MLB Player News

Ruiz has been invited to the Dodgers' major-league camp this spring, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

Ruiz earned himself an invitation to major-league spring training with a stellar 2017 -- he was the club's minor-league player of the year. The switch-hitting backstop, who is just 19 years old, excelled in A-ball last season, hitting .317/.372/.423 in 63 games with Low-A Great Lakes while posting an equally impressive .315/.344/.497 line in 38 games with High-A Rancho Cucamonga. Ruiz, who is touted as one of the best catching prospects in the game, will likely spend most of 2018 between High-A and Double-A Tulsa

D'Arnaud agreed to a one-year, $3.475 million deal with the Mets on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

He gets a healthy raise over the $1.875 million he received in his first year of arbitration. Save for an impressive but injury-shortened 2015 season, d'Arnaud has been a pretty big disappointment, relative to his prospect pedigree. He will enter spring training in a competition with Kevin Plawecki for the starting catcher job, and in all likelihood, the two will split time pretty evenly this season.

Grandal and the Dodgers avoided arbitration by agreeing on a one-year, $7.9 million contract Thursday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Despite the two parties agreeing on a contract for next season, it's still unclear where Grandal stands with the Dodgers' brass at this point. The backstop served as the team's starting catcher for most of the season, but his second-half struggles saw the hot-hitting Austin Barnes step into the starting role down the stretch. Still, Grandal hit a respectable .247/.308/.459 with 22 homers in 482 plate appearances (129 games), and given the fact that Barnes can play other positions, he should see his fair share of starts behind the dish, especially against right-handed pitching.

Rupp agreed to a one-year, $2.05 million contract with the Phillies on Wednesday, avoiding arbitration, Matt Gelb of the Philly Inquirer reports.

Rupp slashed .217/.299/.417 with 14 home runs and 34 RBI in 88 games for the Phillies last season. The catcher will likely take on a reserve role in 2018, as Jorge Alfaro is assumed to hold down the starting spot. With Andrew Knapp also on the roster, Rupp may receive even less playing time, but that will depend on new manager Gabe Kapler's stance on keeping two or three active catchers. For fantasy purposes, Rupp is unlikely to make much of an impact barring an injury to Alfaro, and could be competing for a roster spot come spring training.

Bethancourt signed a minor-league contract with the Brewers on Monday which includes an invitation to spring training.

Bethancourt has spent parts of each of the previous two seasons as a two-way player for the Padres, though he hasn't found much success in either role. The 26-year-old hit just .225/.261/.360 across 211 plate appearances with San Diego over the past two seasons while allowing nine runs (six earned) on six hits and eight walks across 5.1 innings over that same span. It's unclear if the Brewers will continue to use Bethancourt as a two-way player at this point, but at the very least, look for him to offer organizational catching depth in 2018.

Rosario signed a minor-league contract with the Diamondbacks, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

Rosario played in 50 games for Triple-A Memphis in the Cardinals' system in 2017, but also appeared in 23 games for the big-league club during the past two seasons. The soon-to-be 31-year-old hasn't been able to find any success during his brief opportunities in the majors, but he will provide organizational depth for the Diamondbacks heading into 2018. Last season at Triple-A, he slashed .247/.291/.279 with 23 RBI and six extra-base hits.

Sanchez agreed to a minor-league deal with the Giants on Thursday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Sanchez will return to the Giants' organization, where he spent the first nine years of his career before appearing with the White Sox and Padres in 2016 and 2017. Buster Posey and Nick Hundley have the catching duties locked down at the major-league level, so Sanchez will kick things off in the minors in 2018.

Davis signed a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to spring training with the Cubs on Friday, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Davis was recently non-tendered by the Cubs at the beginning of the month, but the club will bring him back on a minor-league deal after he spent most of the 2017 season with Triple-A Iowa. During that time, he slashed .297/.357/.429 with six home runs and 62 RBI. He wound up playing in eight games for the big-league team as well, but there won't be much use for him at the major-league level with Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini on the roster.

Mesoraco (foot) is expected to serve as the backup to Tucker Barnhart in 2018, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.

Mesoraco has only been able to appear in 95 games over the past three years due to various injuries, including labrum tears in both hips, a left shoulder ailment, and most recently a broken foot which caused him to miss the rest of the 2018 season after sustaining the injury in mid-August. Moving forward, he will be behind the plate a couple times a week but mainly utilized as a pinch hitter in late-inning situations. During the 2017 season, Mesoraco slashed .213/.321/.390 with six home runs and 14 RBI in 56 games.

Barnhart will be the primary catcher heading into the 2018 season, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Coming off a terrific season that saw him win the National League Gold Glove award, Barnhart will earn the "lion's share of the playing time" according to manager Bryan Price. Due to Devin Mesoraco's inability to stay off the disabled list -- coupled with Barnhart's performance -- the Reds will utilize the former All-Star as a backup and pinch hitter in the later innings. Barnhart was rewarded with a four-year, $16 million contract in September, after slashing .270/.347/.403 with seven home runs and 44 RBI in 2017.