• The Red Sox have signed second baseman Esteban Quiroz to a minor league deal, as per a tweet from Team Mexico’s official Twitter feed.  (WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford was among those to report that the contract contains an invitation to Boston’s big league Spring Training camp.)  Quiroz, who turns 26 in February, has a career .293/.402/.451 slash line and 38 homers over 1573 career plate appearances in the Mexican League, plus he also represented Mexico in the most recent World Baseball Classic.  Dustin Pedroia will miss at least the first two months of the season recovering from knee surgery, so Quiroz will be part of the second base mix during camp as the Red Sox look for fill-ins for their longtime star.
• The White Sox signed right-hander Dustin Antolin to a minor league deal.  The Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League (Antolin’s most recent club) broke the news on Twitter; Antolin signed with Somerset after being released from his minor league deal with the Nationals last June.  The 28-year-old Hawaiian has a 4.40 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 2.07 K/BB rate over 446 1/3 career innings in the affiliated minor leagues, mostly in the Blue Jays’ farm system.  Antolin has one MLB appearance to his credit, tossing two innings for the Nats in 2016.
• The Rockies signed righty Scott McGough to a minors contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  McGough was a fifth-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2011 draft and was sent to the Marlins as part of the Hanley Ramirez trade in July 2012.  The 28-year-old has a 3.48 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 2.43 K/BB rate over 325 2/3 minor league innings (almost entirely as a reliever) with the Dodgers, Marlins and Orioles.  McGough’s only MLB experience is a six-game stint with the Marlins in 2015.

• The Nationals announced yesterday that they’ve signed former Blue Jays right-hander Dustin Antolin to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The 27-year-old made his big league debut with the Jays in 2016, tossing two innings and surrendering three runs in his lone appearance. Antolin was tremendous during his time with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a 2.04 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 53 innings. However, he didn’t reach the Triple-A level until his age-26 season and also displayed some control issues, walking 28 batters (4.8 BB/9) and hitting another three batters as well. The Hawaiian-born Antolin has a career 4.16 ERA in the minors and has averaged eight strikeouts against four walks per nine innings pitched.
• The Orioles announced the signing of first baseman/outfielder David Washington to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Washington, who turned 26 on Sunday, had a big year in 2016, hitting a combined 30 homers between the Cardinals’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. His .259/.359/.532 slash line is impressive, but Washington is no stranger to strikeouts, as he whiffed in a bit more than 34 percent of his plate appearances last season. Since being selected in the 15th round of the 2009 draft, Washington has punched out in 30.6 percent of his professional plate appearances. Still, his power is intriguing, and he’ll give the O’s a depth piece as they seek out potential options in right field.
• Shortstop Wilfredo Tovar appears to have signed what is presumably a minor league deal with the Cardinals, as the infielder himself tweeted a thank you to the organization for his latest opportunity. The 25-year-old Tovar came up through the Mets system and made a pair of brief MLB appearances in 2013-14, collecting three hits in a tiny sample of 22 plate appearances. Once rated as one of the Top 15 prospects in the Mets’ system by Baseball America (and thrice rated as that system’s best defensive infielder), Tovar spent the 2016 campaign with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, where he served as their primary shortstop. Defensive prowess aside, Tovar doesn’t bring much to the table offensively; he hit .249/.301/.327 with one homer in 494 plate appearances at Triple-A last year, although he did chip in 29 steals (in 38 attempts) when he managed to reach base.

• Blue Jays right-hander Dustin Antolin cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo, reports Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star (Twitter link). The Jays designated Antolin for assignment Friday after he threw just two innings for them, but he previously tossed 38 frames of 2.37 ERA ball in Buffalo, where he also struck out 9.95 batters per nine innings. He offset that somewhat with a lofty walk rate, though (5.45).
• Left-hander Nick Lee, whom the Nationals designated for assignment Wednesday, cleared waivers and was sent outright to Double-A Harrisburg, tweets Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. The 25-year-old Lee put up a 4.54 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 7.6 BB/9 over 35 2/3 innings with Harrisburg this year before his designation.

