MLB Player News

Twins designated hitter Kennys Vargas is already training at the team's spring-training complex in Fort Myers, Fla., despite the fact that position players aren't required to report until Feb. 27, MLB.com reports.

"I'm prepared," Vargas said. "I'm going to Spring Training to compete. I'm going to compete to be the DH and the backup to [Joe] Mauer. So I'm excited for that. I have to take advantage of the opportunity the Twins give me and do my job."

Vargas has been committed to his conditioning this offseason while working to improve his agility in order to improve his defense at first base. He is aiming to follow up a quality debut in 2014 with a better campaign in 2015.

"I'm focused on this year," Vargas said. "I want to do the same work I did last year, but I always try to go for more. Every year, I learn a little bit more. I want to help us win more games than last year."

Vargas hit .274/.316/.456 with nine home runs and 38 RBI in 215 at-bats with the Twins in 2014 while finishing with a .281/.360/.472 line and 17 home runs in 356 at-bats at the Double-A level.

After struggling in three seasons with the Astros, outfielder J.D. Martinez finally enjoyed a breakout season in 2014 with the Tigers. He said listening to some of the veteran players, including Miguel Cabrera, was a big help in his turnaround.

"I learned so much just from watching them and picking their brains, and it really did help me," Martinez said, per the Detroit Free Press.

General manager Dave Dombrowksi agrees learning from veteran players was key for Martinez.

"There's no doubt," Dombrowski said. "Look at how he used the opposite field. Look at how he drove the ball out of the ballpark to rightfield and centerfield. J.D. definitely benefited, and we saw how good of a hitter he became last year for us."

Martinez hit .315 with a .553 slugging percentage, .912 OPS, 23 home runs, 30 doubles and 76 RBI in 123 games. He said he has spent the offseason fine-tuning his swing after revamping it last offseason.

"Little hitches and bat habits that maybe I wanted to polish up from last year, and the years before that I didn't have as much time to do before the season," he said. "This year just gives me more time to polish up things I want to before the season starts."

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is not expected to miss much time with his ankle injury, according to the Detroit Free Press. 

Cabrera had ankle surgery to remove bone spurs shortly after the season, and has been recovering during the offseason. He was recently cleared to ditch his walking boot, and will be re-evaluated by team doctors on Feb. 15. General manager Dave Dombrowski told reporters Cabrera shouldn't miss much time due to the injury. "We're hopeful at that point he gets turned loose," Dombrowski said. "If he's not ready for Opening Day, it's going to be very, very close."

The 31-year-old Cabrera hit .313/.371/.524 over 611 at-bats last year. 

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters that outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will hit in the heart of the order this season, per the Detroit Free-Press.

Cespedes, 29, was acquired in a December trade with Boston. He batted cleanup in 235 of his 416 career games in the majors. He hit .260 with 100 RBI last season between Oakland and Boston. He owns a .263 average, .464 slugging percentage and .780 OPS in 416 games over three MLB seasons.

Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said Saturday that if Miguel Cabrera is unable to play when the season opens, the team will look to Alex Avila as a possible short-term replacement at first base, per MLB.com.

"If he's not ready by opening day, it's gonna be very, very close. We'll know more Feb. 15," Dombrowski said.

Cabrera underwent right ankle surgery to remove bone spurs and to repair a stress fracture in a bone at the top of his foot on Oct. 22. He was cleared to remove his walking boot earlier in January and is expected to be reexamined on Feb. 15, right before Detroit's first full-squad workouts.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley told reporters on Thursday that he changed his offseason workouts in order to be fully ready for full-squad reporting day on Feb. 22, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.

Brantley was named to the All-Star team for the first time, and finished third in MVP voting last season. He slashed .327/.385/.506 with 20 homers and 97 RBI over 611 at-bats.

"I have never trained this hard in my life so I can't wait to see how it works out this year," Brantley said. "I was working out five-six days a week, three hours a day. I have an itch to start this year and [I’m] excited about it.

"I revamped everything. I feel like I can get better and stronger. I've been working on base-stealing."

Tigers outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who was acquired in a December trade with Boston, said he has yet to speak with the team about a long-term deal, but he is open to staying with Detroit past this season. He is entering the final year of his contract.

"Now that I'm here, that's an option," he said, per MLive.com. "But I'm just here to perform and play the best I can with this team."

Another big question lingering is where Cespedes will bat in Detroit's loaded lineup. However, it is a topic manager Brad Ausmus didn't want to get into quite yet.

"I'm not going to get into (that) now -- I haven't even talked to him," Ausmus said. "But he's going to be someone who is a big part of this offense."

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said Thursday there "is no favorite" between Chris Taylor and Brad Miller, who will compete this spring to become Seattle's starting shortstop.

Manager Lloyd McClendon shared similar sentiments Thursday.

"We had two young men who performed well in spurts," McClendon said. "They’ll be given the opportunity to battle [this spring]."

The Tigers have avoided arbitration with outfielder J.D. Martinez by agreeing to a one-year, $3-million deal, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Martinez was eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. He hit .315/.358/.553 with 23 home runs and 76 RBI in 441 at-bats in 2014.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera was cleared to remove his walking boot, per his social media account on Thursday.

Cabrera underwent right ankle surgery to remove bone spurs and to repair a stress fracture in a bone at the top of his foot on Oct. 22.. He had the boot removed by his surgeon, Dr. Robert Anderson, and will be wearing arched shoes for during "daily living" for the next month before his CT scan in February, team trainer Kevin Rand told MLive.com. His CT scan appointment will come a week before Detroit's first full-squad workouts.

"He's cleared to walk with that during activities of daily living here for the next month before he's reexamined in February," Rand said. "Hopefully at that time in February it'll come back clean and he'll be cleared to start conditioning activities, running and such."

Cabrera remains without a timetable to start a full conditioning program. His status for the season opener will likely depend on the results of his exam.