MLB Player News

The Blue Jays and Pop avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $900,000 contract Thursday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca report.

Pop will avoid a hearing in what was his first year of arbitration eligibility. He's struggled during his time in Toronto, collecting a 4.89 ERA and 58:27 K:BB over 81 innings across the past two-plus seasons.

The Astros and Dubon avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $5 million contract Thursday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

This was Dubon's third of four arbitration-eligible years. The utility player slashed .269/.296/.361 with four homers in 137 games with the Astros in 2024. He underwent surgery to repair a torn UCL in his left thumb in October but will be ready to roll for spring training.

The Twins acquired Cartaya from the Dodgers on Thursday in exchange for minor-league right-hander Jose Vasquez.

Once regarded as the one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball, the 23-year-old Cartaya has seen his stock plummet over the past two seasons while his plate skills and power output have both trended downward during his stops between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. With Dalton Rushing also leapfrogging Cartaya on the organizational catching depth chart, the Dodgers elected to move Cartaya off the 40-man roster last week, even though he still has a minor-league option remaining. The Twins have swooped in to take a chance on Cartaya, but he'll still likely be headed to the Triple-A level to begin the 2025 campaign with Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez locked in as the catching tandem at the big-league level.

The Yankees and Effross avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $800,000 contract Thursday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Effross made just three appearances in the majors in 2024 and none in 2023 due to Tommy John and back surgeries. He's healthy now and will look to regain the form that allowed him to put up a 2.78 ERA and 80:16 K:BB over 71.1 frames from 2021 to 2022.

The White Sox and Wilson (shoulder) avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $950,000 contract Thursday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Wilson receives a bump in pay in what was his first year of arbitration eligibility. The 30-year-old struggled mightily with his control in his first season with the White Sox, walking 26 over 34.2 innings while posting a 5.71 ERA. Wilson spent the final six weeks of the 2024 season on the injured list with a back issue, but it was a shoulder injury suffered on a rehab assignment which shut him down for the year. It's not clear whether he will be limited in spring training.

Hendriks (elbow) said Wednesday he's been throwing bullpen sessions for a month and a half and is having "a pretty normal offseason," Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Hendriks was limited to just six rehab appearances in 2024 after making it back from Tommy John surgery and threw only 10 innings in 2023 after returning from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It would appear he will enter spring training without restrictions, but it's a mystery what Hendriks' stuff will look like considering how much time he's missed and the fact that he'll turn 36 in February. Browne writes that Hendriks "might be a slight favorite" to open 2025 as Boston's closer, but it's a tentative designation to say the least.

Jax and the Twins avoided arbitration Thursday by agreeing to a one-year, $2.365 million contract, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Jax was arbitration eligible for the first time, coming off a 2024 campaign in which he turned in a tidy 2.03 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 95:15 K:BB while collecting five wins, 10 saves and 24 holds in 71 innings out of the bullpen. Though reports earlier in the offseason suggested that Jax could be a candidate to move into the rotation in 2025, general manager Jeremy Zoll confirmed Wednesday that the right-hander will remain a key part of the late-inning ranks during the upcoming season. Jhoan Duran will presumably head into spring training as the Twins' preferred closer, but Jax will likely be first in line for save chances if Duran misses time or is removed from the role for performance-related reasons.

The Rays and Cleavinger avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.2 million contract Thursday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Cleavinger gets a well-earned raise after putting up a 3.75 ERA and 71:31 K:BB over 60 innings during 2024 in his first year back from knee surgery. The left-handed reliever will be in line for high-leverage work again with the Rays in 2025.

The Tigers and Rogers avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.64 million contract Thursday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Rogers had been arbitration-eligible for a second time. The catcher slashed a disappointing .197/.255/.352 with 10 home runs in 2024, but he remains a trusted receiver and is slated to open 2025 at the top of the Tigers' catching depth chart.

Mize and the Tigers avoided arbitration after agreeing to a one-year, $2.34 million contract Thursday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

The Tigers declined Mize's $3.1 million club option for 2025 earlier in the offseason, but the 27-year-old right-hander will stick around in Detroit at a more team-friendly price. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft has struggled to bounce back from his June 2022 Tommy John surgery, which cost him the entire 2023 season. He broke camp last season as a member of Detroit's rotation but proceeded to turn in middling ratios (4.49 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 10.8 K-BB%) over his 102.1 innings with the big club spanning 22 appearances (20 starts), and the Tigers ultimately moved him to the bullpen down the stretch. Mize will likely have to compete for a back-end spot in Detroit's rotation once again this spring.