[Related: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]

The 26-year-old Antolin was hit hard in his first-ever MLB appearance this year, but has showed promise in the upper minors of late. In his 38 frames this year at Triple-A, he has pitched to a 2.37 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9. The free passes are a bit concerning, though he has generally shown a bit better command on his way up the ladder.

Toronto will be glad to welcome back its two injured arms. Estrada has continued his remarkable renaissance this year, and his ability to maintain his performance is a critical element of the team’s post-season hopes. While Morales hasn’t really contributed yet in 2016, the club obviously has high hopes since it allowed his $2MM salary to become guaranteed even while he was on the DL.

• Cuban star Yulieski Gurriel “would be super happy” to join the Yankees, Aroldis Chapman told NJ Advance Media’s Brendan Kuty through a translator.  Gurriel and Chapman are former teammates on Cuba’s national team, and in a conversation two weeks ago, Gurriel asked the closer some questions about what it was like to play for the Yankees.  As Kuty points out, the Bombers may not have room for Gurriel given that Chase Headley is already locked in at third base and Gurriel (who turns 32 in June) may be too old for a Yankees club that has been focused on transitioning to a younger, more flexible roster.  Gurriel and his younger brother Lourdes defected from Cuba earlier this year and are still waiting on clearance from MLB to become free agents, with several teams expected to bid on the siblings once they’re officially on the open market (though Lourdes is subject to international signing pools).
• The Blue Jays have found several late-blooming hitters in recent years, and Justin Smoak’s early success has Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star wondering if the first baseman could be the latest example.  Smoak entered today’s action hitting .314/.448/.500 with three homers over 87 plate appearances, and manager John Gibbons believes a steady everyday role (forced by Chris Colabello’s suspension) could be contributing to Smoak’s hot bat.  Smoak was one of the game’s top prospects after being selected 11th overall by Texas in the 2008 draft, though he showed little at the plate over his first six MLB seasons.
• Blue Jays righty Dustin Antolin was almost frustrated enough to walk away from baseball this offseason, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes.  An 11th-round pick in 2008, Antolin battled injuries (including Tommy John surgery in 2010) during his long stint in the minors and was unsigned with two weeks remaining before Opening Day.  His girlfriend encouraged him to give it one last chance, however, and after re-signing with the Jays, Antolin performed well at Triple-A and has now finally reached the Show after being called up to replace the injured Brett Cecil in Toronto’s bullpen.
• It’s no surprise that any team would take some lessons from the Royals following their World Series victory, as even the big-market Red Sox have observed K.C.’s model for success, Dave Dombrowski tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.  While Dombrowski noted some distinct differences between the two franchises, he praised the Royals’ mentality, player development and (most specifically) their bullpen construction.  Silverman points out that the acquisitions of Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith were perhaps the most direct way in which the Sox have tried to emulate the Royals’ blueprint, though Boston needed a bullpen upgrade in general following a rough 2015 for the relief corps.
• In other AL East news from earlier today, the Orioles placed Jimmy Paredes on waivers, the Red Sox designated Sean O’Sullivan for assignment and we explored several more items out of Boston in an edition of Red Sox Notes.

This injury is the latest to go wrong in 2016 for Cecil, who said he felt “tender” after throwing 2/3 of an inning Saturday in the Blue Jays’ 6-5 loss to the Rangers. Cecil has allowed six earned runs on 17 hits in 10 1/3 innings this season, and his strikeout rate and velocity have both trended in discouraging directions. Cecil was expected to continue serving as a shutdown option for Toronto after posting a 2.67 ERA, 11.55 K/9 and 3.37 BB/9 over 168 1/3 combined innings from 2013-15. He has instead joined right-hander Drew Storen as one of the two biggest disappointments in Toronto’s bullpen.

Antolin, whom the Jays chose in the 11th round of the 2008 draft, could finally step on a major league mound for the first time. The 26-year-old has earned his first Triple-A experience this year, throwing 19 innings with a 2.84 ERA to accompany an 11.37 K/9 and 5.21 BB/9. Antolin throws a mid-90s fastball and recently emerged as Buffalo’s closer, tweets Ben Wagner of ESPN 1520. All told, Antolin owns a 4.38 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 363 1/3 career minor league frames.