Mets promote Eric Chavez to bench coach, Jeremy Barnes to hitting coach

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.”

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto appeared on the latest Locked On Mariners podcast with Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby Patnode and offered a fairly thorough review of the club’s offseason strategy and overall roster makeup leading into the 2023 campaign. First off, they’re likely done spending for the time being …

The Phillies have signed utilityman Josh Harrison to a one-year, $2M deal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. MSM Sports, Harrison’s agency, has also announced the news. The versatile 35-year-old batted .256/.317/.370 with seven home runs and two stolen bases in 119 games last season for the...

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 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.

“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 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...

Before the Astros hired Dana Brown as their new general manager, the team also interviewed one of Brown’s co-workers from the Braves front office in special assistant of scouting operations Jonathan Schuerholz, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. Schuerholz played six seasons in Atlanta’s minor league system (from 2002-07) before moving into a minor league instructor role for the next seven seasons, and then in the front office since October 2014 in assistant director roles in the player development and scouting departments.

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 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.

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 Brewers have signed outfielder Monte Harrison to a minor league deal, reports Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Harrison has received an invitation to major league Spring Training. Harrison, 27, returns to his original organization, as the Brewers selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft....

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 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 Giants announced that they have signed right-hander Joe Ross to a minor league deal, with Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com among those who relayed the news on Twitter. Ross has received an invitation to major league Spring Training, though he underwent a second career Tommy John surgery in June of last year and isn’t likely to be ready until midseason at the earliest.

The Braves recently agreed to minor league contracts with a number of players, according to an announcement from Double-A broadcaster Chris Harris (Twitter link). Among those joining the organization: infielder Adeiny Hechavarria, outfielders Magneuris Sierra and Forrest Wall, and reliever Brian Moran. All four players will get non-roster invitations to Spring Training. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN first reported Wall’s signing yesterday.

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 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’...

Fernando Tatis Jr. had an absolutely dismal 2022. He missed the first half of the year following March surgery to repair a left wrist fracture sustained in an offseason motorcycle accident and then got popped for an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension just as he was preparing to return to the Padres’ active roster in August.