MLB Player News

Ford returns to the Reds organization after he was released just four days ago. The 31-year-old decided to opt out of his minor league deal last week. He’ll give the team some useful depth, especially in light of Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s injury.

The versatile 29-year-old is under contract through the 2025 season, but the Dodgers would like to lock him up on a much longer term. There’s no indication that anything is close on that front, but with money being no issue for the Dodgers, the two sides shouldn’t have trouble ironing out the details in the coming weeks.

The Red Sox didn’t waste any time bringing back Campbell and Bryan Mata on Friday, signing each to minor league contracts just hours after they were non-tendered. Campbell missed the majority of the 2024 season due to shoulder woes, appearing in just eight games for the Red Sox and posting a troublesome 16.20 ERA and 2.40 WHIP over his 6 2/3 innings of work. He’ll continue to serve as extra bullpen depth.

Well that didn’t take long. Mata was non-tendered on Friday evening, but just a couple of hours later he was brought back on a minor league deal. The former top prospect has struggled to live up to his billing thus far, but if he’s able to stay healthy he certainly has the stuff to get his career back on track.

Robert Murray of Fansided was the first to report that the two sides were nearing an agreement. No word yet on the financials of the deal — which also includes an option for the 2026 season. Farmer hit the open market at the end of October when the Twins declined his $6.5 million option for the 2025 season. If he finds his way into regular playing time at Coors Field — instead of simply being deployed against southpaws — Farmer could be a sneaky late-round option in deeper mixed leagues.

Woodward previously functioned as the team’s third base coach from 2016-2018 and he has been in the organization for the past couple of years as a senior advisor on the player development side. There was a vacancy at the position after Clayton McCullough left to become the new manager of the Miami Marlins.

All three players had been designated for assignment on Tuesday as the Tigers attempted to clear some room on their 40-man roster, so it’s not shocking that none of the players were tendered contracts. Leonard actually had a decent season in 67 games at Triple-A Toledo in 2024 — hitting .263/.326/.455 with 10 homers, 26 RBI and seven swipes in 282 plate appearances — but never got an opportunity at the big-league level. It may need to be a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, but Leonard shouldn’t have any difficulty finding another opportunity.

Reid-Foley had a 1.66 ERA in 23 relief appearances before missing the final 3 1/2 months of last season with a shoulder impingement. The 29-year-old has pitched in parts of seven big-league seasons, but in part because of injuries, he’s totaled just 131 2/3 innings.

The 23-year-old right-hander was once considered an intriguing pitching prospect for the Tigers but he struggled to a cringe-inducing 7.84 ERA, 1.97 WHIP and a 29/25 K/BB ratio over 31 innings across three minor league levels in 2024. It’s possible that they still attempt to bring him back on a minor league deal, but there could be other teams interested in what was once a very promising young arm.

All three players might have been non-tendered if they hadn’t agreed to terms today. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers said Merryweather will make $1.225 million next season. Thompson and Thaiss were both due something similar.

No word just yet on the financial of the deal, but the 31-year-old infielder had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $1.5 million through arbitration. Ibáñez excelled as a masher of left-handed pitching and pinch-hitting specialist for the Tigers during their miraculous playoff run in 2024, so expect him to operate in a similar role in 2025. Unfortunately, that doesn’t give him much value from a fantasy perspective.