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Guardians Claim Jason Bilous From White Sox

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The Guardians announced that they have claimed right-hander Jason Bilous off waivers from the White Sox. He had been designated for assignment recently when the White Sox acquired Franklin German from the Red Sox. The Guardians freed up a spot on their 40-man roster yesterday by trading Will Benson to the Reds, so no corresponding move will be required for this claim.

Bilous, 25, was a 13th round selection of the White Sox in 2018 who put himself on the prospect map with a strong 2021. He made 20 starts that year between High-A and Double-A, tossing 79 2/3 innings. His 5.76 earned run average wasn’t especially impressive, but there were more encouraging numbers under the hood. He struck out 30.2% of batters faced while keeping his walk rate down to a manageable 9.1% level, something he had struggled with previously. A .376 batting average on balls in play and 61.4% strand rate both pushed the ERA higher than he likely deserved, as he posted a 3.62 FIP on the year. That showing was enough for the White Sox to select him to their roster prior to that year’s Rule 5 draft and Bilous also jumped onto Baseball America’s list of top farmhands in the system, coming in at #14.

Unfortunately, the control problems that dogged him earlier in his career returned in 2022. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A last year, he posted a 6.30 ERA over 105 2/3 innings, striking out 26.1% of batters faced but issuing free passes at a 15.7% clip. That seemed to put a dent in his chances of sticking as a starter, as his last seven appearances were out of the bullpen.

It’s unclear if the Guardians plan on deploying Bilous as a starter or reliever, but he still has options and can be kept in the minors for a while as a new set of coaches will try to get him back on track. The major league club is in good position at the moment with a rotation fronted by Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie and a bullpen with Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak. However, the low-budget club frequently sees its best players depart once they improve their earning power and is constantly on the lookout for younger and cheaper players to replace them with. Bilous has shown huge strikeout stuff but will need to refine his control to earn his way into the mix in Cleveland.

Rays, Charlie Culberson Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rays and veteran utilityman Charlie Culberson have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). He’ll be in big league camp this spring and compete for a bench job.

Culberson, 33, brings a veteran right-handed bat and a versatile glove that can be deployed at just about any position to the Rays’ spring training roster. He spent the 2022 season with the Rangers, batting .252/.283/.357 with a pair of homers and six doubles in 124 trips to the plate. Those are roughly in line with Culberson’s career numbers in parts of 10 big league seasons (1311 career plate appearances), though the former No. 51 overall draft pick has been far better against lefties in his career. Through 582 plate appearances versus southpaws, Culberson is a .285/.313/.431 hitter with 11 homers, 37 doubles and five triples.

The only positions that Culberson hasn’t played at the MLB level are center field and catcher. He’s appeared at all four infield spots, played both outfield corners and even logged 7 1/3 innings of mop-up duty on the mound — incredibly allowing just one run on seven hits and three walks (with one strikeout) in that time. The bulk of his work has come at third base (1033 innings), but Culberson has at least 425 career innings at shortstop, second base and in left field as well.

The Rays already have a heavily right-handed big league roster and, as usual, are brimming with multi-position players who could fill a utility role. That makes the right-handed-hitting Culberson something of an odd fit, although there’s certainly no harm in bringing a seasoned veteran in on a no-risk deal — particularly one whose personality and clubhouse presence is so well regarded. Still, with the out-of-options Vidal Brujan all but a lock to make the roster and myriad other infield/outfield options on the 40-man (e.g. Isaac Paredes, Jonathan Aranda, Taylor Walls, and top prospects Curtis Mead and Greg Jones), Culberson could have a tough time cracking the Opening Day roster.

Guardians Sign Zack Collins To Minor League Deal

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The Guardians announced Thursday that they’ve signed catcher Zack Collins to a minor league deal and invited him to big league camp this spring. Cleveland also confirmed its previously reported minor league deals/non-roster invites with lefty Phillip Diehl and righty Dusten Knight.

Collins was the tenth overall pick by the White Sox back in the 2016 draft. As with most players who have that type of draft pedigree, he once ranked among the sport’s consensus top-100 prospects, though he’s yet to establish himself as a viable big leaguer on either side of the ball.

The 28-year-old Collins has logged big league action in each of the past four seasons, batting a combined .185/.295/.327 with an impressive 12.9% walk rate but a troubling 33.6% strikeout rate through 459 plate appearances. He split the 2022 campaign between Toronto and Pittsburgh, slashing .155/.231/.320 in 108 trips to the plate. He’s notched a much more impressive .248/.377/.495 output in 570 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, but strikeouts have been an issue there as well (26.9%).

