Nationals Sign Josh Bell
Josh Bell is heading back to Washington, as the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the first baseman has signed a one-year, $6MM deal with the Nationals. The 32-year-old Bell is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Since Nathaniel Lowe was just acquired last week to be the Nats’ new everyday first baseman, Bell likely now slots in as the first-choice designated hitter. Both the left-handed hitting Lowe and the switch-hitting Bell have pretty even career splits, but Bell could step in at first base every once in a while when Washington faces a left-handed pitcher, even though Lowe is a much better fielder. As the DH, Bell’s switch-hitting bat also brings a bit more balance to a Nationals lineup that is heavy on lefty swingers.
In a career defined by major hot and cold streaks, Bell’s previous stint in D.C. stands out as perhaps the most consistent stretch of his nine MLB seasons. The Nationals acquired Bell from the Pirates during the 2020-21 offseason, and Bell proceeded to hit .278/.363/.483 with 41 homers over 1005 plate appearances from Opening Day 2021 until he was dealt to the Padres as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster at the 2022 trade deadline.
Unfortunately for Bell and the Padres, his bat went cold after the deal, though his overall offensive output was enough for him to earn NL Silver Slugger honors for the DH position. It also led to a two-year, $33MM contract with the Guardians that winter, but Bell didn’t hit particularly well in his first four months in Cleveland before he was again dealt at the deadline, which sparked another hot streak as he helped lead the Marlins to a playoff berth.
The pattern continued at last July’s deadline, as Bell again found himself on the move from the Marlins to the Diamondbacks. Bell had hit only .239/.305/.394 in 441 PA for Miami last year, but his bat again came to life post-trade, as he hit .279/.361/.436 in 162 PA for an Arizona team that had temporarily lost starting first baseman Christian Walker to the injured list.
The short-term nature of this latest contract leaves open the possibility that Bell could be dealt at his fourth consecutive trade deadline if the Nationals aren’t in contention. While Lowe is under arbitration control through the 2026 season, Bell and fellow free agent Michael Soroka were both inked to one-year deals, as the Nationals seem to be somewhat hedging their bets on their readiness to compete in 2025. The Nats have struggled through five straight losing seasons since their World Series victory in 2019, yet with many members of their young core now in the big leagues, there was speculation Washington might be a little more aggressive this winter in firmly announcing the end of its rebuild.
This being said, Bell’s signing is certainly a boost for a Nationals club that had trouble producing offense last year, particularly in the power department. The Nats’ 135 home runs ranked 29th of 30 teams, and CJ Abrams (with 20 homers) was the only D.C. player who went yard more often than Bell (19 homers) did in 2024.
With Bell and Lowe in the fold, expected improvement from Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr., and a full season from top prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews, there is plenty of reason to think the Nats can be a much more productive lineup. If everything clicks and the team’s young pitching also takes a step forward, the Nationals might well get back to winning baseball next year, and then perhaps start spending on bigger-name talent next offseason.
Bell’s career walk and strikeout rates have consistently been above average, while his barrel rates have been more spotty. His hard-hit ball rate dropped to 40.1% last season, slightly below the league average and his lowest mark since the 2018 season. While there isn’t much sign of decline at age 32, per se, the big question about Bell is simply which version of the slugger is going to show up, given how his production has swung back and forth so sharply over the last few seasons.
Now that Bell is signed, third base remains a target area for Washington, as the team’s attempt to get Gleyber Torres to change positions from second base fell on deaf ears. The bullpen remains a clear area of need, and there’s still plenty of time in the offseason for the Nationals to add a bigger name than Soroka as more of a clear-cut upgrade to the rotation.
Marlins Sign Freddy Tarnok To Minors Deal
The Marlins have signed right-hander Freddy Tarnok to a minor league deal, Aram Leighton of Just Baseball Media writes. The contract includes an invitation for Tarnok to attend Miami’s big league Spring Training camp.
Tarnok made his MLB debut in the form of a single appearance and two-thirds of an inning for the Braves in 2022, and Atlanta then dealt him that winter as part of the three-team, nine-player trade that saw Sean Murphy head to the Braves and William Contreras and Joel Payamps land in Milwaukee. The Athletics’ end of the trade saw them obtain Tarnok and four other players, only two of whom (Esteury Ruiz and Royber Salinas) are still with the A’s just over two years ago.
