MLB Player News

Paddack (elbow) and the Twins agreed on a one-year, $2.4 million contract Friday to avoid arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

The right-hander underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career in May and isn't expected to be available for at least the first half of the 2023 campaign. Prior to injuring his elbow, Paddack produced a 4.03 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with 20 punchouts over 22.1 innings in five starts with Minnesota.

Keller signed a one-year, $5.775 million contract with the Royals on Friday to avoid arbitration, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Keller is coming off back-to-back dreadful seasons, even getting demoted to the bullpen at one point in 2022. The Royals will hope he can bounce back in his walk year and perhaps boost his value enough that they can flip him for a prospect at the trade deadline.

Seabold was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on Thursday.

The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for the addition of Corey Kluber. Seabold has been blasted for a 10.55 ERA over six starts at the major-league level from 2021-22, but he has a 3.39 ERA with 141 strikeouts across 140.2 innings at Triple-A during that span. There figures to be some interest in the righty on waivers.

Toussaint signed a minor-league contract with the Guardians on Wednesday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Toussaint will join the Guardians ahead of the 2023 campaign and his minor-league deal includes a big-league spring training invite, giving him a shot to prove himself with his new team. The right-hander posted a 4.62 ERA and 1.34 WHIP with 26 strikeouts over 25.1 innings in eight appearances, including two starts, with the Angels last season. After a promising start to his career in 2018 with Atlanta, Toussaint has struggled with consistency over the past few seasons, something he'll look to correct with Cleveland, a franchise that just seems to pump out quality pitching every year.

Ryu (elbow) said Wednesday he's targeting July for his return from Tommy John surgery, Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency reports.

The 35-year-old underwent the procedure in June 2022, so a return in July would be on the short end of the usual 12-to-18-month recovery timeline. Even if cleared for game action in July, Ryu could have a limited workload down the stretch coming off the injury.

Kluber and the Red Sox agreed Wednesday on a one-year, $10 million contract that includes an $11 million club option for 2024 and additional incentives, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

The 36-year-old makes his offseason home in Massachusetts, which may have factored into his decision to continue his career in Boston after a one-year stint in Tampa Bay. Though Kluber was able to steer clear of the health concerns that derailed him in each of the prior three seasons, the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner didn't return to peak form in 2022. His strikeout rate (20.2 percent) took a dramatic dip along with fastball velocity (88.9 miles per hour average), though a career-best 3.0 percent walk rate helped him maintain a respectable 1.21 WHIP over 164 innings. Altogether, Kluber still performed comfortably above the league median (117 ERA-, with 100 being average), so his addition should bring some stability to a Boston rotation that will be counting on two veterans with even more troubling injury histories (Chris Sale and James Paxton), not to mention younger arms such as Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello with more limited track records as starters at the big-league level.

Eovaldi agreed to a two-year, $34 million contract with the Rangers on Tuesday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.

Eovaldi missed a solid chunk of last season with back and shoulder injuries, though he was able to turn in a decent campaign while healthy with a 3.87 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 109.1 innings. If he can break his norm and avoid the injured list in 2023, Eovaldi could provide a solid addition to the middle of Texas' new-look rotation. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com, the contract includes a $20 million player option for 2025 that will vest if he exceeds 300 innings across the first two years of the deal.

Rucinski agreed to a one-year contract with the Athletics on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Rucinski's deal is for $3 million in 2023 and contains a $5 million club option for 2024.

Rucinski hasn't pitched in affiliated ball since 2018 and spent the past four years in the Korea Baseball Organization, where he had a 3.06 ERA across 121 starts. He'll turn 34 years old Dec. 30 and should have a chance to slot into the back end of Oakland's rotation to open 2023.

Lyles signed a two-year, $17 million deal with the Royals on Tuesday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Lyles will be getting pretty good money for a 32-year-old with a 5.10 career ERA. His 4.42 ERA last season for the Orioles beat his career mark by a significant margin but still wasn't particularly strong, especially in a year in which offense dropped across the league. Lyles' 18.6 percent strikeout rate in 2022 was in line with his 17.6 percent career figure, so don't expect him to become a different pitcher any time soon. He should at least be able to eat a healthy amount of innings for the Royals, as his 62 starts over the past two seasons tie him for 13th in the league. Toss in his pitcher-friendly home park and relatively weak division and Lyles becomes a viable end-game option in deeper formats despite his rather bland numbers.

Milone signed a minor-league deal with the Mariners on Thursday, Paul Braverman, Director of Media Relations and Baseball Information for the Tacoma Rainiers reports.

Milone spent the majority of the 2022 season with Triple-A Tacoma and maintained a 2.68 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP across 40.1 innings. He appeared as a reliever for short stints in Seattle and will likely serve as organizational depth once again in 2023.