Gary Sánchez Signs One-Year Contract with Milwaukee Brewers

Things are brewing for Gary Sánchez.

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed the 31-year-old Dominican professional baseball catcher to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2025.

Sánchez hit 19 homers last season while playing for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.

In 75 games, he had a .217 batting average with a .288 on-base percentage, .492 slugging percentage and 47 RBIs.

He played three games for the Mets and 72 games for the Padres.

Sanchez owns a .225 career batting average with a .309 on-base percentage, 173 homers and 448 RBIs in 741 regular-season games with the New York Yankees (2015-2021), Minnesota Twins (2022), Mets and Padres.

The Brewers already have William Contreras returning at catcher after he batted .289 with a .367 on-base percentage, 17 homers and 78 RBIs last season to help Milwaukee win the National League Central title. Contreras was selected as the Brewers’ most valuable player last season by the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Milwaukee lost its backup catcher from last season when Victor Caratini signed with the Houston Astros, though the Brewers have since signed Eric Haase to a major league deal and Austin Nola to a minor league deal. The Brewers also could choose to have both Contreras and Sánchez in the lineup by making one of them a designated hitter.

To make room on the roster, the Brewers designated infielder Jahmai Jones for assignment.

The Brewers on Wednesday also made official their signing of injured right-hander Brandon Woodruff to a two-year deal.

The backloaded $17.5 million contract includes a mutual option for the 2026 season.

Woodruff is expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season while he recovers from shoulder surgery.

“I’ll take it day to day, week to week, month to month, see where I’m at, at the end of the year,” Woodruff said. “If it makes sense, maybe. If not, I’ll be ready to go for ’25.”

Woodruff will receive $2.5 million this year and $5 million in 2025. The deal includes a $20 million mutual option for 2026 with a $10 million buyout, half payable January 15, 2026, and the remainder July 15, 2026. The contract also grants Woodruff a full no-trade provision and a hotel suite on road trips.

Jose Altuve Signs Five-Year, $125 Million Extension with Houston Astros

Jose Altuve isn’t leaving his current universe…

The 33-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman has signed a five-year extension that all but guarantees he will finish his career with the Houston Astros.

Jose AltuveThe deal is worth $125 million, sources told ESPN, taking him all the way through his age-39 season.

“He’s a franchise-type player; one of the best in Houston history,” owner Jim Crane said at the owners meetings in Orlando, Florida. “And we hope someday he’s a Hall of Famer.”

The Astros announced the agreement on social media, calling their superstar an Astro For Life.

Altuve was heading into his final season — at $26 million — before free agency. His new deal begins in 2025 and takes him through 2029.

He has established himself as a central figure of the most successful era in franchise history, a seven-year stretch that has included two World Series titles, four American League pennants and seven consecutive trips (and counting) to the American League Championship Series.

Signed out of Venezuela in 2007, Altuve defied the odds and turned himself into a superstar despite being one of the most undersized players in baseball history at 5-foot-6.

Through 13 years in the big leagues, Altuve has slashed .307/.364/.471 while accumulating 2,047 hits, 295 stolen bases and 209 home runs. His résumé includes eight MLB All-Star invites, six Silver Sluggers, three batting titles, a Gold Glove and an MVP, won in 2017.

His career batting average is the highest of any active player with at least 2,000 at-bats, and the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Freddie Freeman (2,017) is the only other player with more than 2,000 hits since Altuve made his debut on July 20, 2011.

But some of Altuve’s greatest work has been done in the postseason. Most recently, Altuve hit the dramatic winning home run to cap a contentious game against the division-rival Texas Rangers and force Game 7 of the ALCS. He did something similar in the 2019 ALCS, walking off the New York Yankees with a ninth-inning home run against MLB All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman to send the Astros to the World Series.

