MLB Player News

Heineman agreed Sunday with the Blue Jays on a minor-league contract, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Heineman is expected to slot in as catching depth for Toronto at Triple-A Buffalo in 2022 after he spent the entire 2021 campaign between two Triple-A affiliates in Lehigh Valley and Memphis as a member of the Phillies and Cardinals organizations, respectively. The 30-year-old backstop has previously gotten tastes of the big leagues in the 2019 season with the Marlins and the 2020 season with the Giants, slashing a collective .208/.288/.302 over 62 career plate appearances.

Maile signed a minor-league deal with the Guardians on Saturday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

The contract pays Maile $900,000 if he makes the major-league roster. The 31-year-old hasn't done much at the plate over the course of his career, hitting .203/.258/.310, though he did post an .816 OPS in 15 games for the Brewers last season. If he's able to break camp with the Guardians, Maile would likely serve as the No. 2 catcher behind Austin Hedges.

Jeffers may head into the season as Minnesota's clear top backstop, following Saturday's trade that sent Mitch Garver to Texas.

This move was a big boost for Jeffers' fantasy value, barring any other moves to bring in a catcher. The Twins' only other catchers on the 40-man roster are Ben Rortvedt and Tomas Telis. Jeffers hit .273 in 2020 but regressed in 2021, hitting .199 with a 36.9 K%. Even so, he had nothing but success in the minors and is a great defensive catcher, so the playing time will likely be there.

Heim appears set to lose out on playing time following the Rangers' acquisition of Mitch Garver from the Twins on Saturday.

He was set to be nominally atop the depth chart prior to this move, but Garver will now clearly be the top Rangers catcher when healthy. Jose Trevino is also a viable big-leaguer, so perhaps there is another move coming for Texas.

Garver was traded from the Twins to the Rangers on Saturday in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

He will head to a slightly worse lineup, with a negligible change in home parks for a right-handed hitter. With Garver, the expectation should be that he will be a very productive fantasy catcher when he is in the lineup, but durability has been an issue in the past. He has only played in 100 games once (103 in 2018) and was limited to 93 games in 2019, 23 games in the shortened 2020 season and 68 games in 2021.

Wallach will serve as a non-roster invitee with the Angels during spring training.

Wallach spent the 2021 campaign with three big-league teams but lost his spot on the Angels' 40-man roster in mid-November. He'll get to work with the major-league coaching staff this spring but will likely begin the regular season at Triple-A Salt Lake.

Rogers (forearm) announced Monday via his personal Twitter account that he has began a throwing program.

Due to MLB's ongoing lockout, Rogers is unable to take part in spring training, but the Tigers aren't counting on the 26-year-old to be ready to play until late in the season anyway -- if at all -- while he recovers from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last September. The fact that Rogers is playing catch again six months after surgery is a positive sign, but he'll still need to resume hitting in addition to increasing his throwing distance and velocity before he's even cleared to play in minor-league rehab games. With Rogers out of the mix for at least the next few months, the Tigers will turn to Tucker Barnhart and Eric Haase to handle catching duties.

Soderstrom reported to minor-league spring training at full health after he was sidelined for the final two months of the 2021 season plus the Arizona Fall League with an oblique strain, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.

The injury spelled an early end to an impressive professional debut season for the 20-year-old catcher, who was a 2020 first-round selection. He saw action in 54 games for Low-A Stockton, slashing .306/.390/.568 with 33 extra-base hits and a 10.8 percent walk rate across 254 plate appearances. Soderstrom profiles as one of the top backstop prospects in all of baseball, but his bat remains firmly ahead of his glove at this stage of his development, making it uncertain whether he'll stick behind the plate long term. He's expected to begin the 2022 campaign at High-A Lansing.

Bethancourt signed a minor-league contract with the Athletics on Nov. 25.

Bethancourt will likely report to Triple-A Las Vegas to begin the 2022 campaign, but he could be the first catcher in line for a promotion to the big club, given that the Athletics currently have only two backstops (Sean Murphy and Austin Allen) on the 40-man roster. The 30-year-old has previously seen big-league action with Atlanta and San Diego across five seasons from 2013 through 2017, slashing a collective .222/.252/.316 in 489 career plate appearances.

Bemboom signed a minor-league contract with the Orioles on Thursday, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.

Bemboom spent most of the 2021 season at the Triple-A level and slashed .232/.352/.412 with eight home runs, 37 RBI and 35 runs across 65 games. He appeared in eight major-league games with the Angels and should be in the mix to join the Orioles' active roster at some point in 2022.