MLB Player News

Valencia is out of the lineup Sunday against the Indians.

Valencia is believed to be one of the better position players available for trade as Monday's non-waiver deadline approaches, so rather than risking him suffering an injury that would torpedo any deal, the A's will hold him out Sunday. With Valencia resting, Yonder Alonso will man first base and Ryon Healy will get another turn at third base.

Bregman will make his fourth straight start at third base Sunday against the Tigers.

Bregman was expected to see time at multiple positions after being recalled from Triple-A Fresno on Monday, but with Luis Valbuena (hamstring) landing on the DL on Friday, the highly-touted prospect should be in line for regular duties at third base. The 22-year-old enters Sunday's game still searching for his first big-league hit, as he's gone 0-for-17 in his five games to date.

Escobar went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and two runs in a 6-5 defeat against the White Sox on Saturday.

The 27-year-old is on a mini-hot streak, having gone 6-for-14 (.429) with two doubles and a homer in the last three games. He will likely continue to see regular at-bats at shortstop since Eduardo Nunez was traded to San Francisco. Escobar is hitting .269 with four home runs, 25 RBI and 21 runs in 212 at-bats.

Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a solo homer in Saturday's 9-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

The veteran slugger was the sole source of offense on a day when Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ throughly frustrated the Orioles lineup. Alvarez has hits in three straight, and is now hitting .300 over 60 July at-bats.

Plouffe (ribs) took grounders during batting practice before Saturday's game, Brandon Warne of ColdOmahaMN reports.

Plouffe showed continued progress from a cracked rib by taking groundballs with Miguel Sano and Danny Santana before the game. He'll begin a rehab assignment Monday, and after several minor league tuneups, he figures to return to the Twins sometime in the first week of August.

Machado went 1-for-2 with a solo homer, two walks and three runs in Friday's 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays.

The young slugger represented a significant portion of the Orioles' offense on the night and was a constant thorn in the side of Blue Jays pitching. Machado's 388-foot blast to right center in the eighth brought Baltimore within one, but Roberto Osuna was able to slam the door on them in the ninth. It was the second round-tripper in the last three games for Machado, who's also hit safely in eight of his last nine contests.

Moncada has been working out at third base with Double-A Portland, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.

Red Sox general manager Mike Hazen confirmed that the organization has been working Moncada at third base prior to Sea Dogs' road games. Hazen also said the plan is to continue to introduce Moncada to positions other than second base, with the likelihood he'll get some practice time in the outfield. It's no secret that the pressing needs at the major-league level are third base and left field, so it's natural to see if Moncada can become an option at one of those spots.

Plouffe (ribs) is set to begin his rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester on Monday after going through a good batting practice Thursday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Plouffe has been out since early July as he's been recovering from a cracked rib. He seems to be progressing nicely, and after competing in a few rehab games with Rochester, Plouffe could be ready to rejoin the big league club by next weekend.

Valencia is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Indians.

This will be the second consecutive game on the bench for Valencia after sitting out Wednesday's series finale against the Rangers. The 31-year-old doesn't have a concrete starting position, but has been playing almost every game for the A's since the early weeks of May. For Friday's game, Oakland will go with Billy Butler at DH and Yonder Alonso at first.

Escobar went 2-for-4 in Thursday's win over Baltimore. Escobar started at third base with Miguel Sano getting the day off. However, he'll likely take over as the everyday shortstop after Eduardo Nunez was traded to San Francisco.

There is a chance Jorge Polanco could share at time at shortstop as the team may want to give him regular at-bats after being called up from Triple-A, but Polanco will likely get a boost in playing time in any scenario in the final two months.