MLB Player News

Mata has been on the injured list all season as he recovers from a hamstring injury. He continues to progress in his rehab with the Red Sox moving him up to Double-A.

Bumgarner hasn’t officially announced his retirement, but he also hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a disastrous four-start stretch to open the 2023 season, which led to the Diamondbacks releasing him and eating the final $37 million left on his contract. The 35-year-old lefty cemented his legacy with the Giants earlier in his career as one of the legendary postseason performers of his era and appears likely to head back to the Bay Area in a limited role either as a guest instructor at spring training or front office consultant.

Ingram bolsters Atlanta’s left-handed relief depth heading into spring training following stops with five different organizations last year where he compiled a respectable 3.59 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 52/36 K/BB ratio across 52 2/3 innings (46 appearances) in the upper minors. The 28-year-old southpaw made five appearances during the 2023 campaign for the Angels.

Banfield was a second-round pick of the Marlins back in 2018 and never wound up reaching the big leagues. The 25-year-old backstop will presumably head to Triple-A Louisville to open next season as extra organizational catching depth after batting .247/.297/.379 with nine homers in 371 plate appearances last year for Triple-A Jacksonville.

Woo adds some important context noting that Arenado has not demanded a trade, but he’s been open to the idea since the Cardinals approached him at the end of last season about exploring the trade market. It’s an interesting wrinkle for Arenado, who is coming off arguably the worst offensive season of his 12-year career, entering the hot stove season, especially given the lack of quality options from a fantasy standpoint outside the consensus top-six sluggers at the cold corner heading into 2025. A change of scenery could help Arenado revert to form and make him a mixed league-relevant fantasy contributor again.

Cardenas headed overseas to Korea during the late stages of last season, getting into seven games for the Samsung Lions, after batting .277/.345/.550 with 20 homers and 10 steals in 75 contests at the Triple-A level between the Rays and Phillies organizations. The 27-year-old outfielder feels like the type of Quad-A slugger that might not break through in the majors, but could easily wind up excelling in Korea.

Vitale joins the Marlins after spending seven years with the Mariners, the last five as their field coordinator. He’ll work under first-year manager Clayton McCullough.

Kim said the announcement will come sometime after thanksgiving, and then the 25-year-old will travel to the United States. The infielder has been one of the better hitters in the KBO, and he’s coming off a season where he registered an .841 OPS and 30 stolen bases for the Heroes. He’s expected to draw significant interest, with the Mariners being one of the teams showing interest in Kim early on.

Cave, who turns 32 next month, hit .251/.290/.396 in 346 plate appearances for the Rockies last season. He departs for Korea with a .232/.292/.400 line in 523 big-league games.

Reyes returns for another season overseas in Korea after finishing last year with a strong 3.81 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 114/30 K/BB ratio across 144 innings (26 starts) in his KBO debut. The 28-year-old righty made a career-high nine appearances (three starts) for the Mets during the 2023 season.

Diaz recorded some eye-popping numbers this past season, batting .348/.419/.610 with 26 round-trippers in 104 games between a stint in Korea and a pair of clubs in the independent Mexican League. The 28-year-old first baseman got into 112 games for the Marlins from 2020-2022, posting a lackluster .567 OPS with 13 homers during that span.