MLB Player News

Rosario signed a minor-league contract with the Diamondbacks, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

Rosario played in 50 games for Triple-A Memphis in the Cardinals' system in 2017, but also appeared in 23 games for the big-league club during the past two seasons. The soon-to-be 31-year-old hasn't been able to find any success during his brief opportunities in the majors, but he will provide organizational depth for the Diamondbacks heading into 2018. Last season at Triple-A, he slashed .247/.291/.279 with 23 RBI and six extra-base hits.

Sanchez agreed to a minor-league deal with the Giants on Thursday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Sanchez will return to the Giants' organization, where he spent the first nine years of his career before appearing with the White Sox and Padres in 2016 and 2017. Buster Posey and Nick Hundley have the catching duties locked down at the major-league level, so Sanchez will kick things off in the minors in 2018.

Davis signed a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to spring training with the Cubs on Friday, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Davis was recently non-tendered by the Cubs at the beginning of the month, but the club will bring him back on a minor-league deal after he spent most of the 2017 season with Triple-A Iowa. During that time, he slashed .297/.357/.429 with six home runs and 62 RBI. He wound up playing in eight games for the big-league team as well, but there won't be much use for him at the major-league level with Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini on the roster.

Mesoraco (foot) is expected to serve as the backup to Tucker Barnhart in 2018, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.

Mesoraco has only been able to appear in 95 games over the past three years due to various injuries, including labrum tears in both hips, a left shoulder ailment, and most recently a broken foot which caused him to miss the rest of the 2018 season after sustaining the injury in mid-August. Moving forward, he will be behind the plate a couple times a week but mainly utilized as a pinch hitter in late-inning situations. During the 2017 season, Mesoraco slashed .213/.321/.390 with six home runs and 14 RBI in 56 games.

Barnhart will be the primary catcher heading into the 2018 season, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Coming off a terrific season that saw him win the National League Gold Glove award, Barnhart will earn the "lion's share of the playing time" according to manager Bryan Price. Due to Devin Mesoraco's inability to stay off the disabled list -- coupled with Barnhart's performance -- the Reds will utilize the former All-Star as a backup and pinch hitter in the later innings. Barnhart was rewarded with a four-year, $16 million contract in September, after slashing .270/.347/.403 with seven home runs and 44 RBI in 2017.

Heim was traded to Oakland as the player to be named in the deal that sent Joey Wendle to Tampa Bay earlier in the month, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Heim split time last season between Single-A Charlotte and High-A Bowling Green, hitting an unremarkable .260/.317/.402 with nine homers in 93 games across both levels. The switch-hitting backstop hasn't really impressed in the lower minors to this point, and seeing as he's still 22 years old, there's a good chance he repeats High-A again next season.

The Cubs declined to tender Davis a contract for 2018, Bruce Miles of the Chicago Daily Herald reports.

Davis wasn't actually arbitration eligible, but the Cubs cut him loose anyway, having decided that he was not worthy of a 40-man spot. He slashed .297/.357/.429 with six homers and zero stolen bases in 102 games at Triple-A Iowa as a 27-year-old last season.

Casali signed a minor-league deal with the Angels that includes an invite to spring training, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

He elected free agency after the Rays removed him from the 40-man roster this offseason. Casali has a career .199/.285/.385 slash line with 19 home runs and a 30.5 percent strikeout rate in 466 MLB plate appearances, although his defense behind the dish grades out well. Martin Maldonado is the clear starter in Anaheim, but Casali will be able to compete with Juan Graterol and Carlos Perez for a shot to be the backup this spring.

Stassi is the frontrunner to be the backup catcher to Brian McCann in 2018, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 26-year-old Stassi has served as the organization's primary catcher at the Triple-A level the last four seasons, first at Oklahoma City and then at Fresno. He's coming off his best season at Triple-A, hitting 12 home runs with an .856 OPS. To be generous, his major-league track record is too small of a sample size (79 at-bats), but his career numbers in the minors don't suggest a productive hitter in MLB. That could present a problem should McCann's career trajectory continue on the same path. The 33-year-old catcher, who had 349 at-bats in 2017, has seen fewer at-bats in successive seasons since 2014.

Jansen was added to Toronto's 40-man roster and is protected from the Rule 5 draft.

The 22-year-old catcher reached Triple-A Buffalo last season. Although he played just 31 games with Buffalo, Jansen managed to make an impact at the plate. He posted a great .328/.423/.552 line and drew 11 walks while striking out just seven times. While the Blue Jays may want him to spend some more time with Buffalo to start the 2018 campaign, but he could push his way into consideration for backup duty in Toronto at some point.