Major League Baseball

A one-year, $16 million contract between Montas and Cincinnati became official on Tuesday after he passed his physical. A deal was agreed upon Saturday.

"I know he has an injury history, but we were going to bring him in for a physical anyway," Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. "So we brought him in, did the physical and felt good about where he has been. He's been a very good Major League pitcher in the past and he has a ton of upside to get back to where he was. If he's that guy again, he's a toward-the-top-of-the-rotation type guy."

The Red Sox and Lucas Giolito are in agreement on a two-year, $38.5MM deal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal includes an opt-out after the 2024 campaign. According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the deal includes $1MM in incentives for both years with $19MM guaranteed in the first year, making the second-year opt-out a $19.5MM decision.

The Blue Jays have agreed to a two-year, $15MM deal with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link). The deal includes another $1MM in incentives, and it will become official when Kiner-Falefa passes a physical. Kiner-Falefa is represented by ALIGND.

The Seattle Mariners have signed catcher Mitch Garver to a two-year contract worth $24 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The Padres signed Japanese reliever Yuki Matsui to a five-year deal, the team announced on Saturday. San Diego has prioritized adding pitching this offseason, bringing in four young arms in the blockbuster deal with the Yankees for Juan Soto, and Matsui joins that list of acquisitions.

The deal is expected to be worth $28 million and includes opt-outs after 2026 and 2027, as well as an injury clause that can convert the fifth year of the contract into a club option, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The club did not disclose the terms of the deal.

While Major League Baseball will not see rule changes that are as drastic in 2024 as they were in 2023 when it introduced the pitch clock, there will reportedly be some differences during the upcoming campaign.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today shared some of them, including the reduction of the pitch clock from 20 seconds to 18 when runners are on base. What's more, teams will be given four mound visits per game instead of five

What's more, pitchers can step off the mound twice without penalty to reset the pitch clock.

MLB also decided to widen the runner's lane so batters can more directly approach first base and still not worry as much about interference

Continue the reunion!

Fresh off their first World Series appearance since 2001, the D-backs have aggressively added players with the latest coming Sunday when they agreed with outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a three-year, $42 million deal that includes a $14 million club option for 2027 and an opt-out after 2024, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

The fifth annual All-MLB Team was announced Saturday night, honoring the best players from the 2023 season. As was the case in each of the past four editions, the ‘23 team was chosen through a process in which 50% of the vote came from fans and 50% from a panel of experts.

The Mariners will take full ownership of the ROOT Sports Northwest regional sports network on January 1, according to Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. The Mariners had already held a 71% share in ROOT Sports NW since 2013, and they’ll now assume the 29% share previously held by Warner Bros. Discovery, as the corporation is getting out of the RSN business.

Kansas City agreed to a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the 31-year-old slugger, along with a $7.5 million player option for 2025, sources told MLB.com.

Kansas City has agreed to terms with free agent righty Michael Wacha, per a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a two-year, $32MM contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds.

The Rays are in agreement on a deal that would send Glasnow and veteran outfielder Manuel Margot to Los Angeles for young starter Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny Deluca, sources told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, contingent upon Glasnow signing a contract extension with Los Angeles. Glasnow is expected to agree to an extension, per a source.

The Tigers and right-hander Jack Flaherty are in agreement on a one-year, $14MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The Pirates added a veteran to their young infield on Tuesday. First baseman Rowdy Tellez agreed to a one-year deal with Pittsburgh worth $3.2 million plus $800,000 in performance incentives, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The team has not yet confirmed the move.

Tellez, 28, made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays in 2018 and was traded to the Brewers on July 6, 2021. He hit .226 with 55 home runs and a .743 OPS over three seasons with Milwaukee, slugging a career-high 35 homers in '22.

The Giants and outfielder Jung Hoo Lee are in agreement on a six-year, $113MM deal, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. There is an opt-out after four years. In addition to that guarantee, the Giants will owe a posting fee to the Kiwoom Heroes.

Lee, 25, has been a highly anticipated free agent for a long time now. It was reported in January that the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization would post him for MLB clubs after the 2023 campaign. At that point, Lee was coming off an excellent 2022 campaign.

Right-hander Seth Lugo and the Royals are finalizing a three-year, $45 million contract to bring the 34-year-old curveball specialist to Kansas City, sources told MLB.com's Anne Rogers and Mark Feinsand on Tuesday. And the club isn't stopping there, also finalizing a deal with right-handed reliever Chris Stratton for one year worth $3.5 million, along with a $4.5 million player option in 2025, a source told MLB.com.

A lot of players have been placed on waivers these last couple of days. Fangraphs answers some questions about the process