MLB Player News

Glaessmann, a former third-round pick of the Rays, batted .272/.312/.462 with 13 home runs and five stolen bases in 117 games last season between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno. The 26-year-old outfielder has never appeared in a game at the major league level.

Scherzer was heavily linked to the Giants after they hired his good friend Tony Vitello as their new manager, but San Francisco preferred Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle. Scherzer quite probably will be in greater demand when pitchers start going down in spring training, so it wouldn’t hurt to wait.

Young’s elite defense makes him a useful player right now, and he’s just 26 with four years to go before free agency. Still, defense declines with age, and once Young goes from great to merely good in center field, his lack of offensive ability will render him a reserve. If the Nationals can get something significant for him, they’d probably make the move. That’s especially the case if they project Robert Hassell III to be of much use as at least a part-time starter in center.

The Mets will try to sneak Lovelady through waivers three months after signing him to a one-year deal as a free agent. Lovelady gave up seven earned runs in 10 innings for the Mets last season. He has a career 5.35 ERA in 111 innings since debuting in 2019.

It’s Bruján’s third organization in two weeks and sixth since the Rays traded him to the Marlins two years ago. The Mets have a potential utility opening after trading Luisangel Acuña in the Luis Robert Jr. deal, and given that Francisco Liriano, Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette will hardly ever sit or come out of games, it might make sense to carry someone like Bruján and send down Ronny Mauricio to play regularly. Still, that’s assuming Bruján remains with the club for more than a few days.

Nogowski’s major league action came in 2020 and ’21, when he hit .233/.299/.308 in 53 games for the Cardinals and Pirates. It’s funny that his first job is with the Mets, given that he’s best known for trading words with Marcus Stroman and touching off a little brouhaha in a Pirates-Mets game in 2021. A right-handed-hitting first baseman with a history of nice OBPs, the Florida State product didn’t offer quite enough power to stick, but he still far exceeded expectations for a guy drafted in the 34th round in 2012.

This is the countermove for the Gus Varland waiver claim. Adams was thought to be a non-tender candidate two months ago, but the Nationals wanted him back as a reserve catcher option and signed him to a cheap one-year deal. He’ll probably clear waivers and stick around as a potential backup to Keibert Ruiz. He presumably would be squeezed out if Harry Ford makes the team.

Mayza missed much of last season with a lat strain, posting a 2.89 ERA in 9 1/3 innings for the Pirates before the injury and a 4.91 ERA in 7 1/3 innings for the Phillies after being picked up for the stretch run. The 34-year-old lefty has a career 3.87 ERA in 382 relief appearances. He figures to have a difficult time making the Phillies out of spring training.

The Mariners made a mistake last winter in failing to secure starting pitching depth behind their vaunted rotation, but it didn’t wind up hurting them much, as Emerson Hancock and Logan Evans were able to hold their own in their 31 starts. Dunning will add to their alternatives this year after a bumpy 2025 in which he was let go by the Rangers and was limited to 12 relief appearances in the majors. The 31-year-old has a career 4.44 ERA in 102 starts and 34 relief appearances, most of those coming with Texas.

It’s a little surprising McCormick couldn’t get a guaranteed deal, given that there were so few free agent outfielders available capable of handling center field. Still, he has a clear path to a roster spot on the Cubs. McCormick started out strong with the Astros in 2021, putting together three nice years as a semi-regular before struggling and missing times the last two seasons. The 30-year-old is a lifetime .247/.321/.413 hitter, though he’s at .211/.273/.301 in 383 plate appearances since the beginning of 2024. He should be the Cubs’ fourth outfielder, unless Matt Shaw perhaps overtakes him.

Gore’s career 4.19 ERA went mostly unchanged last season, but he did seem to take a step forward with his 27.2% strikeout rate while being held back by one of the game’s worst defenses and, in particular, one of its worst catching situations. Things will get quite a bit better in Texas, which offers the additional perk of boasting one of the game’s toughest ballparks for right-handed hitters to homer in the last two years. If it holds up — and it may not, as Globe Life Field really has been all over the map since opening in 2020 — it’s a particularly good match for a flyball lefty in Gore. He’ll join Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi atop the Rangers rotation, with Jack Leiter as the heavy favorite for the fourth spot and likely Jacob Latz and Kumar Rocker competing for the fifth spot. The Rangers will pay him $5.8 million this year, and he’ll also be under control for 2027 before becoming a free agent.