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Marlins Designate Xzavion Curry For Assignment, Select Rob Brantly

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The Marlins announced a series of roster moves today. Right-hander Edward Cabrera was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and catcher Rob Brantly was selected to the roster. In corresponding moves, catcher Nick Fortes was placed on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain and righty Xzavion Curry was designated for assignment.

The Marlins started the season with Nick Fortes and Rule 5 pick Liam Hicks as their catching duo. Fortes is generally considered to be more of the glove-first variety. Hicks hasn’t hit much in his first eight major league games but has been known more for his bat, with questionable work behind the plate. Prospect Agustín Ramírez is also on the 40-man and has huge offensive numbers but prospect evaluators have also been suspicious about his work behind the plate.

Rather than recall Ramírez and have two weak defenders for the catching position, the Fish have replaced Fortes with Brantly. He’s a 35-year-old veteran depth guy who signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He made his debut back in 2012 and has received scattered playing time over the years. Despite debuting over a decade ago, he has appeared in just 138 games in his career. 2017 was the last time he got into more than six games in a season. 2013 was the last time he went beyond 14.

He is not really known for his bat, with a .222/.284/.322 line in his major league career. His minor league work has been better, with a .272/.357/.396 slash and 102 wRC+ since the canceled 2020 season. His work behind the plate in Triple-A has generally been well regarded. He can take up some of the catching duties and has certainly been around the game longer than the 25-year-old Hicks. That could provide the club with some veteran experience to help manage the pitching staff, which is largely composed of fairly inexperienced hurlers and veterans the Marlins are hoping to trade.

To open a 40-man spot for Brantly and an active roster spot for Cabrera, they have designated Curry for assignment. Cabrera started the season on the IL due to a blister on his throwing hand but is now ready to return.

Curry, 26, was added to the roster a few days into the season. Thanks to spring injuries suffered by Cabrera and Ryan Weathers, the staff was a bit taxed in the early going. He pitched on March 30 and April 2 but his usage has fallen off, with just one appearance on April 8th since then.

He’ll now head into DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Marlins technically have five days to explore trade possibilities. Curry was passed through waivers unclaimed in February. He hasn’t had many opportunities to raise his stock since then but other clubs have been going through injury troubles, perhaps opening an opportunity for him somewhere.

His major league work isn’t terribly inspiring, with a 4.38 earned run average, 15.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate in 150 innings. He has flashed better numbers in the minors. In 2021 and 2022, he tossed 219 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.28 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. He does have an option remaining, so an acquiring club would not need to put him on the active roster in the short term.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Red Sox Outright Robert Stock

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Right-hander Robert Stock has been outrighted to Triple-A Worcester, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Players have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if they have at least three years of major league service time or a previous career outright. Stock meets the latter criterion but it’s not clear if he will exercise his right. He could return to the open market or stick with the Sox as non-roster depth.

He just had a very brief stay on Boston’s roster, his first time in the big leagues in years. He wasn’t in the majors at any point during the 2022-2024 seasons but he put up some good numbers in Mexico last year. That led the Sox to give him a minor league deal. They played a doubleheader on Sunday with one game going to extra innings.

They added Stock on Monday to give the bullpen a fresh arm. That night, the Sox found themselves losing 5-1 to the Blue Jays after seven innings, so Stock was sent in to mop up the final two frames. He gave up three hits and issued one walk, leading to one run as the Sox lost 6-2. He was designated for assignment the next day.

The Sox ended up going to extras on Wednesday and Thursday as well. They don’t have another off-day until the 17th and then play another ten straight after that. Perhaps they may need a fresh arm in the bullpen again soon but they also might be able to strengthen the staff with Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello, who are both currently on rehab assignments and almost ready to rejoin the big league club. That could push Richard Fitts or Sean Newcomb from the rotation into a long relief role.

Stock now has 74 2/3 innings in the majors, most of that coming from 2018 to 2021. Overall, he has a 4.70 earned run average, 22.5% strikeout rate, 12.1% walk rate and 49.3% ground ball rate. He pitched in Korea in 2022 then split 2023 between the minors and Indy Ball. Last year, he had a 3.38 ERA over 19 starts for Tecos de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican League. He then remained in Mexico for the winter ball season to put up a 1.60 ERA for Naranjeros de Hermosillo, which led to a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images

White Sox Designate Justin Anderson For Assignment

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The White Sox have designated right-handed reliever Justin Anderson for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to infield prospect Chase Meidroth, whose contract has now been formally selected ahead of his previously reported MLB debut tonight. Outfielder Greg Jones was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to open a spot on the active roster for Meidroth.

