Yankees Claim Braden Shewmake
The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder Braden Shewmake off waivers from the Royals. He’ll bring their 40-man roster to capacity, meaning New York will now need to make a roster move once lefty Tim Hill‘s deal is finalized. Kansas City designated Shewmake for assignment last week. They’d claimed him off waivers from the White Sox earlier in the season.
The 27-year-old Shewmake spent the 2024 season with the White Sox after being acquired in the trade that sent left-hander Aaron Bummer from Chicago to Atlanta. The former first-round pick has appeared in parts of two big league seasons but has posted a bleak .118/.127/.191 batting line in 71 plate appearances between the Braves and Sox. He hasn’t offered much more offense in the upper minors, where he’s a .240/.299/.395 hitter in 866 Triple-A plate appearances.
Shewmake clearly doesn’t hit much, but he’s regarded as a surehanded infielder with strong defensive tools at multiple positions. He’s spent the bulk of his career at shortstop but has experience at second base and third base as well. Statcast credits him with better-than-average sprint speed and arm strength, though he’s not plus in either regard.
The addition of Shewmake is a depth play for the Yankees and surely not intended to address the hole in their lineup at either second base or third base (depending on where Jazz Chisholm Jr. plays). Shewmake has a minor league option remaining and could provide depth at multiple spots around the diamond if he sticks on the 40-man roster into the season. However, with a move needed to open space for the aforementioned Hill, Shewmake could find himself designated for assignment once again, with the Yankees hoping to pass him through waivers and keep his glove in Triple-A as a non-roster depth piece.
Orioles, Terrin Vavra Agree To Minor League Deal
The Orioles are bringing infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra back to the organization on a minor league contract, MLBTR has learned. The NPG Sports client be invited to major league spring training.
Vavra, 27, was a third-round pick out of the University of Minnesota by the Rockies back in 2018 but has spent the bulk of his career in the Orioles organization. The Rox traded the former Golden Gopher to Baltimore alongside Tyler Nevin in 2020’s Mychal Givens trade.
Vavra has played in parts of two big league seasons with the O’s, logging a combined 159 plate appearances with a .254/.331/.304 batting line (87 wRC+) in that time. Vavra was briefly in the Mariners organization last summer after the O’s designated him for assignment and lost him to Seattle on waivers. It was a short stay, as he was cut loose by the M’s after just three games in Tacoma and wound up re-signing to finish out the minor league season back with the Orioles organization. He’ll now land back with the O’s for another stint on another minor league deal.
While he was drafted as a shortstop, Vavra has spent more time at second base in his professional career. He’s logged nearly 500 innings in the outfield in recent seasons as well, spending time at all three positions. Vavra has played in parts of three Triple-A seasons and carries a career .283/.382/.413 batting line at the top minor league level. He doesn’t have one standout tool but has walked in a strong 11.7% of his Triple-A plate appearances against a slightly lower-than-average 21.6% strikeout rate. Statcast credited Vavra with above-average sprint speed as recently as 2023, placing him in the 64th percentile of big leaguers.
Baltimore obviously has a crowded infield that’s headlined with former top prospects. Gunnar Henderson is locked in at shortstop and has developed into an MVP-caliber talent. Jordan Westburg will be back at third base after a breakout 2024 showing. Jackson Holliday has yet to solidify himself in the majors, but the former No. 1 pick and No. 1 overall prospect only turned 21 in December. He’ll get the opportunity to claim the second base job. Ryan Mountcastle is a relative veteran at first base now, and top prospect Coby Mayo would likely get a look in the event of a notable injury at either infield corner. The outfield is arguably even more crowded after offseason signings of Tyler O’Neill, Ramon Laureano and Dylan Carlson added to incumbents Cedric Mullins and Colton Cowser.
Suffice it to say, there’s no real path to an everyday role for Vavra, but his ability to back up at multiple spots and his OBP-driven skill set at the plate could put him into the bench mix. If nothing else, he’s a nice versatile hand to have waiting in the wings down in Triple-A Norfolk.
Angels Sign Yolmer Sanchez To Minor League Deal
The Angels signed infielder Yolmer Sánchez to a minor league contract. The former Gold Glove winner was among the Halos’ non-roster invitees to big league Spring Training.
