MIAMI – The Miami Marlins today announced the signing of nine players to Minor League contracts with invitations to Spring Training. The list includes outfielder Matt Kemp, a three-time National League All-Star; catchers Ryan Lavarnway, Santiago Chavez, BJ Lopez, and Brian Navarreto; infielders Gosuke Katoh and Christian Lopes; and right-handed pitchers Aaron Northcraft and Josh A. Smith.

Kemp, 35, is also a two-time NL Silver Slugger and a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner. He began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-’14), where he was a two-time All-Star. He returned to the Dodgers in 2018 and earned his third All-Star selection, batting .290 with 21 home runs and 85 RBI. He has also played for San Diego (2015-’16), Atlanta (2016-’17), and Cincinnati (2019) during his 14-year MLB career. The Midwest City, Oklahoma native has a .285 career batting average, with 281 home runs and 1,010 RBI (13th among active players).

Lavarnway, 32, is a five-time Minor League All-Star and was a sixth-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2008. He spent 2019 in the New York-AL, Cincinnati, and Cleveland systems, and appeared in five games for the Reds, hitting two home runs with seven RBI. The Woodland Hills, California native has a .211 average with nine home runs and 50 RBI in 151 Major League games, and a .275 average with 121 homers and 525 RBI in 885 Minor League games.

Chavez and Lopez were both non-roster invitees to Marlins’ Spring Training in 2019. Chavez, 24, went on to appear in 79 games for Double-A Jacksonville, making just five errors in 660.1 innings behind the plate (.993 fielding percentage) and throwing out 38-of-79 attempted base stealers (48.1 percent). Lopez, 24, appeared in 41 games across three levels of Miami’s system in 2019, making just three errors in 326.1 innings (.992 fielding percentage) and throwing out 14-of-49 attempted base stealers (28.6 percent). Navarreto, 24, was an invitee to Minnesota’s camp in 2019 and traded to the Yankees in July. He had six home runs and 20 RBI in 50 games at the Double-A level last year and threw out 12-of-41 runners attempting to steal (29.3 percent).

Katoh, 25, was a second-round pick of the Yankees in 2013 out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, California. He is a two-time Minor League All-Star with a career .251 average in 649 games, with 115 doubles, 21 triples, 38 home runs, and 242 RBI. He has appeared at five positions during his career, including all four infield spots. A majority of his appearances have been at second base (378), where he has posted a .976 fielding percentage (37 errors in 3198.0 innings). Katoh also has 107 games at third base, 76 at first base (one error, .998 fielding percentage), 43 at shortstop, and 20 in left field.

Lopes, 27, was a Spring invitee of the Texas Rangers the last three seasons. He hit .265 with 29 doubles, 13 home runs, and 65 RBI in 121 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year, appearing at second base (61 games), shortstop (26), right field (11), and left field (10).

Northcraft, 29, was 1-2 with a 2.03 ERA (40.0 ip/9 er) in 31 relief appearances in Seattle’s system in 2019, mostly at the Triple-A level, where he was 0-2, 1.87 (32.2/7) in 27 outings for Tacoma, with 35 strikeouts. He has a 52-54 record and a 3.87 ERA in 225 career Minor League appearances (138 starts). He was a 10th-round pick of Atlanta in 2009. Smith, 32, is a native of Margate, Florida. He has a 72-59 career record in 216 Minor League appearances (160 starts). Last season, he went 5-5 with a 5.38 ERA in 13 outings (12 starts) for Triple-A Pawtucket in Boston’s system, and was 0-3, 5.81 in 18 outings (two starts) for the Red Sox.