Twins Sign Armando Alvarez To Minor League Deal
The Twins have signed infielder Armando Alvarez to a minor league deal, according to the transaction log on Alvarez’s MLB.com profile page. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training next month.
Alvarez, 30, was a 17th-round pick by the Yankees back in 2016. He climbed the minor league ladder with the club and eventually reached the Triple-A level in 2019. Unfortunately for Alvarez, however, the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and a down season in 2021 led to him not making his big league debut in a Yankees uniform. Instead, he elected minor league free agency following the 2022 season and signed on with the Giants for the 2023 season. Playing for the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, Alvarez took to the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League quite well as he slashed .308/.379/.581 with a wRC+ of 125 in 74 games. He once again failed to crack the club’s big league roster, however, and moved across the bay to Oakland ahead of the 2024 season.
With the Athletics, Alvarez raked at the Triple-A level to the tune of a .315/.407/.560 slash line in 75 games. That performance finally earned Alvarez his first taste of big league action at the age of 29, and he ultimately appeared in 16 games with the A’s throughout the season. The infielder struggled during his lone cup of coffee in the majors, hitting just .243/.282/.270 in 39 plate appearances while playing the infield corners, left field, and second base. That lackluster performance led the A’s to outright Alvarez off their roster back in October, allowing him to elect minor league free agency for a third consecutive offseason.
Now, Alvarez is headed to Minnesota to try and work his way into the Twins’ infield mix. Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Brooks Lee appear likely to get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop, third base, and second base respectively when the roster is fully healthy. In theory, that should leave first base available for some combination of Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien, but the Twins have expressed interest in help at the position throughout the winter and as such appear to be open to other options. Alvarez is the second infielder the club has brought in on a minor league deal who could try to work his way into the big league first base mix, joining lefty slugger Mike Ford.
With less than 40 trips to the plate in the majors on his resume headed into his age-30 campaign, Alvarez may wind up outmatched by the Twins’ more established options in a camp battle for the first base job. Even if that comes to pass, however, he’ll still be a solid depth piece for the club given his ability to play multiple positions and his status as a career .280/.345/.492 hitter at the Triple-A level. The majority of Alvarez’s playing time in the minors has come at the hot corner, though he has plenty of first base experience as well and has made cameos at the keystone, the outfield corners, and even shortstop throughout his career. That versatility should come in handy for a Twins club that has a number of players who have struggled to remain healthy in recent years.
Braves Sign Garrett Cooper To Minor League Deal
The Braves have signed first baseman Garrett Cooper to a minor league contract, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray. The deal includes an invitation for Cooper to attend Atlanta’s big league Spring Training camp.
After spending the majority of his eight MLB seasons with the Marlins, Cooper now heads back to the NL East in the hopes of achieving some stability in what has become a journeyman-esque couple of years. Miami dealt Cooper to the Padres at the 2023 trade deadline, and upon entering free agency last winter, Cooper landed with the Cubs on a minor league contract. He was then designated for assignment and subsequently traded to the Red Sox at the end of April, but was then DFA’ed again by Boston in June and then released.
Cooper signed another minors deal with the Orioles but didn’t make any appearances with Baltimore at the MLB level, as injuries hampered his time at Triple-A Norfolk. Cooper had a .914 OPS over 84 plate appearances with Norfolk, which might hint that he has something left in the tank as he enters his age-34 season, even if his MLB numbers with Chicago and Boston left a lot to be desired.
Cooper hit well in 41 PA with the Cubs before struggling badly over 75 PA with the Red Sox. It added up to an overall .206/.267/.299 slash line over 116 plate appearances, and the second straight season of declining numbers for Cooper after his Marlins heyday. Cooper hit .274/.350/.444 over 1273 PA for Miami from 2019-22, and was the team’s All-Star representative in 2022 even though injuries and the Marlins’ overall lower profile made him something of an underrated hitter.
While there has always been a good deal of swing-and-miss in Cooper’s game even in his prime years, his strikeout rates have increased over the last two seasons and his hard-contact numbers have dropped. Defensively, Cooper played a good deal of right field earlier in his career but has been almost exclusively a first baseman since the start of the 2021 season, apart from two appearances in left field for the Cubs this year.
