The Atlanta Braves outrighted right-hander Ben Heller and infielder Andrew Velazquez to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. The Baltimore Orioles also claimed outfielder Sam Hilliard off waivers from the Braves. Heller, 32, made his first appearance in the big leagues in three years in 2023 and surrendered nine runs (eight earned) on 16 hits (two home runs) while walking 11 and striking out 16 in 18 2/3 innings over 19 outings out of the bullpen in Atlanta. Velazquez, 29, was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels late in the year and didn't see any action in the bigs in Atlanta to close out the season. In 54 games for the Halos, he hit a weak .173 (14-for-81) with two home runs, three RBI and 13 stolen bases in 94 plate appearances.

NEW YORK (AP) — Right-hander Ben Heller was released by the New York Yankees on Friday, two days after he was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for reliever Darren O'Day. A 29-year-old right-hander, Heller had a 3.00 ERA in six innings over six relief appearances during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Heller is 2-0 with a 2.59 ERA in 31 relief appearances over four seasons. He agreed on Dec. 2 to a contract paying $625,000 while in the the major leagues that included $225,000 in guaranteed money. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Side-arming reliever Darren O’Day is guaranteed $3.15 million in his contract with the New York Yankees, which has both player and team options for 2022. The 38-year-old right-hander gets $1.75 million this year in the deal announced Wednesday. The contract includes a $1.4 million player option for 2022 and, if he declines his option, the Yankees would decide on a $3.15 million team option with a $700,000 buyout. O’Day takes the spot vacated when the Yankees traded right-hander Adam Ottavino to Boston, a move that cut $7.15 million from New York’s payroll. O’Day figures to join left-hander Zack Britton and right-hander Chad Green as the primary setup men for closer Aroldis Chapman. Right-hander Ben Heller was designated for assignment to open a roster spot. O’Day was 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA in 16 1/3 innings over 19 games last year with Atlanta, striking out 22 and walking five while allowing eight hits. While his fastball averaged just 86 mph, his low arm angle creates deception;... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Side-arming reliever Darren O’Day is guaranteed $3.15 million in his contract with the New York Yankees, which has both player and team options for 2022. The 38-year-old right-hander gets a $1.75 million this year in the deal announced Wednesday. The contract includes a $1.4 million player option for 2022 and, if he declines his option, the Yankees would decide on a $3.15 million team option with a $700,000 buyout. O’Day takes the spot vacated when the Yankees traded right-hander Adam Ottavino to Boston, a move that cut $7.15 million from New York’s payroll. O’Day figures to join left-hander Zack Britton and right-hander Chad Green as the primary setup men for closer Aroldis Chapman. Right-hander Ben Heller was designated for assignment to open a roster spot. O’Day was 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA in 16 1/3 innings over 19 games last year with Atlanta, striking out 22 and walking five while allowing eight hits. While his fastball averaged just 86 mph, his low arm angle creates deception;... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Right-hander Luis Cessa and the New York Yankees avoided salary arbitration when they agreed to a $1.05 million, one-year contract Wednesday before the deadline to offer 2021 contracts to unsigned players on 40-man rosters. New York also agreed to a one-year deal with right-hander Ben Heller, who gets $625,000 in the majors and $225,000 in the minors. The Yankees allowed right-hander Jonathan Holder to become a free agent, declining to offer a 2021 contract. Cessa missed the start of the season after testing positive for COVID-19 and made his debut on Aug. 5. The 28-year-old right-hander had a 3.32 ERA with no decisions in 16 relief appearances and 21 2/3 innings, striking out 17, walking seven and allowing 20 hits. Cessa made $331,481 in prorated pay from an $895,000 salary. Cessa is 7-12 with a 4.40 ERA in 19 starts and 83 relief appearances over five seasons with the Yankees. He is eligible for free agency after the 2023 season. Heller. 29, had a 3.00 ERA in six relief... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Right-hander Luis Cessa and the New York Yankees avoided salary arbitration when they agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract Wednesday before the deadline to offer 2021 contracts to unsigned players on 40-man rosters. New York also agreed to a one-year deal with right-hander Ben Heller, who gets $625,000 in the majors and $225,000 in the minors. The Yankees allowed right-hander Jonathan Holder to become a free agent, declining to offer a 2021 contract. Cessa missed the start of the season after testing positive for COVID-19 and made his debut on Aug. 5. The 28-year-old right-hander had a 3.32 ERA with no decisions in 16 relief appearances and 21 2/3 innings, striking out 17, walking seven and allowing 20 hits. Cessa made $331,481 in prorated pay from an $895,000 salary. Cessa is 7-12 with a 4.40 ERA in 19 starts and 83 relief appearances over five seasons with the Yankees. He is eligible for free agency after the 2023 season. Heller. 