MLB Player News

Stassi (hip) signed a one-year, $1.6 million contract with the Angels on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Stassi will double the $800,000 contract he signed in January of 2020. The raise is well-earned, as he's coming off a year in which he hit .278/.352/.533, albeit in a small sample of 105 plate appearances. He appears set to split time behind the plate in 2021 with Kurt Suzuki, who was signed as a free agent Friday.

Hedges avoided arbitration Friday by signing a one-year, $3.28 million deal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Hedges will see a small boost from his 2020 salary of $3 million. It's hard to argue that he deserved a much bigger raise, as he hit an awful .145/.231/.290 in 35 games for San Diego and Cleveland last 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.

Haase cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

Haase was recently removed from Detroit's 40-man roster to make room for right-hander Jose Urena, and he went unclaimed on waivers. The catcher appeared in seven games for the Tigers late in the 2020 season, logging eight hits with two RBI and six strikeouts over 17 at-bats.

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.

Mejia is set to be traded from the Padres to the Rays in exchange for left-hander Blake Snell, pending a review of medical records, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

Mejia was unable to maintain a spot on the Padres' active roster in 2020 after the team acquired Austin Nola and Jason Castro during the season. Although Mejia struggled mightily over a limited sample last year, slashing .077/.143/.179 with one home run and two RBI over 42 plate appearances, he should compete for major-league playing time behind the dish as Mike Zunino also had a lackluster year in 2020.

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.