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.
Tigers Sign Gleyber Torres
The Tigers announced Friday that they’ve signed free agent infielder Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15MM contract. Torres, an Octagon client, is expected to be Detroit’s regular second baseman in the upcoming season. The Tigers, one of the rare teams to publicly disclose contract terms themselves, added that Torres’ contract has a one-time, $500K assignment bonus (in the event that he’s traded to another club).
Torres, who turned 28 earlier this month, has spent his entire big league career to date in Yankee pinstripes. The once-vaunted top prospect looked like a breakout star in 2019 when he socked 38 home runs in just 144 games, but Torres wound up settling in as a solid regular at second base rather than the superstar shortstop he appeared to be on the cusp of becoming in ’19. Since that stellar 2019 campaign — which came in MLB’s juiced-ball season — Torres has slashed .261/.332/.411. That’s about 9% better than average, by measure of wRC+ (which weights for home park and league run-scoring environment in a given season).
The 2024 season was shaping up to be a career-worst showing for Torres at the halfway point. Through his first 80 games, he turned in an anemic .215/.294/.333 slash (81 wRC+) with a 23.9% strikeout rate that was well north of the 19.3% mark he’d posted over the prior five seasons. Torres righted the ship in late June, however, and rebounding to the tune of a .298/.365/.421 slash with a much-improved 17.3% strikeout rate down the stretch.
It’s perhaps possible that Torres could’ve landed a multi-year deal at a lower rate, but given his age and track record, it’s not a shock to see him take a pure one-year pillow deal. MLBTR predicted back in November that he’d ink a two-year deal with an opt-out, as the priority for him always seemed likely to be getting back to the market next winter. The demand seemingly wasn’t there to push to that range, however, and Torres will head to Comerica Park as an eminently reasonable one-year roll of the proverbial dice. With a strong enough showing, he’ll have the added benefit of being a potential qualifying offer candidate for the Tigers next offseason.
Torres steps into a Detroit infield that’s lacking in any real certainty. Colt Keith, who hit .285/.330/.429 in 445 plate appearances after a terrible start to his rookie season, appears to be the only other infield lock. He played second base in 2024 but has experience at the hot corner as well. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press writes, however, that the organization prefers not to play Keith at third due to some injury concern regarding his right shoulder. Keith has taken reps at first base, and while he’s yet to play there in a professional game, he could get further work there this spring in the event of a potential position shift.
Meanwhile, Javier Baez is signed for three more seasons at $24MM per year, but he’s played himself out of a starting role and will eventually be a release candidate if he can’t rebound to at least some extent (though the Tigers have suggested this winter that they still see a role for Baez in ’25). Former top pick Spencer Torkelson belted 32 homers in 2023 but flailed through an ugly 2024 campaign and has yet to establish himself as a viable big league regular. Trey Sweeney showed a big league-ready glove at shortstop but didn’t hit in 36 big league games during last year’s second-half debut. Top prospect Jace Jung drew heaps of walks (16%) in 94 plate appearances late last season but is probably ticketed for Triple-A work or (speculatively speaking) some exposure to left field. Matt Vierling could factor in at the hot corner as well, though he can play in the outfield, too.
The glut of infield options, even with many of them unproven, gives the Tigers some flexibility with regard to how they handle the rest of the offseason. Young players like Sweeney and particularly Jung would command considerable trade interest. Torkelson stands as a viable change-of-scenery candidate, especially if the Tigers indeed plan to give Keith a prominent role at first base. Torkelson could still factor into the first base/DH mix, but he’s hardly a lock to do so after hitting .221/.300/.392 through his first 361 big league games.
The Tigers have been connected to free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, though that’d be a considerably larger signing than they’ve made at any point under current president of baseball operations Scott Harris. Some of the link there is surely due to the presence of former Astros skipper A.J. Hinch in the Detroit dugout. Petzold reported earlier in the week that Bregman has become more of a priority for the Tigers as the offseason has worn on, but the addition of Torres clouds the infield mix a bit more. A fit could still come together, particularly if the Tigers are keen on moving someone like Jung in a deal for rotation help.
In terms of payroll, there’s no reason to think the Tigers can’t make another prominent addition after adding Torres. They entered the offseason with only Baez, Keith and Kenta Maeda on guaranteed deals for the upcoming season. Torres and fellow free agent pickup Alex Cobb have pushed the team to a projected a $109MM payroll, per RosterResource’s projections. That’s nowhere near the team’s franchise-record $200MM payroll from 2017. And while that level of spending came under the ownership of the late Mike Ilitch, even Ilitch’s son, Chris, has authorized payrolls as high as $135MM in recent seasons (2022).
