The New York Yankees traded left-handed pitcher Manny Banuelos to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations on Sunday. The 31-year-old has made four appearances in the majors this year, allowing seven hits, three walks and two earned runs over 8.1 innings. He signed his first MLB contract with the Yankees, but wound up bouncing around the league for a bit before returning to the Bronx on a minor league deal this past offseason. Over 85.1 career MLB innings, he has a 5.91 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The way things have been going, José Ramirez's deep drive figured to be swallowed by the wind.Once it cleared the wall, the Indians could exhale.Ramirez hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night, giving Cleveland a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox that snapped an Indians' losing streak that felt like more than three games.Francisco Lindor singled with one out against Jace Fry (1-1) before Jason Kipnis struck out. Chicago manager Rick Renteria brought in right-hander Kelvin Herrera to face the switch-hitting Ramirez and Lindor stole second on a 2-1 pitch.Ramirez crushed Herrera's next pitch — a 96 mph fastball — through a stiff wind blowing straight into home plate that knocked down at least six previous flies and kept them in the ballpark.When Ramirez's shot landed in the seats in right, it set off a much-needed celebration by the Indians, who have been looking for something to break them out of a season-long offensive slump."I understand we're... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramirez hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, giving Cleveland a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox and snapping the Indians' three-game losing streak Wednesday night.Francisco Lindor singled with one out against Jace Fry (1-1) before Jason Kipnis struck out. Chicago manager Rick Renteria brought in right-hander Kelvin Herrera to face the switch-hitting Ramirez and Lindor stole second on a 2-1 pitch.Ramirez crushed Herrera's next pitch — a 96 mph fastball — through a stiff wind and into the seats in right for his third homer, setting off a much-needed celebration by the Indians.Ramirez's teammates ran to the plate with trays of water cups to greet and douse him. The Indians have been in a season-long offensive slump and have been looking for something to get them going.Brad Hand (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.José Abreu homered for Chicago.The Indians came in as the AL's worst hitting team — last in average, hits, doubles and triples — and... [More]

Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are going to continue their successful partnership for a while longer.Verlander and the Astros have agreed to a contract adding an additional $66 million in guaranteed money for 2020 and '21, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The agreement was first reported by KRIV-FOX 26.A 36-year-old right-hander, Verlander is due $28 million in 2019, the final guaranteed season of a $180 million, seven-year deal he signed with Detroit before the 2013 season. That contract included a $22 million option for 2020 that would have become guaranteed if Verlander finished among the top five in Cy Young Award voting this year.Verlander was traded from Detroit to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, he finished second in Cy Young voting last season... [More]

Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are going to continue their successful partnership for a while longer.Verlander and the Astros have agreed to a contract adding an additional $66 million in guaranteed money for 2020 and '21, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The agreement was first reported by KRIV-FOX 26.A 36-year-old right-hander, Verlander is due $28 million in 2019, the final guaranteed season of a $180 million, seven-year deal he signed with Detroit before the 2013 season. That contract included a $22 million option for 2020 that would have become guaranteed if Verlander finished among the top five in Cy Young Award voting this year.Verlander was traded from Detroit to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, he finished second in Cy Young voting last season... [More]

Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are going to continue their successful partnership for a while longer.Verlander and the Astros have agreed to a contract adding an additional $66 million in guaranteed money for 2020 and '21, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The agreement was first reported by KRIV-FOX 26.A 36-year-old right-hander, Verlander is due $28 million in 2019, the final guaranteed season of a $180 million, seven-year deal he signed with Detroit before the 2013 season. That contract included a $22 million option for 2020 that would have become guaranteed if Verlander finished among the top five in Cy Young Award voting this year.Verlander was traded from Detroit to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, he finished second in Cy Young voting last season... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jung Ho Kang and Erik Gonzalez have won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh Pirates.General manager Neal Huntington said Monday that Kang has beaten out Colin Moran at third base and Erik Gonzalez has won the shortstop competition over Kevin Newman."It was not an easy decision because all four guys, in their own way, had legitimate claims to be the regular," Huntington said.Kang is just 5 for 28 (.185) with 13 strikeouts this spring but all five hits have been solo home runs. Moran was 6 for 28 (.214) with a double and a homer through the weekend.Moran, however, had committed four errors while Kang had two."The power has been real," manager Clint Hurdle said of Kang. "It's spring training, but it's five homers. We don't have anybody else that's hit five homers."Kang missed the entire 2017 season and the beginning of 2018 because he was unable to secure a work visa to travel from his native South Korea following a third DUI arrest. He then underwent wrist... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — All rise — again. Aaron Judge is back.Judge hit his first two homers of spring training, helping the New York Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers in a split-squad game on Sunday.Brett Gardner also connected twice and Gary Sanchez had a solo drive as New York went deep six times. The Yankees set a major league record with 267 homers last season.Gardner and Judge hit consecutive homers off Daniel Norris in the first. Judge went deep again in the fifth, belting a two-run drive to right that went off the glove of a leaping Victor Reyes and just over the wall.Norris allowed three runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old left-hander is trying to win a spot in Detroit's rotation."Just trying to throw strikes and stay out of the middle of the zone, which I didn't do very good today," Norris said.Masahiro Tanaka tossed three scoreless innings for the Yankees in his first spring start. Traditionally one of baseball's most deliberate workers, the right-hander... [More]

