LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia agreed to a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers and will report to big league spring training.Detroit's move Friday adds depth behind James McCann and John Hicks.Saltalamacchia has hit .233 with 110 homers and 381 RBIs over an 11-year big league career. He played in 10 games last season for Toronto and had one hit in 25 at-bats.The 32-year-old played in 93 games with the Tigers in 2016, hitting .171 with 38 RBIs. He began his career in 2007 with Atlanta and has also played for Boston, Miami and Arizona.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

The Cleveland Indians gave Mike Napoli a much more familiar uniform.The Indians reunited with Napoli on Tuesday, agreeing on a minor league contract with the popular slugger whose powerful swing and clubhouse leadership were key to Cleveland reaching the 2016 World Series.Napoli had been on the roster to play in Bradenton, Florida, with a group of free agents still looking for jobs. Tyler Clippard, wearing a black jersey with a white players' union logo, pitched two hitless innings in a 2-0 win over amateurs from the East Japan Railway Company."It's a situation where a player that is universally respected in our organization, he shouldn't be in that camp," Indians manager Terry Francona said.Napoli's deal is contingent upon him passing a physical at the Indians' complex in Goodyear, Arizona. He hit .193 with 29 home runs and 66 RBIs for Texas last season.The Indians don't have a roster spot for the 36-year-old Napoli, but Francona wanted to give him an opportunity to showcase himself.Francona... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Clippard wore a black jersey with a white players' union logo and pitched hitless ball for two innings against amateurs in the green shirts of the East Japan Railway Company.He had the poorest personal results of his nine major league seasons, yet ended the year with a celebration in the clubhouse of the World Series champion Houston Astros. This is not how the 33-year-old right-hander envisioned spring training."We know that my year last year was a bad year, but at the end of the day how bad was it? And it wasn't as bad as some that got significant contracts," he said Tuesday after appearing in the first of two exhibition games for free agents scheduled for this week at the IMG Academy.Thirty-eight players have attended the camp since workouts started Feb. 14. They wonder why they are on the outside while several teams have jettisoned veterans to fill a higher percentage of their roster spots with lower-salaried youth.The players' association filed a grievance... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Clippard wore a black jersey with a white players' union logo and pitched hitless ball for two innings against amateurs in the green shirts of the East Japan Railway Company.He had the poorest personal results of his nine major league seasons, yet ended the year with a celebration in the clubhouse of the World Series champion Houston Astros. This is not how the 33-year-old right-hander envisioned spring training."We know that my year last year was a bad year, but at the end of the day how bad was it? And it wasn't as bad as some that got significant contracts," he said Tuesday after appearing in the first of two exhibition games for free agents scheduled for this week at the IMG Academy.Thirty-eight players have attended the camp since workouts started Feb. 14. They wonder why they are on the outside while several teams have jettisoned veterans to fill a higher percentage of their roster spots with lower-salaried youth.The players' association filed a grievance... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Clippard wore a black jersey with a white players' union logo and pitched hitless ball for two innings against amateurs in the green shirts of the East Japan Railway Company.Even coming off the worst of his nine major league seasons, this is not how the 33-year-old right-hander envisioned spring training."We know that my year last year was a bad year, but at the end of the day how bad was it? And it wasn't as bad as some that got significant contracts," he said Tuesday after appearing in the first of two exhibition games for free agents scheduled for this week at the IMG Academy.Thirty-eight players have attended the camp since workouts started Feb. 14. They wonder why they are on the outside while several teams have jettisoned veterans to fill a higher percentage of their roster spots with lower-salaried youth.The players' association filed a grievance Friday against the Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays, accusing the teams... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Clippard pitched hitless ball for two innings for a players' association team against Japanese amateurs, trying to impress scouts and regain a major league job.Thirty-eight players have attended a free agent camp that opened Feb. 14, and the union put together an exhibition game Tuesday against the East Japan Railway Company.The starting lineup included center fielder Alejandro De Aza, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, designated hitter Juan Francisco, first baseman Tyler Moore, right fielder Luke Scott, third baseman Chris Johnson, shortstop Omar Infante, left fielder Nolan Reimold and second baseman Tyler Ladendorf. The free agents won 2-0 in five innings, allowing just one hit. Several scouts looked on.Two players agreed to minor league deals after attending camp: right-hander Carlos Torres with Cleveland and left-hander Tommy Layne with Boston. First baseman Mike Napoli had been on the roster for the exhibition, but left to finalize a minor league contract with the Indians.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia was designated for assignment Friday and C Luke Maile had his contact selected from Triple-A Buffalo. Saltalamacchia, signed to a minor-league contract during the offseason, batted .040 (1-for-25) in 10 games with the Blue Jays after being promoted to the 25-man roster on April 1 to serve as backup to C Russell Martin.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia started for only the second time this season, giving Russell Martin a day off. Martin has been struggling this season with only two hits in 28 at-bats. Saltalamacchia went hitless in three at-bats.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia got the start Friday night because he had better statistics against Kansas City starter LHP Danny Duffy. "It's an extremely small sample," manager Brad Ausmus noted. "Three at-bats (with two home runs). Mac (James McCann) has struggled against him (3-for-17). Saltalamacchia struck out twice in an 0-for-4 game.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia made his third consecutive start. Manager Brad Ausmus said he wants to give Saltalamacchia some starts though C James McCann is healthy. Saltalamacchia went 0 for 3 as his batting average dropped to .188.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a much-needed big day at the plate Wednesday. He had three hits, including a home run and double, and added a sacrifice fly during Detroit's four-run first inning. His last three-hit game was on July 24, 2014. Saltalamacchia hit six home runs during the first month, then went into a deep funk at the plate. The three-hit game nudged his season average over .200 at .206.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia made an infrequent start at first base Thursday, just the second time in eight appearances at first since 2007 he has opened a game at that position. Saltalamacchia had 45 previous games at first, most of them in 2007 with Atlanta and Texas. "He's taken some ground balls there," manager Brad Ausmus said, "mostly in the spring and early this season." With DH Victor Martinez not in the starting lineup, Ausmus used 1B Miguel Cabrera as his DH in lieu of giving him a game off at this time. Saltalamacchia played first part of a game last year -- and said he still had Arizona 1B Paul Goldschmidt's glove.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia made his first start of the season at first base on Thursday, and only his second in eight games at the position since 2007.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia has homered in three straight games for the second time in his career. The previous was Sept. 8-13, 2015 with the Diamondbacks. He is the first Detroit catcher to hit five home runs in the club's first 12 games.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for a second consecutive game and became the third catcher in club history to homer four times within the first 11 games of the season, joining Matt Nokes (1989) and Bill Freehan (1967). Saltalamacchia batted .333 (4-for-12) with three extra-base hits and three RBIs in the series.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a grand slam in the sixth inning for his 100th career home run Wednesday night, giving the Tigers a 5-2 lead as they went on to win 7-3 at Pittsburgh. It was the fourth slam of Saltalamacchia's 10-year career. He has taken over as the Tigers' primary catcher after C James McCann was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a sprained right ankle. "It's nice to reach that milestone, it's a nice, round number and it means you've produced over the course of your career," Saltalamacchia said. "What made it special, though, is that it helped us establish a lead. It came at an important point in the ballgame."