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Torres had agreed to a deal with the Tigers. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers first reported the terms and that Torres was expected to be the Tigers’ starting second baseman.
Tigers, Dietrich Enns Agree To Minor League Contract
The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Dietrich Enns. The 33-year-old southpaw announced the news on social media last week.
Enns is trying to work his way back to the majors for the first time since 2021. He tossed 22 1/3 innings across nine relief appearances for Tampa Bay that season. Enns turned in a 2.82 earned run average in that limited sample. That caught the attention of the Seibu Lions in Japan. Seibu finalized a deal to purchase his contract. Enns spent two seasons there, combining for a 3.62 ERA through 176 1/3 innings at the NPB level.
The Central Michigan product changed countries but stayed in Asia for the ’24 season. Enns signed with the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins. He started 30 times and logged 167 1/3 frames of 4.19 ERA ball. Enns struck out 22% of opponents against a 7% walk rate. After the season, the Twins brought in Yonny Chirinos and re-signed Elieser Hernández to serve as their foreign-born pitchers for 2025.
Enns figures to open the season with Triple-A Toledo. He can start or work in long relief on a Detroit staff that’ll place a premium on flexibility. A.J. Hinch used plenty of openers and bulk relievers behind Tarik Skubal this past season. That’ll presumably continue in the final two rotation spots after Skubal, Reese Olson and Alex Cobb.
Phillies Sign Guillo Zuniga, Nabil Crismatt To Minor League Deals
The Phillies signed relievers Nabil Crismatt and Guillo Zuñiga to minor league contracts earlier this month. Both deals are reflected on the team’s transaction log at MLB.com and the players’ respective social media accounts.
Both pitchers logged limited major league action in 2024. Crismatt, who turned 30 on Wednesday, made five appearances for the Dodgers early in the year. He spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A, which he divided between three organizations. Crismatt pitched in the minors between Los Angeles, San Diego and Texas. He had a tough showing in the Pacific Coast League, allowing 5.81 earned runs per nine through 79 innings. Crismatt struck out a slightly below-average 20.7% of batters faced against a decent 7.5% walk rate.
The Colombian-born hurler has struggled over six Triple-A seasons. His major league track record is quite a bit better. Crismatt owns a 3.71 earned run average through parts of five MLB campaigns. Most of that production came during a strong two-year run in San Diego between 2021-22. He has logged 20 major league innings over the past two seasons.
Zuñiga, 26, debuted with two appearances for the Cardinals in 2023. St. Louis dealt him to the Angels in a cash deal in February. Zuñiga made 15 appearances for the Halos. He tossed 17 2/3 innings, allowing 10 runs with 12 strikeouts and eight walks. Zuñiga pitched 26 innings at the Triple-A level, where he turned in a 5.19 ERA with a well below-average 14.3% strikeout rate. The Angels designated him for assignment when they acquired Travis d’Arnaud and released him a few days later.
This year’s drop in strikeouts marked a bizarre change from the bulk of Zuñiga’s minor league career. He’d fanned a quarter of batters faced over 29 appearances in Triple-A during the ’23 season. His strikeout rate frequently pushed 30% during his time in the low minors. Zuñiga averaged 97 MPH with his four-seam fastball this year and sat just under 99 MPH during his limited MLB stint with the Cardinals in 2023.
Mets Sign Sean Manaea
On Friday evening, the Mets officially announced the signing of left-hander Sean Manaea to a three-year deal. The Boras Corporation client receives a $75MM guarantee. The deal reportedly contains $23.25MM in deferred money, which will be paid between 2035-44. New York had multiple open roster spots, so no further move was necessary.
Manaea, 33 in February, is now poised to sign with the Mets for the second consecutive offseason. In the first week of January earlier this year, the southpaw landed with New York on a two-year deal that guaranteed him $28MM and included an opt-out following the 2024 campaign. It was the second winter in a row that saw Manaea sign a two-year deal with an opt out after he signed with the Giants on a $25MM guarantee during the 2022-23 offseason.
That first contract in San Francisco was inked on the heels of a brutal 2022 season in San Diego that saw Manaea struggle to a 4.96 ERA (76 ERA+) with a 4.53 FIP in 158 innings of work. His time with the Giants went better than that; while his 4.44 ERA (94 ERA+) was still below average but he nonetheless entered the offseason boasting much stronger peripherals (3.91 FIP, 3.83 SIERA) and a solid run of starts down the stretch that September where he posted a 2.25 ERA and 3.21 FIP.
