Tag Archives: Yasmani Grandal

Yasmani Grandal Reportedly Agrees to One-Year, $2.5 Million Contract with Pittsburgh Pirates

Posted on by
Reply

It’s all hands on deck for Yasmani Grandal.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are adding the 35-year-old Cuban professional baseball catcher, a two-time MLB All-Star, according to multiple ESPN reports.

Yasmani GrandalThe Pirates and Grandal have agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth $2.5 million, according to the reports.

Pittsburgh is searching for depth at catcher with Endy Rodriguez — who started 57 games in 2023 as a rookie — already ruled out for 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in December. He got injured while playing winter ball in his native Dominican Republic.

Grandal would join a catching situation that includes 2021 first overall pick Henry Davis, Jason Delay and Ali Sanchez.

Grandal is a career .237 hitter while playing for four teams across 12 seasons, including the past four years with the Chicago White Sox.

Grandal hit .234 with eight home runs and had 33 RBIs in 118 games with the White Sox in 2023.

The Pirates have remained bullish that Davis can become an every-day catcher even though he spent the vast majority of his rookie season playing right field. Adding Grandal gives the Pirates a little bit of flexibility as Davis continues to refine his work defensively.

Grandal provided power at the plate during his prime. He has topped 20 home runs in a season five times, most recently with Chicago in 2021. He made a pair of All-Star teams earlier in his career, first in 2015 while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and again in 2019 while with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Oscar Colás Signs Agreement with Chicago White Sox

Posted on by
Reply

Oscar Colás is headed to the Windy City…

The 23-year-old Cuban professional baseball pitcher and outfielder has agreed to a contract with the Chicago White Sox, adding another name to the team’s rich Cuban history.

Oscar ColásConsidered one of the top international free agents, Colás received a $2.7 million signing bonus. The team also announced it had agreed to terms with outfielder Erick Hernández in a deal that included a $1 million bonus.

Colás hails from Santiago de Cuba. He bats and throws left-handed and hit .282 with 28 homers and 116 RBIs in 187 games over his foreign league career.

Colás also has worked as a pitcher, but Marco Paddy, an executive for international operations for the White Sox, said he’ll concentrate on developing him as an outfielder.

“He wants to be a position player and he feels that he’s got a better chance to be successful as a position player,” Paddy said, “and we feel like his development as a pitcher would take much longer than a position player.

“So, for that kind of player with that type of power, that type of ability on the field, obviously we’re looking for a guy that has the opportunity to get to the major leagues a lot quicker.”

The White Sox have experienced a long run of success with Cuba natives that includes Minnie Miñoso, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in December, and extends all the way to their current team with first baseman José Abreu, centerfielder Luis Robert, catcher Yasmani Grandal and third baseman Yoán Moncada. The team also has Yoelqui Cespedes, Norge Vera, and Yolbert Sánchez in the minors.

Colás said he talked to Robert, Cespedes and Sánchez before finalizing his decision.

“What they told me is this is a very good organization, that they’re very excited having me,” Colás said through an interpreter, “and that they just want me to join them and play hard as they are doing here.”

The 17-year-old Hernández is from Moca, Dominican Republic. He bats and throws left-handed.

The team said it expects to make more international signings in the coming weeks.

“We feel very good with what we were able to accomplish this year,” Paddy said. “Having the ability to sign two high-level prospects with impact-type tools like Colás and Hernández, I would categorize that as a solid year.”

White Sox’s Seby Zavala Becomes First Player in MLB History to Hit First Three Career Homers in Same Game

Posted on by
Reply

Seby Zavala has homered his way into MLB history…

The 27-year-old Latino professional baseball player and Chicago White Sox rookie hit the first three home runs of his career on Saturday night, including a grand slam, but the Cleveland Indians rallied to beat Chicago 12-11.

Seby Zavala

Zavala became the first player in big league history to hit his first three career home runs in the same game, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. The catcher played his 18th game in the majors — he was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on July 6 to replace the injured Yasmani Grandal.

Batting ninth, Zavala hit a solo homer in the third off Triston McKenzie. He connected for a grand slam off McKenize in the fourth for a 6-1 lead and a solo drive against Bryan Shaw in the seventh.

“I always knew I could swing it,” Zavala said. “Going through a rough patch for a couple of months, I knew if I kept working, something would click and I feel pretty good at the plate.”

With a chance to become the 19th player to hit a record-tying four homers in a game, Zavala singled in the eighth and finished with six RBIs.

Zavala — who will turn 28 on August 28 — played at San Diego State, finishing up with the Aztecs in 2015. Later that year, he was a 12th-round selection by Chicago in the June entry draft. He hit 20 home runs at Triple-A Charlotte in 2019.

His magic wasn’t enough to outpace the Indians on this night, however, as Austin Hedges, Owen Miller and Amed Rosario homered to help Cleveland overcome a five-run deficit.

The Indians totaled nine runs in three straight innings to take the lead. Justin Garza (1-0) threw two scoreless innings. Emmanuel Clase got five outs for his 13th save.

Yasmani Grandal Agrees to Four-Year, $73 Million Contract with Chicago White Sox

Posted on by
Reply

It’s a new (big) dealfor Yasmani Grandal…

The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a four-year, $73 million contract with the 31-year-old Cuban professional baseball player and free-agent All-Star catcher, the team has announced.

Yasmani Grandal

“He’s such a quality guy,” White Sox president Ken Williams said of Grandal. “And for him to understand our messaging, our goals, our path, and to say, ‘I want to be a part of that and I’m going to commit to it early so we can move on to the next thing heading into the winter meetings,’ [it] just shows what kind of character we’re talking about.”

It’s the biggest contract in the history of the White Sox franchise. Grandal will receive $18.25 million per season through 2023.

“There’s a lot of young talent,” Grandal said. “The way I looked at it, this team could be a dark horse in the next year or so.”

Last offseason, Grandal turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers and reportedly declined a four-year, $60 million offer from the New York Mets.

He bet on himself to have a big year. It paid off.

After signing a one-year, $18.25 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, the switch-hitting Grandal posted career highs in homers (28) and RBIs (77) and earned his second All-Star appearance. He walked over 100 times to post a .380 OBP, which ranked first among major league catchers.

He also led all catchers in games played (153) and was second in extra-base hits (56), total bases (240) and RBIs.

Grandal declined to exercise his part of a $16 million mutual option with the Brewers for 2020, with a $2.25 million buyout, so he could again become a free agent.

“Unlike last year around this time, where the market was kind of completely nonexistent, this year was just slightly different,” Grandal said. “It seemed like there were several teams that were working hard within their limits to be able to compete. There were several teams that were really interested. The one thing that kind of stood out the most for me is the White Sox. I love their professionalism, their preparation and the direction of the program.”

General manager Rick Hahn said he met with Grandal at the general managers meetings in Arizona last week and reached an agreement on Wednesday night.

“Exciting day for us around here, being able to add one of the elite talents at a premium position,” Hahn said.

The White Sox went 72-89 in their seventh straight losing season and missed the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 years since the 2005 team won the World Series.