MLB Player News

Stallings agreed to a one-year contract with the Pirates on Friday, avoiding arbitration.

The 31-year-old backstop hit .248/.326/.376 with three home runs in 143 plate appearances last year. He was also a strong defensive catcher, so he should be the primary backstop in Pittsburgh this season.

Caratini signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Padres on Friday to avoid arbitration, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

The 27-year-old was acquired from the Cubs along with Yu Darvish in late December and won't require salary arbitration to officially get under contract for 2021. Caratini figures to work with Darvish and operate as the backup catcher to Austin Nola for San Diego.

Bart is expected to open the year in the minors after the Giants signed Curt Casali to a major-league deal Monday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The 2018 second-overall pick got called up ahead of schedule last year due to Buster Posey's opt out, but he didn't exactly prove to be big-league ready, hitting .233/.288/.320 with a 36.9 percent strikeout rate and a 2.7 percent walk rate in 33 games. The acquisition of Casali means the Giants now have a veteran backup for Posey, allowing Bart to finish his development in the minors before pushing for his second chance at the highest level.

Casali signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Giants on Monday.

While the Giants aren't paying Casali all that much, the major-league contract implies that they see him as part of the active roster in 2021. He deserves at least a backup spot given his respectable .230/.316/.413 slash line in parts of seven seasons at the highest level. That leaves the Giants' catcher depth chart rather full, however, as Buster Posey will be returning to action after opting out of the 2020 season and the highly-rated Joey Bart has already arrived, appearing in 33 games in Posey's absence last season. The signing of Casali potentially indicates that the Giants intend to give Bart more seasoning in the minors to start the year.

Leon signed a minor-league deal with the Marlins on Sunday that includes an invitation to big-league camp, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Leon spent the 2020 campaign in Cleveland and struggled in 25 appearances with a .136/.296/.242 slash line and 21 strikeouts in 81 plate appearances. The 31-year-old will need a strong showing in spring training to have a chance of supplanting Chad Wallach or Jorge Alfaro.

Caratini has been traded to the Padres along with Yu Darvish in exchange for Zach Davies and prospects Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Yeison Santana and Ismael Mena, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

Caratini slashed .241/.333/.328 with one home run and 16 RBI while serving as the Cubs' backup catcher and occasional designated hitter in 2020. The 27-year-old will now head to San Diego with Darvish, where he figures to spell Austin Nola behind the plate.

The Reds claimed Grullon off waivers from the Red Sox on Wednesday.

Grullon will move on to his third organization since September after the Red Sox previously claimed the backstop off waivers from the Phillies. He'll get the opportunity to compete for the No. 2 catcher role with the Reds in spring training after Cincinnati non-tendered Curt Casali earlier this offseason.

Bart will likely begin the upcoming season as the Giants' No. 2 catcher after manager Gabe Kapler said Tuesday that Buster Posey would receive "the lion's share of the reps" behind the plate in 2021, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.

Posey's decision to opt out of the 2020 campaign during summer camp may have had a hand in Bart -- the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 first-year player draft -- receiving the call to the big leagues last summer, despite having only appeared in 22 games above the High-A level. After a strong start at the dish following his promotion, Bart slumped in September to finish with an underwhelming .233/.288/.320 slash line over his 111 plate appearances. The Giants still view the 24-year-old as their backstop of the future, so look for the organization to do whatever it can to make room for Bart to make more starts than the typical backup catcher. The lack of a universal designated hitter in 2021 limits the Giants' options, but Posey's ability to play first base at least offers one avenue for both Bart and the 2012 NL MVP to stick in the lineup simultaneously.

General manager Mike Rizzo said Tuesday that the Nationals are preparing for Gomes to draw the majority of the team's starts at catcher in 2021, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports. "I think Yan's capable of it," Rizzo said. "It's such a demanding, physically taxing position that we certainly would like to take a little bit of burden off him. But I think he's capable of playing 90 to 110 games at least."

Gomes has been part of a roughly even timeshare with Kurt Suzuki in both of the past two seasons, appearing in 127 of the team's 222 regular-season games (57.2 percent) over that stretch. While the Nationals aren't expected to bring back Suzuki in free agency, Rizzo noted the team does plan to bring in another veteran backstop this winter, though seemingly not a player that would challenge Gomes for the top spot on the depth chart. With that in mind, Gomes -- health prevailing -- should be in a good spot to reach 400 plate appearances for the first time since his final season in Cleveland in 2018, perhaps making him one of the more intriguing fantasy options in a weak catcher pool.

Bethancourt returned to the Phillies as a non-roster invitee Tuesday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Bethancourt filled the same role for the Phillies last season but never cracked the big-league roster. He's currently lined up to compete with Rafael Marchan for the backup catcher spot, though the team will presumably try to bring J.T. Realmuto back and push Andrew Knapp into a reserve role. Organizational depth is seemingly the role that suits Bethancourt best, as he hasn't appeared in a major-league game since 2017 and owns a career .222/.252/.316 slash line in 489 plate appearances.