MLB Player News

Bridwell was claimed off waivers by the Yankees on Monday.

An elbow injury limited Bridwell to just 34.2 innings in 2018. The right-hander failed to impress when healthy, posting an 8.68 ERA across six starts (28 innings) with Triple-A Salt Lake while struggling to a 17.55 ERA across five appearances (6.2 innings) for the big club. He did post a 3.64 ERA and 1.20 WHIP across 121 innings (20 starts) with the Angels in 2017. Ronald Torreyes was designated for assignment in order to free up a roster spot for Bridwell.

Meyer (shoulder) was designated for assignment by the Angels on Wednesday.

Meyer was cast off the 40-man roster in order to make room for the recently-acquired Dillon Peters, who was traded Wednesday from Miami in exchange for Tyler Stevens. Looking ahead, Meyer's status for spring training remains uncertain after he suffered another setback in early November. The 28-year-old has yet to be cleared to resume throwing, though he's expected to start back up near mid-December if everything goes according to plan.

Kaprielian joined the Athletics' 40-man roster Tuesday.

Kaprielian missed the entire 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2017, but his return to instructional league action in October and addition to the 40-man roster are good indications of his current health. The 24-year-old last pitched in the minors at High-A Tampa in 2016 -- before being traded from the Yankees to the A's -- and officially has only eight minor-league games under his belt.

Bridwell was designated for assignment by the Angels on Tuesday.

Bridwell was removed from the 40-man roster to clear space for a more deserving young player prior to the Rule 5 draft. He got knocked around in five games for the big-league club in 2018, surrendering 13 runs over just 6.2 frames while punching out three.

Suarez was promoted to the 40-man roster by the Angels on Tuesday.

Suarez has received protection from the Rule 5 draft after spending time at both Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Salt Lake in 2018. Luis Rengifo and Luis Madero were also added to the 40-man roster prior to the deadline.

Stephens had his contract purchased from Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday.

Stephens reached Triple-A last season after posting a 2.95 ERA with 40 strikeouts over 39 innings with Double-A Birmingham. The White Sox have elected to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by adding him to the 40-man roster.

Cease was added to the 40-man roster Tuesday.

With that, the White Sox protected Cease from the Rule 5 draft. He was named the Minor-League Pitcher of the Year by MLB Pipeline following an impressive showing across stops at High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2018 (2.40 ERA with 160 strikeouts over 123 frames).

Paxton was traded from the Mariners to the Yankees on Monday, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.

Seattle's return has yet to be announced, but well-regarded prospect Justus Sheffield is reportedly one of the big pieces included in the deal for the left-hander, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com. Paxton should slot in behind Luis Severino and help round out the Yankees' rotation for 2019. The 30-year-old has been fantastic when healthy over the past two seasons, posting a combined 3.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 11.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 296.1 innings (52 start) during that stretch.

The Reds have been in contact with the Yankees regarding a potential trade for Gray, John Boyle of the Dayton Daily News reports.

There's no elaboration whether there was significant progress, let alone even an offer, but that's to be expected. Of note, new Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson was also Gray's pitching coach at Vanderbilt.

Snell won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday.

Despite pitching just 180.2 innings -- the fewest ever from a Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher -- Snell narrowly beat out Justin Verlander to win the award for the first time in his career. The lefty put together an impressive breakout campaign in 2018, finishing with a league-best 21 wins (and just five losses), while posting a 1.89 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 11.0 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 across 31 starts.