MLB Player News

Diaz will report to the Pirates' spring training facility in Bradenton, Fla. on Monday after his mother, Ana Soto, was rescued three days after being kidnapped in Venezuela, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic Pittsburgh reports.

With his scary family situation now having been resolved in welcome fashion, Diaz can now turn his focus to winning an Opening Day roster spot for the Pirates. The 27-year-old will likely open the season in a backup role behind Francisco Cervelli, but the latter's health woes in recent seasons could put Diaz in store for extended playing time at some point in 2018.

Jackson has received a non-roster invite to spring training.

Jackson spent 2017 at Double-A Mississippi, where he slashed .255/.317/.427. The 22-year-old catcher has shown steady improvement throughout his first four seasons in the minors, especially at the plate. He'll need to focus his attention on improving defensively behind the dish if he wants to make it to the major leagues.

The Astros have engaged in trade talks for Realmuto, Craig Mish of SiriusXM reports.

Houston is reportedly considering Miami's request of outfielder Kyle Tucker, who currently is the second-ranked prospect in the Astros organization, per RotoWire. The Astros appear to be well-stocked at catcher with Brian McCann, Evan Gattis and Max Stassi, but Gattis is expected to take on a greater role as the designated hitter while Stassi has just 89 plate appearances at the MLB level over five seasons. The World Series champions may not be comfortable heading into 2018 carrying catchers with such limited MLB experience backing up or sharing time with the soon-to-be 34-year-old McCann. Realmuto's attractive value among fantasy backstops has been defined by his across-the-board offensive steadiness and nearly uninterrupted playing time in Miami. It'd be difficult to think Houston would heavily side with McCann over Realmuto, given the offensive upgrade the latter would provide. Still, he might be stuck in a near-even split, depending on what batteries the staff impose. That being said, holding a place in this stacked lineup, even in part-time duty, likely would sustain Realmuto as a top-10 fantasy catcher in most mixed formats.

Stephenson (thumb) successfully made it through instructional league games in Arizona without aggravating his thumb injury and will move up to High-A Daytona to start 2018, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.

Stephenson was able to avoid surgery on his thumb after seeking and receiving a second opinion on the injury. He has played only 119 games the last two seasons due to multiple injuries.

Realmuto will make $2.9 million in 2018 after losing his arbitration case, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.

Realmuto proposed a figure of $3.5 million. The catcher is set for his fourth season as the primary catcher for Miami, and although he didn't maintain his batting average from 2016, he did end up with better slugging numbers last season. In total, he compiled a slash line of .278/.332/.451 with 17 home runs and 65 RBI in 141 games, while also sprinkling in eight stolen bases. He should have solid value heading into this upcoming season, although his RBI numbers may come down a tad given the state of the club's current roster.

Smith has been invited to the Dodgers' major-league camp this spring, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

Smith will join fellow catching prospect Keibert Ruiz at big-league camp, though both backstops are expected to open the 2018 campaign in the minors given the trio of catchers already on the Dodgers' 40-man roster. The 22-year-old spent most of his season with High-A Rancho Cucamonga, hitting .232/.355/.448 with 11 homers in 72 games before earning a promotion to Double-A Tulsa. He appeared in just one game for the Drillers, as he was hit by a pitch on the hand and forced to miss the remainder of the season. Smith should return to Tulsa to start the season.

Ruiz has been invited to the Dodgers' major-league camp this spring, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

Ruiz earned himself an invitation to major-league spring training with a stellar 2017 -- he was the club's minor-league player of the year. The switch-hitting backstop, who is just 19 years old, excelled in A-ball last season, hitting .317/.372/.423 in 63 games with Low-A Great Lakes while posting an equally impressive .315/.344/.497 line in 38 games with High-A Rancho Cucamonga. Ruiz, who is touted as one of the best catching prospects in the game, will likely spend most of 2018 between High-A and Double-A Tulsa

D'Arnaud agreed to a one-year, $3.475 million deal with the Mets on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

He gets a healthy raise over the $1.875 million he received in his first year of arbitration. Save for an impressive but injury-shortened 2015 season, d'Arnaud has been a pretty big disappointment, relative to his prospect pedigree. He will enter spring training in a competition with Kevin Plawecki for the starting catcher job, and in all likelihood, the two will split time pretty evenly this season.

Grandal and the Dodgers avoided arbitration by agreeing on a one-year, $7.9 million contract Thursday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Despite the two parties agreeing on a contract for next season, it's still unclear where Grandal stands with the Dodgers' brass at this point. The backstop served as the team's starting catcher for most of the season, but his second-half struggles saw the hot-hitting Austin Barnes step into the starting role down the stretch. Still, Grandal hit a respectable .247/.308/.459 with 22 homers in 482 plate appearances (129 games), and given the fact that Barnes can play other positions, he should see his fair share of starts behind the dish, especially against right-handed pitching.

Rupp agreed to a one-year, $2.05 million contract with the Phillies on Wednesday, avoiding arbitration, Matt Gelb of the Philly Inquirer reports.

Rupp slashed .217/.299/.417 with 14 home runs and 34 RBI in 88 games for the Phillies last season. The catcher will likely take on a reserve role in 2018, as Jorge Alfaro is assumed to hold down the starting spot. With Andrew Knapp also on the roster, Rupp may receive even less playing time, but that will depend on new manager Gabe Kapler's stance on keeping two or three active catchers. For fantasy purposes, Rupp is unlikely to make much of an impact barring an injury to Alfaro, and could be competing for a roster spot come spring training.