The Rangers and pitcher Matt Harrison seemingly received positive news yesterday, as the righty, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that an X-ray of Harrison’s back came back clean. He will undergo a CT scan on Wednesday in hopes of being cleared to throw in January.
More from the American League:
- The Athletics put in a “competitive” bid for Chase Headley at an earlier stage of his signing process, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Oakland would have moved Brett Lawrie to second had it landed Headley, Rosenthal adds. That tidbit also gives us some information about the timeline of the A’s involvement, of course, as Lawrie was not acquired until the end of November.
- Jed Lowrie chose to sign with the Astros from a group of four finalists, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle writes. Drawing broad interest due to his ability to play across the diamond, Lowrie had “significant dialogue” with no less than 17 teams, per agent Brodie Van Wagenen. But the Astros emerged as the best choice. “It was very clear to Jed that they wanted him, not a player like him or a player that played his position,” Van Wagenen said. “They wanted him. And I think when we were lining up the numbers at the end, that won the day.”
- Just-inked hurler Gavin Floyd is ticketed for the Indians rotation, GM Chris Antonetti tells reporters including Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer. He is expected to join Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer, along with the victor of a spring pitch-off between Danny Salazar, T.J. House, Zach McAllister, and Josh Tomlin. Notably, Cleveland obtained a fourth option year on Salazar, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets, which significantly enhances the team’s flexibility with the talented but inconsistent righty.
- The Tigers are working the market for left-handed relievers, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press reports on Twitter. As Fenech further discusses in a series of tweets, Detroit has made minor league offers to a pair of southpaws who are expected to land big league deals, and it remains to be seen whether the club will up its offers. The remaining market is fairly thin on left-handed pen pieces at this stage.