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Dodgers Designate Ryan Fitzgerald For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced that they have designated infielder/outfielder Ryan Fitzgerald for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move to make their signing of infielder Andy Ibáñez official.

Fitzgerald, 32, has never played for the Dodgers. He was just claimed off waivers from the Twins last week. After years of grinding his way through indy ball and the minor leagues, Minnesota gave him a chance to make his major league debut last year. He stepped to the plate 53 times in 24 games, producing a .196/.302/.457 batting line. He played all four infield spots and flashed 79th percentile sprint speed. He also stepped to the plate 245 times in Triple-A and slashed .277/.367/.469 at that level.

That was enough for the Dodgers to grab him while they had an open roster spot but they have now bumped him off. It’s possible that this was by design. Fitzgerald has less than three years of big league service time and doesn’t have a previous career outright, meaning he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency if he were passed through waivers unclaimed.

Now that he has been designated for assignment, the Dodgers will have to either trade him or put him back on the waiver wire in the next five days. Given his defensive versatility and solid year with the bat, it’s possible he draws interest from a club in need of some extra depth. If not, the Dodgers will keep him as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

Dodgers Sign Andy Ibáñez

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Jan. 13: The deal is now official. Ryan Fitzgerald has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Jan. 10: Ibáñez’s deal is for $1.2MM, according to Romero. He can also earn up to $100k in performance bonuses.

Jan. 9: The Dodgers have signed infielder Andy Ibáñez to a major league deal, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. The salary has not yet been reported. The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this deal official. Ibáñez is represented by The Movement Baseball.

Ibáñez, 33 in April, was just non-tendered by the Tigers in November. He had spent three years with Detroit in a utility role. He got into 304 games over that span, stepping to the plate 820 times. He produced a combined batting line of .251/.304/.392, which translated to a wRC+ of 93. While that offense was a bit below average, Ibáñez provided a lot of defensive versatility. He played all four infield spots as well as the outfield corners.

That wasn’t enough to keep him in Detroit for 2026. He exhausted his final option year in 2025, meaning he will be out of options going forward. He had qualified for arbitration a year ago as a Super Two player. The Tigers paid him $1.4MM in 2025. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a raise to $1.8MM this year but Detroit didn’t tender him a contract, sending him to free agency instead.

The Dodgers have a relatively older infield group. Shortstop Mookie Betts is 33 years old and was a full-time outfielder not long ago. 36-year-old Freddie Freeman is at first base and 35-year-old Max Muncy is at the other corner. Getting a semi rest day in the designated hitter slot isn’t really an option thanks to the presence of Shohei Ohtani.

Second base is a bit more fluid. Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim, Miguel Rojas and Alex Freeland are options for that spot. Rojas will be turning 37 years old soon. Edman isn’t quite as old, turning 31 in May, but is coming off ankle surgery. Kim can play other positions around the diamond. Freeland is a notable prospect for the club and still optionable, so perhaps it makes sense for him to be getting regular playing time in Triple-A if he doesn’t have an everyday job in the majors.

Ibáñez will give the club another multi-positional guy on the bench who can bounce around as needed, depending on who else is healthy and producing. If he has a good season with the Dodgers, he can be retained beyond 2026 via arbitration. Rojas has already said that he will retire after this year, so that’ll be one less guy in the mix for 2027 and beyond. Muncy is also slated for free agency a season from now but the Dodgers will presumably come up with some plan for third base in the next year, whether that’s bringing back Muncy or some alternative.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks, Shawn Dubin Agree To Minor League Deal

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The D-backs and free agent righty Shawn Dubin agreed to a minor league deal, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The agreement was actually reached last month, based on Dubin’s transaction log at MLB.com, but apparently didn’t become finalized until more recently. He’s represented by Excel Sports Management.

Dubin, 30, has spent nearly his entire career in the Astros organization. Houston selected him in the 13th round of the 2018 draft, and he’s pitched in parts of each of the past three seasons with them. Dubin has posted decent results and strong strikeout rates in the upper minors, and he showed some promise with the ’24 Astros when he logged 45 1/3 innings with a 4.17 ERA and a 23.7% strikeout rate. Command has long been an issue for the righty, however, and that was the case in ’24 as well, when he issued a walk to 12.6% of his opponents.

In 2025, Dubin turned in strong Triple-A results in a small sample (one run, four hits, one walk, 14 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings) before being summoned to the majors. He was tagged for a 5.61 ERA with a surprisingly sharp 7.2% walk rate but also a diminished 18.9% strikeout rate in 25 2/3 innings. Houston designated him for assignment in late August.

