MLB Player News

The 23-year-old Lee Sang was hitting .239/.297/.397 in Double-A, so he hasn’t really advanced his cause as a prospect this season. He has a little pop and is a quality defender, so there’s still a chance for him, more likely as a bench player than as a regular.

The 31-year-old Hernandez, a slider specialist with an 89-92 mph fastball, has a 7.06 ERA in 21 2/3 major league innings with the Padres and Astros. He’ll compete for a spot in the A’s bullpen during spring training.

Things have been trending in the wrong direction for Azocar, who had 216 plate appearances in the majors as a rookie in 2022, but just 102, 79 and 21 the last three seasons. Overall, he’s hit .244/.290/.319 in 228 games, two of which actually came with the Braves last summer in between stints in the Mets organization. He seems destined to be Triple-A insurance for Atlanta.

Marte is still available in trade talks at the moment, but Hazen might shut down things soon if no one steps up with the offer the D-backs want. “But this isn’t going to continue to linger,” he said. “We need to focus our offseason. Again, my gut this whole time was that [a trade of Marte] wasn’t going to happen, and I think it seems likely that that’s the case and we want to focus on other things we need to do.” The Red Sox, Rays and Tigers are among the teams to have asked about Marte, who is entering the second year of a seven-year, $116.5 million extension.

Rendon, coming off hip surgery, was due $38 million in the final season of a seven-year, $245 million contract. The buyout figures to allow him to collect all that money over a longer period of time, and in return, Rendon won’t have to show up to spring training for rehab and pretend that he wants to play. Rendon will finish his Angels tenure with a .242/.348/.369 line in 257 games played.

There’s a new favorite to close for the Angels, who lost out on a bid to re-sign Kenley Jansen. It’ll be Yates’ second stint with the team, though you could have blinked and missed the first; he made one appearance and gave up two runs for the Halos in 2017. Yates struggled to a 5.23 ERA while dealing with injuries with the Dodgers last season, but he still struck out 52 in 41 1/3 innings. He had a 1.17 ERA and 33 saves for the Rangers in 2024. The deal is worth $5 million, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.

Rosario, who agreed to the deal over two weeks ago, is again signing very cheap at $2.5 million, but at least that’s $500,000 more than last year. He made $7.8 million in his final year of arbitration in 2023 and now a total of $5 million the three subsequent years. Rosario wound up hitting .276/.309/.436 in 191 plate appearances for the Nationals and Yankees last season. That was good for a 109 OPS+, the best mark of his career. The Yankees will likely primarily use him to spell corner infielders Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon against lefties. He’ll also be an option at shortstop while Anthony Volpe is out, but José Caballero figures to be the main guy there.

Ruiz led the AL in steals with 67 for the A’s in 2023, but he’s spent most of the last two years in the minors, hitting .303/.412/.511 in Triple-A last season. He’s a career .241/.296/.343 hitter in 621 major league plate appearances, and for all his speed, he’s just not a very good outfielder. Using a bench spot on him as an occasional starter against left-handers and a pinch-runner isn’t the worst idea, but he’d have offer a lotmore utility if he were a quality defender somewhere.

The Dodgers are getting a little something for a player they probably were going to DFA at some point. Marrero was signed by the Marlins as a 17-year-old last winter and had a 3.82 ERA and a 35/12 K/BB in 33 innings as a starter in the Dominican Summer League.

Wagaman’s 46.5% hard-hit rate and 19.5% strikeout rate last season were both pretty encouraging, but they produced only a modest .250/.296/.378 line in what might have been the 28-year-old’s only really good chance to establish himself in the majors. Maybe he’ll get lucky and the Rockies or Nationals will pick him up as a first base option. If not, Asia might be a possibility.

Except in terms of durability, Ruiz seems like a downgrade from Dane Myers, who the Marlins just traded to the Reds. The 26-year-old Ruiz hit .303/.412/.511 in Triple-A last season, also going 4-for-21 in his brief time with the Dodgers. He has an option year left, but the Marlins probably intend to carry him as a reserve outfielder. Marrero is an 18-year-old who has yet to pitch in the U.S.