MLB Player News

Sanchez and the Yankees reached a one-year, $6.35 million deal Friday, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Despite a lackluster season during the 2020 campaign in which Sanchez lost out on playing time late in the year, the two sides won't need to go to arbitration during the offseason. Sanchez will have to compete for the starting role during spring training after slashing just .147/.253/.365 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI over 178 plate appearances last year.

Contreras and the Cubs agreed to a one-year, $6.65 million contract Friday, avoiding arbitration, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

Contreras has been the subject of trade rumors this winter, but he remains in Chicago for now. Wherever he winds up, he'll remain one of the top offensive catchers in the game, as he's posted an average or better slash line in each of his five big-league seasons, including a .243/.356/.407 line last season.

Murphy signed a one-year, $875,000 contract with the Mariners on Friday to avoid arbitration.

The 29-year-old was expected to start behind the plate for Seattle in 2020, but he missed the entirety of the season after fracturing his foot in July. Murphy is expected to work in a timeshare at catcher with Luis Torrens in 2021.

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.

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.