Anderson, 32, spent the majority of the 2024 season in the ChiSox bullpen, picking up 53 1/3 innings of relief action en route to a 4.39 ERA. He averaged a hearty 96 mph on his fastball and fanned a slightly better-than-average 23.6% of his opponents, but he also walked an ugly 13.2% of the batters he faced.

The Sox optioned Anderson to Triple-A this year after a rocky spring performance (seven runs, 10 hits, four walks, nine strikeouts in six innings), and he’s had a similarly shaky go of it in Charlotte. Through his first 5 2/3 innings, the hard-throwing righty has been tagged for five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. He’s whiffed eight hitters but also plunked a batter and already been charged with a pair of wild pitches.

Command has never been a strong point for the 6’3″, 230-pound Anderson. He’s walked 14.8% of his opponents in parts of three big league seasons. His lifetime 9.7% mark in parts of five Triple-A campaigns is better but still higher than average. Anderson can pile up strikeouts, however, evidenced by a career 26.3% mark in the majors and a gaudy 34.3% rate in Triple-A.

Anderson’s 2024 work with the Sox was his first big league action since 2019. He was beset by injuries in the interim years, most notably a Tommy John surgery in July of 2020 that wiped out that entire season as well as the vast majority of his 2021 campaign. From 2020-22, Anderson pitched a total of just 16 minor league innings. He’s healthy once again, and as a hard-throwing righty with a history of missing bats and a pair of minor league options remaining, he could hold interest to another team in a small trade or waiver claim.

The Sox can trade Anderson or place him on outright waivers at any point in the next five days. The waiver process itself lasts for 48 hours, meaning that within a week’s time, he’ll know the outcome of his DFA.

Darren McCaughan Elects Free Agency, Will Re-Sign With Twins

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11:19am: The Twins will indeed re-sign McCaughan to a new minor league contract, reports Darren Wolfson of KSTP and SKOR North Radio. He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul.

11:00am: Right-hander Darren McCaughan cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Twins and has rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, per his transaction log at MLB.com.

The 29-year-old McCaughan pitched 5 1/3 innings with Minnesota this season, holding opponents to a run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts. He’s out of minor league options, so the Twins had no choice but to designate him for assignment when they wanted to shuffle up the final spot in their bullpen and get a fresh arm (righty Scott Blewett) into the mix.

McCaughan signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. The longtime Mariners farmhand has now pitched in parts of four major league seasons and worked to a 6.02 earned run average with a 16.2% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in 61 1/3 innings. He’s been a durable innings eater at the Triple-A level, piling up 546 frames with a 5.14 ERA in 101 starts there. Most recently, he split the bulk of the 2024 season between the Triple-A clubs for Miami and Cleveland, logging a combined 4.73 ERA with a sharp 25.2% strikeout rate against an 8.2% walk rate.

The Twins could always quickly re-sign McCaughan on a new minor league pact, though he’ll have the opportunity to talk with the league’s other 29 clubs now. McCaughan sits at about 90 mph with his heater but has good command and hasn’t been placed on the injured list at any point in his professional career, dating back to his selection in the 12th round of the 2017 draft.

Red Sox Release Matt Moore

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The Red Sox released veteran lefty Matt Moore from his minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Moore had been assigned to Triple-A Worcester but has been on the minor league injured list since Opening Day. Christopher Smith of MassLive wrote in late March that the former All-Star was dealing with arm soreness.

Moore was healthy enough to make four appearances during Spring Training. He allowed only one unearned run over four innings in camp, though he struck out two of 16 batters faced. Moore bypassed an opportunity to opt out of his contract at the end of camp and agreed to report to Worcester. The injury prevented him from taking the mound with the WooSox.

The 35-year-old Moore held a spot in the Angels’ bullpen for the entire 2024 season. He struggled to a 5.03 ERA through 48 1/3 innings. Moore’s 19.5% strikeout rate was down eight percentage points relative to the previous year. He walked 12.4% of batters faced while giving up more than two home runs per nine innings. Moore’s fastball velocity — which had sat in the 94 MPH range between 2022-23 — was down a tick to 93 MPH last year. A forearm strain cost him the final month of the season.

