Wittgren Traded to Indians

The Miami Marlins have traded relief pitcher, Nick Wittgren to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for right handed pitcher, Jordan Milbrath per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of Fancred.

Wittgren was designated for assignment by the Marlins last week in order to make room for Neil Walker on their 40-man roster, whom they recently signed via free agency.

Wittgren had an up and down year between triple A and the big leagues last season, but nonetheless posted a 2.94 ERA in 32 appearances. He also had a 1.59 ERA in the month of September after being called back up to the majors, which made this move  a bit of a surprise by the Marlins.

Jerry Blevins Signs with the A’s

According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, left handed relief pitcher and former Met, Jerry Blevins has signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics, which could be worth up to 1.5 million if he reaches the majors. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle had also previously reported that the deal was close just prior to the announcement.

Blevins spent the first seven years of his career in Oakland before being traded to the Washington Nationals in the 2014 offseason, only to sign with the Mets in 2015, where he played his last four seasons in New York.

After having stellar 2016/17 campaigns setting career highs in appearances in back to back seasons, the 35-year-old lefty seemed to experience a bit of a workload burnout last year struggling with a stat line of a 4.85 ERA, 4.97 FIP, and 1.359 WHIP in 64 appearances.

Giants Mull the Possibility of Ellsbury

The San Francisco Giants have reportedly discussed the possibility of acquiring outfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury from the New York Yankees per Buster Onley of ESPN.

The Giants are currently in the market for “2-3 veteran outfielders” as Onley tweeted out last week due to their lack of experience and depth at all three spots. New York still owes Ellsbury $48 million on his contract, so a potential “bad contract” swap would make sense.

As Onley noted, veteran starting pitcher, Johnny Cueto is coming off of Tommy John Surgery and has $68 million left on his contract, which could make him a prime candidate. Despite this factor, the deal would ultimately have to even out on the money end, as well as the Yankees receiving insurance relief on Cueto.

Pirates Bring Back Liriano

According to Rosenthal, the Pittsburgh Pirates have brought back veteran left handed pitcher, Francisco Liriano on a minor league deal. The deal is reportedly worth 1.8 million with a potential 1.5 million is incentives tweeted Robert Murray of  The Athletic.

Liriano previously pitched for the Pirates from 2013-2016, where he experienced success going 35-25 and never posting an ERA or FIP above a 3.5, along with a WHIP over 1.3 in 86 starts. Despite these solid numbers, the 35-year-old struggled for the Detroit Tigers last season going 5-12 with a 4.58 ERA, 5.11 FIP, and a 1.496 WHIP in 26 starts.