• The Diamondbacks have signed Garrett Mock to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old right-hander posted a 3.79 ERA in 61 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this season.
• The Mets have signed right-hander Greg Burke to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, the team announced (on Twitter). Burke, 30, pitched to a 1.53 ERA in 64 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this year.
• Indians right-hander Kevin Slowey has elected free agency, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  The 28-year-old spent 2012 with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate.
• The Red Sox have signed Mitch Maier to a minor league deal, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (on Twitter). The 30-year-old outfielder hit .172/.260/.313 in 74 plate appearances for the Royals this year.
• The Pirates have signed Darren Ford to a minor league pact, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 27-year-old outfielder hit .273/.326/.385 with 26 steals in 329 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
• The Pirates have signed infielder Jared Goedert to a minor league deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hit .311/.373/.502 with 19 homers in 504 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
• The Royals have agreed to re-sign catcher Manny Pina to a minor league contract, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). Pina, 25, hit .278/.415/.417 in 183 minor league plate appearances this summer. Dutton notes that he will be exposed in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

• Outfielder Brett Carroll and catcher Carlos Maldonado also elected free agency, Matt Eddy reports (on Twitter). Carroll appeared in five games for the Nationals this past season and Maldonado appeared in four.
• Catcher Rob Johnson is a free agent after being removed from the Mets' 40-man roster, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. Johnson, 30, appeared in 17 games for the Mets this year plus 45 contests for their Triple-A affiliate. 
• Orioles catcher Ronny Paulino and left-hander Dana Eveland also elected free agency, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter links). Eveland appeared in 14 games for the Orioles, posting a 4.73 ERA, and Paulino appeared in 20 games.
• Yankees left-hander Justin Thomas also elected free agency, according to Eddy. The Yankees outrighted Thomas to Triple-A earlier in the month.
• Blue Jays reliever Juan Abreu has also elected free agency, Eddy reports. Abreu posted a 6.80 ERA in 42 minor league relief outings this past season.
• The Brewers announced that Livan Hernandez and Yorvit Torrealba elected free agency after refusing outright assignments to Triple-A. The moves are procedural, as Hernandez and Torrealba were expected to hit free agency.

• The Nationals announced that they outrighted catcher Carlos Maldonado to Triple-A Syracuse. Maldonado, 33, appeared in four games for the Nationals this May and was removed from the team’s 40-man roster three days ago. He has spent most of the season at Triple-A Syracuse, where he has a .223/.343/.405 batting line in 146 plate appearances.

Maldonado, 33, appeared in four games for the Nationals this May. He has spent most of the season at Triple-A Syracuse, where he has a .223/.343/.405 batting line in 146 plate appearances. Maldonado has a .254/.329/.359 line over the course of 17 minor league seasons.

• The Orioles signed 17-year-old Colombian right-hander Yeizer Marrugo to a deal with a $120K bonus, according to Ernesto Armenteros D. of El Universal (Spanish link) and passed along by Eddy.  In the El Universal story, O's scout Jorge Franco says that Marrugo's fastball topped out at 91 mph when they recently scouted him and the youngster has the talent to make it to the majors in five years.
• The Phillies acquired right-hander Adam Worthington from the Diamondbacks as player to be named for left-hander Mike Zagurski.  The Phillies sent Zagurski to Arizona in a September trade.
• Cubs outfielder Lou Montanez elected free agency after recently being outrighted off of the club's 40-man roster.
• The Reds re-signed right-hander Chad Reineke after the pitcher elected free agency in October.  Reineke had a 3.84 ERA in 25 games (22 starts) with Triple-A Louisville in 2011.
• The Rockies released shortstop Ryan Rohlinger.  Rohlinger hit .247/.353/.409 in 103 Triple-A games for Colorado and the Giants.
• The Royals signed a pair of left-handers in Marlon Arias and Tommy Hottovy.  Arias spent seven years in the Dodgers system, but hasn't pitched domestically since becoming a free agent following the 2009 season.
• The Marlins signed right-hander Robert Ray, who appeared in a handful of Major League games for the Blue Jays in 2009 and 2010.  They also re-signed catcher Luke Montz.
• The Dodgers signed shorstop Luis Cruz.
• The Diamondbacks signed shortstop Wladimir Sutil to a minor league deal, according to El Universal (Spanish link).  Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic confirmed the signing to MLBTR.
• The Nationals have re-signed catcher Carlos Maldonado, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com (via Twitter).  The move was first reported by El Universal (Spanish link).  Maldonado, 32, hit .234/.361/.342 in 38 games with Triple-A Syracuse this season and spent four games on the Nats' varsity squad in 2011.

