The Seattle Mariners and infielder Michael Chavis have agreed on a minor-league deal for the 2024 season. The deal comes with an invite to big-league spring training. A former top prospect with the Red Sox, the 28-year-old is now with his fourth organization as he's struggled to put it together at the plate at the MLB level. He owns a career .238 average with a decent 42 home runs and eight stolen bases across 357 big-league games played. He's brought a decent amount of pop to the table but he has walked in just 5.4% of his career plate appearances to pair with a bloated 31.9% K%. As a result, his bat has graded out 20% below the league average for his career, as per his 80 wRC+. He was designated for assignment by the Nationals earlier this offseason.

The Tampa Bay Rays and right-hander Aaron Civale have settled on a one-year, $4.9 million pact for the 2024 season, avoiding arbitration in the process. The right-hander was acquired by the Rays mid-season from the Cleveland Guardians and posted a healthy 3.46 ERA in 23 starts between the two clubs, although he limped to a 5.36 ERA across 10 starts after being acquired by Tampa Bay. The veteran's bread-and-butter lies within his control as he sports a 6.1% BB% for his career in which he has posted a 3.92 ERA across 86 appearances, all of which have been starts. Capped by a career 22% K%, Civale's fantasy value is middling, especially with his 23 starts in 2023 representing a career-high.

The Miami Marlins and left-hander Jesus Luzardo have avoided arbitration with a one-year, $5.5 million pact for the 2024 season. The 26-year-old has found another gear since being acquired in a trade with the Oakland A's midway through the 2021 season. The southpaw worked to a 3.32 ERA across 18 starts for the Fish in the 2022 season before posting a 3.58 ERA across a career-high 32 starts and 178 2/3 innings a season ago. A former top prospect in Oakland, he has certainly put his 6.61 ERA from the 2021 campaign in the rearview. With Sandy Alcantara out for the season due to Tommy John surgery, Luzardo has a good shot at taking the mound on Opening Day as the club's ace in 2024 and is certainly an attractive fantasy asset moving forward.

Free-agent right-hander Jordan Hicks has signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. In a little bit of a surprising twist, the Giants plan to use Hicks as a starter rather than out of the back end of their bullpen. Just eight of Hicks' 212 big-league appearances have been starts, and the results have been quite different, as he sports a 5.47 ERA in a 26 1/3-inning sample as a starter versus a 3.65 ERA in 217 frames as a reliever for his career. The move is even more surprising, considering the 27-year-old is coming off of a big bounce-back season out of the bullpen, posting a 3.29 ERA alongside a career-best 28.4% strikeout rate across 65 appearances between the Cardinals and Blue Jays in 2023. Coming off of a 65 2/3-inning season, it's unclear how many starts Hicks will be able to make with a history of arm injuries to consider as well.

The Milwaukee Brewers and right-handed reliever Devin Williams agreed to an undisclosed one-year deal to avoid salary arbitration on Thursday. The deal includes a team option for the 2025 season. Williams' 2024 salary will likely come out to around $7 million. The 29-year-old hard-throwing right-hander should be the first closer off the board in fantasy drafts in 2024 after he posted an excellent 1.53 ERA (2.66 FIP), 0.92 WHIP, a career-high 36 saves, 28 walks and 87 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings over 61 appearances out of the bullpen. The two-time All-Star will be Milwaukee's locked-in closer heading into the 2024 season and has one of the nastiest changeups in the game.