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Yankees Sign Adam Ottavino

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The Yankees have signed veteran reliever Adam Ottavino to a major league contract, the team announced this morning. The right-hander was released by the Red Sox in March. Devin Williams has been placed on the paternity list, temporarily opening a space for Ottavino on the active roster, while JT Brubaker has been transferred to the 60-day IL, thereby making room for Ottavino on the 40-man.

Ottavino, 39, is a veteran of 14 MLB seasons. Over 724 regular season appearances, he has pitched to a 3.49 ERA and 3.44 SIERA, amassing 46 saves and 194 holds. Despite his advanced age, he has remained reliable in recent years. He has made at least 60 appearances in each of the past four seasons with a 3.41 ERA and 3.52 SIERA in that time. While his 4.34 ERA with the Mets last season was not particularly impressive, his 3.19 xERA and 3.27 SIERA offer reason to believe he can bounce back in 2025. While his ERA does not show it, he was equally good at racking up strikeouts and inducing weak contact. That’s usually a good recipe for success. On top of that, Ottavino is only one year removed from a 3.21 ERA performance in 2023 and only two years removed from a 2.06 ERA performance in 2022. That’s not to say Ottavino is a sure thing to succeed with the Yankees. There’s a reason the Mets left him off their NLCS roster last fall, and there’s a reason the Red Sox cut him this spring. Still, his long track record is the reason the Yankees are giving him another shot. After all, this team knows the highs and lows of the Ottavino experience as well as anyone. The righty was a Yankee for two years in 2019 and 2020. He pitched to a 1.90 ERA in 73 games his first season with the club and a 5.89 ERA in 24 games in his second.

The Yankees’ bullpen has not been hit by injuries quite as hard as their rotation. However, they are currently without Ian Hamilton (virus), Jonathan Loáisiga (rehab from elbow surgery), and Scott Effross (hamstring strain). Ottavino can offer some helpful depth, at least in the short term. When Williams returns from the paternity list, the Yankees will need to make another move if they plan to keep Ottavino in their bullpen. The most likely course of action would be that they send Brent Headrick to Triple-A. Headrick, 27, has one option year remaining.

Brubaker, 31, broke three ribs early on in spring training. He will now be unavailable until mid-to-late May. Acquired from the Pirates last March, the right-hander has not appeared in the majors since 2022. He missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he was limited to just a handful of minor league rehab appearances in 2024. He looked like a capable back-end innings eater when last healthy, making 61 starts for Pittsburgh from 2020-22 with a 4.99 ERA but a 4.04 SIERA, averaging just over five innings per outing.

Pirates To Select Thomas Harrington

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The Pirates are poised to promote right-hander Thomas Harrington to the majors for today’s start against the Rays in Tampa, according to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Harrington is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will need to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for Harrington before he can officially be selected.

Harrington, 23, was a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2022 draft. He was the 36th selection in the draft, the Pirates’ second pick after infielder Termarr Johnson went number four overall. After he posted an impressive 2.53 ERA and 30% strikeout rate in 15 starts for Campbell during his draft year, the Pirates held off on putting Harrington in pro games until 2023. He more or less picked up right where he left off despite the layoff with a 2.77 ERA and 26.7% strikeout rate in eight starts at the Single-A level. That got him a quick promotion to High-A, where he faced a bit more adversity but still managed a solid 3.87 ERA in 127 1/3 innings across 18 starts while punching out 28.2% of his opponents.

The right-hander built on that solid first season as a pro with a dominant one in 2024. Though a rotator cuff injury cost him some of his 2024 campaign, Harrington made the most of his opportunities when he was healthy enough to take the mound, with an incredible 2.24 ERA and a 27.4% strikeout rate in 68 1/3 innings of work at the Double-A level. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A, where his strikeout rate dropped to just 21.2% but he nonetheless managed to post a solid 3.33 ERA across eight starts. Harrington’s breakout performance last season and success at the highest level of the minors put him on the radar for a big league debut this year, and he’s now set to get that opportunity later today.

