Free-agent infielder/outfielder Josh VanMeter signed a minor-league deal with the New York Yankees on Wednesday, according to a source. VanMeter didn't play in the big leagues at all this past season and instead slashed a combined .209/.400/.354 with six home runs, 22 RBI and 34 runs scored in 51 total games in the Arizona Complex League and at Triple-A Nashville in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. The 28-year-old utility player made his big-league debut in 2019 with the Cincinnati Reds and has played in four seasons in the majors with three teams, hitting .206/.293/.347 with 19 home runs, 79 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 300 games. VanMeter will most likely open the year as organizational infield and outfield depth at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Josh VanMeter (leg) was scratched from the Cactus League lineup on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants due to lower left leg tendinitis. In his place, Andruw Monasterio will start at the keystone and hit eighth against Giants right-hander Sean Hjelle. The 27-year-old VanMeter is in spring training with the Brew Crew this year as a non-roster invitee. His injury doesn't sound very serious, so there's a chance he won't be forced to miss much Cactus League action at all. In four major-league seasons, VanMeter has a .206/.293/.347 slash line with a .640 OPS, 19 home runs, 79 RBI, 83 runs scored and 17 stolen bases in 300 games. He's off the fantasy radar, even if he wins an Opening Day roster spot with Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Brewers signed free-agent infielder Josh VanMeter to a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league spring training on Monday. VanMeter will join the Brew Crew after hitting just .187/.266/.292 with a .558 OPS, three home runs, 14 RBI, 15 runs scored and four stolen bases in 192 plate appearances and 67 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022. The 27-year-old left-handed hitter will compete for a roster spot in spring training as bench depth. In his four major-league seasons, VanMeter has hit .206/.293/.347 with 19 home runs, 79 RBI, 83 runs scored and 17 stolen bases in 300 games, so there isn't much offensive upside to speak of.

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh VanMeter (hand) was removed from Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers due to left hand discomfort. According to Pirates beat writer Jason Mackey, VanMeter was being treated for the injury Wednesday night and he is being considered day-to-day at this point. The 27-year-old was 1-for-3 with an RBI in Wednesday night's game before exiting the contest. He's slashing .214/.280/.357 with three home runs, nine RBI and 10 runs over 35 games on the year.

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh VanMeter (illness) is a late scratch from the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Chicago Cubs. The 27-year-old came down with an illness. Cole Tucker will now be covering the keystone in his place. VanMeter has been in and out of the lineup so far this year. He's appeared in seven games and he's slashed .222/.300/.389 with one home run.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired second baseman/outfielder Josh VanMeter in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In exchange, the Pirates have sent right-handed pitcher Listher Sosa to Arizona. The Pirates are a bit thin offensively (to say the least) so we could see VanMeter earning a good amount of playing time as soon as the first week of the season. The 27-year-old appeared in 112 games for the D-backs last year and slashed .212/.297/.354 with six home runs, three stolen bases, 36 RBI and 26 runs. He could compete with Hoy Park for playing time at second base or he could be in the mix for work in the outfield where his competition will primarily be Ben Gamel and Anthony Alford.

Arizona Diamondbacks' second baseman Josh VanMeter went 1-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and two walks during Wednesday's 8-3 win over the San Diego Padres. He crushed a two-run shot off Yu Darvish in the fourth inning to give the Diamondbacks a 4-0 lead. He added a bases-loaded walk to drive in three runs altogether on Wednesday. Entering Wednesday's contest, VanMeter was hitting .136 (3-for-22) over his last 10 games. The 26-year-old plays semi-regularly and is mainly an option in NL-Only League formats. Overall, VanMeter is slashing .215/.314/.388 with five home runs, 31 RBI, and 23 runs scored over 90 games in 2021.

Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Josh VanMeter (back) was a late scratch from Wednesday's starting lineup due to back spasms. He did, however, come into the game as a pinch-hitter and he went 0-for-1 with a strikeout. After the game, Diamondbacks manager said that VanMeter was going to be day-to-day with the injury. VanMeter has been seeing semi-regular playing time lately. He closed out July strong with five doubles over his last three games, but he's off to a slow start to August, going just 2-for-11 over his first four games of the month.

