MLB rumors: Former Yankees rising star signs with Tigers
Updated Jan 14, 2020; Posted Jan 14, 2020
Former Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Ivan Nova is headed to the Detroit Tigers.AP
By Mike Rosenstein | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Ivan Nova, once one of the New York Yankees' most promising pitching prospects, signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Detroit Tigers, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman.
Nova spent 2019 with the Chicago White Sox, making a career-high 34 starts and matching his personal-best with 187 innings pitched.
The 33-year-old Nova made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2010. In more than seven seasons with New York, Nova went 53-39 with a 4.41 ERA. The Yankees traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016 for a player to be named later.
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One of those players ended up being pitcher Stephen Tarpley, who was designated for assignment Saturday to make room for outfielder Brett Gardner on the 40-man roster, per Yankees PR:
The New York Yankees announced today that they have re-signed OF Brett Gardner to a one-year contract for the 2020 season, with a club option for 2021.
Gardner, 36, hit .251/.325/.503 (123-for-491) with 86 runs, 26 doubles, 7 triples, 28 home runs, 74 runs batted in, 52 walks and 10 stolen bases over 141 games in 2019, setting career highs in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage. He played in at least 140 games for the seventh consecutive season (2013-19), one of four Major Leaguers to accomplish the feat. He and Los Angeles-AL's Mike Trout are the only two players to reach 80 runs scored in each of the last seven seasons. On April 17, 2019, he hit a seventh-inning grand slam vs. Boston for his 100th career home run, becoming the fourth Yankee all-time to reach the milestone with a grand slam.
In 1,499 career games over 12 Major League seasons (2008-19), Gardner owns a .260 (1,355-for-5,220) batting average with 876 runs, 230 doubles, 68 triples, 124 home runs, 524 runs batted in, 613 walks and a .342 on-base percentage. An AL All-Star in 2015, his next Major League appearance would make him the 18th player to play in 1,500 games for the Yankees.
Along with Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, he is one of only five players drafted and signed by the Yankees to collect at least 1,000 hits with the club, and one of only seven to hit 100 home runs in pinstripes. Gardner's 267 career stolen bases rank third on the Yankees' all-time list, trailing only Derek Jeter (358) and Rickey Henderson (326).
A native of Holly Hill, S.C., and an alum of the College of Charleston, Gardner is the longest-tenured current Yankees player, having been drafted by the club in the third round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft prior to making his Major League debut in 2008. He is one of only 10 players to play for the same team in each of the last 12 seasons (2008-19), joining Ryan Braun (MIL), Miguel Cabrera (DET), Alex Gordon (KC), Félix Hernández (SEA), Clayton Kershaw (LAD), Yadier Molina (STL), Dustin Pedroia (BOS), Joey Votto (CIN) and Ryan Zimmerman (WSH). He would be the 19th Yankee to play for the club in at least 13 consecutive seasons.
In both 2016 and 2017, Gardner was the Yankees' nominee for Major League Baseball's Roberto Clemente Award.
To make room on the 40-man roster, LHP Stephen Tarpley was designated for assignment.
Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.