MLB Player News

Plouffe signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies on Wednesday which includes an invitation to spring training, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

Plouffe opted to return to Philadelphia after spending the majority of the 2018 season on the team's farm, hitting .230/.347/.460 across 73 games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The veteran infielder joined the big club briefly over summer but was designated for assignment after appearing in just seven games (going 3-for-12 with a homer). He figures to serve as infield depth again in 2019.

Machado signed with the Padres on Tuesday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

The Padres land one of the offseason's biggest prizes, adding a star in his prime to their growing crowd of young talent. Machado will see a clear downgrade in a park after spending the bulk of his career in a very hitter-friendly environment in Baltimore, though his bat is strong enough to keep him an upper-tier fantasy asset. The contract is worth 10 years and $300 million, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, making it the largest free-agent deal in American professional sports history. Machado will be able to opt out after the fifth season of the deal.

McMahon will have a chance to win the starting job at second base during spring training, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Garrett Hampson will also be competing to break camp as the Rockies' primary second baseman, with prospect Brendan Rodgers an option for later in the season. Manager Bud Black has been noncommittal about the decision to this point, and plans to use a committee at second base at least to open up the season. "DJ [LeMahieu] was an everyday player. He was a batting champion, an all-star, a Gold Glover -- it was his position." stated Black. "We don't have that type of player -- yet." Expect McMahon and Hampson to both see plenty of opportunities during spring training.

Moustakas will get looks at second base this spring, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The news is something of a surprise, as Moustakas has been almost exclusively a third baseman thus far in his major-league career, and a move to a tougher defensive position at this stage would be rather unusual. The Brewers also have Travis Shaw as a very capable option at the hot corner, but the team solved that problem last season by playing Shaw at second. There's no obvious reason why they'd switch that plan around this season, but if Moustakas manages to pick up enough games at second base to qualify there in some fantasy formats it would be at least a small boost to his value.

Reds manager David Bell suggested that Senzel is "the favorite" to win the starting center field job, John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Bell also suggested that Jesse Winker is expected to get 500 at-bats, meaning that both Scott Schebler and Matt Kemp would thus lose playing time. Earlier, Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that they would "... put the best team out there ..." for Opening Day when asked about Senzel's likely Opening Day status. Neither quote affirmatively says that Senzel will be with the team on Opening Day, but at least with their comments, the Reds are addressing Senzel differently than the Jays are with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Moustakas agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract with the Brewers on Sunday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

The deal will become official following a physical exam. Moustakas elected free agency after turning down his 2019 option with Milwaukee, but he'll return with the Brewers and should be their premier option at third base, especially against right-handed pitching. This means Travis Shaw will once again see time at second base as he did in the second half of the 2018 campaign. The keystone will become a bit more crowded with Moustakas back in the picture, as Cory Spangenberg, Hernan Perez and Tyler Saladino could all compete for backup work at second behind Shaw.

Newman is current;y positioned to either start at shortstop or serve as a backup middle infielder heading into the 2019 campaign.

The 2015 first-round draft pick will compete with newcomer Erik Gonzalez for the starting shortstop spot. "He's a different guy this spring than we saw last September," general manager Neal Huntington said. Newman lost 15 pounds during the course of last summer and was likely physically sapped by the time he made his major-league debut in August. Since then, he's worked with the team's nutrition director to help him maintain his weight. Newman slashed .302/.350/.407 at Triple-A and stole a career-high 28 bases in 39 attempts. While he disappointed during his short time in Pittsburgh -- he hit .209 in 91 at-bats with zero steals -- the 25-year-old holds a .288 career batting average in the minor leagues.

When asked about whether Senzel would start the year with the big club or in the minors (for arbitration purposes), Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams said "I anticipate putting the best team out there that we can [for Opening Day]," Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

The quote probably means less than you might think -- of course no general manager is going to admit to keeping a player down to preserve his arbitration clock, even if that's precisely what they're doing. Given that Senzel is learning a new position and didn't spend much time playing this offseason, the Reds already have a perfect reason to send him down to begin the year. But if he bangs down the door in spring training, then maybe they'll still keep him up.

Kieboom was invited to the Nationals' major-league camp Tuesday.

Kieboom has yet to play above Double-A, so he isn't a real candidate to break camp with the big club, but that won't stop the Nationals from getting a look at the youngster against big-league competition. The 21-year-old split time between High-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg in 2018, hitting a combined .280/.357/.444 with 16 homers and nine stolen bases in 123 games. If Kieboom can translate his success to the highest level of the minors, he could earn a promotion to the majors at some point in 2019.

President of baseball operations Michael Hill said Saturday that the Marlins plan to deploy Anderson as their primary third baseman this season, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Anderson opened 2018 as the team's everyday third baseman but moved to right field for a large portion of the season to create room in the lineup when Martin Prado returned from the disabled list. Prado still remains on the Miami roster, but it appears the Marlins may be envisioning the oft-injured veteran as more of a part-time utility player at this stage of his career. Since Anderson maintains eligibility at both third base and the outfield in most leagues after starting 70-plus games at both spots last season, a permanent deployment at the hot corner won't have much impact on his fantasy outlook. Instead, it's more likely to be beneficial to corner-outfield options such as Austin Dean, Curtis Granderson, Peter O'Brien and Garrett Cooper, whose path to at-bats may have been more blocked if Anderson was a fixture there.