Sánchez, 32, is attempting to get back to the majors for the first time in two years. The switch-hitting infielder played seven seasons with the White Sox between 2014-20. He won the aforementioned Gold Glove at second base in 2019. Sánchez hit .245/.300/.360 in nearly 2500 trips to the plate in a ChiSox uniform. He has spent most of the last four years at the Triple-A level. Sánchez got to the majors briefly again in 2022, suiting up for the Red Sox and Mets.
Over the past two seasons, Sánchez has been in Triple-A. He hit .236/.381/.350 with Atlanta’s affiliate in 2023. He turned in a .226/.346/.393 mark over 399 trips to the plate with New York’s top farm team last season. Sánchez carries a .251/.340/.374 line in more than 3000 career Triple-A plate appearances. He joins Tim Anderson, J.D. Davis and Carter Kieboom in Halos camp as non-roster infielders who have major league experience.
Marlins, Rob Brantly Agree To Minor League Contract
The Marlins are in agreement with catcher Rob Brantly on a minor league deal with an invite to MLB Spring Training, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The veteran returns to the organization with which he made his MLB debut more than a decade ago.
Brantly, now 35, was a Tigers draftee whom Detroit included in their 2012 deadline deal to acquire Aníbal Sánchez and Omar Infante from Miami. The Marlins called him up within a month of the trade. Brantly appeared in 98 games for the Fish, hitting .235/.298/.325 over 356 plate appearances. Miami lost him on waivers to the White Sox during the 2014-15 offseason.
That kicked off an extended career as a journeyman depth catcher. Brantly has appeared at the major league level in seven of the past 10 seasons. He hasn’t appeared in more than 14 big league games in any of those years. Brantly still has far more MLB experience with the Marlins than he does with any other team. He has appeared in 39 contests with five different teams since the end of the 2013 campaign.
Three of those games were last year as a member of the Rays. Brantly had a brief stint on Tampa Bay’s big league roster while starting catcher Ben Rortvedt was away attending to the birth of his child. He spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Durham, hitting .250/.316/.394 over 179 trips to the plate. Brantly is a .266/.324/.390 hitter over parts of 12 Triple-A seasons.
The Marlins have three catchers on their 40-man roster: Nick Fortes, Liam Hicks and Agustín Ramírez. Hicks is a Rule 5 pick out of the Rangers organization. Ramírez is a highly-regarded prospect who headlined last summer’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade return. Fortes is the only member of that trio who has played in the big leagues. Brantly brings a lot of experience to the upper minors. He could back up Ramírez at Triple-A Jacksonville to open the season.
Cubs Designate Rob Zastryzny For Assignment
The Cubs announced that they’ve designated lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny for assignment. Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reported the move just before the official announcement. That’s the corresponding move for the Ryan Brasier trade, which is official.
Chicago claimed Zastryzny off waivers from the Brewers in the first week of the offseason. The Missouri product returned to his original organization. Chicago drafted Zastryzny in the second round in 2013. He tossed 16 innings for their 2016 World Series team as a rookie. Zastryzny remained with the Cubs through 2018, when they outrighted him off the 40-man roster.
Zastrynzny bounced around between a few organizations and spent time in the independent ranks. He returned to the big leagues with a brief stint for the Mets in 2022. The southpaw suited up for the Angels later that season and threw a career-high 20 2/3 frames with the Pirates in ’23. He spent last year with the Brewers, making nine MLB appearances and working 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
Between five teams, Zastryzny has thrown 67 innings with a 4.30 earned run average in his MLB career. He had a nice year with Milwaukee’s top affiliate in Nashville last year. Zastrynzny managed a 3.03 ERA with an excellent 32.5% strikeout rate across 29 2/3 frames. That intrigued the Cubs enough that they brought him back on waivers, though he had an uphill battle sticking on the roster.
That’s largely because he has exhausted his minor league options. Chicago couldn’t send him to Triple-A without putting him on waivers. The Cubs don’t have a ton of flexibility in a bullpen without many pitchers who can be optioned. The Cubs will probably place him on waivers within the next few days. Zastryzny’s previous career outrights mean he could elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.
