MLB Player News

Vazquez (elbow) threw at 100 percent intensity during a simulated game Saturday, Sean McAdam of CSNNE reports. "I feel great, no pain, no nothing. I let it go today 100 percent. I feel like I'm ready to play in games," said Vazquez afterwards.

Saturday marked another step forward in Vazquez's recovery from Tommy John surgery as he made it through the simulated game with no pain in his surgically repaired elbow. He even made two strong throws down to second base to catch baserunners. According to McAdam, the Red Sox will likely decide Sunday when Vazquez will be cleared for game action.

Perez agreed to a five-year, $52.5 million contract extension with the Royals on Tuesday, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.

The new contract overrides the previous deal Perez signed with the Royals in 2012 -- a very team-friendly pact -- and locks him up through 2021. His offensive performance slipped the last couple seasons, but he played in an average of 143 games over the last three years and figures to remain a workhorse behind the plate in 2016.

Vazquez (elbow) threw to bases at about 90 percent intensity Monday, CSN New England reports. He'll throw to bases again on Wednesday, then catch David Price in a simulated game Saturday.

The Red Sox have been extremely careful with Vazquez this spring, holding him back from going all out, but if all goes well Saturday, Vazquez could see his first spring-training game early next week. It's plausible he could be ready to roll Opening Day, but it's more likely he starts the year at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Murphy is positioned to begin the season as the Rockies' backup catcher behind Nick Hundley.

As Hundley's backup, Murphy could eventually see a significant share of the playing time, but Hundley's Coors Field driven resurrection at the plate last season may ultimately enable the Rockies to make a slow transition to making Murphy their eventual starter behind the plate. Murphy hit 23 homers across three levels last season, including three in 35 at-bats in the big leagues. In deeper leagues that require two starting catchers, Murphy may offer cheap pop even with Hundley in the fold in 2016.

Stewart, who batted .289/.320/.340 in 172 plate appearances in 2015, will again serve as Francisco Cervelli's backup behind the plate, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Fresh off signing a two-year contract, Stewart has hit for a decent average but offers little in the way of power or speed. His biggest contribution may actually come as starter Gerrit Cole's catcher. Cole went 12-4 with a 2.24 ERA when Stewart caught and 7-5 with a 3.59 under Cervelli's guidance.

Vazquez (elbow) is likely to miss at least the first week of exhibition games, the Boston Herald reports.

Red Sox manager John Farrell has been holding back Vazquez early in camp. He's kept the young catcher, who's coming back from Tommy John surgery last spring, from going maximum effort while throwing, and will have him participate in a controlled program throwing to bases Friday. Farrell said he wants to see Vazquez perform in simulated games before they get him into a live game. With Blake Swihart getting sizable head start in training camp, it's looking like Vazquez will open the season at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Mesoraco (hip) is still on schedule with other Reds catchers, but the Reds still plan on going slow with him this spring.

"As much as he looks like he's on the same schedule as the other guys, as that pace picks up, we'll probably still be slowing him down a bit," Reds manager Bryan Price said on Sunday. "We're going to pump the brakes on Devin a bit and ease him back in." The article by Mark Sheldon speculates that Mesoraco will be held back a little during the front end of spring training games, so don't be alarmed when that happens.

Perez is part of an open competition for the Angels' starting catcher job this spring, the Orange County Register reports.

Following the trade of Chris Iannetta to Seattle during the offseason, the path was cleared for Perez to emerge as a regular behind the plate for the Angels. Geovany Soto is in the mix to push him for the job, but it's likely that the Angels will use Perez for at least 100 starts behind the plate (health permitting), as Soto is unlikely to catch more than 50-60 games at this stage of his career.

Bethancourt says he is "100 percent" following offseason arthroscopic surgery in October to repair a torn meniscus, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Bethancourt's injury hadn't been officially reported during the time of surgery, but based on the backstop's optimism, it doesn't appear it will have a major effect on his 2016 season. In fact, walking up to the batter's box relatively pain-free could actually help the 24-year-old improve upon a less-than-stellar .200 batting average from a season ago. As it currently stands, Bethancourt appears to have an uphill battle for playing time in San Diego, as he'll have to compete with Derek Norris and Austin Hedges for reps behind the plate.

Manager Pete Mackanin said he is not yet ready to commit to anyone as his starting catcher, the Allentown Morning Call reports.

Rupp earned the majority of the playing time at catcher for the Phillies toward the end of last season. Things really picked up for him in August when he hit seven of his nine home runs and posted a 1.086 OPS in 66 plate appearances. He likely enters camp with a slight advantage over Carlos Ruiz for the starting job.