Braves Sign Yolmer Sanchez To Minor League Deal
The Braves announced their full slate of non-roster invitees to spring training Wednesday, noting within that they’ve signed veteran infielder Yolmer Sanchez to a minor league contract. The MVP Sports Group client will vie for a roster spot this spring. It’s his second stint with the Braves, having also spent the 2021 season with their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett.
Sanchez, 30, has appeared in parts of eight big league seasons dating back to 2014. That includes a three-year run as the White Sox’ primary second baseman from 2017-19, which culminated in Sanchez winning a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess at the position.
While he had a roughly average year at the plate in 2017, when he batted .267/.319/.413 through 534 plate appearances, Sanchez’s overall offensive track record is lackluster. He’s a career .243/.299/.355 hitter, including just a .244/.316/.317 slash dating back to 2019. He totaled 44 trips to the plate between the Red Sox in 2022 but went just 4-for-37 at the plate in that stretch. He posted a heartier .246/.372/.394 slash in 396 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Red Sox and Mets last year.
Sanchez has been primarily a second baseman in his career, but he has more than 2700 innings at third base and more than 2100 innings at shortstop under his belt as a professional as well. He’s posted plus defensive grades at second base (11 Defensive Runs Saved, 16.2 Ultimate Zone Rating, 6 Outs Above Average in 3581 innings) and at third base (12 DRS, 6.3 UZR, 9 OAA). He’s only logged 99 innings at shortstop in the big leagues, though, and the majority of his experience there came in the minors back in 2012-14.
The shortstop experience could still hold some appeal to a Braves club that let Dansby Swanson walk as a free agent and has opted to stay in-house to replace him. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has touted young Vaughn Grissom and veteran Orlando Arcia as the two primary options to replace Swanson. It’s doubtful Sanchez would be under consideration for a full-time look at short, even in the event of injuries/struggles from both Grissom and Arcia, but he could be an occasional option there if he snags a bench job. He joins fellow veterans Adeiny Hechavarria and Ehire Adrianza as non-roster players who’ll look to work their way into the infield mix in some capacity this spring.
Dodgers, Matt Andriese Agree To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers and veteran righty Matt Andriese are in agreement on a minor league contract, as first indicated on the transaction log at MLB.com. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client will return stateside after spending the 2022 campaign with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
Andriese, 33, pitched quite well overseas, albeit in a relatively limited sample of 44 1/3 innings. The former Rays, D-backs, Angels, Red Sox and Mariners right-hander notched a tidy 2.03 ERA in NPB, fanning 21.3% of his opponents against a very strong 5.6% walk rate.
The 2022 season marked the first time in seven years that Andriese didn’t throw a pitch at the big league level. He appeared in every MLB season from 2015-21, working as both a starter and reliever with the aforementioned five clubs. The bulk of that work — and the bulk of his MLB success — came with the Rays, for whom he posted a 4.30 ERA in 339 innings.
On the whole, Andriese has a lifetime 4.63 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 509 frames in the Majors. He’s started 50 games and made another 167 relief appearances; while he’s typically worked in multi-inning relief stints, he’s tallied eight rogue saves and 15 holds over the course of his time in a big league bullpen.
The Dodgers have a full rotation — Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Noah Syndergaard — with several top-ranked prospects waiting in the wings whenever an opportunity arises (e.g. Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, Ryan Pepiot). It’s a fairly similar story in a generally crowded bullpen mix. Right-hander Brusdar Graterol and lefties Alex Vesia and Caleb Ferguson are the only projected members of the L.A. relief corps that can be freely optioned to Triple-A, and they’re all coming off strong 2022 showings that likely give them an inside track on Opening Day roster spots.
That said, pitching injuries are an inevitability. Andriese gives the Dodgers a potential depth option whenever health woes pop up for either the starting staff or the bullpen. He’s a nice veteran insurance policy to have on hand in the upper minors to begin the season. He’ll join recent minor league signees like Jordan Yamamoto and Dylan Covey in that regard.
Blue Jays Sign Chad Green
The Blue Jays have signed right-hander Chad Green to a deal that will reportedly guarantee him $8.5MM over two years. He will make $2.25MM in 2023 and then Jays will then have the option of triggering a $27MM option for the next three years, with up to $1MM in bonuses. If they decline, Green’s player option for 2024 will be for $6.25MM with $2MM in bonuses. If he declines that, the Jays can trigger a two-year, $21MM option with $1MM in bonuses. Since player options are considered guaranteed, the $8.5MM figure comes from the 2023 salary and 2024 player option. Green is a Frontline client.