Cubs Acquire Ryan Brasier
The Dodgers announced a trade sending reliever Ryan Brasier and cash considerations to the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Los Angeles had designated the veteran righty for assignment on Thursday when they finalized the Kirby Yates signing. Teams have five days following a DFA to trade a player, so the Dodgers needed to find a deal by tonight or put Brasier on waivers. Chicago designated Rob Zastryzny for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move.
Brasier is quite a bit better than most players who end up in DFA limbo. The veteran righty had a strong season and a half in Los Angeles. He signed a minor league deal midway through the 2023 season after being let go by the Red Sox. Brasier had a dominant finish, turning in a 0.70 earned run average across 38 2/3 innings with Los Angeles. The Dodgers retained him on a two-year, $9MM free agent contract.
The 37-year-old was never going to replicate his late-season ’23 numbers. He had another decent year when healthy, working to a 3.54 ERA with a league average 22.7% strikeout percentage. Brasier kept his walk rate to a tidy 4.5% clip, in large part because he got opponents to chase 40% of pitches off the plate.
Health was the biggest caveat. Brasier suffered a significant strain of his right calf in late April. He was shelved into the middle of August and limited to 28 innings on the season. He had an excellent second half but was nevertheless relegated to low-leverage appearances during L.A.’s World Series run. Brasier allowed five runs with seven strikeouts and three walks across nine playoff innings.
The DFA is less a reflection of Brasier of “losing” his job and much more about L.A.’s bullpen depth. They added Tanner Scott and Yates after re-signing Blake Treinen. They join Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Alex Vesia as bullpen locks. The Dodgers are going to run a six-man rotation, meaning they can only devote seven roster spots to relievers.
Brasier has well over five years of major league service. He cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his consent. The Dodgers could go back to an eight-man bullpen once Shohei Ohtani returns to the rotation, since Ohtani doesn’t count against their 13-pitcher limit as a two-way player. They’re not going to push Ohtani’s elbow rehab merely to get another bullpen spot, so there’s probably only one available if all their relievers are healthy coming out of camp. Anthony Banda is out of options and seems likely to grab the final relief job.
The Cubs don’t have a ton of roster flexibility with their bullpen either. Chicago acquired Ryan Pressly last week. He’ll close games. Brasier joins Porter Hodge and Tyson Miller as high-leverage righties in front of Pressly. The Cubs added Caleb Thielbar on a $2.75MM free agent deal earlier in the winter; he projects as their top left-hander. Colin Rea is probably ticketed for long relief work.
That’d account for six of eight ‘pen slots if everyone’s healthy. Eli Morgan and Nate Pearson may be next on the depth chart, but they both have a minor league option remaining. That isn’t the case for Julian Merryweather or Keegan Thompson. They’d each need to be in the majors or be designated for assignment. Thompson’s swing-and-miss ability probably gives him a leg up.
Brasier will make $4.5MM for the upcoming season. He’ll be a free agent at year’s end. It’s unclear how much of that the Dodgers are paying down. The Dodgers will save 110% in taxes on whatever money they managed to offload. If the Cubs had taken on the entire salary, that would have pushed them to around $211MM in luxury tax obligations (courtesy of RosterResource). They’re more than $30MM shy of the base threshold.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Cubs were acquiring Brasier. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic first mentioned the Dodgers receiving cash considerations. Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reported the return as a player to be named later or cash.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
Rockies Sign Tommy Doyle To Minor League Deal
The Rockies recently announced a batch of non-roster invitees to spring training, including several of the club’s incumbent prospects and previously reported minor league signees. One new name on the list was right-hander Tommy Doyle.
Doyle, 29 in May, is a familiar face for the organization but was elsewhere in 2024. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta going into last year and spent most of 2024 with Triple-A Gwinnett. He logged 40 1/3 innings for that club, allowing 3.57 earned runs per nine. He paired a 24.9% strikeout rate with a 9.8% walk rate. Despite those fairly solid numbers, he never got the call to join the big league club.
