MLB Player News

Moncada, who many believe could play center field, will remain at second base in the White Sox organization, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports.

White Sox senior director of baseball operations Dan Fabian acknowledged the reports of some talent evaluators that feel Moncada can play the outfield, but he believes the team's top prospect has a comfort level at second and should remain there for now. "You see the reports that people think center field. As our coaches and staff see him more, we'll certainly make those considerations, but going into it we're definitely focused on giving the prime attention to developing second base right now and let's see where that ends up," said Fabian. He also reiterated the team's offseason mantra of not rushing their top prospects, though we should see Moncada at the MLB level during the 2017 season.

Moustakas said Friday that his knee is "almost 100 percent," Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports.

Now nearly eight months removed from undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL, Moustakas seems confident that he's close to a full recovery. However, he did acknowledge that he will likely be put on a slower schedule than is normal during spring training. Moustakas was walking more, striking out less and hitting for more power than ever before (.260 ISO, up from .186 in 2015) before going down with the injury.

Segura is expected to open Cactus League action as the Mariners' No. 2 hitter, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

Manager Scott Servais said he will try Jarrod Dyson in the leadoff spot (at least against right-handed pitching), with Segura following in the two-hole ahead of Robinson Cano. With the offseason trade from Arizona to Seattle, Segura sees a big downgrade in home ballpark, but the Mariners seem intent on running more this year so a fifth straight season with 20-plus stolen bases seems likely.

Athletics general manager David Forst confirmed Wednesday that Plouffe would serve as the team's primary third baseman this season, CSN Bay Area's Joe Stiglich reports.

The Athletics officially inked Plouffe to a one-year contract Wednesday after he agreed in principle to the deal a week earlier, and management immediately helped clear up any ambiguity of the 30-year-old's role with his new team. Though Ryon Healy found success as the team's everyday third baseman in the second half of last season, he's expected to split most of his time between first base and DH in 2017, opening up the hot corner for Plouffe, who had been a full-time player for the Twins for much of his seven seasons in the majors. Plouffe is coming off a season in which he hit a career-best .260 over 319 at-bats, but a 31-point drop in ISO and a variety of injuries that combined to cost him roughly half the season ultimately made him a disappointment for fantasy owners. The move to Oakland probably won't aid Plouffe to a dramatic recovery in the power department, but better health alone may be enough to make him a capable corner infield option in AL-only leagues or deeper season-long formats.

Almanzar signed a minor league contract with the Tigers on Tuesday, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

The 26-year-old, who has never appeared in the majors, batted .241/.297/.380 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI across 410 at-bats with the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate last season. Although he has shown improvement across the board, Almanzar will likely stay in Triple-A another year.

Bregman will represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 22-year-old Bregman, Houston's first-round pick (second overall) in 2015, has been a quick-riser through the system. After beginning 2016 at Double-A Corpus Christi, he worked his way up to MLB, where he held his own in 49 games. He's expected to start the 2017 as the Astros' starting third baseman with a spot in the upper half of the batting order.

Valencia agreed to a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Mariners on Friday, avoiding arbitration, FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman reports.

He was traded from Oakland to Seattle earlier this offseason in a deal that netted the A's right-hander Paul Blackburn. Valencia figures to open the season on the short side of a first base platoon with Dan Vogelbach.

Machado agreed to a one-year, $11.5 million contract with the Orioles on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.

Machado batted .294/.343/.533 with 37 homers and 96 RBI en route to a second consecutive top-five finish in the American League MVP voting -- and he's still just 24. He's now regained shortstop eligibility after making 45 appearances at the position last year, but it's uncertain how often Machado will run moving forward.

Segura agreed to a one-year, $6.2 million contract with the Mariners on Thursday, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.

Segura batted .319 with 20 homer runs and 33 stolen bases last season with the Diamondbacks before being traded to the Mariners in November. Expect him to be the main shortstop for the Mariners for the 2017 season as he looks to build on a great bounce-back 2016 season.

Moncada is taking part in a minicamp this week in Arizona, as the White Sox got their first look at the centerpiece of the Chris Sale trade.

Moncada, considered to the top prospect overall, showed off his bat while impressing Chicago's director of player development Chris Getz. "He's built like a powerful athlete. Him being a switch-hitter, having power, having ability to hit, it seems like there's unlimited potential there," said Getz. At the time of Moncada's acquisition, White Sox general manager Rich Hahn said they don't plan to rush their stop prospects to the majors, so we're expecting Moncada to open the year at Triple-A Charlotte. While he offers great upside, Moncada's strikeout rate spiked when he was promoted to Double-A last year, and he struck out in his final nine at-bats after Boston brought him up in September.