Braves sign Puig
Opening day rosters gained clarity on Tuesday when the Atlanta Braves reached an agreement with Yasiel Puig, while Tampa Bay pitcher Tyler Glasnow provided hopes for teams awaiting players to be cleared following positive tests for the coronavirus.
Puig agreed to a one-year deal pending a physical, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is not official until Puig passes the physical.
The 29-year-old Puig, who began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit a combined .267 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs for Cincinnati and Cleveland in 2019. He also stole 19 bases.
Puig was the last big-name free agent from the offseason who had not signed with a team. He helps the Braves fill a void left when Nick Markakis opted out for the season.
Glasnow re-joined the Rays on after missing the first 11 days of summer camp following his positive test. The right-hander immediately jumped into a simulated game at Tropicana Field and threw 49 pitches over 3 1/3 innings.
Glasnow said he felt fine and expects to be ready to begin the 60-game season on time.
Outside of briefly losing his sense of taste and smell, the 26-year-old Glasnow said he didn’t experience any noticeable symptoms of COVID-19.
“I had maybe really mild cold symptoms for maybe a day,” Glasnow said, wearing a mask during a Zoom call. “If this wasn’t going on, I probably wouldn’t have known I was sick.”
