MLB Player News

The Yankees on a few occasions have given a strong indication the closer's job will go to David Robertson in 2014. Though, Robertson is entering spring training with the mentality he has to earn the job.

"It's not officially mine yet," Robertson told MLB Network Radio Tuesday. "I guess I'm the front-runner for the job and that's how I'm going to approach it."

Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway is confident John Axford can reacclimate to the closer's role after losing the job with Milwaukee last season, according to The Plain Dealer. Axford revealed in mid-January his struggles last season had to do with tipping his pitches.

"Anytime you’ve closed games, you remember what it’s like," Callaway said. "It’s just him being able to finish what he was doing at the end of last season. When he went over to St. Louis and made adjustments with his pitch usage, it doesn’t matter where he’s at, he’ll dominate."

Callaway said Axford's success with the Cardinals also had to do with him using his high-90s fastball a lot more.

"We teach that here," Callaway said. "We want guys to attack with their fastballs and finish people off with breaking balls. Last year I think we ranked third most in using our fastball in the big leagues."

The Orioles are in talks with free agent closer Fernando Rodney, reports CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman. Rodney spent the last two seasons as the Rays' closer, recording 48 saves in 2012 and 37 saves in 2013.

The Rays and Padres announced a seven-player trade Wednesday. The Padres acquired pitcher Alex Torres and pitcher Jesse Hahn from the Rays in exchange for infielder Logan Forsythe, pitcher Brad Boxberger, pitcher Matt Andriese, pitcher Matt Lollis and infielder Maxx Tissenbaum.

Forsythe appeared in 228 games over the last three seasons for San Diego, batting .241 with a .310 on-base percentage, .349 slugging percentage and .659 OPS. He has seen playing time at second base, third base, shortstop, left field and right field.

Boxberger is 0-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 42 MLB relief appearances. He is striking out 10.3 batters per nine innings.

Andriese, who pitched at Double-A and Triple-A in 2013, owns a career 26-16 record, 3.18 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 66 minor-league appearances (59 starts). He is striking out 7.8 batters per nine innings.

Lollis has spent five seasons in the minors, going 15-33 with a 4.79 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 149 appearances (48 starts). Lollis was used exclusively as a reliever for the first time in his career in 2013.

Tissenbaum has hit .282 with a .375 on-base percentage, .363 slugging percentage and .739 OPS through 159 minor-league games. The 2012 11th-round pick has played all four infield positions in the minors.

While the Yankees have refrained from formally announcing David Robertson as the team's closer, owner Hal Steinbrenner gave a pretty strong indication the team is expecting Robertson to handle the ninth-inning duties in 2014, according to the New York Post.

"We are going to continue to look, but no doubt we have already spent a lot of money this offseason," Steinbrenner said. "I have a lot of confidence in Robertson and so does Joe [Girardi]. Robertson is going to be our closer, and I believe he will do a good job. We have done a lot to improve our team and we just have to understand that you cannot be perfect everywhere."

The White Sox announced Tuesday they handed out 21 non-roster invites to spring training. The list was headlined by prospects Micah Johnson and Chris Beck, who are considered among the White Sox's top 10 prospects by Baseball America.

The 11 pitchers invited to spring training were Beck, Dylan Axelrod, Chris Bassitt, Parker Frazier, Brian Omogrosso, Omar Poveda, David Purcey, Zach Putnam, Mauricio Robles and Scott Snodgress.

The remaining spring invites included three catchers -- Hector Gimenez, Miguel Gonzalez, Kevan Smith -- four infielders -- Johnson, Alex Liddi, Mike McDade, Andy Wilkins -- and three outfielders -- Denis Phipps, Blake Tekotte, Keenyn Walker.

Orioles pitcher Liam Hendriks has had an interesting offseason. During a 10-day stretch in December, Hendriks went from the Twins to the Cubs to the Orioles through a pair of waiver transactions.

Hendriks called the ordeal "a little strange," but he's eager to get his Baltimore career started and improve on what has been a rocky MLB tenure. Hendriks, who was once one of the Twins' top pitching prospects, is 2-13 with a 6.06 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 30 career MLB appearances (28 starts).

"I think it’s just really feeling comfortable," Hendriks said, per The Baltimore Sun. "I went through a couple phases when I was up in the big leagues with the Twins, and I wasn’t quite feeling comfortable. My last two outings last year, I really started feeling comfortable. I started throwing harder, and I started being able to locate my pitches a little bit more, and I think it was more about lengthening my stride a little bit.

"That definitely helped, and I think it’s going to help my lower body as well. Just by lengthening it a bit, I felt like there wasn’t strain towards the end. So just coming into camp and lengthening my stride out, and try to make sure that everything is flowing and I start feeling comfortable on the mound. When I’m comfortable, I feel like I can pretty much put the ball where I want to."

The Blue Jays and pitcher Esmil Rogers have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $1.85 million.

It's Rogers' first year of arbitration eligibility. He went 5-9 with a 4.77 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 96:44 K:BB ratio in 137 2/3 innings last season.

Yankees pitcher David Robertson avoided arbitration with the club.

Robertson is set to earn $5.215 million next season. He's coming off a season in which he posted a 2.04 ERA in 66 1/3 innings.

The Royals and setup men Tim Collins have come to terms on a one-year deal worth $1.3625 million on Thursday, avoiding arbitration, according to the New York Post. Collins posted a 3.54 ERA with a 52:28 K:BB ratio over 53 1/3 innings last season.