The Orioles claimed Dubin, and he pitched eight innings for them in the final few weeks of the season. He allowed only three runs in that time, but he missed time with an elbow injury. Dubin has typically sat 94-96 mph with his fastball, but his average velocity with the Orioles checked in at 93.6 mph, which stood as a clear red flag. Imaging on did not reveal any major damage, however, and Dubin told the Orioles beat in September that he expected to avoid surgery and have a normal offseason after a few weeks of downtime (via the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka). Baltimore outrighted him off the roster following the season. He elected to become a minor league free agent.

Dubin has extensive experience working as both a starter and a reliever. Assuming he’s healthy and invited to major league camp this spring, he can compete for a swingman role on a D-backs staff that is generally short on innings. Re-signing Merrill Kelly gave the Snakes a veteran anchor, and he’ll join Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka in the rotation as things currently stand. Rodriguez and especially Soroka have both missed time with injuries in recent seasons, however, and the depth options beyond that top quintet are mostly lacking in major league experience.

Phillies, Genesis Cabrera Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies agreed to a minor league deal with lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera. The agreement was first reported last month by Mike Rodriguez but didn’t appear on the MiLB.com transaction log until this week. The log also indicates that the Phils have also added righty relievers Trevor Richards and Jonathan Hernández, infielder Christian Cairo, and catcher René Pinto in recent weeks.

Cabrera is the likeliest of the group to factor into the early-season plans. The southpaw has pitched in the big leagues in seven straight seasons. He suited up for four different teams last year but struggled to a 6.54 ERA across 40 combined appearances. Cabrera had a mediocre strikeout rate for a second straight season and allowed far too many home runs, which has become an increasing problem.

The 29-year-old Cabrera sits in the 95-96 MPH range with both his sinker and four-seam fastball. The velocity is down from when he was working 97-98 and pitched his way into high-leverage spots with the Cardinals earlier in his career. It’s still above-average for a lefty, though, and Cabrera’s cutter and curveball have each been successful pitches in the past. He backfills their lefty relief depth after the Matt Strahm trade but remains no higher than third on the organizational depth chart behind José Alvarado and Tanner Banks. Philadelphia also has Kyle Backhus, a soft-tossing grounder specialist, on the 40-man roster.

Richards, 33 in May, made five combined appearances last year between the Royals and Diamondbacks. The changeup specialist has pitched parts of eight seasons and topped 60 innings each year from 2021-24. Richards is coming off a 5.19 ERA despite solid strikeout and walk numbers between three Triple-A clubs. He’ll compete for a swing role in Spring Training.

Hernández was a high-leverage arm with the Rangers early in his career who struggled between 2023-24. The 29-year-old sinkerballer signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay last winter. He was injured for most of the season and limited to 12 Triple-A appearances, in which he tossed 12 innings of three-run ball. He averaged 95.3 MPH on his fastball, down almost three ticks relative to his first few seasons in Texas.

Pinto is a veteran depth catcher who hit .231/.263/.404 over 83 games with the Rays from 2022-24. He spent last season in the minors, striking out at a 31% rate while batting .259/.309/.498 in 64 contests with Arizona and Toronto affiliates. Cairo, a slick-fielding utility player, was a Rule 5 pick by the Braves last offseason. He didn’t make the team and was offered back to the Guardians in Spring Training. He hit .237/.338/.331 across 416 Triple-A plate appearances and qualified for minor league free agency. He’s still looking to make his MLB debut.

Tigers To Re-Sign Bryan Sammons To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers are signing left-hander Bryan Sammons to a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of The MLB Network. The 6’4″ southpaw will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Sammons returns to the organization with which he spent the 2023-24 seasons. A former Twins draftee, Sammons signed with the Tigers out of the independent ranks. Sammons earned a big league look in July ’24 and made six MLB appearances as a long reliever. He posted a 3.62 ERA through 27 1/3 innings.

That earned the Western Carolina product a guaranteed contract from the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan last winter. Sammons had a decent year in NPB, working to a 3.78 ERA across 85 2/3 frames. That came with middling strikeout (19.6%) and walk (10.7%) rates, and the 30-year-old heads back to the affiliated ranks with a familiar team.