29, had a 3.00 ERA in six relief appearances,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Stable vs. The Savages. Just another way to say top-seeded Tampa Bay and the No. 5 Yankees meet in the best-of-five AL Division Series starting Monday at neutral site San Diego. Tampa Bay players wear blue T-shirts with four horses lined up behind a fence, a reference to Rays manager Kevin Cash declaring “I’ve got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 miles an hour” in response to Aroldis Chapman throwing a 101 mph pitch near Mike Brosseau’s head on Sept. 1. New York sold “Savages in the Box” shirts for $29.99 each last year, memorializing manager Aaron Boone’s infamous comment on his batters during a profane rant at rookie umpire Brennan Miller in a July 18 doubleheader opener against the Rays. “That’s the entertainment business of it. At the end of the day, it’s series like this that make the statement, not anything else,” Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said Thursday. Tampa Bay swept two games from Toronto in the first round for its first postseason series... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees reliever Ben Heller was ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays for hitting Hunter Renfroe in the leg with a pitch, the latest chapter in a simmering rivalry between the top two teams in the AL East.Heller plunked Renfroe with a 95 mph fastball with one out in the fifth inning and was promptly tossed by first base umpire Chad Fairchild. Heller tried to plead his case and so did acting New York manager Carlos Mendoza before Luis Cessa came on to pitch.The ejection occurred hours after Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was handed a three-game suspension by Major League Baseball for throwing a 101 mph fastball over Mike Brosseau’s head in the ninth inning of New York's 5-3 win over the first-place Rays on Tuesday night. Chapman said Wednesday afternoon the pitch was not intentional and he is appealing the suspension.Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Tampa Bay counterpart Kevin Cash were each given a one-game suspension and served their bans Wednesday.Chapman’s... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees have placed reliever Zack Britton on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring after he was injured in Wednesday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.Britton underwent an MRI before Thursday’s game and the Yankees put him on the IL about 90 minutes before the game.Britton replaced Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning Wednesday and allowed RBI singles to Mike Brosseau and Willy Adames in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 4-2 loss.He winced after getting pulled from the game with two runners on base and one out in the eighth.Britton was the Yankees’ closer and filled in nicely while Aroldis Chapman was recovering from COVID-19. Britton converted all eight save chances before moving back to his setup role when Chapman was activated Monday.Britton is 0-2 with a 2.00 ERA in 10 appearances this season.Britton became the fourth Yankee to land on the injured list since Aug. 8, joining DJ LeMahieu (sprained left thumb), Aaron Judge (strained right calf) and... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Highlighting the pitfalls of beginning the baseball season amid a pandemic, Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on the injured list Thursday, hours before the 2019 World Series champions were scheduled to face the New York Yankees on opening day.Major League Baseball is the first of the four major North American team sports playing regular-season games amid the coronavirus outbreak, which is getting worse in some parts of the U.S.“You feel bad for him. He's a great player. The fans want to see him. And it affects our lineup,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said.“But what can you do about it?” Rizzo added. “You've got to play ball. ... We’re going to have to win without our best guy. It’s a challenge.”Soto, a 21-year-old left fielder who was a breakout star of last October after producing 34 homers and 110 RBIs during the regular season, will be sidelined until he can come up negative on two consecutive coronavirus tests.“Unfortunately... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Highlighting the pitfalls of beginning the baseball season amid a pandemic, Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on the injured list Thursday, hours before the 2019 World Series champions were scheduled to face the New York Yankees on opening day.Major League Baseball is the first of the four major North American team sports playing regular-season games amid the coronavirus outbreak, which is getting worse in some parts of the U.S.