Mariners, Tyson Miller Agree To Minor League Contract
The Mariners have signed reliever Tyson Miller to a minor league contract, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. It stands to reason he’ll get an invitation to MLB Spring Training.
Miller, 28, has pitched in parts of three big league campaigns. While he only has 31 career innings, he has gotten to the highest level with five different teams. The righty pitched for three clubs in 2023 alone, logging time with the Brewers, Mets and Dodgers. He allowed eight runs over 15 1/3 major league innings between the trio.
A former fourth-round selection, Miller has allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine in the big leagues. While that’s clearly not ideal, he’s coming off a solid run in Triple-A. Miller worked to a 3.50 ERA through 43 2/3 innings at the top minor league level. He struck out nearly 28% of opponents against an average 8.3% walk percentage.
Miller has exhausted his option years. If he cracks the Seattle roster at any point, he’d need to hold his place on the major league club or be put back on waivers. Despite that, the Triple-A results make him a solid depth addition. The Mariners have one of the game’s best bullpens. They finished fourth in the majors in ERA (3.48) and second in strikeout percentage (26.1%) this year.
Padres Re-Sign Drew Carlton To Minor League Deal
The Padres have re-signed right-hander Drew Carlton to a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training and compete for a roster spot.
Carlton, now 28, came up through the Tigers’ system but this is the second year in a row that he’s landed with the Friars on a minor league pact. He was added to the roster in May and made 11 appearances, tossing 20 2/3 innings with a 4.35 ERA. His 21.2% strikeout rate was a bit below average but his 7.1% walk rate and 43.9% ground ball rate were both a bit better than par.
He landed on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation at the start of July and never made it back. He started a rehab assignment in August but only made three appearances in the minors that month. The club outrighted him off the roster last week as the offseason was beginning, as the IL goes away from five days after the World Series until Spring Training. The current health of his elbow isn’t publicly known but the Padres felt good enough about it to bring him back for another year.
The San Diego bullpen saw significant pieces like Josh Hader and Nick Martinez reach free agency last week. They could replenish that group over the offseason but may have diminished funds to work with, perhaps making depth signings a bit more important. If Carlton cracks the roster, he’s still optionable and has just over a year of service time, meaning he has the potential to serve as a long-term depth piece with roster flexibility.
Orioles, Tucker Davidson Agree To Pre-Arbitration Contract
The Orioles have signed left-hander Tucker Davidson for the 2024 season, the team announced. Since Davidson has yet to reach arbitration, it seems likely the contract is for near the league minimum salary for whatever time he spends in the majors.
Baltimore claimed Davidson off waivers from the Royals a couple weeks ago. The 27-year-old split this past season between the Angels and Kansas City, working 51 1/3 innings over 38 appearances. He allowed 5.96 earned runs per nine overall. After posting a 6.54 ERA in 18 outings for the Halos, he turned in a 5.03 mark over 20 games with K.C.
Davidson worked out of the bullpen in 2023. He had been a depth starter before this year, opening 11 of 12 appearances with Los Angeles in ’22. He struggled in that capacity as well and owns a 5.98 ERA through 125 career innings. Davidson has far better results in the minor leagues, including a 3.68 ERA in parts of three Triple-A campaigns.
He isn’t slated to reach arbitration until the end of next season. Davidson is out of minor league options, meaning the O’s have to keep him on the MLB club or run him through waivers.
Nationals Outright Jeremy De La Rosa, Matt Cronin
The Nationals announced that left-hander Matt Cronin and outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa have each cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester. Cronin was designated for assignment earlier this week but De La Rosa wasn’t publicly known to be on waivers. This move drops the 40-man roster count to 39.
De La Rosa, 22 in January, was added to the club’s roster just under a year ago. He got that roster spot after mashing his way through 69 Single-A games in 2022, hitting 10 home runs and producing a batting line of .315/.394/.505 while also stealing 26 bases. A move up to High-A didn’t go so well, but the club nonetheless didn’t want to risk losing him in last year’s Rule 5 draft and put him on the 40-man.
Unfortunately, 2023 didn’t go nearly as well for him. He got into 93 games at High-A but only went deep seven times and struck out at a 33.7% clip, finishing with a line of .240/.324/.361. After those struggles, it seems the Nats bumped him off the roster and none of the other 29 clubs decided to grab him. He’ll stick in the Nationals’ organization but without occupying a spot on the 40-man.
