There wasn’t much cooking on the hot stove on Monday, but with most teams returning from the holiday break on Tuesday, things could heat up quickly.

Tulo Going To the Bronx

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported late Tuesday night that the New York Yankees and Troy Tulowitzki were in agreement on a one-year deal for next season at the league minimum. The Blue Jays will be on the hook for the remaining $20 million this season.

According to Passan, the team is still expected to pursue Manny Machado as they have been previously. To read more about it and what it’s ramifications are for the team check out Mojo Hill’s article from last night.

Toronto Looking to Deepen Rotation, Defense

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, the Blue Jays “will continue to prioritize arms as the calendar turns to 2019”.

Team general manager Ross Atkins hinted at surely looking to make additions to the pitching corps, stating that “it could be in the form of starting, [or it] could be in the form of relief”.

As for addressing the holes left in their lineup with the release of former infielder Yangervis Solarte, Atkins alluded to looking in-house to fill those voids, saying “we have to get better and we have to get better with the pieces that we have”.

Nicholson-Smith lists Eric Sogard, highly-touted prospect Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Brandon Drury as candidates who could step into that role.

Minor League Signings

According to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects, Pittsburgh has signed left-hander Tyler Lyons, most recently with St. Louis, to a minor league contract.

Lyons, 30, pitched to an 8.64 earned-run average with a 5.02 fielding independent pitching rating, 1.920 WHIP, a 2.38 strikeouts-to-walks ratio, and a 46 ERA+ rating in 27 appearances (16.2 innings) for the Cardinals last year.

The southpaw has a 4.09 ERA over 147 career appearances since making his debut in 2013, all but 20 coming as a reliever.

Brandon Warne of Zone Coverage Minnesota is reporting that veteran outfielder Michael Saunders has signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies.

Saunders, 32, split last season between Philadelphia and Toronto, slashing .202/.256/.344 over 234 plate appearances (20 with the Jays, 214 with Philly).

Over his nine-year MLB career, Saunders has a .232/.305/.397 line with 162-game averages of 17 home runs, 55 runs batted in, 26 doubles, and a 94 OPS+ rating.