MLB Player News

Heaney signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Rangers on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Heaney missed significant time but posted a 3.10 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with the Dodgers in 2022 -- career bests in both categories. If Heaney can maintain anything close to the 13.6 K/9 he recorded last season, there is still upside with the 31-year-old lefty.

Velasquez signed a one-year, $3.15 million deal with the Pirates on Tuesday, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com reports.

The 30-year-old righty stumbled to a 4.78 ERA as a swingman for the White Sox last season. He'll get to call one of the league's best pitchers' parks home in 2023, but the Pirates probably shouldn't expect a much better ERA, as Velasquez hasn't beaten that mark since all the way back in 2016. Those looking for signs of optimism could point to the fact that he managed a career-best 7.8 percent walk rate last season, but he also tied his career low with a 21.6 percent strikeout rate. His odds of securing a starting role may not become clear until the offseason is over, though the Pittsburgh rotation isn't exactly full of established arms.

Cavalli (shoulder) is penciled into an Opening Day rotation role, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America reports.

The 2020 first-round pick made his big-league debut in late August but was knocked around in his lone start before missing the rest of the year with shoulder inflammation. He was able to resume throwing before the end of the season, and the Nationals are seemingly confident in both his health and his ability heading into next season. A secure rotation spot boosts Cavalli's appeal as a fantasy lottery ticket, and he has a fair amount of prospect pedigree, but he'll have to sort out his control before becoming an effective starter. He walked 10.7 percent of the batters he faced across 44 career starts in the minors.

Kaprielian underwent offseason surgery to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder, Evan Webeck of The Mercury News reports.

Kaprielian's rehab is reportedly proceeding as expected, and he's on track to be ready for the start of spring training. "It's something that he dealt with in the past," said manager Mark Kotsay. "I don't think it's a concern. I think it's something the organization and him felt strongly about moving forward with." Kotsay noted that although Kaprielian's rehab is going well, he doesn't yet have an exact timeline for when the right-hander will be back at 100 percent. His status will be worth monitoring as spring camp approaches.

Verlander and the Mets agreed Monday on a two-year, $86.66 million contract, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. The contract includes a full no-trade clause and a $35 million vesting option for the 2025 season if he pitches at least 140 innings in 2024, according to Heyman.

After letting ace Jacob deGrom walk in free agency on a five-year, $185 million deal with the Rangers, the Mets secured about as strong of a replacement at the top of the rotation as they could have in Verlander, who took home his third Cy Young Award in 2022. Though he'll be turning 40 years old in February and missed the entire 2021 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Verlander demonstrated that he's still one of the game's elite starters by posting an 18-4 record, 1.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 185:29 K:BB in 175 innings this past season. The move from the reigning World Series champions to another team with title aspirations in the Mets shouldn't hurt Verlander too much from a wins standpoint, nor should the change in home ballpark from Minute Maid Park to Citi Field hinder his ratios. Expect Verlander to be one of the first pitchers off the board in 2023 fantasy drafts.

Espino, who was originally shut down in May with patellar tendinitis, ended up missing the rest of the season with a sore right shoulder, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

It was generally accepted that some other non-knee injury must have popped up to keep Espino from making any starts in 2022 beyond April. There's no doubting Espino's stuff, but he now has a lot of developmental time to make up and he needs to build back up his workload after throwing just 18.1 innings in four April starts at Double-A and failing to make it back in time for fall or winter ball. Given Cleveland's impressive rotation depth, Espino may not make his MLB debut until 2024.

Gibson signed a one-year deal with the Orioles on Saturday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Gibson has been eating innings at the big-league level for a full decade, but how much remains in the tank ahead of his age-35 season is unclear. His 5.05 ERA last season means he's finished above 5.00 in that category in two of the last three seasons, though he did post a 3.71 ERA in 2021 and hasn't seen a big drop in velocity. His 20.1 percent strikeout rate in 2022 was below average as usual, though allowing plenty of contact isn't quite as dangerous as it used to be in Baltimore now that the left-field fence has been pushed back. The veteran righty should have a good shot at a spot near the back of the Orioles' rotation to open the year, but his age means the bottom could fall out at any time without much warning.

DeGrom signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers on Friday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

The contract includes a conditional sixth year that would make the deal worth $222 million. He has a full no-trade clause. The commitment from ownership in Texas has been quite impressive, as they laid out $556 million for Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray last offseason. DeGrom unsurprisingly opted for a longer contract than he might have been offered by other teams, as durability is the only question mark with him. The 34-year-old righty logged a 3.08 ERA, 2.13 FIP and 0.75 WHIP in 64.1 innings last season with the Mets after dealing with a shoulder injury for the first four months. He dealt with an elbow injury in 2021. According to Statcast park factors, Globe Life Field is the 19th most hitter-friendly park while Citi Field ranked 26th, so it's a slight park downgrade and a major supporting cast downgrade.

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said Thursday the team wants to "learn more and see more" before locking Kikuchi into the rotation for 2023, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports.

Kikuchi joined Toronto on a three-year, $36 million deal in March and endured a rough first season with the team, as he finished with a 5.19 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 124:58 K:BB across 100.2 innings. He started in 20 of 32 appearances but also struggled in his 12 relief outings. The Blue Jays may need to add a couple starters in free agency for Kikuchi to comfortably be kept out of the rotation in 2023 since Hyun Jin Ryu (elbow) won't be available until the second half of the season, at least.

Eflin signed a three-year, $40 million contract with the Rays on Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Eflin declined a $15 million mutual option with the Phillies for the 2023 season to head to free agency. He's now rewarded with a long-term deal in Tampa Bay and will presumably be a significant part of their rotation plans for the length of the contract. Eflin has been limited by injuries the last two seasons, combining to maintain a 4.12 ERA with a 164:31 K:BB across 181.1 innings.