Since Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna have the first base and DH positions locked down in Atlanta, the outfield is likely Cooper’s best path to winning a job on the Braves’ Opening Day roster. Jarred Kelenic is penciled in for the bulk of work in left field, but since he’ll need a platoon partner, a right-handed bat like Cooper might be an ideal fit.
A return to right field also might not be out of the question, as Ronald Acuna Jr. is expected to miss some time at the start of the season as he returns from a torn ACL. The Braves have added Bryan De La Cruz (a former teammate of Cooper’s in Miami) and Conner Capel to an outfield depth chart that also includes Luke Williams and Eli White, as the team will try to make do in the corner outfield slots until Acuna is back in action.
Giants Designate Blake Sabol For Assignment
The Giants announced this evening that they’ve designated catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol for assignment. The move clears a roster spot for the signing of Justin Verlander, which has now been made official.
Sabol, who just celebrated his 27th birthday earlier this week, was a seventh-round pick by the Pirates back in 2019 who was plucked from the organization by San Francisco during the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. That locked Sabol into an Opening Day roster spot with the Giants for 2023, and he performed admirably for a player with just 25 games of Triple-A experience under his belt. While splitting time between catcher and left field in 2023, Sabol hit a respectable .235/.301/.394 (91 wRC+) in 344 trips to the plate.
Once the Giants were able to option him to the minors in 2024, however, Sabol was quickly shuttled back to Triple-A and only made a brief cameo in the majors last year. He hit well in those 11 games, however, with a .313/.421/.375 slash line in 38 trips to the plate while helping cover for a Patrick Bailey during a trip to the concussion-related injured list. When in the minors, Sabol struggled offensively with just a .246/.340/.388 slash line at Triple-A that was good for a wRC+ of just 85.
That lackluster performance at Triple-A seemingly made Sabol expendable as a catching depth option in the eyes of president of baseball operations Buster Posey and the Giants’ front office. The club recently claimed catcher Sam Huff off waivers from the Rangers, which may have made Sabol’s presence on the 40-man roster even less necessary. Huff is out of minor league options and can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers but can still provide the club with depth behind Bailey and Tom Murphy throughout Spring Training or even be carried on the roster as a third catcher.
Going forward, the Giants will have one week to either work out a trade involving Sabol or expose him to waivers. As an optionable catching depth option, it would hardly be a surprise to see a catching-needy club take the opportunity to pluck Sabol off waivers in hopes of helping him rediscover something closer to the offensive form he showed in 2023, which would make him a roughly average offensive catcher in the majors. If Sabol were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Giants would have the option of keeping him in the fold as a non-roster depth option for the 2025 season.
Nationals Sign Jorge Lopez
The Nationals have signed right-hander Jorge Lopez, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Lopez will receive $3MM in guaranteed money in the one-year contract, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports, plus some more money is available in incentives. The Nats have officially announced the signing, and also announced that right-hander Amos Willingham was designated for assignment to create roster space for Lopez.
Lopez, 32 next month, spent the first several years of his big league career as a below-average swingman. He made his big league debut with the Brewers back in 2015, and in parts of six seasons with Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Baltimore he posted a 6.04 ERA (76 ERA+) with a 5.15 FIP in 102 appearances, 58 of which were starts. After posting ERAs north of six in three consecutive seasons as a swingman from 2019 to 2021, the Orioles converted Lopez to short relief full-time ahead of the 2022 season.
From there, his career has taken a major step forward. His breakout began with a sterling 1.68 ERA in the first half while collecting 19 saves as their closer. He was traded to the Twins ahead of that summer’s trade deadline and faded somewhat down the stretch, but still finished the season with an excellent 2.54 ERA (155 ERA+) and 3.42 FIP in 71 innings of work. While his 10.4% walk rate left something to be desired, he combined it with a solid 24.2% strikeout rate and a fantastic 57.8% groundball rate, giving him strong peripherals that suggested he could have a future in the late innings.