Moore managed much better numbers during the 2022-23 stretch. He fanned over 27% of opposing hitters in both seasons while combining for a 2.20 ERA in 126 2/3 innings. It’s not clear when he’s expected to return to the mound, but he should be able to find another minor league deal once he’s healthy.

Red Sox, Yasmani Grandal Agree To Minor League Deal

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9:33pm: Grandal’s deal has a May 1 opt-out clause if he’s not added to the MLB roster and would come with a $1.35MM base salary if he earns a call-up, Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports.

5:15pm: The Red Sox and catcher Yasmani Grandal have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Wasserman client will presumably need some ramp-up time after missing Spring Training but could be an option for the Sox in a few weeks.

The move is likely a reflection of the thinning catching depth in Boston. Connor Wong was the club’s primary backstop to start the year but he recently suffered a broken finger on a catcher’s interference play, putting him on the 10-day injured list. The club previously had one of the top catching prospects in the sport but traded Kyle Teel to the White Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet deal.

The Wong injury has moved Carlos Narváez from the backup spot to the top of the depth chart. He has just 14 games of major league experience. Blake Sabol has been recalled to serve in the backup role, though he’s more of a utility guy who can catch in a pinch, with fairly suspect defensive abilities. They have one experienced non-roster option, as Seby Zavala is with Triple-A Worcester on a minor league deal, but he has a career line of .205/.271/.342 and is out to a .136/.136/.182 start with the WooSox.

Given those circumstances, adding a veteran is a fairly straightforward move, especially one with Grandal’s track record. He debuted back in 2012 and emerged as one of the best catchers in the league about a decade ago.

He is a few years removed from his prime now but had a solid season with the Pirates last year. He got into 72 games for the Bucs and stepped to the plate 243 times. His 9.9% walk rate and 18.9% strikeout rate were both better than league average and he also launched nine home runs. His .228/.304/.400 line led to a 95 wRC+. That indicates he was 5% worse than league average independent of position, but catchers are usually about 10% worse than par.

He’s always been considered a strong defender and still got good marks last year, especially in terms of framing. Grandal finished eighth on both the FanGraphs and Statcast framing leaderboards last year despite playing way less than most of the guys ahead of him. Thanks to his decent offense and strong glovework, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 2.0 wins above replacement on the year, even though he only played about half of it.

Despite that strong showing, he didn’t find much interest in free agency. He reportedly turned down an offer from Atlanta at one point and remained on the market until agreeing to this deal. He’s naturally a few weeks behind everyone else and will need to get in game shape. The Sox could send him to extended Spring Training or just throw him to one of their minor league affiliates to get playing time that way.

If he’s in game shape before Wong, he might be the club’s best option to take the lion’s share of playing time behind the plate. Even if Wong gets back while Grandal is still gearing up, Narváez has options and could be sent down if the club wants to go with a Wong/Grandal pairing. There’s no real harm on a minor league deal, especially in a clearly weak area for the club. Grandal is a bit more than just a warm body since he has years of experience and just had a decent enough performance last year.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Zach Plesac Signs With Long Island Ducks

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Right-hander Zach Plesac has signed with the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, the team announced yesterday. He’s the third former big leaguer to sign with the Ducks in the past week, joining Seth Beer and Mark Mathias.

The 30-year-old Plesac has pitched in the majors in each of the past six seasons, albeit for only 12 rough innings with the Angels in 2024. He made three starts for the Halos and was rocked for 11 runs (8.25 ERA) on a dozen hits and seven walks with only five strikeouts. Four of those hits against Plesac were home runs. He spent the rest of the season in Triple-A Salt Lake, where he logged an ugly 5.69 ERA in 99 2/3 innings.

Early in his career, Plesac looked like a potential long-term member of the rotation in Cleveland. He debuted with 115 2/3 frames of 3.81 ERA ball in 2019 and followed that with 55 2/3 innings and a 2.28 ERA the following season. A pedestrian 21.3% strikeout rate and an unsustainable 81.5% strand rate across those two seasons portended regression in his shiny 3.32 earned run average, but Plesac looked the part of an innings-eating fourth starter who relied more on command than overpowering his opponents.