Sammons will likely head to Triple-A Toledo, where he posted a 4.15 ERA through 102 innings two seasons ago. He fanned 23.1% of batters faced against a 10% walk rate. Sammons uses a five-pitch mix to compensate for fringe velocity, as he sits around 91 MPH with the fastball.

Cubs, Corbin Martin Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are in agreement with right-hander Corbin Martin on a minor league contract, reports Marquee’s Lance Brozdowski. The 30-year-old will presumably get a non-roster invite to MLB camp.

Martin was on and off Baltimore’s big league roster throughout the 2025 season. He wound up throwing 18 innings, allowing 15 runs (12 earned). That actually lowered his career earned run average to 6.54 across 75 2/3 frames over parts of four seasons. Martin had similarly rough numbers with Triple-A Norfolk, allowing a 5.82 ERA in 34 appearances. He recorded an average 22.5% strikeout percentage while issuing walks at a huge 13.6% clip.

A former second-round pick of the Astros, Martin was a highly-regarded prospect whom the Diamondbacks acquired in the Zack Greinke trade. Injuries threw him off track. The 6’2″ righty underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and missed the entire ’23 season on account of a torn lat tendon. His control, which was solid enough early in his minor league career, has held him back at the upper levels. Martin has walked more than 12% of opponents in the big leagues and Triple-A alike.

The Cubs are intrigued enough by the raw stuff to give him a look on a non-roster deal. Martin’s heater sits in the 95-96 MPH range and he has a slider and curveball. It’s a good enough arsenal to miss bats but he’ll need to be around the strike zone more consistently to secure a spot in Craig Counsell’s relief group. Martin has exhausted his minor league option years, meaning the Cubs would need to keep him in the majors or expose him to waivers if they call him up.

Cubs To Sign Tyler Beede To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs and right-hander Tyler Beede have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. The ACES client will presumably be invited to big league camp in spring training.

Beede, 33 in May, has had a uniquely winding career but is not coming off a good year. He signed a minor league deal with the Twins in April of 2025. He made seven appearances for Triple-A St. Paul but allowed eight earned runs in nine innings via 12 hits and nine walks while striking out seven opponents. He was released in June and then landed a deal with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He posted a 5.48 ERA for the Ducks and then signed with the Diablos Rojos in the Mexican League. He posted a 7.43 ERA in three starts for that club.

Those are obviously not great numbers but Beede has shown more potential in the past. As a youngster, he was highly-touted enough to be a first-round pick twice. The Blue Jays selected him 21st overall in 2011 but he didn’t sign and went to Vanderbilt. Then in 2014, the Giants took him 14th overall. He was a notable prospect for a bit but never became a star in the big leagues. By the end of 2022, he had logged 187 innings, mostly with the Giants but also with the Pirates. He had a 5.34 ERA in that time.

He went overseas for the 2023 season, signing with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. That went pretty well, as he posted a 3.99 ERA. His 16.4% strikeout rate wasn’t too impressive but he got grounders on 57.4% of balls in play. He returned to North America by signing a minor league pact with the Guardians. He made that club’s Opening Day roster but posted an 8.36 ERA in 14 innings and was bumped from the roster in early May.

The Cubs surely aren’t banking on Beede for much but there’s no real risk on a minor league deal. Chicago likes to build bullpens on the cheap. From the end of the 2019 season to the end of the 2025 season, they didn’t sign any relievers to multi-year deals. They built a decent relief corps for their 2025 team via a series of unheralded pickups, including Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar and others.

They have been in a somewhat similar lane here going into the 2026 season. They did give a two-year deal to Phil Maton, worth $14.5MM. Apart from that, they have given one-year deals to Thielbar, Hunter Harvey, Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb, each worth $6MM or less. They’ve added Collin Snider and Jeff Brigham on minor league deals and now add Beede into the mix. Beede was mostly a starter earlier in his career but has been doing more bullpen work in recent seasons.

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images

Rays Acquire Ken Waldichuk, Brett Wisely

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The Rays have acquired left-hander Ken Waldichuk and infielder Brett Wisely from the Braves, according to announcements from both clubs. Atlanta receives cash considerations or a player to be named later in return. Tampa designated right-hander Osvaldo Bido and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment to open 40-man spots for their new acquisitions.

All four players involved here have been riding the DFA carousel in recent months, to varying extents. Wisely was put on waivers by the Giants in September. Atlanta claimed him at that time but designated him for assignment last week when they claimed right-hander George Soriano. Waldichuk was DFA’d by the Athletics when they acquired Jeff McNeil and then claimed by Atlanta, then DFA’d again recently when Atlanta re-signed Tyler Kinley. Now Atlanta will convert those two players, who were already off the roster, into some cash or perhaps another player down the line.

