Vogt, Giants agree to minor league deal.
The Giants and former A’s All-Star catcher Stephen Vogt agreed to a minor league contract on Monday.
The Giants are hoping Vogt can provide depth if starter Buster Posey isn’t ready for the start of the season. Posey underwent season-ending hip surgery last August.
Vogt is expected to compete for a roster spot with fellow minor league free agents Rene Rivera and Cameron Rupp as well as rookie Aramis Garcia.
Vogt, 34, underwent his own season-ending procedure last season as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. He had his throwing shoulder repaired in May and has progressed well in his recovery but hasn’t yet thrown from a catcher’s crouch, according to published reports.
Vogt, a two-time All-Star with the A’s, has a .251 career average with 57 homers and 218 RBIs in parts of six seasons. He began his career with Tampa Bay in 2012, moved on to Oakland (2013-17) and was traded to Milwaukee during the 2017 season. CABRERA SIGNS WITH PIRATES >> Veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera, who has played with seven different organizations over a 14-year career, including the Giants, has agreed to a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the deal, first reported by The Athletic, Cabrera can make as much as $2 million in performance incentives, ESPN reported. With spring training fast approaching, the deal includes an invitation to major league camp.
The 34-year-old played 78 games with the Cleveland Indians last season, batting .280 with six home runs and 39 RBIs.
Cabrera is a .286 career hitter with 137 home runs and 807 RBIs for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, the Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and Indians. He was suspended in 2012, his only All-Star season, for using performance-enhancing drugs while a member of the Giants.
LAWRIE GETS MINOR LEAGUE DEAL WITH BREWERS >> Infielder Brett Lawrie, once considered a key piece to the A’s trade of Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays and who didn’t play professional baseball the past two seasons, said Saturday that he has signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Lawrie, 29, hasn’t played since the Chicago White Sox released him in March 2017. He was traded to Chicago in the winter of 2015 after one season with the A’s.
“Life has been a little weird for me this past couple years,” Lawrie wrote in his Instagram post. “To be honest, it’s been lonely. I worked my whole life to achieve my dreams. I’ve shared a locker room with 25+ men ever since I’ve been 19 years old & I blinked and it all disappeared.”
Lawrie has a .261 career average with 71 homers and 253 RBIs in six seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays (2011-14), the A’s (2015) and White Sox.
Lawrie was a first-round pick by the Brewers in 2008 before being traded to Toronto 21/2 years later.
“Im so ecstatic for this opportunity of a lifetime and I cannot thank the Brewers enough for believing in ME when no 1 else would,” Lawrie wrote.