MLB RUMORS AND NEWS

Bleacher Report "So you want to win Major League Baseball's offseason. Well, good idea. You should go for it. Just know that what comes next, nobody really knows. Good. Bad. Indifferent. All three outcomes are possible, and seemingly more or less equally likely. It's not much of a..." February 12

ESPN "The Oakland Athletics acquired veteran outfielder JJ Bleday from the Miami Marlins for left-handed pitcher A.J. Puk on Saturday, both teams announced. Bleday, 25, was used sparingly in Miami last season, appearing in 65 games with 204 at-bats...." February 12

Bleacher Report "Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are teammates once again. FOX Sports announced the former New York Yankees shortstop is joining the network for the 2023 MLB season. Jeter spent 20 seasons with the Bronx Bombers, winning five World Series titles and making 14 All-Star Games..." February 12

MLB Trade Rumors "As manager Craig Counsell enters the final year of his contract with the Brewers, he’s revealed to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he and owner Mark Attanasio “have had conversations” about his future with the..." February 12

Bleacher Report "Former Major League Baseball outfielder Yasiel Puig is facing a new obstruction of justice charge related to his involvement in an illegal sports gambling ring, per The Athletic. In May 2019, Puig allegedly began betting on sports through a third party, which was working for an..." February 12

Sox On The 35th "The White Sox have added a former first-round pick to the organization. North Star Sports Management announced on Wednesday that outfielder Chris Shaw has joined the club on a free-agent deal. The minor league contract became official on Thursday, with Shaw later assigned to Double-A..." February 12

True Blue L.A. "There are old friend alerts and there are old friend alerts, and this qualifies as the latter. According to the MLB dot com transactions log, pitcher Rubby De La Rosa signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers. Back in January when Triple-A Oklahoma City..." February 12

The Score "It's rare to hear Major League Baseball owners criticize each other in public given their opaque world of sealed financial records and rare media availability. Yet once in a while, the curtain is pulled back on their business and personal animosities. Last month,..." February 11

Bleacher Report "Relief pitcher Andrew Chafin is set to join the Arizona Diamondbacks on a one-year, $6.5 million deal, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Saturday. Chafin's deal could reportedly reach up to the $7.5 million range with..." February 11

Dodger Blue "Early into free agency this offseason the Los Angeles Dodgers were connected to Alex Reyes, a former top prospect and All-Star closer who was non-tendered by the St. Louis Cardinals last year. The Cardinals’ decision largely stemmed from Reyes missing the entire 2022..." February 11

MLB Trade Rumors "Right-hander Jason Adam has won his arbitration hearing with the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Adam was seeking a $1.775MM salary for the 2023 season, while the Rays’ figure was $1.55MM. 2022 was Adam’s first season with the Rays, and..." February 11

Sportsnet "The Toronto Blue Jays have signed right-handed reliever Luke Bard to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. Bard pitched in nine games for the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees last season, posting a 1.80 ERA, eight strikeouts and a 0.93 WHIP..." February 11

SI "Former SF Giants first-round pick and top prospect Kyle Crick is close to finalizing a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, according to a report by Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Crick has been a free agent since finishing last season in the Chicago White Sox..." February 11

Fish Stripes "After 14 seasons in professional baseball and six at the major league level, Justin Bour announced on Friday that “it’s time to hang them up.” Bour was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2009 out of George Mason University. The “hulking” first..." February 11

Bleacher Report "Right-handed starting pitcher Cristian Javier and the Houston Astros have agreed on a five-year contract extension through 2027, the team announced Friday. Javier's deal is worth $64 million with a $2 million signing bonus and no team options, per Chandler Rome of..." February 10

MLB Trade Rumors "The Dodgers are signing outfielder David Peralta, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a one-year, $6.5MM guarantee and could max out at $8MM if he reaches all his incentives, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal is pending a physical. Peralta was one of the top..." February 10

