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MLB Player News

Rotoworld

  • NYY Center Fielder #14
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    Yankees sent INF/OF Jahmai Jones outright to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre.
    Jones was designated for assignment earlier this week to make room on the roster for the return of veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton. The versatile 26-year-old hit .238 with one home run and four RBI in 33 games with the Yankees.
  • CLE First Baseman #22
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    The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the Guardians are open to trading away Josh Naylor and/or Lane Thomas this off-season.
    While the Guardians may not be actively looking to trade them, both players are entering the final seasons on their contracts and both are expecting to earn $9 million a year or more on their next deals. That might be too steep of a price for the Guardians to play, so “it should surprise no one that Cleveland is open to trade offers.” Given how close the Guardians were to the World Series in 2024, we would expect they would need to be blown away to accept any trade offer, but the possibility does exist.
  • STL Relief Pitcher #56
    The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that “teams talking to the Cardinals are under the impression the team will hold [Ryan] Helsley.”
    The notion that the Cardinals could hold onto Helsley is something that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak seems to support: “It’s something we will always remain open-minded to, but our plan is to have him be part of our organization.” The 30-year-old Helsley posted a 2.04 ERA in 66 1/3 innings and won the Trevor Hoffman Award as the best closer in the National League. He is projected to earn $8.5 million in his final year of arbitration before he is eligible for free agency, but if the Cardinals wait until the summer to trade him while he’s on an expiring contract, they will obviously get a much weaker return.
  • FA Starting Pitcher #40
    ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Athletics signed RHP Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million contract.
    Severino bounced back in 2024, posting a 3.91 ERA and 161/60 K/BB over 182 innings with the Mets. The team made a qualifying offer to him of $21.05 million, but he declined it and bet on himself, which wound up being the right move as he cashes in on a three-year deal worth more per season than the qualifying offer would have been. For fantasy purposes, the move is certainly a downgrade for the 30-year-old. He is moving to a worse team context and will be pitching next year in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento that will be more friendly to hitters than Citi Field has been. As a result, Severino looks to be a risky bet in 2024 that could be limited to deeper fantasy leagues.
  • DET Shortstop #51
    Tigers re-signed INF Eddys Leonard to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
    Leonard was non-tendered in November but the Tigers will bring back the 24-year-old after he slashed .263/.326/.455 with 10 homers, 26 RBI, and seven stolen bases in 282 plate appearances at Triple-A Toledo. He could get a chance at filling a backup infielder role in Detroit if he has a solid season in the minors in 2025 and he could make $760,000 if he gets MLB at-bats.
  • DET Starting Pitcher #59
    Tigers re-signed RHP Wilmer Flores to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
    Flores was non-tendered back in November after pitching to a 7.84 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, and a 29/25 K/BB ratio over 31 innings across three minor league levels in 2024. Flores was a one-time Top 100 prospect, so the Tigers will keep him in the organization and hope he can re-capture that magic. The 23-year-old can make up to $1 million if he pitches in MLB games next year.
  • CWS Center Fielder #88
    ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that “the perception of some teams is that the White Sox are intent on dealing center fielder Luis Robert.”
    Olney mentions that Robert could be a central focus of the winter meetings next week. Many teams allegedly feel like “Chicago wants to cash out on whatever diminished value Robert has now, rather than risk seeing his value crater even more through another subpar season.” The 27-year-old outfielder will make $15 million next season, with $20 million club options for 2025 and 2026 so he’s on a very reasonable contract if a team believes he can bounce back to his previous form.
  • FA Starting Pitcher #54
    New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported that the Yankees “spoke this week on separate Zoom calls with Max Fried and Corbin Burnes.”
    Heyman referred to both calls as “positive” and mentioned that the Yankees are keeping tabs on the top-end starting pitchers as they await Juan Soto’s decision. Of the two pitchers, it seems that Fried is the higher priority target for the Yankees given that nine front office members were on a call with him that lasted over an hour. Heyman notes that “it’s unlikely the Yankees would look to add a big-ticket pitcher if they were to retain [Soto], but Fried could potentially be part of a Plan B if Soto were to sign” elsewhere.
  • FA First Baseman #20
    ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Pete Alonso’s free agent market “is likely to take longer to develop” than some of the other stars.
    Both Passan and Buster Olney mentioned that Juan Soto is the first domino that needs to fall this offseason. After that, many of the teams that miss out on Soto are likely to turn their attention to Willy Adames before the market begins to heat up for Alonso. Some of that is because Alonso is older than Adames but also that Alonso is “not a great fit for some of the teams involved with Soto.” According to Olney, “The best possible outcome for Alonso will be if Soto signs with some team other than the Mets, because in the end, Alonso is worth more to the Mets than he is to any other team.”
  • FA Left Fielder #37
    David Vassegh said during an interview Wednesday on AM 570 LA Sports that the Dodgers and Teoscar Hernández are trying to nail down the final details of a contract.
    With rumblings starting to circulate that the Dodgers might not be among the finalists in the high-priced Juan Soto sweepstakes, it makes sense that they would begin to pivot in the coming days. Vassegh added that things are looking good for a reunion between the Dodgers and Hernández, who is one of the bigger bats left on the open market. The 32-year-old slugger was a key component of Los Angeles’ title run last year when he belted a career-high 33 home runs over 154 contests in his Dodgers debut. A return to Southern California as part of the most loaded lineup in baseball would further cement his status as a top 20 fantasy outfielder heading into 2025.
  • SD Right Fielder
    Padres signed OF Yonathan Perlaza to a minor league contract.
    Perlaza is back stateside following his release last month from the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization following an impressive 24-homer campaign overseas. The 26-year-old outfielder put up some big numbers at the Triple-A level back in 2023 with the Cubs organization when he launched 23 homers and stole 13 bases in 121 contests. He’s merely extra organizational depth for the Padres at this stage of his career, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see him break through and reach the big leagues at some point next year.