The Nationals released Martin last month after he pitched to a 4.32 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 125 innings from 2009-10.  Martin spent most of the last three years at Triple-A, where he posted a 3.21 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 144 innings.

Chico, 27, is a former second rounder who has a 4.95 ERA in 220 big league innings. He spent the 2010 season with Washington's top affiliates, posting a 3.62 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 141 2/3 innings.

Maldonado, 32, has had cups of coffee in three big league seasons. The backstop has a .256/.328/.358 line in parts of 15 minor league seasons.

Barker, 35, has a .249/.328/.354 line in 323 career plate appearances for the Brewers, Padres, Reds and Blue Jays. The 1996 draft pick has 260 minor league homers to his name and an .843 OPS in the minor leagues.

• The Rangers signed two former first-round draft picks in left-hander Zach Jackson and utility infielder Omar Quintanilla.  Jackson, picked 32nd overall by the Blue Jays in the 2004 draft, has a 5.81 ERA in 22 career major league games (17 of them starts) with the Brewers and Indians since 2006.  Jackson spent 2010 pitching for Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.  Quintanilla was taken with the 33rd pick of the 2003 draft by Oakland, and then dealt to the Rockies in 2005 as part of the Eric Byrnes trade.  Quintanilla posted a .567 OPS in 559 plate appearances with Colorado between 2005 and 2009. 
• The Twins signed catchers Steve Holm and Rene Rivera to minor league contracts.  A 17th-round pick of the Giants in the 2001 draft, Holm has spent his entire 10-year pro career with in the San Francisco system, racking up 107 major league plate appearances in 2008 and 2009.  Rivera last played in the majors as a member of the Mariners in 2006, and has since played in the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees' systems.
• The Nationals signed right-hander Harvey Garcia and catcher Carlos Maldonado.  Garcia had an eight-game cup of coffee with Florida in 2007 and has since pitched in the Pirates and Dodgers' systems.  Eddy says Garcia may have earned a contract due to his solid work this year in the Venezuelan League.  Maldonado, 31, was designated for assignment by Washington in September and then granted free agency after the season.  Maldonado has been in pro ball since 1996 and has 4226 career minor league plate appearances (a .687 OPS) but only 62 PAs in the bigs.

• Reliever Andrew Brown was dealt from St. Louis to Washington for future considerations.  Brown last pitched in the majors in 2008 with Oakland, and he has a 3.84 ERA in 73 appearances between 2006-08.  This is the fifth time Brown has been traded in his 10 seasons of pro ball, but it's by far the most low-profile deal; he's been involved in past trades for Gary Sheffield, Kevin Kouzmanoff and has twice been included in deals for Milton Bradley.
• The Tigers released Phil Dumatrait, and Eddy passes on the news that the left-hander has already caught on with the Korean Baseball Organization's LG Twins.  Dumatrait was Boston's first-round pick (22nd overall) in the 2000 amateur draft, and he posted a 7.06 ERA in 42 major league appearances with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
• The Yankees have brought former prospect Rudy Guillen back into their system.  Guillen briefly converted from the outfield to the mound in 2007, but then seemed to drop off of the radar for two seasons.  Eddy reports that he is coming back as an outfielder once again.
• Eddy notes that catcher Carlos Maldonado, called up by the Nationals on Tuesday, could be in line for playing time as Stephen Strasburg's personal catcher given Washington's injury problems behind the plate and Maldonado's experience catching the superstar prospect at Triple-A.  Maldonado last played in the majors in 2007 as a member of the Pirates.  He has a .586 OPS in 50 major league plate appearances and a .689 OPS in 4097 minor league plate appearances.