MLB Player News

The big moves keep on coming. ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that Díaz’s new AAV (average annual value) record for a reliever at $23 million. Díaz also held the previous record AAV at $20.4 million. Apparently the Mets just weren’t willing to go that high. Regardless, it always made sense that the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers would make a play, as their bullpen was the glaring weakness for the club this past season. It’s safe to say they shored up their glaring hole in the ninth inning with this splash. After an up-and-down first season back from knee surgery in 2024, Díaz posted a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves and 98/21 K/BB ratio over 66 1/3 innings this past season. He’s quite simply one of the best closers in the game.

He suffered the injury when he jammed his thumb on first base while sliding headfirst. It’s a tough break for the Mets and for Mauricio, who finally had an opportunity to run with a full-time gig while Francisco Lindor (calf) is shelved. Bo Bichette slid over to cover shortstop after Mauricio was removed on Saturday with Brett Baty covering third base and that may be the Mets’ best path until Lindor is ready to return.

Randy Vasquez, who had been scheduled to start on Sunday, will get pushed back to Monday. That also means that Matt Waldron will get bumped from the Padres’ rotation entirely. Canning, 29, has been working his way back from last year’s Achilles injury. He posted a 3.60 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and an 18/12 K/BB ratio over 15 innings in five minor league rehab starts at Triple-A El Paso.

Lugo allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out six in the no-decision. The Royals went on to win in 10 after automatic runner Michael Massey stole third and scored on Maikel Garcia’s sac fly. Lugo’s ERA increased ever so slightly to 2.68, but it was his fifth quality start in seven tries. He’s slated to face the Guardians in the finale of a four-game series on Thursday.

Erceg was able to strand the automatic runner with a one-run lead and pick up his ninth save of the year. He hasn’t been quite as strong this season as he was in 2025 or 2024, but he’s still making a nice case to retain the closer’s role following Carlos Estévez’s return.

Just a bit of a step forward for Hancock. His previous career high for strikeouts was nine, and he’d never topped seven prior to this season. He didn’t overwhelm with his 31 percent CSW tonight, but the Royals couldn’t string hits together while combining for eight total bases in seven innings. Hancock’s 2.59 ERA is going to force the Mariners to make a tough decision when Bryce Miller is activated. It seems clear now that Hancock would be the better choice than Luis Castillo for the fifth spot in their rotation. Hancock is slated to face the White Sox next.

Muñoz entered with a one-run lead in the ninth and gave up a run after an odd misplay from Julio Rodríguez in center. Everything was fine aside from that, so there’s no cause for concern here. The Mariners, though, did lose in 10 after they failed to score the automatic runner.

That Jonathan India is out for the year has opened up the possibility that Massey could wind up with another lousy 500 plate appearances this season. Or the Royals could try something different, assuming that they’re not being blackmailed. Massey has 1,351 major league plate appearances under his belt with a .241/.281/.382 career line. We’re not entirely certain that Nick Loftin would be an upgrade, but giving him a real shot wouldn’t seem to be a bad idea.

The Mariners are being very elusive about this, as the unknown injury that got Raleigh scratched required imaging, the results of which are still unknown. Maybe he’ll prove to be just fine in a day or two, but the lack of transparency seems like a reason for concern.

Peraza was the hero with an RBI single to score Adam Frazier to give the Angels the win in the bottom of the 10th. He also doubled and singled in the contest. The former upper-echelon prospect in the Yankees’ system has enjoyed his new surroundings, and is now slashing .295/.361/.489 on the campaign. It’s very plausible — but far from a guarantee — that this is the breakout campaign.

The stolen base is the first of the season for Soto. The 27-year-old swiped 38 of them in 2025, and it seems very unlikely that he’s going to approach that number again; at least not in 2026. The .338/.442/.538 slash certainly helps compensate for the lack of thefts.