Top News:
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Red Sox To Sign Rusney Castillo — 11:50am: Castillo will take his physical tomorrow, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. He will earn $72MM from 2015-20, Nightengale adds. Presumably, Castillo is receiving $500K (or perhaps the pro-rated version of that sum) for the 2014 campaign.
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball, Red Sox Monster, GammonsDaily.com, Over the Monster and Metsblog
RELATED:
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Source: Red Sox get Castillo on 7-year deal — The Boston Red Sox landed the services of Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, agreeing to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract, a team source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes on Friday. — Castillo, 27, will join the team this season, the source added.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com and Associated Press
Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com:
Red Sox could soon sign Cuban star Castillo — Source: Outfielder close to inking a six-year, $72 million deal with Boston — The race to sign Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo could come to a record-breaking conclusion soon. — An industry source said Friday that Castillo is on track …
Ben Badler / Baseball America:
Rusney Castillo Agrees To Sign With Red Sox
Rusney Castillo Agrees To Sign With Red Sox
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball, CBSSports.com and SBNation.com
Alex Speier / Full Count:
Red Sox near agreement on 7-year deal with Rusney Castillo
Red Sox near agreement on 7-year deal with Rusney Castillo
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus, Over the Monster and Fox Sports
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Red Sox, Tigers in lead for Castillo
Red Sox, Tigers in lead for Castillo
Discussion:
Full Count, Bless You Boys, Lone Star Ball, Over the Monster, MLB Daily Dish and HardballTalk
Charlie Wilmoth / MLB Trade Rumors:
Manny Machado Likely Out For Season — Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is likely out for the rest of the season, Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweets. He will have knee surgery at some point within the next week. The Orioles announced last week that Machado had a right knee ligament sprain …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and SBNation.com
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Arrieta holds O's to 4 hits, beats former team — Recap — Box Score — Play-By-Play — Photos — Conversation — Jake Arrieta goes 7 innings to lead Cubs past Orioles — CHICAGO — Jake Arrieta shut down his former team, holding Baltimore to four hits in seven innings …
Discussion:
ESPN.com, Canadian Press and Bleed Cubbie Blue
Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com:
Surging Orioles set for challenges of stretch run — Rotation's continued success, Machado's return keys for Baltimore in pennant race — CHICAGO — The Orioles, winners in nine of their past 10 series, have their largest lead — nine games — in the American League East since 1997 …
Discussion:
Camden Chat
Kristie Ackert / NY Daily News:
Zack Wheeler hopes to continue to grow with Mets — Wheeler sees his growth this season as part of the Mets' overall plan. With the Mets' relying on young arms such as Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and himself, Wheeler can almost see what he and the team have been working toward.
RELATED:
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Mets Notes: Carlos, Quesada, Castillo, Wheeler, Niese — The Mets have long been on the lookout for a shortstop, but while many have speculated on the possibility of a trade with the Cubs or D'Backs, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the team will take a look at an under-the-radar Cuban shortstop in the coming days.
Discussion:
Metsblog and Amazin' Avenue
Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Chapman's return a bright spot for Reds — CINCINNATI — The only bit of good news to come from the Reds' 8-0 loss to the Braves on Thursday was the healthy return of closer Aroldis Chapman, who threw a perfect eighth inning. The lefty struck out his first two batters and got a fly ball to center field.
Discussion:
Red Reporter and HardballTalk
Gordon Wittenmyer / Chicago Sun Times:
Cubs cut grounds crew's hours to avoid paying health benefits — sources — Thanks a lot, Obama. — Add the Affordable Care Act - or, specifically, the big-business Cubs' response to it - to the causes behind Tuesday night's tarp fiasco and rare successful protest by the San Francisco Giants.
Discussion:
CBSSports.com, HardballTalk, Bleed Cubbie Blue and Chicago Tribune
Sid Hartman / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Ryan, Gardenhire expected to return to Twins — The Twins GM said those decisions will be made at the end of the year but implied they'll remain. — Terry Ryan indicated strongly Thursday that if he is the Twins' general manager when the 2015 season begins, Ron Gardenhire will be back for a 13th season as manager.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and CBSSports.com
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Thursday's Game 2 recap: Giants 5, Cubs 3 — The summary — Travis Wood couldn't hold a 3-1 lead as the Giants took the lead for good on a home run by Buster Posey in the fifth. Justin Ruggiano and Welington Castillo hit consecutive home runs in the first off Madison Bumgarner, who struck out 12 in seven innings.
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue
Peter Mucha / Philly.com:
ESPN's Jayson Stark: Phillies shake-up coming, Ruben Amaro not safe — Don't be so sure Ruben Amaro is coming back, even though Phillies president David Montgomery told fans this week that the general manager “is not on the hot seat.” — That's the word from ESPN baseball writer Jayson Stark …
Discussion:
97.5 The Fanatic, Viva El Birdos and Phillies Nation
RELATED:
Todd Zolecki / MLB.com:
Phillies have decisions to make heading into '15