MLB Player News

Thole cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

He has never been good at the plate, but Thole was so bad in 2016 (.474 OPS) that he eventually lost his job as R.A. Dickey's personal catcher late in the year. His familiarity with the knuckleballer may help Thole continue sticking around the majors though, as the Braves have a need behind the dish.

Garver was added to the Twins' 40-man roster on Friday, MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger reports.

The Twins protected him from the Rule 5 draft, as expected. Given the state of catching in the minors and the lack of a reliable one on the Twins' 25-man roster, Garver has understandably gained some steam as a sleeper at the position. He hit 11 home runs with a 118 wRC+ in 95 games at Double-A and dominated in a brief run at Triple-A, thanks largely to a .436 BABIP. Look for him to head back to Triple-A at the start of 2017, with a potential promotion to the big leagues at some point during the summer.

Nola was added to Miami's 40-man roster Friday, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Nola was a serviceable infielder at the Triple-A level last season, batting .261 with 23 doubles and a low strikeout rate, although he doesn't have much luster to his prospect shine. His defensive versatility and proximity to the big leagues could help him creep onto the major league roster at some point in 2017, but the 26-year-old's ceiling isn't overly high.

Gosewisch was claimed off waivers by the Braves on Friday, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports.

The 33-year-old split time between the majors and minors last season, and although he saw little success with the Diamondbacks, he mashed with their Triple-A affiliate, amassing a .952 OPS in 58 games. Tyler Flowers still seems to be the top backstop in Atlanta, but Gosewisch's power and historically good contact rate could help him garner a backup role over Anthony Recker.

Mesoraco (hip, shoulder) will begin catching drills in mid-to-late January.

The Reds fully expect Mesoraco to spend the season behind the plate, rather than moving him to a corner outfield spot. However, it wouldn't be a surprise if he carried less of a workload than was expected prior to his injuries, given both his injury history and the development of Tucker Barnhart. This is all offseason speculation of course - let's see how he does with actual catching activity before locking in any estimate of playing time.

Moore was outrighted to Triple-A Columbus on Monday.

Moore went hitless in his brief stint with Cleveland in September, and given his inauspicious showing in the minors, it was only a matter of time before the journeyman catcher was cast off the 40-man roster. The 32-year-old will likely go on to act as organizational depth next season.

Sanchez was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Sanchez split the 2016 season between two organizations, those being the Blue Jays and the Giants. He played with each clubs' respective Triple-A affiliate, but failed to make much of an impact. Over 61 games, he hit just .201/.351/.399 and posted a 22 percent K-rate.

Garver is hitting .262 with four home runs in 11 games in the Arizona Fall League. He hit .329 with a .815 OPS in 22 games after he was promoted to Triple-A Rochester.

Garver hit just .257 with a .753 OPS at Double-A in 95 games, so he's had a late surge in the plate in a small sample size. His fall performance is better than his minor league career that has featured power but just a .764 OPS. At age 25, he's not a top prospect but could find a role in the majors in 2017 with the Twins very thin at catcher.

Stallings was outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

The Pirates trimmed down their 40-man roster by outrighting three players Wednesday, including Stallings. The 26-year-old Stallings did not have particularly good odds at sticking on the major league roster this offseason with Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart seemingly locked into two catcher spots for the Pirates.

The Mets plan "to at least keep their eye open for external options for their top catcher role," Adam Rubin of ESPN.com reports.

Injury issues continued to haunt d'Arnaud in 2016, with elbow and shoulder problems forcing him to miss most of the first half. It's hard to blame the Mets for being open to finding a more durable option, but it could be difficult to find a catcher on the market that can match d'Arnaud's upside and his price.