MLB Player News

Sanchez signed a minor-league contract with the Reds on Wednesday, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Sanchez has appeared in 52 major-league games to date, but only four in the last three seasons. During the 2017 campaign, he slashed .272/.355/.374 with four home runs and 40 RBI at the Triple-A level, which is where he will likely find himself at the beginning of this year. The 29-year-old will provide added organizational depth for the Reds, with little chance to make much of a fantasy impact.

Grandal worked on his swing this offseason with the intention of increasing his launch angle, The Athletic reports.

Grandal is attempting to join the launch angle revolution. Notable success stories among those who have attempted to improve their slugging percentage by hitting more balls in the air include Josh Donaldson, J.D. Martinez, and Grandal's teammate Justin Turner, though not everyone has benefited from changing their swing. Rob Arthur of FiveThirtyEight found that only about half of the hitters who increased their launch angle saw the desired improvements. Don't assume that Grandal will automatically be better this season, but there's at least a chance that he finds some untapped power in 2018.

Deglan (undisclosed) re-signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees, Baseball America reports.

Deglan is a former first-rounder who gained prominence in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League before graduating high school. Since then, he has yet to rise higher than Double-A and he missed all of 2017 with an undisclosed injury. Still, Deglan is only 25 years old, and the year off may be just what he needs to improve on his .194/.256/.332 slash line from 2016.

Glenn signed a minor-league contract with the Mets, Baseball America reports.

A career Met, Glenn was released by the organization at the conclusion of last season, and this is now the third-straight year he's signed a new contract with the club. Glenn has never seen major-league action and he slashed just .234/.321/.340 in 20 games with Triple-A Las Vegas last season. He figures to serve as organizational depth, but he's only 26 years old, so there could still be a major-league future for him should he perform well.

Sanchez said Sunday that he spent the winter focusing on improving his flexibility, which he believes will help him from a defensive standpoint, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

After a dominant showing at the dish in his two-month stint with the big club as a rookie in 2016, Sanchez erased any doubt that he's one of the majors' premier offensive talents at catcher during his first full season in pinstripes, finishing with a .278/.345/.531 line to go with 33 home runs, 90 RBI and 79 runs. He again shapes up as an elite fantasy option at his position in 2018, though Sanchez will likely need to make more strides defensively in order to stick behind the plate permanently. For what it's worth, new Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that he's been pleased with the defensive form Sanchez has shown in the early stages of camp drills, but the 25-year-old will need to do a better job of curbing passed balls in the games that count before his skeptics are silenced.

Rupp is expected to compete with Andrew Knapp for Philadelphia's backup catching role, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Rupp showed great power in 2017 with 14 home runs and 34 RBI, but struggled to hit for average -- he slashed .217/.299/.417 in 295 at-bats. He'll need to show he's capable behind the dish during spring training and continue to display power at the plate if he hopes to beat out Knapp. Both catchers have minor-league options remaining, so either player could begin the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Stassi is looking to claim the final available roster spot for the Astros, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

With little drama in spring training for the World Series champs, we're left watching the one available spot for a position player. Does manager A.J. Hinch keep a third catcher, like Stassi, or an extra infielder/outfielder, such as Tyler White or Tony Kemp? Stassi's out of options, so he'll need to clear waivers if Houston wants him at Triple-A Fresno. That gives him an edge, but Hinch would feel more comfortable if Stassi continues to hit as he did in 2017 for the Grizzlies (12 HR, .856 OPS). Having a third catcher on the roster allows Hinch the flexibility to deploy Evan Gattis as the designated hitter, but it all comes down to Stassi's offense.

Garver enters spring training as the leading candidate to win the backup catcher role behind starter Jason Castro with last year's backup Chris Gimenez signing with the Cubs in free agency, MLB.com reports.

He'll compete against Bobby Wilson and Willians Astudill for the backup catcher role, but the job is his to lose after a breakout season at Triple-A, where he hit 17 home runs with a .928 OPS. Garver will need to show he can hold his own with his defense. If he wins the job, he could get more at-bats than Gimenez had last year since he's both a right-handed hitter (Castro is a lefty) and can play first base or the outfield in a pinch.

Mesoraco (foot) enters spring training fully recovered from the broken foot that forced him to miss the end of the 2017 season, the Cincinnati Enquirer's Zach Buchanan reports.

Mesoraco is in the walk year of his contract, one that he has been injured for nearly the bulk of it. He'll enter this season as the backup behind Tucker Barnhart, however, and won't initially get much regular playing time.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway said Tuesday that Plawecki will compete with Travis d'Arnaud for playing time behind the plate this spring, Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record reports.

D'Arnaud is the incumbent No. 1 backstop, but his hold on the top spot on the depth chart likely slipped after Plawecki slashed .303/.411/.474 after the All-Star break last season. To his credit, d'Arnaud also picked up the pace offensively in the second half and offers more power upside than Plawecki, who counts plate discipline as his top skill. Callaway wouldn't reveal his plans for how he plans on divvying out the workload at catcher, but it's likely that a timeshare that slightly favors d'Arnaud will be in place as long as both backstops are healthy and performing well at the dish.