Unfortunately, Lopez was unable to recreate that excellent 2022 season the following year. He took a massive step back in 2023 while spending time on the injured list for mental health reasons, and when he was on the mound he pitched to a 5.95 ERA in 59 innings of work. Nonetheless, Lopez managed to latch on with the Mets last year on a big league deal. His tenure in Queens was brief, as while he posted decent middle relief numbers (including a 3.76 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work) he was designated for assignment in late May following a controversy regarding a post-game interview where he seemingly referred to the Mets as the “worst team” in the league, though in the aftermath of the incident it appeared that Lopez had actually referred to himself as the “worst teammate” in the league.
That rocky exit from the Mets, in conjunction with his difficult 2023 season, left Lopez to catch on with the Cubs on a minor league deal. He made the most of the opportunity, however, and looked every bit like the dominant late-inning arm he had been for the Orioles in 2022. In 26 2/3 innings of work for Chicago last year, Lopez posted an excellent 2.03 ERA. He struck out 29.2% of his opponents during that stretch with a walk rate of just 7.5%, and his 59.1% groundball rate was nothing short of elite. Taking that fantastic work on the north side together with his time in Queens paints a picture of Lopez as an intriguing, if somewhat risky, late-inning option as he posted a 2.89 ERA and 3.94 FIP in 53 innings of work with a 23% strikeout rate and 51% groundball rate.
Lopez is now headed to the Nationals, where he appears likely to be tasked with the closer role barring another external addition. That role had belonged to Kyle Finnegan in recent years, but the club non-tendered him back in November due to his rapidly escalating price in arbitration. Finnegan was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $8.6MM salary in 2025, and Lopez is signing in D.C. for just over a third of that amount after posting better rate numbers than Finnegan did in 2024.
The addition of Lopez brings the Nationals’ payroll up to a projected $110MM for 2025 according to RosterResource. That’s $20MM below the club’s 2024 payroll, meaning they should have room for further upgrades to the roster should opportunities arise in trade or on the free agent market. That said, it’s already been a fairly busy winter for the Nationals. Lopez joins rotation additions Trevor Williams and Michael Soroka on the pitching staff, while Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe were brought in to bolster the club’s lineup. There’s still room for improvement, however, particularly in the bullpen and at third base.
As for Willingham, the right-hander has been and up-and-down reliever for the Nationals over the past two seasons. To this point in his career, he’s posted a 7.11 ERA in 25 1/3 innings of work at the major league level with just one appearance for Washington in 2024. He posted a decent 3.69 ERA for Triple-A Rochester last year, however, and it’s not impossible to imagine a rival club having some interest in Willingham as optionable relief depth. Going forward, the Nationals will have one week to either work out a trade involving the right-hander or try to put him through waivers. If he clears waivers unclaimed, the Nationals will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues as a non-roster depth option.
Giants Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Deal
The Giants signed right-hander Miguel Diaz to a minor league contract back in late December, as per Diaz’s MLB.com profile page. The 30-year-old will presumably also be invited to the Giants’ big league Spring Training camp.
With the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Diaz has been a part of every MLB season since 2017, ranging from a high of 42 innings with the Padres in 2021 to a lone inning in one game with the Astros last season. Diaz has a 4.81 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 11.7% walk rate over 127 1/3 innings and 88 career big league games with the Padres, Tigers, and Astros, and he has also spent time in the minors with the Brewers and Twins organizations.
Most of Diaz’s better numbers have come more recently in his career, as he has a 2.82 ERA in 60 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 season. Despite the strong bottom-line performance, however, some underlying metrics (such as a .222 BABIP) and some inconsistency with his control has kept Diaz from getting much of a look at the big league level. A 4.93 ERA over 204 2/3 career minor league innings also hasn’t helped Diaz’s case for call-ups to the Show.
Diaz is out of minor league options, which makes it difficult for teams to keep him on the roster without exposing him to waivers. In 2024, for example, the Tigers lost Diaz on a waiver claim to the Astros in April, and Diaz was then designated for assignment and chose free agency over an outright assignment before quickly re-signing with Houston on another minor league deal. Diaz was released by the Astros entirely a few weeks later, and he completed the circle by re-signing another minor league contract with Detroit near the end of June.
San Francisco’s bullpen seems largely set, though teams routinely bring multiple veteran pitchers to camp on minors deals just in case of injury, or in case any of these unheralded arms can stand out enough to win a spot on the Opening Day roster. As noted, Diaz’s lack of minor league options might hurt him in a camp competition, but should he clear waivers and stick around in the organization, he could act as bullpen depth for the Giants during the season.