The righty’s strong performance in 2024 was also enough to make him a consensus top-100 prospect, rated as the #74 prospect in the sport by Baseball America and #79 by MLB Pipeline at the outset of the 2025 season. He’s since moved up a spot on both lists following the graduation of Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews yesterday. Harrington features a deep pitch mix headlined by a fastball that tops out at 95mph and an above-average slider, though he also features a cutter and curveball, both of which grade out as roughly average. The main selling point of Harrington’s overall package is pinpoint control, however; he walked just eight batters in 46 innings at Triple-A last year and has a tidy 6.1% walk rate across all levels of the minors.

When Jared Jones went on the injured list to open the season, Harrington was in the mix for the fifth starter job with the Pirates but ultimately lost out to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, a former first-round pick in his own right with a 2.91 ERA in 86 1/3 career innings at the big league level entering the 2025 season. With that being said, it still did not take long for Harrington’s call to the big leagues to occur. It’s unclear whether today’s appearance will strictly be a spot start for the youngster or a more significant opportunity, though it should be noted that Mlodzinski surrendered four runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings of work during his first start of the season last night.

That’s the sort of performance that could, at least in theory, open the door for Harrington to claim a rotation spot with a dominant outing. As a consensus top-100 prospect called up in the early days of the season, Harrington would be eligible to earn the Pirates a prospect promotion incentive draft pick if he sticks on the active roster for the rest of the 2025 campaign. Harrington would need to win the NL Rookie of the Year award or finish in the top three of NL Cy Young award (or MVP) voting during his pre-arbitration years in order to bring back a PPI pick for Pittsburgh.

Rotation depth is perhaps the biggest strength of the Pirates’ roster. An on-paper starting five of Paul Skenes, Jones, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Bailey Falter is already one of the most solid rotations in the National League, and the presence of youngsters like Harrington, Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft, and star pitching prospect Bubba Chandler serve to lengthen out the club’s depth chart significantly. That rotation depth is robust enough that the Pirates felt comfortable trading a controllable young arm in Luis Ortiz even after a season where he posted a 3.32 ERA in 137 2/3 innings of work. That trade netted the Pirates a comparably controllable young hitter in Spencer Horwitz, who opened the season on the injured list due to wrist surgery but figures to settle in as the club’s everyday first baseman once healthy.

Joshua Palacios Elects Free Agency

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Outfielder Joshua Palacios elected minor league free agency after being outrighted by the Pirates, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Pittsburgh had designated him for assignment during the final week of Spring Training. Palacios cleared outright waivers for the second time in his career, which gave him the right to choose free agency instead of accepting a minor league assignment.

Palacios landed with the Bucs in the Triple-A phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. He made a career-high 91 appearances the following season, hitting .239/.279/.413 with 10 homers. Palacios held his 40-man roster spot throughout last season, though he spent a decent chunk of the year on optional assignment to Triple-A. He hit well in the upper minors, posting a .291/.372/.489 line with five homers over 208 plate appearances. Palacios got into 23 big league contests and hit .224 with a pair of longballs.

Originally a fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays, Palacios debuted with Toronto in 2021. He logged limited action with the Jays and Nationals before landing with the Pirates. The lefty-swinging outfielder is a career .230/.286/.364 hitter across 433 plate appearances. He has a much more impressive .303/.388/.485 slash in more than 700 trips to the plate in Triple-A.

Pirates Acquire Alexander Canario

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6:37pm: Pittsburgh announced the trade and transferred Jones to the 60-day IL. He’s early into a six-week shutdown after experiencing elbow soreness in Spring Training, so he won’t be ready for MLB game action until the latter half of June at the earliest.

5:42pm: The Mets are trading outfielder Alexander Canario to the Pirates for cash, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. New York had designated him for assignment as part of their Opening Day roster shuffle. Pittsburgh will need to make a 40-man roster move once the trade is finalized; Jared Jones stands out as a speculative candidate for a transfer to the 60-day injured list.

Canario was arguably the most interesting of the various players sent into DFA limbo amidst teams’ season-opening roster maneuvering. The 24-year-old outfielder has plus raw power and a generally strong minor league track record. He has bounced from the Cubs to the Mets and now to Pittsburgh because of concerns about his strikeout rates and his lack of roster flexibility.

