MLB Player News

Hill signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Rays on Friday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Hill made eight starts for the Twins on a one-year deal last season, posting a 3.03 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 38.2 innings during that time. The 40-year-old could claim a starting job with Tampa Bay following several effective seasons late in his career.

Baz was invited Friday to the Rays' major-league camp, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Baz is a talented young righty who should be able to help the Rays before too long, but that help may not come this season. He recorded a strong 2.99 ERA in 17 starts at the Low-A level in 2019, but the canceled minor-league campaign in 2020 prevented him from continuing his climb up the ladder.

Detmers received an invitation to major-league camp for spring training, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

The 10th overall pick in last year's draft, Detmers has yet to make his professional debut, as the canceled minor-league campaign meant he had to spend the summer pitching at the Angels' alternate site. The Angels reportedly considered calling him up at one point, but with minor-league baseball returning in 2021, they'll presumably be able to give him a more standard development path.

Hart (hip) received an invitation to the Red Sox's major-league spring training Tuesday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

The 28-year-old made his big-league debut in 2020 but surrendered 19 runs over 11 innings before landing on the injured list with a left hip impingement. Hart is a strong bet to begin the season at Triple-A serving as organizational depth.

Albers agreed Monday with the Twins on a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to big-league spring training, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

The 35-year-old lefty owns a respectable 4.10 ERA in 120.2 career big-league innings, with a low 4.8 percent walk rate helping him keep runs off the board despite the fact that he's struck out just 15.1 percent of opposing batters. The last of those innings came in 2017, as he's spent the intervening years pitching for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. He owns a rather similar 4.02 ERA in 266.1 NPB innings.

Giolito and new White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz worked together in Los Angeles last week, Scott Merkin of the White Sox's official site reports.

Katz was hired during the offseason to replace long-time pitching coach Don Cooper, but he's not new to Giolito. The two have worked together during offseasons since the right-hander was in high school. Their work last week focused on refinement of Giolito's high fastball and the addition of a 12-6 curveball, referred to as a "downer" by the pitcher. "It comes out of my hand almost like a slider variant. It's hard to give it a real true name like curveball or slider. But the whole idea of it is it comes out on my fastball plane and then just goes down kind of later, whereas my slider is a little more right to left with that downward action. This one is more like out of the hand fastball plane, straight down late," said Giolito. He has thrown six or seven bullpen sessions during the offseason in preparation to build his innings count from the 72.1 he threw during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Marsh received an invitation Friday to Kansas City's major-league spring training.

The 22-year-old joined the team's 60-man player pool in mid-September last year and spent the final couple weeks of the season at the alternate training site. Marsh had a 4.05 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 38:4 K:BB over 33.1 innings at rookie ball during 2019 and is likely to begin 2021 in the lower minors.

Lynch received an invitation Friday to the Royals' major-league spring training.

The 24-year-old was included in Kansas City's 60-man player pool for 2020 but didn't end up seeing the field. Lynch had a 3.10 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 77:23 K:BB over 78.1 innings at High-A in 2019, so he's likely ticketed for Double-A or Triple-A to begin 2021.

Sale (elbow) was forced to modify his rehab program after suffering from neck stiffness, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

The team's chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom clarified that the setback was not directly related to Sale's recovery from Tommy John surgery. Even so, he admitted that the injury did push back Sale's timetable to return to the mound. More optimistically, there have been no reports of further arm issues for Sale and the neck injury is not expected to change his health status in the long-term.

Manning has been developing a new, sharp breaking ball, which could be classed as either a slider or a cutter, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

The 23-year-old righty already had quite a high ceiling, and the existence of a third offspeed pitch to pair with his plus curveball and above-average changeup could potentially push it even higher. It's of course no guarantee the pitch works as well as Manning hopes, however, and he'll come with question marks this season even if it does, as he could have been on a path to debut last year but was shut down with a strained right forearm. While he feels 100 percent now, it's certainly possible the issue returns.