HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros traded Forrest Whitley to the Tampa Bay Rays for $100,000 on Friday, sending the struggling right-hander to a new home after he was once a highly regarded prospect.
The 6-foot-7 Whitley was selected by Houston with the No. 17 pick in the 2016 amateur draft. He had no record and an 8.44 ERA in eight relief appearances with the Astros over the past two years before he was designated for assignment on Sunday.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said Whitley will work out of the bullpen with his new team.
“I saw him, just like you guys did in Houston," Cash said. "It’s pretty big stuff. ... Hopefully, with some messaging, good messaging, and Forrest, maybe a change of scenery — I have no idea — will help him. But we really like the arm, really like the off-speed pitches, the weapons that he has. Just want to get him in here and get to know him.”
Whitley, who turns 28 in September, was one of baseball's top pitching prospects going into the 2019 season. He missed the 2021 season after he had Tommy John surgery. He also missed extensive time in 2023 and 2024 due to various injuries.
He also was suspended in 2018 for 50 games without pay for violating the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.
In his last outing with Houston, Whitley permitted five runs and four hits in two innings in a 16-3 loss to the Rays on May 31.
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FILE - Houston Astros relief pitcher Forrest Whitley (55) walks back to the dugout after striking out Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren, File)
A Ukrainian drone attack in southwestern Russia killed two people on Saturday as parts of Ukraine went without power following Russian assaults on energy infrastructure hours before peace talks were to restart in Germany.
Foreign policy advisers from the U.S., Ukraine and Germany, among others, are expected to meet in Berlin on Sunday, according to German news agency dpa. Germany is also set to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, part of efforts by European leaders to steer the negotiations.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump who has been working as an outside adviser, are traveling to Berlin for the talk, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
American officials have tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including the possession of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, mostly occupied by Russia but parts of which remain under Ukrainian control.
The drone attack in Russia's Saratov region damaged a residential building and several windows were also blown out at a kindergarten and clinic, said Gov. Roman Busargin. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
In Ukraine, Russia launched overnight drone and missile strikes on five Ukrainian regions, targeting energy and port infrastructure. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that over a million people were without electricity.
Zelenskyy said Russia had sent over 450 drones and 30 missiles into Ukraine overnight.
An attack on the Black Sea city of Odesa caused grain silos to catch fire at the port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider Odesa region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.
On the front lines, Ukrainian forces said Saturday that the northern part of the critical city of Pokrovsk was under Ukrainian control, despite Russia's claims earlier this month that it had taken full control of the city. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the claims.
The latest attacks came after Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control.
Ukraine has consistently refused to cede the remaining part of the region to Russia.
Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarized zone under the prospective peace plan, a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.
Ushakov warned that a search for compromise could take a long time, noting that the U.S. proposals that took into account Russian demands had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.
“We don't know what changes they are making, but clearly they aren't for the better,” Ushakov said, adding: “We will strongly insist on our considerations.”
In other developments, around 480 people were evacuated Saturday from a train traveling between the Polish city of Przemysl and Kyiv after police received a call concerning a threat on the train, Karolina Kowalik, a spokesperson for the Przemysl police, told The Associated Press. Nobody was hurt and she didn't elaborate on the threat.
Polish authorities are on high alert since multiple attempts to disrupt trains on the line linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border, including the use of explosives in November, with Polish authorities saying they have evidence Russia was behind it.
Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits attend drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits rest after drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits rest after drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits attend drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this grab from a video provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Friday, Dec 12, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy records a video at the road entering of Kupiansk, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
