MLB Player News

Ozuna has been the subject of trade talks between the Miami Marlins and the Texas Rangers for a month, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports, but those talks have "yet to significantly advance."

Ozuna was disappointing in 2015 (.259/.308/.383 in 494 plate appearances), but he is just 25 years old and all of one year removed from a 23-homer, 85-RBI season with the Marlins. If the Marlins are ready to give up on Ozuna, there will be a team ready to pounce. However, it doesn't appear the Rangers, seemingly set with an outfield of Josh Hamilton, Delino DeShields, and Shin-Soo Choo, are ready to pull the trigger just yet.

Belt (concussion) was fully cleared by doctors to resume his normal offseason program, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area reports.

Belt was shut down at the tail end of the 2015 season due to lingering concussion symptoms. With a few months of recovery, he has been fully cleared to resume his offseason activities. Belt also underwent a procedure to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, but he has fully recovered from that as well. He should enter 2016 healthy, and the starting first baseman for the Giants.

Stanton (broken hamate bone) has begun swinging pain-free and is expected to be healthy heading into spring training, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

According to the report, Stanton has begun to "rev up" his hitting program, which is taking place in California. Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill seemed optimistic regarding Stanton's health saying, "He took 60 swings off the tee, which is just part of the first step in his offseason hitting program" adding, "he said he felt great." Amidst a tumultuous offseason, the Marlins are in desperate need of some good news and the slugger's health sure seems to qualify as such. However, considering Stanton has played in more than 123 games just twice in six major league seasons, fantasy players fixated on his first-round upside should proceed with caution.

McCutchen has had a "normal" offseason, saying he feels "100 percent healthy, has been working out regularly and has no (surgical) procedures planned," the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

McCutchen played through knee pain for much of 2015, even taking games off in spring training. The center fielder batted .185/.280/.293 in his first 107 plate appearances before turning in a typical campaign at the plate. He finished with just 11 steals, however, the lowest number in his career -- and it remains to be seen whether that drop off is permanent at age 29.

Harper said Thursday that he's open to a contract extension with the Nationals, the team's website reports. "I'm definitely excited to be part of the Nationals organization," said Harper. "I think that being able to play in [Nationals Park], this city, this town, around the fans, it's such a great place to play. Baseball is up and coming... I'm very excited to further my career with the Nationals. I have a couple of more years in D.C., and then hopefully at the end of that, we can do what we can and I can be a National for life, hopefully."

He's not eligible for free agency for another three years, but Harper is headed for some big arbitration awards before then if he isn't locked up. Mike Trout signed a six-year, $144.5 million extension in 2014 that bought out his arbitration years, and given his numbers last year and the fact that Scott Boras is his agent, you can expect Harper to look for something better than that if the Nats want to follow suit.

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

He should spend the majority of his age-23 season at Triple-A, as the Cubs do not have an opening for the bulky slugger. That said, if he were traded to an American League team, Vogelbach would immediately become one of the more exciting designated hitters from a fantasy standpoint.

Ramirez was added to the 40-man roster Friday.

Ramirez had a very impressive campaign with High-A Bradenton at just 20 years old for most of the season, slashing .337/.399/.458 in 80 games. He figures to keep moving up the organizational ladder in 2016 and will now be protected from the Rule 5 draft.

Harper was named the 2015 NL MVP by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Thursday, MLB.com reports.

Most fans saw Harper as the only logical winner, and that was reflected in the voting, as Harper was the unanimous choice with all 30 first-place votes. Harper exploded with a .330/.460/.649 slash line in 2015, leading the NL with 42 homers and finishing second with 124 walks. A case can be made to take Harper, who is younger than NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant, with the first overall pick in drafts in 2016.

Harper was named an NL Silver Slugger on Thursday, the first time in his career that he's won the award, the Nationals' website reports. "I just think I was healthy this year," Harper said. "I think that's the main thing. I was able to stay on the field this year and not have those little nagging injuries, like sliding into third base and [hurting] my thumb or running into a wall in Dodger Stadium. Just trying to be as smart as I could out there and just play the game the right way. It just comes with the experience of knowing when to go hard, when not to go hard, and just being able to be smart about everything I do."

The 23-year-old joins Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Gonzalez among the NL outfield winners and he could add to his hardware this offseason, as he's one of three finalists for the NL MVP award thanks to a .330/.460/.649 slash line and 42 home runs, 99 RBI and 118 runs in 153 games. Harper's 2015 season was historic for any number of reasons, ranking him alongside names like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire in various metrics and categories, and if he avoids the injuries that limited him earlier in his career, he could just be scratching the surface.

Turner revealed last weekend that his recent knee surgery included a microfracture procedure, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Speaking at Adrian Gonzalez's charity softball game, Turner said that a piece of cartilage had been torn off on the outside part of his knee, necessitating the microfracture surgery. He dealt with a bruised knee throughout much of the second half, but Turner believes the cartilage damage happened in the postseason. While Turner won't be able to run at full strength for approximately three months, he is confident he will be a full go at the start of spring training.