For much of the next two seasons, that’s just how it played out. Plesac started 59 games for the 2021-22 Guardians and turned in a solid, if unremarkable 4.49 ERA. He fanned only 17.2% of his opponents but also limited them to a 6.2% walk rate. His 42.7% ground-ball rate was about average, and while his 1.38 homers per nine frames were too high, that lack of free passes helped to ensure that a fair number of those big flies were solo shots.

Plesac’s velocity and strikeout rate continued to decline in 2023-24, however. The 93.9 mph he averaged on his four-seamer was a distant memory last year, when his four-seamer sat at just 90.5 mph in Triple-A. With fewer missed bats and lesser velocity came more hard contact and more home runs.

Many players have used the Atlantic League — the Ducks, in particular — as a springboard back to affiliated ball. Plesac will hope to be the latest player to do so. He’ll pitch all of this season at 30 and still has three seasons of club control remaining if he ends up back in the majors.

Cubs Acquire Tom Cosgrove From Padres

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The Padres announced that they’ve dealt reliever Tom Cosgrove to the Cubs for cash considerations. Chicago designated righty Caleb Kilian for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot. San Diego had designated Cosgrove for assignment over the weekend.

Cosgrove, 28, was drafted by the Padres in 2017. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster during the 2022-23 offseason, a testament to the bat-missing ability he’d shown in the minors. Cosgrove made his major league debut the following April and managed strong numbers as a rookie. He turned in a 1.75 earned run average through 51 1/3 innings. His strikeout and walk profile was pedestrian, but he very rarely allowed hard contact and pitched well against lefty and righty batters alike.

The pendulum swung dramatically in the other direction last year. Cosgrove gave up 19 runs in 14 2/3 MLB innings spanning 18 appearances. Opponents’ average exit velocity jumped by three ticks while his strikeout rate dropped from 21.5% to 19.7%. Cosgrove spent most of the season in Triple-A, where he posted a 4.85 ERA with an above-average 26.8% strikeout percentage in 32 appearances.

Cosgrove did not break camp after a rough Spring Training, in which he gave up seven runs through 5 1/3 frames. He has gotten out to a slow start in Triple-A as well, allowing three runs with four walks and two strikeouts in four appearances. The Cubs immediately optioned him. He’ll begin his Chicago tenure with their top affiliate in Iowa. This is his final minor league option year.

Kilian is in his last option season as well. The Texas Tech product was a decent prospect in the San Francisco farm system whom the Cubs acquired in the Kris Bryant deadline deal in 2021. Chicago also acquired outfield prospect Alexander Canario, whom they DFA and traded away a couple months ago. It’s possible they’ll lose Kilian via trade or waivers within the next week.

The 27-year-old righty never established himself on Chicago’s staff. He has made five starts and three relief appearances going back to 2022. Kilian owns a 9.22 ERA in 27 1/3 innings thus far. He has issued 20 walks while recording only 21 strikeouts. Kilian has better numbers over four seasons at the Triple-A level. He carries a 4.37 ERA with a slightly below-average 21.8% strikeout rate across 274 innings at the top minor league level. Most of that has come as a starter. Kilian has only started one Triple-A game so far this season. He was tagged for six runs on a trio of homers in 2 1/3 innings.

White Sox To Promote Chase Meidroth

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The White Sox are going to call up prospect Chase Meidroth, as first reported by Thomas Nestico of TJStats. He is not yet on Chicago’s 40-man roster, so they will need to make a corresponding move to open a spot for him.

Meidroth, 23, will seemingly get to make his major league debut against his original club. A fourth-round pick of the Red Sox in 2022, he was one of four players flipped to the White Sox as part of the December 2024 trade which sent Garrett Crochet to Boston. The White Sox will be hosting the Red Sox for a three-game set this weekend.

Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery were the headliners of Chicago’s return, as top 100 prospects and former first-round picks, but Meidroth was an interesting secondary piece in the deal. As mentioned, he was a fourth-round pick in 2022, signing for a modest $272.5K bonus.

During his time in the minors, he has seemingly been disproving nominative determinism, as his primary attribute has been his plate discipline. He has 1,187 minor league plate appearances in his career thus far, with more walks than strikeouts. He’s drawn a free pass in 17.4% of those trips to the plate while only getting punched out 15.6% of the time.

The power is more questionable, as he only hit 23 home runs in that stretch. However, the overall production is still strong. He has a combined .285/.425/.414 batting line and 136 wRC+ at the moment, indicating he’s been 36% better than league average.