Since Canario is out of options, teams need to keep him on the major league roster or expose him to waivers. That facilitated his move to the Mets in the first place, as the Cubs designated him for assignment and traded him to New York for cash in February. It wasn’t a great landing spot. The Mets already had Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Jose Siri, Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte essentially locked onto the MLB roster. Canario provided injury insurance during camp, and a potential fifth outfielder if the Mets lined up a late-offseason Marte trade.

Neither happened, and the Mets DFA Canario and another out-of-options outfielder, José Azocar, on Thursday. (Azocar cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A over the weekend.) The righty-hitting Canario had an impressive spring. He hit .306 and connected on three homers in 17 games, but he also punched out in 15 of his 43 plate appearances. It’s the same three true outcomes profile that he has displayed throughout his minor league career. Canario drilled 18 homers with a robust 11.3% walk rate in only 64 Triple-A games in the Cubs’ system last offseason, but his 30.4% strikeout rate meant the Cubs weren’t willing to carry him on the MLB roster.

Canario owns a .252/.345/.521 line in parts of three Triple-A campaigns. He’s best suited in right field but can handle center in a pinch. Oneil Cruz is locked into everyday center field work. Bryan Reynolds moved to right field this year, while free agent signee Tommy Pham is playing left. Canario could take a few at-bats from Pham but profiles mostly as a bench bat for the time being.

Braves Place Reynaldo López On IL Due To Shoulder Inflammation

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The Braves announced that right-hander Reynaldo López was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 29, due to right shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty Bryce Elder has been recalled as the corresponding move. Per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Elder will take Wednesday’s start in place of López.

There hasn’t yet been any word from the team on exactly how serious they expect this to be, but it’s concerning on a few fronts. First of all, López also spent time on the IL last year due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Atlanta signed López ahead of 2024 and moved him back to the rotation after many years working in relief. On a rate basis, the results couldn’t have gone much better, as he had a 1.99 earned run average on the year.

But he went on the IL a couple of times, once due to a forearm issue and then a second time due to shoulder inflammation. His tally of 135 2/3 innings was his largest in years but still shy of a full starter’s workload. Now after just one start in the 2025 season, he’s back on the IL with more shoulder trouble.

There was an argument for Atlanta adding to their rotation this winter but they opted not to, perhaps due to financial constraints. Regardless of the reasoning, they opened the season with a strong front three of Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and López. Spencer Strider would eventually rejoin them but was slated for a season-opening IL stint as he’s still recovering from last year’s UCL surgery.

Two spots were available behind the Sale/López/Schwellenbach trio. Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson seemed like the top candidates for those jobs but AJ Smith-Shawver surged by Anderson during the spring, with Anderson flipped to the Angels last week. With López now out of the picture, they are down to Sale and Schwellenbach at the front, with Smith-Shawver, Holmes and Elder filling in behind them.

Perhaps it won’t be a long-term issue. Strider has been building up on a rehab assignment and could be back in the majors shortly. It’s also possible that this injury is fairly minor for López and he’ll be back soon as well.

Regardless, it’s another gut punch for the Atlanta fans, who are already having about the worst opening week possible. The club got swept by the Padres and are currently in the basement of the NL East with a record of 0-4. As if that weren’t enough, it was revealed today that top offseason acquisition Jurickson Profar has received an 80-game PED suspension. That will put him out of commission for a while and make him ineligible to appear in this year’s playoffs, if Atlanta qualifies.

Elder comes up to take López’s rotation spot for the time being, though he may only take the ball once or twice before Strider is activated. Elder turned in a 3.81 ERA over 31 starts a couple seasons ago. His production nosedived last year, as he allowed 6.52 earned runs per nine over 49 2/3 innings. Elder gets a lot of ground-balls, but he doesn’t have overpowering stuff and gave up a lot of hard contact last season. The Texas product was rocked in his only start with Triple-A Gwinnett this year. He gave up five runs on three hits and uncharacteristic four walks across 2 2/3 innings.

Rockies Outright Sam Hilliard

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The Rockies announced that outfielder Sam Hilliard has passed through waivers unclaimed and been sent outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s unclear if he will.