Tarnok’s own time on Oakland’s big league roster was limited to five games and 14 2/3 innings in 2023, with the righty delivering a 4.91 ERA in that limited sample while also allowing four homers and 11 walks. Shoulder and hip injuries hampered Tarnok for much of the year, and he ended up having hip surgery in August 2023. Some rust wasn’t unexpected after Tarnok’s recovery, but he managed only a 7.39 ERA in 31 2/3 Triple-A innings this past season.
That time in Triple-A was spent with both the Athletics’ top affiliate and in the Phillies’ farm system, as Philadelphia claimed Tarnok off waivers this past June. The Phils outrighted Tarnok off their 40-man roster at the start of November and he elected to become a minor league free agent.
An increase in both his walk and home run totals plagued Tarnok in the upper minors as well as in his brief time in the majors. These issues have led to a 4.68 ERA over 92 1/3 career Triple-A innings, as well as an 11.97% walk rate and 23.44% strikeout rate.
While Tarnok has some ability to miss bats, his inability to keep the ball in the park or keep batters off the basepaths has left him looking for a fresh start entering his age-26 season. It is possible a healthy Tarnok gets back to his much more solid pre-injury form, and for the minimal cost of a minors contract, the Marlins are betting that he can become at least a depth swingman now that he is further removed from his hip surgery. Leighton writes that Miami will again give Tarnok a chance to start games.
Red Sox Sign Walker Buehler
TODAY: The breakdown of Buehler’s deal is provided by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (multiple links), who reports that the contract also contains a $25MM mutual option for the 2026 season. Buehler receives a $3.05MM signing bonus, $15MM in base salary, and then a $3MM buyout of the mutual option, totaling the aforementioned $21.05MM guarantee.
As much as $2.5MM in bonus money is also available. Buehler will unlock the first $500K of that cash when he makes his 20th start of the season, and he’ll earn another $500K upon making his 22nd, 24th, 26th, and 28th starts of the season.
DEC. 28: The Red Sox officially announced the Buehler signing.
DEC. 23: The Red Sox are in agreement with right-hander Walker Buehler on a one-year deal worth $21.05MM, according to a report from Russell Dorsey of Yahoo Sports. The deal is pending a physical and includes incentives that could raise the value beyond that aforementioned figure. Buehler is an Excel Sports Management client.
It’s an interesting deal for Buehler, as the $21.05MM guarantee perfectly mirrors that of the Qualifying Offer. Both Buehler himself and Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta were considered borderline candidates to be extended the QO at the outset of the winter. Ultimately, the Dodgers declined to extend that offer to Buehler while the Red Sox did so for Pivetta but were rebuffed. From a financial and roster perspective, today’s deal allows Buehler to secure the same guarantee he would’ve gotten had the Dodgers extended him the QO while allowing Boston to add a veteran right-hander to its young rotation on a one-year deal that mirrors what they offered Pivetta last month.
The 30-year-old right-hander was among the league’s most talented young starters during his rookie season back in 2018, and pitched to an excellent 2.82 ERA (146 ERA+) with a 3.16 FIP in a four-season stretch from 2018-21. That stretch concluded with Buehler finishing fourth in NL Cy Young award voting behind Corbin Burnes, Zack Wheeler, and Max Scherzer in a race that seemingly cemented his status as one of the league’s top aces. That career trajectory was thrown off the rails early in the 2022 season, however. Buehler pitched to a relatively pedestrian 4.02 ERA (101 ERA+) in 12 starts for the Dodgers that year before going on the injured list in June and ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery.
Buehler wouldn’t return to a major league mound until May of 2024, nearly two full years later, and struggled badly upon returning. Additional injuries limited Buehler to just 16 starts for the Dodgers this year, and even when he took the mound the right-hander struggled badly. In all, Buehler pitched to a 5.38 ERA (72 ERA+) with a 5.54 FIP in his final regular season in a Dodgers uniform. With that being said, the righty did manage to end his season on a positive note with a solid 3.60 ERA during the club’s run to the World Series championship this year. After a brutal start against the Padres in the NLDS, Buehler fired off ten scoreless frames between the NLCS and the World Series while striking out a third of his opponents.