The Mets clearly believed that portended better days in Manaea’s future, and it certainly did. The lefty emerged as a quality mid-rotation option for New York in 2024 as he posted a 3.47 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 3.83 FIP in a career-high 181 2/3 innings of work across 32 starts. With a career year in the books ahead of his third consecutive trip to free agency, it seemed as though Manaea was looking for longer-term security. The Mets opted to tag the lefty with the Qualifying Offer at the outset of the winter, but it was hardly a surprise when Manaea rejected that one-year, $21.05MM offer and entered the open market anyway. After all, the lefty came into the winter ranked by MLBTR as the #10 free agent available on our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list and the #5 starter behind only Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried, and Jack Flaherty.
Early in the offseason, the fact that Manaea was encumbered by the QO led a number of clubs that likely would’ve had interest in a mid-rotation veteran like him to turn towards alternative options. The Angels, Dodgers, and Cubs turned in the early days of the offseason to unencumbered free agents like Yusei Kikuchi, Snell, and Matthew Boyd rather than delve into the markets of qualified free agents like Manaea, Nick Pivetta, or Luis Severino.
That’s not a consideration for the Mets, however, as reuniting with Manaea only costs the hypothetical draft pick they would’ve received had he signed elsewhere. That’s allowed Manaea to land a healthy guarantee despite a fairly small list of teams connected to him this winter: his three-year, $75MM deal exceeds the three-year, $60MM guarantee MLBTR predicted for him at the outset of the offseason but that’s hardly a surprise given that virtually every starting pitcher’s contract has exceeded expectations. Additionally, it’s of course possible that the deferred money in Manaea’s deal drops the net present value closer to MLBTR’s prediction.
For New York, a reunion with Manaea serves as a likely capstone on the club’s efforts to reconstruct its starting rotation after he, Severino, and Jose Quintana all hit the open market last month. The club added Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes to their rotation mix earlier this winter, but that duo offers little stability given Montas’s struggles in 2025 and the fact that Holmes last started a game in the majors back in 2018. Manaea provides that much-needed stability while slotting towards the front of a rotation that also includes talented right-hander Kodai Senga and young southpaw David Peterson.
With depth options like Paul Blackburn, Tylor Megill, and Griffin Canning all in the wings to help cover for potential injuries, it would hardly be a surprise if Manaea’s return wrapped up the team’s rotation additions for the winter. That doesn’t mean the club is done entirely, however. Even with a hefty 2025 payroll that RosterResource estimates will land just shy of $280MM as things stand, that still leaves $56MM of room to work with before the Mets match their 2024 figure. That should leave plenty of room for the Mets to sign a corner infield bat to pair with Mark Vientos, whether that ends up being a reunion with Pete Alonso or an alternative option such as Alex Bregman and perhaps bolster other areas of the roster such as the bullpen or the bench.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Mets and Manaea had agreed to a three-year, $75MM deal. Will Sammon of the Athletic reported that the deal included $23.25MM in deferred money to be paid between 2035-44. Image courtesy of Imagn.
Red Sox, Noah Davis Agree To Minor League Deal
The Red Sox agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Noah Davis last week. The former Colorado pitcher announced the news on social media on Saturday.
Davis has pitched in the majors in each of the last three seasons. That included a career-high nine outings for the Rockies this year. Davis tossed 20 1/3 innings of 5.85 ERA ball with a below-average 15.6% strikeout rate. The 6’2″ righty owns a 7.71 earned run average across 51 1/3 frames in his major league career. He has started six of 18 appearances.
The UC Santa Barbara product has also worked in a swing role at the Triple-A level. Davis has started 23 of 34 outings for the Rockies’ top minor league team. He has a 5.06 ERA across 133 1/3 innings in the Pacific Coast League. Davis has fanned just under 20% of batters faced against a higher than average 11.3% walk percentage.
While the numbers aren’t especially impressive at either stop, Davis has had the misfortune of pitching in difficult environments. He averaged nearly 94 MPH on his sinker in a multi-inning role for the Rox. That hasn’t resulted in huge swinging strike or ground-ball numbers. The Red Sox will try to translate that repertoire into more consistent results in a new setting.
Tigers Designate Bailey Horn For Assignment
The Tigers announced Friday that they’ve designated left-hander Bailey Horn for assignment. He’ll be the corresponding 40-man roster move for newly signed infielder Gleyber Torres, whose one-year, $15MM deal with the Tigers is now official.
Horn, 26, was claimed off waivers out of the Red Sox organization a month ago. He’ll now be traded to another club or claimed off waivers within the next week. He made his big league debut in Boston last season, pitching 18 innings and yielding 13 earned runs (6.50 ERA) on 22 hits and 10 walks with 13 strikeouts.
