Diaz (knee) will bat leadoff as the Rays' designated hitter Sunday against the Padres, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The 33-year-old was on the bench for Saturday's contest after he exited Friday's game due to left knee patellar tendinitis, but he's back in action Sunday for the series finale. Diaz finished August with a hot bat and has a .349/.396/.558 slash line with three doubles and two homers in his past 12 games.

Kavadas is absent from Saturday's lineup against the Mariners, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Kavadas will take a seat Saturday after going 0-for-4 on Friday. Matt Thaiss will serve as the designated hitter and bat eighth.

The Yankees optioned Rice to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.

Rice quickly cooled down after a hot start to his MLB career, putting up a .174/.269/.356 slash line across 175 plate appearances for the Yankees. With Anthony Rizzo (forearm) expected to return from the 60-day injured list Sunday, the 25-year-old Rice will now give up his roster spot and head back to Triple-A, where he can continue to receive regular reps at first base.

Atlanta traded Gurriel (undisclosed) to the Royals on Saturday in exchange for cash, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

After claiming Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman off waivers earlier in the day, the Royals continue to add depth to their organization by acquiring Gurriel in a minor-league trade. The 40-year-old first baseman has had a nice season at Triple-A Gwinnett, slashing .292/.378/.485 with 12 homers and 48 RBI across 75 games, though he has been on the injured list since Aug. 23 due to an unspecified injury. Once he recovers, the Royals would need to add him to their 40-man roster before he could potentially make his season debut with Kansas City.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Cardinals that Rizzo (forearm) will "likely" be activated Sunday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Rizzo has been out since mid-June with a fractured right forearm, but he is now on the verge of activation after a handful of rehab games in the minors. While Rizzo's performance has declined dramatically in recent years, he figures to slot back in as the team's primary first baseman, especially with fill-in Ben Rice struggling mightily of late. Rizzo sits with a .223/.289/.341 slash line and eight homers through 291 plate appearances this season.

Naylor (ankle) will serve as the designated hitter and bat cleanup against the Pirates on Saturday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

A bruised left ankle forced Naylor from Friday's game, but apparently he'll be able to tough it out with the help of the DH tag. He was in the midst of a brutally cold stretch in mid-to-late August, but Naylor has turned it on recently with six hits in his last two games.

Diaz (knee) isn't in the Rays' lineup for Saturday's game against the Padres, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

After exiting Friday's game in the fourth inning due to left knee patellar tendinitis, Diaz will take an extra day off to recover. The 33-year-old first baseman said Saturday that his knee still hurts a bit, though his treatment has helped his condition, and he expects to be back in the lineup within the next several days, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In the meantime, Brandon Lowe will cover first base in Diaz's place while Christopher Morel fields second and Jonathan Aranda serves as the DH.

Soderstrom (wrist) continues in his hitting progression and could next hit foam balls off a pitching machine in coming days, Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press reports.

The first baseman is making progress without any reported setbacks, keeping him on track for a return at some point before the end of the regular season. Soderstrom could begin hitting off the machine before the weekend is out, and if that step in the recovery process goes off without issue, a progression to swinging at baseballs may be next.

Rice isn't in the Yankees' lineup Saturday against the Cardinals.

Rice went 0-for-3 in Friday's series opener after missing four consecutive games, and he'll take a seat again Saturday even though the right-handed Kyle Gibson will start on the hill for St. Louis. Oswaldo Cabrera will fill in as New York's first baseman and bat ninth.

Lowe went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 9-2 loss to the Athletics.

Lowe tied the game at 1-1 with his solo blast in the second inning. The home run snapped a couple of droughts; it was his first home run in 17 games and first RBI in 15 contests. Lowe owns a .207/.284/.304 line during August.