Mets Sign Chad Smith To Minor League Contract
The Mets signed reliever Chad Smith to a minor league contract over the weekend, according to the Associated Press. He’ll be in MLB camp as a non-roster Spring Training invitee.
Smith, a 28-year-old righty, has made brief appearances at the MLB level in each of the past two seasons. The Ole Miss product debuted with the Rockies in 2022, allowing 15 runs across 18 innings. Colorado traded him to the A’s a little more than a year ago. Smith pitched 10 times for Oakland, tossing 13 2/3 frames of 10-run ball. Between the two clubs, he owns a 7.11 ERA at the highest level.
While those aren’t especially impressive results, Smith has kept the ball on the ground at a huge 55.2% clip in his limited MLB time. He has posted high grounder marks throughout his professional career. Smith has also run decent strikeout numbers in the minors, including a 26.6% rate over three years in Triple-A.
That combination of whiffs and grounders has thus far been undercut by subpar control. Smith has walked more than 15% of batters faced in his big league time while handing out free passes at a 13.4% clip in Triple-A. His already alarming walk percentage spiked to 17.3% for the A’s top affiliate a season ago. That contributed to a 7.53 ERA over 35 appearances, leading Oakland to outright him from their 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.
The Mets have added a number of depth players in David Stearns’ first winter leading baseball operations. New York has signed Trayce Thompson, Rylan Bannon, Taylor Kohlwey and José Iglesias to non-roster deals, while Smith joins Cole Sulser, Kyle Crick, Cam Robinson and Andre Scrubb as minor league additions to the relief corps. The Mets have also added Yohan Ramirez, Michael Tonkin, Jorge López and Austin Adams to the 40-man roster via modest acquisitions.
Reds Sign Conner Capel To Minor League Deal
The Reds have signed outfielder Conner Capel to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league Spring Training, per a club announcement.
Capel, 26, was a fifth-round pick by Cleveland in the 2016 draft before being swapped to the Cardinals in 2018 as part of the return in the Oscar Mercado trade. Capel spent the next several seasons in the minor leagues before making his big league debut with the Cardinals in 2022. In nine games with the big league club in St. Louis, Capel struggled to a slash line of just .176/.211/.353 before the club designated him for assignment in late September. Once the Cardinals placed Capel on waivers, the A’s swooped in and claimed him before adding him to the big league roster for the stretch run. Capel caught fire with Oakland during his 13-game stint with the club to end the year, slashing an incredible .371/.425/.600 in his final 40 plate appearances.
That strong performance to end the 2022 season earned Capel a spot on the Opening Day roster in Oakland. Though Capel received regular starts in the outfield corners for the first month of the season, Capel failed to make the most of the opportunity and slashed just .258/.347/.318 across 75 trips to the plate before he was optioned to Triple-A. Capel ultimately finished the 2023 season with a .260/.372/.329 slash line in the big leagues, good for a respectable wRC+ of 109. That success came over the course of just 86 plate appearances, however, and Capel’s mediocre .252/.346/.402 slash line at the club’s Triple-A affiliate, which plays in the offense-inflating Pacific Coast League, wasn’t enough to convince the A’s to keep Capel on the roster. The outfielder was outrighted off the 40-man roster back in August and subsequently hit minor league free agency, allowing him to sign on with the Reds on this non-roster pact.
Capel doesn’t exactly have a clear path to joining Cincinnati’s roster, as the lefty outfielder would be competing with the likes of TJ Friedl, Will Benson, and Jake Fraley for a spot on the club’s roster to say nothing of right-handed outfield options like Stuart Fairchild and Spencer Steer. While the Reds’ deep positional group seems likely to block Capel at least entering Spring Training, an injury or two at the big league level combined with a strong performance from Capel during Spring Training and in the minors could provide him the opportunity to break onto the club’s roster. Until then, Capel figures to serve as a depth option at the Triple-A level for the Reds, who have the likes of Nick Martini and Bubba Thompson also available at Triple-A.
