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[lukeswritings]

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/20/24

Catching up on some minor league moves in the past few weeks…

The Washington Nationals signed right-hander Patrick Weigel to a minor league deal. A towering 6-6 reliever, Weigel has just four games of major league experience with the Braves and Brewers, but since his last game in ’21, he’s become something of a vagabond, exploring the North American continent. Since that season, he’s spent time with the Mariners’ AAA team, the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association, the Mexican League, and the Reds’ organization, where he pitched in the second half of last year. However, his performance in the Dominican Winter League likely impressed the Nationals. Over 18 games with the Estrellas Orientales, he has a 22-to-5 K/BB ratio and a dominating 0.95 ERA. Those walk numbers are especially notable because he’s had a rough time with command throughout his minor league career, so he looks to have figured those troubles out. It is not known if he will receive an invite to Spring Training.

The Mariners have signed converted reliever Sauryn Lao and catcher Jacob Nottingham to minor-league contracts. Lao was signed by the Dodgers in 2016 out of the Dominican Republic as a corner infielder, but after six seasons where he didn’t make it above High-A, the Dodgers converted him to a pitcher in 2023. He took off from there, with a fabulous 57-to-7 KK/B ratio over 42 1/3 innings with Rancho Cucamonga two years ago. In 2024, he made it to AAA where he struggled, but was much better at AA in 20 games. Seattle will further try to develop the right-hander, who is still just 24. Nottingham is no stranger to the Mariners, as this is now his fourth stint with the organization. He’s best known for flipping from the Brewers to the Mariners to the Brewers and back to the Mariners in rapid succession on waivers in 2021. This resulted in an added clause in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that prevented a team from claiming the same player twice in the same season and became known as the Jacob Nottingham Rule. He spent the past three seasons in the minor leagues of four major league teams and 2024 in the Mexican League. Nottingham is a below-average hitter, but he knows the organization, and the Mariners don’t have much-catching depth behind Cal Raleigh and de facto designated hitter Mitch Garver, and top prospect Harry Ford is expected to begin the season in the minor leagues.

Right-handed reliever Enyel De Los Santos has signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves, according to his MiLB player page. EDLS is just two years removed from being a massive part of the Guardians’ bullpen in 2023. However, last season was a complete 180 following a trade to the Padres in November. His first half left something to be desired, and San Diego decided to trade him to the Yankees. That trade proved ill-fated as he put together a disastrous 14.21 ERA in just five games, capped off by a seven-run blowup against the White Sox, where he was left out to save the bullpen. That performance led to an unsurprising DFA, but the team who battered him around decided to show sympathy and claimed him off waivers. His time in Chicago went better, but the team still non-tendered him last month. The most significant change for the soon-to-be-26-year-old was his drastic increase in home runs allowed. He gave up the most home runs among all full-time relievers with 17, nearly doubling his career total (21) until this season. He’d had previously a slightly below-average groundball rate coming into 2024, but his 35.7% rate was a precipitous drop, with the league average being 44.4%. This startling decrease could be attributed to a slight pitch usage change between ’23 and ’24. In his sparkling 2023, he used a four-seamer 60.5% of the time and a slider 30.4% but altered that to utilizing the four-seamer just 49.4% of the time and bumping up the slider to 42.9%. This change negatively impacted both pitches and their run value and could explain the homer troubles he experienced. The Braves will try to get De Los Santos to return to his pre-2024 form, and if able, he can be an extremely important contributor to the back end of the bullpen.

The Phillies signed a trio of players — catcher Payton Henry and two Colombian right-handed pitchers, Nabil Crismatt and Guillo Zuñiga to minor league contracts. Henry, the 27-year-old, has just 20 games of major league experience with the Marlins between 2021 and 2022. He spent last season in the Blue Jays organization but had his season derailed in late May by a scary injury where he was struck in the head during a game by a backswing and was stretchered off the field, effectively ending his year. Henry is a decent hitter and a solid defender who should get a shot to challenge Garrett Stubbs for the backup catcher spot, but most likely will be used as depth at Triple-A. Crismatt is a veteran who’s seen action in each of the past five seasons. Between ’21 and ’22, he was an essential piece to the Padres bullpen as a multi-inning reliever, but since then, he’s bounced around from team to team, with occasional major league action. He’s been impressive in 10 starts for the Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter League to the tune of a 2.34 ERA in 50 innings. The Phillies have their rotation mostly set, but the last spot could be up for grabs after Taijuan Walker’s disappointing 2024. Zuñiga, 26, is a hard thrower who was once involved in the Atlanta Braves international signings scandal of 2017, where the team’s general manager and international scouting director resigned, and twelve players were released from their contracts. He will fortify the Phillies’ relief depth and try to reel in his homer-prone tendency that has plagued him in his limited major league action.

The Athletics signed left-hander Ben Bowden to a minor league deal. The 30-year-old’s major league experience is limited to 39 games out of the bullpen in 2021 with Colorado. Unsurprisingly, he struggled pitching at high elevations and was designated for assignment the following April. Since then, he’s had stints in the Rays, Giants, Phillies, and Braves organizations without big-league action. In 2024, he pitched in 27 games with Gwinnett, Atlanta’s Triple-A team, to a 4.03 ERA and solid strikeout results. He will join a team that does not have much stability in its bullpen outside of shutdown closer Mason Miller. Additionally, he has some history pitching at the A’s new stadium in West Sacramento. He spent time pitching for the River Cats in the second half of 2022.