In 103 playoff games, Altuve has 27 home runs and 89 runs scored, which both rank second all time. His 117 hits are tied for third. He is one of just four players in MLB postseason history to surpass 100 hits and 50 RBIs, joining Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Manny Ramirez.

Hector Neris Signs One-Year, $9 Million Contract with Chicago Cubs

Hector Neris is headed to the Windy City.

The 34-year-old Dominican professional baseball pitcher, a right-handed reliever, has agreed to a one-year, $9 million contract with the Chicago Cubs that includes an option, according to ESPN.

Hector Neris The move helps bolster the back end of Chicago’s bullpen with the top reliever remaining in free agency.

Neris was third among all pitchers in baseball last year with a 1.71 ERA over 68⅓ innings, the best season of his 10-year career.

A $9 million option for 2025 belongs to the team unless Neris reaches 60 games — he has done so six of his past seven full seasons — at which point it turns into a player option. With more than $2.5 million per year available in incentives, the deal can max out at $23.25 million for two years.

The Cubs have slow-played the winter, waiting until mid-January to sign their first free agent — Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga — and now striking with Neris, whose deal is pending a physical. Coming off an 83-79 season, Chicago is chasing National League Central winner the Milwaukee Brewers, which earlier this week signed first baseman Rhys Hoskins to a two-year, $34 million deal.

Chicago had a middle-of-the-pack bullpen in 2023, and Adbert Alzolay emerged as a reliable closer in his first full season with the team as a reliever. Waiver claim Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. proved useful as well, and Neris will factor heavily into the Cubs’ late-inning mix.

Relying almost exclusively on a fastball and splitter, Neris has grown into a rare sort: the reliable late-inning reliever. Over those past seven seasons, he has averaged 68⅓ innings per season with a 3.14 ERA pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros. He is an elite strikeout pitcher, averaging 11.2 per nine innings throughout his career, and has racked up 89 saves.

The Cubs remain in the market for a free agent bat and could potentially reunite with center fielder Cody Bellinger, who thrived in Chicago last year, hitting .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs, 97 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Agrees to Three-Year, $42 Million Contract with Arizona Diamondbacks

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. isn’t leaving The Copper State.

The 30-year-old Cuban professional baseball player has agreed to a three-year, $42 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a club option for a fourth season, according to ESPN sources.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The deal also includes an opt-out after the second season.

Gurriel had his best all-around season at the right time in 2023, coming to Arizona along with catcher Gabriel Moreno for outfielder Daulton Varsho in an offseason trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Gurriel hit .261/.309/.463, setting career highs in games (145), home runs (24) and WAR (3.0). He also had an excellent defensive season, ranking second to Steven Kwan among left fielders by saving 14 runs.

The Cuba native and younger brother of former Houston Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel was a high-profile infield prospect when Toronto originally signed him to a seven-year, $22 million contract before the 2017 season. He reached the Blue Jays in 2018, but his defensive struggles at shortstop and second base pushed him into the outfield.

Lourdes Gurriel hit 31 home runs in 141 games over the 2019-20 seasons and 21 in 2021, but he hit just five in 2022 and had wrist surgery after the season.

He was a secondary player to Moreno in the trade with the Diamondbacks but proved to be a key contributor as Arizona made the playoffs as a wild card and had a surprising run to the World Series.

Gurriel looks like a safe bet to keep up similar production in upcoming years, with 20-homer power and an above-average contact rate (79th percentile) that teams covet. His defense is unlikely to remain at the same level, which makes more him more of a projected league-average 2-win player moving forward than the 3-WAR value of 2023.

Victor Caratini Agrees to Two-Year, $12 Million Contract with Houston Astros

Victor Caratini is catching a Texas-sized star

The 30-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher has agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the Houston Astros, according to multiple reports.

Victor CaratiniCaratini can reportedly earn additional performance bonuses.

Caratini spent the past two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers and hit .259 with seven homers and 25 RBIs in 62 games this year as a backup to William Contreras.

