AL East Notes: Wright, Rays, Jays

The domestic assault case against Red Sox righty Steven Wright has been “retired,” as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reported yesterday. That puts him on track to resolution of the possible legal trouble that arose out of a domestic incident earlier this month. That does not mean that Major League Baseball cannot continue to investigate the matter and decide for itself whether to issue discipline under the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy. Indeed, the commissioner’s office says  it is continuing to look into the incident, though of course there’s no indication at this point whether there will be any punishment forthcoming.

Here’s more from the AL East:

• With former star Evan Longoria now playing elsewhere, the Rays face some interesting questions entering the new year. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports, there are loads of infield possibilities on hand even absent Longoria, particularly since the trade brought back another young possibility in Christian Arroyo. Several of those players could end up on the move, in theory, along with quite a few others. Topkin says not to expect pure salary-dumping moves, apart perhaps from the just-acquired Denard Span. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic further tweets that the Longoria swap isn’t necessarily a prelude to a deal involving top starter Chris Archer, though that still seems plausible.
• Regardless of how things turn out elsewhere in the division, the Blue Jays plan to enter 2018 with designs on competition, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes. That likely means the team isn’t going to seriously consider dealing star third baseman Josh Donaldson, despite persistent chatter about outside interest. GM Ross Atkins tells Crasnick both that the Jays are “trying to win” and that he “can’t imagine our team being better without Josh Donaldson.”