Defensively, Collins has graded out poorly in the Majors, recording negative framing marks and being dinged for -23 Defensive Runs Saved in just 608 career innings behind the plate. He’s also thrown out a below-average 18% of base thieves at the MLB level, though his 32% caught-stealing rate in the minors is far better and comes in a much larger sample. Each of the White Sox, Blue Jays and Pirates have given Collins some time at first base in the Majors, and he’s tallied another 304 innings there in the minors, so there’s a bit of versatility in his skill set.

Mike Zunino, signed to a one-year, $6MM deal earlier in the offseason, is slated to shoulder the bulk of the Guardians’ workload behind the plate in 2023, at least in the season’s early stages. His backup, however, remains something of an open question. Top catching prospect Bo Naylor is viewed as the organization’s catcher of the future, but the team may prefer that he heads to Triple-A and logs regular playing time early in the year. Bryan Lavastida is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster, though minor league veterans like Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria will join Collins in camp as non-roster invitees.

That gives Cleveland as many as four catchers who could open the season in Triple-A Columbus, although Collins’ ability to mix in at first base could help them carry at least three backstops on the Triple-A roster. Still, it seems likely that at least one of the NRIs in camp could be cut loose at some point. For now, there’ll be some healthy competition to determine who opens the year as Zunino’s backup.

Guardians, Dusten Knight Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Guardians have agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Dusten Knight, reports Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. Assuming he passes a physical, he’ll get a non-roster invitation to MLB camp. Knight is represented by Big League Management Company.

Knight, 32, has spent a decade in the professional ranks since being drafted by the Giants in 2013. He reached the majors for the first time in 2021 as a member of the Orioles, pitching seven times and tallying 8 2/3 innings. Knight signed a non-roster deal with the Rays last winter after Baltimore ran through him waivers. He bounced on and off Tampa Bay’s active roster on a few occasions, ultimately getting into six contests and tossing 11 innings.

Over his two seasons, the Oklahoma native has worked 19 2/3 frames of 18-run ball. He’s fanned 20 hitters, walked nine and picked up swinging strikes on a roughly average 11% of his offerings. Knight’s fastball only checked in at 89.5 MPH on average last season, though he leaned more frequently on an upper-70s changeup and mid-80s cutter.

While Knight hasn’t carved out a consistent role in a big league bullpen, he’s allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in each of the last two Triple-A seasons. He posted a 3.05 ERA over 35 outings with Baltimore’s top affiliate in 2021 and put up a 3.42 mark through 55 1/3 frames for the Rays’ affiliate in Durham last season. Knight induced grounders at a decent 47.8% mark and struck out an impressive 27.7% of opponents for Durham, though that came with an alarming 13.4% walk percentage.

Knight still has two minor league option years remaining. If he cracks the Guardians 40-man roster at any point, they can bounce him between Cleveland and Triple-A Columbus for the next couple seasons. He joins Michael Kelly, Touki Toussaint, Luis Oviedo, Peyton Battenfield, Caleb Baragar and Phillip Diehl among the non-roster pitchers who have some MLB experience in Cleveland’s camp.

Padres Sign Tim Lopes, Rangel Ravelo To Minor League Deals

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The Padres today announced a list of players that will be in camp as non-roster invitees, with utility players Tim Lopes and Rangel Ravelo among them, indicating that they have been signed to minor league deals.

Lopes, 29 in June, got into 94 major league games over the 2019-2021 period with the Mariners and Brewers. In that time, he hit .246/.310/.352 for a wRC+ of 85. Though that offensive production was 15% below league average, he contributed in other ways by stealing 11 bases and taking the field at second, third and the infield corners. He was outrighted by Milwaukee after 2021 and elected free agency, signing a minor league deal with the Rockies for 2022. He got into 73 games on the farm for them and hit .276/.339/.476 for a wRC+ of 100. He also stole 11 bases and suited up at the three infield position to the left of first base as well as the outfield corners.

Ravelo, 31 in April, got a taste of the majors with the Cardinals in 2019 and 2020. He hit .189/.250/.351 in a small sample of 42 games while playing first base and the outfield corners and was non-tendered at the end of the latter campaign. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers for 2021 and crushed it in his first 26 Triple-A games, producing a batting line of .407/.504/.758. He then signed with the NPB’s Orix Buffaloes but only got into two games that year. In 2022, he got into 24 contests with the Buffaloes but hit just .138/.296/.207. More recently, he’s been playing for the Cardenales de Lara of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, hitting .324/.441/.514 in 32 games.

Both players will give the Padres a little bit of extra non-roster depth. Lopes has a bit more positional versatility but Ravelo has occasionally impressed a bit more at the plate. The Padres have a fairly stacked lineup but their bench might feature some relatively inexperienced options in Brandon Dixon, José Azocar and Matthew Batten. Injuries are also inevitable and depth pieces will surely be required throughout the season. If either player cracks the roster at any point, they each have between one and two years of service time, meaning they could be affordably retained for the foreseeable future. Lopes also has a couple of option years, though Ravelo has exhausted his.