The Rangers signed lefty Michael Plassmeyer to a minor league contract. The Missouri native also received an invite to Spring Training. In 2024, he pitched to a 7.93 ERA in 28 games with the Pirates Triple-A affiliate. He’s been a starter for almost all of his minor league career, but this past season was the first time he began pitching out of the bullpen. Command is the foremost part of the veteran’s game. He walked just 13 in 70 1/3 innings last year. Plassmeyer has seen major league action for just three games between 2022 and 2023. He’ll look to change that in 2025 with a solid exhibition performance.

Catcher Sebastián Rivero has signed a minor league deal with the Angels. The Venezuelan is a glove-first backstop who joins an organization that needs catching depth. Behind Logan O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud are limited options aside from Rivero and recent waiver claim Chuckie Robinson. He will look to return to the major leagues in 2025 for the first time since 2022 with the Royals.

The Padres signed mashing outfielder Moisés Gómez to a minor league contract. He has yet to make his major league debut. Still, the right-handed hitter is known for leading the minor leagues in 2022 with 39 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A in the Cardinals’ organization and then hitting 30 dingers the following season. Surprisingly, in 2024, he hit just three home runs in 41 games before being released in July. This power outage may have been unrelated to an unknown injury that required Gomez to miss a month in the middle of May. The Cardinals decided to move on from the slug-less slugger, and he signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association for the final month of their season. But during the Venezuelan Winter League season, his power has returned to its normal state for the Bravos de Margarita as he has 14 homers in 43 games. This performance interested the Padres, who have been notoriously thin in the outfield and currently have Tirso Ornelas, Trenton Brooks, and Brandon Lockridge, who have a combined 41 big-league plate appearances among them, as their projected options outside of Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. Gómez could undoubtedly be a candidate for one of the last bench spots with a continuation of his strong winter league performance into Spring Training.

The Yankees have signed a left-handed hitting 26 year-old outfielder, unfortunately not named Juan Soto, but instead Ismael Munguia, to a minor league contract. The 5-7 Nicaraguan became a minor league free agent at the end of the season after eight years in the Giants’ organization and now lands on a new team. Munguia is a career .294 hitter with 80-grade contact skills and impressive speed, becoming very popular among fans. In Spring Training 2024, he hit .410 but didn’t make the team despite winning the Barney Nugent Award, given to the stand-out player in their first Spring Training with the Giants. It’s unknown if Munguia will receive an invite to camp, but it will provide solid outfield depth for a team plagued by injuries in recent years.

Junior Fernández and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp, according to the team. The righty was once a high-level relief prospect coming up through the Cardinals’ system but never panned out due to injuries and ineffectiveness. He signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB in December 2023 but only pitched in two games before undergoing shoulder surgery and getting released in July. Evidently, he’s healthy now and will try to crack the Royals’ bullpen that was a liability in 2024.

Former Phillies’ first baseman Darick Hall has signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on social media and reflected in his Instagram bio.The Iron Pigs franchise leader in home runs and RBIs moves onto a new organization after nine seasons with the Phillies. Hall, 29, is a mashing lefty with a solid eye for a power hitter whose major league career has been marked by unfortunate timing of injuries. In 2023, following Rhys Hoskins suffering a torn ACL, Hall went down with an injury of his own just six games into the season that required surgery and a two-month rehab. By the time he was back to full strength, Bryce Harper had taken over as the team’s first baseman, and Hall was sent to the minors, where he would spend nearly the rest of the season and all of 2024. The Pirates are looking for a replacement at first base for Rowdy Tellez, who disappointed the team to the point that his own fans booed him and ultimately was released before the end of the season. The candidates at the cold corner behind projected starter and recent trade acquisition Spencer Horwitz are pretty unproven. On the 40-man roster, only Jared Triolo (9 games) and Billy Cook (5 games) have any experience playing first.

Veteran left-hander Enny Romero has reportedly agreed to a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants, according to El Nacional reporter Mike Rodriguez on social media and seemingly confirmed by Romero, himself in the comments on Instagram. Romero debuted in 2013 with the Rays and last played in the major leagues in 2018 with the Royals. He’s appeared in 137 games (1 start) across five seasons spent with Tampa Bay, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. Since his last major league action, he pitched in Japan for Chunichi and Chiba Lotte in the NPB and a brief stint back stateside with the Dodgers for Spring Training in 2021. However, since 2022, he’s only pitched in the Dominican Winter League, where he has been a mainstay for many years. In 2024, he’s been pitching for the Aguilas Cibaenas, where familiar major leaguers are omnipresent, including former Giant Johnny Cueto, who is still kicking and has started three games. Romero has shined in eight starts thus far to a 1.10 ERA and 38 strikeouts to 14 walks in 41 innings and, according to Rodriguez’s report, is a candidate to win the league’s Pitcher of the Year award. The Giants will bring in the 33-year-old Dominican and give him a chance to return to El Gran Carpa (The Big Tent) for the first time in seven years if he can keep up the good work.