The Seattle Mariners and right-hander Logan Gilbert have settled on a one-year, $4.05 million contract, avoiding arbitration in the process. Thursday marks the deadline for clubs to either settle with their arbitration-eligible players or for the two sides to enter dollar figures before going to arbitration. Gilbert is coming off another solid season for the Mariners, working to a 3.73 ERA across 32 starts and a career-high 190 2/3 innings of work. The 26-year-old thrives with his control as his 4.7% BB% was the fifth-best mark in baseball among 44 qualified pitchers. As a result, he posted a hearty 19.9% K-BB% despite a solid, yet unspectacular 24.6% K%. He remains a rock-solid fantasy asset ahead of the 2024 season.

Outfielder Randy Arozarena and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided salary arbitration on Thursday by settling at $8.1 million for the 2024 season, according to a source. Arozarena put up his third straight 20-20 season in 2023, but it also came with a career-low .25 batting average. The 28-year-old also displayed better plate discipline, though, and it led to a career-high in runs scored with 95 to go along with 23 home runs, 83 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 551 at-bats over 151 games played in his fourth year with the Rays. Perhaps participating in the Home Run Derby during the All-Star break screwed his swing up in the second half, as he was much more productive in the first half of last season. Arozarena will once again be an early round target for his power/speed combination in fantasy drafts this spring.

Along with reliever Yency Almonte, the Los Angeles Dodgers are sending infielder Michael Busch to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, according to a source. We still don't have the return confirmed on what is going back to the Dodgers, so stay tuned for more details. The 26-year-old former first-rounder was being blocked at the major-league level in Los Angeles, so a move to Chicago should give him more of an opportunity to crack the big-league lineup in 2024 and beyond. The left-handed-hitting Busch made his big-league debut for the Dodgers in 2023 but went just 12-for-72 (.167) with two home runs and seven RBI in 27 games played. He's likely to compete for the third-base job in Chicago in spring training and could become a platoon option for the Cubs at the hot corner against right-handed pitching.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are working on a deal to send relief pitcher Yency Almonte to the Chicago Cubs, according to a source. It remains to be seen what the Dodgers will receive in return. Almonte already avoided salary arbitration with the Dodgers back in November, signing a one-year, $1.9 million deal. The 29-year-old right-hander was dominant for the Blue in 2022 but took a big step back in 2023 in his second year in LA, posting a 5.06 ERA (4.59 FIP) and 1.39 WHIP with 24 walks and a career-high 49 strikeouts in 48 relief innings over 49 appearances out of the Dodgers' bullpen. Adbert Alzolay will open the 2024 season as Chicago's primary closer, but Almonte could eventually earn a high-leverage setup role alongside Julian Merryweather and Drew Smyly.

The Toronto Blue Jays announced on Tuesday that they claimed catcher Brian Serven off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Serven is being passed around on waivers after the Cubs previously claimed him from the Colorado Rockies. The 28-year-old backstop played in just 11 games for the Rockies in 2023, going 3-for-23 (.130) with an RBI and a double in 23 plate appearances. He made his big-league debut in 2022 with Colorado and went 38-for-187 (.203) with six homers and 16 RBI in 62 games played. Serven will almost certainly begin the 2024 campaign in the minors for Toronto with Triple-A Buffalo as organizational catching depth behind Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk at the major-league level.