Category: Sports News

Phils add another reliever, sign Zach Pop to one-year deal originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The holiday season is upon us and the Phillies continue to add to their bullpen.

The club announced Monday that it signed right-handed reliever Zach Pop to a one-year deal.

Pop, 29, endured an injury-riddled 2025 season and spent time with three organizations. He was shut down in March with elbow discomfort and released by Toronto in early April.

Pop later signed a Minor League deal with Seattle, earned a call-up, then struggled out of the gate — allowing 11 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings — before being designated for assignment. He elected free agency and signed with the Mets, but made just one appearance before being DFA’d again in July.

Prior to last season, Pop produced mostly below-average results across stints with Miami and Toronto, posting a 4.45 ERA over 158 appearances.

Pop features a three-pitch mix — sinker, slider and cutter — and generates ground balls at a high rate. In 2025, his groundball percentage sat at 54.5 percent, driven by a 96.4 mph average sinker.

His best stretch came in 2022. Pop opened that season with Miami, posting a 3.60 ERA in 18 appearances before being dealt to Seattle in a four-player trade. With the Mariners, he allowed just four earned runs across 19 innings. The underlying numbers backed it up: a 39.3 percent chase rate, a 2.5 percent walk rate and a 5.6 percent barrel rate.

Pop profiles as a pitch-to-contact arm who is most effective when he’s living at the bottom of the zone and inducing soft contact.

It’s another low-risk addition for Dave Dombrowski and the front office. Pop becomes the 39th player on the Phillies’ 40-man roster. He does not have any Minor League options remaining and will compete for a bullpen spot this spring.

What Red Sox' Willson Contreras trade could mean for Triston Casas originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Red Sox filled a glaring void at the first base position Sunday, acquiring veteran Willson Contreras in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.

That void existed because Triston Casas’ future with the club is uncertain. The soon-to-be 26-year-old played in only 29 games last season before suffering a ruptured patellar tendon in May. Injuries also plagued him throughout the 2024 season, limiting him to only 63 games.

So, does the Contreras addition leave Casas without a role for 2026? Not necessarily.

With Contreras expected to begin next season as the Red Sox’ primary first baseman, Casas will have time to shake off the rust in Triple-A. The former top prospect still has minor-league options remaining.

If and when he returns to the big-league club, the left-handed-hitting Casas could split first base and designated hitter duties with the right-handed Contereras. Since Contreras is the superior defender, Casas in the DH spot would make sense if he can regain his 2023 form.

Casas’ path to an MLB return should become clearer in spring training when other question marks on the roster are addressed. For instance, Masataka Yoshida remains in the mix as a DH option, and the surplus of outfielders further complicates matters. Jarren Duran has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason, but he’s another candidate to spend time at DH if he isn’t moved.

Craig Breslow and Co. could look to trade Casas, but given his injuries and lack of production over the last two years, his value couldn’t be much lower. Allowing the 2018 first-rounder to play his way back into an MLB role is the most reasonable solution, and the well-rounded Contreras provides the Red Sox with that flexibility.

Contreras, 33, will bring much-needed right-handed pop to Boston’s lineup. Excluding the shortened 2020 campaign, he has hit at least 20 homers in six of nine seasons. The former catcher notched career highs in doubles (31) and RBI (80) last season while posting a .791 OPS in 135 games.

Contreras is a solid addition, but the Red Sox should still aggressively pursue at least one more big bat this winter. They can still re-sign third baseman Alex Bregman, although their odds of doing so seem to only be getting worse. Free-agent infielder Bo Bichette is another intriguing option, and they have also been linked to Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, free-agent slugger Eugenio Suarez, and Houston Astros infielder Isaac Paredes.

How velocity bump put Adrian Houser in much better position this offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — For a second straight year, Adrian Houser signed a contract with a new organization as the holidays approached, but the circumstances this time around couldn’t be any different.

Houser agreed to a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers last offseason, one that would give him the chance to come to spring training and try to win a job. This time around, the only question is where he’ll slot into a big league rotation at the end of March.

The Giants and Houser agreed to a two-year deal last week, and on a Zoom call with beat reporters on Monday, he said the organization’s early interest made a difference as he looked for a new home.

“It was just coming down to knowing the talent was here, and then also the front office and Buster (Posey), they were pretty adamant and pretty consistent so far up to this point throughout the offseason, keeping in constant contact,” Houser said. “I could just tell they really wanted me and after sitting down and talking through it and everything, we felt like it was going to be a really good fit.”

For the Giants, the strong interest goes back to July, when Houser loomed as an appealing option to fill a hole in the rotation in the second half. Posey ended up going into sell mode, but the rotation still needs those innings, and the hope is that Houser is on an upward trajectory. The 32-year-old is coming off his best stint in the big leagues, and he said that success goes back to last offseason, when he couldn’t find a big league job. 

Houser worked with specialists in Oklahoma to make mechanical changes. He got more into his backside and changed the way he drives down a mound. He also got his hands further away from his body. 

“I just felt freed up,” he said. “It was coming out a lot easier.”

The success wasn’t immediate. Houser began the season in Triple-A and got released in May, but he found a new home in Chicago, posting a 2.10 ERA and 3.34 FIP in 11 starts for the White Sox. That led to a midseason trade to Tampa Bay, and while his ERA jumped to 4.79 after the deadline, he continued to show an uptick in stuff. 

Houser’s sinker averaged 95 mph in September, his highest mark in a month in six years. The pitch was up two ticks from 2024, and his entire repertoire saw similar jumps. His slider went from 83 mph to 88 mph after a grip change.

While players hit free agency and want to be rewarded for what they’ve done, teams are looking ahead and trying to find a player whose best days are ahead of him. The Giants believe that’s the case with Houser, and they certainly need to be right. To this point, he is the only addition to a rotation that finished 2025 with a big talent deficit. 

Houser currently slots in as either the third or fourth starter, although that could change with another free agent addition or trade. Regardless, he’s locked into a rotation this winter, and he said he’s doing many of the same things to prepare. A year ago, he embraced the carnivore diet and occasional 72-hour fasts to get his body ready for an important spring, and that has continued, along with the work on his mechanics. 

“I plan to go out there and make every start and go as deep as possible as I can in every game and try to come off the field every time with the team ahead and with a chance to win the game,” he said. 

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The Yankees are bringing in INF Zack Short on a minor league deal. 

Short spent time with the Mets two seasons ago after being claimed off waivers from the Tigers. 

The New York native was able to crack the team coming out of camp, but ended up being DFA'd after just 10 appearances. 

He was traded to the Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations, but was only in Boston briefly before he was again let go and shipped off to the Atlanta Braves. 

Short appeared in a combined 32 games between the two teams the rest of the year. 

He elected to hit free agency at season's end, and received a minor league deal with the Astros.

The 30-year-old spent most of the year in Triple-A, logging just 22 appearances in the majors. 

Now in the Bronx, he is facing a bit of an uphill battle for a roster spot, but he'll look to provide the Yankees with a versatile glove off the bench. 

Short has just a career .567 OPS, but he's logged appearances at second, third, and shortstop.