MLB Player News

He walked three and struck out three in the game. Thanks to the strong offensive support and quality work from the bullpen, Blackburn was able to pick up the victory in this one and improved to 1-4 on the season. His ERA now sits at 7.18 and he has to be in serious jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation. Barring any changes, he’ll get his shot at redemption when he faces the Tigers in Detroit on Wednesday.

Sabol spent time last year with both the White Sox and Red Sox. He hit .216/.326/.378 in 86 plate appearances for Triple-A Charlotte and has a career .237/.307/.383 MLB slash line in 400 plate appearances. When he got a shot with the Red Sox last season, teams ran all over him, so Tampa Bay likely hopes he remains as organizational catching depth.

Nuñez was with the Guardians last year, getting only seven at-bats with the big league club. He hit .176/.330/.349 with nine home runs in 76 games at Triple-A Columbus. He’ll continue to serve as organizational depth.

Canning pitched well for the Mets last season, leaning on his slider more and turning away from his fastballs. He registered a 3.77 ERA in 76 1/3 innings before suffering a ruptured Achilles in June. His free agent market will be impacted by how his recovery is progressing, but he would be a solid veteran arm for a White Sox team that needs to buy some time before pitching prospects like Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz are ready for big league innings.

Rosenthal specifies that the “Mets are interested in both rentals and pitchers with club control.” That means pitchers like Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, MacKenzie Gore, Edward Cabrera, Kris Bubic, and more could all be of interest. The Mets have plenty of prospects to make a deal work, and Rosenthal also reports that “they are also open to dealing infielders Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, and Luisangel Acuña.” This is a situation to monitor, but nothing appears close right now.

The contract, which was agreed to a week ago, is reportedly worth $5 million. Despite a 5.23 ERA last season with the Dodgers, Yates becomes the favorite to close for the Angels, though Robert Stephenson or Jordan Romano could wind up pushing him at some point. Yates still had a 29% strikeout rate last season, and his velocity was down only about one mph from his peak. He could turn out to be a fair enough fantasy closer if he can stay healthy at 39. Of course, if he does perform well, he’d seem like a prime candidate to be moved in a deadline deal.

Darnell went from the Rockies to the Pirates to the Tigers on waiver claims earlier this winter before being non-tendered by Detroit. Now he’s back with the Tigers, though he’s expected to miss at least the first month of the season after August hip surgery. The 28-year-old had a 3.19 ERA and a 63/19 K/BB in 53 2/3 innings for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate last season. He also had a 3.86 ERA over 11 2/3 innings in his major league debut.

This appears to bring an official end to Mendick’s playing career after he already sat out last season. The 32-year-old hit .232/.286/.346 in 656 plate appearances over parts of six seasons, five of which came with the White Sox. His versatility probably would have led to steadier work a couple of decades ago, As is, he often had to settle for being a very good Triple-A player.

Even though the Tyler Mahle deal was announced Monday, the Giants, for some reason, were given an extra 27 hours to make a corresponding move to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. Dean was just claimed on waivers from the Dodgers in November. He can serve as a 26th man with his quality defense in center field and pinch-running ability, but the bat isn’t there to make him anything more than that.

Davidson last appeared in the majors in 2024 before pitching in Korea last season. In the KBO, he posted a 3.65 ERA in 123 1/3 innings across 22 starts. He has a 5.76 ERA career across 129 2/3 innings in the big leagues.

Sikkema pitched for the Reds in 2025, posting a 4.57 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 72/31 K/BB ratio in 86 2/3 innings across Double-A and Triple-A. Interestingly, Sikkema was traded from the Yankees to the Royals in 2022 for Andrew Benintendi, who was once one of Boston’s best players. Sikkema has not panned out as the Yankees, Royals, or Reds had hoped, but he’ll get another chance in Boston.