At 12-24, the Houston Astros occupy last place in the American League West.

The club is on pace for more than 100 losses, something that could lead them to sell at the trade deadline.

However, general manager Dana Brown isn't ready to entertain the idea.

"No," he said on MLB Network. "No, I can't envision that. This ballclub is too good." 

The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to promote top prospect Paul Skenes to make his debut on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

Skenes, 21, has allowed three earned runs in 27 1/3 innings with 45 strikeouts in Triple-A.

The Pirates drafted Skenes with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a 119.9 mph home run Wednesday night against the Houston Astros, the hardest-hit ball in the Major Leagues this season.

In the third inning, Stanton pulled a 1-2 curveball from rookie Spencer Arrighetti into the second deck in left field at Yankee Stadium, just inside the foul pole. The Yankees went on to win 9-4.

It was Stanton's third-hardest-hit home run since Statcast tracking began in 2015. He launched a 121.7 mph homer against the Texas Rangers in August 2018 -- the record in the Statcast era -- and a 121.3 mph shot at the Washington Nationals in July 2020 that ranks second.

Ippei Mizuhara has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of felony bank fraud and submitting a false tax return after authorities found that he stole nearly $17 million from Shohei Ohtani in order to pay off gambling debts to an illegal sportsbook.

Mizuhara, 39, who had been Ohtani's longtime interpreter, is expected to enter his guilty plea in the coming weeks.

His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

 The total maximum sentence Mizuhara could receive for both crimes would be 33 years imprisonment and fines of $1.25 million, but in exchange for his plea -- outlined in the agreement released Wednesday -- prosecutors would recommend a reduced sentence.

The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired left-hander Tyler Gilbert from the Cincinnati Reds, according to a report.

The report seems to indicate that the Reds will receive cash considerations in return.

Gilbert wasn't on the Reds' 40-man roster and therefore won't need a roster spot with the Phillies.

Gilbert, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason.

Pete Alonso is in what could be his final season with the New York Mets.

The first baseman, 29, is hitting .212/.297/.445 with nine home runs in 155 plate appearances this season.

A few weeks ago, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns admitted Alonso reaching free agency is "the most likely outcome." The two sides have reportedly had talks on an extension over the years.

"I'm not particularly thinking about that right now," Alonso said.

"I love the city I play in. I consider myself a New Yorker," he added. "I have a great relationship with guys on the team obviously. And I think I have a great relationship with people in the front office and Steve as well. We'll see what happens this winter. It's a big question mark. For me, right now, I'm just focusing on doing what I can to help us win every day."

Willson Contreras broke his left forearm when he was hit by a swing during the St. Louis Cardinals' 7-5 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday night.

The catcher told reporters he will need surgery and miss at least six weeks.

"So right now I mean, I'm in pain pretty good, but I'm really upset missing," Contreras said. "I know that it's going to be tough for me to watch the games and not out there with the guys, but I'm going to do my best to stay present, pick each other up and cheer for them because that's the best thing I can do."

Contreras got hurt with J.D. Martinez at the plate in the second inning. After he was tagged by Martinez's swing, the catcher tumbled over in obvious pain and then jogged away before sitting down while he was examined by the Cardinals' athletic training staff.

"I hit meat," Martinez said. "I felt like I hit meat. I didn't hit like just like a glove where you kind of just point back to catcher, it was just solid. I was like, dude, I hit him good. ... I felt terrible."

Major League Baseball has sent a warning to teams about encouraging players subject to the MLB draft to withdraw from high school baseball to become eligible to sign as international players.

An MLB spokesman declined comment.

The key section of the memo sent to teams Monday and obtained by ESPN reads: "It has come to our attention that Clubs have been encouraging amateur players in the United States to withdraw from, or otherwise refrain from playing, high school baseball in the United States and/or Canada, in order to try to establish residency in a foreign country, in an effort to make themselves eligible to sign under the International Amateur Talent System instead of the Rule 4 Draft."

In the memo, the league clarified the rules around eligibility and what rules teams were breaking by encouraging players to change their eligibility. The memo says that encouraging players to make this change "shall be subject to significant penalties, including, but not limited to, the denial of player selection rights under the [MLB draft] or loss of benefits under the International Amateur Talent System."

The Toronto Blue Jays have reached an agreement with Aaron Sanchez on a Minor League deal, according to a report.

Sanchez returns to the club that drafted him with the 34th overall pick in 2010.

The 31-year-old spent last season in Triple-A between the Minnesota and Arizona systems.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was asked Monday if the league has decided to shift its stances toward gambling in the wake of Shohei Ohtani's interpreter scandal.

Specifically, prop bets are an area of concern, where fans can bet on individual outcomes from specific events, like a single at-bat.

"We've been on prop bets from the very beginning. When we lobby in states, there's always certain types of bets that we have lobbied against -- I mean, the first pitch of the game, we really don't want that available as a prop bet," Manfred said. 

In the Ohtani scandal, Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter, was making the illegal bets, Manfred reminded the room: "We haven't had a player that was involved."

"When you have problems in our sport or in other sports, it makes you refocus your efforts but we really do think that our integrity program -- in terms of the monitoring and data available to us -- protect the sport," he said. 

MLB has employed a full-time integrity and compliance team for years. Players are allowed to gamble legally on other sports, but are not permitted to gamble on any diamond sports. 

Manfred also offered up a curious quote regarding legalized MLB gambling. 

"We were kind of dragged into legalized sports betting as a litigant in a case that ended up in the Supreme Court," he said. "Having said that, I recognize -- probably better today than when we were involved in that litigation -- that one of the advantages of legalization is it's a heck of a lot easier to monitor what's going on than it is with an illegal operation."