MLB Player News

Any fantasy managers hoping for one player to emerge will be disappointed, which will likely make it hard to roster either player for the final month of the season. Crooks will start on Tuesday for the first time at Busch Stadium with Miles Mikolas on the mound.

The 30-year-old hit .228/.307/.381 in 153 games for the Nationals and Red Sox last year with 18 home runs and 84 RBI. He is probably closer to his .264/.347/.424 slash line than last year would suggest, but it’s hard to see a fit here in Cincinnati. With Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base, and Eugenio Suarez at designated hitter, first base already is a competition between Sal Stewart and Spencer Steer. It’s hard to see Lowe sticking in Cincinnati.

Kim tore a tendon in his right middle finger in January, and the initial prognosis is that he would be out for four-to-five months. This would put him on schedule or slightly ahead of it. He has not yet started hitting, and we don’t know what the injury will do to his power production, so he is still be left undrafted in all redraft formats.

Loperfido was originally an Astros prospect but was traded to Toronto in 2024 as part of the Yusei Kikuchi deal. He is not back in Houston after hitting .333/.379/.500 with four home runs in 104 plate appearances for the Blue Jays last year. Loperfido also cut his strikeout rate to 21.4 percent in 91 Triple-A games in 2025 after posting a 28 percent mark in Triple-A in 2024. Improved plate discipline would help Loperfido utilize his plus raw power, and there’s a real chance that Houston gives him a chance to be their starting left fielder against right-handed pitching.

This trade came together very quickly. Sánchez should start against all right-handed pitchers and hit near the middle of a solid Blue Jays lineup. His inability to hit lefties is going to make it hard to roster him in fantasy leagues with weekly lineup locks, but he should have lots of value in daily moves leagues or leagues with mid-week roster changes.

This was to be expected, with Spencer Schwellenbach needing elbow surgery and AJ Smith-Shawver also sidelined after elbow surgery. Despite being limited to just one start last season, we’d much rather gamble on López in fantasy drafts, who posted a 1.99 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 148/42 K/BB ratio in 2024. Holmes is also coming off a late-season UCL injury that he did not have surgery for in the offseason, so he remains a huge risk in fantasy leagues.

This move seems to be directly connected to Anthony Santander being out for six months. Sánchez should slot in as a starter against right-handed pitching since he is a career .253/.324/.450 hitter against RHP with a 111 wRC+. Davis Schneider would then likely platoon with him and start against lefties. Loperfido also has minor league options remaining while Sánchez doesn’t, and, as Chandler Rome points out, Sánchez is owed $6.8 million while Loperfido is making the league minimum. This allows the Astros to save money for future potential moves.

We assume this will be a minor league deal. Taylor hit .186/.256/.301 in 58 gams for the Dodgers and Angels last season, and he wasn’t much better in batting .202/.298/.300 in 2024. A bounce back at age 35 would be pretty surprising.

King was non-tendered by the Cardinals in November after posting a 4.66 ERA last year. The sinkerballer had come in at 3.47 over the previous four seasons, and the Marlins are making a small bet that he’ll get back into that territory. If it works out, he’ll probably be flipped for a prospect in July.

Simpson, 28, had a 7.34 ERA and a 36/22 K/BB in 30 2/3 innings as a rookie last season. That he throws fastballs only about one-third of the time contributes to his control woes, but it’s also probably his only hope of surviving as a major leaguer.

He’ll earn $1.85 million if he wins a spot. Montero, 35, had a 4.48 ERA in 60 1/3 innings for three teams last year, which was his best mark since 2022. He finished up nicely with the Tigers, posting a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings, but that came with a poor 19/14 K/BB. At best, he’s probably a 50/50 shot to make the Yankees.