MLB Player News

Miller had been on a minor league rehab assignment at Double-A Frisco after recovering from a left hamstring strain, but now he won’t be eligible to return before the end of the regular season. The move frees up a spot on the Rangers’ 40-man roster for Evan Carter to join the big league roster on Friday.

The 29-year-old had spent his entire professional career with the Baltimore Orioles, posting a 5.57 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and 126/36 K/BB ratio in 158 1/3 MLB innings. He’s actually the perfect pitcher for the Brewers. Zimmermann throws five pitches at least 10 percent of the time with good command of each one. It just happens that none of them really miss bats. However, the Brewers were able to get the most out of pitchers like Tobias Myers, who have a similar profile, and might be able to do the same for Zimmermann.

Levine suggested that medical reviews could have been the obstacle in the talks but also didn’t specify whether it was medical concerns over Luzardo or one of the potential prospects heading to Miami. The teams could certainly strike up a discussion again, but, at this point, it seems like nothing is imminent.

The 29-year-old had been with the Orioles previously and had posted a 3.88 ERA in 53 1/3 innings over the last three seasons. He should provide organizational relief depth for the Phillies.

Fleming pitched to a 4.02 ERA in 25 appearances (three starts) for the Pirates in 2024 before being designated for assignment. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners and registered a 4.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 13/5 K/BB ratio in 16 innings for Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners obviously saw enough to bring him back on another minor league deal where he will likely serve as organization depth.

The four biggest names when it comes to free agent first basemen are Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, and Carlos Santana and all of them carry significant concerns. For starters, Alonso is the youngest of the bunch at 30 years old. It seems that none of them four are yet willing to lower their asking price or the number of years they’re looking for, and teams are willing to wait them out rather than commit lots of money over a long-term deal to the aging power hitters. Complicating factors is also that teams still believe all of Triston Casas, Josh Naylor, and Lamote Wade Jr. could be had in a trade, so teams are willing to wait and see how that plays out as well.

The 29-year-old had a down year in 2024, hitting just 11 home runs with a .700 OPS before having labrum surgery in August. As Passan notes, “for a player whose big league value mostly has come from his defense” worries about Kim’s arm are “a fair concern.” Even though “Kim is targeting a late-April return,” considering “he does not want to sign at a severe discount,” teams have seemingly backed off until they can be more certain that the shoulder surgery won’t meaningful impact him in 2025. Despite missing at least a month of the season, a fully healthy Ha-Seong Kim would provide the team that signs him with strong defense and difference-making speed on the bases.

According to Passan, “Baltimore does not want to forfeit a draft pick by signing a starter saddled with a qualifying offer,” which rules out Manaea and Pivetta. The Orioles are still linked to top starter Corbin Burnes but have been silent when it comes to other starting pitchers and might be waiting for the prices to come down or the market to soften before they see who’s remaining.

The Mariners have also approached the Red Sox about trading for Triston Casas, so they appear to be serious about upgrading at first base this off-season. For the Guardians, trading Naylor makes sense if they are getting a big enough return. The 27-year-old is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and may be out of Cleveland’s price range. The team could look to trade him now when they are likely to get more in return than if they waited for the trade deadline. With Kyle Manzardo on the roster, the team also has a built-in replacement at first base, so this is a situation that’s worth monitoring.

Some of this has to do with the Padres looking to create more financial flexibility, but Passan also notes that there aren’t many free-agent infielders available this off-season so the Padres could get back “a premium” if they traded either Arraez or Cronenworth. The 30-year-old Cronenworth had his worst season as a defender at second base last year and could potentially be aging into more of a 1B-only option, making it hard to play both him and Arraez. Neither player is a real threat on the bases or brings a ton of thump with their bat, so it makes sense for the Padres to look to see what they could get for either.

Logue will take his talents overseas to Korea after being non-tendered last month by the Dodgers. The 28-year-old southpaw made just two appearances last year for the Dodgers and holds a bloated 7.20 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 56/22 K/BB ratio across 70 innings (19 appearances, 10 starts) in the big leagues since 2022.