MLB Player News

This definitely lengthens the Rangers’ lineup, giving the team another 30-homer threat and one making essentially the major league minimum for one more year. Burger is 28 and it’s certainly questionable how well he’ll age, but at this price, it looks like a great move for Texas. It also adds a great deal to Burger’s fantasy value. At the moment, it’d seem to take Josh Smith out of the Rangers’ projected lineup, but he’ll still get plenty of time as a utilityman. There’s some chance the Rangers could opt to trade Nathaniel Lowe, who is due close to $10 million in arbitration.

There’s no official designation for the move, so we’re assuming that Herz suffered an injury prior to being optioned last week to Triple-A Rochester. There should be some clarity on his status at some point soon.

It’ll be Kyle Hart and Randy Vásquez opening the season in San Diego’s starting rotation with Kolek heading to the minors. The Padres’ decision to carry Yuli Gurriel, Gavin Sheets, Jose Iglesias and Brandon Lockridge over Joe are a bit surprising.

Blanco had little trouble carving up a Triple-A lineup in his final spring outing, but it was nice to see him look sharp after being hit by a line drive on the right wrist during last Wednesday’s spring start against the Mets.

The only downside from Wacha’s final spring tune-up was that he coughed up three solo homers. The 33-year-old will open the season as a matchup-dependent streaming option in deeper mixed leagues. He’ll presumably take the ball this weekend against the Guardians in his first regular-season outing.

Arenado has been a complete afterthought this spring after a turbulent offseason where he was at the epicenter of constant trade speculation. The 33-year-old defensive wizard is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career at the plate, but it seems unlikely that he’s completely cooked. Even a mild rebound campaign would put him back in the 25-homer range and make him relevant in deeper mixed leagues.

It certainly helps explain some of Gray’s prolonged struggles this spring, but it doesn’t completely dismiss concerns regarding some diminished velocity. It’s important to note that the 35-year-old veteran is feeling better now and will make his Opening Day start on Thursday against the Twins.

Wetherholt made a strong impression this spring after being selected seventh overall in last year’s MLB Draft following a standout collegiate career at the University of West Virginia. The 22-year-old shortstop is one of the best pure hitters from the entire draft class and possesses 20-plus homer pop with above-average speed. He figures to move quickly through the Cardinals’ system and could be threatening to reach the majors by the end of the year. He’s a top-25 range prospect from a dynasty standpoint at the moment.

Woodford fortifies New York’s paper-thin starting pitching depth heading into the regular season. The 28-year-old righty struggled last year to a bloated 7.97 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 26/9 K/BB ratio across 35 innings (nine appearances, seven starts) between the White Sox and Pirates. He’s merely emergency depth at this stage of his career, but that’s exactly where the Yankees find themselves at the moment due to an avalanche of injuries.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy adds that Turang got at-bats on Monday in a minor-league spring training contest and should be a “full-go” for Opening Day. The 25-year-old speedster has been dealing with a lingering shoulder issues recently, but an MRI didn’t reveal any structural issues. Barring something unexpected, Turang should be at second base on Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Hoerner made his spring debut last Friday after missing the season-opening Tokyo Series while continuing to recover from offseason flexor tendon surgery. The 27-year-old speedster enters the year as a top-12 range second baseman for fantasy purposes after eclipsing 30 steals in each of the last two seasons.