Bryce Harper meets with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the very next day, a Brinks truck is parked right outside the team's spring training complex.Coincidence or correlation?With the first full week of exhibition games on deck, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed he joined club executives in meeting with Harper in Las Vegas on Sunday night.Roberts said it was a good session and gave the sides a chance to "get to know each other." Roberts says the Dodgers were "vetting a certain process."Harper has been connected to the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants during a second consecutive slow free-agent market for the sport. Manny Machado, the other top free agent this winter, signed a $300 million, 10-year deal with the San Diego Padres on Thursday.The 26-year-old Harper was the 2015 NL MVP and made six All-Star teams in seven big league seasons with the Washington Nationals. He batted .249 with 34 home runs, 100 RBIs and an .889 OPS last season.FROM AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dodgers are in ongoing negotiations with ace Clayton Kershaw, and they still need to resolve the future of manager Dave Roberts, too.According to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, the talks with Kershaw's camp are "ongoingly pleasant."The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and the team agreed to extend the deadline on Kershaw's opt-out decision by 40 hours until 1 p.m. PDT Friday.Kershaw can opt out of the last two years and $65 million of his contract to become a free agent for the first time in an 11-year big league career spent entirely with the Dodgers.If he chooses free agency, Kershaw could negotiate with any team, including the Dodgers."He's made as much of an impact as you can on an organization in terms of the success we've had," Friedman said Thursday. "Not just on the field but from a culture standpoint in terms of bringing up young pitchers and emulating the work ethic, the drive."Kershaw signed a $215 million, seven-year contract in January... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dodgers are in ongoing negotiations with ace Clayton Kershaw, and they still need to resolve the future of manager Dave Roberts, too.According to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, the talks with Kershaw's camp are "ongoingly pleasant."The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and the team agreed to extend the deadline on Kershaw's opt-out decision by 40 hours until 1 p.m. PDT Friday.Kershaw can opt out of the last two years and $65 million of his contract to become a free agent for the first time in an 11-year big league career spent entirely with the Dodgers.If he chooses free agency, Kershaw could negotiate with any team, including the Dodgers."He's made as much of an impact as you can on an organization in terms of the success we've had," Friedman said Thursday. "Not just on the field but from a culture standpoint in terms of bringing up young pitchers and emulating the work ethic, the drive."Kershaw signed a $215 million, seven-year contract in January... [More]

Shohei Ohtani went only one way in his spring training debut for the Los Angeles Angels and got pulled early.The Japanese star pitcher and hitter was scheduled to throw two innings in his start Saturday, but was taken out after giving up two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings during a 6-5 win over Milwaukee.Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't put Ohtani in the batting order.The 23-year-old righty struck out two and his fastball reached 97 mph. He allowed one run, on a homer by Keon Broxton. Ohtani threw 31 pitches, 17 for strikes."Besides the results, I mean, I had a lot of fun out there, so I think it went all well," Ohtani said through a translator.Ohtani has been hitting some long home runs in batting practice."I had a lot of fun out there today and obviously I'm excited to hit and pitch again, and I just want to keep on getting better and have good results from here on out," he said.Scioscia said Ohtani will hit early in the week, as the designated hitter."It was great to see him,"... [More]

Shohei Ohtani went only one way in his spring training debut for the Los Angeles Angels and got pulled early.The Japanese star pitcher and hitter was scheduled to throw two innings in his start Saturday, but was taken out after giving up two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings during a 6-5 win over Milwaukee.Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't put Ohtani in the batting order.The 23-year-old righty struck out two and his fastball reached 97 mph. He allowed one run, on a homer by Keon Broxton. Ohtani threw 31 pitches, 17 for strikes."Besides the results, I mean, I had a lot of fun out there, so I think it went all well," Ohtani said through a translator.Ohtani has been hitting some long home runs in batting practice."I had a lot of fun out there today and obviously I'm excited to hit and pitch again, and I just want to keep on getting better and have good results from here on out," he said.Scioscia said Ohtani will hit early in the week, as the designated hitter."It was great to see him,"... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte is among 22 non-roster players invited to spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers.The 32-year-old Venditte agreed to a minor league deal in November after he spent the 2017 season pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies' organization. He had a 3.36 ERA in 69 2/3 innings of relief.Venditte pitched in parts of two seasons in the major leagues with Oakland in 2015 and Toronto and Seattle in 2016. He has a 4.97 ERA in 41 career relief appearances in the big leagues.Other pitchers invited to camp are: left-handers Manny Banuelos and Brian Moran, and right-handers Joe Broussard, Daniel Corcino, C.C. Lee, Mark Lowe, Zach Neal and Yasiel Sierra.Invited catchers are Keibert Ruiz, Will Smith and Shawn Zarraga.Infielders who were invited are Matt Beaty, Drew Jackson, Max Muncy, Jake Peter, Edwin Rios and Donovan Solano.Outfielders are Yusniel Diaz, DJ Peters, Henry Ramos and Travis Taijeron.Pitchers and catchers report to Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

LHP Manny Banuelos signed a free agent contract with the Angels on Sunday. Once considered one of the Yankees' top prospects, Banuelos went 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA in seven appearances last year for the Braves, who released him from the minor leagues Aug. 12. He missed the first six weeks of the season while recovering from left elbow surgery performed last September. The Angels did not announce whether Banuelos signed a major league or a minor league contract.

LHP Manny Banuelos was designated for assignment. He had been placed on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 3.

LHP Manny Banuelos, coming back from elbow surgery, was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He struggled in a rehab outing for Class A Rome on Sunday, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks over two innings. Banuelos had surgery last September and missed spring training.

LHP Manny Banuelos, who had been on a rehab assignment after elbow surgery, was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.

LHP Manny Banuelos was activated from the disabled list Monday and optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He has been on the disabled list all season due to left elbow inflammation. Banuelos made a rehab appearance for Class A Rome on Sunday, allowing five runs (three earned) in two innings.

LHP Manny Banuelos began a rehab assignment with Class A Rome on Sunday, allowing five runs (three earned) in two innings. He has been on the disabled list all season due to left elbow inflammation.