Headlines

  • Tucker Barnhart To Retire
  • Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline
  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
  • Dave Parker Passes Away
  • Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nick Bitsko

AL Notes: Twins, Cruz, Astros, Reddick, Rays, Indians

By Connor Byrne | December 1, 2020 at 10:29pm CDT

The Twins and free-agent designated hitter Nelson Cruz are in “a staring contest where neither side is blinking,” Dan Hayes of The Athletic writes. As a 40-year-old coming off yet another great season, Cruz is looking to secure the best possible payday, though he’s in a difficult position because there is still no word on whether the National League will have a DH in 2021. As such, it’s no surprise that Cruz is taking his time on the open market, even though he did say in the past that he would like to remain a Twin. Cruz put up a phenomenal .308/.394/.626 line with 57 home runs in 735 plate appearances in Minnesota from 2019-20.

  • Free-agent outfielder Josh Reddick seemingly said goodbye to the Astros on Instagram on Tuesday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle relays. “Thank you to the Astros, my teammates, coaches, staff and of course the FANS,” Reddick posted. “Houson will always be special to me. From winning a World Series, to getting engaged and starting a family here and everything in between, I loved playing here and look forward to doing it again.” The Astros could still re-sign Reddick, but that has “never seemed likely,” Rome writes. Reddick joined the Astros on a four-year, $52MM contract before 2017 and proceeded to record a respectable .275/.331/.425 slash with 48 home runs in 1,787 plate appearances as a member of the club.
  • Rays righty Nick Bitsko underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a labrum issue, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Bitsko will miss time in 2021 as a result, though it’s unclear how long he’ll sit out, per Topkin. The 18-year-old was the 24th overall pick in last June’s draft.
  • Indians right-handed reliever Cam Hill announced that he was involved in a car crash Monday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic relays. Hill suffered a wrist injury that required surgery, but the 26-year-old indicated that he and everyone else involved in the crash came out OK. He suggested that he’ll be ready for next season. Hill made his major league debut in 2020 and posted a 4.91 ERA/5.43 FIP with 7.85 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 across 18 1/3 innings.
Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Cleveland Guardians Houston Astros Minnesota Twins Notes Tampa Bay Rays Cam Hill Josh Reddick Nelson Cruz Nick Bitsko

57 comments

Rays Sign First-Rounder Nick Bitsko

By Connor Byrne | June 23, 2020 at 5:15pm CDT

5:15pm: The signing’s now official, the Rays tweeted.

3:45pm: The Rays will sign first-round right-hander Nick Bitsko, per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. He’ll earn $3MM, an increase over the $2.83MM slot value of the 24th overall selection.

Bitsko is an 18-year-old right-hander from Pennsylvania who graduated high school a year early in order to enter the 2020 draft class. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently profiled Bitsko, writing that a good deal of scouts regarded him as the highest-upside hurler available in the draft.  As McDaniel explained then, Bitsko’s a hard thrower with excellent spin rates, though the coronavirus led to the cancellation of his final high school season and stopped teams from getting extensive looks at him in person. Bitsko did, however, impress clubs by posting workouts on social media and interacting via Zoom. In fact, according to Rays scout Zach Clark, Bitsko’s Zoom call with the team was among the reasons they took him.

“I think the Zoom call sent it over the top for our guys,” Clark said.  “Listen to Nick talk about pitching, preparation, what he’s done in the past, you’re like, ’Man, it’s really hard to believe you’re talking to a 17-year-old.’ ”

Shortly after profiling Bitsko, McDaniel ranked him as the 15th-best prospect in the 2020 class. MLB.com (14) FanGraphs (16), Keith Law of The Athletic (18) and Baseball America (19) placed Bitsko in a similar vicinity before the draft.

Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

2020 Amateur Draft 2020 Amateur Draft Signings Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Nick Bitsko

11 comments
Show all
    Top Stories

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Braves To Select Didier Fuentes

    Recent

    Yankees Select Geoff Hartlieb, Place Fernando Cruz On 15-Day IL

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Chicago White Sox

    Orioles Place Zach Eflin On Injured List

    Rockies Expected To Promote Yanquiel Fernandez

    Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

    Padres Designate Logan Gillaspie For Assignment

    Phillies Reinstate Bryce Harper, Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

    Athletics Select Colby Thomas

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version