MLB Player News

The Rangers acquired Smyly (elbow) from the Cubs on Friday, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports.

Smyly hasn't pitched in game action since the World Baseball Classic prior to the 2017 season, having undergone Tommy John surgery that July. The Cubs free up some money -- Smyly is set to make $7 million in 2019 -- to help offset Cole Hamels' option for next season. The Rangers' pitching situation is wide open, but it's nearly impossible to predict Smyly's role or workload given his extensive layoff.

Gonzales signed a two-year, $1.9 million contract with the Mariners on Thursday, Jon Heyman of FancredSports.com reports.

This is somewhat surprising, as Gonzales isn't eligible for arbitration yet, but the Mariners were apparently pleased with what they saw from the southpaw in his first full season in the majors in 2018. While he faded somewhat down the stretch, the 26-year-old finished the year with a 4.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 145:32 K:BB across 29 starts (166.2 innings). He figures to fill a middle rotation spot again in 2019.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Thursday that Sale is unlikely to need surgery on his shoulder this offseason and should be "100 percent" by spring training, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

The Red Sox are hopeful that Sale only requires a little rest in order to completely heal the shoulder injury that bothered him from late July through early September. Even though the left-hander was able to work his way back for the home stretch of the regular season and the playoffs, it was evident that Sale wasn't fully operational. Earlier this week, Boston exercised its club option on Sale for the 2019 season, which was an obvious decision given that he was owed just $15 million for next year.

Sale's club option for 2019 was picked up by the Red Sox on Tuesday, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

This comes as no surprise, as Sale will only be due $15 million in 2019. The southpaw turned in another stellar season for the 2018 World Series champions, posting a 2.11 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 13.5 K/9 across 27 starts (158 innings).

Carrasco's 2019 club option was picked up by Cleveland on Tuesday.

The move is no surprise, as Carrasco will make just $9.75 million in 2019, T.J. Zuppe of The Athletic reports. Cleveland holds the pitcher's rights in 2020 as well, via another club option.

Sale will not start Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers on Sunday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Sale was the announced starter before Game 4's victory, but manager Alex Cora opted to switch his starter following the win. The skipper cited that he liked David Price more at Dodger Stadium, so he will be the one taking the hill to start Sunday. Sale will be available out of the bullpen, however, so there's a chance he could throw some high-leverage innings if it means bringing a title home to Boston. However, if he goes unused and the Red Sox lose, there's a good chance Sale would start Game 6 back at home.

Sale will start Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Manager Alex Cora confirmed the assignment and stated that his top pitcher wouldn't be available in Game 4, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. As things stand now, the Boston ace would line up to face Clayton Kershaw. Sale only got through four innings in his first start of the World Series, allowing three runs on five hits.

Rodriguez will start Game 4 of the World Series against the Dodgers, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports.

Nathan Eovaldi was originally scheduled to start Game 4, but he won't be able to pitch for a few days after throwing six innings in relief in Game 3, giving Rodriguez an opportunity to start in the World Series. The southpaw will face a Dodgers lineup that relies heavily on platoons to exploit batter/pitcher matchups, though he doesn't have signiicantly different numbers against righties (.238 BAA) and lefties (.234 BAA). He'll be opposed by fellow left-hander Rich Hill.

Eovaldi will not start Game 4 of the World Series against the Dodgers on Saturday after throwing six innings of relief during Friday's 18-inning affair, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Once manager Alex Cora turned to Eovaldi in the 12th inning of Game 3, it was basically assured that the right-hander would be out of the running to start Saturday's game. As it turned out, Eovaldi tossed six-plus innings in a valiant effort to keep the Red Sox afloat, allowing just one earned run -- Max Muncy's walkoff home run -- on three hits and one walk while striking out five. Don't expect to see Eovaldi available until Sunday at the earliest, and that would likely come as a one-inning relief appearance at best. Cora has yet to decide who will take the mound for Game 4, though he mentioned that it would be a left-hander, so look for Eduardo Rodriguez or Drew Pomeranz to draw the start.

Eovaldi will start Game 4 of the World Series against Los Angeles on Saturday, Sean McAdam of the BostonSportsJournal.com reports.

There's a slight chance that manager Alex Cora may wind up changing plans again, since he stated Eovaldi will be available out of the bullpen Friday night should the Red Sox require his services with a late lead, per Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald. Initially, Eovaldi was slated to take the mound for Game 3, but Cora elected to utilize the hard-throwing right-hander as a bridge to closer Craig Kimbrel in each of the first two contests of this series.