The Red Sox acquire Anthony Varvaro from the Braves

By Craig CalcaterraDec 17, 2014, 12:30 PM EDT
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The Braves designated reliever Anthony Varvaro for assignment on Monday to make room for infielder Alberto Callaspo on the 40-man roster. Now it looks like they have a taker for him:

Varvaro has posted a 2.74 ERA in 123 appearances over the past two seasons. In 2014 the right-hander averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine and only walked and 2.1 batters per nine, while inducing ground balls nearly 50% of the time. In short: he’s a pretty useful reliever.

In return, the Braves are getting minor league righty Aaron Kurcz and cash. Kurcz pitched pretty well in Double-A last year, striking out over 11 dudes per nine, but he missed all of 2013. Which, I presume anyway, means he had surgery of some kind.

Yankees halt Giancarlo Stanton’s rehab due to calf tightness

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By Bill BaerMay 22, 2019, 4:39 PM EDT
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There was some thought that Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton would soon be activated from the injured list. Stanton has been out since the beginning of April due to biceps and shoulder injuries. It will be a little while longer.

The Yankees announced on Wednesday that Stanton’s rehab has been halted due to tightness in his left calf. Stanton was scratched from Tuesday’s rehab game with High-A Tampa due to tightness around his left calf and knee, so this news didn’t pop up out of nowhere.

Stanton recorded a pair of singles and seven walks in 15 trips to the plate in the only three games he played this season, all against the Orioles. Durability has always been a concern for the 29-year-old, but he managed to play in 159 games for the Marlins in 2017 and 158 for the Yankees last year. He’s in the fifth year of a 13-year, $325 million contract originally signed with the Marlins.