Prior to that, Doyle had spent his entire career with the Rockies. He was drafted by Colorado in 2017 and was in the organization through the end of 2023. He managed to toss 26 big league innings, though he allowed 24 earned runs, giving him an unsightly 8.31 ERA at the moment.
That’s obviously a small sample size and Doyle put up much better numbers on the farm. He tossed 161 2/3 innings across various minor league levels during his previous time in the Rockies’ organization, with a 3.56 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate.
The Rockies have a fairly wide open relief mix at the moment. Of the eight guys projected by RosterResource to be in the Opening Day bullpen, Tyler Kinley and Justin Lawrence are the only two with more than 100 innings in the big leagues. They are also the only two that can’t be sent to the minors. As the club continues its ongoing rebuild, plenty of young arms will get opportunities this year but not all of them will succeed.
Doyle gives the club another depth option to potentially rely on throughout the year. If he gets added to the roster at any point, he still has one option year remaining, which would allow the club to shuttle him between the majors and minors with regularity. He also has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained beyond this year if he’s holding a roster spot at season’s end.
Blue Jays Designate Michael Petersen For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated reliever Michael Petersen for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man roster move for Max Scherzer, who has finalized his $15.5MM free agent deal.
Toronto claimed Petersen, a native of the United Kingdom, off waivers from the Marlins within the opening days of the offseason. That was his second waiver move in a few months. Miami had grabbed him off waivers from the Dodgers in September. He allowed four runs across 5 2/3 innings to finish the year. Petersen had also made 11 appearances with Los Angeles. He closed his debut campaign with a 5.95 earned run average through 19 2/3 innings. He recorded 14 strikeouts while issuing 11 walks.
The 30-year-old Petersen had much better numbers in 33 innings at the Triple-A level with Los Angeles. He posted a 1.64 ERA while striking out a massive 35.2% of opponents. Petersen had also pitched well for the Rockies’ affiliate in 2023. He owns a 2.45 earned run average at the top minor league level. He has fanned 28.6% of batters faced against an elevated 11% walk rate.
Petersen works mostly with a fastball and cutter. His heater checked in at 97 MPH on average in his MLB work and sat just under 98 MPH in the minors. Between that and the strong Triple-A production, it’s possible he’ll draw renewed interest on the waiver wire. The 6’7″ righty still has two minor league options remaining and could be sent to Triple-A if a team is willing to carry him on the 40-man roster. Petersen has never cleared outright waivers, so if he goes unclaimed, he’d stick with the Jays and likely be invited to camp as a non-roster player.
Diamondbacks Re-Sign Randal Grichuk
The Diamondbacks announced that they have signed outfielder Randal Grichuk to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2026. It’s reportedly a $5MM guarantee for the Excel Sports Management client, broken up into a $2MM salary, followed by a $3MM buyout on a $5MM mutual option. He can also earn another $500K via incentives: $250K for getting to 200 plate appearances and another $250K for getting to 275. There’s also a one-time $250K assignment bonus if Grichuk is traded. The club had a 40-man roster vacancy and doesn’t need to make a corresponding move.
Grichuk, 33, signed a similar deal with the Snakes around this time last year. He and the club agreed to a deal with a $2MM guarantee in the middle of February, which turned out to be a big win for the D’Backs. Grichuk played a part-time role, getting into 106 games and stepping to the plate 279 times. He hit .291/.348/.528 in those, production that translated to a 139 wRC+.
Most of that production came in a platoon capacity, which has been a trademark of the righty swinger. He has a .273/.324/.509 line and 121 wRC+ against lefties in his career, compared to a .242/.288/.449 line and 93 wRC+ without the platoon advantage. Arizona sent him to the plate 184 times against southpaws last year and he responded with a huge .319/.386/.528 line and 151 wRC+. They limited him to just 95 trips to the plate against righties, but he actually fared well in those, hitting .242/.274/.527 for a 116 wRC+.
Strikeouts have often been a problem for Grichuk in his career, as he was in the 26 to 32% range in each season from 2014 to 2019. But he then got that down into the low 20s for a few years before dropping all the way to 16.5% in 2024.