That combination of a strong postseason, a terrible regular season, a fraught injury history, and a dominant track record made Buehler one of the most intriguing free agents on the market this winter and perhaps the ultimate high-risk, high-reward signing. To that end, it’s perhaps no surprise that he garnered interest from a huge number of teams. In addition to the Red Sox, Buehler also garnered interest from the Tigers, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Athletics, and Braves this winter. That wide-ranging interest made it apparent early in the winter that Buehler was likely to surpass the one-year, $15MM deal MLBTR predicted he would land as part of our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, where Buehler was ranked as the #37 free agent this winter. It even seemed to open the door to the possibility the right-hander would be able to land a mutli-year deal with opt-outs; while he ultimately settled for a straight one-year pact, his $21.05MM salary in 2025 is likely much healthier than what he would’ve received on an annual basis on a multi-year deal.
For the Red Sox, the addition of Buehler adds another arm with plenty of upside to a rotation already full of it. If Buehler manages to rebound to the form he showed earlier in his career, he’ll form a daunting front two in the Boston rotation alongside lefty Garrett Crochet with right-handers Lucas Giolito and Tanner Houck joining them to create a formidable quartet. The additions of Crochet and Buehler have also significantly deepened the group, as right-handers Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Richard Fitts, and Cooper Criswell all figure to be in the conversation for starts as well after being key pieces of the club’s rotation last year. Further down the depth chart, the Red Sox also boast interesting upside plays Quinn Priester and Michael Fulmer.
The addition of Buehler brings the club’s payroll for 2025 up to just over $175MM, according to RosterResource. The figure is substantially higher for luxury tax purposes, however, sitting just under $212MM. That leaves the club with about $29MM to work with before they surpass the first luxury tax threshold. The Red Sox last surpassed that first threshold in 2022, but there’s been no indication from club brass that the first threshold represents a hard limit on their spending amid what has been a fairly busy offseason for the club. With the rotation seemingly solidified, it seems likely the club’s priorities will now shift towards adding a right-handed bat to their lineup, whether that comes in the form of an outfielder such as Teoscar Hernández or an infielder like Alex Bregman or Nolan Arenado.
Cubs, Marlins Swap Matt Mervis, Vidal Brujan
1:28pm: The deal is now official, per a club announcement by the Marlins.
12:27pm: The Marlins are set to acquire first baseman Matt Mervis from the Cubs, according to a report from Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that infielder Vidal Bruján is headed to Chicago in exchange for Mervis’s services. Brujan had been designated for assignment by the Marlins last week. Maddie Lee of the Sun Times also reports that the Cubs are sending cash to Miami alongside Mervis.
Mervis, 26, signed with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent back in 2020. After struggling in his first taste of professional action in 2021, the slugger tore up the minor leagues in 2022, slashing an excellent .309/.379/.606 with 40 doubles and 36 homers in 137 games across three levels of the minors. That included a long run of success at the Triple-A level, where he hit .297/.383/.593 with 15 doubles and 15 homers in just 57 games. The performance was strong enough to earn Mervis some top-100 prospect buzz during the 2022-23 offseason, and his rapid ascent through the minors provided some optimism for a Cubs franchise that had recently dealt longtime first baseman Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees prior to the trade deadline in 2021.
Unfortunately, Mervis wasn’t able to make the most of his opportunity when he first reached the big leagues in 2023. While he continued to rake at Triple-A (.282/.399/.533 in 100 games), he struggled badly in 99 big league plate appearances with a lackluster .167/.242/.289 slash line that was good for a 48 wRC+ that year. Strong batted ball data and a .317 xwOBA indicated that Mervis may have been slightly unlucky in his first cup of coffee in the majors, but his hefty 32.3% strikeout rate would’ve been a significant red flag even if he had gotten better fortune in terms of batted balls finding holes. That led the Cubs to pivot away from Mervis last winter, trading for Dodgers prospect Michael Busch and installing him as the club’s everyday first baseman.
Busch took off as an above-average hitter right out of the gate with Chicago, posting a 119 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR in his rookie season. Mervis, by contrast, appeared in just nine games and posted a dreadful -4 wRC+ in that limited playing time. Even his minor league numbers took a step back this year, as he hit just .235/.329/.434 (97 wRC+) in 81 games at Triple-A this past season. All this made Mervis entirely expendable for Chicago, so the club opting to trade him is hardly a shock. With a rebuilding Marlins club, the Triple-A slugger figures to get a larger big league opportunity than he ever received in Chicago. He’ll compete for playing time at first base with incumbent first baseman Jonah Bride, who impressed with a 123 wRC+ in 71 games for the Marlins last year but has yet to complete a wire-to-wire season in the majors ate age 29.