Clutch Points "The New York Yankees’ potential 2023 shortstop plan was revealed by Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch, per MLB.com. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oswald Peraza are expected to battle for the position during Spring Training. Exciting young prospect Anthony Volpe is also in the..." February 10

The Score "The Chicago Cubs and right-handed reliever Michael Fulmer are in agreement on a contract, sources told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. The terms of the deal aren't yet known. Fulmer spent last season with the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota..." February 10

Phillies Nation "The Phillies and left-handed reliever José Alvarado have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, the team announced. The two sides will avoid an arbitration hearing. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reports that Alvarado and the Phillies settled at $3.45..." February 10

MLB Trade Rumors "It’s been a busy offseason for the Rangers in terms of pitching acquisitions, with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney joining the rotation alongside holdovers Jon Gray and Martin Perez (who accepted the team’s one-year,..." February 10

Sportsnaut "Your honor, If it please the court: In the case of Sea Unicorns, et al, v. Manfred’s Looting Billionaires (MLB), we offer the following amicus brief in support of said Unicorns, and further move to eliminate MLB’s infamous 101-year-old antitrust exemption. As the..." February 10

Bleacher Report "From the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s to the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers of today, we've pinpointed the best five-year stretch of every Major League Baseball team in modern history. We're defining "modern history" as..." February 10

MLB.com "Astros general manager Dana Brown has hit the ground running in his new role, saying at a press conference Thursday afternoon at Minute Maid Park that he’s working on signing franchise cornerstones Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve to contract extensions, in addition to..." February 10

Bleacher Report "After a six-year hiatus, the World Baseball Classic is back, and with more star power than ever before for Team USA. It was announced over the summer that Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout would be suiting up for Team USA and serving as team captain, and that seemed to set in..." February 10

MLB Trade Rumors "There’s a “strong belief among MLB teams” that the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball will post ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto following the 2023 season, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. If that indeed comes to pass, he’d be the..." February 10

The Athletic "To understand what the Chicago Cubs are doing right now, you still sometimes have to look backward. It takes years to fully implement changes in scouting and player development and determine if those initiatives are actually working. Drastic budget cuts to baseball operations during..." February 10

MLB Trade Rumors "Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker has lost his arbitration case, the Associated Press reports. He’ll be paid at the team’s filing rate of $5MM instead of the $7.5MM his camp had sought. That $2.5MM gap was the largest of any player and team who had gone to..." February 10

Larry Brown Sports "Steve Cohen’s latest move to change the culture surrounding the New York Mets is a fairly ambitious one. Cohen and the Mets have purchased a Super Bowl ad set to run in the New York area during the first quarter of Sunday’s game. The ad depicts players such as Brandon..." February 10

The Score "The Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a minor-league contract with utility player Charlie Culberson, according to the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin. Culberson spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers, hitting .246/.292/.373 with 21 doubles and 34 RBIs in 158..." February 10

CBS Sports "Smith pitched nearly exclusively out of Arizona's bullpen in 2022 and posted a 4.11 ERA and 1.37 WHIP across 70 frames. He also surrendered 5.0 BB/9 and 1.8 HR/9, which led to him being DFA'd by the Diamondbacks in November. Smith will fight for a low-leverage role in the..." February 10

MLB Trade Rumors "The Mariners are in agreement with outfielder Leonys Martín on a minor league contract, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The Wasserman client will be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee. It’s the second Seattle stint for Martín, who..." February 10

SI "The Guardians continue to make minor moves this week as we count down the days to the start of Spring Training. They've signed multiple pitchers to Minor League deals and they just keep adding more. On Thursday afternoon, the organization announced that they had claimed..." February 10

TMZ "Cole Tucker clearly spared no expense when he asked Vanessa Hudgens to marry him ... 'cause the actress was seen rockin' her new engagement ring this week -- and it's HUGE!! Hudgens was spotted with the bling while out grabbing a bite to eat with her family..." February 10

