The Cleveland Guardians signed free-agent outfielder Lorenzo Cedrola to a minor-league deal on Friday that includes a non-roster invite to major-league spring training. The 26-year-old Venezuelan outfielder has yet to make it to the big leagues and spent the 2023 season with the New York Mets' Rookie League team and with Triple-A Syracuse. In 59 games at Syracuse, he hit .250 (47-for-188) with six home runs, 18 RBI, 15 stolen bases and 41 runs scored in 229 plate appearances. He'll give the Guardians extra outfield depth at the minor-league level, and Cedrola has the ability to play all three outfield positions. In his eight years in the minors, Cedrola has a career .288/.343/.392 slash line with 29 home runs, 270 RBI and 136 stolen bases in 712 games played.

Free-agent right-hander Elvis Alvarado, who was in big-league camp with the Detroit Tigers last spring as a non-roster invitee, signed a minor-league deal with the Miami Marlins on Saturday. The Tigers originally acquired Alvarado in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The 24-year-old Dominican hurler has yet to make his major-league debut and spent the 2023 season playing for Single-A Lakeland, High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, posting a 5.18 ERA and 1.48 WHIP with two saves, 14 walks and 40 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched over 31 appearances (two starts). Alvarado will most likely open the 2024 minor-league campaign with Double-A Pensacola as he tries to work his way up Miami's farm system.

Free-agent right-hander Matt Festa signed a minor-league deal with the San Diego Padres on Friday that includes an invitation to major-league spring training. Festa comes over to the Friars after parts of four seasons with the Seattle Mariners. In 2023, he threw nine relief innings and gave up four earned runs on four hits (one homer) while walking 12 and striking out 13. The 30-year-old was designated for assignment in August and has a career 4.32 ERA (4.77 FIP), 1.32 WHIP, 44 walks and 102 strikeouts in 93 2/3 innings covering 89 appearances (one start) at the big-league level. Festa isn't anywhere near the fantasy radar and will most likely be a mop-up middle reliever out of San Diego's bullpen if he's pitching in the big leagues at any point in 2024.

San Francisco Giants right-hander Ross Stripling is working on a new pitch for the 2024 season -- the deathball, which is a type of gyro slider that is designed to drop late. The pitch looked filthy while Stripling was throwing it live on Thursday while he worked out north of Houston. Stripling said he's looking for more swing and miss with the pitch. The 34-year-old veteran struggled in his first year in the Bay Area in 2023, going 0-5 with a 5.36 ERA (5.21 FIP) and 1.35 WHIP while walking 16 and striking out 70 in only 89 innings pitched over 22 appearances (11 starts). At least while Robbie Ray (elbow) is recovering from Tommy John surgery in the first half of the 2024 season, Stripling should be included in San Fran's starting rotation, but with a career 21.9% strikeout rate, he's going to need to start missing more bats to give fantasy managers more upside as a matchup-based streamer.

The Cleveland Guardians signed free-agent right-hander Tyler Beede to a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league spring training on Saturday. The 30-year-old pitched for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2023 and had a 4.08 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 75 innings pitched. The former first-rounder wasn't very good in his four major-league seasons with the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates, going 7-16 with a 5.34 ERA (4.97 FIP), 1.56 WHIP and 163 strikeouts in 187 innings pitched over 58 appearances (29 starts). Beede will most likely begin the year at Triple-A Columbus in 2024 and will give the Guardians some extra pitching depth during the regular season.