That production fit very well on a Diamondbacks club that had a lot of prominent lefties bats and will again in 2025. The outfield mix features Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas. This offseason, the Snakes acquired lefty Josh Naylor to replace righty-swinging Christian Walker at first base. Last year, lefty Joc Pederson was the primary designated hitter, though he became a free agent and signed with the Rangers. It’s possible that the club will redirect some of Pederson’s plate appearances to Pavin Smith, another lefty.
Grichuk gives manager Torey Lovullo plenty of ability to shuffle those lefties out of the lineup whenever he sees fit, either by sending Grichuk out into the field or by putting him in the designated hitter slot. Defensively, Grichuk is capable of playing any of three outfield slots, though he’s a bit better in a corner than in center.
From a financial perspective, it’s not a huge deal in MLB terms, but it still pushes the Diamondbacks farther into uncharted waters. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the club ran an Opening Day payroll of $163MM, which was a franchise record by a significant margin. Thanks in large part to their shocking Corbin Burnes deal, RosterResource projects them to get to $198MM this year. That’s in spite of the club’s broadcast deal falling apart in 2023, leaving them to pivot to an MLB-run model which likely brings in less revenue.
Trading Jordan Montgomery and the $22.5MM he’s owed this year would bring those numbers down, but it’s possible the budget is getting a bit tight at the moment. That might explain why Grichuk’s option buyout is actually higher than his salary, as it allows the club to kick that payment down the road to the end of the season.
On the heels of his solid season, Grichuk got plenty of interest around the league. He was connected to the Orioles, Pirates and Giants throughout the winter. Anne Rogers of MLB.com relays today that the Royals were interested as well. When Jurickson Profar signed with Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, all the surefire everyday outfielders were off the board. That seems to have pushed clubs to pivot to the part-time role players. Austin Hays was signed last week, while Ramón Laureano and Grichuk put pen to paper today. For clubs still looking for outfield help, guys like Harrison Bader, Mark Canha, Jason Heyward and Alex Verdugo are still available.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported that the Diamondbacks were bringing back Grichuk with a $5MM guarantee and incentives that could take it to $5.5MM. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first provided the full breakdown.
Guardians To Sign Vince Velasquez To Minor League Deal
The Guardians and right-hander Vince Velasquez are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA Sports client also receive an invite to major league camp. Paul Haynes of Cleveland.com reports that Velasquez would trigger a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster and could secure another $2.5MM in incentives.
Velasquez, 33 in June, missed the entire 2024 season. He was with the Pirates in 2023 but required surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow that summer. Per Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk, as relayed by Justice delos Santos of MLB.com, it wasn’t a full Tommy John surgery. It was some sort of hybrid between a between a reconstruction and a repair of the ligament. Velasquez had undergone Tommy John surgery as a prospect back in 2010.
At the time of that procedure in June of 2023, the Pirates put a timeline of roughly 11 to 12 months on the righty’s return. He hit free agency going into 2024 and theoretically could have returned late in the year but never signed anywhere. Presumably, Velasquez is either recovered now or hoping to be healthy for a decent amount of the 2025 season. The Guardians will bring him into camp and get a close-up look at him, without going so far as to commit a roster spot.
Prior to this injury odyssey, the righty has shown some flashes of being a capable back-end rotation guy or swingman. From 2015 to 2023, he tossed 763 2/3 innings over 191 games, including 144 starts. He has allowed 4.88 earned runs per nine while striking out 24.9% of batters faced and giving out walks at a 9.3% clip.
The Guardians have plenty of question marks in their rotation, apart from Tanner Bibee being locked into one spot. Ben Lively had a 3.81 ERA last year but with a tepid 18.7% strikeout rate. He seemed to get some luck from a .265 batting average on balls in play and 78.4% strand rate, which is why his 4.66 FIP and 4.58 SIERA were higher than his ERA. Pitchers like Triston McKenzie, Luis Ortiz and Slade Cecconi have had up-and-down careers. Gavin Williams was injured for a decent chunk of 2024 and only made 16 starts with a 4.86 ERA.
Given the uncertainty in that group, adding some veteran non-roster depth makes plenty of sense. The Guards already signed Kolby Allard this week and now Velasquez adds another arm into the rotation competition.