Over the last week, several Major League Baseball veterans found new homes, signing minor league contracts.
While the players hope to make an impact at the Major League level, they may need to wait for an injury or another opportunity to arise.
Rangers Sign Rowdy Tellez – On Friday, The Athletic’s Will Sammon reported that the Texas Rangers signed first baseman and designated hitter Rowdy Tellez to a minor league contract.
Before his release on June 26, Tellez, an eight-year MLB veteran, hit .208 with 11 home runs and a .682 OPS in 62 games with the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners gave the 30-year-old only 13 at-bats against lefties, and seven of his 11 homers came on the road. Tellez played for Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Astros Re-Sign Tayler Scott – Right-handed South African pitcher Tayler Scott is back with the Houston Astros after throwing 16 2/3 innings for the American League club earlier this season. His MLB.com profile indicates that he was assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Scott, 33, was designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 28, and he elected free agency on July 1. In 2025, he’s thrown 25.2 combined innings with the Astros and D-Backs, allowing 19 earned runs on 29 hits.
Scott became the first South African MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher, making his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2019 and his NPB debut with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 2020.
Nationals Take a Flier on Former Rays Catcher – On Monday, Adda Lavalle of Al Bat reported that catcher Francisco Mejía and the Washington Nationals agreed to a minor league deal. The Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol recently released the 29-year-old.
Mejía made his last MLB appearance in 2023 with the Tampa Bay Rays, playing 90 games at Triple-A Nashville in the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 2024. He hit a modest .274 with 11 home runs but failed to secure a promotion to the Major Leagues.
Mejía’s 44-game stint with the Diablos was enough to warrant an LMB All-Star spot, and he will now provide the Nationals with catching depth, presumably at Triple-A Rochester. Mejía’s MLB.com profile is yet to reflect that his contract with Washington is official.
Royals Sign Puerto Rican Infielder – On Friday, the Kansas City Royals signed second and third baseman Isan Díaz, according to his MLB.com profile.
Díaz debuted with the Miami Marlins in 2019, famously hitting his first career homer off Jacob deGrom while his father, Raul, was speaking about his son during an in-game interview. The younger Díaz has 153 MLB games under his belt, hitting .177 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs.
The Bayamon, Puerto Rico-native played six games with Puerto Rico during the 2025 Caribbean Series and began 2025 with the LMB’s Algodoneros de Union Laguna.
Photo: Seattle Mariners’ Rowdy Tellez reacts on second base after hitting a double off Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis L. Ortiz during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
