MLB Player News

The Dylan Cease acquisition left the Padres with just one opening in the rotation, and the team picked Matt Waldron over Brito and others for the spot. We’re skeptical that Waldron will prove to be the answer there, so maybe Brito will claim a rotation spot in a month or two. In the meantime, Brito figures to bide his time in Triple-A.

The 29-year-old Lovelady had a 4.46 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 26/11 K/BB ratio over 34 1/3 innings between the Cubs and Rays during the 2024 season. For his career, he has allowed a .232 average and .653 OPS to left-handed hitters with a 24 percent strikeout rate, so he will try to compete for a job in the Blue Jay’s bullpen as a lefty specialist.

It wasn’t a great 2024 season for Bethancourt, who hit .209/.241/.367 in 147 plate appearances for the Cubs and Marlins. The 33-year-old was productive in 2022 and 2023 so he has a chance to earn the backup role in Toronto, but he will need to beat out Tyler Heineman in spring training.

Well, the Angels certainly have a type. The 31-year-old Anderson saw his production fall off a cliff in 2023 and, unfortunately, 2024 was no better as he posted a .214/.237/.226 line in 241 plate appearances with the Marlins. After being a perennial .300 hitter with 15/15 upside, Anderson has not hit over .245 in either of the last two seasons and has just one home run and 17 steals in 765 plate appearances. With Zach Neto potentially starting the year on the IL as he recovers from off-season surgery, there is a chance for Anderson to earn a starting job for a few weeks, but he will need to show far more production than he has over the last two seasons.

The news was announced last week, but the Dodgers made the move official today. Since Sasaki is an international amateur free agent, he has to be signed to a minor league contract. That also means he’s not currently on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. If the team eventually wants to add him to the MLB starting rotation, they will need to clear room on the 40-man roster, so expect the Dodgers to try and trade a couple of their depth pieces to free up room for Sasaki and Tanner Scott.

The initial arbitration filings were $1.3 from the Rays and $1.575 from Walls, so this is closer to what Tampa Bay offered. However, this new deal comes with a $2.45M club option for 2026 or a $50,000 buyout. That option can increase by $50,000 if Walls gets 450 plate appearances in 2025. While we would not expect Walls to get that many plate appearances, Tampa Bay does love his defense, so he should play multiple games a week at shortstop, which makes it harder to roster Jose Caballero in fantasy leagues. Taylor Walls himself should also not be rostered in fantasy leagues.

There was some excitement for PCA in fantasy circles that his strong rookie reason and elite speed could make him a candidate to hit lead-off in Chicago, but Counsell suggests that won’t happen. At least to start the season. “I think Pete could get there,” he added. “Pete is a developing baseball player and we still want to get that right.” PCA did steal 27 bases in 123 games while hitting near the bottom of the Cubs’ lineup, so he should still run plenty in 2025 but his counting stats are going to remain subpar while hitting at the bottom of the order, and he might just be a 15 home run type of hitter at the MLB level with a mediocre batting average, so that dampens his fantasy value a bit to more of a speed-first late-round outfielder.

Swanson had surgery in October to repair a sports hernia, which was a “nagging issue” that had been bothering him since the beginning of the 2023 season. Swanson said, “I wasn’t quite sure what it was in the beginning. That’s why I didn’t do surgery (right away). I did a bunch of rehab things. But it got to the point where it felt like this was going to be necessary.” Swanson had an up-and-down 2024 season, but knowing that he played the entire year while dealing with this injury should make us feel a little better about the 30-year-old bouncing back in 2025.

Sharma noted that “the list of relievers the Cubs have seriously evaluated easily reaches double digits,” but those are the more high-profile pitchers who the Cubs are considering. Jansen and Robertson are both free agents with closing experience, but they are also in their late 30s. Stanek is a free agent but has been more of a setup guy for his career. Pressly is entering the final year of his contract with the Houston Astros, which includes a no-trade clause and a $14 million salary. The Astros have been looking to trade Pressly since they have Josh Hader entrenched as their closer, but it remains to be seen if any team will give up the prospects necessary to acquire Pressly or if the Astros will pay down any of his salary.

The Blue Jays are still looking to make a few big additions to their roster after missing out on Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and Roki Sasaki. Anthony Santander added a big bat in the middle of the order, but Santander can play the corner outfield, so Pete Alonso could still slide in as the primary designated hitter if he were to join the Blue Jays. Alonso has been a premiere power hitter while playing his whole career in Citi Field, and the Rogers Centre profiles slightly better for right-handed power, so he would still push for 40 home runs while hitting in a lineup that would be significantly deeper than it was a week ago.

Nightengale noted that the Dodgers need to clear spots on their 40-man roster for new additions LHP Tanner Scott, RHP Roki Sasaki, and potentially more players that the Dodgers want to add. To do that, they need to trade away some current players, and Brasier with a $4.5 million salary makes some sense. The 37-year-old was solid for the Dodgers last season, posting a 3.54 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 25/5 K/BB ratio in 28 innings of middle relief. There is a chance a team will be interested in acquiring him because he has previous experience working in the late innings as well.