Dodgers Sign Jonathan Arauz To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers have signed infielder Jonathan Arauz to a minor league deal, according to his player page on MLB.com. The specifics of the deal aren’t clear, but it’s likely the contract comes with an invite to big league Spring Training.
Arauz, 25, signed with the Phillies out of Panama prior to the 2015 season before being swapped to the Astros as the return in the Ken Giles deal the following season. Arauz spent three seasons in Houston’s farm system, ultimately advancing to Double-A before the Red Sox selected him in the 2019 Rule 5 Draft. Arauz stuck on the big league roster in Boston throughout the entirety of the shortened 2020 season, during which he posted a .250/.325/.319 slash line (77 wRC+) in 80 trips to the plate across 25 games where he primarily played second base.
With Arauz now a permanent member of the Red Sox organization, the club shuttled him from Triple-A to the majors as infield depth in 2021, where he more or less replicated his 2020 season with a 71 wRC+ in 75 trips to the plate across 28 games. While Arauz started the 2022 campaign with the Red Sox, he was designated for assignment and claimed on waivers by the Orioles in June of that year. Arauz spent most of his time in Baltimore on the restricted list and was outrighted by the Orioles late in the year and ended the season with just five hits and a walk in 41 plate appearances spread across 15 games.
That offseason, Arauz changed uniforms through a familiar process after being selected in the second phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft by the Mets, which added Arauz to the organization without any sort of restrictions. While he hit a respectable .239/.340/.415 in 100 games at the Triple-A level in 2023, the infielder’s time with the big league Mets was less productive as he slashed just .136/.203/.388 in 66 trips to the plate. In joining the Dodgers, Arauz is now on to his fourth team in three years and appears likely to act as minor league depth for L.A. backing up an infield group that includes Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, Miguel Rojas, and Mookie Betts at the big league level with youngsters like Miguel Vargas and Michael Busch hoping to break into a regular role in the majors.
Rangers Sign Diego Castillo To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have signed right-hander Diego Castillo to a minor league contract, according to Castillo’s player page on MLB.com. The details of the the deal aren’t clear, but presumably include an invite to big league Spring Training.
Castillo, 30 next month, made his big league debut with the Rays back in 2018. Early in his career Castillo found success as a solid middle reliever for Tampa, with a 3.30 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 125 1/3 innings across 108 appearances (including 17 appearances as an opener). Castillo owned a solid 28.5% strikeout rate against a walk rate of 8.6% with an impressive 51.8% groundball rate. Among all relievers with at least 100 innings of work across the 2018-19 seasons, only Luke Jackson, Jace Fry and Ryan Pressly struck out more batters while posting a groundball rate north of 50%.
Impressive as the first two seasons of his career already were, Castillo found another gear headed into the shortened 2020 season when he posted a sterling 1.66 ERA across 21 2/3 innings of work with a whopping 60.4% groundball rate. Castillo’s success during the shortened seasons saw him establish himself as a quality set-up option at the back of the Rays bullpen, resulting in the club dealing him to the Mariners the following summer. From 2020-22, Castillo posted a 2.95 ERA (134 ERA+) despite an elevated 3.84 FIP thanks to a 27.8% strikeout rate and a 49.7% groundball rate.
Unfortunately, things came off the rails for Castillo entering the 2023 season as the righty struggled to a 6.23 ERA across 8 2/3 innings of work for Seattle early in the year, resulting in the club outrighting Castillo off the roster in early May. The right-hander’s struggles continued in the minors throughout the year, as Castillo posted an ERA of 5.13 across 47 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level across the remainder of the season. Castillo became a minor league free agent back in October, giving the Rangers the opportunity to pick him up on a non-roster deal.
Brutal as Castillo’s performance was in 2023, his addition could provide a significant boost to the Rangers if he’s able to re-establish himself as a quality set-up arm or even as a solid middle reliever. Entering the 2023 season, Castillo sported a career 3.12 ERA and 3.69 FIP. Meanwhile, the Rangers had one of the worst relief corps in the entire league last season, even before the departures of Aroldis Chapman, Will Smith, and Chris Stratton in free agency.
