MLB Player News

The Tigers announced Tuesday that Manning (forearm) is healthy and participating fully in his normal offseason program, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Manning missed the final week of the season with a strained forearm, but it doesn't appear to have been a serious injury. He also missed nearly four months earlier in the season due to a shoulder injury. The right-hander was effective when healthy with a 3.43 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 48:19 K:BB over 63 innings, and he should have the chance to earn a rotation spot during spring training.

The Twins made Bundy a free agent by declining his 2023 option Monday, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

An $11 million option was excessive for the righty, who posted a 4.89 ERA in 140 innings this season and struggles to miss bats with his low-velocity stuff. Bundy should get another chance to vie for an MLB roster spot somewhere next spring, but he'll likely begin the 2023 season as nothing more than a fifth or sixth starter.

Arihara elected free agency Sunday.

A standout pitcher in his home country of Japan, Arihara made the jump to affiliated ball ahead of the 2021 season, joining the Rangers on a two-year, $6.2 million deal. The soft-tossing right-hander wasn't able to translate his success overseas to MLB, however, as he compiled a 7.57 ERA and 1.73 WHIP over 60.2 innings across two seasons with Texas. He was outrighted off the Rangers' 40-man roster in September and would have been in line for a standard minor-league salary for 2023 had he opted to remain in the organization, so the 30-year-old determined he was better off becoming a free agent. He's unlikely to command anything more than a minor-league deal if he sticks around in North America, so Arihara will most likely head back to Japan to continue his career.

Eflin declined his $15 million mutual option to return to Philadelphia in 2023 and became a free agent Monday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Eflin was an effective back-end starter for the first half of the 2022 season, logging a 4.37 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 56:15 K:BB in 68 innings through his first 13 starts. He would go on to miss two and a half months in the middle of the campaign due to right patellar issue, prompting the Phillies to bring him back as a reliever when he was finally ready to return in mid-September. He excelled in that role down the stretch and even emerged as Philadelphia's preferred closing option during the postseason, but the 28-year-old right-hander will presumably explore a move back to the rotation in 2023. After handing out big contracts to outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos last winter, it's unclear if the Phillies will have room in their budget to retain Eflin, who could be in store for a multi-year deal with an annual average value north of $10 million in free agency.

The Phillies exercised Nola's $16 million team option for 2023 on Monday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Nola has held up to his end of the bargain and then some since signing a four-year, $45 million extension with the Phillies in March 2019, with the 16.1 WAR he's accumulated over that four-season stretch placing him sixth among all MLB pitchers. The 29-year-old right-hander will once again be back with the Phillies at a team-friendly rate in 2023 before he hits free agency for the first time next winter. The Phillies could look to negotiate with Nola on a long-term deal in the months to come to ensure he doesn't make it to the open market next offseason.

The Diamondbacks declined Davies' $1.5 million club option for 2023 on Monday, making him a free agent.

Davies will receive a $250,000 buyout as part of the deal, effectively taking home $1.75 million in salary from the deal he signed with Arizona last March. Though $1.5 million is more than a fair price for a back-end starter like Davies, Arizona evidently felt it was better off pursuing an upgrade this winter or giving its younger, higher-upside arms a chance at staking claims to spots in the rotation. Davies was an effective innings eater for Arizona in 2022 -- he covered 134.1 frames over 27 starts -- but his underlying peripherals (4.71 SIERA, 8.8 K-BB%) didn't make him a particularly appealing fantasy option. The 29-year-old is unlikely to be a priority free agent this winter and may need other teams' pitching staffs to get hit by injury before he signs with a club that can present him with a clearer path to a rotation spot.

Walker opted out of the final season on his contract with the Mets on Monday, electing to hit free agency.

In an unsurprising move, Walker has decided to forgo his $6 million player option for 2023 in pursuit of a more lucrative, longer-term deal on the open market. The 30-year-old returned to form in 2022, posting a 3.49 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 132 strikeouts over 157.1 innings in 29 outings with the Mets. With Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt also opting out of their contracts over the past two days and joining Walker in free agency, the Mets could be looking at a new-look rotation around centerpiece Max Scherzer in 2023.

DeGrom declined his $30.5 million player option for 2023 on Monday, becoming a free agent.

DeGrom chose to exercise the opt-out clause in the five-year, $137.5 million contract extension he signed in March 2019 to try his luck in free agency for the first time since being drafted by the Mets in 2010. Though he was bogged down by a shoulder injury to open the campaign, the 34-year-old was electric when on the mound this season, producing a 3.08 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 102 punchouts over 64.1 innings in 11 starts. After making at least 30 starts in four of his first six seasons in the league, deGrom has logged only 38 total outings over the last three years. Even so, deGrom maintains a career 2.52 ERA over nine MLB seasons, and his otherworldly numbers on a per-start basis make it likely that he earns the largest average annual value contract for any pitcher in this season's free-agency class. The Mets will presumably make retaining deGrom a high priority, but expect several contending clubs to at least put forth competitive offers.

Rodon exercised his 2023 opt-out clause and became a free agent Sunday, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Rodon signed a two-year deal with San Francisco ahead of the 2022 campaign but will seek out a new contract after he posted a 2.88 ERA, 237:52 K:BB and 1.03 WHIP in 178 innings during his first season with the Giants. The southpaw figures to draw plenty of interest in free agency ahead of his age-30 season.

Bassitt informed the Mets on Sunday that he will decline his $19 million mutual option for 2023, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

The Mets would have been happy to welcome Bassitt back at that $19 million salary figure, but the 33-year-old right-hander shouldn't have much trouble securing a multi-year deal at a higher annual average value following a strong season in New York. In his 30 starts with the Mets spanning 181.2 innings, Bassitt delivered a 3.42 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 167:49 K:BB.