MLB Player News

Ramirez signed a minor-league contract with the Brewers on Tuesday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Ramirez is back with the Brewers on a minor-league deal after making a successful transition from first base to the bullpen last offseason. In his first year as a pitcher, the 28-year-old southpaw turned in a 1.37 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 56:24 K:BB across 79 innings of work with Double-A Biloxi. He also posted an .825 OPS in 32 plate appearances with the Shuckers. Ramirez hasn't pitched much above Double-A, so the Brewers will likely start him out at Triple-A Colorado Springs and see how he does before possibly calling upon him.

Neal signed a minor-league contract with the Dodgers on Saturday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Neal split time between Triple-A Nashville and the Athletics each of the previous two seasons. While he posted a respectable 4.24 ERA across 70 major-league innings in 2016, he struggled to a 7.98 ERA across 14.2 innings with the big club in 2017 before being designated for assignment in August. The sinkerballer also owns a brutal 3.9 K/9 across 84.2 frames at the highest level. Look for Neal to serve as organizational pitching depth next year.

Schultz signed a minor-league contract with the Pirates on Friday, Chris Cotillo of SBNation.com reports.

Schultz was outrighted off the Blue Jays' 40-man roster at the start of November, which wasn't all too surprising considering he was still working his way back from Tommy John surgery. While that's still the case, the Pirates were willing to give him a minor-league deal with the hope that everything goes as planned in the recovery process. Schultz's last MLB action came in 2016, when he had a 5.51 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 16.1 innings. He'll need to show some improvement and a clean bill of health in order to earn a significant role with his new team.

Alexander was traded to the Dodgers on Thursday as part of a three-team deal, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.

The Dodgers also received minor-league infielder Jake Peter in the deal, while shipping Luis Avilan to the White Sox and minor leaguers Erick Mejia and Trevor Oaks to the Royals. Alexander -- who is one of the premier groundball relievers in baseball -- will likely fill the left-handed relief role that Tony Watson excelled in last season. The former Royal posted a 2.48 ERA and and 59:28 K:BB in 69 innings of relief last season.

Nelson said on MLB Network's "Hot Stove" that he believes his rehab from a torn labrum in the shoulder of his pitching arm "is going just about as well as it could possibly go,"

Nelson did not reveal exactly where he stands in his recovery, but he has been diligent about the process, putting in "long days this offseason" in an effort to get back to 100 percent as soon as possible. While things are moving in the right direction, he is not expected to resume throwing until spring training, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, so it's still unclear just how much time he will miss in 2018, and whether his absence will be measured in weeks or months.

Jackson was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.

Jackson was designated for assignment by the Braves on Dec. 20, and passed through waivers unclaimed to remain with the organization. During the 2017 season, Jackson accumulated a 4.62 ERA and 33:19 K:BB in 50.2 innings.

Floro agreed to a minor-league deal with the Reds on Wednesday, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports.

Floro will remain in the NL Central after appearing in three games with the Cubs in 2017. During that time, he posted an unsightly 6.52 ERA and 1.76 WHIP over 9.2 innings of relief. The 27-year-old spent most of the past season at the Triple-A level, which is where he will likely begin the 2018 campaign within the Reds' system.

Ames agreed to a minor-league deal with the Nationals on Thursday, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports.

Ames -- a first-round pick in the 2011 draft -- has spent the last seven years of his career climbing the minor-league ranks within the Rays' organization. He spent the 2017 campaign with Triple-A Durham, posting a 3.98 ERA and 78:35 K:BB over 63.1 innings of work. The righty will need to cut down on his inflated walk rate if he hopes to play his way into a big-league relief role with his new club.

Bass announced that he signed with the Cubs on Thursday, via his personal Twitter account.

Bass likely agreed to a minor-league contract with the team, which comes after he was designated for assignment at the tail-end of the season by the Rangers. He only appeared in a pair of big-league games last year -- and played the previous season in Japan with the Nippon Ham Fighters -- after being a solid contributor for the club's bullpen in 2015. But he spent a majority of his time at Triple-A Round Rock in 2017, posting a 4.18 ERA and 1.42 WHIP while holding an 87:28 K:BB over 75.1 innings. Looking ahead, he will provide organizational depth for the Cubs next year, but may not see much time at the major-league level barring some injuries.

Smith signed a minor-league deal with the Nationals on Thursday that includes an invitation to spring training, Keegan Matheson of Sportsnet reports.

Smith made his major-league debut with the Blue Jays as a 28-year-old last season, striking out one batter in five innings and posting a 5.40 ERA. He recorded a mediocre 4.46 ERA in 34.1 innings at Triple-A Buffalo last year, striking out just 16.7 percent of batters and generating a very low 29.1 percent groundball rate. He did demonstrate good control, walking just 4.2 percent of the batters he faced, but he's unlikely to provide anything more than organizational depth for the Nationals and should only be expected to reach the majors in the event of an injury crisis.