Tigers, DJ Peters Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder DJ Peters, as first indicated on the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Toledo.

The 27-year-old Peters ranked among the Dodgers’ top 20 prospects at Baseball America from 2018-21, reaching the big leagues as a 25-year-old during the ’21 season but struggling in limited opportunities. Peters logged just 34 plate appearances with the Dodgers before being designated for assignment after they acquired Danny Duffy, at which point the Rangers claimed him off waivers.

While the Dodgers’ outfield was generally full at the time of that transaction, the Rangers had far more opportunity. Peters appeared in 52 games and tallied 206 plate appearances down the stretch in Texas, showing impressive power but also extremely shaky plate discipline. Overall, between the two clubs, Peters hit .197/.242/.422 with 13 home runs, nine doubles, a triple, a pair of steals, and 34.2% strikeout rate against a 5% walk rate in 240 plate appearances.

The Rangers retained Peters’ rights into the offseason but granted him his release in order to pursue an opportunity with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. Peters improved on his K-BB profile in the KBO, fanning at a reduced 21.8% clip against a more palatable 7.3% walk rate. However, his .228/.299/.402 batting line in 354 trips to the plate still resulted in him being waived this past July.

Peters has long been touted for his above-average speed, huge raw power and the defensive tools needed to play center field, but he’s yet to break through in the game’s upper levels. He’s a career .240/.343/.415 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, but he’s also punched out in 30.2% of his 540 plate appearances at that level. Unlike his brief stints in the Majors and in the KBO, Peters does have a strong 11% walk rate in Triple-A, at least.

It’s an intriguing set of tools overall, particularly for a Tigers club with little certainty in the outfield (as recently explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco). Former top prospect Riley Greene will presumably return to his role as the everyday center fielder, and he’ll be joined in the outfield by veteran Austin Meadows, who struggled at the plate in 2022 before missing time due to vertigo-like symptoms, a pair of Achilles injuries and eventually an agreed-upon absence with the team that allowed him to focus on his mental health, which he candidly disclosed to fans via social media.

The other outfield reps will be divided up among players like Akil Baddoo, Kerry Carpenter and trade acquisition Matt Vierling. Outfield prospect Parker Meadows — Austin’s younger brother — is also on Detroit’s 40-man roster, and they’ll have veteran speedster Jonathan Davis and well-regarded prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy (acquired from the Braves in exchange for Joe Jimenez) in camp as non-roster invitees. It’s feasible that the right-handed-hitting Peters could eventually play his way into that mix, especially when considering that each of Greene, Baddoo, Carpenter and both Meadows brothers bat from the left side of the plate.

Cardinals Acquire Anthony Misiewicz, Designate James Naile

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The Cardinals announced that they have acquired left-hander Anthony Misiewicz from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations. The Royals had designated him for assignment recently when Zack Greinke’s signing was made official. The create room on their 40-man roster, the Cardinals designated right-hander James Naile for assignment.

Misiewicz, 28, was drafted by the Mariners and broke into the majors with them in 2020. He struck out 30.1% of batters faced in that debut but an elevated .367 batting average on balls in play nudged his ERA up to 4.05. That strikeout rate was higher than anything he had done in the minors and now seems to have been a small sample blip. In the past two seasons, which included getting dealt to the Royals at last year’s deadline, he’s struck out 22.4% of batters faced but walked just 7%, as he posted a 4.52 ERA over 98 appearances.

It’s possible that Misiewicz deserved better than that ERA would indicate. His .321 batting average on balls in play and 70% strand rate over the past couple of years are each a bit on the unfortunate side of average. ERA estimators like his 3.88 FIP and 3.77 SIERA paint a bit of a nicer picture. Like most southpaws, he’s better against left-handed hitters. For his career, he’s held them to a .250/.288/.361 line while righties have hit .283/.348/.480 against him.

The Cardinals figure to have Génesis Cabrera as their primary left-handed option out of their bullpen, with other options on the 40-man roster including Packy Naughton, JoJo Romero and Zack Thompson. All of those players, including Misiewicz, have options and may end up shuttling between Triple-A and the majors as the season progresses unless one of them can separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

As for Naile, this is a very ill-timed transaction for him as today is his 30th birthday. After spending many years in Oakland’s farm system, he reached free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Cards last year. He pitched well enough to crack the club’s roster in June, eventually posting an ERA of 5.00 over nine MLB innings. In 73 1/3 frames at Triple-A, he had a 3.31 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate. That latter number is his best selling point as he’s run kept the ball on the ground all throughout his minor league career.

