MLB Team Movements and Signings Ahead of Opening Day

The 2025 Major League Baseball regular season begins Thursday, March 27, and most teams have finalized their roster decisions in the days leading up to Opening Day.

World Baseball Network compiled several notable moves made during the final stretch of spring training.

Ryan Yarbrough Signs With Yankees After Blue Jays Release

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough signed a Major League contract with the New York Yankees on March 24, one day after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray.

Source: Free-agent pitcher Ryan Yarbrough and the New York Yankees are in agreement on a major-league contract.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) March 24, 2025

Blue Jays reporter Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported that Yarbrough was not added to Toronto’s Opening Day roster despite being lined up to pitch on March 23.

The Blue Jays are not adding Ryan Yarbrough, who was slated to pitch today, but packed up his locker and left the PDC. He'll become a free agent at 2 pm ET.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) March 23, 2025

Davidi also reported on March 21 that Yarbrough was exercising out of his contract to become a free agent prior to the Blue Jays front office making the decision not to add him to the official roster alongside opting out of his minor league deal, which he signed on February 21, which included his invite to MLB spring training.

Another moving part for the Blue Jays: Ryan Yarbrough is exercising an out as an XX(B) free agent, according to an industry source. Team has until 2 p.m. Sunday to add him to the roster or he becomes a free agent. https://t.co/yhhbVLD6RB

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) March 21, 2025

According to Darragh McDonald of MLBTradeRumors.com on March 24, “Yarbrough is an Article XX(b) free agent, which is any player with at least six years of service who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Such players have guaranteed opt-out dates on minor league deals signed at least ten days prior to Opening Day. The first of those opt-out dates is five days prior to Opening Day, which will be tomorrow. The others are May 1 and June 1. When a player triggers an opt-out, the club has 48 hours to decide how to respond.”

Yarbrough elected free agency on October 31, 2024, before re-signing with Toronto ahead of camp.

The 33-year-old native of Austin, Texas, has pitched in the big leagues since 2018 with Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Toronto. On July 30, 2024, he was traded to the Blue Jays from the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and cash.

This spring, Yarbrough made four relief appearances for Toronto, posting an 0-2 record and a 4.05 ERA in 6.2 innings. He allowed eight hits, three earned runs, walked one, and struck out eight.

Last season, he pitched 44 games out of the bullpen for the Dodgers and Blue Jays, going 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA and one save. He logged 98.2 innings, allowed 70 hits, 35 earned runs, 11 homers, walked 32, struck out 65, and posted a 1.034 WHIP.

Across his seven-year MLB career, Yarbrough has a 53-40 record, 4.21 ERA, and 4.6 WAR in 196 appearances, including 68 starts, throwing one complete game, accomplished three saves, rifling 768 innings, allowing 732 hits, 359 earned runs, 99 home runs, 177 walks, 599 strikeouts, and a 1.184 WHIP.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone will evaluate where Yarbrough fits into a crowded bullpen mix that includes Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz, Yoendrys Gomez, Jonathan Loaisiga, Ian Hamilton, Scott Effross, JT Brubaker, Yerry De Los Santos, Clayton Beeter, Jake Cousins, and Tim Hill.

Boston Red Sox Top Prospect Marcelo Mayer Will Start 2025 With Triple-A Worcester

Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported on March 23 that left-handed hitting shortstop Marcelo Mayer will begin the 2025 regular season with Triple-A Worcester.

Marcelo Mayer will start the year in Triple-A, he was told today per source.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) March 24, 2025

Mayer, 22, was born in Chula Vista, Calif., and was drafted fourth overall by the Red Sox in the 2021 MLB Draft. Boston’s top pick came with a signing bonus allotment of $6,664,000. Mayer officially signed for slot value on July 22 after finishing his senior year at Eastlake High School in his hometown.

Mayer is ranked No. 3 in the Red Sox organization by MLB Pipeline and enters the 2025 season as the No. 12 overall prospect in all of Major League Baseball.

Mayer played in the Futures Game in back-to-back years—2023 in Seattle and 2024 in Arlington, Texas—and earned Carolina League Postseason All-Star honors in 2022 and Eastern League honors in 2024.

During spring training, Mayer slashed .333/.455/.528 in 20 games, recording 12 hits, two triples, one home run, 11 RBI, eight walks, and 11 strikeouts across 44 plate appearances.

¡Marcelo lo pone en marcha! pic.twitter.com/pJ78PSQ19p

— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 25, 2025

Last season with Double-A Portland, he played in 77 games and batted .307 with 92 hits, 28 doubles, eight home runs, 38 RBI, 13 stolen bases, 30 walks, 66 strikeouts, and a .850 OPS in 335 plate appearances.

In four seasons across all levels of the Red Sox minor league system, Mayer has played in 272 games with a lifetime .274 average in 1,218 plate appearances, pounding 289 hits, 81 doubles, five triples, 37 home runs, 162 RBI, 46 stolen bases, 145 walks, 286 strikeouts, and a .828 OPS.