While Jose Leclerc is a strong back-end option and the likes of Kirby Yates and Brock Burke could be valuable pieces, Texas will need contributions from others outside of that trio to improve upon their 2023 bullpen ERA of 4.77. A rebound for Castillo would go a long way to achieving that goal, but for now the right-hander figures to enter the spring with competing for a spot in the club’s bullpen with the likes of Grant Anderson and Jake Latz.
KBO League’s LG Twins Re-Sign Deok Ju Ham
Left-hander Deok Ju Ham is staying in the Korea Baseball Organization, as Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (X link) reports that Ham has re-signed with the LG Twins for a four-year deal worth close to $2.9MM, including incentives.
Ham emerged as a possibility for Major League teams last month, when MLB tendered a status check on the southpaw with the KBO League. This procedural move essentially indicates some level of interest in a Korean player from a big league team, though obviously no deal was worked out and Ham opted to stay with the Twins. It could be that he preferred the security of a four-year contract over what might’ve been just a one-year flier from a Major League team for less money, or perhaps even a non-guaranteed sum. Yoo notes that the status check “came as a surprise,” though it isn’t clear if this was surprising to Ham, the Twins, or maybe both parties.
Since Ham has 11 seasons of experience in the KBO League, he was a full free agent, and would’ve available to be signed by a big league team without an additional posting fee going to the Twins. Despite that long track record in South Korea, Ham is still a few weeks shy of his 29th birthday, and might be poised for bigger things now that he has seemingly moved past the injuries that limited him to 33 2/3 innings in 2021-22. Ham bounced back strongly to post a 1.62 ERA over 55 2/3 relief innings for the Twins in 2023, helping the Seoul-based franchise capture the third Korean Series title in franchise history.
Ham has a 3.50 ERA over 501 2/3 innings in his KBO career, comprised of eight seasons with the Doosan Bears and the last three seasons with the Twins. Working mostly as a reliever, Ham has dabbled in rotation work by starting 33 of his 397 career games, but has generally found more success out of the bullpen. Ham isn’t a high velocity pitcher and his 23.94% strikeout rate is solid but unspectacular, and he has been bothered by control problems at various points in his career.
The four-year contract closes the door on Ham’s chances of coming to the big leagues in the near future, barring a trade or some kind of further agreement between the lefty and the Twins. He’ll be 33 at the end of the deal and could still perhaps be a candidate to jump to MLB in 2028, though for now, Ham will focus his efforts on bringing the Twins another championship.
Padres Sign Yuki Matsui To Five-Year Deal
The Padres have signed left-hander Yuki Matsui to a five-year contract, the club has announced. Matsui and the Padres were reportedly close to a deal earlier this week. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Matsui will receive $28MM guaranteed over the life of the contract, which includes opt-outs after the third and fourth seasons of the deal as well as an injury clause that can convert the fifth year of the contract into a club option worth $7MM if Matsui suffers a “serious” elbow injury during the life of the contract.
The deal represents San Diego’s first significant buy-side move of the offseason, and their first major move since trading star slugger Juan Soto and center fielder Trent Grisham to the Yankees earlier this month for a five-player package headlined by right-handers Michael King and Drew Thorpe. It’s a somewhat unusual deal for a reliever; right-hander Robert Suarez‘s agreement with the Padres and the record-breaking deal between star closer Edwin Diaz and the Mets, both of which were signed last offseason, are the only contracts for free agent relievers to surpass five years.
Matsui landed at #43 on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, where we projected him for a two-year, $16MM deal. Matsui nearly doubled that guarantee, though the average annual value of his deal comes in at just $5.6MM, well below the $8MM MLBTR projected him for over a two-year apct. Despite the unusual length of the deal, the gamble is an understandable one for the Padres to make. The deal covers Matsui’s age-28 through -32 seasons, with his first opt-out opportunity coming after Matsui’s age-30 campaign in 2026. The lowered AAV of the deal was surely particularly appealing to the Padres, who are reportedly hoping to stay under the luxury tax in 2024. Given those financial constraints, Matsui’s deal represents a more cost-effective alternative to reuniting with relief ace Josh Hader, who MLBTR projected for a whopping six-year, $110MM guarantee on the heels of a dominant season as San Diego’s closer.
