West Palm Beach, Fla. — Matt Wieters finally has a new team. One crazy accident turned his free agency into a harrowing experience.

Wieters cut his left wrist when a five-gallon glass water container broke in his garage on Nov. 1, delaying his offseason preparation — and, he thinks, his chance to find a deal.

"It's tough finding a team when you can't do anything baseball-related," Wieters said Friday, when the catcher took batting practice and ran conditioning sprints at spring training with the Washington Nationals after his signing was announced. "They told me I was very lucky that it wasn't worse than it was."

Wieters' contract is worth $10.5 million in 2017, and the 6-foot-5, 230-pound catcher has a player option for another $10.5 million in 2018.

Now Wieters is working on getting up to speed with the pitching staff for the reigning NL East champions. The Nationals' first exhibition game is Saturday against the New York Mets.

"There's definitely enough time," Wieters said. "As a catcher, I'd love to have as much as possible. Being able to listen (to the pitchers) and how they pitch will help me out a lot."

He joins a crowded clubhouse of catchers. Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino played in Washington last season, and the club traded for San Diego's Derek Norris. In all, there are six catchers on the 40-man roster.

General manager Mike Rizzo described Wieters as "a leader in the clubhouse and on the field" for the Baltimore Orioles, the only major league club the four-time All-Star has played for until now.

Strop gets an extension

The Chicago Cubs and reliever Pedro Strop finalized an $11.85 million, two-year contract that includes a club option for 2019.

The deal announced Friday supersedes a $5.5 million, one-year agreement from earlier this month.

Strop went 2-2 with a 2.85 ERA in 54 appearances last year, helping Chicago win the World Series for the first time since 1908. Strop, known for wearing his hat off to the side, and ace right-hander Jake Arrieta were acquired in the same July 2013 trade with Baltimore.

The 31-year-old Strop will make $5.5 million this season and $5.85 million next year. The club option is for $6.25 million with a $500,000 buyout.

Herrera ailing

Dilson Herrera has inflammation in his right shoulder and will not throw for a couple days, taking the Colombian infielder out of the World Baseball Classic and hurting his chances for making the Cincinnati Reds.

Herrera, who turns 23 next Friday, also experienced shoulder soreness for parts of last season, including during spring training. He said it started bothering him again about a week ago.

The Reds acquired Herrera when they traded Jay Bruce to the New York Mets last summer.

"I'm OK. Sometimes we've got to be strong, get the mind right so we're ready for everything, so I feel normal," Herrera said in Goodyear, Arizona.

Reds manager Bryan Price said Herrera probably won't throw again until Monday or Tuesday.

"He'll DH tomorrow. He's fine to hit," Price said Friday. "But he's not OK to defend and throw. Until we have that, his shoulder feeling good coming off the end of last year where he had the soreness, it doesn't make any sense at all to be playing defense in the WBC or for us."

Yankees 9, Phillies 4

Hello there, Aaron Judge.

The 6-foot-7 Judge belted a solo homer off a scoreboard in left-center field in the fifth inning of the Yankees' victory in Tampa, Florida. Didi Gregorius also connected for New York, and touted prospect Clint Frazier hit a two-run triple in the eighth.

Bryan Mitchell, a candidate for the fifth spot in New York's rotation, threw two perfect innings with a strikeout.

Phillies starter Alec Asher allowed one run and two hits in two innings, striking out two.

Mets 3, Red Sox 2

At Fort Myers, Florida, Michael Conforto and Gavin Cecchini homered for New York, and Seth Lugo pitched two scoreless innings.

Conforto went 2 for 3 and Travis d'Arnaud also had two hits.

Red Sox starter Henry Owens allowed two runs and three hits in two innings. Hanley Ramirez hit a leadoff double in the seventh for Boston's first hit and scored on Brian Bogusevic's two-run homer with one out.