MLB Trade Rumors
9:21am CDT
Major League Signings
Mike Zunino, C: One year, $3MM (includes $1MM buyout of $4MM club option for 2022)
Total spend: $18.725MM
Alexander Ovalles from the Rangers for 1B/3B
Dillon Paulson and cash considerations/player to be named later from the Dodgers as part of a three-team trade with the Phillies. (Phillies acquired RP
Nate Lowe, Jose Alvarado, John Curtiss, Aaron Slegers
The Rays began their offseason by, as usual, trimming payroll. Declining club options on Charlie Morton and Mike Zunino removed $19.5MM in potential expenditures off the team’s books, though in Zunino’s case, the two sides only temporarily parted ways. Zunino re-signed with the team for $3MM in guaranteed money, plus another $3MM more in total earnings if the Rays choose to exercise another club option on the catcher for 2022.
Apr 12, 2021
Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Toronto Blue Jays reliever Julian Merryweather is a pitching freak. Nobody in the recorded history of the past two decades can throw a fastball as hard as Merryweather
and deaden a changeup as much. His average gap between those two pitches this year is an unprecedented 17.6 mph, with a maximum of 21.9 mph between his fastest fastball (100.4) and slowest changeup (78.5). Merryweather has been almost impossible to hit. He has faced 14 batters this year and struck out half of them. He has allowed only one hit, a bloop single.
Brent Honeywell Jr. last took the mound in a regular-season or postseason game on September 19, 2017, when he pitched in the Triple-A championship game for the Rays’ Durham affiliate. That made it 1,299 days between appearances.
Four veteran relief aces showing off new tricks mlb.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mlb.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 10, 2021
The 2021 version of Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
Injury News
Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.
The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save.)