MLB Adopts Home Plate Collision Rule – MLB Roundup

UNDATED (AP) — Some 60-90 big league catchers received some pretty good news on Monday.

Major League Baseball and its players have adopted a rule limiting home plate collisions this season. Most of them are banned with some exceptions.

The one-year rule experiment allows collisions if the catcher has the ball and is blocking the runner's direct path to home plate, and if the catcher goes into the base path to field a throw to the plate.

The rule bans players from deviating from a direct path to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher or other player covering home plate. A runner violating the rule will be out, even if the fielder drops the ball.

Also in the majors:

— The Baltimore Orioles have finalized an $8 million, one-year contract with slugger Nelson Cruz, who hit .266 with 27 homers and 76 RBIs in 109 games for Texas last season. The 33-year-old Cruz served a 50-game suspension last year for violating baseball's drug agreement. He turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Texas Rangers in November.

— The Detroit Tigers have agreed to contract terms with seven players for the 2014 season. The Tigers have worked out contracts with right-handers Jose Ortega, Luke Putkonen and Evan Reed, left-handers Kyle Lobstein and Drew Smyly, infielder Nick Castellanos and outfielder Steven Moya. Smyly is expected to move into the rotation after an impressive 2013 showing in the bullpen.

— Texas manager Ron Washington has been given a one-year contract extension through the 2015 season. He is the winningest manager in franchise history with 611 victories over seven seasons. Washington has led the Rangers to their only two World Series appearances.

— Mets first baseman Ike Davis admits he concealed a nagging oblique strain from the team last year but says the injury wasn't a factor in his poor performance. Mets manager Terry Collins says he was "as surprised as anybody" when he heard that Davis had been playing with an injury. Davis was hitting a career-low .205 with nine homers and 33 RBIs last year, missing the final month with the oblique injury.