While Matsui can’t be reasonably expected to match Hader’s incredible production last season (1.28 ERA and 33 saves in 56 1/3 innings), the lefty has put together an excellent career overseas in his own right. Matsui’s spent the past ten seasons pitching for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Tohuku Rakuten Golden Eagles. During his NPB career, Matsui has racked up 236 saves in 501 appearances while earning five All Star nods. In 659 2/3 innings of work during his career, Matsui sports a sterling 2.40 ERA with a 31.9% strikeout rate. He’s been even more impressive over the past three seasons, a combined 1.42 ERA and a 36.4% strikeout rate across 152 innings during that time.
Matsui was a frequent subject of MLBTR’s NPB Players to Watch series throughout the 2023 season, where Dai Takegami Podziewski discussed Matsui’s four-pitch mix that includes a 92-94 mph fastball that touches 96 along with a splitter, slider, and curveball while also noting that Matsui reportedly struggled to adjust to the MLB ball while participating in the World Baseball Classic last spring. Clearly, the Padres were more enticed by Matsui’s deep pitch mix and impressive velocity for a lefty who is listed at just 5’8” and 167 pounds than they were concerned by his struggles to adjust to the ball used in the majors earlier this year.
While the addition of Matsui shores up a Padres bullpen lacking in certainty, there’s plenty left for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and his front office to do if they hope to return to contention in 2024. Another set-up arm to pair with Matsui and Suarez at the back of the bullpen would be helpful, and at least one more starting pitcher who can step into the void left by the departures of Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Nick Martinez this offseason alongside King appears to be all but necessary.
On the hitting side of things, the Padres have just two outfielders on their 40-man roster at the moment in Fernando Tatis Jr. and fourth outfielder Jose Azocar, meaning they’ll need to make multiple additions to the lineup to cover the two vacant outfield spots and DH, which lacks a clear starter following the deal that sent Matt Carpenter and his salary to Atlanta earlier in the month.
That’s a hefty shopping list for any club, but it’s especially daunting for a Padres club that projects for a $210MM luxury tax payroll per RosterResource. If the Padres are indeed intent on staying under the first tax threshold of $237MM in 2024, that gives them just under $27MM of payroll space left to work with this offseason as they look to fill the remaining holes in the lineup and pitching staff. While the addition of Matsui is a step in the right direction that didn’t eat into the club’s financial capabilities too excessively, the Padres clearly still have plenty of work to do before they’re ready to contend in an ever-improving NL West next year.
Padres Release Michel Baez, Jorge Ona
The Padres released right-hander Michel Baez and outfielder Jorge Ona earlier this week according to the transaction section of each player’s MLB.com player page. Neither of the two former big leaguers were still on the club’s 40-man roster and had been in the organization on minor league contracts.
Baez, 28 next month, signed with the Padres out of Cuba prior to the 2017 season and quickly impressed prospect evaluators. Prior to the 2018 season, Baez was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport with some publications even ranking him in the top 30. While Baez was moved to the bullpen in 2019, when he made his big league debut later that year the right-hander appeared to be on track to live up to his potential with an impressive 3.03 ERA in 29 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, that’s not how things worked out as Baez has made just five appearances in the majors since, most recently in 2022.
While injuries, including Tommy John surgery during the 2021 season, have played a role in Baez’s fall from promising prospect to released from the Padres organization entirely, the right-hander has largely struggled at the upper levels of the minors even when he’s been healthy enough to take the mound. He’s pitched just 35 innings at the Triple-A level in his career with a brutal 8.23 ERA and more walks than strikeouts, while he owns a career 4.47 ERA in 86 2/3 innings of work at the Double-A level.
