Astros sign veteran Brantley to 1-year, $12M deal
HOUSTON » Veteran outfielder Michael Brantley signed a one-year, $12 million deal to remain with the Houston Astros after missing more than half of last season with a shoulder injury.
The 2023 season will be Brantley’s fifth with the Astros. Last season he hit .288 with 14 doubles, five homers and 26 RBIs in 64 games before going on the injured list with a right shoulder injury that eventually required surgery.
Brantley said Wednesday that he is progressing well since the August surgery but that he won’t start hitting until mid-January.
“We have been working hard all offseason to get back,” he said. “But overall, I’m doing fine. I’m really happy where I am physically.”
In four seasons in Houston, he was named to two All-Star Games and hit .306 in 379 games. Brantley missed the postseason last season but has hit .327 in 47 career playoff games with them.
Judge appointed Yankees captain
NEW YORK » Aaron Judge stood for photo after photo as if at a wedding. And in a way it was: He had gotten hitched to the New York Yankees for the rest of his baseball life.
Judge posed with his wife, parents, Yankees management, agents and even Derek Jeter and Willie Randolph, and discussed his $360 million, nine-year contract and owner Hal Steinbrenner’s decision to appoint him the team’s 16th captain — the first since Jeter retired.
“It’s family. The fans are family,” Judge said, thinking about joining Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Jeter and Mariano Rivera as Yankees lifers. “Just getting this chance to build this relationship with everybody, that’s what I’m all about.”
Rucinski returns from Korea, joins A’s
OAKLAND » Right-hander Drew Rucinski agreed to terms on a $3 million, one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics that includes a $5 million club option for 2024.
He last pitched in the majors for Miami in 2018, having spent the past four years with the NC Dinos in the Korean Baseball Organization. The 33-year-old Rucinski won 19 games in 2020 and went 53-36 overall with a 3.06 ERA in 121 starts — showing his durability by making 30 or more starts each season.