Green, 32 in May, has been serving as a quality reliever for the Yankees for the past seven seasons but was sidelined in May of last year and underwent Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter. This deal provides both parties with a bit security for the future. If Green comes back healthy and looks like his old self, the Jays can get some long-term value out of their investment by keeping him around for future seasons. If Green should suffer some kind of setback or struggle to get back on track in his return, he will at least be able to lock in some salary for 2024.
An 11th round draft pick of the Tigers in 2013, Green and Luis Cessa went to the Yankees in the December 2015 trade that sent Justin Wilson to Detroit. He was primarily a starter at that time and made his MLB debut in 2016 in a swing capacity. That was essentially the end of his time as a true starter, as the Yanks converted him to relief on a full-time basis. He did make one start in 2017 and 15 in 2019, but those were of the “opener” variety, none of them longer than two innings.
Since making that transition, he has somewhat quietly been one of the most effective relievers in the league. Over the past six major league seasons, he’s pitched 338 innings over 260 total appearances with a 2.96 ERA, striking out 33.4% of batters faced while walking just 6.1%. Among relievers to throw over 300 innings in that stretch, he ranks fourth in strikeout rate, trailing only elite guys Josh Hader, Edwin Díaz and Liam Hendriks and coming in ahead of Kenley Jansen and Ryan Pressly. Green was never given the closer’s role due to the presence of Aroldis Chapman, tallying just 11 saves in his career so far, but he does have 52 holds.
The Tommy John surgery was quite poorly timed for Green, as he was just a few months away from qualifying for free agency. He would have been one of the top relievers this offseason if not for that. However, if he can return to the mound and post results similar to those already on his track record, he’ll still wind up with a nice payday. After making $2.25MM this year, if he Jays pick up that three-year option, he’ll get to $29.25MM in earnings. That’ll be just a bit shy of some other deals for notable relievers this offseason, such as the $32MM for Jansen, $33MM for Taylor Rogers and $34.5MM for Rafael Montero.
For the Jays, this won’t affect their bullpen immediately but it will potentially give them a boost at some point later this year. They will likely have Jordan Romano in the closer’s role, with other high-leverage jobs going to pitchers like Yimi García, Erik Swanson, Anthony Bass and Tim Mayza. Once Green is able to return, he will jump into the mix with that group. The Jays will now have two pitchers potentially bolstering their staff midway through the upcoming campaign, as Hyun Jin Ryu also underwent TJS last year and is targeting a return around the All-Star break.
Financially, this nudges the Jays slightly farther into luxury tax territory. Roster Resource now pegs their competitive balance tax figure at $246MM, about $13MM beyond the $233MM threshold. As a first-time payor in the lowest tax bracket, the club is subject to a 20% tax on its overages, currently just over $2.5MM.
Michael Marino of Fantrax first reported the Jays and Green were in agreement. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet for had the $8.5MM guarantee and presence of options for 2025 and 2026, as well as later adding the breakdown of the options (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first added the complex option framework and that Green passed his physical (Twitter links).
Mariners Re-Sign Taylor Williams To Minor League Contract
The Mariners announced a number of non-roster Spring Training invitees this afternoon. Among those in camp are reliever Taylor Williams and catcher Brian O’Keefe, meaning both have signed minor league deals to return to the organization.
Williams has 97 MLB appearances to his name, splitting that over four clubs. The right-hander broke into the big leagues with Milwaukee and landed with Seattle for the 2020 campaign. He struck out 19 in 13 2/3 innings through the first month-plus of the shortened season. With Seattle out of playoff contention, they flipped him to the Padres in a deal that netted then-prospect Matt Brash. It proved a coup for Seattle, as Brash quickly blossomed into a highly-regarded talent and now looks a key piece of the Seattle relief corps moving forward.
San Diego got just five outings from Williams, as he lost most of the 2021 season battling a knee injury. The Friars waived him in September 2021, and he had brief stints in the Marlins’ and Giants’ organizations before returning to the Mariners via minor league deal last summer. The 31-year-old posted a 1.14 ERA over 23 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma, racking up grounders at an incredible 60% clip. With the Mariners overloaded with bullpen depth, he never got an MLB look but impressed the front office enough to get another crack this spring.
