MLB Player News

Casali signed a one-year, $950,000 contract with the Reds on Thursday, avoiding arbitration, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Casali will return to Cincinnati after serving as the team's backup catcher for a chunk of the 2018 campaign. The 30-year-old hit a solid .293/.355/.450 with four homers in 52 games for the Reds last season, but his path to playing time remains firmly blocked by Tucker Barnhart heading into 2019.

Grandal agreed to a one-year, $18.25 million deal with the Brewers on Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Grandal will receive slightly more than the $17.9 million qualifying offer he turned down earlier in the offseason. He was one of the best catchers in the league during the 2018 campaign, hitting .241/.349/.466 with 24 homers and 68 RBI across 140 games for the Dodgers. Look for Grandal to immediately slot in as the Brewers' primary backstop, representing a significant upgrade at the position.

D'Arnaud and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $3.515 million contract Saturday, avoiding arbitration, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

D'Arnaud made it into just four games for the Mets last season before suffering a partially torn UCL, an injury which required Tommy John surgery. He's expected to be ready by Opening Day but will now be battling for a backup job with Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido after the Mets signed Wilson Ramos to be their starting backstop.

Plawecki may not begin the upcoming season with the Mets following the Wilson Ramos signing, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports.

Plawecki shared the catching duties with Travis d'Arnaud for most of the 2018 campaign, but he may be on the outside looking in after New York added a solid backstop via free agency in Ramos. The Mets could include Plawecki in a trade to acquire much-needed depth in the bullpen, per Martino, or Plawecki may simply end up at Triple-A Syracuse to begin the 2019 season.

Atlanta does not plan to hold further talks with the Marlins about Realmuto, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

The Braves haven't been in touch with the Marlins within the past five days. They appear to be moving on after signing Brian McCann three weeks ago.

Rupp signed a minor-league contract with the Giants on Friday which includes an invitation to spring training, Jon Heyman of FancredSports.com reports.

The Giants obviously have one of the best catchers in the game in Buster Posey, though he's caught fewer than 100 games in each of the last two years, so whoever becomes his backup could make a fair amount of starts. Rupp owns a career .234/.298/.407 line in 296 games, numbers which don't excite but which are perfectly adequate for a backup catcher. He was stuck in Triple-A for the entirety of last season, spending time with three different organizations. He'll primarily be battling Aramis Garcia, who hit .286/.308/.492 in a 19-game cameo last season, for a roster spot.

Gosewisch inked a minor-league contract with Milwaukee that includes an invite to spring training.

Gosewisch has played in 137 major-league games over the course of his career, though only 11 of those have come since the start of the 2017 season. He spent the entirety of this past year at Triple-A Syracuse in the Nationals' system, slashing just .219/.310/.335 with three home runs and 25 RBI. The 35-year-old doesn't have a path to big-league playing time with Manny Pina, Erik Kratz and Jacob Nattingham ahead of him on the Brewers' depth chart.

The Indians traded Gomes to the Nationals in exchange for Daniel Johnson on Friday, Jon Heyman of FancredSports.com reports.

Gomes will likely split time with the recently-signed Kurt Suzuki at the catching position after spending the past six seasons as the primary backstop for Cleveland. The 31-year-old slashed .266/.313/.449 with 16 home runs and 48 RBI in 112 games in 2018. Look for Gomes to provide decent value as a cheaper option at a very thin catcher position.

Ruiz's contract was purchased by the Dodgers on Tuesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Ruiz will move to the 40-man roster for protection from the Rule 5 draft. He should be in line to start the 2019 season at Triple-A after slashing .268/.328/.401 with 12 homers and 47 RBI over 101 games with Double-A Tulsa in 2018.

Jackson was added to the Braves' 40-man roster Tuesday.

Jackson and several other prospects had their contracts selected by Atlanta in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. While he has big-time pedigree (No. 6 overall pick in 2014 by Seattle) and plus power, Jackson has struggled to hit in the upper levels of the minors. He posted strikeout rates north of 30 percent at Double-A and Triple-A while hitting just .201 across those two stops in 2018. Look for him to spend the bulk of 2019 back at Triple-A working on improving his on-base skills.