MLB Player News

Wells won't be included in the Yankees' Opening Day lineup, with manager Aaron Boone relaying that Jose Trevino will receive the nod behind the plate in Thursday's game against the Astros, Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports.

The lefty-hitting Wells will hit the bench for the season opener, which doesn't come as a major surprise with the righty-hitting Trevino having the platoon advantage in his favor against Astros southpaw Framber Valdez. Though Wells offers a higher-upside bat than Trevino, concerns about the former's defense behind the plate could prompt Boone to take a timeshare approach to the catcher spot when New York faces right-handed pitchers, at least to begin the season.

Trevino will start behind the plate against the Astros on Thursday, Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports.

While some fantasy managers are excited about the offensive upside of Austin Wells, it will be Trevino behind the plate for the opener in Houston. Trevino is lauded for his work with the pitching staff, and that appears to have given him a slight leg up to begin the season, though it projects to be a fairly even playing-time split in the end with the 24-year-old Wells seeing a good share of the starts against righties. Trevino will be looking for his first career hit against Thursday's starter for the Astros, Framber Valdez (0-for-9 lifetime against the lefty).

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday in an interview with 97.3 The Game Milwaukee that the team is leaning toward carrying two catchers, which would leave Haase without a roster spot.

Haase has had a terrific spring, but he's a difficult fit on Milwaukee's roster with William Contreras and Gary Sanchez around. The Brewers could draw interest in Haase via trade, but otherwise Milwaukee could try to pass him through waivers and stash him at Triple-A Nashville.

Smith agreed Wednesday with the Dodgers on a 10-year, $140 million contract extension, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Smith had been eligible for free agency after the 2025 season, but the extension -- the longest for a catcher in MLB history -- will keep him in Dodger blue through his age-38 campaign in 2033. Since posting a career-best .980 OPS in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Smith's OPS has dropped in each of the last three seasons, but his .797 mark in 2023 was still good for fifth among all backstops who logged at least 400 plate appearances. The 29-year-old got off to a strong start to the regular season during last week's Seoul Series, going 5-for-10 with a double, a walk, two RBI and one run in the Dodgers' two games versus the Padres. Smith occupied the cleanup spot in both of those contests, and if health prevails in 2024, he should have a prime opportunity to surpass his previous career high of 87 RBI while hitting behind the likes of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.

The Rays will reassign Jackson to the minors prior to Thursday's season opener versus the Blue Jays, Steve Carney of StPeteNine.com reports.

Among the internal options the Rays had at spring training, Jackson appeared well positioned to make the Opening Day roster as the No. 2 catcher behind Rene Pinto, but Jackson dropped a spot on the organizational depth chart after Tampa Bay acquired Ben Rortvedt from the Yankees on Wednesday. Unless he opts out of his minor-league deal, Jackson is expected to open the season as the primary backstop for Triple-A Durham.

The Rays acquired Rortvedt from the Yankees on Wednesday in a three-team trade involving the Marlins, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Rortvedt is out of options and wasn't going to make the Yankees' Opening Day roster. In Tampa Bay, he'll take over as the backup catcher behind Rene Pinto. Rortvedt isn't much of a hitter with just a .489 OPS over 71 games in the majors, but he will bring a good defensive reputation to the Rays.

The Cardinals optioned Pages to Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Pages slashed .240/.367/.440 across 30 plate appearances this spring, but he will have to keep waiting for his call up to the majors with Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera already in the Cards' catcher room. The 25-year-old Pages will be returning to Memphis for the first time since 2022, when he turned in a .640 OPS and 17 RBI across 172 plate appearances.

The Giants optioned Sabol to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Sabol's chances at making the Opening Day roster as a third catcher were already low, and he'll officially head back to the minors to begin 2024 after slashing .211/.333/.263 across 24 plate appearances during spring training. The 26-year-old backstop posted a .969 OPS during his last Triple-A stint in 2022, and he may be able to hit his way back into San Francisco if he performs at that level in 2024.

Haase went 15-for-38 (.395) with five home runs, three doubles, 14 RBI, 11 runs and a 5:6 BB:K over 18 games this spring.

Haase joined the Brewers over the offseason after splitting the 2023 campaign with the Tigers and Guardians, and he made just about as good of an impression as he could during the exhibition season. Fellow backstops William Contreras and Gary Sanchez are locked in, the Brewers would need to open the season with three catchers to get Haase onto the 26-man roster. However, given the way he hit this spring, they may opt to do just that.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Rortvedt could make the Opening Day roster, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

In order for Rortvedt to break camp with the big club, the Yankees would almost certainly need to decide to carry three catchers, as Jose Trevino and Austin Wells are locked in as the top two backstop options. Rortvedt got into 15 games this spring and slashed .231/.375/.269 with one extra-base hit (a double), but the primary reason why he may have a chance of sticking on the roster is that he is out of minor-league options. Even if he does make the cut for Opening Day, Rortvedt isn't likely to see much playing time.