The Triple-A Worcester Red Sox will open the 2025 regular season at home on March 28 against the Syracuse Mets, New York’s Triple-A affiliate, at 3:05 p.m. EDT at Polar Park in Worcester, Mass.

St. Louis Cardinals Add Center Fielders Victor Scott II and Michael Siani to Opening Day Roster Alongside Right-Handed Slingers Chris Roycroft and Kyle Leahy

Cardinals beat writer John Denton reported on March 23 that Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Chris Roycroft, and Kyle Leahy made the Opening Day roster.

RHPs Kyle Leahy and Chris Roycroft are on the #STLCards Opening Day roster, per Oli Marmol.

CFs Michael Siani and Victor Scott II are both on the roster, while utility fielders Jose Fermin and Jose Barrero will start at Triple-A Memphis, Marmol said.

— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 23, 2025

St. Louis will begin the 2025 regular season at home on March 27 against the Minnesota Twins at 4:15 p.m. EDT.

Scott played in 16 spring training games and slashed .349/.451/.721 in 51 plate appearances, collecting 15 hits, two doubles, one triple, four home runs, seven RBI, five stolen bases, eight walks, and nine strikeouts.

The Cardinals drafted the left-handed center fielder in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of West Virginia University. He made his Major League debut on March 28, 2024, on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers and split time last season between St. Louis and Triple-A Memphis.

In his rookie season, Scott appeared in 53 games and batted .179/.219/.283 over 155 plate appearances, with 26 hits, nine doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, five stolen bases, six walks, and 42 strikeouts.

At Triple-A Memphis, Scott played in 82 games, hitting .210 in 362 plate appearances, with 66 hits, seven doubles, two triples, six home runs, 30 RBI, 30 stolen bases, 36 walks, 57 strikeouts, and a .597 OPS.

Siani, 25, batted .095/.224/.095 over 15 spring training games with four hits, one RBI, two stolen bases, seven walks, and 15 strikeouts in 49 plate appearances.

The Glenside, Pa. native played in 124 games for St. Louis last season, batting .228 with 68 hits, seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 20 RBI, 20 stolen bases, 21 walks, and 92 strikeouts across 334 plate appearances, finishing with a .570 OPS.

In his three seasons with the Cincinnati Reds from 2022–23, before being claimed off waivers by the Cardinals on September 2, 2023, Siani played in 141 games and batted .220 in 364 plate appearances. He had 72 hits, seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 20 RBI, 21 stolen bases, 22 walks, 100 strikeouts, and a .547 OPS.

Roycroft made his Major League debut on May 7, 2024, at home against the New York Mets and finished the season 1-2 with a 4.19 ERA across 27 appearances out of the bullpen. The 27-year-old right-hander from Dundee, Ill., threw 34.1 innings, allowing 31 hits, 16 earned runs, two home runs, 17 walks, 33 strikeouts, and a 1.398 WHIP.

Roycroft appeared in eight games this spring and did not allow an earned run, recording one save over eight innings with six hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts.

Leahy, 27, from Boulder, Colo., has pitched in two seasons for St. Louis from 2023–24. He holds a 1-2 record and a 4.65 ERA across 50.1 innings in 36 appearances out of the bullpen, recorded one save, allowing 44 hits, 26 earned runs, five home runs, 15 walks, 35 strikeouts, and a 1.172 WHIP.

During spring training, Leahy went 1-0 in seven appearances out of the bullpen without allowing an earned run, recorded one save, throwing 11 innings, allowing seven hits, one walk, and 13 strikeouts.

Victor Scott II went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles in center field and added an outfield assist in the Cardinals’ 3-2 win over their Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, in the 2025 Battle of the Birds exhibition game on March 24. A near-sellout crowd of 9,026 packed AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn., where Chris Roycroft struck out two in a clean eighth for the hold and Kyle Leahy closed it out in the ninth for the save.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said on March 23 that the team will move to a six-man rotation starting April 11, when St. Louis begins a stretch of 26 games in 27 days. The Cardinals gave the final rotation spot to Matthew Liberatore, who joins Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Erick Fedde, and Andre Pallante in the Opening Day group. Steven Matz will begin the year in long relief and shift into the sixth starter role later in April.

The Cardinals optioned top prospect Michael McGreevy to Triple-A Memphis despite his 1.08 ERA across 16.2 spring innings. Marmol pointed to injuries to Zack Thompson and Drew Rom and the need for Triple-A depth as factors in the move.

Marmol will also have to evaluate the bullpen with the front office as the season opens, with Roycroft and Leahy joining a relief corps that includes John King, Phil Maton, JoJo Romero, Steven Matz, and Ryan Fernandez.

 

Photo Source: AP / Charles Krupa