MLB Player News

Reed signed a minor-league deal with the Angels on Thursday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

The 28-year-old righty has yet to advance beyond the Triple-A level. In 2019, his most recent season of game action, he struggled to a 5.76 ERA in 75 innings for Triple-A Rochester in the Twins' system. He's unlikely to be a major part of the Angels' plans this season.

The Astros exercised Raley's $2 million club option for 2021 on Sunday, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

The 32-year-old southpaw had a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings this season, but his 3.63 xFIP and 25.0 K-BB% paint a better picture of the type of reliever the Astros are hoping to have for 2021. He will likely pitch primarily in the middle innings, but his ability to miss bats makes him someone to keep an eye on if the back of the bullpen underperforms next season.

Gibaut was claimed off waivers by the Twins on Friday.

Gibaut has thrown 26.2 major-league innings for the Rays and Rangers across the last two seasons. He hasn't had much success, walking 15.4 percent of opposing batters en route to a 6.08 ERA. He'll presumably fill a low-leverage role in Minnesota unless his control improves.

Hand was placed on outright waivers by Cleveland on Thursday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

The team intends to decline Hand's $10 million club option and pay him a $1 million buyout should he pass through waivers unclaimed. The veteran lefty has a resume that teams would seemingly be quite happy to pay $10 million for under ordinary circumstances, as he's saved 105 career games and owns a 2.70 ERA and a 33.3 percent strikeout rate over the last five seasons. It's possible this is just an example of Cleveland being cheap, though if Hand does indeed head to free agency, it could be an indicator of just how suppressed the market will be during a pandemic offseason.

Graveman signed a one-year major-league contract with the Mariners on Thursday.

The Mariners declined Graveman's $3.5 million team option Wednesday, though their objection was to the price, not the player. Graveman will remain in Seattle in 2021 but will make $1.25 million, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, with an additional $2.5 million in incentives. The 29-year-old righty made two starts and nine relief appearances last season, posting a 5.79 ERA.

Covey was outrighted to the minors by the Red Sox on Wednesday.

Covey worked mainly as a starter during three seasons with the White Sox, but he transitioned to a relief role with Boston in 2020. The right-hander was shuffled between the major-league roster and the alternate training site during the 2020 campaign, posting a 7.07 ERA and 1.43 WHIP over 14 innings across eight appearances. He'll now be cast off the 40-man roster heading into the offseason, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him in the majors at some point in 2021.

Rodriguez cleared waivers Tuesday and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo.

Rodriguez made just two appearances for the Giants this season, giving up six runs on 10 hits over four innings of work, before being waived and claimed by the Tigers. He clearly wasn't a major part of Detroit's plans, as he spent the remainder of the season at the team's alternate training site. Now that he's off the 40-man roster, he's even further from making his Tigers' debut.

Yarbrough didn't factor in the decision in Game 4 of the World Series against the Rays on Saturday. He allowed two runs on five hits with one strikeout and one walk across 3.1 innings.

The left-hander's only real trouble came via solo homers from Corey Seager and Justin Turner, but he generated only five swinging strikes on 69 pitches and was unable to make it through the fourth inning. Yarbrough has a 3.86 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 7:4 K:BB over 14 innings during the 2020 playoffs, and he may be available out of the bullpen on two days rest for Game 6 and a potential Game 7.

Hendriks has been named the 2020 American League Reliever of the Year, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Hendriks dominated in the shortnered campaign, maintaining a 1.78 ERA and 0.67 WHIP across 25.1 innings. He also racked up 14 saves, good for second in the league behind Brad Hand. Hendriks has proven to be one of the elite relievers in the league across the past two seasons by racking up saves while also recording elite ratios and strikeouts.

Yarbrough will start Game 4 of the World Series against the Dodgers on Saturday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Yarbrough has been a starter in just one of his three postseason outings after starting in nine of his 11 appearances during the season. He's allowed just four runs in 10.2 playoff innings despite giving up three homers and posting a modest 6:3 K:BB. He'll be pitching on just three days rest, though he was only asked to throw two thirds of an inning in Game 1 on Tuesday, so he's likely able to handle something close to his typical workload.