though it’s questionable whether either pitcher will throw enough strikes to earn that level of responsibility.

An already thin free agent lefty relief class is dwindling. The Pirates finalized their contract with Gregory Soto this morning, while Caleb Thielbar agreed to a new deal with the Cubs. Sean Newcomb, Danny Coulombe, Drew Pomeranz, Justin Wilson and Taylor Rogers are among those who remain unsigned.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the sides had an agreement, which Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer specified was for one year. Image courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images.

A’s, Joel Kuhnel Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Joel Kuhnel, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Octagon client will compete for a bullpen spot during spring training.

Kuhnel has appeared in parts of four major league seasons. He’ll turn 31 in February. In 93 2/3 big league frames, he’s pitched to a 5.86 earned run average. That’s not an appealing mark, of course, but Kuhnel has averaged 95.6 mph on his four-seamer and 95.7 mph on his sinker in his career while regularly posting quality walk and ground-ball rates. His 18.7% strikeout rate is below-average, but he’s also walked only 5.9% of his career opponents and kept 52% of batted balls against him on the ground.

In 2025, Kuhnel split the season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees and Phillies, pitching quite well in both spots. He combined for a 3.53 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work with a 21.6% strikeout rate, 4.2% walk rate and massive 65.4% ground-ball rate.

Kuhnel has typically used his four-seamer and sinker at nearly even rates in the past but far more heavily favored his sinker in ’25, tossing it at a 37% clip to just an 18% usage rate on the four-seamer. That’s far and away the highest rate at which he’s ever used his sinker, and the corresponding ground-ball rate is a career-high as well. Keeping the ball on the ground should be paramount for any A’s pitcher, given the manner in which Sutter Health Park played like a launching pad this past season.

Kuhnel is out of minor league options, so if he’s selected to the big league roster at any point, he’ll need to stick or else be exposed to waivers before he can be sent back down. He’d have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency even if he went unclaimed on waivers, too. The A’s should have plenty of innings up for grabs in the 2026 bullpen. Recent free agent acquisition Mark Leiter Jr. is the only reliever on the roster with even two years of major league service time.

KBO’s Doosan Bears Sign Chris Flexen, Zach Logue

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Veteran right-hander Chris Flexen is headed back to the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization, the team announced. The Bears also announced the re-signing former big league lefty Zach Logue. Flexen, a client of O’Connell Sports Management, is guaranteed $1MM. Logue, an MSM Sports Management client, is guaranteed $1.1MM.

Flexen, 31, parlayed his first KBO stint into a two-year, $4.75MM contract with the Mariners. That contract included a club/vesting option that Flexen vested at $8MM with a strong performance in 2021-22, when he tossed a combined 317 1/3 innings of 3.66 ERA ball. His 16.5% strikeout rate was well below average, but Flexen showed good command (6.8% walk rate) and did a decent job avoiding hard contact.

The 2023 season proved to be a nightmare. Flexen was rocked for a 7.71 ERA in 42 innings with the Mariners before being designated for assignment. He was traded to the Mets, but New York only took on his contract as a financial counterweight to add reliever Trevor Gott without giving up much in the way of a return. Flexen was immediately designated for assignment by the Mets, who released him the following week.

Flexen has since signed with the Rockies, White Sox and Cubs. He was hit hard in 12 starts for the Rox down the stretch in ’23 but still landed a big league deal with the White Sox the following offseason. The South Siders gave Flexen 30 starts, during which he was a durable fifth starter, logging 160 frames with a 4.95 ERA. The Cubs added Flexen ahead of the 2025 campaign, and while he pitched to a tidy 3.09 ERA in 43 2/3 frames there, the right-hander did so with a 12.4% strikeout rate. The Cubs released Flexen in August, and he didn’t sign anywhere down the stretch.

Overall, Flexen parlayed his strong 2020 season in South Korea into another 147 MLB games and 623 1/3 innings of 4.48 ERA ball. He earned more than $15MM along the way and will now head back to the Bears, for whom he previously notched a 3.01 ERA in 21 starts (116 1/3 innings pitched).

