MLB Player News

Valencia agreed to a one-year, $3.15 million contract with the Athletics on Thursday, avoiding arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

Now that Valencia's contract has been settled, he can turn his focuses to holding onto the everyday third base job for the Athletics. The 30-year-old batted .290/.345/.519 with 18 home runs and 66 RBI between the Blue Jays and Athletics last season, and will look to continue his hot-hitting ways in 2016.

The trade of Yunel Escobar ensures that Rendon will be the Nationals' starting third baseman next season.

The club had previously announced that Rendon would return to third in 2016, but the Escobar trade clears the path for that move. Rendon will still need to stay healthy to rebound from his disappointing performance last year, however.

Britton signed a minor league contract with the Twins on Wednesday, LaVelle Neal of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

It's unclear whether the contract includes an invite to big-league camp for spring training. Regardless, Britton is a long-shot to work into any sort of significant major-league role in 2016, having failed to break through the Triple-A glass ceiling in his eight professional seasons. He hit .262/.311/.374 with the Dodgers' Oklahoma City affiliate last season.

Ramirez (leg) has ended his winter ball season but is working on his conditioning in Florida, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Ramirez suffered a scary looking leg injury in winter ball but it turned out to be nothing more than an ankle sprain and he's on track to be fully ready for the start of spring training.

Rendon was extended a contract on Wednesday by the Nationals.

There really wasn't much doubt that the Nationals would extend a contract tender to Rendon and this was more so just making it official. At the end of 2015 season, the Nationals decided to move Rendon back to third base in 2016, but he'll be eligible as second and third to open the year.

The Pirates did not extend a contract offer to Alvarez on Wednesday, making him a free agent.

Alvarez hit 27 home runs last season and posted a .787 OPS, but the Pirates decided to go in a different direction at first base next season. He will now enter the free agent market, where he figures to hook on with a power-hungry team with open at-bats at first base or at the designated hitter position.

Candelario was added to the Cubs' 40-man roster on Friday, the Daily Herald's Bruce Miles reports.

The slick-fielding third baseman has a future in the big leagues, but it will be hard for him to crack the Cubs' lineup, given their abundance of infield talent. This makes him an intriguing trade chip this winter, although his glove-first profile makes him unappealing in dynasty leagues.

Donaldson was named the 2015 AL MVP by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Thursday.

Of the 30 first-place votes, Donaldson received 23 while the Angels' Mike Trout received seven. Traded to Toronto from Oakland last winter, Donaldson finished top-3 in the AL in most offensive statistical categories, including home runs (41), RBI (123), runs (122), slugging (.568) and OPS (.939). He will turn 30 in December, but there's little reason to think Donaldson won't return first-round value again next season.

Ramirez was carted off the field on a stretcher after suffering a leg injury while playing in the Dominican Winter League on Wednesday, but X-rays were negative and he is considered day-to-day, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reports.

It looked like the injury could have been much worse, as Ramirez was in obvious pain after taking a hard slide at second base, but X-rays showed no break. While it's uncertain when Ramirez may return to Winter League action, it does not sound like this will jeopardize his status for spring training, where he will look to solidify his hold on the top utility infielder role.

The Red Sox traded Asuaje and three other prospects to the Padres on Friday for Craig Kimbrel, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.

An 11th-round pick in 2013, Asuaje made the jump to Double-A as a 23-year-old last season and saw a significant drop in production. He turned in a .251/.334/.374 line after slashing .310/.393/.533 between Low-A and High-A the year before, though Asuaje did actually improve his strikeout rate from High-A and maintained a walk rate close to 10 percent.