MLB Player News

Martinson agreed to a minor-league contract with Washington on Wednesday, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

Martinson played in 50 games with Triple-A Round Rock within the Rangers' organization this past year, and slashed .208/.286/.361 with seven home runs and 27 RBI. Looking ahead, the 29-year-old has yet to appear in a major-league game and should remain outside of fantasy wavelengths for the foreseeable future.

The Braves declined to tender Peterson a contract for 2018, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Peterson has shown good patience at the plate over the years with a double-digit walk rate, but he does little else, offensively. He's still just 27 years old, but Peterson looks very much like a career utility type/fringe major leaguer.

Astudillo agreed to a minor-league contract with the Twins on Thursday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Astudillo will join the Twins after spending all of the 2017 season with Arizona's Triple-A affiliate (Reno), hitting .342/.370/.558 in 36 games for the Aces. The 26-year-old owns an impressive 3.1 percent strikeout rate over his career, so the case could be made that no other hitter in the minors is better at making contact. Unfortunately, he fits best defensively at first base or DH, and has just 17 home runs in 560 minor-league games. He continues to get some work at catcher, but if he could handle that position, he would have likely already reached the majors. Look for him to serve as an organizational depth piece for the Twins in 2018.

Rivera signed a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Marlins on Friday, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Rivera only played in one major-league game with the Brewers this past season, and spent a majority of his time with Triple-A Colorado Springs. He slashed .218/.282/.314 with the Sky Sox during 107 games, and will likely serve as organizational infield depth for the Marlins while playing in Triple-A once again in 2018.

Moustakas declined the Royals' qualifying offer and became a free agent Thursday, Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times reports.

Although it was expected that Moustakas would reject Kansas City's offer, the news was made official just ahead of Thursday's deadline. The third baseman will look for a large multi-year offer after slashing .272/.314/.521 with 38 home runs and 85 RBI last season.

The Royals made a qualifying offer to Moustakas prior to Monday's deadline, the Kansas City Star reports.

It's expected that Moustakas will turn down the $17.4 million offer for 2018 and ink a multi-year deal this winter. Whether he, Eric Hosmer or Lorenzo Cain end up returning to Kansas City on a long-term deal is very much up in the air at this point. The Royals will receive a pick after the end of the first round of the 2018 first-year player draft if Moustakas inks a deal with another club worth $50 million or more, while they'll receive a compensatory pick after the second round if the new contract is worth less than $50 million.

Vargas underwent surgery to remove his right hamate bone in October.

Vargas will now turn his focus towards getting ready for the start of spring training. The 26-year-old hit .308/.308/.385 during his 12-game stint with Arizona last season, but doesn't figure to break camp with the big club.

Duffy (heel) was reinstated from the disabled list Thursday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Duffy wound up missing the entire 2017 season while dealing with various setbacks that stemmed from offseason surgery on his left heel. He was able to spend some time on the team's instructional league team in September, and should be fully healthy by the time spring training rolls around.

Urshela (leg) is in Wednesday's lineup for Game 5 of the ALDS against New York.

Urshela was dealing with some soreness after taking a line drive off his left leg during Monday's contest, but should be good to go for Wednesday's pivotal affair. The 26-year-old will bat ninth and man the hot corner.

Urshela is experiencing soreness after taking a liner off his left leg during Game 4 of the ALDS on Monday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The injury isn't thought to be anything overly serious, but it could force Urshela to miss the Indians' decisive Game 5 against the Yankees on Wednesday. If Urshela is unable to play, the Indians would likely push Jose Ramirez to third base and turn to either Jason Kipnis or Erik Gonzalez to take over at the keystone.