MLB Player News

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.

Crawford's agent, Joel Wolfe, said Tuesday that his client intends to continue his playing career in 2024, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Crawford batted just .194/.273/.314 over 320 plate appearances with the Giants in 2023 and will turn 37 years old in January, but Wolfe told reporters at the GM Meetings in Arizona that "several teams have called" him about the veteran shortstop since he officially became a free agent earlier this week. Wolfe went on to note that Crawford "would consider" playing second or third base, so perhaps he'd be open to operating in a utility role in 2024 if such an opportunity were to present itself.

Lopez (oblique) was activated from the 60-day injured list Monday.

This is a procedural move for the Blue Jays after Lopez finished the 2023 season on the injured list due to a left oblique strain. He'll be ready to roll for the start of spring training.

Gray elected to become a free agent Monday, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Gray will test out free agency rather than accept the Rays' outright assignment. The 27-year-old got his first cup of coffee in the majors in 2023, going 2-for-5 with a home run. He's slugged 30-plus home runs each of the last two seasons at the Triple-A level, although that's also come with a 31.7 percent strikeout rate.

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.

The Rays placed Gray on outright waivers Saturday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Gray appeared in just two games for the Rays in 2023, going 2-for-5 with a home run. He slashed .235/.312/.485 with 30 homers and 98 RBI with Triple-A Durham, and he could draw interest on the waiver wire from teams looking for organizational depth in the infield.

The White Sox declined Anderson's $14 million option for 2024 on Saturday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

After putting up just a .582 OPS across 524 plate appearances, Anderson will receive a $1 million buyout and enter free agency for the first time in his career. Although his production at the plate fell sharply in 2023, Anderson should still draw a good amount of attention this offseason from teams hoping the 30-year-old shortstop can return to form.

Velazquez elected to become a free agent Friday.

Velazquez heads to the open market after being pushed off Atlanta's 40-man roster earlier this week. The 29-year-old infielder owns a weak .189/.244/.293 career major-league batting line and will likely have to settle for a minor-league contract leading into the 2024 season.