MLB Player News

Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed Monday that Hayes would open the season as the team's everyday third baseman, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Hayes was one of the few silver linings in a dreadful season for the Pirates in 2020, batting .376 with 14 extra-base hits over his first 92 plate appearances in the majors. The 24-year-old had already been touted as a Gold Glove-caliber defender while coming up through the Pirates' farm system, but the stellar showing at the plate was more unexpected. Considering his average was propped up by a .450 BABIP, a fair dip in that department should be expected over the course of a full season in 2021. Even so, Hayes should still provide value on volume of plate appearances alone, as he'll likely be locked into a premium spot in the batting order throughout the 2021 campaign, given the Pirates' lack of appealing alternatives.

Newman (knee) was spotted fielding grounders at shortstop Monday during the Pirates' first workout for position players, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Newman's presence on the field to begin spring training suggests that he's made a full recovery from the left knee contusion that sidelined him late in the 2020 campaign. Before the injury surfaced, Newman was in the midst of a brutal season, with his .557 OPS over 172 plate appearances representing a 242-point drop from 2019. After being locked in as a full-time player heading into last season, Newman will likely now have to battle Erik Gonzalez and Cole Tucker for a starting job at shortstop this spring.

Arenado feels completely recovered from the nagging left shoulder injuries that led to his subpar 2020 season, Zachary Sliver of MLB.com reports.

The ultra-consistent slugger scuffled to a .253 average and .303 on-base percentage across 201 plate appearances during the abbreviated 2020 campaign, and he was ultimately shut down by the Rockies eight days prior to the conclusion of the regular season with left AC joint inflammation and a left shoulder bone bruise. The offseason took care of that pair of issues, and Arenado, who'd played no fewer than 155 games in any of the previous five seasons, views the health hiccup as a "blip." Expectations are naturally high for the veteran ahead of the 2021 season considering he averaged 39.8 home runs, 124.2 RBI and a .937 OPS from 2015-19 while providing Gold or Platinum Glove defense at third base.

Kieboom still has the confidence of manager Dave Martinez and the Nationals' organization that he can emerge as the team's starting third baseman, Maria Torres of The Athletic reports. "It's hard to judge [Kieboom] on these short snippets of games and at-bats," GM Mike Rizzo said Thursday. "We have to lean towards our evaluators who have seen him for years and progressed through the system and trust that he's the player that we think he is."

The 23-year-old has only a .181/.309/.232 slash line through his first 44 big-league games spread over the last two seasons, but Kieboom was far more productive during his last extended stint at Triple-A in 2019 when he delivered a .303/.409/.493 line over 109 contests. The Nats backed up that confidence in his development by not adding any real veteran competition for him at the hot corner, but if Kieboom does falter again, the team would have the option of sliding Starlin Castro over to third base and handing second base to Luis Garcia.

Davis could be headed for a utility role this season after Mets manager Luis Rojas wouldn't commit to him as the team's starting third baseman during Wednesday's press conference, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reports. "It's really tough right now to commit to any role," Rojas said. "I've got to stick with our versatility. J.D. is a guy that's played left too. We're thinking of that. He improved a lot at third base. But we want to keep that versatility always open. Multiple guys are going to play multiple positions. That's where our roster is."

Jeff McNeil, Jonathan Villar and Luis Guillorme could all be options at the hot corner as well, but Davis is still the most likely candidate to see a plurality of starts at third, if not an outright majority. The 27-year-old also saw his offensive numbers take a big step backwards in 2020, which could be factoring into Rojas' hesitation. If Davis hits like he did last season instead of returning to something closer to his 2019 level, the club has much less incentive to compromise the infield defense by keeping him in the lineup nearly every day.

Busch was invited to the Dodgers' major-league camp Tuesday, Eric Stephen of SBNation.com reports.

Busch will get the benefit of working with the team's big-league coaching staff for a few weeks, though he's not particularly close to joining them on a permanent basis. He has a promising bat and could eventually hit for both power and average, but he's played a grand total of 10 professional games and hasn't advanced beyond Low-A.

Phillies manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday that Segura will enter spring training as the team's primary second baseman, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Girardi's comments suggest that Segura likely won't have to battle for a full-time role, as the Phillies instead plan to have his presumed top challenger, Scott Kingery, vie for playing time at other positions. Segura ended up seeing most of his action at the keystone in 2020, but since he made 24 appearances (21 starts) at third base, he should have dual eligibility in most fantasy leagues entering 2021.

Davis lost his arbitration case Friday and will make $2.1 million next season, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Davis' .247/.371/.389 line last season represented a big step back from his .307/.369/.527 line from his breakout 2019 season, at least in terms of his average and slugging, though it was still quite an effective performance thanks to his ability to get on base at a high clip. Whether or not that's enough to keep him in the lineup on an everyday basis this season given his defensive limitations may depend in part on whether or not the universal designated hitter returns, but he's a good enough hitter to start most games even under traditional National League rules.

Wisdom re-signed Jan. 5 with the Cubs on a minor-league contract, Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America reports.

Wisdom initially joined Chicago on a minor-league deal in late August and ended up appearing in two games for the big club during the final week of the regular season. The 29-year-old didn't impress enough to maintain his spot on the 40-man roster entering the offseason, but he'll get the chance to battle for a bench role on the Cubs' Opening Day roster during spring training. He'll likely be assigned to Triple-A Iowa to begin the 2021 season if he comes up short in his bid for a job with the big club.

Arenado was traded from the Rockies to the Cardinals on Friday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Arenado was heavily pursued by the Cardinals over the past several days, and the two sides were able to reach an agreement Friday. The 29-year-old is expected to sign off on the trade in order to make the deal official. While the exact terms of the acquisition aren't yet known, the Rockies will receive multiple players and send the Cardinals approximately $50 million as part of the agreement. Arenado had a career-worst .253 batting average with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 2020, but he'll attempt to return to form with the Cardinals after averaging 39.8 home runs per year from 2015 to 2019.