As for Logue, this’ll be his second straight season with the Bears. He racked up 176 innings out of the Doosan rotation in 2025, turning in a tidy 2.81 earned run average. Logue doesn’t throw hard — he averaged 90.3 mph on his heater during parts of three MLB seasons — or miss bats at a particularly high level, but he used strong command and ground-ball tendencies to navigate a hitter-friendly league quite nicely. He set down 21.6% of opponents on strikes against a 5.4% walk rate and with a 53.8% grounder rate.

Logue, 30 in April, was a 2017 ninth-rounder by the Jays, who flipped him to the A’s in their four-player package to acquire Matt Chapman. He lasted only one season (2022) in Oakland, stumbling to a 6.79 ERA in his first 57 MLB frames. He’s since made brief appearances with the Tigers and Dodgers. In 70 MLB innings, he has a 7.20 ERA, a 17.6% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate. ESPN’s Jeff Passan notes that Logue at least explored the possibility of coming back to North America before re-signing in the KBO. Another strong season could put him in line for a major league look next winter, particularly if he adds some velocity and/or noticeably ups his strikeout and swinging-strike rates.

Angels Sign Angel Perdomo, Huascar Ynoa To Minor League Deals

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The Angels have signed left-hander Angel Perdomo and righty Huascar Ynoa to minor league contracts, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Both are former big leaguers and both will presumably be in major league camp next spring.

Perdomo, 31, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons — including a brief 2025 appearance with the A’s. He’s totaled 52 major league frames and has an ugly 5.54 ERA in that time, though there are plenty of under-the-hood numbers to like. The towering 6’8″ southpaw sits 94.1 mph with his heater and gets great extension on the pitch due to his long levers. He’s punched out a massive 34.2% of his opponents in the majors but also struggles to command those lanky limbs, evidenced by a career 16% walk rate.

In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Perdomo has a 3.74 ERA, 35.7% strikeout rate and 15% walk rate. That ERA is slightly skewed from a rough showing this past season (5.52 ERA in 14 1/3 innings) as he returned from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season and a portion of the ’25 campaign. Perdomo is just shy of three years of major league service. If he’s called to the big leagues at any point and pitches like he did in 2023 before blowing out his elbow (29 innings, 3.72 ERA, 37.6 K%, 9.4 BB%), the Halos would be able to control him for another three seasons. He’s out of minor league options though, so if the Angels do add him to the major league roster, he’ll have to stick or else be designated for assignment.

Ynoa, 27, was a notable international signing by the Twins as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic, way back in 2014. The Twins eventually traded him to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Jaime Garcia. Ynoa made his big league debut with the Braves in 2019 but posted uninspiring numbers in brief looks in both ’19 and ’20.

In 2021, Ynoa looked the part of a potential breakout arm. He logged a 2.90 ERA through his first 11 starts and 62 innings but stumbled through a poor finish that bloated his season-long earned run average to 4.05. It was a solid showing for a then-23-year-old righty all the same, but injuries halted his development. Ynoa pitched only 6 2/3 innings in the majors in 2022. He struggled to a 5.68 in 77 2/3 Triple-A frames as well before undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2023 campaign.

Upon returning in 2024, Ynoa’s struggles continued. He posted an ERA north of 6.00 in limited action and became a minor league free agent at season’s end. He then inked a minor league deal to go back to the Twins but was cut loose after five very rough minor league relief outings. Ynoa closed out the season pitching in the Mexican League, and he’s had a decent run in the Dominican Winter League this offseason (2.16 ERA, 18-to-10 K/BB ratio in 16 2/3 relief innings). Like Perdomo, Ynoa is out of minor league options, so if he makes the roster he’d need to stick or else be exposed to waivers in order to be sent back down.

Twins, Dan Altavilla Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Twins reached a minor league deal with reliever Dan Altavilla, reports Franycs Romero. The MAS+ Agency client will presumably receive a non-roster invite to MLB Spring Training.

Altavilla spent the 2025 campaign with the White Sox. He was released in September despite tossing 29 innings of 2.49 ERA ball on the season. Altavilla’s 17.5% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk percentage were each far worse than the respective league averages. He only missed bats on 9.6% of his offerings. The Sox didn’t intend to offer him a contract for his final season of arbitration, so they dropped him from the roster a few weeks before the end of the year.