Ona, 27 next week, signed out of Cuba as part of the same class as Baez, though he didn’t receive the same fanfare as a prospect. Ona has been dogged by injuries all throughout his career, last reaching even 70 games played in a single season back in 2018. When on the field, however, Ona occasionally showed flashes of potentially including a 25-game stint at the Double-A level back in 2019 where he slashed an impressive .348/.418/.539 in 103 plate appearances.
That strong performance earned Ona a brief cup of coffee at the big league level during the shortened 2020 season, where he managed to hit .250/.400/.583 in 15 trips to the plate. Unfortunately, Ona has scarcely taken the field since then with just 422 plate appearances across all levels in the past three seasons, almost all of which have come at the Double-A level. In 2023, Ona managed to get into just 35 games and when on the field slashed a lackluster .218/.301/.391 in 123 trips to the plate.
Now on the open market for the first time in their careers, both Ona and Baez will have the opportunity to either attempt to catch on with another organization at the minor league level or else depart affiliated ball for an independent league or potential overseas opportunities. Baez’s brief flashes of success at the big league level and prospect pedigree could give him better odds of securing another role in affiliated ball than Ona, though its possible the outfielder could be of interest to a team as well if he can prove himself to be healthy enough to handle a full professional season.
Blue Jays Reportedly Sign Paolo Espino
The Blue Jays and right-hander Paolo Espino are in agreement on a contract, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. There are no details on the specifics of the deal, though it’s presumably a minor league pact with an invite to major league Spring Training.
Espino, 37 next month, started his professional career all the way back in 2006 when he was drafted by Cleveland in the 10th round of that year’s draft. He first broke into the big leagues more than a decade later with a 6.00 ERA in 24 innings of work split between the Brewers and Rangers during the 2017 season. Espino was then relegated to the minors for the next two seasons before eventually resurfacing with the Nationals during the 2020 season. Though he pitched just six innings for the club during the shortened season, the performance went reasonably well as he posted a 4.50 ERA and 4.02 FIP with seven strikeouts across two appearances.
That cup of coffee with the Nationals in 2020 kicked off a four-year stint in D.C. that saw Espino relied upon as a swingman for the rebuilding club. Espino appeared in 77 games for the Nationals between 2021 and 2022, drawing 38 starts and pitching 223 innings during that time. While his numbers, while unimpressive, were more or less that which would be expected of a club’s #5 or #6 starter: a 4.56 ERA (88 ERA+) and a 4.70 FIP despite a meager 19.5% strikeout rate thanks in large part to a walk rate of just 5.2%.
Things took a turn for the worse for Espino in 2023. The veteran righty pitched just four innings for the big league club this past season, and was lit up for 11 runs on 14 hits and three walks while striking out just three in that limited time on the mound. Though Espino’s 13 starts at the Triple-A level went better as he posted a 4.33 ERA across 60 1/3 innings of work, Espino’s season came to an end in July when the righty was placed on the injured list due to a flexor strain. The end of his time in the Nationals organization came shortly thereafter, as the club placed Espino on release waivers in early August.
Since then, Espino has made nine starts in the Dominican Winter League, pitching to a strong 2.40 ERA in 48 2/3 innings of work while striking out 25.8% of batters faced. That strong performance clearly caught the attention of the Blue Jays, who decided to take a chance on Espino as a depth option headed into the 2024 season. The club appears set in the rotation with a quintet of Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Bassitt, and Alek Manoah penciled in while the club prepares for the arrival of top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, but Espino could act as a depth option alongside the likes of Bowden Francis and Wes Parsons or perhaps provide competition for Mitch White as the club’s long relief option out of the bullpen.