While Mervis is hardly a surefire big league piece, the Marlins are giving up very little to land him. Bruján, 27, was DFA’d by the Marlins last week to clear 40-man roster space after he struggled to produce as a big league regular in 2024. Once a consensus top-100 prospect with the Rays, Bruján failed to hit at all in 99 games with Tampa across three seasons before being dealt to Miami last winter. The Marlins made him a fixture of their bench mix this year, but he hit just .222/.303/.319 (73 wRC+) in 278 trips to the plate. Despite that lackluster performance at the plate, Brujan did provide some modest value as a decent baserunner and an extremely versatile fielder. The switch-hitter mostly split his time between shortstop, second base, and third base in Miami last year but is also capable of playing all three outfield spots and even made brief cameos at first base and on the pitchers mound last year.
That should be enough to earn Brujan the opportunity to compete for a bench job with the Cubs this spring. Chicago has completely overhauled their bench mix this offseason, parting ways with Christian Bethancourt, Mike Tauchman, Nick Madrigal, and Patrick Wisdom last month to make way for alternative options. Carson Kelly joined the club’s roster to form a tandem with Miguel Amaya that will occupy one bench spot, and outfielder Alexander Canario currently seems poised to act as the club’s reserve outfielder behind Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, and Kyle Tucker. That leaves two spots up for grabs, and Brujan currently appears poised to compete with Rule 5 draft selection Gage Workman and internal options Miles Mastrobuoni and Luis Vasquez for those two spots, though another external addition could certainly grab at least one of those bench roles and only the catching tandem appears to be completely locked in for 2025.
Nationals Sign Patrick Weigel To Minor League Deal
The Nationals have signed right-hander Patrick Weigel to a minor league deal, as noted by Talk Nats. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Weigel, 30, was a seventh-round pick by the Braves back in 2015. The righty worked his way up through Atlanta’s minor league system to make his big league debut during the shortened 2020 season, but was shelled in his lone appearance to the tune of two runs on two hits, three walks, and a wild pitch during an outing that saw him record no strikeouts and just two outs overall. That rough big league debut proved to be his only work in the majors with Atlanta, as he was shipped to Milwaukee as part of the Orlando Arcia trade in 2021. Weigel was used as an up-and-down reliever with the Brewers, for whom he delivered three decent but unremarkable relief appearances. In four innings of work that year, he pitched to a 4.50 ERA with nine strikeouts and four walks.
Despite that serviceable work in his brief time in the majors during 2021, his time at Triple-A Nashville was nothing short of disastrous. In 43 1/3 innings of work at the level, Weigel posted a brutal 7.27 ERA while walking 17.6% of opponents faced. That complete lack of command led the Brewers to designate the right-hander for assignment on the day of the 2021 trade deadline, leading him to elect minor league free agency during the offseason. He eventually caught on with the Mariners on a minor league deal for the 2022 season and pitched to a decent 4.21 ERA in 62 innings of work, though his 13.9% walk rate still left much to be desired.
Since departing the Mariners during the 2022-23 offseason, Weigel has bounced between independent leagues. He pitched for the American Association’s Kansas City Monarchs in 2023, and his solid work there led him to split the 2024 campaign between the Reds’ minor league system and the Mexican League’s Saraperos de Saltillo. Weigel dominated the Double-A level with the Reds (0.90 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate) but was lit up at Triple-A to the tune of five runs in just two innings of work. Now, he’s poised to try his hand with a fifth MLB organization. The Nationals are surely hoping they’ll be able to help Weigel rein in his command, and if he can get his walk rate into a more manageable range going forward it’s easy to imagine him be a useful non-roster depth option for the club out of the bullpen this year.
Yankees Sign Brennen Davis To Minor League Deal
The Yankees have signed outfielder Brennen Davis to a minor league deal, as reported by Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. It’s not clear whether or not the deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Davis, 25, has not yet made his big league debut but was a consensus top-100 prospect for many years. A second-round pick by the Cubs in 2018, Davis broke out at the age of 19 in 2019 with a with a .305/.381/.525 slash line in 50 games at the Single-A level. Following the cancelled minor league season in 2020, Davis got the bump to High-A to start the 2021 season but lasted just eight games at the level before being promoted to Double-A. After hitting a solid .252/.367/.474 for the Cubs’ Tennessee affiliate in 76 games, Davis got his second promotion of the year with a late-season cup of coffee at Triple-A, where he impressed with a .268/.397/.536 slash line in 16 games.
