MLB Player News

Kirilloff was extended an invitation to major-league spring training, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Kirilloff split the 2018 season between Low-A Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers, slashing .348/.392/.578 with 20 home runs in 130 games. The 21-year-old is likely to begin the 2019 season at Double-A Chattanooga given his success at Fort Myers, but will have a chance to showcase himself with the big club at spring training.

White was invited to major-league spring training Thursday, TJ Cotterill of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

The 22-year-old spent nearly all of the 2018 campaign with High-A Modesto, slashing an excellent .303/.375/.458 to go with 11 homers and 66 RBI in 538 plate appearances. White will now get a chance to strut his stuff in front of the major-league coaching staff, though he'll likely spend the bulk of the 2019 season at Double-A after given his limited experience facing pitchers in the upper levels of the minors.

Cabrera signed a one-year deal with the Rangers on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Cabrera has been a steady but unspectacular bat for the last several years, posting a wRC+ between 104 and 120 for four straight campaigns. Those numbers were more impressive when he was more able to play a middle-infield position, but he's expected to be a third baseman in Texas. The hitter-friendly home park should prop up his numbers and make him an interesting deep-league option, though at 33, age-related decline can't be ruled out.

Abreu agreed to a one-year, $16 million contract with the White Sox on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

For the first time in five seasons in affiliated baseball, Abreu fell short of 25 homers and 100 RBI, but he still put together a nice season and will be rewarded with a $3 million pay increase in his final year of arbitration. Abreu is set to remain the primary first baseman in 2019 with Yonder Alonso expected to see most of his time at DH, and projects to remain the three hole hitter.

Dalbec was invited to major-league spring training Thursday.

The 23-year-old broke out in the power department last year, bashing 32 home runs and 35 doubles in 543 plate appearances between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland. He'll now get a chance to strut his stuff in big-league camp during spring training, though it's unlikely he'll break camp with Boston. He only has 124 plate appearances at Double-A to his name and could use some more seasoning against upper-level pitching in order to cut down on the 32.4 percent strikeout rate he posted last season.

Voit will be the Yankees' starter at first base unless Greg Bird beats him out, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.

Going purely off the two players' prospect hype, it may have made sense for the Yankees to give Bird one more shot, but the team's decision is certainly in line with the pair's recent performance. Bird hit just .199/.286/.386 in 82 games last year and hasn't posted an above-average batting line since 2015. Voit hit an incredible .333/.405/.689 in 39 games after heading to the Yankees last season. That line was well above expectations, but he can fall quite far and still outperform Bird this season.

Duenez returned to the Royals on a minor-league contract Monday.

Duenez has topped out at Double-A over the last three seasons, hitting .282/.357/.463 in 80 games for Northwest Arkansas last season. He doesn't have any standout tools, so he'll have to take a jump forward to project as anything more than a backup, but he's still just 22, so such a jump can't be completely ruled out.

Santana was traded from Seattle to Cleveland in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion on Thursday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. The Indians also dealt Yandy Diaz and a player to be named later to Tampa Bay for Jake Bauers, per Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times.

Santana was recently dealt to Seattle last week after spending the past season in Philadelphia. The first baseman hit just .229/.352/.414 with 24 home runs and 86 RBI in 161 games for the Phillies, and like the rest of the team, struggled down the final stretch in September. Prior to his brief stint in Philadelphia, Santana had played his entire career in Cleveland. Outside of a dip in batting average and slugging percentage, there were some inspiring signs from Santana's 2018 campaign, including a career-best 13.7 percent strikeout rate and 16.2 percent walk rate, which was his highest since 2015. Look for Santana to see some time alongside Yonder Alonso at first base to go along with a primary role as the Indians' designated hitter, though Bauers figures to be in the mix at both positions, and in the outfield as well.

The Indians traded Diaz to the Rays on Thursday as part of a three-team deal with the Mariners, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Rays view Diaz as an upgrade both offensively and defensively over Jake Bauers, who heads to Cleveland in the deal. Diaz still has yet to get to much in-game power, but he puts bat to ball with consistency, and don't put it past the Rays and their analytics team to unlock something in the power department. He will likely see time at both first and third in 2019.

Bour agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Angels on Wednesday, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.

Bour split time with the Marlins and Phillies in 2018, slashing a combined .227/.341/.404 with 20 homers across 141 games. He posted an .819 OPS against right-handed pitching in 2018 -- compared to his .570 mark against southpaws -- so he seems like a strong candidate to settle into the strong side of a platoon at first base with Albert Pujols.