MLB Player News

Kieboom had a key single off the bench last night as part of the Nationals’ comeback win, but it wasn’t enough to get him the nod today. After homering in three of his first six games back in the majors, he’s hit .178/.229/.200 in his last 48 plate appearances. It’d still seem to make sense for the rebuilding Nationals to use him over Ildemaro Vargas, but Vargas is hot at the moment.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds that the Red Sox were among several AL East teams, including the Yankees and Orioles, that were in on lefty Blake Snell before he agreed to a massive five-year, $182 million pact with the Dodgers. It shouldn’t come as a shock that Boston is looking to upgrade its lackluster starting rotation and Fried would certainly fit the bill as a certifiable front-of-the-rotation ace. With Snell representing the first real free agent domino falling, there could be a flurry of activity on the pitching market in the coming days.

Duplantier will be in camp with the Brewers aiming to get back to the majors for the first time since the 2021 season when he made four starts for the Diamondbacks. The 30-year-old right-hander was a notable pitching prospect last decade with Arizona, but never wound up finding his footing in the big leagues, mostly due to injury. At a bare minimum, he represents quality organizational depth, and an interesting reclamation project for Milwaukee, heading into 2025.

Oliva hasn’t been back to the big leagues since getting into 26 games for the Pirates from 2020-2021 and spent all of last year in Seattle’s system at Double-A Arkansas, batting .294/.378/.463 with seven homers and 37 steals in 248 plate appearances. He’s merely an organizational depth addition for the Brewers and will likely open next season at Triple-A Nashville.

Pomeranz hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since the 2021 seasons due to shoulder injuries, but he’ll attempt to keep his career going in Seattle. It’s unclear whether the 36-year-old veteran southpaw has anything left at this point, but the Mariners are going to roll the dice as a cheap, low-risk lottery ticket.

Snell lands the long-term deal he couldn’t get as the Cy Young Award winner last winter and even a little more to join the defending World Series champions. He’ll join Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow in the Dodgers’ six-man rotation, with perhaps more additions to come. They still have Tony Gonsolin, Bobby Miller, Dustin May and Landon Knack as options, too. The move to Los Angeles doesn’t change much from a park factors standpoint for Snell, whose 34.7 percent strikeout rate last season in San Francisco ranked second behind only Garrett Crochet among starting pitchers that eclipsed 100 innings. However, it should put him in line for a few additional wins, thanks to the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup, which boosts his fantasy stock slightly. He’s a surefire top 25 starting pitcher heading into 2025 drafts.

Heyman adds the Red Sox are one of five teams — including the Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays and Dodgers — believed to be serious contenders in the Soto sweepstakes. He also notes that Boston is “increasingly seen” as a legitimate contender to pry the generational superstar away from their longtime rivals. The central question remains whether the Red Sox are willing to extend themselves financially to land Soto less than a half-decade after trading away franchise cornerstone Mookie Betts in a cost-cutting move in addition to significantly slashing payroll in recent years. There’s widespread belief at this juncture is that Soto will make his final decision at some point in early December during the Winter Meetings. Stay tuned.

With veteran closer Kirby Yates hitting free agency, Sborz would’ve been among the candidates vying for closing duties in Texas, but he’s going to wind up missing most of, if not all, of the first half of next season after undergoing a debridement procedure earlier this month to address a lingering right shoulder issue.

Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters Seager, who underwent core muscle surgery back in mid-September to address a sports hernia, is expected to be ready for spring training without any limitations. It’s an extremely positive development for fantasy managers as the 30-year-old four-category stalwart should enter 2025 as a slam-dunk top eight shortstop following three consecutive 30-homer campaigns.

Great news. Jung appears on track to enter spring training without any limitations after being limited to just 46 contests last season due to persistent right wrist issues that ultimately led to early October surgery. The 26-year-old former top prospect offers tantalizing over-the-fence power upside, and is a borderline top 12 third baseman for fantasy purposes heading into next year.

García appears to have resumed baseball activities, and should have a normal offseason, after suffering a left patella tendon strain during the late stages of last season. The 31-year-old slugger managed to play through the lingering issue for most of last season and it clearly had an impact on his performance at the dish. He’s a surefire 30-homer performer, if he’s back at 100 percent, and looks like a clear-cut top 30 outfielder for fantasy purposes heading into 2025.