After dominating at every level of the minors during his age-21 season, Davis became a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport and appeared to be on the verge of a Wrigley Field debut. Unfortunately, 2022 was not kind to the youngster as he struggled badly in 22 games at the Triple-A level before undergoing back surgery in May. He made it back to the club’s Iowa affiliate in September for the stretch run and managed a .361 on-base percentage down the stretch but hit just .188 and struggled to hit for power. Even after that disastrous 2022 campaign, Davis was still a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport and appeared poised for a rebound in 2023.
Unfortunately, that rebound never came. Davis’s 2023 and 2024 seasons have been just as injury plagued as 2022 as he contended first with core surgery and then a fractured ankle. The outfielder’s brutal 2023 numbers (.187/.296/.279 in 62 games at Triple-A) were enough to knock him off every top-100 prospect list, but he did manage to post strong numbers at Triple-A when healthy this season. In 47 games at Triple-A this year, Davis slashed .214/.359/.469 with 11 home runs in just 145 trips to the plate and a 12.7% walk rate, though his batting average was held down by a paltry .213 BABIP.
After years of injury struggles and given the club’s incredibly crowded outfield mix, the Cubs decided last month that they could no longer afford to use a 40-man roster spot on Davis and non-tendered him. That led to him hitting minor league free agency, and he’s now caught on with the Yankees. For New York, the youngster represents a low-risk, high-reward flier who if healthy could potentially contribute to the club’s big league outfield as soon as this year. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are currently locked into two of the club’s three outfield spots, but if Davis can stay healthy and prove his strong power and discipline numbers from 2024 were a return to form it’s not hard to imagine him vying for playing time alongside fellow youngsters Jasson Dominguez and Everson Pereira, the latter of whom is currently rehabbing from elbow surgery he underwent last summer.
Padres Sign Mike Brosseau
The Padres have agreed to a deal with infielder Mike Brosseau, as announced by his Icon Sports Management agent Joe Rosen. While not specified by Rosen, it can be assumed that Brosseau signed a minor league contract.
Brosseau has a career .242/.313/.428 slash line in 647 career big league plate appearances with the Rays and Brewers from 2019-23. Primarily a second and third baseman during his five MLB seasons, Brosseau has also seen action at first base, shortstop, and both corner outfield slots, with this versatility making him a useful part-time roster piece. He also provided good numbers at the plate in his first two seasons and in 2022, which was his first season in Milwaukee.
Unfortunately for Brosseau, he struggled to a .654 OPS in 78 PA in 2023, leading the Brewers to outright him off the roster that July and then release him so Brosseau could pursue a deal in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines. The 37-game stint in NPB didn’t work out for Brosseau and he returned to North American baseball in 2024, hitting .263/.356/.417 over 405 combined PA with the Triple-A affiliates of the Royals and Mets.
Padres first baseman Luis Arraez and second baseman Jake Cronenworth are both left-handed hitters, as are projected backups Tyler Wade and Trenton Brooks. Brosseau could be viewed as a complement to Wade to give the Padres some utility infield coverage on both sides of the plate, and both Wade and Brosseau can play all over the diamond. Brosseau also has a minor league option year remaining, giving San Diego some potential flexibility in moving him back and forth from Triple-A over the course of the season.
Braves Re-Sign Brian Moran To Minor League Deal
The Braves have signed left-hander Brian Moran to a minors contract earlier this month, as per Moran’s MLB.com profile page. The southpaw elected to become a minor league free agent at the end of the season.
This is the third straight winter Moran has inked a minors pact with Atlanta, though this tenure has yet to result in any playing time at the MLB level. Moran posted a 3.21 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, and 9.8% walk rate over 47 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2023, but dropped back to a 5.91 ERA and 22.9K% in 45 2/3 innings last year, albeit with an improved 7.6% walk rate. Looking at other advanced metrics, Moran benefited from an 84.8% strand rate in 2023 but had a .373 BABIP in 2024.
