MLB Player News

Taylor and the Astros agreed on a one-year, $830,000 contract Friday to avoid arbitration, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The left-handed reliever appeared in 19 games with the Astros last season, producing a 3.94 ERA and 1.56 WHIP with 19 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched. Taylor will likely remain a middle relief option for Houston in 2023.

Littell signed a minor-league contract with the Rangers on Thursday, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com reports.

Littell will be in big-league camp as a non-roster invitee. The 27-year-old was highly effective out of the Giants' bullpen in 2021 before stumbling to a 5.08 ERA in 2022. He should have a decent chance to win a middle-relief role in Texas.

Taylor (back) signed a one-year, $1.025 million contract with the Red Sox on Thursday to avoid arbitration, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Taylor missed the entire 2022 campaign with a back injury, but he was effective for Boston in 2021 with a 3.40 ERA and 60 strikeouts over 47.2 innings. Assuming he's over his back issue, he'll open 2023 as one of the team's left-handed relievers.

Jackson agreed to a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays on Wednesday, which includes an invite to major-league spring training, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Jackson spent the 2022 campaign with Atlanta but appeared in just two big-league contests. He pitched well at the Triple-A level with a 2.29 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 25:4 K:BB across 19.2 innings after he sat out first couple months of the season with a lat strain.

Fujinami agreed Wednesday with the Athletics on a one-year contract, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

According to Passan, the 28-year-old right-hander is expected to slot into the Oakland rotation while he makes the jump to MLB after spending the past 10 seasons in his native Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball's Hanshin Tigers. Fujinami stands at imposing 6-foot-6 and sports an upper-90s fastball that can touch the triple digits, but he didn't dominate against NPB competition to the extent his skill set might suggest. While moving between the rotation and bullpen in 2022 for Hanshin, he turned in a 3.38 ERA and struck out 23.6 percent of the batters he faced. He was able to trim his walk rate to a palatable 7.5 percent after often struggling with his control in his prior seasons with Japan, but the move to MLB could make it difficult to maintain that improvement while he faces higher-caliber hitters.

The Tigers claimed Uceta off waivers from the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Detroit will likely give Uceta the chance to compete for a spot in its Opening Day bullpen during spring training, provided he's not moved off the 40-man roster before then and scooped up by another organization. Between stops with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, the 25-year-old right-hander has submitted a 6.27 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 11.5 K-BB% across 37.1 career innings in the majors.

Merryweather was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on Tuesday.

Merryweather has flashed plenty of upside at times out of the Blue Jays' bullpen, but he's ultimately had trouble with health and consistency with a career 5.64 ERA over parts of three seasons. The 31-year-old doesn't have any options left, which could affect his appeal on waivers.

Ortega was designated for assignment by the Twins on Tuesday.

The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for A.J. Alexy, who was acquired via trade. Ortega was just picked up off waivers a few days ago and now could be on the move again. He holds a 3.95 ERA over 35 relief appearances in the majors covering the last two seasons.

Alexy was acquired by the Twins from the Nationals on Tuesday in exchange for Cristian Jimenez.

Alexy has bounced around from the Rangers to the Nationals and now to the Twins over the last month. The right-hander struggled both at the minor- and major-league level in 2022, but he's just 24 and has some bat-missing ability. Alexy also has an option remaining, which surely appealed to the Twins.

The Angels designated Warren for assignment on Monday.

Warren serves as the Angels' roster casualty after the club signed Brett Phillips to a one-year deal Monday. The 26-year-old reliever gave up 10 earned runs over 16 innings in the majors last season. Warren had better luck in Triple-A, however, recording an impressive 2.12 ERA and 1.18 WHIP through 34 frames. He's likely to catch on with another team searching for some depth in the back-end of their bullpen.