“You feel bad for him. He's a great player. The fans want to see him. And it affects our lineup,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said.“But what can you do about it?” Rizzo added. “You've got to play ball. ... We’re going to have to win without our best guy. It’s a challenge.”Soto, a 21-year-old left fielder who was a breakout star of last October after producing 34 homers and 110 RBIs during the regular season, will be sidelined until he can come up negative on two consecutive coronavirus tests.“Unfortunately... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on the injured list Thursday, forcing him to miss the start of the pandemic-delayed season.“You feel bad for him. He's a great player. The fans want to see him. And it affects our lineup,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said as he announced Soto's test less than five hours before the 2019 World Series champions were scheduled to host the New York Yankees on opening day.“But what can you do about it?” Rizzo said. “You've got to play ball. ... We’re going to have to win without our best guy. It’s a challenge.”Soto, a 21-year-old left fielder who was a breakout star of last postseason, will be sidelined until he can come up negative on two consecutive coronavirus tests.“He's asymptomatic,” Rizzo said. “He's following all major league protocols.”Rizzo said the Nationals had done contact tracing to check whether other members of the organization had been exposed.“At this time, there's nobody... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on the injured list Thursday, forcing him to miss the start of the pandemic-delayed season.“You feel bad for him. He's a great player. The fans want to see him. And it affects our lineup,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said as he announced Soto's test less than five hours before the 2019 World Series champions were scheduled to host the New York Yankees on opening day.“But what can you do about it?” Rizzo said. “You've got to play ball. ... We’re going to have to win without our best guy. It’s a challenge.”Soto, a 21-year-old left fielder who was a breakout star of last postseason, will be sidelined until he can come up negative on two consecutive coronavirus tests.“He's asymptomatic,” Rizzo said. “He's following all major league protocols.”Rizzo said the Nationals had done contact tracing to check whether other members of the organization had been exposed.“At this time, there's nobody... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Second baseman DJ LeMahieu was reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list by the New York Yankees on Thursday as they set their opening day 30-man roster before playing Game 1 against the Washington Nationals.Closer Aroldis Chapman and starter Masahiro Tanaka begin the season on injured lists — Chapman on the COVID IL, and Tanaka on the 7-day IL after getting hit in the head by a batted ball.Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced on July 4 that LeMahieu and right-hander Luis Cessa tested positive for the coronavirus before traveling to New York for the team's summer camp and said they were self-isolating at home.LeMahieu signed with the Yankees before last season and hit .327, setting career highs with 26 homers and 102 RBIs.The Yankees also recalled infielder Thairo Estrada and righty pitchers Ben Heller and Michael King from the alternate site Thursday. That trio is part of a group of eight Yankees making their first career opening day active roster, along with outfielder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia walked into Yankee Stadium's interview room with his left arm in a sling Friday, 16 hours after shuffling off the mound in pain following the 58,692nd and final pitch of his major league career.That powerful left shoulder — which earned six All-Star appearances, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and possibly a spot in the Hall of Fame — finally had given out."I think it's just kind of fitting," he said . "I threw until I couldn't anymore."His burly body — 6-foot-6, 300 pounds and perhaps a tad more — had echoed the decision he announced last winter.No second thoughts about retirement following 19 major league seasons. No temptation for more, the 39-year-old explained to his wife."I told Amber last night that this was the best way for it to end for me because of the way I've been feeling, loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good, I feel like about July of next year I'll be like, 'I think I can pitch,'" he said.He dislocated a joint in his pitching shoulder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia walked into Yankee Stadium's interview room with his left arm in a sling Friday, 16 hours after shuffling off the mound in pain following the 58,692nd and final pitch of his major league career.That