NEW YORK (AP) — Joey Votto homered for the seventh straight game, one shy of a major league record, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Mets 6-2 on Friday night. Jonathan India went deep twice for the Reds, including a leadoff shot that came on Carlos Carrasco’s first pitch with the Mets. Acquired from Cleveland in January, the veteran right-hander finally made his New York debut after recovering from a hamstring injury. It was an up-and-down day for the Mets, who made a big deal to get Javier Báez from the Chicago Cubs before baseball’s trade deadline — and then revealed injured ace Jacob deGrom will be shut down for two more weeks because of inflammation in his pitching elbow, making it unlikely he’ll rejoin the NL East leaders before September. Báez was acquired from the Cubs along with right-hander Trevor Williams for outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Mets’ first-round pick in the 2020 amateur draft. Báez is expected to join the Mets on Saturday and will play shortstop... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam, Kiké Hernández drove in three runs with two homers and the Boston Red Sox snapped a two-game losing streak with a 13-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. Rookie Jarren Duran hit his first major league homer, Dylan Santana and Rafael Devers also went yard, and J.D. Martinez broke out of a slump with four hits as the Red Sox improved their AL-leading road record to 29-19. Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta (8-4) allowed four runs on 11 hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Toronto used eight pitchers and had its five-game win streak halted. Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling gave up six runs on four hits and two walks while getting only one out in his first appearance this season that didn’t extend into at least the fourth inning. Cavan Biggio homered for the Blue Jays during a four-run rally in the fourth inning. Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk and Bo Bichette also drove in runs. METS 15, REDS 11,... [More]

