MLB Player News

Velazquez signed a minor-league contract with Atlanta on Friday.

Velazquez was claimed by Atlanta in early September after beginning the 2023 campaign in the Angels organization. He hit .217 with four runs, four RBI and a steal over 14 games at Triple-A Gwinnett but elected free agency in early November. However, after testing free agency for a few weeks, he'll rejoin Atlanta and could compete for a reserve spot on the team's Opening Day roster this spring.

McCoy signed a minor-league contract, which includes an invitation to big-league spring training, with the Padres on Sunday, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

McCoy made his big-league debut with Toronto in 2023 but played in just six games, spending most of the campaign at the Triple-A level. He'll likely serve as organizational infield depth for San Diego in 2024.

Gray signed a minor-league contract with the Marlins on Friday, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.

It's the first transaction made by new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. The former Rays executive is familiar with Gray from his time in Tampa Bay, where the 27-year-old went 2-for-5 with a home run during a short stint in the majors. Gray has hit 30-plus home runs each of the last two seasons at the Triple-A level while also striking out at a 31.7 percent rate. He'll presumably receive an invitation to major-league spring training.

The Pirates selected Cheng to their 40-man roster Tuesday.

Cheng got off to a hot start in the first half of the season with High-A Greensboro, slashing .308/.406/.575 across 253 plate appearances. However, his OPS fell to .656 upon being promoted to Double-A Altoona in late June. A spot on the 40-man roster will prevent Cheng from being taken in next month's Rule 5 Draft, and he will likely return to Altoona to begin 2024.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Wednesday that he expects Cruz (ankle) to be fully healthy by the start of spring training, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Cruz fractured his left ankle in the ninth game of the 2023 regular season and was unable to return before the end of the year after encountering multiple minor setbacks. He's in a good place now, though, and could even play some winter ball in the Dominican Republic to make up for lost time. "All of the updates we've gotten over the last couple weeks have been encouraging," Cherington said.

Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Wednesday that the team is considering moving Grissom to left field, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Grissom has only played shortstop, second base and third base as a professional, but all of those positions are spoken for long term at the major-league level. Atlanta wants to find a clearer path for the 22-year-old, who slashed .330/.419/.501 across 468 plate appearances this past season with Triple-A Gwinnett.

The Marlins exercised Berti's $3.63 million team option for 2024 on Monday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Berti will stick around after slashing .294/.344/.405 with seven home runs and 16 steals over 133 games this season. The 33-year-old utility player offers the Marlins plenty of versatility, but they'll likely be hoping they won't need to use him as often in 2024 as they had to in 2023.

San Diego claimed Marcano (knee) off waivers from the Pirates on Thursday.

Marcano is expected to miss at least a portion of the 2024 season after undergoing surgery this past August to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. The infielder owns a career .217/.269/.320 batting line in 149 major-league games, but he showed a bit of improvement at the plate in 2023 and just turned 24 years old in September. Marcano began his professional career in the Padres' system before heading to Pittsburgh in July of 2021 as part of the Adam Frazier trade.

Atlanta outrighted Velazquez to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday.

Velazquez was claimed off waivers from the Angels in early September but was immediately sent to Triple-A Gwinnett and finished out the season there. The 29-year-old journeyman shortstop is a career .189/.244/.293 hitter in 275 games (624 plate appearances) at the major-league level.

The Cardinals sent Querecuto outright to Triple-A Memphis on Thursday.

Querecuto appeared in just nine games for St. Louis during the final stages of the regular season, logging two hits and a walk over 21 plate appearances. The 31-year-old infielder will now return to Memphis without the benefit of a 40-man roster spot.