1+ hour, 26+ min ago (160+ words) HOUSTON " The Astros added some depth to their starting rotation on Tuesday by agreeing to a Major League deal with right-hander Ryan Weiss, a source told MLB.com. The deal, which is pending a physical, was not confirmed by the club. Weiss, 28, spent the past two seasons pitching in HOUSTON " The Astros added some depth to their starting rotation on Tuesday by agreeing to a Major League deal with right-hander Ryan Weiss, a source told MLB.com. The deal, which is pending a physical, was not confirmed by the club. In 313 1/3 career Minor League innings, he has a 4.88 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP and 294 strikeouts. Houston signed right-hander Nate Pearson, a former first-round pick of the Blue Jays, to a one-year deal in October. He's expected to pitch out of Houston's bullpen. Pearson, 29, split last season between Triple-A Iowa and the Cubs…...

3+ hour, 6+ min ago (596+ words) BOSTON -- A player with a no-trade clause has the rare freedom to have a say in his future baseball home. It usually involves deliberation with the family, some sort of pro/con list and a discussion with other confidants. For Sonny Gray, who was traded to the Red Sox last week from the Cardinals, none of these things really came into play. You want the truth? He essentially couldn't say yes fast enough. Gray was candid with Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom at the end of the regular season that a new destination was probably best for a player still trying to win a World Series and a club that is embarking on a rebuild. A few weeks later, when Bloom told Gray who was interested, he couldn't believe his good fortune. "[Bloom] said the Red Sox, and…...

3+ hour, 44+ min ago (288+ words) The Giants announced that infielder Casey Schmitt underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove the carpal boss in his left wrist. The procedure was performed by Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles and will require an eight-to-10-week recovery process. Schmitt is viewed as the frontrunner to serve as San Francisco's starting second baseman next season, but the surgery could slow down his ramp-up during Spring Training. The 26-year-old landed on the 10-day injured list with left wrist inflammation after he was drilled by a 95 mph sinker from the Marlins' Calvin Faucher on June 25, which made it difficult for him to swing without pain. Schmitt batted .276 with a .799 OPS and four homers over his first 34 games of the year, but his production dipped after he returned from the IL on July 7. He hit .220 with a .663 OPS and eight homers over his…...

5+ hour, 46+ min ago (377+ words) Sonny Gray, the newest member of the Boston rotation, is now on the other side of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry after pitching for the Bronx Bombers in 2017 and "18. And it sounds like he is really looking forward to facing New York with his new club. "What did factor into my decision to come to Boston, it feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it's easy to hate the Yankees, right?" Gray said in a video conference with reporters on Tuesday. "It's easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge." Gray became a Yankee ahead of the 2017 Trade Deadline when the A's dealt him as the centerpiece of a four-player swap. But he scuffled to a 4.51 ERA over 41 appearances (34 starts)…...

9+ hour, 10+ min ago (172+ words) ATLANTA -- Danny Young will attempt to strengthen Atlanta's bullpen depth once he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The Braves announced they signed Young to a split contract on Tuesday morning. The 31-year-old left-handed reliever underwent the elbow procedure in May. With recovery usually requiring 12-18 months, it's unknown when he would be available to pitch. A split contract is a non-guaranteed deal that defines how much money a player will receive while in the Majors and when pitching at the Minor League level. Young has produced a 4.01 ERA while constructing a 29 percent strikeout rate and a 9.3 percent walk rate over 63 career appearances (60 2/3 innings). The southpaw made a career-high 42 appearances for the Mets in 2024 and 10 more before being shut down this past season. New York non-tendered him last month. The Braves have some familiarity with Young. He was in the organization in…...

9+ hour, 10+ min ago (172+ words) ATLANTA -- Danny Young will attempt to strengthen Atlanta's bullpen depth once he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The Braves announced they signed Young to a split contract on Tuesday morning. The 31-year-old left-handed reliever underwent the elbow procedure in May. With recovery usually requiring 12-18 months, it's unknown when he would be available to pitch. A split contract is a non-guaranteed deal that defines how much money a player will receive while in the Majors and when pitching at the Minor League level. Young has produced a 4.01 ERA while constructing a 29 percent strikeout rate and a 9.3 percent walk rate over 63 career appearances (60 2/3 innings). The southpaw made a career-high 42 appearances for the Mets in 2024 and 10 more before being shut down this past season. New York non-tendered him last month. The Braves have some familiarity with Young. He was in the organization in…...

9+ hour, 25+ min ago (602+ words) NEW YORK -- Among the most important aspects of the Mets agreeing to terms with former Brewers closer Devin Williams on a three-year contract Monday is the fact that, according to multiple sources, the team is still interested in re-signing Edwin D'az as well. Williams is open to the idea of setting up for Diaz, according to a source, much as he did for Luke Weaver at times last season in the Yankees' bullpen. Should the Mets pursue such a strategy, they would attempt to build a high-octane back of their bullpen for the second time in a year, after trading for Ryan Helsley at the 2025 Trade Deadline. That acquisition did not work out, as Helsley battled pitch-tipping issues and completed his Mets tenure with a 7.20 ERA. Perhaps this one will. Of course, the acquisition of Williams does not guarantee the…...

11+ hour, 58+ min ago (539+ words) ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. -- MLB Network is getting ready to move into a whole new space. No, the content on the Emmy Award-winning network won't be changing anytime soon, but following Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony, the countdown is on for MLB Network to move into its brand-new, state-of-the-art facility by the 2028 season. "When you look at the MLB Network logo, it's built around home plate," said Bill Morningstar, MLB Network's president. "That's symbolic because the network serves as the home for fans of baseball across the entire U.S. Today is a big moment for us." MLB Network, which has won 42 Sports Emmy Awards across 15 categories since its launch in 2009, just recorded its most-watched season in seven years. "When you have a network that's won more than 40 Emmys in different categories and produces the kind of content that we see on the network every day,…...

12+ hour, 35+ min ago (591+ words) Anthony DiComo, MLB.com's Mets beat reporter, held an "Ask Me Anything" this week on Reddit with Mets fans at r/NewYorkMets. This mailbag features excerpted questions and answers from that event (some lightly edited for clarity). The full AMA is available to read here. Given the reports about internal tension between players (for example, rumored clashes involving Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Juan Soto), do you think clubhouse chemistry played a big part in 2025's under-performance? Let me start by saying I have covered bad clubhouses before, and from my perspective, the 2025 Mets did not even remotely have a bad clubhouse. The takeaway is this: The 2025 Mets didn't have the magic of the 2024 version of this team. But it wasn't a bad clubhouse by a long shot, and I'd put any sort of palace drama pretty far down the…...

13+ hour, 33+ min ago (480+ words) The busy Blue Jays continued revamping their pitching staff by coming to a three-year agreement with well-traveled right-hander Cody Ponce, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The deal is expected to be worth $30 million, per a source. The club has not confirmed the move, which comes on the heels of Toronto signing Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract. After four seasons overseas, the 31-year-old Ponce (he'll turn 32 in April) returns to the Majors looking like a different pitcher than he was during his first stint, in 2020-21. That transformation didn't really take place until 2025, though. Ponce pitched in Japan's NPB, for the Nippon Ham Fighters and Rakuten Golden Eagles, from 2022-24. His results there didn't stand out, but everything changed when Ponce moved over to Korea's KBO in 2025. Pitching for the Hanwha Eagles, Ponce made 29 starts and went 17-1 while leading…...