powerful left shoulder — which earned six All-Star appearances, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and possibly a spot in the Hall of Fame — finally had given out."I think it's just kind of fitting," he said . "I threw until I couldn't anymore."His burly body — 6-foot-6, 300 pounds and perhaps a tad more — had echoed the decision he announced last winter.No second thoughts about retirement following 19 major league seasons. No temptation for more, the 39-year-old explained to his wife."I told Amber last night that this was the best way for it to end for me because of the way I've been feeling, loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good, I feel like about July of next year I'll be like, 'I think I can pitch,'" he said.He dislocated a joint in his pitching shoulder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia walked into Yankee Stadium's interview room with his left arm in a sling Friday, 16 hours after shuffling off the mound in pain following the 58,692nd and final pitch of his major league career.That powerful left shoulder — which earned six All-Star appearances, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and possibly a spot in the Hall of Fame — finally had given out."I think it's just kind of fitting," he said . "I threw until I couldn't anymore."His burly body — 6-foot-6, 300 pounds and perhaps a tad more — had echoed the decision he announced last winter.No second thoughts about retirement following 19 major league seasons. No temptation for more, the 39-year-old explained to his wife."I told Amber last night that this was the best way for it to end for me because of the way I've been feeling, loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good, I feel like about July of next year I'll be like, 'I think I can pitch,'" he said.He dislocated a joint in his pitching shoulder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia's major league career is over.The 39-year-old left-hander was dropped from the Yankees' AL Championship Series roster on Friday, a day after he dislocated a joint in his pitching shoulder during the eighth inning of New York's Game 4 loss to Houston."I think it's just kind of fitting: I threw until I couldn't anymore," Sabathia said, his arm in a sling, his Yankees cap on backward, during a news conference at Yankee Stadium.He recounted a conversation with his wife."I told Amber last night that this was the best way for it to end for me because of the way I've been feeling, loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good, I feel like about July of next year I'll be like, 'I think I can pitch,'" he said.Sabathia was replaced on the roster by right-hander Ben Heller. New York trailed 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, and even if the Yankees advanced, Sabathia would not be eligible to return to the active roster. He said he will have an MRI to determine whether... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia's major league career is over.The 39-year-old left-hander was dropped from the Yankees' AL Championship Series roster on Friday, a day after he dislocated a joint in his pitching shoulder during the eighth inning of New York's Game 4 loss to Houston."I think it's just kind of fitting: I threw until I couldn't anymore," Sabathia said, his arm in a sling, his Yankees cap on backward, during a news conference at Yankee Stadium.He recounted a conversation he had with his wife."I told Amber last night that this was the best way for it to end for me because of the way I've been feeling, loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good. I feel like about July of next year I'll be like, I think I can pitch," he said.Sabathia was replaced on the roster by right-hander Ben Heller. New York trailed 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, and even if the Yankees advanced Sabathia would not be eligible to return to the active roster. He said he will have an MRI to determine... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia's major league career is over.The 39-year-old left-hander was dropped from the Yankees' AL Championship Series roster on Friday, a day after he dislocated a joint in his pitching shoulder during the eighth inning of New York's Game 4 loss to Houston.Sabathia was replaced by right-hander Ben Heller. New York trailed 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, and even if the Yankees and advanced Sabathia would not be eligible to return to the active roster.A six-time All-Star and the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner with Cleveland, Sabathia finished with a 251-161 regular-season record with 3,093 strikeouts. He announced before the season that this was going to be his last year, and he made four trips to the injured list caused by his balky right knee.His body gave out on his 20th pitch to the Astros. He walked off the mound toward second, spoke with head athletic trainer Steve Donahue and tried a warmup toss, hoping somehow to push through, but he had to leave.Even Houston's... [More]