MLB Player News

Anderson got the call back to the majors ahead of Friday’s contest against the Orioles. The 31-year-old righty has pitched well in four relief appearances this season for Chicago. He’ll operate in middle relief moving forward.

Ragazzo says that teams who watched the session thought Matzek looked “strong and healthy.” The 34-year-old was limited to just 11 appearances last year before being sidelined with left elbow inflammation, and injury issues have been a problem for the southpaw throughout his career. Still, when on the mound Maztek has been borderline dominant at times, so it won’t be any kind of surprise if he lands a deal before the start of the 2025 campaign; even if it’s likely incentive-laden.

And that the Tigers and Red Sox are still involved. If the Astros and Cubs are really battling this out, it’s funny that they’re also reportedly trying to swing a Ryan Pressly trade that would seemingly help the Astros create some financial flexibility as they try to re-sign their All-Star. If the Cubs were to land Bregman, perhaps they could then trade Nico Hoerner, potentially for bullpen help and/or prospects.

It really might be for the best. Gray is still probably an average starter, but he’s one with some injury issues, and he’s been pretty impressive in very limited bullpen usage in the 2023 postseason (1 ER, 8 K in 5 2/3 IP) and last season (1 ER, 10 K in 7 IP). He’d definitely have far more fantasy potential as a reliever. Still, it seems likely that he’ll remain in the rotation for now, at least until the Rangers can get a look at how their other veteran starters are shaping up.

Heyman believes Pressly has ruled out a deal to the Blue Jays but is still considering one to the Cubs. The 36-year-old Pressly showed obvious signs of decline last season, and unless the Astros are paying down his $14 million salary, he seems like a weaker acquisition than several free agent relievers still out there. Nevertheless, teams are interested.

Coming off a rough 2024 in which he hit .218/.293/.338 in 157 plate appearances, Davis will be a fallback option at third and first for the Angels. The 31-year-old is a lifetime .257/.340/.425 hitter, and while he could get back to that, his defense at third is an increasing problem, making him a fringe major leaguer.

Petzold notes that the Tigers are in the market in adding a high-leverage reliever with closing experience, and Estévez is the best one remaining on the open market. That’s why interest in him has picked up considerably over the past couple of weeks with the Reds, Cubs, Blue Jays, Phillies and Yankees all being linked to him at one point or another. As things currently stand, the Tigers will continue to rely on some combination of Jason Foley, Will Vest, Tyler Holton and Beau Brieske in the late innings.

Reports on Thursday afternoon were that the Cubs were closing in on a deal for the 36-year-old right-hander, but nothing has been finalized yet and Pressly would ultimately have to waive his no-trade clause if a deal does get done. In addition to the Blue Jays, an unidentified west coast team is interested in Pressly as well. It sounds increasingly likely that he’ll be donning a new jersey on Opening Day — and most likely in a closer’s role — which will increase his value from a fantasy perspective exponentially.

The intriguing 32-year-old southpaw registered a stellar 2.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a 182/38 K/BB ratio over 157 innings over 26 starts in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2024. The Yankees, Astros, Orioles, Brewers and Twins were all linked to him earlier in the off-season, though it’s unclear which teams remain in the hunt and who else may have joined in the pursuit. It still seems likely that Hart returns stateside for the 2025 season, either as a member of a starting rotation or as a swingman type.

Strider — who is working his way back from an internal brace procedure on his pitching elbow — is on track to have a regular spring training with the rest of the Braves’ pitchers. He won’t, however, be on the team’s Opening Day roster as they want to take every possible precaution and ease him back into action. It’s encouraging news from a fantasy perspective, but we still have no idea what kind of workload he will have in 2025.

There have been reports floating around to the contrary on both players as the hot stove has ramped up a bit in anticipation of spring training. The Blue Jays still look like a strong landing spot for Alonso — assuming he doesn’t go back to the Mets — it just doesn’t appear like a deal with the Jays is imminent.