The Cards will now have one week to trade Naile or pass him through waivers. He still has a couple of option years and hardly any service time, which could intrigue clubs looking for some extra pitching depth. Roster spots are at a premium at this time of year but flexibility is about to go up with the return of the 60-day injured list next week.

Astros Sign Bryan Garcia To Minor League Deal

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The Astros announced to reporters, including Mark Berman of Fox 26, that they have signed right-hander Bryan Garcia to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training.

Garcia, 28 in April, joins just his second organization, as he’s spent his entire career with the Tigers up until this point. He got solid results in the shortened 2020 season, posting a 1.66 ERA over 26 relief appearances. However, his fortunes completely flipped the next year, with his ERA shooting up to 7.55 over 39 games in 2021.

2022 was a strange season for Garcia, as he started working in longer stints after previously working primarily as a single-inning reliever. In Triple-A, he made 11 starts and 28 relief appearances, logging 85 1/3 innings in that time with a 3.80 ERA. He also made four starts in the majors with a 3.54 ERA. He might have been quite fortunate to keep earned runs off the board in both cases. He struck out 19.4% of hitters in the minors and 20.2% in the majors, while walking opponents at a 9.6% clip in Triple-A and 11.9% rate in the bigs. His batting average on balls in play was .276 in the minors and .216 in the majors, while his strand rate was 78.9% in Triple-A and 83.3% in the show, with all of those numbers being on the fortunate side of average. That’s borne out by his 4.83 FIP with the Mud Hens and 5.28 mark with the Tigers.

It’s unclear if the Astros view him as a starter or a reliever, though he’ll serve as pitching depth either way. He’ll be competing with other experienced hurlers that will be in camp as non-roster invitees, such as Austin Davis and Ty Buttrey.

Phillies To Sign Kyle Hart To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies are in agreement with left-hander Kyle Hart on a minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The southpaw will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.

Hart, 30, will join just his second organization, as he was drafted by the Red Sox and has spent his entire career with them up until this point. Working primarily as a starter in the minors, he had a solid showing in 2019, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He made 24 starts and three relief appearances that year between those two levels, tossing 156 innings with a 3.52 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate.

That season was strong enough that the Sox added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. In 2020, Hart made his major league debut but registered a 15.55 ERA in 11 innings. He was outrighted off the club’s roster in November of that year and has continued pitching in the minors, but not quite reaching that form he showed in 2019. In 2021, he had a 4.22 ERA in 106 2/3 Triple-A innings. Last year, he posted a 5.25 ERA in 82 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.

Hart reached free agency for the first time after the 2022 campaign wrapped and has used it to find a new opportunity. The Phillies will see if a change of scenery can help Hart get back on track after a few disappointing years. The club’s rotation will consist of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez and Taijuan Walker, with the final spot open for a battle between guys like Bailey Falter, Christopher Sánchez, Andrew Painter and Mick Abel. In the bullpen, the Phils will have a few lefty options in José Alvarado, Gregory Soto, Matt Strahm and Andrew Vasquez. It’s unclear if the Phils view Hart as a starter or reliever exclusively, but he could perhaps provide some depth in either area. If he makes it onto the club’s roster at any point, he still has a couple of option seasons and less than one year of service time.

Guardians, Phillip Diehl Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Guardians and left-hander Phillip Diehl are in agreement on a minor league contract, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. The Dynamic Sports Group client will be in big league camp this spring.

Diehl, 28, has appeared in parts of three minor league seasons but tallied just 19 innings. He most recently spent time with the Reds in 2022, though he was tagged for seven runs in 5 2/3 innings in that brief stint. Diehl has never had an extended look in the big leagues and has been quite homer-prone in his brief looks with Colorado and Cincinnati, ultimately serving up 20 runs in his 19 MLB frames.

A 27th-round pick by the Yankees back in 2016, Diehl has fared much better in the minor leagues, where he carries a 3.50 ERA with plus strikeout and walk rates of 29.8% and 7.3%, respectively. The 2022 season was a struggle for him at all levels (5.90 ERA in 39 2/3 Triple-A innings), but as recently as 2021 he turned in 54 2/3 innings of 2.47 ERA ball with a hefty 33% strikeout rate and an excellent 5.6% walk rate for the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville.

As things stand, Sam Hentges is the only lefty who’s considered a lock in the Cleveland bullpen. Other options on the 40-man roster include Konnor Pilkington, Joey Cantillo and Tim Herrin — although Pilkington and Cantillo have both been developed as starting pitchers. Former Giants and D-backs southpaw Caleb Baragar was signed to a minor league deal and invited to spring training earlier in the offseason, and the Guards also invited 2019 32nd-rounder Andrew Misiaszek to camp. Diehl will join that group when pitchers and catchers report later this month, and if he doesn’t make the roster out of camp, he’ll give Cleveland a lefty with a bit more experience than many of their in-house options.

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