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was cut by Miami on May 5, 2015, had a huge game against his former team. Saltalamacchia flopped in Miami, lasting just one year and one month into a three-year, $21 million guaranteed contract. But he made the Marlins pay again on Wednesday, belting a two-run homer off of Fernandez in the second inning and adding a two-run double off reliever Dustin McGowan in the sixth. Both hits by Saltalamacchia were pulled to right. The homer hit the facade just below the upper deck, and the double short-hopped the wall. "Salty" also threw out Dee Gordon trying to steal second base in the first inning. Gordon has led the majors in steals two straight seasons.

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia signed a one-year deal with the Tigers for the major league minimum salary.The 30-year-old switch hitter is owed $8 million in 2016 by the Miami Marlins.Saltalamacchia batted .225 with nine homers last season while splitting time with the Marlins and Diamondbacks. He has 98 career homers in nine big-league seasons."Jarrod provides catching depth to our roster and is a veteran presence," Tigers executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Al Avila said in a statement.

Saltalamacchia hit his ninth home run of the year, providing the margin of victory over the Padres on Wednesday.

This was Salty's third home run this week as he finishes the season on a tear - he has posted a .294/.357/.686 line and five home runs in 51 at-bats over the past 30 days and has played his way into more of a split in playing time with Welington Castillo. Saltalamacchia will be a free agent at the end of the season and has probably earned a shot as a starter somewhere with the .828 OPS he has produced in the desert.

Saltalamacchia went 2-for-3 with a double and a home run in a loss to the Dodgers on Sunday.

That's his third home run since Tuesday, as Saltalamacchia seems to be heating up to end the season. However, with the recent return of the injured Welington Castillo, it appears as if Salty will be forced to the bench once more.