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Meibrys Viloria

Giants Claim Meibrys Viloria, Drew Strotman

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The Giants announced Thursday that they’ve claimed catcher Meibrys Viloria and right-hander Drew Strotman off waivers from the Rangers. The team also reinstated Sam Delaplane, Anthony DeSclafani, Mauricio Llovera, Sam Long, Gregory Santos, Donovan Walton, Colton Welker and Alex Wood from the 60-day injured list. San Francisco’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Viloria, 25, appeared in 26 games with the Rangers in 2022 and, in 75 plate appearances, logged a .159/.280/.270 batting line. That’s similar to the output he managed across three seasons and mostly brief stints with the Royals from 2018-20. All in all, Viloria is a career .201/.270/.283 hitter in 276 Major League plate appearances.

That said, the lefty-swinging backstop has a far more appealing .257/.395/.412 slash in 108 Triple-A games. He’s also touted as a plus defensive backstop, boasting a 34% caught-stealing rate between the big leagues and the minors, and drawing plus reviews for his framing. He’ll give the Giants, who entered the offseason lacking in catching depth behind Joey Bart, another option on the 40-man roster, joining backup Austin Wynns and fellow recent waiver claim Dom Nunez.

Strotman’s stint in the Rangers organization will prove brief. Texas claimed him off waivers from the Twins on Sept. 19 and tried to pass him through waivers themselves not two months later. The now-26-year-old Strotman went from Tampa Bay to Minnesota (alongside Joe Ryan) in the 2021 deadline deal that sent Nelson Cruz to the Rays.

Strotman had Tommy John surgery in 2018, and while his velocity has generally recovered, that surgery and the ongoing command issues created some some concerns that he may have to move from a starting role to the bullpen. The Twins tried that approach in 2022, surely hoping that Strotman’s fastball and cutter would play up in shorter stints. It didn’t out, however, as the 2017 fourth-rounder pitched to a grisly 6.44 ERA with a career-worst 13.8% walk rate in 50 1/3 innings of bullpen work with Triple-A St. Paul this season. Strotman’s 24.2% strikeout rate and 51.1% grounder rate were both solid but not strong enough to offset the persistent location issues.

Things didn’t get much better with the Rangers. Strotman tossed 2 1/3 innings with their Triple-A club over the final week-plus of the season, allowing just one run and recording five punchouts. Sharp as those numbers were in that small time, he also walked three of the 14 hitters he faced, bringing his total to 36 walks (plus six hit batters) through just 254 batters faced in 2022 (14.2% walk rate).

Strotman has a minor league option left and was at one point a prospect of some note, so the Giants will see if they can get him on track. They’ve had plenty of success in coaxing new levels of performance out of pitchers in recent seasons, but Strotman is little more than a project at this point and shouldn’t be seen as a lock to survive the winter on the 40-man roster (nor should Viloria, for that matter).

Rangers Select Meibrys Viloria, Option Sam Huff

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The Rangers shuffled their backup catcher situation this evening, selecting Meibrys Viloria onto the MLB club and optioning Sam Huff to Triple-A Round Rock. Texas also reinstated infielder Josh Smith from the 10-day injured list, brought back Mitch Garver from the COVID-19 IL, and returned Zach Reks and Jesús Tinoco to Round Rock. (Tinoco will no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster, as he’d been added to the MLB team as a designated COVID substitute). To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Viloria, outfielder Eli White has moved from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Viloria is headed to the big leagues for the first time as a member of the Texas organization. He played in 67 games with the Royals between 2018-20, hitting .215/.267/.287. Kansas City outrighted him off the 40-man roster last April, and he elected free agency at the end of the season after spending the entire year in the upper minors. Viloria latched on with the Rangers on a non-roster pact just before the lockout.

The lefty-hitting backstop has spent the entire season with Round Rock. He’s posted an eye-opening .344/.471/.512 line through 155 plate appearances to earn his way back to the majors. Those results have been propped up by an unsustainable .444 batting average on balls in play, but he’s also walked at a massive 17.4% clip. Viloria’s still just 25 years old and was a fairly well-regarded prospect during his time in the Royals’ system, so perhaps he’ll be able to carry some of that form over against big league arms. He still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Rangers can freely move him between Arlington and Round Rock now that he’s on the 40-man roster.

Huff heads back to Triple-A, where he’s posted a .260/.349/.575 line in 19 games. He’s hit .282/.320/.352 in 27 MLB contests this year, but he’s collected only three extra-base hits and is striking out at a 28% clip. Huff has run into a rough patch since the calendar flipped to June, while first baseman Nathaniel Lowe has caught fire. Between Jonah Heim at catcher, Lowe at first base and Garver’s return at designated hitter, there wasn’t going to be room in the lineup for Huff most days.

