MLB Winter Meetings: Cardinals acquire Marcell Osuna from Marlins

The St. Louis Cardinals reportedly completed a trade for Miami's Marcell Ozuna. Craig Mish of SiriusXM and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com have each reported that the deal is done, pending a physical. 

Ozuna, 27, is coming off an excellent 2017 in which he slashed .312/.376/.548 (145 OPS+) with 37 home runs in 159 games.

The Marlins will acquire prospect pitcher Sandy Alcantara, made eight relief appearances for the Cardinals last season.

MLB Winter Meetings: Mets sign RHP Anthony Swarzak to 2-yr, $14M deal

The Mets won’t be leaving the Winter Meetings empty handed.

After missing on relievers Bryan Shaw and Tommy Hunter, general manager Sandy Alderson netted a power right arm for his bullpen, landing Anthony Swarzak on a two-year deal worth $14 million, an industry source confirmed.

The 32-year-old Swarzak went 6-4 with a 2.32 ERA and 1.034 WHIP last season in 70 appearances for the White Sox and Brewers.

Swarzak will join Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos and Jerry Blevins to give the Mets four proven arms in the bullpen.

On Tuesday, new manager Mickey Callaway indicated the team may not name a closer, instead opting to use his best pitchers in the highest leverage situations, regardless of the inning.

The Mets still hope to trade for a second baseman and add another outfield/first base bat to the mix. An industry source indicated Mets officials convened this week with Jay Bruce’s agent, and although no offer was extended for the veteran outfielder, the team remains “very interested.”

MLB Winter Meetings: Twins sign injured right-hander Michael Pineda

The Minnesota Twins on Wednesday announced that they've signed injured right-hander Michael Pineda to a two-year, $10 million contract. He'll earn $2 million in 2018 and $8 million in 2019. 

Pineda, who turns 29 in January, underwent Tommy John surgery in July, making him expected to miss the majority of the 2018 season.

There had been more injury issues for Pineda, and you may remember a game in 2014 when he was ejected for having a foreign substance on his neck.

Last season, he pitched to a 4.39 ERA/103 ERA+ with a 4.38 K/BB ratio in 96 1/3 innings for the Yankees. For his career, Pineda owns an ERA+ of 101 with a 4.38 K/BB ratio across five big-league seasons and 117 starts. 

Padres acquire 3B Headley from Yankees

Chase Headley is headed back to San Diego.

The New York Yankees traded the third baseman along with right-hander Bryan Mitchell and cash considerations to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Jabari Blash, the Yankees announced.

The Yankees are in the midst of revamping their infield after dealing second baseman Starlin Castro to the Miami Marlins in the Giancarlo Stanton trade on Monday.

Headley, who began his career with San Diego in 2007, was traded from the Padres to the Yankees prior to the 2014 trade deadline. The 33-year-old switch hitter batted .273 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs in 147 games last season.

Headley established career highs of 31 homers and 115 RBIs for the Padres in 2012 when he finished fifth in National League MVP balloting.

Headley is entering the final season of a four-year, $52 million contract.

Mitchell, 26, posted a 1-1 mark with one save, a 5.79 ERA in 32 2/3 innings in 2017.

Blash, 28, batted .213 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 61 games last season.

Longoria talks with Rays and Mikolas signing show Cardinals are making splashes

The St. Louis Cardinals have been in contact with the Tampa Bay Rays about closer Alex Colome, "those talks could shift or expand to include third baseman Evan Longoria," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified source.

The Rays are also reportedly looking to trim payroll, and Longoria, a Gold Glove winner, is due $86 million through 2022, $94 million if an option is exercised for 2023. Less than two weeks into the coming season Longoria, 32, would achieve “10/5” no-trade rights after 10 years of service time, including the past five with one team.

The Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants continue to await word on Giancarlo Stanton’s decision and whether he would waive his no-trade rights from Miami to accept to go to a new oganization. Both teams met with Stanton and his representatives last week in Los Angeles.

The Cardinals signed pitcher Miles Mikolas to a two-year contract Tuesday that will guarantee the righthanded starter $15.5 million. A native of Jupiter, Fla., who came to Cardinals spring training games as a boy, Mikolas, 29, returns to the majors for the first time since 2014 and after three great seasons in Japan’s top league. He went 14-8 this past season for Yomiuri with a 2.25 ERA and eight strikeouts for every walk.

“Our scouts have watched him as he refined his repertoire, improved his velocity and became one of the most effective pitchers in Japan the last couple (of) seasons,” wrote general manager Michael Girsch in an email.

The Cardinals are coming off their worst season in a decade, going 83-79 They finished a distant third in the NL Central.

Cardinals sign free-agent pitcher Mikolas to two-year deal

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed free-agent RHP Miles Mikolas to a two-year contract in the $14M to $16M range, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday.

Mikolas, returning to majors in this deal, was one of top pitchers in Japan last season. He had a 2.18 ERA in 62 starts for the Yomiuri Giants from 2015-17. He is another addition to a deep Cardinals rotation.

Though he cracked the big leagues at age 23, he had a 5.32 ERA and 1.430 WHIP in 37 appearances between 2012 and 2014 before his success in Japan.

Boone reportedly tabbed new Yankees manager

The New York Yankees have chosen Aaron Boone to replace Joe Girardi as their manager, according to multiple reports Friday.

Boone, who helped the Yankees to a 2003 World Series title with a walk-off home run in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox, interviewed recently with his former team.

The New York Daily News reported that the Yankees' brass likes Boone's "polish."

New York general manager Brian Cashman reportedly is intrigued by Boone despite no previous managerial or coaching experience. Boone has been serving as an analyst with ESPN.

Cashman recommended Boone to owner Hal Steinbrenner from a pool of six interviewees that included Carlos Beltran, Hensley Meulens, Rob Thomson, Chris Woodward and Eric Wedge. The search for Girardi's replacement took over a month.

Various media reports earlier Friday suggested that the decision came down to Boone and Meulens after Beltran and Thomson were both informed that they were not getting the job.

Meulens is currently working as the bench coach for the San Francisco Giants and was on the coaching staff for all three of the Giants' World Series championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Meulens is a former top prospect in the Yankees organization who played parts of seven major league seasons from 1989 to 1998, including five with New York.