The Rays will take advantage of Atlanta’s roster crunch to upgrade their pitching staff and infield. They are losing some cash, or maybe a PTBNL, as well as potentially losing Bido and Cheng. However, those two players were only recently acquired. The A’s put Bido on waivers in December, with Atlanta claiming him at that time, but he went to Tampa a couple of weeks later on another waiver claim. Cheng was claimed off waivers from the Pirates last month.

Waldichuk, 28, is coming off some recent struggles but was once a notable prospect with the Yankees. They traded him to the A’s as part of the 2022 deadline deal which saw them acquire Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino. Waldichuk made his major league debut with the A’s in 2022 and showed a bit of promise. His 4.93 earned run average was a bit on the high side but his 22.6% strikeout rate was around average and his 6.8% walk rate was strong.

But in 2023, he posted a 5.36 ERA in 141 frames. Tommy John surgery in May of 2024 put him out of action for a long time. He got back on the mound in 2025 but was optioned to the minors. He walked 15.9% of batters he faced on the farm last year, which led to an ugly 8.17 ERA. He qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player. He and the A’s avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $825K for 2026, a bit above the $780K league minimum.

His poor 2025 season and slight salary bump haven’t dissuaded teams from being interested. Tampa could use some cheap rotation help. They always have some budgetary concerns and have subtracted some notable starting pitchers in the past year. They sent Taj Bradley to the Twins at last year’s deadline and Shane Baz to the Orioles this offseason. They currently project to have Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane McClanahan, Steven Matz, Joe Boyle and Yoendrys Gómez in the season-opening rotation mix, health permitting.

Waldichuk still has options, so the Rays could send him to Triple-A and try to get him back on track. If it works out, there would be a long-term payoff. He can still be retained via arbitration for another four seasons. It’s also possible they try to pass him through waivers later in the offseason, which would allow him to stick around without taking up a roster spot.

Wisely should help in the middle infield, a clear area of weakness for the Rays. They traded second baseman Brandon Lowe to the Pirates this winter, which led to Cheng losing his roster spot in Pittsburgh. The Rays also moved on from Ha-Seong Kim last year.

Tampa has Taylor Walls, Carson Williams and Richie Palacios in their middle infield mix, though that group doesn’t provide much certainty. Walls has some chops with the glove but has been a poor hitter in his career. Williams was and is a notable prospect but he struck out in 41.5% of his plate appearances in his first taste of the big leagues last year. Palacios has been on the injured list for much of the past two years.

Claiming Cheng gave the Rays some optionable middle infield depth. Wisely is out of options but has a bit more big league experience. While Cheng has only appeared in three big league contests, Wisely has 168 games under his belt, with solid defense at all four infield spots and some experience in the outfield as well. He has only hit .214/.265/.319 in his big league career but has a more impressive .276/.375/.436 line at Triple-A over the past three seasons.

Wisely jumps into Tampa’s infield group for now but it’s also possible they put him back on waivers between now and the start of the season in an attempt to retain him as non-roster depth, depending on what other moves they have in store. If he holds onto his roster spot, he comes with five full seasons of club control.

Cheng, 24, has shown some abilities as a low-power, high-contact hitter who has a solid floor in terms of speed and defense. In 2023, between High-A and Double-A, he stole 26 bases with a 9.7% walk rate and 18.7% strikeout rate. He slashed .278/.352/.456 for a 116 wRC+. That got him a 40-man roster spot with Pittsburgh going into the 2024 season but his offense tailed off in the past two seasons. He slashed just .217/.319/.312 in the minors in that time.

The Rays will have five days to either trade him or put him on waivers. He does still have an option remaining, which could appeal to clubs in need of infield depth. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Tampa could keep him around.

Bido, 30, showed a bit of promise with the A’s in 2024. He posted a 3.41 ERA in 63 1/3 innings. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 24.3% of batters faced. He regressed last year, finishing the season with a 5.87 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.

He’s now out of options, which is making it tougher for him to cling to a roster spot. He has five years of club control, so there’s still enough interest for him to have been claimed off waivers twice this winter. Like Cheng, he’ll have to be back on the wire or be traded in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images.

Reds To Sign Pierce Johnson

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Jan. 12: Johnson is guaranteed $6.5MM, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

Jan. 11: Right-hander Pierce Johnson is headed to the Reds, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The details of the contract are not yet known. Johnson is represented by John Boggs & Associates.