Seattle still has an excellent relief corps. The offseason trade of Erik Swanson in the Teoscar Hernández deal subtracted one player from the mix, but Seattle added the out-of-options Trevor Gott on a free agent contract. He joins Paul Sewald, Andrés Muñoz, Diego Castillo, Penn Murfee and Brash as virtual locks for the season-opening group. Matt Festa is out of options himself and probably cracks the roster, while one of Marco Gonzales or Chris Flexen could take a long relief role if not traded before Opening Day given Seattle’s rotation depth. The M’s also have offseason trade acquisition Justin Topa and nabbed Tayler Saucedo off waivers from the Mets today.
That’s a deep collection of arms, meaning Williams and other non-roster invitees like Casey Sadler, Nick Margevicius, Ryder Ryan and Riley O’Brien could have an uphill battle to the roster. Most of that group is likely to start the season with the Rainiers. Williams is out of options himself, so if he cracks the MLB roster at any point, he’d have to stick in the majors or be made available to other clubs via trade or waivers.
O’Keefe is a 29-year-old backstop who played in two games for the M’s last year. He picked up a hit and a walk in his first four MLB plate appearances. The righty-swinging catcher had a decent .253/.330/.449 line with 13 homers over 352 trips to the dish with Tacoma last year. He joins Jacob Nottingham as non-roster catchers with previous big league experience. Seattle has Cal Raleigh and Tom Murphy as their catching duo but no additional depth on the 40-man at the moment.
White Sox, Nate Mondou Agree To Minor League Deal
The White Sox are signing infielder Nate Mondou to a minor league contract, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. It’s unclear whether he’ll get a look in big league camp.
Mondou had spent his entire career with the Oakland organization. A 13th-round draftee of the A’s in 2016, the Wake Forest product reached Triple-A by the start of the 2021 campaign. He spent most of the past two years with their top affiliate in Las Vegas, posting remarkably similar numbers in both seasons. Mondou followed up a .282/.371/.432 showing in 2021 with a .283/.374/.431 line last year. He posted better than average strikeout and walk numbers in both seasons but hit for modest power in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
That consistency earned Mondou a cup of coffee at the end of a lost season in Oakland. He earned a promotion for the final week of the year and got a start at second base, going 0-3 with a walk. That’s his lone big league appearance thus far in his career. Oakland outrighted him off the 40-man roster after the season and he elected minor league free agency upon going unclaimed.
The White Sox’s collection of uncertain second base options has drawn plenty of attention. Chicago watched Josh Harrison and Danny Mendick depart and didn’t address the keystone with a major league addition. Romy González and Lenyn Sosa seem likely to jockey for the reps, with multi-positional veteran Leury García on hand as a possibility. The Sox are bringing Hanser Alberto and Erik González to camp with what’d seem to be a decent chance for either to crack the Opening Day roster.
Mondou slots in behind them on the depth chart, likely starting the season at Triple-A Charlotte. He’s a .283/.373/.432 hitter at that level. Primarily a second baseman, Mondou has also played third base, left field and sparse time at shortstop in the minors.
Astros, Ty Buttrey Agree To Minor League Deal
The Astros have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Ty Buttrey, as first reported by Sam Blum of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll get a non-roster look in big league camp this spring.
Buttrey has pitched in parts of three MLB seasons, all of which came as a member of the Angels. His best season came in 2019, when he provided the Halos 72 1/3 innings of 3.98 ERA ball with a 27.2% strikeout rate out of the bullpen. He had a rough go during the shortened 2020 campaign, though, striking out just 16.1% of batters faced en route to a 5.81 ERA through 26 1/3 innings.
While Buttrey could’ve still factored into the MLB bullpen the next season, he stepped away from the game just before Opening Day. Buttrey noted at the time he “couldn’t help but notice that (his) love and passion for this game had started to diminish.” He sat out the 2021 campaign but made a comeback effort last winter. The Halos welcomed him back onto the 40-man roster but kept him in Triple-A Salt Lake to start the season.
The 29-year-old struggled immensely through his first couple months with the Bees. After allowing nine runs through his first 12 1/3 frames, he was designated for assignment in June. Buttrey went unclaimed on waivers and closed out the year on an outright assignment to Salt Lake. He concluded the season with a 5.94 ERA through 36 1/3 frames, posting a below-average 17.9% strikeout percentage and a hefty 13.7% walk rate. Buttrey generated grounders on half the batted balls he allowed, but he’d need to improve upon the strikeout and walk numbers to earn a big league look.
