Twins RHP Cody Stashak elects free agency

The Twins were leading the American League Central division for much of 2022. However, injuries mounted throughout the season and the Guardians surpassed them for good in September, eventually finishing 14 games ahead of Minnesota. Better health and depth will be key for the Twins if they are to have better results this year, and the club even went so far as to hire a new head athletic trainer, getting Nick Paparesta to jump over from the A’s. “I think he’s going to have a huge impact,” manager Rocco Baldelli told Dan Hayes of The Athletic recently. “I’m not just confident of it — I know he’s going to have a huge impact in what goes on inside those doors.”

Longtime Dodgers scout Ralph Avila passed away on Monday, according to multiple reports. He was 92 years old. Avila, the father of former Tigers general manager Al Avila and grandfather of longtime MLB catcher Alex Avila, was first hired by the Dodgers in 1970 as a scout in Latin America. As Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register notes, Ralph Avila was the signing scout when L.A. first landed Pedro Martínez as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. The Hall of Fame right-hander was one of a number of players Avila brought into the organization over a scouting career that lasted three decades.

The Red Sox are trading right-handed reliever Matt Barnes to the Marlins, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Left-handed reliever Richard Bleier is headed to Boston in return, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid. Miami will also receive cash considerations on top of this player-for-player swap, per Jordan McPherson of...

The Diamondbacks have re-signed infielder Jake Hager to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, as announced over the weekend by the Triple-A Reno Aces. Hager spent the majority of the 2022 season with Reno and slashed .261/.342/.391 with five home runs and eight stolen bases in his 303 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He also got into 28 games at the MLB level and batted .240/.345/.280 with zero homers and zero steals across 59 plate appearances with the D-backs.

The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that Jeff Ware has been added to the coaching staff as an assistant to pitching coach Pete Walker with focus on the bullpen. Meanwhile, David Howell is moving from pitching strategist to assistant pitching/strategy coach. Ware replaces Matt Buschmann, the former bullpen coach who...

The Royals have reached an agreement on a one-year contract to bring back veteran starter Zack Greinke, according to Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand hears that the deal will be worth $8M-$10M in base salary, plus performance-based bonuses. Greinke began his professional...

The Tigers today announced a batch of 22 non-roster players that received invitations to major league Spring Training. That group included plenty of players who had already been in the system, as well as those signed to previously-reported minor league deals. One name on the list that wasn’t already expected to be in camp was that of outfielder Jonathan Davis, indicating he’s been signed to a minor league deal.

“It’s here. I’m hanging up my cleats. From an 18-year-old draft pick in Colorado to a ’vet’ in Anaheim — there are a few things I will never forget. Getting THAT call to the big leagues in September 2008. Wow. My world was spinning. My first ’you’ve been traded to Houston’ heart pounding call.

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...

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...

The White Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander A.J. Alexy off waivers from the Twins. He had been designated for assignment by Minnesota last week when that club acquired Michael A. Taylor from the Royals. Alexy, 25 in April, was with the Rangers for the past few years, coming...

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,...

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...

The Dodgers and right-hander Tony Gonsolin have signed a two-year, $6.65M 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...

The Diamondbacks have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Jandel Gustave, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll be invited to big league camp this spring. The 30-year-old Gustave has spent the past two seasons with the Brewers, turning in solid bottom-line results despite some shakier secondary marks. Gustave carries a 3.69 ERA in 46 1/3 innings over 41 games with Milwaukee dating back to 2021, and he’s averaged a hearty 96.7 mph on his heater during that time. Fielding-independent marks are a bit more skeptical of his efforts, albeit not overwhelmingly so (4.52 FIP, 3.94 SIERA).

The Rangers were active this offseason in overhauling their rotation for 2023. Martín Pérez was set to hit free agency but was given a $19.65M qualifying offer that he accepted to return. The club also signed free agents Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi, in addition to acquiring Jake Odorizzi from Atlanta.

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...

The Angels are known to be in the market for left-handed bullpen help, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale specifies that the Halos “have strong interest” in Zack Britton’s services. The two sides have yet to line up on a contract, as Nightengale writes that the Angels’...