Johnson, 34, was a first-round pick all the way back in 2012. He made his big league debut in 2017 but didn’t stick in the majors right away and eventually headed to Japan in 2019 to pitch for the Hanshin Tigers. The result was a dominant 1.38 ERA over 58 2/3 innings of work in NPB, and Johnson then returned to the majors in 2020 and posted strong numbers overall across three seasons with the Padres.

Missing most of the 2022 campaign due to injury, however, put Johnson in an awkward position entering free agency following the year. He caught on with the Rockies and struggled badly, posting a 6.00 ERA during his time in Colorado, but was still an attractive enough target to be dealt to the Braves at the trade deadline. Upon arriving in Atlanta, he looked like a different pitcher, turning in a a 0.76 ERA, 36% strikeout rate, and 5.4% walk rate across 24 appearances down the stretch for the Braves.

It was a performance so impressive that Atlanta chose to extend Johnson on a fresh two-year deal that guaranteed him $14.25MM, including a $250K buyout on a $7MM club option for the 2026 season. Johnson posted a 3.36 ERA and 3.77 FIP overall across 115 1/3 innings in the next two seasons, but he was unable to carry over the pinpoint command he had flashed down the stretch in 2023. His peripherals declined, culminating in the righty striking out a diminished (but still strong) 24.8% of his opponents this past year, and the Braves ultimately chose to buy out his 2026 option.

Now headed into his age-35 season, Johnson will join a Reds team that managed to squeak into the playoffs last year and has its sights set on returning in 2026. After re-signing Emilio Pagan to serve as the club’s closer, Cincinnati has continued to retool its bullpen by adding Caleb Ferguson and now Johnson. That trio should be joined by Tony Santillan to make a formidable late inning relief corps for the Reds, while former starters like Graham Ashcraft and Connor Phillips provide some upside but likely slide into lower-leverage roles. With a stacked rotation led by Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott, Terry Francona’s pitching staff looks solid headed into the season.

The question for the Reds headed into 2026 is mostly focused around the club’s lineup. While Elly De La Cruz is a budding superstar and players like TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer have proven themselves to be quality role players, it’s hard to know if the Reds’ lineup will produce enough on offense to carry them back to October. Players like Noelvi Marte and Matt McLain have shown great promise in the past but have also struggled badly at times. The same can be said for reclamation projects JJ Bleday and Ke’Bryan Hayes. If the Reds have more planned this offseason after adding Johnson, adding more to the lineup would be the best way to improve the roster, whether that’s through free agency or perhaps a trade of someone like right-hander Brady Singer, who’ll be a free agent next winter.

Cardinals Sign Bruce Zimmermann To Minors Contract

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The Cardinals signed Bruce Zimmermann to a minor league deal, as per the southpaw’s MLB.com profile page.  He was outrighted off the Brewers’ 40-man roster at the end of the season and then elected minor league free agency.

Zimmermann spent all of 2024 in the Orioles’ minor league system, and then just about all of 2025 with Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate before his contract was selected in the final week of the season.  With the Brewers looking to cover innings and generally save its pitchers heading into the playoffs, Zimmermann ate up six innings in a start on Sept. 23, allowing five earned runs in his lone MLB appearance of the year.

The left-hander’s previous big league resume consists of 158 1/3 innings with the Orioles from 2020-23, starting 27 of 38 games and posting a 5.57 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, and 5.2% walk rate.  Zimmermann was tagged for 40 home runs during his time in Baltimore, and he hasn’t had much success against either left-handed or right-handed batters at the Major League level.

The Brewers were deep enough in rotation options that Zimmermann was something of an afterthought for the team, even though he posted decent numbers as a starter and reliever at Triple-A Nashville.  St. Louis might not necessarily offer Zimmermann more chances at MLB playing time since the rebuilding Cardinals are prioritizing their younger arms, but he could fill a similar role as a Triple-A depth option, with spot start opportunities available if any of the youngsters struggle or if injuries arise.

Zimmermann is out of minor league options, so if he is selected to the Cards’ 26-man roster, they’d first have to expose him to waivers before outrighting him off the 40-man and sending him back to Triple-A.  Since Zimmermann has previously been outrighted, he’d also have the right to elect free agency rather than accept another outright assignment.  Depending on whether or not the Cardinals bring him up to the Show at all, Zimmermann might be in for a busy year on the transaction front.

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