MLB Player News

Cease was added to the 40-man roster Tuesday.

With that, the White Sox protected Cease from the Rule 5 draft. He was named the Minor-League Pitcher of the Year by MLB Pipeline following an impressive showing across stops at High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2018 (2.40 ERA with 160 strikeouts over 123 frames).

Paxton was traded from the Mariners to the Yankees on Monday, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.

Seattle's return has yet to be announced, but well-regarded prospect Justus Sheffield is reportedly one of the big pieces included in the deal for the left-hander, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com. Paxton should slot in behind Luis Severino and help round out the Yankees' rotation for 2019. The 30-year-old has been fantastic when healthy over the past two seasons, posting a combined 3.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 11.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 296.1 innings (52 start) during that stretch.

The Reds have been in contact with the Yankees regarding a potential trade for Gray, John Boyle of the Dayton Daily News reports.

There's no elaboration whether there was significant progress, let alone even an offer, but that's to be expected. Of note, new Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson was also Gray's pitching coach at Vanderbilt.

Snell won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday.

Despite pitching just 180.2 innings -- the fewest ever from a Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher -- Snell narrowly beat out Justin Verlander to win the award for the first time in his career. The lefty put together an impressive breakout campaign in 2018, finishing with a league-best 21 wins (and just five losses), while posting a 1.89 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 11.0 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 across 31 starts.

General manager Brian Cashman said Gray "has got a good makeup, I just don't think this is the right spot for him," Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record reports.

Cashman also said "it's been a year and a half, I'm not going to be Sisyphus pushing the rock up a hill and having it roll back on top of me. It's not working," Erik Boland of Newsday reports. Gray has not met expectations since being acquired by the Yankees at the 2017 July trade deadline, especially struggling this season with a 4.90 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and career-high 9.8 percent walk rate. The soon-to-be 29-year-old is eligible for the final year of arbitration in 2019, but the Yankees could simply decline to tender him a contract -- which would make Gray a free agent. Trade possibilities are likely to be explored, as well.

McCullers underwent Tommy John surgery Tuesday and will miss the entire 2019 season, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

This is a brutal blow for McCullers and the Astros. The southpaw dealt with a forearm/elbow issue for the final two months of the 2018 campaign, and surgery was ultimately deemed necessary following further evaluation. He'll now begin a long recovery process that will keep him from pitching competitively until at least 2020. McCullers posted a 3.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 142:50 K:BB across 128.1 innings in 2018.

General manager Jeff Luhnow said Monday that McCullers could require surgery to address a lingering elbow injury, which would sideline the right-hander for the entire 2019 season, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Shortly after the Astros were eliminated from the postseason, manager A.J. Hinch hinted that McCullers could miss a large chunk of the 2019 campaign with the elbow issue, so Luhnow's comments only further cloud the 25-year-old's forecast. Luhnow added that McCullers is expected to receive further consultations from doctors in the near future, so more clarity on his situation should come later in the offseason. At least for the time being, McCullers doesn't profile as much more than a late-round dart for early drafters, given his sketchy health outlook.

Meyer (shoulder) experienced a setback in his recovery Monday, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Meyer missed the entire 2018 campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery in September of 2017. This latest setback will prevent the right-hander from throwing for the next four-to-six weeks, leaving his status for the start of spring training up in the air. Meyer posted a serviceable 3.74 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 75:42 K:BB across 13 starts (67.1 innings) prior to undergoing surgery.

McGuire was outrighted from the Angels' 40-man roster Friday.

McGuire was dealt to the Angels from Texas in mid-June and went on to make 17 appearances with Los Angeles in 2018, posting a disastrous 6.07 ERA and 1.69 WHIP with a 26:21 K:BB in 29.2 innings. This move will allow the team to free up another spot on the 40-man roster in order to protect a younger prospect from the Rule 5 draft.

Despaigne was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday.

Despaigne split time between Miami and Los Angeles in 2018, posting a combined 6.69 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and 35:19 K:BB across 39 innings. The veteran righty figures to serve as organizational pitching depth in 2019.