Buttrey will try to demonstrate better form in camp with the Astros. He admitted at the time of his DFA last summer he “(had) work to do to get … back to peak form” in the wake of his season away. With another offseason of preparation, he’ll look to crack a role in a strong Houston bullpen. The Astros have a number of bullpen spots sewn up, with Ryan Pressly, Rafael Montero, Héctor Neris, Bryan Abreu, Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton locked into roles if healthy. Seth Martinez figures to have the inside track at another job, while Houston could also look to integrate a left-hander into that righty-heavy mix. Buttrey joins southpaw Austin Davis as an experienced non-roster player who’ll get a look in Spring Training.
Blue Jays Designate Matt Gage For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated reliever Matt Gage for assignment, the club announced. The move opens a 40-man roster spot for Chad Green, who has officially signed his two-year deal.
Gage, 30 next month, played eight seasons in the minor leagues after entering the professional ranks as a 10th-round pick of the Giants in 2014. Signed to a minor league contract by the Jays last offseason, the Siena product had a breakout year for Triple-A Buffalo. He worked to a 2.34 ERA over 42 1/3 innings of relief for the Bisons, striking out 27.4% of opponents with a 47% grounder rate. Gage’s 9.5% walk percentage was the only yellow flag, though that was just a hair north of average.
That production earned him his first major league call last June. He got into 11 MLB games, working 13 innings of four-run ball. Gage induced grounders on half the batted balls he allowed. The 6’3″ hurler had a modest 12:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his limited big league time but induced swinging strikes on over 14% of his pitches. He relied on a low-90s four-seam and a mid-80s cutter during his big league work.
Gage held left-handed hitters to a laughable .086/.149/.111 line in 88 Triple-A plate appearances last year. Righties hit .271 with a .363 on-base percentage but only mustered a .355 slugging mark. That could appeal to clubs looking to stockpile left-handed relief depth. Gage has two minor league option years remaining, so any team willing to keep him on the 40-man roster could stash him in Triple-A for the foreseeable future. The Jays will have a week to deal him or look to run him through waivers.
Dodgers, Tony Gonsolin Avoid Arbitration With Two-Year Deal
The Dodgers and right-hander Tony Gonsolin have signed a two-year, $6.65MM contract to avoid arbitration, the team announced. The deal doesn’t affect the club’s window of team control, as he’s still controllable through the 2026 season.
Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic reports the financial breakdown for the Beverly Hills Sports Council client (on Twitter). Gonsolin will make $3.25MM during the upcoming season, slightly north of the midpoint between his $3.4MM filing figure and the team’s $3MM offer. The deal contains a fairly modest $3.4MM base salary for 2024 but would allow the right-hander to tack on a decent amount if he stays healthy this year. Gonsolin’s 2024 salary would escalate by $500K apiece if he makes 14, 16, 18, 20, 24 and 28 starts this season — potentially adding $3MM to his ’24 salary. The contract also contains bonuses based on his finishes in Cy Young voting.
The Associated Press reports that Gonsolin’s 2024 salary was escalate by $1.125M if he wins the Cy Young next season, with $625K available for a top three finish and $500K if he places fourth of fifth. According to the AP, any relief appearance of at least 3 1/3 would be equivalent to a start for purposes of the escalators — presumably a means of protecting Gonsolin’s path to unlocking the escalators in the event he’s deployed behind an opener.
It’s a relatively inconsequential transaction in the bigger picture, but it locks in some cost certainty for the club and player over the next couple years. Gonsolin, who’d qualified for arbitration early this winter as a Super Two player, will still have two additional seasons of arbitration eligibility covering 2025-26. The deal wraps up the Dodgers’ arbitration work for this offseason, as they’d agreed to terms with their other nine arb-eligible players before the January 14 deadline for parties to exchange figures.
Gonsolin debuted in 2019 and worked as a depth starter for his first two-plus seasons. While the Saint Mary’s product was consistently effective, he didn’t crack a permanent spot in the Dodgers’ strong rotation until last year. During the 2022 campaign, Gonsolin cemented himself as one of the sport’s better pitchers. He posted a brilliant 2.14 ERA in 130 1/3 innings covering 24 starts. A .207 batting average on balls in play makes it unlikely he’ll maintain that ace-level run prevention, but the 28-year-old struck out an above-average 23.9% of opponents with a strong 7% walk rate. Even if his ERA takes a step back, he looks like a quality mid-rotation hurler.
