Adding some catching insurance for the stretch run, the Pirates have agreed to a minor-league deal with Kelly Shoppach.
Shoppach was released by the Mariners in mid-June and briefly latched on with the Nationals before opting out of his minor-league deal after three weeks at Triple-A.
He’ll head back to Triple-A for the Pirates, who recently called up former first-round pick Tony Sanchez to back up Russell Martin following Michael McKendry’s season-ending knee injury.
Former Angels outfielder Jabari Blash has signed a one-year deal with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced Friday. Per the Japan Times, the deal is said to be worth around $1.06 million. Blash was released from his contract with the Angels at the end of November.
The 29-year-old outfielder has had a rough go of it in the majors, where he failed to duplicate the promising results he delivered in the minors. While he consistently batted above .250 with 20-30 home runs per season at the Double- and Triple-A level, he petered out in back-to-back gigs with the Padres and Angels and slumped toward a .103/.200/.128 finish across 45 PA for Anaheim in 2018.
The hope, of course, is that the environment in NPB will help him get a better handle on his issues at the plate — in a best case scenario, resulting in a full-scale transformation that could make him more marketable to MLB teams in the future. To that end, Blash expects to be utilized as a cleanup batter in the Eagles’ lineup and will focus on assisting the club as they make a run toward the Japan Series.