The 33-year-old Altavilla has appeared in parts of eight big leagues seasons between four teams. He’d only made seven combined appearances between 2021-24 before this year’s return run in Chicago. His 28 appearances were the second most of his career, trailing only the 41 games in which he pitched for the 2017 Mariners. Altavilla has a four-pitch mix led by a 96-97 MPH fastball. He didn’t miss many bats but got ground-balls at a strong 51.3% clip this past season.

Minnesota is a good landing spot for a depth reliever. The Twins dealt away most of their established bullpen arms at the deadline. Their only MLB acquisition thus far has been righty Eric Orze, whom they picked up from the Rays in a small trade as Tampa Bay created roster space to keep prospects out of the Rule 5 draft. The Twins should add a couple low-cost free agent relievers.

Justin Topa, Cole Sands and Kody Funderburk are probably the only pitchers locked into Opening Day bullpen roles. Topa is the only reliever on the 40-man roster who cannot be optioned. Altavilla would fit into that bucket as well by virtue of having five-plus years of service. If the Twins add him to the roster at any point, they wouldn’t be able to send him to Triple-A without his consent.

Giants Designate Joey Wiemer For Assignment

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The Giants are designating outfielder Joey Wiemer for assignment, the team informed reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). San Francisco needed to open a 40-man roster spot after signing reliever Jason Foley yesterday. They’ll need to open another spot once they finalize their two-year agreement with starter Adrian Houser.

San Francisco picked up Wiemer in a DFA trade with Miami last month. The 26-year-old always seemed a long shot to stick on the 40-man roster throughout the winter. Wiemer has bounced around over the past year-plus. He’s been traded from Milwaukee to Cincinnati to Kansas City, then landed with Miami on an August waiver claim. He’ll hope to land with a sixth organization within the next week.

Listed at 6’4″ and 226 pounds, the righty-swinging Wiemer has plus raw power. He’s also a plus runner who grades as a quality defender at all three outfield positions. The physical gifts are obvious, but his long levers have led to a lot of swing and miss. Wiemer has punched out at a near-30% clip across 499 career plate appearances, leading to a .205/.279/.359 batting line despite 16 homers and 12 stolen bases.

The Giants have five days to trade Wiemer or place him back on waivers. He has yet to clear waivers, so they’d be able to keep him in the organization as a non-roster player if they manage to sneak him through unclaimed.

Cardinals Designate Matt Koperniak For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced that outfielder Matt Koperniak has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for right-hander Dustin May, whose signing is now official.

Koperniak, 28 in February, has been with the Cards since signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he produced pretty solid results as he climbed the minor league ladder. Across those three seasons, he stepped to the plate 1,399 times. His 10.1% walk rate and 16.1% strikeout rate were both solid figures. He produced a combined line of .293/.375/.441, which translated to a wRC of 112, indicating he was 12% better than league average at the plate.

He seemed to find a new gear in 2024, his first full season at Triple-A. He hit 20 homers and slashed .309/.370/.512 for a 128 wRC+. That may have been a bit fluky, as he got some help from a .351 batting average on balls in play, but the Cards seemed to believe in him. They added him to the 40-man roster in November of that year to keep Koperniak out of the Rule 5 draft.

He spent 2025 back at Triple-A on optional assignment and his results backed up. His home run tally dropped to 14, despite taking 23 extra plate appearances. His BABIP dropped to a more average-ish .283. He finished the season with a .246/.317/.382 line and 85 wRC+.

The Cards are rebuilding and will be giving playing time to younger players in 2026 but Koperniak wouldn’t have been at the front of the line after that performance. He’s instead been bumped off the roster and into DFA limbo. The Cards will now see if there’s any trade interest in him. If not, he’ll be put on waivers. He does still have a couple of options remaining and is considered a strong defensive outfielder, with experience at all three spots. If some club out there likes him, they could acquire him and keep in Triple-A as depth as they hope for a bounceback at the plate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

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