League news
Loading the latest league player and team updates.
Sports wire
The latest verified MLB player and team updates, newest first.
The 26-year-old hurler was bumped from the Tigers’ 40-man roster earlier in the week. It’s the first time that he has passed through waivers unclaimed. Expect Díaz to receive an invitation to big league camp where he’ll have a shot at competing for a spot in the Tigers’ Opening Day bullpen.
The procedure used the NanoNeedle, which was used during Tarik Skubal’s surgery in 2026 and led to a much shorter recovery timeline. The 26-year-old superstar had been scheduled to start swinging in early November, that timeline will now be delayed by an additional couple of weeks while he recovers. He should be ready to go for the start of spring training.
The 31-year-old right-hander passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment by the Red Sox earlier in the week. Kelly did a nice job in 17 appearances for the Red Sox in 2026, registering a 3.31 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 14/7 K/BB ratio over 16 1/3 innings. It’s possible that he could wind up securing a big league deal this winter.
Stock might receive the same treatment as Kyren Paris and Christian Cairo and get DFA’d here, with the Mets hoping he’d clear waivers. It seems likely that someone would grab him, though. Stock is 36, but his arm is about as lively as ever and he’s going to earning barely more than the major league minimum. He had a 5.93 ERA in seven starts and one relief appearances for the Mets last season.
Tena rejoins the Guardians 15 months after being traded to the Nationals for Lane Thomas. The 25-year-old hit .222/.302/.370 with seven homers in 288 plate appearances for the Nationals last season. That was good for an 85 OPS+, which is also his career mark in 659 plate appearances since he debuted with Cleveland in 2023. There’s still additional power potential lurking here, but it’s not likely to come with enough OBP or defensive value to turn him into an especially useful player.
The move opens up a spot on the 40-man for Reiver Sanmartín. Nicolas, 27, was acquired from the Orioles in July, but he never pitched in the majors for the Nationals. He has a 4.96 ERA and a 103/66 K/BB in 105 1/3 innings as a major leaguer, most of which came with the Pirates.
Sanmartín, who was DFA’d on Monday, had a 4.22 ERA in 24 appearances for the Giants last season. The 30-year-old seems more like a quality minor league signing than someone a team should keep on a 40-man all winter, but the Nationals are optimistic about something here. They also claimed fellow reliever Braxton Roxby off waivers last week and traded for Nate Furman on Sunday, so they’ve now taken advantage of the Giants’ roster purge three times.
Vivas is hitting .410 with two homers in 11 games. The 25-year-old’s first full season in the majors with the Nationals came with the expected strong plate discipline and very little power, as he finished at .238/.332/.322 in 364 plate appearances. He has outlasted fellow left-handed-hitting infielder José Tena on the roster, but he probably won’t be promised anything in spring training. Since he’s not viewed as even an occasional option at shortstop, it will definitely hurt his chances of sticking around if the team decides to make CJ Abrams a full-time second baseman.
Odor, a 10-year major league veteran, is still only 32, but he seems content to just play winter ball these days. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in 2024, but he never played in any games before being released. Before that, he signed to play in Japan, only to return home when the team wanted to assign him to the minors. Last year, Odor finished fourth in the VWL with 12 homers. He’s off to a particularly nice start this winter, having gone 10-for-24 with two homers, two doubles and five walks in eight games.
That seems like a nice deal for a player who would have been underrated in arbitration. Young, 27, hit .252/.318/.390 with 10 homers and 18 steals in 471 plate appearances last season. As things currently stand, the contract buys out his three arbitration seasons (2027-29) and then his first in free agency (2030). He presumably would have come up a little short of qualifying for free agency a year early under MLB’s current plan, since he doesn’t turn 30 until July 2029.
The 25-year-old hurler required UCL surgery in May of 2025 then worked his way back to pitch in the minor leagues for a couple of months in 2026 before a teres major strain shut him down in August. He’s now healthy again and pitching in the Arizona Fall League. The extra option provides the Jays with much more roster flexibility as they’ll have the ability to send him to and from Triple-A Buffalo without exposing him to waivers.
The 30-year-old outfielder elected free agency after being removed from the team’s 40-man roster at the end of October, but he’ll return on a minor league pact. Martin finally broke through and made his MLB debut with the club in September, going 0-for-2 in his limited action before suffering a hamstring strain. He’ll continue to function as extra outfield depth for the Jays.
The 28-year-old Marsh had a 4.96 ERA in 33 starts and 10 relief appearances for the Royals between 2023 and ’24, but he hasn’t pitched in a game since. He is coming off Oct. 2025 surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, and the Royals never really had anything to say about his progress last season before taking him off their 40-man roster last month. Once healthy, he’ll probably spend time in Triple-A trying to work his way back to the majors.
He also went 2-for-4 in his first game. The Phillies seem to be leaning towards keeping De La Cruz around next year after he hit .280/.349/.413 in 34 games in the second half of the season. If so, it’d probably be as a platoon partner to Brandon Marsh in left field.
Tena, who was DFA’d by the Nationals on Monday, is making a case for some team to claim him off waivers. The appearance was his second since joining Estrellas earlier this week. He’s played for the club every year since 2022.
This after he pitched five scoreless frames his first time out. Lao, 27, requested his release from the Nationals to pitch in Japan last season, but he wound up missing much of the year and throwing just 20 2/3 innings between the majors and minors. He’s a free agent now and could aim for a return to the U.S. He might land a major league deal if he keeps pitching like this.
Gonzalez is tied with Hernán Pérez for the home run lead in Venezuela and is first with 22 RBI. Only David Peralta has a better OPS. His success might increase the chances that the Twins move on from Royce Lewis this winter. Gonzalez is a natural outfielder, but he was introduced to first base last season and could fit there with Minnesota’s outfield looking quite crowded.
Acuña has been a star in Venezuela the last two years, posting a .914 OPS in 2024 and a .939 OPS with eight homers and 12 steals in 39 games last year. Of course, it hasn’t really translated to the majors yet, and he probably would have been better off spending last season in Triple-A than being stuck in a bench role for the White Sox while being out of options. There’s still hope for Acuña as a potential regular or at least a frequently used super utilityman; he’s a legitimate center fielder and middle infielder, he shows league-average bat speed and he’s struck out only 19 percent of the time as a major leaguer. But he needs to play, and now that the White Sox are contenders, he’s probably not going to get that opportunity in Chicago.
Jiménez tried to pull off a late-season return for Atlanta after two years of knee problems, but he wasn’t activated after allowing two runs over 2 2/3 innings in three appearances for Triple-A Gwinnett. A fine setup man for the Braves in 2023 and ’24, Jiménez is now a free agent. He’ll need to show better stuff this winter than he did in his three Triple-A appearances in order to net more than a minor league deal this winter.
One of a handful of AFL players with major league experience, Sullivan went 0-3 with an 8.87 ERA in five starts for the Rockies last season. He’s getting some extra work in now after missing much of the second half with a shoulder impingement, and he’s been one of the league’s best pitchers with a 3.07 ERA and a very impressive 20/1 K/BB in 14 2/3 innings. The Rockies will surely add some pitching this winter, but if they leave an opening or two in their rotation, Sullivan will be in the mix next spring.
20 news items shown