major league beaseball

major league beaseball

News & notes

Texas Rangers: Ace Yu Darvish has been cleared to start his offseason throwing program. Darvish, who missed the last seven weeks of the season because of inflammation in his right elbow, had an MRI and was examined Tuesday by team physician Dr. Keith Meister. Texas said Darvish already is in his normal offseason training program and expects to start throwing in early December, as he usually does. Darvish had been home in Japan but returned for the exam. He is expected to spend at least the next several weeks working out in Texas. The right-hander didn’t pitch after Aug. 9. He was 10-7 with a 3.06 ERA and 182 strikeouts over 144 1-3 innings in 22 starts in his third major league season. Darvish was put on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 13. He was shut down for the season Sept. 6 with the Rangers on way to 95 losses and a last-place finish in the AL West.

Minnesota Twins: Three more assistants for new manager Paul Molitor have been hired, including pitching coach Neil Allen, bullpen coach Eddie Guardado and bench coach Joe Vavra. Allen was the pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Rays for the last four seasons. He’s the only hire for Molitor’s staff so far from outside the organization. Allen pitched 11 years in the majors. Guardado pitched for the Twins in 12 of his 17 seasons in the majors, serving as the closer in 2002 and 2003. He has been a special instructor recently for the Twins during spring training. Vavra was retained from former manager Ron Gardenhire’s staff. He was third base coach the last three seasons and hitting coach prior to that. The team also hired former Twins closer Eddie Guardado as the bullpen coach and Joe Vavra, who has been an assistant on fired manager Ron Gardenhire’s staff since 1996, as the bench coach.

Detroit Tigers: Ezequiel Carrera has decided to become a free agent after the Detroit Tigers assigned him outright to Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers designated the outfielder for assignment last week. Carrera hit .261 in 45 games for Detroit in 2014, but the Tigers recently traded for center fielder Anthony Gose and didn’t think they had a need for Carrera. The 27-year-old has hit .253 in 176 major league games with Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Chicago White Sox: First baseman Adam LaRoche has agreed to terms on a two-year, $25 million contract. The team said Tuesday that the 35-year-old player will receive $12 million next year and $13 million in 2016. LaRoche is likely to see most of his time at designated hitter because Jose Abreu is entrenched at first and won the AL Rookie of the Year award. LaRoche gives Chicago sorely needed power from the left side. He hit .259 with 26 homers and 92 RBIs in 140 games this year for NL East champion Washington. General manager Rick Hahn says LaRoche “addresses several important needs” for the team. The White Sox designated right-handed pitcher Scott Carroll for assignment to make room on the roster.

San Francisco Giants: A person with knowledge of the arrangements says free agent left-hander Jon Lester has plans to meet with the team next week. San Francisco has need for a front-line starting pitcher and was expected to get busy in the free agent market after losing slugging third baseman Pablo Sandoval to the Boston Red Sox. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to disclose the meeting.

Associated Press