MLB Player News

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.

Murphy is fully healed from his foot injury and participating in full workouts, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Murphy missed the entire 2020 season due to a lingering foot injury, but he's fully recovered and will be ready to participate in spring training. The 29-year-old is expected to operate in a timeshare with Luis Torrens in 2021 since Torrens performed well after being acquired by the Mariners at the trade deadline last year.

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.

Jeffers recently underwent a minor procedure to remove "loose bodies" from his throwing elbow but is expected to be ready for spring training, manager Rocco Baldelli told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Baldelli said Jeffers is "essentially back to normal already," so it sounds like a minor injury. Still, he'll be someone to monitor early in spring training. Jeffers had a strong rookie year and should be part of the mix at catcher for the Twins next season after hitting .273 with a .791 OPS. His outlook for playing time is uncertain since both he and Mitch Garver are right-handed. However, the Twins have made it a point to give catchers adequate rest, so the duo may split playing time even if not in a traditional platoon.

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.

McCann signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the Mets on Saturday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

McCann has been close to a deal with the Mets for several days, but he now has a deal in place, pending a physical. The 30-year-old had a career-best .289/.360/.536 slash line with seven home runs and 15 RBI over 31 games with the White Sox in 2020, and he should take over as the Mets' primary catcher next season.