The Athletic "One reigning MVP winner is in, another is out, but the World Baseball Classic will be stacked with All-Stars after rosters were revealed Thursday. Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ record-setting slugger and American League MVP, will not play for Team USA,..." February 10

CBS Sports "Throughout the offseason the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we debated the team to beat in the NL West...." February 10

MLB Trade Rumors "The Padres and right-hander Yu Darvish are in agreement on a six-year extension that’ll run through the 2028 season, AJ Cassavell and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com report. Darvish, a Wasserman client, was already under contract for $18MM in 2023. That means the deal will tack on five..." February 09

Bleacher Report "We're just about two weeks away from the first spring training Cactus League games. So if you've been longing for baseball since the Astros won the World Series last November, hang on just a little longer. We are almost there. In the meantime, it's worth..." February 09

Mets Merized Online "Andy Martino of SNY reports that Bryn Alderson is no longer an assistant general manager with the New York Mets and is leaving the organization. Bryn, son of Sandy Alderson, has been an assistant GM with the Mets since July 2021. Bryn came to the Mets organization in 2012..." February 09

CBS Sports "Due in large part to the fact that Major League Baseball doesn't have a salary cap while the NFL, NBA and NHL do -- even if they aren't hard caps -- there's a sentiment baseball has been unable to shake for decades: market size is everything. That idea isn't solely due to the..." February 09

Bleacher Report "This is for anyone who, in the course of watching a Major League Baseball game, has ever witnessed a hit that caused them to blurt out, "How in the name of Vladimir Guerrero did he do that?" That's right. We've ranked the nine best bad-ball hitters in MLB going into..." February 09

WKBN "The Cleveland Guardians have announced the signing of catcher Zack Collins to a minor league deal. The team also officially announced previously reported minor league deals with pitchers Phillip Diehl and Dusten Knight. The deals include a non-roster..." February 09

New York Post "Angels owner Arte Moreno changed his mind and decided not to sell the Angels, but there’s no mistaking Moreno’s intention when it comes to his two-way superstar. Shohei Ohtani’s coming free agency is one of baseball’s biggest storylines and should..." February 09

MLB Trade Rumors "Early in the offseason, it looked as though there was a good chance the Mariners would move one of their two candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation. The quartet of Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby create a standout set of options in..." February 09

CBS Sports "Spring training is only a few days away. Camps across Arizona and Florida open next week, and a week after that, Cactus League and Grapefruit League games will begin. I can't wait. I am so ready for the offseason to be over. Spring training games are fun in their own way,..." February 09

The Athletic "The thought surely crossed the minds of some fans when, in separate appearances last month, Cincinnati Reds president Phil Castellini and Baltimore Orioles chairman and CEO John Angelos made public comments best described as cringeworthy. Why can’t anyone get..." February 09

Sportsnaut "For anyone who thought that spy balloon over Montana was a strange sight to behold, wait until you see what MLB Spring Training games might have to offer in a few weeks. Bases that are three inches wider than before. Enforced pitch clocks. … And nobody in left..." February 09

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The trucks freighting the Cardinals’ gear from Busch Stadium arrived and were unpacked Wednesday, and at the same time, the club continued another spring training tradition. The load-up on lefties continues, annually. To jump the line and avoid the uncertainty of a..." February 09

Redleg Nation "The Cincinnati Reds have acquired outfielder Will Benson from the Cleveland Guardians. Cincinnati is sending prospect Justin Boyd and a player to be named later to Cleveland in the deal. Benson needed a spot on the 40-man roster and to make room for him the Reds designated Alejo Lopez for..." February 09

The Score "Ronald Acuna Jr. will play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, a source told Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Atlanta Braves and Acuna reportedly made the decision Wednesday, which means the superstar outfielder will be part of..." February 09

Detroit Free Press "Former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect DJ Peters, a right-handed hitting outfielder, is staying in the United States after playing the majority of last season in the Korean Baseball Organization. The 27-year-old recently signed a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers...." February 09