NPB’s Orix Buffaloes Close To Signing Edward Olivares
The Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball are close to a deal with outfielder Edward Olivares, according to multiple reports out of Japan and Venezuela. Olivares signed a minor league contract with the Mets last month, but it seems as though New York will be releasing (or has already released) Olivares so he can pursue this opportunity with the Osaka-based Buffaloes.
Olivares hit only .224/.291/.333 with five homers in 196 PA with the Pirates last season, playing sharing right field duty with Connor Joe and Bryan Reynolds during the first half of the season. Olivares’ final MLB appearance with Pittsburgh came on July 7, and the Pirates designated Olivares for assignment and subsequently outrighted him off their 40-man roster in August.
After making his big league debut with San Diego in 2020, the Padres moved him to the Royals at that season’s trade deadline, and Olivares has played 217 of his 285 MLB games in a Kansas City uniform. The Royals tenure was highlighted by a .270/.322/.410 slash line (106 wRC+) over 559 plate appearances during the 2022-23 seasons, with Olivares making 385 of those trips to the plate in a semi-regular role in 2023 as Kansas City’s left fielder. The outfield-needy Pirates were inspired enough by that performance to trade for Olivares in December 2023, but he couldn’t continue that production during his short time in Pittsburgh.
More recently, Olivares has been tearing it up in Venezuelan Winter League, which might well have caught the Buffaloes’ attention. Despite that deal with the Mets, it isn’t uncommon for MLB teams to simply release players from minor league contracts if the player is relatively low on the depth chart. Olivares is also out of minor league options, which would have complicated his chances of sticking in New York’s organization anyway even if he had cracked the Mets’ active roster at some point.
Olivares now looks set to start a new chapter in his career as he enters his age-29 season. He’ll join Jordan Diaz and Luis Perdomo as two of the non-Japanese members of the Buffaloes’ roster, as the Osaka squad looks to rebound from a disappointing 63-77-3 record in 2024.
Blue Jays Sign Jeff Hoffman
The Blue Jays made a significant bullpen upgrade on Friday evening, announcing a three-year deal with Jeff Hoffman that guarantees $33MM. The CAA client reportedly receives a $5MM signing bonus and can earn another $6MM in incentives. He’d unlock $500K for reaching each of 60, 70, 80 and 90 innings pitched in all three seasons. He’ll make a $6MM salary next season followed by $11MM annually from 2026-27.
General manager Ross Atkins said in a statement that Hoffman “will get an opportunity to close games for us” (relayed by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). That suggests they’re planning to keep the right-hander in the late innings. Hoffman had reportedly drawn interest from teams as a starting pitcher.
Hoffman, who turned 32 on Wednesday, returns to the organization that drafted him more than a decade ago. The righty was Toronto’s first-round pick (ninth overall) out of East Carolina in 2014. He was a high-profile starting pitching prospect who landed among Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects in each of his first three professional seasons. Hoffman didn’t spend long in the Toronto system. One year after the draft, the Jays dealt him to the Rockies as part of the return in the Troy Tulowitzki deadline blockbuster.
The early portion of Hoffman’s major league career was a struggle. Like many young pitchers, he had a tough time at Coors Field. Hoffman had an earned run average north of 6.00 over parts of five seasons with the Rox. Colorado swapped him to the Reds for Robert Stephenson in advance of the 2021 season. Stephenson and Hoffman were each former top prospects whose careers would take off after a move to the bullpen.
For Hoffman, that didn’t materialize right away. He had a pair of decent but unspectacular seasons in Cincinnati, combining for a 4.28 ERA over 66 appearances. He signed with the Phillies on a minor league deal coming out of Spring Training in 2023. Hoffman had the best two seasons of his career in Philadelphia. He made the big league roster in early May of the first season and turned in 52 1/3 innings of 2.41 ERA ball.
