The Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror and it’s time for MLB to take center stage. Yet, the NFL and MLB came together on Sunday, and that’s a part of our MLB news and notes for Monday as spring training is just around the corner.
MLB news: Derek Jeter joining Fox MLB team for 2023
It was a surprise announcement on Sunday when Hall of Famer Derek Jeter was announced as a studio analyst for Fox Sports as part of this season’s baseball coverage. He is expected to part of the in-studio team that already includes Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, and host Kevin Burkhardt, so you can expect the jousting between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to be elevated to whole other level with Jeter’s arrival.
Announcements don't get much bigger than this 👀🚨@derekjeter joins the FOX Sports family beginning this season! pic.twitter.com/u8MM5YcEI4
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) February 12, 2023
Los Angeles Dodgers news: Taking a chance on former St. Louis Cardinals closer Alex Reyes
The Dodgers have had a solid history of reclamation projects on the mound. Now Los Angeles will take a chance on the 28-year-old Reyes, who is expected to miss some time in 2023 because of shoulder issues and subsequent surgery. However, the time the Reyes will miss was apparently worth the risk for the Dodgers, who inked the right-hander to a one-year, $1.1 million deal over the weekend.
When healthy, Reyes was dominant for St. Louis in the 2021 season, a campaign where he earned an All-Star bid. Reyes logged 31 saves during the campaign, but the shoulder issues started cropping up as the calendar turned to September, a month where he earned no saves after posting a 7.84 ERA in August. In fact, his ERA from the first half of the season (1.52 in 41.1 innings) was four runs lower than what he produced after the All-Star break (5.52 in 31.0 frames). Those numbers and the injuries that caused them eventually forced the Cardinals into a tough decision, non-tendering him.
That was then, however, and the Dodgers are now rolling the dice on Reyes regaining his form once he is healthy, potentially adding another option for Los Angeles in the back end on a low-risk, high-reward move.