He has other attributes as well. He stole 13 bags last year and in 2023 as well. Defensively, he has played the three infield positions to the left of first base. Prospect evaluators don’t consider it likely that he becomes an everyday shortstop, but he can be solid at second and third while occasionally taking short in an emergency. Baseball America currently lists him as the #8 prospect in Chicago’s system.

Meidroth had a chance to crack the Opening Day roster since he spent all of 2024 at the Triple-A level. However, he hit just .146/.300/.171 in the spring and got sent to Charlotte to start the year. His nine games with the Knights have resulted in a .267/.450/.600 line and a call-up to the big leagues.

The White Sox should have lots of ability to give Meidroth playing time. Miguel Vargas has been the everyday third baseman this year but is hitting .179/.289/.231. Second baseman Lenyn Sosa has a line of .194/.219/.323. Shortstop Jacob Amaya is at .115/.143/.115.

Perhaps not coincidentally, today is the last day that a player can be promoted and earn a full year of service time in 2025. A player needs 172 days in the majors to earn a full year of service, but there are only 171 days left in the season after today. The Sox played this afternoon and Meidroth won’t be added until tomorrow at the earliest. That means Meidroth will be under the one-year line even if he stays up with the club for the rest of the season. That will mean the Sox can control him through 2031 even if he immediately establishes himself as a big leaguer. Some players can still earn a full service year under such circumstances by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting but that’s only for top prospects and not guys like Meidroth.

The Sox lost 121 games last year and are firmly in rebuild mode. Their loss today dropped them to 2-10 in the current season. The 2025 campaign is mostly about playing time for young guys or potential trade candidates. Meidroth didn’t get his chance when camp broke but turned things on in Triple-A recently while others struggled in the majors, so he’ll get a crack at the big leagues now.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Adam Ottavino Elects Free Agency

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The Yankees announced that righty Adam Ottavino cleared waivers, rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and elected free agency. New York designated Ottavino for the second time in a week on Tuesday. He elected free agency following his first DFA and quickly re-signed.

A similar path could play out here, though it’s not a guarantee. Ottavino stated plainly in an appearance on Foul Territory yesterday that at 39 years old and with more than 13 years of big league service, he’s not keen on signing a minor league deal (video link). Ottavino noted he’s open to big league deals with a 45-day advance consent clause — a provision that allows the team to cut a player and not owe him the remainder of his salary, so long as it’s within the contract’s first 45 days — but he doesn’t sound like he’d head to Triple-A.

Ottavino also chatted with host A.J. Pierzynski about his pair of contracts and quick DFAs with the Yankees, noting that the team was up-front with him about their plans and that he was on board with it (video link).

“Devin Williams was on the paternity list,” said Ottavino. “That only lasts three days, so I knew he was coming back. The clock was ticking. Obviously, something could happen there. Somebody could get hurt or underperform and [the Yankees] could change their mind and keep you around. At the same time, I kind of knew that it was going to be a short stay, more than likely. They were up front with that. They were great to me. I have a good relationship with those people over there, a lot of love for them.

…It was great. I knew what it was. I tried to enjoy the three days I was there. I pitched in two of the games. It was great. I never saw myself back in Pinstripes again, to be honest, and it felt great. It was pretty special. … Every day in the big leagues is precious. I’ve had a lot of them, but I don’t take them for granted.”

A native of New York City, Ottavino has spent the majority of the past several years playing with the Yankees or Mets. He posted a 4.34 ERA in 56 innings with the Mets last year and tossed 1 2/3 shutout innings with the Yankees in his brief Bronx return, albeit with four walks against three strikeouts. Dating back to 2022, Ottavino carries a 3.11 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in 185 major league innings.

While it initially looked as though he may be amenable to the frequent DFA carousel role that the Yankees have used with journeymen like David Hale and Ryan Weber in the past, Ottavino’s comments yesterday pretty clearly indicate he’s looking for a more stable situation in a big league bullpen. Time will tell whether that opportunity presents itself, although given his track record and the number of pitching injuries around the league, logic would suggest there should be at least a team or two interested in bringing the righty aboard. It’s not clear, however, whether Ottavino will be selective based on geography, postseason outlook or other factors — only that he’s focused on offers with a quick or immediate path back to the majors.

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