MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters on Friday that Hernandez has a chance to be the starting shortstop for the Red Sox, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Hernandez will be playing in the infield after spending the majority of the 2022 season in center field. The versatile 31-year-old has played 100 games in his career at shortstop with 258 at second base. Hernandez should get plenty of playing time whether if he's the everyday option at short or not, but there's not going to be much fantasy relevance in his bat no matter where he's playing.

Hernandez is expected to move into a full-time role in the middle infield to begin the 2023 season with Trevor Story (elbow) expected to miss a significant chunk of the campaign, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Hernandez handled a utility role for most of his first seven years in the majors, but he's primarily manned center field since joining Boston ahead of the 2021 season. The Red Sox had earmarked Story for shortstop following Xander Bogaerts' offseason move to San Diego, but those plans are on hold after Story underwent surgery on his throwing elbow and is now set to miss a sizable portion of the upcoming season. With Boston signing Adam Duvall to a one-year deal Wednesday and set to install him as their everyday center fielder, Hernandez will turn his focus to the infield, where he could play regularly at either second base or shortstop. According to Cotillo, Boston is still expected to bring aboard another middle infielder this offseason, but any new arrival is more likely to affect the playing-time outlook of Christian Arroyo rather than Hernandez. Since he didn't play more than 11 games at any spot besides center field in 2022, Hernandez won't carry multi-position eligibility in most fantasy leagues entering 2023, but it shouldn't take long for him to gain eligibility at whichever middle-infield spot he ultimately settles.

Rosario signed a one-year, $7.8 million contract with the Guardians on Friday to avoid arbitration, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

After making $4.95 million in 2022, Rosario is now the fourth-highest paid player in Cleveland. He is coming off a season in which he led the team in hits and at-bats while batting .283 and recording 71 RBI and 86 runs. The 27-year-old also went 18-for-22 on stolen-base attempts.

Dubon agreed to a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the Astros on Friday to avoid arbitration, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Dubon made his big-league debut in 2019 and is now in his first year of arbitration eligibility. The 28-year-old appeared in 83 games for the Astros last year and had a .208/.254/.294 slash line, and he should fill a utility role in 2023, assuming he makes the Opening Day roster.

Kemp agreed to a one-year, $3.725 million contract with the A's on Friday to avoid arbitration, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The 31-year-old made just over $1 million last season, and he'll more than triple that figure in 2023, which is his final year of arbitration eligibility. Kemp played in a career-high 147 games last year and had a .235/.307/.334 slash line with seven home runs, 46 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

Arroyo signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Red Sox on Friday to avoid arbitration, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Although Arroyo was able to record a career-high .286 batting average last season, the quality of his plate appearances was pretty low for someone with an average as high as his -- his 4.3 percent walk rate didn't help his cause either. Still, he displayed enough offensive production and defensive versatility to get into Boston's lineup most games, though he holds little fantasy value.

Biggio signed a one-year, $2.8 million contract with the Blue Jays on Friday to avoid arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Biggio has been a disappointment at the plate two years running with back-to-back sub-.700 OPS seasons. His versatility is appealing, though, and he looks to be in line for a super-utility role again in 2023.

Espinal and the Blue Jays agreed on a one-year, $2.1 million contract Friday to avoid arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

The 28-year-old infielder busted onto the scene in 2022, batting .267 with seven homers, 51 RBI, 51 runs and six stolen bases over 135 games in a season during which he made his first All Star team. Espinal will likely operate as a utility option in 2023 with Whit Merrifield expected to be the Jays' primary second baseman, and he could start at multiple spots across the infield.

Lopez signed a one-year, $3.7 million contract with the Royals on Friday to avoid arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

A case could have been made for Lopez to be a non-tender candidate after he had one of the worst seasons at the plate as a regular in recent memory with a .227/.281/.273 batting line in 2022. However, he's still excellent defensively and the Royals will hope he can regain his form from 2021 when he slashed .300/.365/.378. Lopez is slated to compete with Michael Massey for playing time at second base and offers depth at third behind the perpetually injured Adalberto Mondesi (knee).

Ibanez cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo on Friday.

Ibanez was claimed off waivers by Detroit in November but won't stick on the 40-man roster through the offseason. The 29-year-old appeared in 40 games for the Rangers last season and had a .218/.273/.277 slash line.