Players with at least three years of major league service time can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. However, only players with at least five years of service can do so while retaining the salary they are still owed on their contracts. Hilliard and the Rockies avoided arbitration back in the fall, agreeing to a $1MM salary this year. Presumably, Hilliard won’t want to leave that on the table and will therefore report to Albuquerque.

If that comes to pass, Hilliard will provide the Rockies with a bit of extra outfield depth without taking up a roster spot. They currently project to have Brenton Doyle, Jordan Beck, Nick Martini, Mickey Moniak and Sean Bouchard rotating through the outfield spots. There’s not a ton of experience there, with no one in that group having reached four years of big league service time.

If any of them struggle or get hurt, the Rockies could bring Hilliard back up for some more playing time. He has shown some power and speed in the big leagues but with strikeout concerns as well. In 875 career plate appearances, he has 42 homers and has swiped 24 bags but has been struck out at a big 34.1% clip. His .219/.296/.438 batting line translates to an 84 wRC+.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Yankees Re-Sign Dominic Smith To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees announced that they have re-signed first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith to a minor league deal. He had been in camp with the Yanks on a previous minor league deal but opted out when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Smith, 30, had a pretty solid showing in camp. He got 38 plate appearances with the Yankees and slashed .297/.289/.568. However, his recent MLB track record is more middling and there wasn’t a great path to playing time for him.

Despite some outfield experience, he’s mostly a first base/designated hitter option at this point, having not played the outfield in the majors since 2021. Even when he did play on the grass, he wasn’t great at it. The Yanks have Paul Goldschmidt at first base. They could have put Smith at DH but opted for Ben Rice instead. Their bench spots went to guys with more defensive versatility like Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes.

When Smith didn’t get an Opening Day job, he opted out and presumably assessed his options for a few days, but is now back with the Yanks as non-roster depth. He has some theoretical upside as a former first-round pick and top prospect. He also hit .299/.366/.571 in the majors over 2019 and 2020, production which translates to a 150 wRC+.

But as mentioned, he hasn’t been quite as good since. He had a combined line of .241/.311/.360 over the 2021 through 2024 seasons, with those numbers translating to an 87 wRC+. Given that he doesn’t provide much with the glove or on the bases, that lack of offense has turned him into a journeyman, suiting up for the Mets, Nationals, Red Sox and Reds in recent years.

The old saying goes that there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The Yanks can install Smith into their system and see if a need arises. Their lineup is already without DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton, who are both on the injured list. If any further health issues crop up, they will have the ability to call up an experienced big leaguer for some at-bats.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images

Braves Acquire Stuart Fairchild

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The Reds have traded outfielder Stuart Fairchild to the Braves for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. The Reds had designated Fairchild for assignment last week. Atlanta transferred right-hander Joe Jiménez, who is recovering from knee surgery and might miss the entire season, to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding move.

Fairchild, 29, is a speed-and-defense outfielder. He has appeared in 249 big league games over the past four big league seasons. In that time, he has a .224/.308/.389 batting line in 615 plate appearances. That production translates to a wRC+ of 88, indicating he’s been 12% below average at the plate overall.

He has also swiped 23 bags in 29 tries, getting double-digit steals in each of the past two seasons. He has 1,389 1/3 innings in the outfield, spending time at all three positions. In that time, he’s been credited with ten Defensive Runs Saved and nine Outs Above Average.

But he is out of options, meaning he needs to hold an active roster spot in order to stick on a 40-man roster. The Reds squeezed him off but Atlanta will find a spot for him. By moving Jiménez to the 60-day, they have made room for Fairchild on the 40-man but will have to make a corresponding active roster move whenever Fairchild reports to the team.

That could perhaps be Bryan De La Cruz getting optioned down to Triple-A. The club currently has Jurickson Profar, Michael Harris II and Jarred Kelenic getting the regular outfield playing time. De La Cruz and Eli White are on the bench but White is out of options, whereas De La Cruz is still optionable.

However the alignment shakes out for now, it’s likely to be temporary. Alex Verdugo was signed just over a week ago. He has agreed to be optioned to start the year so that he can effectively do a delayed spring training. Ronald Acuña Jr. is on the injured list, still recovering from last year’s ACL tear, but could be back with the club at some point in May.

