MLB Player News

The Cubs announced Sunday that Higgins (forearm) is attending big-league camp as a non-roster invitee after he agreed to a minor-league contract in November, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Higgins joins John Hicks as non-roster catchers present for big-league camp, though the former is expected to be limited to rehab work while he continues to recover from the Tommy John surgery he required last summer. Though Higgins may face a shorter timeline for his recovery than a pitcher would, he's still expected to miss a large portion of the 2022 campaign. Once he's back to 100 percent, Higgins will likely settle at Triple-A Iowa.

Blandino signed a minor-league contract with the Giants on Friday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Blandino was granted free agency by the Reds in early November, and he'll land a minor-league deal with San Francisco just over a month later. He made 43 appearances in the majors last year and hit .200 with nine runs, five RBI and a stolen base. The 29-year-old will be invited to big-league spring training in 2022.

Singleton signed a minor-league contract with the Brewers on Thursday.

Singleton appeared in 114 major-league games in 2014 and 2015, struggling to a .171/.290/.331 slash line. He's been out of affiliated baseball since 2017, though he did appear in 46 games for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican League in 2021, hitting .321/.503/.693 with 15 homers.

Tellez agreed to a one-year, $1.94 million contract with the Brewers to avoid arbitration Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Tellez struggled to begin the season in Toronto but turned things around after being shipped to Milwaukee, where he hit .272/.333/.481 with seven home runs, 28 RBI and 22 runs in 174 plate appearances. The 26-year-old should enter spring training as the favorite to start at first base, barring any offseason additions.

Rivas is expected to complete rehab on his finger in December and will have a normal offseason thereafter, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Rivas tore a tendon in his right middle finger in late September and was quickly ruled out for the season. However, it appears as if the injury won't cause any long-term issues, as he is expected to return to full health in plenty of time for spring training, Prior to going down with the injury, Rivas hit .318/.388/.409 across 49 plate appearances in his major-league debut.

Flores' $3.5 million club option for 2022 was picked up by the Giants on Sunday, Kerry Crowley of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Flores will remain in San Francisco for a third straight year after he slashed .262/.335/.447 with 18 homers, 57 runs and 53 RBI across 139 appearances in 2021. The 30-year-old will likely serve as a utility man once again in 2022.

Blandino was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville on Thursday.

Blandino was sent to the minors in mid-August after he was reinstated from the 60-day injured list, and he'll now lose his spot on the 40-man roster. The 28-year-old appeared in 43 major-league games in 2021 and hit .200 with nine runs and five RBI.

Freeman went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, a double and a strikeout in Tuesday's 7-0 win over the Astros in Game 6 of the World Series.

Freeman recorded hits in each of his six appearances in the World Series, and he homered in back-to-back games en route to Atlanta's first championship since 1995. The 32-year-old slashed .318/.360/.636 with two home runs, a double and five RBI during the World Series.

Freeman went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Thursday's 11-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS.

Freeman put Atlanta up 2-0 in the first inning, but that was the team's only offense for the game. He now has hits in each of his last three games while also going yard in consecutive contests. Overall this postseason, Freeman is hitting .303 across 39 plate appearances.

Freeman went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, two runs, two RBI, a walk and a strikeout in Wednesday's 9-2 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS.

Freeman went 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts across the first two games of the NLCS, but he's turned things around at Dodger Stadium with multi-hit performances in each of the last two contests. During those two appearances, the 32-year-old has gone 5-for-8 with a home run, a double, three runs, two RBI and two walks.