MLB Player News

The 34-year-old right-hander opted out of the final four years and $144 million that he had remaining on his contract with the Yankees, but the club has the option to void that opt-out by adding a fifth year and $36 million to the contract. Multiple sources have indicated that the Yankees are likely to retain Cole, but nothing is official just yet. If they do add the extra year, they’ll owe him $180 million over the next five seasons. Cole looked especially sharp during the Yankees’ postseason run and would be very difficult for them to replace on the free agent market.

The Orioles designated Soto for assignment after claiming Roansy Contreras off waivers from the Reds last Friday. Soto will stick around to provide some infield depth on a team that already has plenty of it.

Winans has been and up-and-down option for Atlanta and the 29-year-old will hit the waiver wire with Amos Willingham claimed off waivers and taking his spot on the 40-man roster.

Willingham was designated for assignment by the Nationals on Saturday, and now he’ll provide some depth for the Atlanta pitching staff for the 2025 campaign. Allan Winans was designated for assignment to make room.

In the deal, Murray reports that the PIrates will send Boston right-handed pitcher Matt McShane. Shugart was designated for assignment after the Red Sox acquired Blake Sabol from the Giants, and he should compete for one of the final spots in the PIttsburgh bullpen.

Bukauskas was placed on the injured list last year on April 14 with a right lat sprain and didn’t return to the majors. The former first-round pick could be of interest on the waiver wire for orgs looking to add depth to their pitching staff.

Rodriguez gets an MLB deal after spending the 2024 season with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. He was very effective in the NPB with a 1.74 ERA over 88 innings, and he’s well known for having one of the more lively fastballs in terms of movement. Rodriguez will likely be a middle-inning option, but the 26-year-old could compete for saves at some point with the Milwaukee closing situation far from concrete.

The two sides here couldn’t come to a deal before last week’s arbitration deadline, and Duran filed at $4 million, with the Red Sox coming in at $3.5 million. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal says they’ve now settled at the midpoint, $3.75 million for this year, while tacking on an $8 million option with a $100,000 buyout for Duran’s second year of arbitration eligibility.

The Jays are taking on a large portion of Straw’s remaining salary (Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi says it’s $11 million) here in order to add some extra international pool money ($2 million, according to Davidi), presumably as part of their bid for Roki Sasaki. Or maybe they already know Sasaki’s answer.... we’ll probably find that out relatively soon. Straw, 30, is owed another $14.75 million over the next two years (including his 2027 buyout) as part of a five-year, $25 million pact agreed to when he was the Guardians’ center fielder. Last season, Straw appeared in seven big-league games, going 1-for-4, and hit .240/.321/.330 in 495 plate appearances in Triple-A. He’s currently off the 40-man, but he might get a chance of making the Jays as a bench player in spring training. It doesn’t look like his bat will ever be respectable again, but he can still play a quality center field and steal bases (32-for-33 last year).

Newcomb opened last season on the shelf with a knee injury, and after returning, he lasted just seven appearances, in which he gave up seven runs and eight walks in 10 innings, before being let go by the A’s. The 31-year-old has a career 4.51 ERA in 60 starts and 115 relief appearances at the big-league level. The Red Sox likely will have him compete for a bullpen spot.

Romero has sources telling him the Padres learned Sasaki would be signing elsewhere. It follows that these deals would be getting done if that’s the case. These two signings are set to take up at least $2 million and maybe closer to $3 million of the Padres’ $6.26 million signing pool. It wouldn’t rule out a Sasaki signing, but the reason those deals weren’t finalized on Jan. 15, as so many international signings were, was because the Padres were waiting to learn if they’d be spending most of their signing pool on Sasaki.