Now entering his age-36 season, Moran seems to be viewed by the Braves as a useful veteran depth arm, even if the club hasn’t been compelled to give him another look on the active roster. Cracking the bullpen could again be difficult for Moran since Dylan Lee, Aaron Bummer, Angel Perdomo, and Dylan Dodd are all left-handers projected to be part of the relief corps, plus Atlanta recently brought another southpaw in Kolton Ingram into the fold on a minor league deal.
Moran last appeared in the majors in 2022, pitching just a third of an inning in cup-of-coffee fashion with the Angels. Moran has a 7.94 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over 18 career games in the big leagues, primarily with the Marlins and Blue Jays during the 2019-20 seasons. A seventh-round pick for the Mariners in the 2009 draft, Moran has bounced around the league to multiple organizations, including another stint in Atlanta’s minor league system back in 2016.
Pirates Sign Darick Hall To Minors Contract
The Pirates have signed first baseman Darick Hall to a minor league deal, as revealed by Hall on his Instagram page earlier this week. Hall elected minor league free agency at season’s end, after the Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man roster back in August.
A 14th-round pick for the Phillies in the 2016 draft, Hall showed plenty of pop during his time in the minors, including a .253/.342/.458 slash line and 76 homers over 1735 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Big production in the 2022 season in particular earned Hall his first trip to the big leagues, and he continued to impress by hitting .250/.282/.522 with nine homers in 142 PA.
Unfortunately, a thumb surgery cost him over two and a half months of the 2023 season, and Hall hit only .167/.196/.241 over 56 Major League PA while spending most of the year at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Hall last appeared in the big leagues on July 20, 2023, as he spent the entirety of the 2024 season in the minors. Hall hit only .236/.320/.387 over 488 PA for Lehigh Valley last year, so he didn’t do much to force the issue in earning himself another look on Philadelphia’s roster.
It also didn’t help Hall that, as a first base-only player at this stage of his career, the Phillies never had much of a place to play him. Between Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and Kyle Schwarber, the Phils had most of the first base and DH at-bats spoken for, leaving Hall without much of an opening unless someone was injured. (The Phillies only called Hall up to the majors in 2022 after Harper was sidelined by a fractured thumb.)
After spending his entire pro career in Philadelphia, Hall will now head across Pennsylvania to join the Bucs, though he’ll again find himself lower on the depth chart. Andrew McCutchen will continue to garner most of the DH at-bats and the newly-acquired Spencer Horwitz is slated to be the Pirates’ regular first baseman. Horwitz and Hall are both left-handed hitters so that will limit platoon opportunities, though Hall might find a niche if McCutchen is spelled against the occasional righty starter.
Hall has played a handful of games as a left fielder in winter ball, but he has made only one career minor league appearance in the outfield, so it doesn’t seem likely that the Pirates will use him anywhere beyond first base. Hall is out of minor league options, so if he did stick with the Buccos beyond Spring Training, Pittsburgh would have to put him through waivers again if the club wanted to send him to the minors.
Padres Re-Sign Logan Gillaspie To Minors Deal
The Padres signed right-hander Logan Gillaspie to a minor league contract earlier this month, as initially reported by the Mad Friars website. The 27-year-old Gillaspie will return for his second season with the organization, after the Padres non-tendered him in November to create 40-man roster space.
Gillaspie had a 4.10 ERA over 26 1/3 innings and 28 appearances for the Orioles in 2022-23 before the Red Sox claimed him off waivers in September 2023. This stint in Boston didn’t result in any big league playing time and didn’t last long in general, as San Diego picked him up in another waiver claim just two months later. The Padres optioned Gillaspie back and forth from Triple-A the maximum five times, and the shuffle of assignments might have impacted his performance — Gillaspie had a 7.15 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over nine appearances with San Diego.
On the plus side, Gillaspie had a 3.77 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate across 45 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso. These decent numbers look even better within the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and they represent a step up from Gillaspie’s Triple-A performances in 2022-23. That said, Gillaspie’s strikeout numbers have ticked downwards over the last two seasons while he has allowed a few more walks.
Gillaspie is out of minor league options, so if the Padres were to select his contract to the active roster next season, the team would have to try and sneak him through waivers in order to send him back to Triple-A. This could leave Gillaspie in another form of roster limbo if his 2025 campaign ends up being a flurry of DFAs and outright assignments, but for now, he’ll continue to operate as minor league bullpen depth in the Padres’ system.