MLB Player News

If Eugenio Suarez (shoulder) has to miss the beginning of the season, Moustakas could move back over to his original third base slot to start the year, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds have said that Nick Senzel is not a candidate to shift to third base, being in the process of recovering from his own shoulder injury. If Moustakas goes to third base, either Senzel could play second base, or the Reds could go with a platoon involving the likes of Josh VanMeter, Kyle Farmer and/or Alex Blandino.

Senzel (shoulder) is not a candidate to move to third base while Eugenio Suarez is out, but it's possible he could move to second base, with Mike Moustakas shifting over to third, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds have emphasized that they haven't yet decided what to do with Senzel, in part because he only started throwing Jan. 13. "I'll leave it to (manager) David (Bell) to communicate with Nick and figure out what to prepare for and how he wants to allocate the playing time," said Dick Williams, the Reds' president of baseball operations. "But we have talked about the fact that he's a talented guy that can do different things. We owe it to him, at some point, to tell him what to prepare for this year."

Suarez had surgery to remove loose cartilage in his right shoulder Tuesday.

Suarez's surgery was to repair an injury that he suffered recently in a swimming pool. The 28-year-old's physical activity will be limited during the start of spring training and he's expected to be ready to resume game action near the beginning of the regular season. The 2018 All-Star third baseman is coming off an excellent season, hitting .274/.363/.540 with 49 home runs, 103 RBI and 87 runs scored. Suarez will be in a sling for 3-5 days before starting rehab, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

The Reds are believed to be weighing trade offers on Senzel (shoulder) following Monday's acquisition of free-agent outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

While Cincinnati didn't retain Yasiel Puig this offseason, the team brought in Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama (foot) via free agency, with both of the new arrivals presumably in line for regular roles in the outfield. That would leave Senzel, Jesse Winker (neck) and Aristides Aquino to fill the final everyday spot, with all three players having compelling cases for steady at-bats. Given his superior pedigree and defense in addition to his prior experience in the infield, Senzel would probably fetch a higher return in a trade than either Winker and Aquino, so the 24-year-old would make for a logical centerpiece in a deal if Cincinnati elects to move him in order to address needs elsewhere on the roster. No deal is believed to be I mminent at this time, however, so Senzel will continue to finish off his rehab from shoulder surgery before reporting to spring training in February with the aim of locking down the Reds' center-field job.

Riley will be vying for the everyday third-base job in spring training, Grant McAuley of 680 The Fan reports.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos addressed the media after the Marcell Ozuna signing became official and said that he's received promising reports on Riley this winter in regard to Riley making corrections with his swing. That is good to hear as Riley fell apart after a hot start and was ultimately left off the NLDS roster. Johan Camargo is Riley's top competition for a starting job with Josh Donaldson now in Minnesota. Both can move around but Camargo can play the middle-infield positions (which Riley cannot) and would probably be the better fit on the bench.

Maton was invited to the Phillies' major-league spring training Monday.

Maton had an effective year with High-A Clearwater in 2019 with a .276/.358/.380 slash line and five home runs, and that performance earned him a promotion to the Double-A level. He experienced some growing pains with Double-A Reading, hitting just .210/.306/.355 with two home runs over 21 games. The 22-year-old will get to work with the big-league coaching staff during the spring, but he'll likely require some more time in the minors before making his major-league debut due to his lack of experience against higher-end competition.

Robinson (elbow) received an invitation to major-league spring training Monday, Amy Gutierrez of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Robinson inked a minor-league deal with the Giants in mid-October, and he'll have the opportunity to begin the spring with the big-league club. He appeared in just five major-league contests a season ago with the Cardinals, going 1-for-7 with three strikeouts. Despite undergoing partial Tommy John surgery in August, it appears as though Robinson will be ready to go for camp.

Asuaje signed a minor-league contract with Chicago on Monday, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

Asuaje spent the 2019 season in Arizona's farm system, slashing .239/.339/.403 with five home runs and 29 RBI for Triple-A Reno. He hasn't made an appearance in the big leagues since the 2018 campaign while with San Diego, though he'll have a chance to crack the 25-man roster for the Cubs to begin the year with a strong spring.

Peterson signed with the Brewers as a non-roster invitee on Tuesday.

Peterson has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues, playing at about the level of the last man on the bench. He's appeared everywhere except catcher (though he didn't play any center field or shortstop last season) while hitting a just barely playable .228/.314/.330. He'll fight for a bench spot in camp and could potentially be one of the first options called up during the season if he winds up opening the year in the minors.

Kieboom is "close" to being ready for the major leagues and is expected to see time at multiple positions during spring training, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Kieboom made his big-league debut during the 2019 season, though he went just 5-for-39 with two home runs and four walks in 11 games. The Nationals feel good about how Kieboom is developing at this point and plan to give him plenty of opportunities to see major-league arms during spring training.