The Houston Astros and Yuli Gurriel have agreed to a one-year contract with an option for 2022 that guarantees $7 million, a cut of nearly 20% from his 2020 deal.

Gurriel's 2020 contract called for an $8.3 million salary and wound up being worth $3,074,074 prorated.

His new deal includes a $6.5 million salary for 2021 and an $8 million club option for 2021 with a $500,000 buyout.

Video reviews overturned 42.4% of calls checked during Major League Baseball's shortened 2020 regular season, down slightly from 44% in 2019.

MLB said Tuesday there were 468 manager challenges and 58 crew chief reviews among 526 total reviews during 898 games.

The average time of a review was 1 minute, 25 seconds, up from 1:16 the previous season, when there were 1,186 manager challenges and 170 crew chief reviews among 1,356 reviews during 2,429 games.

Major League Baseball started the process of eliminating Minor League affiliates Tuesday.

The Appalachian League has been converted to a college summer circuit for rising freshmen and sophomores.

The agreement between MLB and the minor leagues expires Wednesday. MLB has proposed cutting the minimum guaranteed minor league affiliates from 160 to 120 next year, leaving four per major league organization plus teams at their spring training complexes.

The Minnesota Twins dropped Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, extending their playoff losing streak to 17 games.

The loss set a new North American postseason losing streak record, breaking a tie with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago lost 16 straight playoff games from 1975-79.

The second-longest postseason losing streak in baseball history belongs to the Boston Red Sox, who lost 13 straight from 1986-95.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, 27 of the other 29 MLB teams have won a postseason game since the Twins last won one.

Major League Baseball has yet to confirm the order of selections for the 2021 draft, but the expected order will be determined by the final 2020 standings.

Assuming that will be the order, the first round will look as follows:

1. Pirates

2. Rangers

3. Tigers

4. Red Sox

5. Orioles

6. Diamondbacks

7. Royals

8. Rockies

9. Angels

10. Mets

11. Nationals

12. Mariners

13. Phillies

14. Giants

15. Brewers

16. Marlins

17. Reds

18. Cardinals

19. Blue Jays

20. Yankees

21. Cubs

22. White Sox

23. Indians

24. Braves

25. Athletics

26. Twins

27. Padres

28. Rays

29. Dodgers

The Philadelphia Phillies struggled in the final week of the season and missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year.

After the conclusion of his second season with the Phillies, Bryce Harper spoke to reporters about the future of teammate J.T. Realmuto.

Harper said that Realmuto "needs to be our catcher next season. Plain and simple. I don't think that should even be a question."

Philadelphia acquired Realmuto in a February 2019 trade with the Miami Marlins.

Juan Soto secured the National League batting title in the Washington Nationals' 15-5 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.

Soto, 21, walked and singled before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the third inning, locking in his average at .351 for the pandemic-shortened 60-game season.

Soto surpassed Brooklyn's Pete Reiser as the youngest ever to win a NL batting crown. Reiser was 22 when he ended the 1941 season hitting a league-leading .343.

The Miami Marlins are in the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

They currently have the longest odds of winning the World Series among the expanded postseason field at 33-1.

"For us, this is a steppingstone," Derek Jeter said. "We didn't come here to chase 'a' championship or 'a' playoff appearance. We want to be sustainable."

Miami will face the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-three wild-card round beginning Wednesday.

The Boston Red Sox announced Sunday that Ron Roenicke will not return as the team's manager for the 2021 season, with a search for a new skipper beginning immediately.

Roenicke took over as interim manager in February following the parting of ways with Alex Cora during the fallout from the Astros sign-stealing investigation. The team removed the interim label from Roenicke's title after Major League Baseball cleared him of any wrongdoing in Boston's own sign-stealing investigation in April.

The Angels fired GM Billy Eppler on Sunday, moments after the team concluded its fifth consecutive losing season.

The firing comes with one year left on Eppler's deal. The Angels quietly extended Eppler through the 2021 season over the summer, a source confirmed to ESPN. Eppler, who finished his fifth season with the organization after joining in 2015, was on an expiring contract when the year began.

In a statement, Angels president John Carpino said: "The Angels organization would like to thank Billy for his dedication and work ethic over the last five years. We wish him and his family all the best."