MLB Player News

The Reds plan to keep De La Cruz at shortstop next season, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.

De La Cruz has led baseball in errors in each of his two full seasons as the Reds' starting shortstop. After grading out at plus-14 in Outs Above Average in 2024, per Baseball Savant, he came in at minus-3 in 2025. The inconsistency on defense from De La Cruz has led to speculation that he could move to the outfield, but there are no plans for a position switch at this point. The Reds do plan to give De La Cruz more days off and more starts at designated hitter in 2026, per Goldsmith, with the idea that it will help keep him fresh after he struggled offensively and defensively in the second half in 2025.

Turner's agent, Greg Genske, said Monday that his client wants to continue his playing career in 2026, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.

Turner slashed just .219/.288/.314 with three homers across 80 regular-season contests in 2025 with the Cubs and will turn 41 later this month. The right-handed batter did have a decent .759 OPS versus left-handed pitching, so he could land a contract as a short-side platoon bat.

Giolito said Saturday in an appearance on Audacy's "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast that he began his offseason throwing program in mid-October and is fully recovered from the right elbow injury that ended his season in late September.

The right-hander came down with right elbow soreness at the end of the regular season and was unavailable to pitch in the playoffs for the Red Sox. However, Giolito noted that "within three days, my elbow felt 100 percent fine again," and "whatever injury there was, it's gone." Giolito is entering free agency, and assuming his medicals check out fine, he should receive plenty of interest on the open market. The 31-year-old held a 3.41 ERA and 121:56 K:BB over 145 innings for Boston in 2025.

Clase was indicted Sunday on multiple federal charges related to rigging bets on pitches thrown in MLB games, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Cleveland's former closer missed the final two-plus months of the 2025 season while being investigated by MLB, and he and teammate Luis L. Ortiz are now formally being charged in federal court, with Ortiz already having been arrested earlier Sunday. The indictment alleges that the pitchers were paid to intentionally throw balls so bettors could wager on the pitches being a ball or a strike. Clase, who is a three-time All-Star and led the majors in saves in each of the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons, is facing a maximum of 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges, per Passan.

Ortiz was arrested in Boston earlier Sunday after he was indicted on charges for his alleged role in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown in MLB games, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Fellow Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase has also been indicted, though he has yet to be taken into police custody. Citing a statement from the Department of Justice, Zack Meisel of The Athletic relays that Ortiz and Clase are facing charges of "wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy" after the two pitchers were accused of intentionally throwing balls in games so that bettors could wager on the pitches. According to Passan, prosecutors allege that Clase's involvement in the betting scheme dated back to as early as May 2023, while Ortiz was included at a later date. Ortiz has remained on administrative leave since July 3 while MLB has conducted its own sports-betting investigation. If MLB concurs with the accusations levied against Ortiz in the indictment, the 26-year-old right-hander's time in affiliated ball would most likely be over.

Roa elected free agency Friday.

The 26-year-old was outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville by the Marlins on Thursday, and he was able to reject that assignment since he had been outrighted previously. Roa made two scoreless appearances for Miami during the 2025 season and had a 2.83 ERA over 60.1 innings at Triple-A.

La Sorsa signed a minor-league contract with the Pirates on Saturday that includes an invitation to big-league spring training, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.

La Sorsa gave up eight earned runs in just 6.2 innings with the Reds in 2025, but he finished the minor-league season with a 2.59 ERA and 1.27 WHIP across 48.2 innings at Triple-A. He'll get another chance to work his way back to the majors during spring training; otherwise, he'll help round out the bullpen at Triple-A Indianapolis.

General manager Ross Atkins said Thursday that the Blue Jays aren't committed to using Hoffman as their primary closer in 2026, Rob Longley of The Toronto Sun reports.

Although he finished 2025 with a career-high 33 saves, Hoffman's first year in Toronto was met with struggles. He posted a 4.37 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 68 innings during the regular season and, most notably, blew a save during Game 7 of the World Series. Atkins brought up Yimi Garcia (elbow) and Louis Varland as potential options to work the ninth inning next season instead of Hoffman and didn't rule out the possibility of acquiring someone in the offseason to fill the role.

Kaiser signed a minor-league contract with the Royals on Saturday.

Kaiser entered free agency after being outrighted by the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, and it didn't take long for him to land elsewhere. The 28-year-old finished the Triple-A season with a .236/.345/.406 slash line over 273 plate appearances, and he'll most likely report to Triple-A Omaha to begin the 2026 campaign.

Navarreto elected free agency Saturday, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.

Navarreto spent the majority of the 2025 season at Triple-A Jacksonville, where he slashed .224/.300/.385 with 27 RBI and 22 runs scored across 180 plate appearances. The 30-year-old backstop will most likely sign another minor-league contract during the offseason.