Smith missed nearly three weeks battling a shoulder sprain. The rookie steps in at third base tonight, where he’s likely to split time with fellow first-year player (and former Yankees prospect) Ezequiel Durán. Garver and starter Glenn Otto both went on the COVID list two weeks ago; Garver steps back into the MLB lineup, while Otto is headed to Round Rock for what figures to be a brief rehab stint before being activated.

White, meanwhile, suffered a fracture in his right wrist last week. He underwent surgery and is unlikely to begin any baseball activities before the start of August, meaning he’ll miss at least a couple months.

Rangers Sign Yohel Pozo, Three Others To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers have re-signed catchers Yohel Pozo and David Garcia to minor league contracts, tweets Rangers Executive VP of Communications John Blake. Additionally, Blake reports that minor league free agents Meibrys Viloria, a catcher, and right-handed pitcher Jesus Tinoco have been signed as well. All four players have received invitations to Spring Training. The deals were announced last night, before the lockout and transaction freeze.

Pozo is the highest profile member of the bunch after seeing 21 games of action with Texas last season. He, along with Garcia, were non-tender casualties yesterday so that Texas could make room for their bevy of recent free agent signings. The Rangers will be happy to have the 24-year-old Pozo back after he posted a uniquely incredible season at Triple-A Round Rock. In 77 games the catcher reached base via walk just seven times (2.2% walk rate), but struck out a stingy 42 times (13% strikeout rate). Contact-oriented approaches are seldom this extreme, but Pozo made it work as he slashed .337/.352/.622 with 23 home runs before his Major League promotion.

The 21-year-old Garcia returns to Texas after posting a .647 OPS at the High-A level last season. That tepid showing notwithstanding, the Rangers organization clearly holds the young catcher in high regard. This was evidenced last year, as the team protected him from the Rule 5 draft despite never playing a game above the Low-A level.

Viloria joins a new organization after spending his professional career up to this point with the Royals organization. The 24-year-old catcher saw limited action on Major League Royals squads from 2018-2020, but was held in the upper minors this past season and produced a decent .752 OPS. Tinoco meanwhile has seen most of his action from the Rockies organization, most recently pitching 54 innings of 6.00 ERA ball at Triple-A.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/6/21

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Tuesday’s minor moves:

  • The Tigers outrighted Christin Stewart to their alternate site after he cleared waivers, per a team announcement. The club designated the 27-year-old outfielder for assignment last week. Stewart appeared in the majors in each of the previous three seasons, during which he combined for a .225/.300/.376 line with 15 home runs in 587 plate appearances.
  • The Royals designated catcher Meibrys Viloria and righty Scott Blewett last week, but it appears both players will stay in the organization. They announced that Viloria will head to Double-A, while Blewett will go to their alternate site. The 24-year-old Viloria batted .215/.266/.287 with one homer in 201 trips to the plate with the Royals from 2019-20. Blewett, also 24, was a second-round pick of the Royals in 2014 who made a two-appearance, three-inning major league debut a season ago. He put up a disastrous 8.52 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 46 walks in 81 1/3 Triple-A frames in 2019.

Royals Designate Meibrys Viloria, Scott Blewett For Assignment

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The Royals announced Thursday that they’ve designated catcher Meibrys Viloria and right-hander Scott Blewett for assignment. Their spots on the 40-man roster will go to outfielder Kyle Isbel and lefty Jake Brentz, whose contracts have been formally selected from Triple-A Omaha.

Viloria, 24, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Royals but managed only a combined .215/.266/.287 batting line through 201 trips to the plate. He batted .264/.334/.332 in 248 Double-A plate appearances in 2019 but hasn’t played a game at the Triple-A level, in part due to last year’s canceled minor league season.

Viloria has never been expected to hit much, but he’s regarded as a sound defender with a rocket arm — a trait reflected in his career 34 percent caught-stealing rate. He still has a minor league option remaining, so he could intrigue another club in need of some depth behind the plate.

Blewett, also 24, pitched in just two games last year — his only MLB action to date. He served up a pair of runs in three innings and was tagged for another couple runs in 1 2/3 frames this spring, but he hasn’t gotten much of a look against MLB hitters to date. He’s worked primarily as a starter in the minors and had some modest success up through Class-A Advanced, but Blewett has been hit hard in both Double-A and Triple-A. Though he has solid command, he doesn’t miss bats or induce grounders at a particularly high rate. Like Viloria, he has a minor league option remaining.

The Royals will have a week to trade both players or attempt to pass them through outright waivers.

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