That performance made him a key piece of Rob Thomson’s leverage group heading into 2024. Hoffman posted even better numbers during his second season at Citizens Bank Park. He worked 66 1/3 innings with a 2.17 ERA while striking out more than a third of opposing hitters. Over his tenure with the Phils, Hoffman turned in a 2.28 earned run average with a 33.4% strikeout percentage. He kept his walks to a modest 7.4% clip and held opponents to a .180/.249/.295 slash in 473 plate appearances.
Of the 97 relievers who have logged 100+ innings over the past two seasons, only five (Emmanuel Clase, Tanner Scott, Ryan Helsley, Kirby Yates and Tyler Holton) have a lower ERA. Hoffman also ranks sixth in strikeout rate, trailing Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader, Fernando Cruz, Kirby Yates, and A.J. Puk. He is in the top 10 in swinging strike percentage. The 6’5″ hurler has the stuff to match those results. His fastball sits around 97 MPH on average. Hoffman mixes four pitches and has overpowered hitters with both the heater and his upper-80s slider.
That production earned him a contract commensurate with what most top setup arms have made in recent offseasons. It’s an exact match for what Stephenson, last winter’s breakout free agent reliever, earned from the Angels. Joe Jiménez, Reynaldo López, Rafael Montero, Taylor Rogers and Clay Holmes all landed three-year deals that guaranteed between $26MM and $38MM. Jordan Hicks signed for $11MM annually but was able to secure a fourth year from the Giants as he entered his age-27 season.
MLBTR ranked Hoffman as the #2 free agent reliever behind Scott. We predicted a four-year, $44MM deal. While the AAV was accurate, teams evidently were unwilling to go to four years at that salary for what would be his age 32-35 seasons. Hoffman was reportedly hoping to land a deal similar to the three years and $38MM that Holmes received from the Mets. He comes up a little bit shy of that, at least in part because New York is going to give Holmes an opportunity to move to the rotation.
Robert Murray of FanSided reported this evening that Hoffman had been set to sign with the Orioles on a three-year, $40MM contract before Baltimore took issue with his throwing shoulder during the physical examination. Teams have different standards for the injury risk that they’re willing to tolerate. Baltimore has a reputation for being particularly attentive to the physical. Hoffman has not spent any time on the injured list over the last two years. He missed a good portion of the second half of 2022 because of a forearm issue. He did miss around two months due to a shoulder impingement early in the ’21 season as a member of the Reds.
The signing is perhaps some evidence of a thaw in what has been a slow-moving reliever market. It’s the second straight day in which one of the top bullpen arms has come off the board, as Baltimore agreed to a $10MM deal with Andrew Kittredge last night (after pulling out of the agreement with Hoffman). Scott remains unsigned and should land the most significant reliever contract of the offseason by a decent margin. Carlos Estévez, Yates and David Robertson are among the next group of back-end arms.
It’s Toronto’s biggest free agent move of the offseason. Their only previous signing had been a two-year, $15MM deal to bring Yimi García back to the organization. They also took on nearly $100MM and acquired middle reliever Nick Sandlin in the Andrés Giménez trade. The Jays had the worst bullpen in the American League last season. They non-tendered Jordan Romano after an injury-plagued season for their former All-Star closer. (Romano signed with Philadelphia as a key replacement for Hoffman.) The trio of new bullpen pickups join holdovers Erik Swanson and Chad Green as potential late-inning options for John Schneider.
According to RosterResource, Toronto’s luxury tax number is up to roughly $239MM. That puts them within a few million of the $241MM base threshold. The Jays narrowly dipped below the CBT line last season. They’d need to be willing to exceed that marker if they’re going to make a notable offensive upgrade beyond Giménez. The outfield is the biggest issue on paper, while the Jays could also look to solidify a third base position that currently features a handful of young, unproven infielders.
Jon Morosi of the MLB Network first reported that the Jays and Hoffman were discussing a multi-year deal. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported the $6MM in bonuses, which Kiley McDaniel of ESPN specified. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the signing bonus, while The Associated Press had the salary structure.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
NPB’s Orix Buffaloes Sign Jordan Diaz
The Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced this week that they’ve signed former A’s infielder Jordan Diaz. Reports out of Japan first emerged in November that the Buffaloes were nearing a deal with the Colombian-born infielder, but the contract was not finalized until Wednesday.
