MLB Player News

The Cardinals are sending along $8 million. Since he received a $1 million bonus to waive his no-trade clause, Contreras is due to earn $42.5 million for two years or, if his 2028 club option is exercised, $55 million for three. After missing out on Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, getting Contreras could be seen as a letdown for the Red Sox, but this is a truly excellent hitter who still might yet have a career year in him after being freed from catching duties. His OPS+s the last four years have ranged from 123 to 138, and he was still showing 95th-percentile bat speed at age 33 last season. This is also a nice little ballpark upgrade for him, adding to his fantasy value. He’ll probably be Boston’s first baseman on Opening Day, though he could do more DHing if the Red Sox trade an outfielder and Triston Casas proves more worthy of playing time than Masataka Yoshida.

Bellinger slapped Shawn Armstrong pitch to the left side and through a drawn-in infield to plate two in the 10th. He’s up to 43 RBI on the season, which is tied for 14th in the majors. Of the 25 players with at least 40 RBI, only Bellinger (nine) and Alec Burleson (eight) are still in single digits in homers.

All of the runs came in the third, which featured a walk, a double, two singles and then a Brayan Rocchio throwing error. Warren got pulled with a 4-3 lead in the fifth after a HBP, a strikeout and then an odd catcher’s interference on a one-two pitch to José Ramírez. The curve from Warren came close to Ramírez’s back foot and catcher J.C. Escarra gloved both ball and shoe while making the catch. It was ruled catcher’s interference on replay, though Ramírez wasn’t swinging and wasn’t affected by it at all. Warren was lifted immediately afterwards, and Brent Headrick finished the inning without incident. Warren ended up with five strikeouts, and he allowed two earned runs or fewer for the 11th time in 13 starts this season. He’ll take a 3.28 ERA into his next start, which will probably come Sunday against the Blue Jays.

He struck out three and walked one. Bednar threw 27 pitches tonight after 11 on Sunday, so he’ll most likely be down on Tuesday. Fernando Cruz could be a candidate for a save then.

Williams reached 100.4 mph on the gun tonight, and his 98.7-mph average on his fastball was 2.1 mph better than his season norm. Still, it didn’t stop him from giving up two homers, one on a cutter and another on a curve. It would have been nice to see Williams do a little better in consecutive starts against Aaron Judge-less Yankees lineups — he allowed two homers and three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings last time out — but it could have gone worse. He’s still tied for the major league lead with nine wins. He has a 3.95 ERA in his last seven starts after coming in at 2.73 in his first seven. Williams will face the Tigers next.

Goldschmidt has three homers in his last nine games. Things might get crowded again once Giancarlo Stanton comes off the injured list, but for now, Goldschmidt is well worth using in mixed leagues.

Wade suffered the apparent injury while legging out a run-scoring double in the sixth inning and left the field with a trainer. He finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and one walk. The 32-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Astros last week and was playing in just his fourth game with the club. There should be an update on his status after the contest.

Wells underwent precautionary imaging after hitting the injured list with cervical headaches over the weekend. The 26-year-old backstop doesn’t have a definitive return timetable at the moment.

García took Blue Jays starter Patrick Corbin deep in the second inning for his third round-tripper in his last five games. The 406-foot no-doubter to left-center field was his seventh big fly of the year. The 33-year-old slugger has shown some signs of life recently, but he’s pretty much a power-only fantasy contributor at this juncture of his career.

Clement became the first non-Cubs player to take Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez deep when he connected for a fifth-inning blast to left field. It was his seventh big fly of the season and second time he’s left the yard in three games. The unheralded 30-year-old is having a phenomenal season, hitting .309 through 66 games.

Duran was brought on to protect a three-run lead in the final frame and required just nine pitches (eight strikes) to slam the door. He gave up a one-out double to Andrés Giménez, but managed to get pinch-hitter Jesús Sánchez and Brandon Valenzuela to ground out to end it. He’s converted all 16 of his save opportunities this season to go along with a microscopic 1.25 ERA across 21 2/3 innings of work.