The Dodgers’ payroll sits just under $222MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. The team’s competitive balance tax figure is a few million dollars above the $233MM base threshold, with Gonsolin’s $3.325MM average annual value counting against the ledger. They’re at roughly $238MM in estimated CBT obligations.
Mariners Claim Tayler Saucedo, Designate J.B. Bukauskas
The Mariners announced that they have claimed left-hander Tayler Saucedo off waivers from the Mets. He was recently designated for assignment when the Mets signed Tommy Pham. In a corresponding move to get Saucedo onto Seattle’s roster, right-hander J.B. Bukauskas was designated for assignment.
Saucedo, 30 in June, was a Blue Jays draftee who cracked that club’s roster midway through the 2021 season. He’s since logged 28 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 5.40 ERA. He’s gotten much better results in the minors, having posted a 2.11 ERA over the past two years while striking out an incredible 35.7% of batters faced. He’s put up strong ground ball rates in both the majors and minors but the strikeouts are the major difference maker so far as he’s only punched out 15.3% of big league hitters.
Despite the lack of results in the majors to this point, teams seem to be willing to take a shot on Saucedo based on his strong work down on the farm. The Mets claimed him off waivers from the Jays in November but he lost his spot last week with the Mariners now the beneficiary. Saucedo still has a couple of option years remaining and can be sent down to the farm, if needed. He’ll join Gabe Speier and Brennan Bernardino as southpaw relief arms on the club’s roster.
As for Bukauskas, 26, this ends a very short stay on Seattle’s roster, as he was just claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks two weeks ago. A former first round pick and exciting starting pitching prospect, he struggled with control and was moved to a relief role in recent years. He made 21 major league appearances in 2021 but struggled and posted a 7.79 ERA in that small sample. He’s had much better results in the minors over the past couple of years but hasn’t been able to log significant time due to injuries. He threw 35 minor leagues innings over 2021 and 2022 with a 3.09 ERA, with most of that time spent in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He struck out 27.5% of batters faced while walking 5.8%. That small workload is due to a strain in his throwing elbow in 2021 and a strain in the teres major muscle in his shoulder last year.
The Mariners will now have a week to trade Bukauskas or pass him through waivers. He still has one option year left, meaning that an interested club could put him on their 40-man and wouldn’t necessarily have to keep him on the active roster. Based on that fact, as well as his youth and previous prospect pedigree, it’s possible that he could have a new club yet again before Spring Training kicks off in two weeks.
Royals, Ryan Goins Agree To Minor League Deal
The Royals are bringing veteran infielder Ryan Goins back to the organization on a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Goins, an Octagon client, spent the 2018 season with Kansas City as well.
Goins hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since the truncated 2020 season, when he logged 14 games with the White Sox. He tallied only 10 plate appearances in that time, however, and went hitless in that small sample. He’s spent the past two seasons with the Braves organization, playing a combined 181 games for their Triple-A affiliate. Atlanta actually selected him to the Major League roster this past August but designated him for assignment and sent him outright back to Gwinnett before he ever got into a big league game.
The 34-year-old Goins didn’t hit much during his time with the Braves’ top affiliate, but that’s par for the course in his case. He’s long been a glove-first player, offering above-average defense all around the infield — but particularly at second base. In parts of eight Triple-A seasons, Goins is a .261/.319/.363 hitter, but he carries a lifetime .229/.278/.333 batting line in 1690 plate appearances as a big leaguer. The bulk of that experience came with the Blue Jays from 2013-17, but Goins has also spent time with the Royals (2018) and White Sox (2019-20).
Kansas City’s infield mix figures to give plenty of opportunity to younger players in 2023. Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto are expected to share time at first base and designated hitter, while young Michael Massey has an inside track on the primary job at second base. Bobby Witt Jr. should slot in as the team’s shortstop, though he spent plenty of time at third base in his rookie season in deference to defensive standout Nicky Lopez. The 27-year-old Lopez could log regular reps at shortstop or bounce around in utility fashion. He’s also drawn trade interest from the White Sox (and presumably other clubs). Hunter Dozier remains on hand as an option at either corner infield or corner outfield spot, while utilityman Nate Eaton could see action all over the infield and outfield.
Goins joins fellow veterans Johan Camargo and Matt Duffy as experienced infielders who Kansas City has signed to non-guaranteed deals in an effort to bolster the organizational infield depth. The Royals will surely want to get their young players as many looks as possible, but injuries are inevitable and Goins gives them a strong defensive veteran who can cover multiple spots should the need arise.