Cronin, 26, got his roster spot at the same time as De La Rosa, protecting him from last year’s Rule 5 draft. He got that spot on the heels of a strong 2022 season, posting a 2.42 earned run average between Double-A and Triple-A. But this year, he made 14 Triple-A appearances with a 5.02 ERA before he underwent surgery for a herniated disc in his back. “For those that don’t know, I had been dealing with pain in my left shoulder/arm for the last 2 years but could never seem to find anything wrong with them,” Cronin said in an Instagram post in August. “That was up until about a month ago when we decided to have my spine checked out and found a large herniated disc at my C5-C6 level.”
Like De La Rosa, Cronin will stay in the organization but without taking up a roster spot. The current status of his back isn’t publicly known but he will presumably be working to return to the roster as soon as he’s able to.
Rays Claim Tyler Alexander From Tigers
The Rays have claimed left-hander Tyler Alexander off waivers from the Tigers, according to announcements from both clubs. The Tigers had designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week.
Alexander, 29, will join a new organization for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Tigers in the second round of the 2015 draft and has been with that club in some fashion for close to a decade now. He pitched for the big league club in a swing capacity over the past five years, making 120 appearances since the start of 2019, including 43 starts. He logged 341 1/3 innings in that time with a 4.38 earned run average, 18.9% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate.
In 2023, he was moved to the bullpen on essentially a full-time basis, making just one start that lasted three innings. He threw 44 innings over 25 appearances in total with a 4.50 ERA, though perhaps deserved better. His 24.3% strikeout rate and 2.8% walk rate were both better than average, the latter number especially so. His 65.3% strand rate was a bit on the unlucky side, leading to ERA estimators looking at him through a relatively rosier lens, such as a 4.10 FIP and 3.48 SIERA.
In early July, Alexander landed on the injured list due to a left lat/shoulder strain and wasn’t able to return. There’s no injured list during the offseason, so the Tigers opted to cut him loose instead of adding him back onto the roster. It was effectively an early non-tender, with Alexander set to go through that process for a second time. He made $1.875MM in 2023 and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a salary of $2MM in 2024.
It appears the Rays are willing to add Alexander at something near that price point, otherwise there would be little point in claiming him just before next week’s non-tender deadline. Assuming they plan to keep utilizing him out of the bullpen, he will join Colin Poche and Garrett Cleavinger as the club’s southpaw relief options. Alexander is still optionable and has another potential year of arb control remaining, perhaps allowing him to serve as a long-term depth piece for the Rays.
Royals Outright Nate Eaton
The Royals have sent outfielder Nate Eaton outright to Triple-A Omaha, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Eaton, who will turn 27 in December, has been serving as a depth outfielder with the Royals since being added to the roster in the second half of 2022. He was put into 72 big league games since that time but hasn’t hit much. He currently sports a batting line of .201/.266/.283 in 178 plate appearances, going down on strikes 28.7% of the time, but he has stolen 14 bases and his defense is generally regarded well.
Players with three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. But neither of those criteria apply to Eaton, so he will stick with the Royals as some non-roster outfield depth. He will likely receive an invitation to major league Spring Training, where he will try to earn his way back into the mix.
Guardians, Adam Oller Agree To Minor League Deal
The Guardians have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Adam Oller, reports Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2. The Gaeta Sports client will receive an invitation to Major League spring training and reunite with former teammate and new Cleveland skipper Stephen Vogt with this deal.
Oller, 29, was traded from the Mets to the A’s alongside prospect J.T. Ginn in the 2021-22 offseason trade that sent Chris Bassitt from Oakland to Queens. He spent parts of two seasons with the A’s and logged 94 innings between their rotation and bullpen, but Oller was hit hard in that time. Big league opponents turned in a .294/.378/.556 batting line against Oller in spite of his pitcher-friendly home environs, and by the time Oakland designated him for assignment, he’d been roughed up for a 7.09 ERA. The right-hander has fanned 13.5% of his opponents against an 11.6% walk rate.
Major League struggles notwithstanding, Oller was sharp at the Triple-A level both in 2021 with the Mets (2.45 ERA in 44 innings) and in 2022 with the A’s (3.69 ERA in 31 1/3 innings). He struggled with the top affiliates of both the A’s and Mariners (who claimed him from Oakland) during the most recent campaign, but Oller’s overall minor league track record has the look of a potential depth starter or swingman if he can shake off a tough ’23 campaign.
The Guardians’ pitching staff experienced an enormous amount of turnover in 2023, but Cleveland’s nearly unrivaled ability to churn out quality arms remained on display. A series of injuries and poor performances led the Guards to call up top prospects Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams for each pitcher’s big league debut, and all three hit the ground running. That trio looks like the focal point of the rotation moving forward.