Caratini is a .236 career hitter with 38 homers and 171 RBIs in seven major league seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2017-20), San Diego Padres (2021) and Milwaukee (2022-23).

Yainer Díaz is expected to be the Astros’ starting catcher next year, and the agreement with Caratini could mean Houston won’t re-sign Martín Maldonado. The 37-year-old has been with the Astros since 2019.

“I’ve been talking to Yainer once a week,” new manager Joe Espada said Monday. “We’re going to do some things in January leading into spring training to prep him for spring training. I don’t want us to get to spring training and start from scratch.

“So this is going to be starting right now having conversations about our staff, how to attack certain lineups, things that we know that we can help him with, receiving, throwing.”

Jackson Chourio Signs Eight-Year, $82 Million Contract with Milwaukee Brewers

Things are brewing for Jackson Chourio

The 19-year-old Venezuelan center fielder and the Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to an eight-year, $82 million contract with two club options and escalators that can take the total value of the deal to $142.5 million, according to ESPN.

Jackson ChourioThe deal guarantees Chourio more money than any player before his Major League Baseball debut.

Chourio, a Venezuela native who signed with the Brewers in 2021 as a 16-year-old, spent most of 2023 at the Double-A level, where he hit .280/.336/.467 with 22 home runs and ascended to the No. 3 prospect in baseball in ESPN’s rankings.

Pre-debut long-term deals are rare, and all five of the previous players to sign one — Eloy Jimenez with the Chicago White SoxScott Kingery with the Philadelphia Phillies, Luis Robert with the White Sox, Jon Singleton with the Houston Astros and Evan White with the Seattle Mariners — were either 22 or 23 years old.

If both options are exercised, Chourio would hit free agency at 29.

The deal significantly increases the likelihood of Chourio breaking camp with the Brewers. A small-market team whose payroll last finished in the upper half of Major League Baseball in 2012, Milwaukee would have been incentivized to keep Chourio at Triple-A — where he played his final six games this season — to delay his eventual free agency by a year.

Even if he began the season in the minor leagues, Chourio could have won a full year of service finishing first or second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Adrian Beltre Among Newcomers to Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot

Adrian Beltre is getting his first chance at entering the hall…

The 44-year-old Dominican former professional baseball player, regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of all time, is among the newcomers to the 26-player Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot, as revealed on Monday.

Adrian Beltre Beltre, a four time MLB All-Star. played 21 major league seasons and won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award five times. He played for the Los Angeles DodgersSeattle MarinersBoston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.

Other newcomers are  Bartolo ColonMatt HollidayJose BautistaAdrian GonzalezJose ReyesVictor MartinezJames Shields, David Wright, Joe MauerChase Utley and Brandon Phillips.

Players must receive 75% of the vote to gain induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with the top holdovers from last year’s vote including Todd Helton (72%), Billy Wagner (68%), Andruw Jones (58%), Gary Sheffield (55%) and Carlos Beltran (46.5%).

It’s the 10th and final year on the ballot for Sheffield, while Wagner is on the ballot for the ninth time.

Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, both of whom received PED suspensions during their careers, also return to the ballot.

Beltran returns for the second time after his vote total might have been held down in his initial appearance due to his involvement in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal.

Here’s a look at the top Latino newcomers:

  • Beltre should be a lock as a first-year candidate after finishing with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 93.5 WAR while capturing five Gold Gloves. He ranks third in WAR among third basemen, behind only Mike Schmidtand Eddie Mathews. He had his career season with the Los Angeles Dodgersin 2004, when he led the National League with 48 home runs and finished second in the MVP voting, but his best run came in his 30s with the Texas Rangers from 2011 to 2018, when he had four 30-homer seasons and hit .304.
  • Colon became a fan favorite late in his career, and he finished with 247 wins and won a Cy Young Award with the Angels in 2005, but his career ERA of 4.12 is a little high for serious consideration.
  • Bautista had a nice run from 2010 to 2015 as the game’s top power hitter — he led the AL with 54 home runs in 2010 and 43 in 2011, and his 227 home runs over those six seasons were 28 more than Miguel Cabrerato lead all hitters — but he was late bloomer and didn’t do enough on the front end or back end of his career, and Hall of Fame voters tend to reward longevity over peak value.
  • Gonzalez (43.5 WAR) falls into the “Hall of Very Good” category, with just over 2,000 hits, 317 home runs and seven 100-RBI seasons, but the offensive bar is high for first basemen.

