MLB Player News
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Luis Vazquez SS | BAL
Orioles' Luis Vazquez: Remains in organization
Vazquez cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.
The 26-year-old was designated for assignment Tuesday, but he'll stick in the organization after passing through waivers unclaimed. Vazquez played 36 games for the Orioles last season and had a .160/.208/.240 slash line in 53 plate appearances.
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Vidal Brujan SS | ATL
Braves' Vidal Brujan: Re-signs to split contract
Brujan (hip) signed a one-year split contract with Atlanta on Thursday.
The split contract is a minor-league deal that will allow Brujan to get a higher salary whenever he's on the major-league roster. The utility man had been a non-tender candidate prior to agreeing to the contract Thursday. Brujan ended the 2025 campaign dealing with a hip injury, but it isn't expected to linger into spring training.
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Elly De La Cruz SS | CIN
Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Played with second-half quad strain
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall revealed this week that De La Cruz played through a left quad strain from late July through the end of the season, Mark Sheldon and Manny Randhawa of MLB.com report.
It's not clear when exactly De La Cruz was first hurt, and Krall indicated the injury wasn't overly serious. However, after slashing .284/.359/.495 with 18 home runs and 25 stolen bases in the first half, De La Cruz hit only .236/.303/.363 with four homers and 12 steals in the second half, so it's reasonable to think the injury affected him to some degree. De La Cruz is expected to be fully healthy at the beginning of spring training.
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Nick Allen SS | ATL
Astros' Nick Allen: Dealt to Houston
Atlanta traded Allen to the Astros on Wednesday in exchange for Mauricio Dubon.
Allen's strong defensive capabilities at shortstop allowed him to appear in 135 games in 2025, though he finished the year with just a .535 OPS over 416 plate appearances. Now that he's moving to Houston, where Jeremy Pena is locked in at shortstop, Allen is likely to operate in more of a bench role.
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Liover Peguero SS | PIT
Phillies' Liover Peguero: Inks minors deal with Phillies
The Phillies signed Peguero to a minor-league contract Tuesday, Aram Leighton of JustBaseball.com reports.
Peguero never got settled in during his four seasons with the Pirates, slashing just .227/.278/.368 over 315 plate appearances. He'll turn just 25 next month and can play all over the infield, so Peguero could be useful organizational depth for Philadelphia.
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Jadher Areinamo SS | TB
Rays' Jadher Areinamo: Bumped to 40-man roster
Tampa Bay selected Areinamo's contract from Double-A Montgomery on Tuesday, thus protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Rays acquired Areinamo in a deal with Milwaukee in late July. The 21-year-old had been playing at the High-A level prior to the trade, but he immediately jumped up Double-A with the Rays and slashed .255/.316/.397 with four homers, 19 RBI and six stolen bases over 37 contests. Areinamo can play multiple infield positions and has shown a bit of pop along with good speed on the basepaths. Perhaps most impressively, he's struck out below a 13 percent clip each of the past three seasons.
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Tanner Murray SS | TB
White Sox's Tanner Murray: Sent to White Sox
The Rays selected Murray's contract from Triple-A Durham and traded him and Everson Pereira (back) to the White Sox on Tuesday in exchange for pitchers Yoendrys Gomez and Steven Wilson, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Murray has yet to make his big-league debut after being selected by Tampa Bay in the fourth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft. The 26-year-old spent all of last season with Triple-A Durham, posting a .241/.299/.400 slash line with 18 home runs, 58 RBI and five stolen bases over 572 plate appearances. The power was a bit of a surprise -- Murray's previous minor-league season high in homers was seven -- but he may be a late bloomer in that regard. His most useful trait is probably his versatility, as he can play in both the infield and outfield.
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Jose Fernandez SS | ARI
Diamondbacks' Jose Fernandez: Nabs 40-man spot
The Diamondbacks selected Fernandez's contract from Double-A Amarillo on Tuesday.
Fernandez enjoyed his best minor-league season yet while spending all of 2025 at Double-A, slashing .272/.321/.454 with 17 home runs, 81 RBI, 68 runs scored and 12 stolen bases across 510 plate appearances. His breakout season has earned him protection from the Rule 5 Draft in December and may also allow him to be promoted to Triple-A in 2026.
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Kahlil Watson SS | CLE
Guardians' Kahlil Watson: Selected to 40-man roster
The Guardians selected Watson's contract from Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Watson split the 2025 season between Double-A and Triple-A, slashing .250/.346/.467 with 16 homers, 61 RBI, 53 runs scored and 17 stolen bases over 429 plate appearances between the two levels. Now that he owns a place on Cleveland's 40-man roster, the 22-year-old outfielder is ineligible for the Rule 5 Draft and will most likely remain at Columbus for the start of the 2026 campaign.
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Angel Genao SS | CLE
Guardians' Angel Genao: Shielded from Rule 5 Draft
The Guardians selected Genao's contract from Double-A Akron on Tuesday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
One of the Guardians' top prospects, Genao missed the start of last season with a shoulder injury and never got on track after returning, logging a .259/.323/.359 slash line with two home runs and six steals in 77 games as a 21-year-old at Double-A. The switch-hitting shortstop is a strong bounce-back candidate in 2026, and while he may return to Double-A at the start of the year, he should spend the bulk of the year at Triple-A and could even make his big-league debut next summer.