Diaz, a right-handed hitter who spends most of his time between second and third base, appeared in 105 major league games between 2022-23. The bulk of those reps came in ’23, when Diaz appeared in a little more than half of the team’s games. Diaz didn’t make much of an offensive impact, as he hit .227/.276/.358 across 344 trips to the plate. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A to begin last season. They designated him for assignment and outrighted him off the 40-man roster towards the end of May.
The 24-year-old spent the rest of the year with the A’s top minor league team. He had a strong season, hitting 22 homers with a .301/.362/.529 slash through 436 plate appearances. Diaz is up to a .311/.363/.523 batting line over 724 trips to the plate in the Pacific Coast League. That’s a hitter-friendly environment, of course, but Diaz has shown plus contact skills with decent power at every minor league stop.
Rather than pursue another minor league contract to stay in affiliated ball, Diaz will parlay his strong Triple-A numbers to a guaranteed deal in Japan. He’s young enough to attract MLB interest down the line if he performs well against NPB pitching.
Blue Jays Designate Brett de Geus For Assignment
The Blue Jays designated reliever Brett de Geus for assignment, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. Toronto needed to create a 40-man roster spot after signing Jeff Hoffman this evening.
de Geus landed with the Jays on a late-season waiver claim from Miami. The 27-year-old righty made two appearances and allowed four runs across 2 1/3 innings. de Geus had made brief appearances with the Mariners and Marlins earlier in the year. He concluded the season with 11 1/3 frames while allowing 10 runs (nine earned). He struck out seven and issued four walks.
That marked de Geus’ first MLB action since his 2021 rookie year. He tossed 50 innings as a Rule 5 pick that season but allowed more than seven earned runs per nine. de Geus owns a 7.48 earned run average across 61 1/3 big league innings. He combined for a 5.31 ERA through 39 Triple-A innings last season. He posted a well below-average 15.6% strikeout rate against a decent 8.1% walk percentage.
Toronto is likely to place de Geus on waivers within the next few days. He has a previous career outright, which means he’d be able to elect minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed.
White Sox Sign Omar Narváez To Minor League Deal
The White Sox announced that they have signed catcher Omar Narváez to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training. The veteran backstop is represented by ISE Baseball.
Narváez, 33 next month, has had a fairly unusual career. Once a bat-first catcher with defensive question marks, he later flipped that profile and became a solid defender with a tepid bat. Last year, he didn’t succeed in either category and ended up spending most of the season in the minors.
From 2016 to 2019, with the White Sox and Mariners, he slashed .276/.361/.411 for a 113 wRC+. But thanks to his poor defensive metrics, he was worth only 3.1 wins above replacement in 353 games over that stretch, per the calculations of FanGraphs. He then spent 2020 to 2022 with the Brewers, hitting .233/.318/.350 for an 84 wRC+ but producing 4.6 fWAR in 247 games thanks to his superior work behind the plate.
The Mets signed him to a two-year, $15MM deal going into 2023, which turned into a bust. A significant left calf strain put him on the shelf early in the first year of that deal and he only played 49 games on the season, hitting just .211/.283/.297. Early in 2024, he produced a dismal line of .154/.191/.185 in 69 plate appearances. He was released by early June and signed a minor league deal with the Astros, then hitting .196/.325/.304 in 169 Triple-A appearances.
It’s obviously been a rough patch for Narváez but he has a track record of past major league success, both offensively and defensively, though usually not at the same time. He’s a sensible flier for the Sox, who had little proven behind the plate. They currently have two catchers on the 40-man roster: Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss. Lee is a former prospect who could still break out but has hit .188/.227/.313 in his career thus far. Thaiss, picked up in a cash deal last month, is a bit better at the plate but isn’t considered a strong defender.
The club’s future probably lies in Edgar Quero or Kyle Teel or both. Quero was acquired from the Angels in the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo López trade and Teel from the Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet deal. Both are consensus top 100 prospects but they may not be immediate solutions. Neither is on the 40-man roster yet. Quero has just 26 games at the Triple-A level while Teel has 28. Getting to the majors this year is certainly possible for both of them but there are no guarantees that they will immediately succeed even if they get there. Narváez gives the club an experienced backstop that they could lean on if their younger options get injured or hit speed bumps.