Other holdovers are Omar VizquelAndy PettitteBobby AbreuJimmy RollinsMark BuehrleFrancisco Rodriguez and Torii Hunter.

After years of electing multiple candidates, the BBWAA has elected just one each of the past two years — Scott Rolen in 2023; David Ortiz in 2022 — and didn’t elect anyone in 2021.

Earlier, the Hall of Fame announced its Contemporary Era Committee ballot, which this year considered managers, executive and umpires.

The eight candidates on that ballot are managers Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston and Davey Johnson; executives Hank Peters and Bill White (who was also a fine player); and umpires Joe West and Ed Montague.

Miguel Andujar Agrees to One-Year Contract with Oakland Athletics

Miguel Andujar is preparing for an Athletic(s) season…

The 28-year-old Dominican professional baseball third baseman and outfielder has agreed to a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics alongside Abraham Toro.

Miguel AndujarOakland announced the deals on Friday.

Andujar’s contract is worth $1.7 million, and Toro receives $1,275,000 under his agreement.

The A’s also claimed right-hander Michael Kelly off waivers from Cleveland and signed outfielder Daz Cameron to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training.

Kelly, who went 1-0 with a 3.78 ERA in 14 big league games this year, was designated for assignment on Tuesday.

Andujar, who also can play the corner outfield spots, was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh on November 6.

Andujar batted .297 with 27 homers and 92 RBIs for the New York Yankees in 2018, but his production has dropped considerably. He has a .270 average with 39 homers and 149 RBIs in parts of seven big league seasons.

Toro was acquired in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday for minor league right-hander Chad Patrick.

The 26-year-old Toro hit .444 (8-for-18) with two homers and nine RBIs in nine games for Milwaukee this year and .291 with eight homers and 58 RBIs in 96 games at Triple-A Nashville.

A switch-hitter, Toro has a .211 career average with 28 homers and 108 RBIs in five seasons with Houston Astros (2019-21), Seattle Mariners (2021-22) and Milwaukee.

Oakland also announced that it had declined to offer a contract to infielder Kevin Smith. The 27-year-old Smith batted .185 with five homers and 11 RBIs in 49 games this year.

Joe Espada to Reportedly Become New Manager of the Houston Astros

Joe Espada is about to make an astronomical rise…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and former Minor League Baseball player will reportedly serve as the Houston Astros’ new manager following Dusty Baker’s retirement.

Joe Espada,The team is turning to their longtime bench coach as they look to continue a record-setting run of seven consecutive American League Championship Series appearances, according to ESPN. An official announcement is expected Monday.

Espada has been on the Astros’ bench since 2018, a year after Houston won a World Series title that has since been tainted by the revelation of a sign-stealing scandal.

Espada had previously been a coach with the New York Yankees, and prior to that he had coached with the Miami Marlins following a nine-year playing career in the minor and independent leagues.

Espada remained with Houston after the firing of manager A.J. Hinch in the wake of the sign-stealing allegations and served as a vital member of the staff as it transitioned to Baker taking over.

Baker, who managed the Astros to the World Series title in 2022, retired following Houston’s loss to eventual champion Texas Rangers in the ALCS this season.