As Verdugo and Acuña eventually join the active roster, guys like Fairchild, De La Cruz, White and perhaps even Kelenic could be squeezed out of playing time or bumped down the depth chart. For now, Fairchild gives Atlanta a nice fourth outfielder with a good glove and some speed. As mentioned, he is out of options but has less than three years of service time. That means he theoretically can be retained beyond this season if he carves at a comfortable role for himself. He’s also a righty bat with a .248/.346/.409 line and 107 wRC+ against lefties in his career, so perhaps he can carve out a platoon role with the lefty-swinging Kelenic.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Angels Acquire Jake Eder, Designate Michael Petersen For Assignment

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Left-hander Jake Eder has been traded from the White Sox to the Angels for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs. The Halos have optioned Eder to Triple-A Salt Lake. The Sox had designated him for assignment last week. To open a 40-man spot, the Angels designated right-hander Michael Petersen for assignment.

Eder, 26, was a notable prospect a few years ago but his stock is down. The Marlins took him in the fourth-round of the 2020 draft. In 2021, he made 15 Double-A starts with a 1.77 earned run average. He struck out 34.5% of opponents, gave out walks at a 9.4% rate and also got ground balls on 50.3% of balls in play.

That got him onto the prospect radar but Tommy John surgery late in 2021 put that on pause. He missed the entire 2022 season while recovering and his results since getting back on the mound haven’t been inspiring. He has thrown 165 2/3 minor league innings since that surgery, getting flipped to the White Sox for Jake Burger at the 2023 deadline. In that time, he has a 6.52 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 12.3% walk rate.

The southpaw still has two option seasons left and could have been stashed in Triple-A. But even the White Sox, one of the few rebuilding clubs in the league, seemingly didn’t have much faith in him getting the train back on the tracks.

The Angels, a club seemingly always in need of more pitching depth, will give him a roster spot for now to see if he can get over his recent struggles. They currently have a rotation mix of Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks, with Reid Detmers in a long relief role. Eder will join guys like Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri and Chase Silseth as optionable rotation arms looking to battle for starts later in the year.

To add Eder into that mix, the Angels are potentially losing Petersen, whom they claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays last month. The right-hander is 30 years old, turning 31 in May. He made his major league debut last year, tossing 19 2/3 innings for the Dodgers and Marlins with a 5.95 ERA. Since that season ended, he bounced to the Jays and Angels via waiver claims but has now lost his roster spot again.

The big league numbers are such a small sample size that it’s hard to glean much from. But in the minors last year, he tossed 33 innings with a 1.64 ERA, 35.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps attract attention from clubs looking for some extra bullpen depth. The Angels will have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next, but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any potential trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

White Sox Outright Dominic Fletcher

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Outfielder Dominic Fletcher was not claimed off waivers following last week’s DFA and has now been assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte, the White Sox announced Monday. He’ll remain with the organization as a depth option.

Now 27 years old, Fletcher came to the ChiSox last winter in a trade that sent pitching prospect Cristian Mena to the D-backs. At the time of the swap, he was coming off a .291/.399/.500 showing in Triple-A and had slashed .301/.350/.441 in his first 102 big league plate appearances. Impressive as those performances were, the Snakes had an outfield contingent made up of Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Alek Thomas. They’d also had talks with free agent Randal Grichuk, whom they signed just a few days after trading Fletcher. There wasn’t much space in the Arizona outfield.

A move to a rebuilding White Sox club with ample opportunity for playing time looked like a positive for Fletcher, but he struggled in his new environs. The Sox gave Fletcher 241 turns at the plate, but he mustered only a .206/.252/.256 batting line. His subsequent .121/.211/.212 batting line in 38 plate appearances this spring didn’t inspire any further confidence, and the Sox brought free agents Mike Tauchman, Austin Slater and Michael A. Taylor to join Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. in the team’s outfield mix.

Now off the team’s 40-man roster, Fletcher will head to Charlotte and hope to play his way into another opportunity. Even with all of last year’s struggles, his .263/.333/.389 line in 106 Triple-A plate appearances was respectable, if a bit below average in a hitter-friendly setting. Fletcher is a career .293/.376/.462 hitter in 889 Triple-A plate appearances, so he does have a track record to suggest he could earn another look.

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