MLB Player News

The White Sox designated Sousa for assignment Monday.

Sousa was removed from the 40-man roster to make room for infielder Elvis Andrus, who finalized a one-year, $3 million deal with Chicago on Monday. In his 25 appearances out of the Chicago bullpen in 2022, the left-handed Sousa struggled to an 8.41 ERA, 1.72 WHIP and 12:10 K:BB across 20.1 innings. The 27-year-old will hit the waiver wire, and there could be some interest from clubs looking for a southpaw to compete for a bullpen spot.

Palumbo agreed Monday with the Rangers on a minor-league contract, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.

The left-hander was spotted at camp Monday and is set to begin his second stint with the Texas organization. Texas drafted Palumbo back in 2013, and he spent the first eight professional seasons with the club, seeing big-league action in 2019 and 2020. Injuries have derailed the 28-year-old's career over the past couple of years, however, so the Rangers will likely be counting on him merely to fill some organizational pitching depth at Triple-A Round Rock in 2023.

Bautista (shoulder/knee) said that he expects to throw another bullpen session Tuesday at approximately 75-to-80 percent intensity, Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Bautista is gradually building back up from left knee soreness and right shoulder soreness, injuries that both affected him late in the 2022 season. Despite the fact that the Orioles are taking a deliberate approach with him this spring and plan to hold the 27-year-old out of Grapefruit League games until around mid-March, Bautista still appears to be trending toward being ready to go for Opening Day. If Bautista doesn't progress as anticipated and needs to open the season on the injured list, however, manager Brandon Hyde mentioned Cionel Perez and Bryan Baker as candidates to get opportunities early on to close games, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com.

Jansen threw a bullpen session Sunday and was on time in his delivery, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.

Jansen is one of the slowest pitchers in the league, so he'll have to adjust to the new rule that pitchers must begin their delivery within 15 seconds with the bases empty (20 second with runners on). He had the third slowest tempo (25.6 seconds) between pitches last year.

Duran (hamstring) threw live batting practice Sunday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Duran pulled out of consideration for the World Baseball Classic after he suffered a mild hamstring injury in January, but he's recently been throwing bullpen sessions and is now facing live batters. The 24-year-old was dominant as a rookie last year and recorded eight saves and 18 holds with a 1.86 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 89:16 K:BB over 67.2 innings. Duran is likely the Twins' best reliever, but he could open the season splitting save chances with Jorge Lopez.

White is still limited to long toss and has yet to throw off a mound as he completes his recovery from a right shoulder impingement, Gregor Chisholm of The Toronto Star reports.

The right-hander said earlier in the week that he felt healthy, but the Blue Jays are still bringing White along slowly to begin spring training. "I think it's kind of day to day right now," Jays manager John Schneider said Saturday. "We're seeing how he responds with each distance that he gets back out to. Today was another step in the right direction. We'll probably have more updates in the next few days but, for him, it's a little bit fluid right now to make sure we're checking every box." Assuming White's return to the mound isn't delayed too much, he'll compete with Yusei Kikuchi for the fifth starter spot in Toronto's rotation.

Hendriks (illness) is working out with the White Sox at camp and threw a bullpen session Friday, Vinnie Duber of AllCHGO.com reports.

Hendriks' top priority for now remains his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but it's certainly encouraging to see him able to throw. The White Sox previously said they didn't expect to have an update on their closer's ability until Opening Day, however, and there's been no suggestion that Friday's bullpen session is part of a typical spring build-up.

Martinez revamped his delivery in the offseason, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Athletics and Martinez are hoping that the cleaner delivery will lead to better results at the highest level. It's hard to imagine it making things worse, as the right-hander was lit up to the tune of a 6.24 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 57.2 innings with Oakland in his rookie year. Martinez also registered a 5.72 ERA in his 18 starts in Triple-A, and fantasy managers will need to see some form of success on a consistent basis before giving him any kind of roster consideration.

Balazovic broke his jaw in an off-site altercation last Saturday and underwent surgery, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

The nature of the altercation is unclear. Neither is Balazovic's timeline as far as his return to game action, though he's expected to be able to play catch within 10 days.

Poche lost his arbitration case against the Rays on Saturday, meaning he'll make $1.175 million this season, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Poche had filed for $1.3 million. The southpaw saved seven games for the Rays last season despite posting a mediocre 3.99 ERA. Tampa Bay's typically fluid bullpen setup could see Poche earn another small handful of saves when opposing lefties are due up in the ninth inning, but he doesn't look like a candidate for a traditional closer role should the Rays go that route.