Tony Wolters Agrees To Minor-League Deal With Twins
The Minnesota Twins agreed to a minor-league deal with free-agent catcher Tony Wolters on Thursday. Wolters will likely receive a non-roster invitation to major-league spring training, but the 30-year-old backstop will likely begin the 2023 season in the minor leagues. He played in just two big-league games in 2022 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and was hitless in four plate appearances with three strikeouts. Known as a glove-first catcher, Wolters has played in seven major-league seasons and has a career slash line of just .235/.321/.314 with a .635 OPS, seven home runs, 123 RBI, 131 runs scored and six stolen bases in 407 games played. Wolters figures to serve as organizational catching depth behind Christian Vazquez and Ryan Jeffers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have reached an agreement with catcher Tony Wolters on a minor league deal. The 29-year-old played 14 games with the Chicago Cubs this season, but didn't have much success. Wolters put together have decent numbers earlier in his career with the Colorado Rockies. He'll mainly be catching depth for the Dodgers and can be avoided in fantasy leagues for the moment.
The Chicago Cubs have designated catcher Tony Wolters for assignment. Wolters has spent two stints on the Cubs roster this year and has operated as the backup to catcher Willson Contreras. Wolters only produced three hits in 24 at-bats. If he doesn't clear waivers, Wolters is likely to land on his feet as organizational depth for another franchise. Catcher P.J. Higgins will replace Wolters on the roster and become the Cubs new backup catcher. Higgins has been off to a hot start for Triple-A Iowa with a .333 batting average to go along with one home run, six RBI and eight walks. Higgins can safely be left on the waiver wire in all formats with limited playing time.
The Chicago Cubs have designated catcher Tony Wolters for assignment. Wolters lost his backup job with Austin Romine being activated from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday after returning from a right knee sprain. Wolters made one start went 0-for-4 on the season. Wolters figures to catch on with another club as organizational depth.
Free agent catcher Tony Wolters has signed a one-year, major-league deal with the Chicago Cubs, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. The team designated relief pitcher James Norwood for assignment in a corresponding move. Wolters was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates just one day ago so it didn't take long for him to find a new home. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed but he will open the season on the major league roster and will back up everyday catcher Willson Contreras. Wolters spent the previous five seasons with the Rockies and is a .238/.323/.319 career hitter. He's unlikely to provide much in the way of fantasy value unless he were thrust into an everyday role.
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed free-agent catcher Tony Wolters to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training on Thursday. Wolters became a free agent this offseason when the Colorado Rockies non-tendered him in December. The 28-year-old will serve as catching depth behind backstops Michael Perez and Jacob Stallings. Wolters, a left-handed hitter, is a converted shortstop who is mostly known for his work with the glove. In five big-league seasons with Colorado, he slashed .238/.323/.319 with seven home runs, 123 RBI and six stolen bases over 391 games (1,232 plate appearances). Fantasy managers can ignore Wolters for the time being, even in deep NL-only setups.
Colorado Rockies catcher Tony Wolters lost his salary arbitration case on Tuesday and will earn $1.9 million in 2020 instead of the $2.475 million he was requesting, according to a source. Wolters had his best offensive season in four years in the majors in 2019 by hitting .262/.337/.329, but he's still mostly a defensive backstop with seven career home runs in 975 at-bats. Despite playing half his games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, the 27-year-old shouldn't move the needle all that much in fantasy leagues, even ones that start two catchers.
Colorado Rockies catcher Tony Wolters was one of the few members of the team to collect a hit on Saturday in the team's loss to the Cardinals, and it seems like he finds a way to chip in with the bat in pretty much every game. Wolters has either gotten a hit, scored a run, or driven in a run in all but three games in August. He hasn't tallied huge counting stats, hitting just one home run and driving in 33 while scoring 37 runs this season, but his .279 batting average is the fifth best in the league amongst regular starting catchers. Owners can certainly do worse with a catcher.
Colorado Rockies catcher Tony Wolters owes a gift to whoever his hitting coach was over the offseason. After years of living purely off his defensive skills, Wolters has turned it around in 2019 and actually contributed at the plate as well as behind it. Wolters smacked two more hits on Monday, raising his batting average to .286 on the year. He's also hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, and he strikes out just 15% of the time, one of the best rates in the league. He doesn't hit with much pop or run terribly fast, but many fantasy teams struggle with catchers who do worse than him. Wolters' success has even now led to the team parting ways with their all-time leader at catcher, Chris Iannetta. It's Wolters' team.
Colorado Rockies catcher Tony Wolters struggled through July just like the rest of his team, but he got started well in August by knocking a pair of hits and driving in a run in the first game of the month. The Rockies set a franchise record for worst month ever when they went 9-16 in July, and the drag seemed to affect the whole team. Wolters, who is in the middle of a breakout offensive season (relatively), suffered as well, hitting just .220 during the no-good month. The catcher who has never finished a season with a batting average above .259 is still sitting pretty at .280 for this year, but he still needs three more home runs to set a new career-high in that department. Maybe the back end of summer can get it done for him.