MLB Player News

Votto spent the offseason analyzing his swing to find out why his power dropped off, and believes that the issue was mechanical and not a matter of physical strength, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. "I thought there was something in my swing, the angle as it came through the zone," Votto said. "A lot of my hard-hit balls were poorly directed. I think it was very much a mechanics thing and not a physical thing."

Votto has a reputation for having a sterling work ethic and an ability to diagnose his swing issues. He's gotten off to slow starts in recent years and is redoubling his efforts to overcome that shortcoming. With an NFBC ADP of 73, he's as affordable as ever this season.

Gurriel will play spring-training games at second and third base, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Manager A.J. Hinch concocted a similar plan during spring training last season, too, but that idea was squashed after Gurriel underwent hand surgery in late February. Still, he appeared in 21 games at third base during the regular season, staring there eight times. He also made five starts at second base. With super-utility man Marwin Gonzalez no longer around, Gurriel and fellow Cuban Aledmys Diaz will be packing multiple gloves.

Alonso will be given a chance to earn an Opening Day roster spot, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Alonso looked big-league ready last season after hitting .285/.395/.579 across the two highest levels of the minors, but the Mets didn't give him a September call-up, presumably to secure an extra year of team control. To follow through on such a move would require the team to keep him down for at least a couple weeks at the start of the season. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen wasn't in charge last year, though, so it's possible he has different ideas and wants his best players on the roster on Opening Day. Manager Mickey Callaway hinted at that Saturday, calling Van Wagenen "a player's guy," though it would be an unconventional (if commendable) move for the Mets to open with Alonso on the roster.

Guerrero is expected to begin the season at Triple-A Buffalo, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

General manager Ross Atkins didn't rule out having the top prospect on the Opening Day roster, but he also said that the most likely starter at the hot corner for the first game is Brandon Drury. This is almost certainly a trick to get an extra year of team control over Guerrero, so the most likely scenario is that he will be up with Toronto after a few weeks.

Blandino (knee) has been hitting and taking groundballs at the Reds' spring training facility, and expects to be ready by Opening Day, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Blandino had surgery to reconstruct both a torn ACL and MCL, and he might not be ready for the start of full-squad workouts next week. When he is ready, he's far from guaranteed a roster spot.

Rodriguez signed a minor-league contract with the Indians on Monday.

Rodriguez is back with the Indians after spending time with the team's Double- and Triple-A affiliates in 2018, hitting a combined .228/.308/.416 with 15 homers in 107 games. The 24-year-old will report to minor-league camp and figures to open the 2019 campaign with Triple-A Columbus.

The Diamondbacks are expected to deploy Flores as their primary second baseman this season, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports.

Barring any major additions to the roster before the end of spring training, Flores, who inked a one-year, $4.25 million deal earlier this month, will have the best opportunity of his career to claim a full-time gig. Flores never exceeded 500 plate appearances during any of his six seasons with the Mets, despite providing near league-average production (.262/.303/.424 slash line, 99 wRC+) over his 2,011 plate appearances. Though the keystone is the one infield spot where Flores has seen his least MLB action to date, the Diamondbacks are apparently confident that with some further instruction during the spring, he can be a passable defender at the position. Arizona's addition of Flores likely means that Ketel Marte will vie for the team's top job in center field after logging most of his starts at second base in 2018.

Solano signed a minor-league contract with the Giants earlier in January, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

Solano owns a .257/.306/.331 slash line over 1,168 career big-league plate appearances. The 31-year-old infielder hasn't surfaced in the majors since 2016, however, and is most likely ticketed for Triple-A Sacramento once spring training ends.

Lowe is expected to earn an invitation to the Rays' big-league camp, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Lowe isn't expected to compete for an Opening Day roster spot in camp, as he's appeared in just 28 games at Triple-A, but that won't stop the Rays from getting a look at the youngster against major-league pitching. The 23-year-old climbed from High-A Charlotte to Triple-A Durham over the course of the 2018 campaign, slashing a combined .330/.416/.568 with 27 homers and 102 RBI across all three stops (130 games). If Lowe is able to hold his own against Triple-A pitching to begin the 2019 season, he could make his big-league debut sometime over the summer.

Bell, who will be looking to rebound from a disappointing 2018 campaign, changed his offseason routine and also met with new hitting coach, Rick Eckstein, in December.

He hit 26 home runs with 90 RBI as a rookie in 2017, but slumped to 12 homers and 62 RBI last year. The first baseman believes he's rediscovered what made him successful two seasons ago. "It was just going back to that mentality in Triple-A, using that left-center-field gap to my advantage instead of thinking of that short porch there in right field," Bell said. The switch hitter slashed .301/.427/.534 with four homers in his final 89 plate appearances in 2018. With David Freese no longer around to take starts away from him at first base, Pittsburgh will give Bell every chance to prove his rookie season wasn't a fluke.