Twins Sign A.J. Alexy To Minor League Deal
The Twins have signed right-hander A.J. Alexy to a minor league deal, according to the transactions section of Alexy’s MLB.com player page. It’s currently unclear if the deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Alexy, 26 in April, got his start back in 2016 when the Dodgers selected him in the eleventh round of that year’s draft. Alexy didn’t stay with L.A. for very long, quickly getting shipped to the Rangers in a package that brought Yu Darvish to the Dodgers at the 2017 trade deadline. At the time of the deal, Alexy sported a respectable 3.67 ERA through 19 starts at the Single-A level that season. His five starts after changing uniforms down the stretch were even more impressive, as he posted a 3.05 ERA and struck out 30.3% of batters faced.
The righty’s success continued in 2018, as he posted a 3.58 ERA with a similar 30.5% strikeout rate across 108 innings in a repeat of the Single-A level that season. Unfortunately for the right-hander, he was limited to just five starts in the 2019 season due to injury and did not pitch in 2020 due to the cancelled minor league season. That being said, Alexy looked nothing short of dominant at Double- and Triple-A levels upon his return to the mound in 2021, with a 1.66 ERA and a 29.8% strikeout rate in 65 innings of work across both levels.
That success in the minors earned Alexy his first cup of coffee in the majors, and he held his own with a 4.70 ERA (95 ERA+) in 23 innings across five appearances. Alexy’s peripheral numbers, including a 6.30 FIP and identical 17.5% strikeout and walk rates, were potential red flags but the right-hander nonetheless appeared poised to earn a more significant opportunity in the majors in 2022. Things did not go according to plan for Alexy, however, as he posted the worst season of his career in 2022. He walked (9) more batters than he struck out (6) while surrendering nine runs on ten hits across seven innings of work at the big league level, and his Triple-A numbers weren’t much better as he posted a 5.91 ERA across 96 innings of work.
Alexy’s struggles in 2022 led the Rangers to designate him for assignment in December of last year to make room for left-hander Andrew Heaney on the club’s 40-man roster. The move kicked off a ride on the transactional carousel for Alexy, who was claimed by the Nationals before being traded to the Twins only to be put on waivers and claimed by the White Sox, who held him on their 40-man roster for the remainder of the offseason before eventually sneaking him through waivers and assigning him outright to Triple-A in late April.
Alexy’s time with Chicago did not go well, as the righty posted a 12.00 ERA in 21 innings at the Triple-A level before the White Sox cut him loose back in July. Since then, Alexy completed a brief stint in the Atlantic league, where he struggled to a similar 11.81 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of work before heading back to the open market this offseason.
Now, the Twins will take another chance on Alexy on a minor league deal, surely hoping that he can put his struggles from the past two seasons behind him and recapture the dominant form he flashed in 2021. Going forward, Alexy appears likely to act as non-roster depth for the Twins at the Triple-A level who the club can call on to pitch out of either the bullpen or rotation in a pinch.
Angels Sign Chad Wallach To Minor League Deal
The Angels have re-signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league contract, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (X link). Wallach entered free agency after being outrighted off the Halos’ 40-man roster following the season, and it is safe to guess that his new minors deal contains an invitation to Spring Training.
It is the second catcher signing in as many days for Los Angeles, as Francisco Mejia was also added on a minors contract yesterday. Logan O’Hoppe is set to be the Angels’ starting catcher and Matt Thaiss has the inside track on the backup job, but Mejia and Wallach will provide some veteran competition and depth in Spring Training. Since Thaiss also has some experience as a corner infielder, the Halos could even consider carrying three catchers on the Opening Day roster, depending on how the rest of their offseason dealings play out.
Wallach is a known quantity in Anaheim, first joining the organization after being claimed off waivers from the Dodgers in August 2021. The Angels have outrighted Wallach off the roster four times, and this marks the second straight offseason that Wallach had elected free agency and then re-signed with the organization.
Wallach’s defense and reputation as a quality game-caller have led to a seven-year Major League career, consisting of 155 career games and 443 plate appearances with the Reds, Marlins and Angels from 2017-23. Due to the Angels’ catching injuries last season, Wallach set new career highs in both games played (65) and PA (172), though he didn’t deliver much at the plate. Over his 443 career PA, Wallach has hit .198/.263/.328 with 11 home runs — seven of those dingers came in 2023.