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam, Kiké Hernández drove in three runs with two homers and the Boston Red Sox snapped a two-game losing streak with a 13-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. Rookie Jarren Duran hit his first major league homer, Dylan Santana and Rafael Devers also went yard, and J.D. Martinez broke out of a slump with four hits as the Red Sox improved their AL-leading road record to 29-19. Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta (8-4) allowed four runs on 11 hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Toronto used eight pitchers and had its five-game win streak halted. Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling gave up six runs on four hits and two walks while getting only one out in his first appearance this season that didn’t extend into at least the fourth inning. Cavan Biggio homered for the Blue Jays during a four-run rally in the fourth inning. Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk and Bo Bichette also drove in runs. METS 15, REDS 11,... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pete Alonso capped New York’s six-run eighth inning with a three-run double, and the Mets used a defensive meltdown by Philadelphia and a replay reversal to beat the Phillies 8-7 on Sunday night. Michael Conforto snapped a tie with a bases-loaded walk against José Alvarado, driving in Jose Peraza, and Alonso followed with a liner off David Hale that split the gap in right-center for an 8-4 lead. Philadelphia got a run back in the ninth on Roman Quinn’s RBI triple. After a Matt Joyce walk, Rhys Hoskins hit an opposite-field drive off Edwin Díaz that was initially ruled a tying three-run homer first base umpire Jose Navas. A replay review showed the ball hit the top railing of the fence on the out-of-town scoreboard in right, never clearing the wall itself. Hoskins was placed at second with a two-run double. Díaz then departed with an injury and Jeurys Familia struck out Bryce Harper on a high fastball, earning his first save. Didi Gregorius and Andrew McCutchen homered for... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A.J. Pollock drove in eight runs and Matt Beaty knocked in seven, with both players hitting early grand slams in a startling power show that sent the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers 16-4 on Sunday. Pollock homered twice and doubled while Beaty went 4 for 6 and scored three times. Their slams came against Alec Bettinger (0-1), who gave up 11 runs in his big league debut after never pitching above Double-A. This was the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers had two players with at least seven RBIs in the same game. The last time it happened for any major league team was on Aug. 22, 2007, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez each had seven RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 blowout of Baltimore. The last time two Dodgers hit grand slams in the same game came when Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green did it in a 12-3 victory over the Marlins on May 21, 2000. Pollock’s eight RBIs matched the highest single-game total by any player in the history... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A.J. Pollock drove in eight runs and Matt Beatty knocked in seven, with both players hitting early grand slams in a startling power show that sent the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers 16-4 on Sunday. Pollock homered twice and doubled while Beaty went 4 for 6 and scored three times. Their slams came against Alec Bettinger (0-1), who gave up 11 runs in his big league debut after never pitching above Double-A. This was the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers had two players with at least seven RBIs in the same game. The last time it happened for any major league team was on Aug. 22, 2007, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez each had seven RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 blowout of Baltimore. The last time two Dodgers hit grand slams in the same game came when Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green did it in a 12-3 victory over the Marlins on May 21, 2000. Pollock’s eight RBIs matched the highest single-game total by any player in the history... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A.J. Pollock drove in eight runs and Matt Beatty knocked in seven, with both players hitting early grand slams in a startling power show that sent the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers 16-4 on Sunday. Pollock homered twice and doubled while Beaty went 4 for 6 and scored three times. Their slams came against Alec Bettinger (0-1), who gave up 11 runs in his big league debut after never pitching above Double-A. This was the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers had two players with at least seven RBIs in the same game. The last time it happened for any major league team was on Aug. 22, 2007, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez each had seven RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 blowout of Baltimore. The last time two Dodgers hit grand slams in the same game came when Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green did it in a 12-3 victory over the Marlins on May 21, 2000. Pollock’s eight RBIs matched the highest single-game total by any player in the history... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Yusei Kikuchi took a no-hit bid into the the seventh inning, Taylor Trammell homered and the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros 1-0 on Thursday to stop a four-game losing streak. Kikuchi (1-1) did not allow a hit until Carlos Correa doubled to deep right-center field with one out in the seventh. That was the only hit allowed by Kikuchi, who pitched seven innings, struck out seven and walked two. Anthony Misiewicz pitched a perfect eighth and Kendall Graveman a one-hit ninth for his third save, completing a two-hitter. Trammell hit his fourth home run of the season in the third inning off Luis Garcia (0-3), a ball that appeared to graze the glove of a leaping Chas McCormick at the right-field wall. ORIOLES 4, YANKEES 3 BALTIMORE (AP) — Cedric Mullins delivered a winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning against Jonathan Loaisiga (2-1). Trey Mancini had his first three-hit game since returning from colon cancer surgery, including had an RBI single in the first and a tying... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics extended their winning streak to 11, rallying from a two-run deficit and beating the Twins 13-12 on Wednesday when Luis Arraez threw away Ramón Laureano’s grounder for Minnesota’s second error of the 10th inning. Nelson Cruz had two home runs and four RBIs for the Twins, and Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer against Lou Trivino for a 12-10 lead in the 10th. Alex Colomé (1-2) got the first two outs in the bottom half with the automatic runner on second, then walked Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus, loading the bases. Mark Canha hit what should have been a game-ending grounder to second baseman Travis Blankehorn, who entered as a pinch runner for Josh Donaldson in the 10th, but Blankenhorn allowed the ball to bounce off his glove for a run-scoring error. Laureano hit a one-hopper to Arraez for what again should have been the final out. Arraez, who had moved to third from second base to third for the 10th, sailed his throw over first baseman Willians... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics extended their winning streak to 11, rallying from a two-run deficit and beating the Twins 13-12 on Wednesday when Luis Arraez threw away Ramón Laureano’s grounder for Minnesota’s second error of the 10th inning. Nelson Cruz had two home runs and four RBIs for the Twins, and Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer against Lou Trivino for a 12-10 lead in the 10th. Alex Colomé (1-2) got the first two outs in the bottom half with the automatic runner on second, then walked Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus, loading the bases. Mark Canha hit what should have been a game-ending grounder to second baseman Travis Blankehorn, who entered as a pinch runner for Josh Donaldson in the 10th, but Blankenhorn allowed the ball to bounce off his glove for a run-scoring error. Laureano hit a one-hopper to Arraez for what again should have been the final out. Arraez, who had moved to third from second base to third for the 10th, sailed his throw over first baseman Willians... [More]