It wasn’t the best first impression in the majors, but Horn was sharper for Boston’s Triple-A club, rattling off 29 1/3 innings of 2.15 ERA ball with a 29.2% strikeout rate against a bloated 11.7% walk rate. Horn has missed bats in droves in the minors, fanning 29% of his career opponents, but he’s also walked nearly 13% of his opponents along the way. He’s a former fifth-round pick of the White Sox who’s been traded multiple times, most notably going from the Sox to the Cubs in exchange for Ryan Tepera back in 2021.
Horn’s ability to miss bats, coupled with a heater that averages 95 mph and a pair of minor league option years still remaining, could prompt another team to take a look.
Phillies, Payton Henry Agree To Minor League Deal
The Phillies and catcher Payton Henry agreed to a minor league contract earlier this month, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Henry confirmed the deal on social media.
Henry, 27, appeared in the majors with the Marlins between 2021-22. He suited up in 20 games, hitting .186 with one extra-base hit (a double) through 51 trips to the plate. The former sixth-round draftee has spent the past two seasons in Triple-A. He played 2023 in the Milwaukee system and spent this year with the Toronto organization.
The righty-hitting Henry was limited to 27 games with Triple-A Buffalo this past season. He was injured in a frightening play on May 31. Henry was catching when an opposing hitter accidentally struck him on the head with a backswing. Henry was removed on a cart and transported to a Syracuse, New York, hospital. The game was cancelled at that point. Fortunately, Henry was released the following day.
After a three-month stay on the injured list, he returned to action with the Bisons in the middle of September. He played in three games to finish the season. While he didn’t have time to put himself in position for an MLB call, getting back on the field checks a significant box going into Spring Training.
Henry is likely to open next season in Triple-A, where he’s now a career .266/.332/.414 hitter. Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán are each on the 40-man roster and potential backups behind J.T. Realmuto. They’ll remain ahead of Henry and Paul McIntosh, whom the Phils acquired over the weekend in the Jesús Luzardo trade, on the depth chart.
NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters Re-Sign Drew VerHagen
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan announced yesterday that they’re bringing back righty Drew VerHagen on a one-year deal. The Vayner Sports client first joined the Fighters on a one-year contract with a 2025 player option last winter. While it seems he explored free agent possibilities in lieu of the player option, he elected to return to Hokkaido all the same.
VerHagen divided the ’24 season between the Fighters and their minor league affiliate. He posted similarly solid numbers at both stops. The 34-year-old tossed 49 innings of 3.12 ERA ball at Japan’s top level and managed a 3.06 mark across 47 minor league frames. He fanned a slightly above-average 20.6% of NPB opponents against a 5% walk rate.
That was VerHagen’s third season with the Fighters overall. He pitched for the team between 2020-21 and now carries a 3.44 earned run average in 256 2/3 NPB innings. Around the separate stints in Japan, he has appeared in parts of eight MLB campaigns. VerHagen worked as long reliever for the Tigers between 2014-19. He returned to the majors in 2022 for a two-season run with the Cardinals. After posting a 6.65 ERA during his first year in St. Louis, he rebounded with a 3.98 mark across a career-high 61 innings in 2023.
Rockies Sign Diego Castillo To Minors Deal
The Rockies have signed right-hander Diego Castillo to a minor league contract, according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball Media. The pact includes an invitation for Castillo (who turns 31 next month) to attend Colorado’s big league spring camp.
Castillo is best known for his five-year run as a workhorse in the Rays’ and Mariners’ bullpens from 2018-22, as the righty posted a 3.12 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, 50.7% grounder rate, and 8.9% walk rate over 259 2/3 innings and 250 appearances in that span. Unfortunately, he got off to a very rough start in his first eight games (and 8 2/3 innings) in 2023, leading the Mariners to outright him off their 40-man roster at the start of May. Castillo spent the remainder of the season at Triple-A, then elected free agency at season’s end.
The Rangers signed Castillo to a minor league deal last winter and released him near the end of Spring Training, with the Twins then quickly adding him on another minors contract. Castillo’s season in Minnesota saw him twice designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster, and he re-signed another minor league deal with the Twins after opting for free agency after that initial outright at midseason. All of this movement resulted in another season of pretty minimal MLB playing time, as Castillo appeared in 10 games with the Twins and posted a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings.
Control is the biggest issue behind Castillo’s decline, as his walk rate has shot up to 14.92% over 84 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball over the last two seasons, and 17.9% in his brief MLB sample size of 18 2/3 innings. A velocity drop may have also been partially responsible for Castillo’s struggles in 2023 specifically, though his fastball ticked upwards from 93.8mph in 2023 to 95.9 mph in 2024.
Castillo’s prime years are recent enough that it makes sense that teams would still want to take a flier on the veteran righty. For the Rockies in particular, his ability to keep the ball on the ground could be useful in the thin air of Coors Field, if Castillo can earn himself a shot on Colorado’s active roster.