The Astros will return the core of their team that won the AL West this year. Left fielder Yordan Álvarez, second baseman Jose Altuve, right fielder Kyle Tucker, third baseman Alex Bregman and starters Justin VerlanderFramber Valdez and Cristian Javier are all under contract for next year, though Altuve, Bregman and Verlander all are set to hit free agency after the 2024 season.

The news of Espada’s hiring, first reported by USA Today, will go over well in the clubhouse, where he’s well liked. Espada is seen by players as a well-rounded coach whose leadership skills helped fill a gap with Baker.

Texas Rangers Star Adolis García Wins First-Ever Gold Glove Award

It’s the golden hour for Adolis García.

The 30-year-old Cuban professional baseball player and Texas Rangers outfielder has earned his first-ever Gold Glove, an award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League. Garcia earned the award as a right fielder in the American League.

Adolis García While his career-high 39 home runs during the regular season and eight in the postseason made headlines, you can’t overlook García’s tremendous defense in 2023. He earned the award, the fourth by an outfielder in Rangers history, due in particular to his cannon of an arm — his average arm strength of 93 mph. García had a team-best 11 outfield assists this season, which was tied for third in the American League. It was his third straight season with 10-plus outfield assists. He ranked third among qualified MLB right fielders in defensive runs saved (seven).

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos is also first time winner. The 29-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher, known as “La Makina,” managed to bounce back from his worst season in the big leagues in 2022, when he struggled to a 5.23 ERA, to win a Gold Glove.

In ’23, he was more like the Berríos of old, posting a 3.65 ERA over 32 starts. But Toronto also got stellar defense off the mound from the right-hander, who joins Marcus Stroman (2017) and R.A. Dickey (2013) as the only pitchers in franchise history to win a Gold Glove Award.

Another first time winner… Houston Astros utilityman Mauricio Dubón. The 29-year-old Honduran professional baseball utility player appeared at every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher for Houston in 2023, spending the majority of thetime either at second base or in center field.

He was a slightly below-average hitter, so most of his value came from his defense. Despite spending about half of a season playing second base (616 2/3 innings), he finished with five defensive runs saved at the position and two in the outfield.

Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez won his second consecutive Gold Glove award. The 25-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop and second baseman led American League second basemen with 18 outs above average and 23 defensive runs saved.

 

Giménez is the second Cleveland player to win multiple Gold Glove Awards at second base, joining Roberto Alomar, who won three straight from 1999-2001.

 

Gabriel Moreno has become the first Arizona Diamondbacks catcher to win a Gold Glove award.

The 23-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball catcher led MLB backstops in defensive runs saved (20) and Statcast‘s caught stealing above average (nine) in 2023. And with only 19 Major League games played behind the plate entering the season, only two non-rookies (excluding pitchers) — Ramón Urías (10 games at third base entering 2022) and Pokey Reese (11 games at second base entering 1999) — played in fewer games at the position for which they won the Gold Glove Award. At 23 years and 229 days old, Moreno is the sixth-youngest catcher to win his first Gold Glove honor.

San Diego Padres Fernando Tatis Jr. has won his first Gold Glove.

Tatis took home the National League award in right field ahead of finalists Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lane Thomas of the Washington Nationals.

When Tatis was moved from shortstop to right field to begin 2023, we wondered how he’d fare out there. He was a revelation defensively, leading MLB with 29 defensive runs saved, and his average arm strength of 96.6 mph trailed only Rockies rookie Nolan Jones in the NL. Tatis’ 24 career games in the outfield before the ’23 campaign were the fourth fewest played at a position for which a non-rookie won a Gold Glove Award.

The Toronto Blue JaysTexas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs tied for the high among clubs with three winners each, Rawlings announced Sunday.

Berríos, and Giménez earned $50,000 bonuses in their contracts..

Voting was conducted among managers and up to six coaches from each team, who can’t select players on their own club. Since 2013, voting has been factored with a Society for American Baseball Research defensive index, which comprises about 25% of the total.

The utility category is based on a SABR formula and additional defensive statistics.