MLB Player News

The deal was originally reported on Friday, and it’s now official. The 33-year-old hit 26 homers with an .803 OPS in 130 games in 2024 with Arizona and is a perfect fit for Houston’s short porch in left field. He should be in for a big year with the Astros.

Montes is a long-time Rockies minor leaguer who made his MLB debut in 2023. He hit .335/.414/.551 slash line with 9 HR, and 47 RBI in 64 games for Triple-A Albuquerque in 2024 before being released by the Rockies and signing to play in Japan. He then hit .272 in 46 games in Japan and will now provide organization depth in the infield for the Rays.

It seems that the Mariners felt their offer, which included a player option for a second year, was good enough to bring Santana into the fold, but Cleveland’s trade of Josh Naylor changed things. Rosenthal noted that, on Saturday morning, Santana “flew to Cleveland to retrieve some personal belongings from his house,” but Naylor was traded in the afternoon and the Guardians were quickly in contact with Santana. “Later that day, he agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract with the Guardians, turning down more guaranteed money from the Mariners.” The Mariners will continue their quest to find a first baseman, but the options have significantly dwindled. They will either have to pay big money for Pete Alonso or agree to part with a starting pitcher like Bryan Woo or Bryce Miller in a trade, which they have refused to do as of now.

That role was vacated on Monday morning with Joc Pederson signing with the Rangers, and it seems like the team is more than happy for Smith to simply step in and take it. As Sommers noted, 85 percent of Smith’s at-bats in 2024 came against right-hand pitching, and he did hit .270/.348/.547 with nine home runs and a .896 OPS in just 158 plate appearances. The lineup around Smith will be good, and he should push over 400 plate appearances in the role, which will give him value in deeper formats, but Chase Field is the worst park in baseball for left-handed power and Smith will be removed mid-game when left-handed relievers come in so it makes it a bit hard to roster him in most fantasy formats.

Ogando was originally signed by the Diamondbacks and spent six years in their farm system before pitching all of 2024 in Indy Ball. He posted a 5.95 ERA with two different teams and also had a 5.48 ERA across three minor league levels in 2023 but did post 57 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings, so maybe the Orioles can do something with that swing-and-miss upside.

It’s wild that Jiménez has to accept a minor-league deal, but here we are. The 28-year-old has battled multiple injuries since debuting as a 22-year-old in 2019 and has never built on the pedigree he showed in that rookie season where he slashed .267/.315/.513 with 31 home runs and 79 RBI in 122 games. Jiménez has played over 98 games in a season just once since then and seemed like a shell of himself in 2024, slashing .238/.289/.336 with just six home runs in 98 games with the White Sox and Orioles. Perhaps the Rays can kickstart a resurgence for Jiménez, but he has seen his fly ball rate and barrel rate fall for three straight seasons, so it’s fair to wonder if the injuries have sapped his juice. He’s going to be a DH-only in Tampa Bay, which will limit his fantasy value, but the Rays will also be playing their home games in a minor league stadium and be playing outside in Florida in the summer where the ball should be flying, so perhaps Jiménez can find some deep league value in the second half of the season.

The 38-year-old is putting off retirement and coming back for his third year in a row with the Pirates and his 12th year with them overall. McCutchen had one of his best years from a power perspective in 2024, hitting 20 home runs with a career-high 11.7 percent barrel rate. His swinging strike rate is up and zone contact rate is down as he’s traded those for a bit more power, so it’s hard to see him hitting over .240 with that approach. His fantasy value is also hampered by being a UTIL-only player, but he will likely produce some solid weeks of offense for fantasy managers in deeper formats.

This is the same amount as the qualifying offer that the Red Sox made to Nick Pivetta, which he declined, and the Dodgers did not make to Buehler. The 29-year-old returned to the mound for the first time since 2022 and disappointed with a 5.38 ERA and 64/28 K/BB ratio in 75 1/3 innings for the Dodgers. However, he was electric in the World Series, showcasing more life on his fastball en route to earning a win and a save. In total, he had a 3.60 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 13/5 K/BB ratio 15 postseason innings. The Red Sox will hope to build on that as he gets further removed from his Tommy John’ surgery. With Buehler and Garrett Crochet now in the rotation, the Red Sox have revamped one of their weaknesses from 2024.

Giles posted a 6.28 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 58/22 K/BB ratio in 38 2/3 innings for Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate in 2024, so it’s unlikely anybody will give him an MLB contract. However, the 34-year-old has a career 2.71 ERA and a 33 percent strikeout rate in 355 1/3 MLB innings; however, injuries have limited him to eight total MLB innings since 2019, so he may never get back close to the level we have previously seen from him.

The deal is still pending a physical, but the 32-year-old had been receiving plenty of interest around the league after hitting .275/.393/.515 with 23 home runs and a career-high .908 OPS with the Diamondbacks last year. Pederson has historically dominated right-handed pitching and saw only 32 total at-bats against left-handed pitching last season, so Texas will almost assuredly lock him in as their everyday DH against right-handed pitching, more than replacing the offensive production they were getting from Nathaniel Lowe. Of course, that means the Rangers are also back to only three outfield spots for Adolis Garcia, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, and Leody Taveras, so somebody is going to be left out of regular playing time in 2025.