Player News
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Jurrjens agreed to a deal with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball on Thursday, Rich Dubroff of PressBoxonline.com reports. Jurrjens has appeared in 130 major-league games over the course of a 15-year professional career but was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for exogenous testosterone last June. Having not played in the big leagues since 2014, the right-hander will look for a new opportunity in the Atlantic League as this likely closes the door on his time in the majors.
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Jurrjens received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for exogenous testosterone, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports. Jurrjens inked a minor-league contract with the Dodgers in late March, but he didn't seem very close to a call-up to the big leagues after posting a 4.64 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He'll be sidelined nearly for the remainder of the season, after which it's hard to see him garnering much interest from anyone on the free agent market next offseason.
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Jurrjens agreed to a minor-league contract with the Dodgers on Wednesday, Hudson Belinsky of Baseball America reports. The 31-year-old was out of baseball in 2016, but he does possess a lot of major-league experience that could serve him well in an organizational depth role. That seems to be his ceiling this season, however, as Jurrjens is behind a host of other starting pitchers in the Dodgers' pecking order, so he'll likely spend most if not all of 2017 with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
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Jurrjens is set to pitch in front of officials from the Royals camp Monday, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports. The right-hander last appeared in the major leagues in 2014 with the Rockies, but he spent 2016 out of baseball. Jurrjens hasn't sported an ERA below south of 4.00 since 2011 with the Braves, so it's a long-shot that he'll make much of a fantasy impact in 2017 even if he does land a contract agreement.
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The Rockies optioned three players and reassigned nine other to their minor league camp on Sunday. Optioned to the minors were RHP Chad Bettis, who is converting from relief to a starting pitcher. He didn't allow a run in five spring innings. "He's in a good place," manager Walt Weiss said, per the Denver Post. "There's some clarity in his role and what he needs to do. It was a positive camp for him." First baseman Ben Paulsen, who had a .108 spring average. "He hasn't had a great spring," Weiss said. "But that doesn't diminish what I think of the guy." LHP Chris Rusin, who had a 6.43 spring ERA. Reassigned to minor league camp were: LHP Kraig Sitton, LHP Aaron Laffey, LHP John Lannan, RHP Jair Jurrjens, RHP Brett Marshall, catcher Audry Perez, infielders Trevor Story and Omar Quintanilla, and outfielder Roger Bernadina.