Long-time big-league outfielder Michael Brantley has announced his retirement from baseball. The veteran spent 15 seasons in the majors, 10 with the then-Cleveland Indians followed by another five with the Houston Astros. Injuries plagued the 36-year-old throughout his career as he appeared in 120 games or more in just seven of his 15 campaigns. He was limited to just 15 games in the 2023 season and only 64 in the 2022 campaign. However, his bat was excellent when healthy as he hit .300 or better in seven seasons and retires with a career .298 average across 1,445 games played. He also slugged 129 home runs and stole 125 bases in that time.

Detroit Tigers catcher Donny Sands has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers designated Sands for assignment on Dec. 22 to make room on the 40-man roster for relief pitcher Shelby Miller. Acquired in a trade with the Phillies last offseason, Sands wasn't able to reach the majors with the Tigers in 2023, hitting .225 with five home runs and a healthy 12.1% BB% across 371 trips to the plate with Toledo. The backstop's lone big-league experience came with four plate appearances with the Phillies in 2022, walking once and striking out once in that time. He will once again likely serve as Triple-A catching depth for the Tigers behind Jake Rogers and Carson Kelly at the MLB level.

The Chicago White Sox are weighing offers for right-hander Dylan Cease, and the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles are among those to express "serious" interest, according to major-league sources briefed on the discussions. Other teams are serious, too, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox possibly in the mix. The Yankees moved seven pitchers to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Juan Soto, and after losing out on Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, they might be inclined to push for Cease, who will cost around $25 million in his final two years of arbitration, as opposed to expected deals of at least $150 million for free-agent left-handers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. The Orioles, who has one of the best farm systems, are seemingly better positioned than the Yankees to make a trade. The 28-year-old Cease was a Cy Young runner-up in 2022 but had a 4.58 ERA last year.

Trade talk surrounding Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease has quieted in recent weeks, but it's not due to lack of interest. General manager Chris Getz said there "isn't a club out there that hasn't expressed some level of interest" in the 28-year-old hurler. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal said the White Sox could be waiting for the few remaining big names on the free-agent market to come off the board to drive up demand for Cease among teams who miss out on the likes of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and Marcus Stroman. Chicago's reported demand is high, as they're reportedly seeking multiple high-end prospects and some "fill-ins" in return. Both Rosenthal and ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers indicated that the Baltimore Orioles could be the strongest contender for Cease because of their deep farm system, which features six players ranked in MLB Pipeline's top-100 prospects.

The Pittsburgh Pirates believe right-handed pitching prospect Paul Skenes would benefit from more development in the minor leagues and that he's not ready for the majors yet, even though he's already better than everyone in their system, according to sources. The Pirates need him to be their long-term ace, so it wouldn't be wise for them to start his service-time clock early in 2024. The Athletic's Jim Bowden thinks Skenes will be a September call-up and a full-time starter in 2025. The 21-year-old was the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft and was voted the best pitching prospect in baseball by front-office executives from all 30 teams. He checked all the boxes in just 6 2/3 minor-league innings last year and is the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg. If he dominates the minors early in 2024, the Pirates may have no choice but to bring him up sooner than later.