Cleveland surely hopes that impressive young righty Triston McKenzie will be back to full strength to join them after a teres major strain and a UCL sprain shortened his season. Former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber has another year of club control remaining, but he was limited by injuries as well and has been floated as a potential offseason trade candidate with just one year to go before he reaches the open market. Cal Quantrill, who struggled immensely in 2023, is also still under club control, while depth options like Xzavion Curry, Joey Cantillo and Hunter Gaddis are all on the 40-man roster, too.
Rays, Alex Jackson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rays re-signed catcher Alex Jackson to a new minor league contract, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll head to spring training as a non-roster invitee and compete for a roster spot alongside Rene Pinto — the only catcher currently on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster.
Jackson, 28 next month, was the sixth overall draft pick by the Mariners back in 2014 and for some time ranked among the game’s top prospects. He’s become an oft-moved journeyman, however, spending time with four organizations over the past three seasons (Braves, Marlins, Brewers, Rays). In parts of four Major League campaigns, he’s appeared in 66 games and batted .141/.243/.227 in 185 trips to the plate. He spent the bulk of the ’23 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club but was traded to the Rays on Aug. 1. He appeared in only 14 Triple-A games after the swap due to a shoulder injury, however.
While he’s yet to have any sustained success at the plate in the big leagues, Jackson has posted a far more palatable .246/.326/.525 batting line with 60 home runs in 964 plate appearances at the Triple-A level (spread across parts of five seasons). Strikeouts have been an issue for him both in the upper minors (29.7%) and particularly in the big leagues (48.1%).
Given the lack of options behind the plate on the Rays’ roster, Jackson figures to be one of many candidates brought in over the next several months. Pinto himself is hardly an established MLB-caliber backstop. Though he grades as a quality defender, the 27-year-old has all of 188 MLB plate appearances under his belt, during which he’s produced a .235/.255/.399 batting line with eight home runs and a grisly 36.7% strikeout rate.
Blue Jays Outright Cam Eden
Blue Jays outfielder Cam Eden went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Buffalo, per a team announcement. Toronto had not previously announced a DFA for Eden, though that’s not required before placing a player on waivers. His outright frees up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster.
Eden, 25, was Toronto’s sixth-round pick in 2019 and made his big league debut in 2023. Appearing in just five games, the speedster went 1-for-6 with a single and a pair of strikeouts. The bulk of Eden’s season was spent in Buffalo, where he posted a .257/.354/.333 batting line. As evidenced by that stat line, Eden is quite light on power (just three home runs in 460 plate appearances) but draws walks at an above-average clip. He’s also a major threat on the bases, where he went 53-for-57 in attempted steals.
Overall, Eden hasn’t had a full season of above-average production at the dish in pro ball, with the exception of his 2021 campaign in High-A (.274/.382/.402). But he’s a plus runner with more than 2000 innings of professional experience in center field who’ll now stick with the Jays organization and give them some depth in the upper minors, should injuries create a necessity for help in the outfield, some speed off the bench and/or a right-handed bat.
Joey Krehbiel Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Joey Krehbiel, who was designated for assignment by the Orioles last week, has declined an outright assignment and opted to become a free agent, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The 30-year-old had been previously outrighted in his career, which grants him the result to reject a subsequent outright assignment.
Krehbiel pitched 57 innings of relief with the 2022 Orioles but logged just five MLB frames in 2023, spending the rest of the time down in Triple-A Norfolk. Krehbiel has performed reasonably well in the bigs with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.73 ERA with a 19% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 41.1% grounder rate in his 63 2/3 frames over the past two seasons. That said, he also walked more than 14% of his opponents in 39 1/3 Triple-A innings, to say nothing of an unsightly 1.6 HR/9 mark with Baltimore’s top affiliate in Norfolk.
Last year’s 57 MLB innings were a career-high for Krehbiel, who’s appeared in parts of four campaigns between the D-backs, Rays and O’s. He’s turned in a 3.65 ERA with sub-par strikeout and walk rates in that time, averaging 94.7 mph on his heater and generating grounders at a roughly average rate.
Krehbiel will head to the open market in search of a new opportunity, likely on a minor league deal. He has a minor league option remaining, which will add to his appeal for clubs who have interest in bringing him aboard as a depth option for their relief corps. And, since he still has fewer than two years of MLB service time, Krehbiel is controllable for another five seasons. Of course, he’d need to pitch his way onto a big league roster and carve out a permanent role for that to be a factor of any real note.