MLB Player News

The Padres were informed earlier in the day that they were out of the sweepstakes, so it came down to the Dodgers and the Blue Jays. Toronto secured extra international bonus pool money from the Guardians in a mid-afternoon trade for outfielder Myles Straw’s bloated contract, but it doesn’t appear to have been enough to push them over the top. Sasaki joins a ridiculously talented Dodgers’ rotation mix that features fellow countrymen Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani in addition to Cy Young Award contenders Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. On paper, the Dodgers are already a much stronger team than the squad that just won the World Series back in October. If he can stay healthy, Sasaki projects as an immediate upper-echelon fantasy contributor with massive strikeout upside.

Cole

Sogard got the call to fly cross country to join the Red Sox out in West Sacramento after Curtis Mead suffered a fractured wrist in his Boston debut on Monday. The 28-year-old got into 12 games earlier this season and offers some defensive versatility in a bench role.

It’s a brutal development for the Red Sox as Mead is out indefinitely and will fly back to Boston to visit a hand specialist to determine whether he’ll require season-ending surgery. The 25-year-old infielder, who was acquired from the Nationals for talented young lefty Connelly Early over the weekend, underwent an MRI that revealed the fracture after initial X-rays came back negative. It’s possible there was too much swelling for the fracture to show up on initial imaging at the ballpark after he was hit by a pitch during Monday’s series opener in West Sacramento. He suffered the injury during his second at-bat during his Red Sox debut. Fantasy managers should anticipate a lengthy absence and there’s a possibility his season is over.