MLB Player News

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley told reporters on Thursday that he changed his offseason workouts in order to be fully ready for full-squad reporting day on Feb. 22, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.

Brantley was named to the All-Star team for the first time, and finished third in MVP voting last season. He slashed .327/.385/.506 with 20 homers and 97 RBI over 611 at-bats.

"I have never trained this hard in my life so I can't wait to see how it works out this year," Brantley said. "I was working out five-six days a week, three hours a day. I have an itch to start this year and [I’m] excited about it.

"I revamped everything. I feel like I can get better and stronger. I've been working on base-stealing."

Tigers outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who was acquired in a December trade with Boston, said he has yet to speak with the team about a long-term deal, but he is open to staying with Detroit past this season. He is entering the final year of his contract.

"Now that I'm here, that's an option," he said, per MLive.com. "But I'm just here to perform and play the best I can with this team."

Another big question lingering is where Cespedes will bat in Detroit's loaded lineup. However, it is a topic manager Brad Ausmus didn't want to get into quite yet.

"I'm not going to get into (that) now -- I haven't even talked to him," Ausmus said. "But he's going to be someone who is a big part of this offense."

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said Thursday there "is no favorite" between Chris Taylor and Brad Miller, who will compete this spring to become Seattle's starting shortstop.

Manager Lloyd McClendon shared similar sentiments Thursday.

"We had two young men who performed well in spurts," McClendon said. "They’ll be given the opportunity to battle [this spring]."

The Tigers have avoided arbitration with outfielder J.D. Martinez by agreeing to a one-year, $3-million deal, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Martinez was eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. He hit .315/.358/.553 with 23 home runs and 76 RBI in 441 at-bats in 2014.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera was cleared to remove his walking boot, per his social media account on Thursday.

Cabrera underwent right ankle surgery to remove bone spurs and to repair a stress fracture in a bone at the top of his foot on Oct. 22.. He had the boot removed by his surgeon, Dr. Robert Anderson, and will be wearing arched shoes for during "daily living" for the next month before his CT scan in February, team trainer Kevin Rand told MLive.com. His CT scan appointment will come a week before Detroit's first full-squad workouts.

"He's cleared to walk with that during activities of daily living here for the next month before he's reexamined in February," Rand said. "Hopefully at that time in February it'll come back clean and he'll be cleared to start conditioning activities, running and such."

Cabrera remains without a timetable to start a full conditioning program. His status for the season opener will likely depend on the results of his exam.

The Tigers aren't expecting first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who is recovering from ankle surgery, to be full go at the start of spring training, trainer Kevin Rand said Monday.

Cabrera is scheduled to wear a walking boot until a mid-February follow-up exam with Dr. Robert Anderson, who performed the surgery in October. If all goes well, Cabrera will be cleared for baseball activities. The Tigers begin full-squad workouts Feb. 24.

"Obviously, he isn’t a position from a conditioning standpoint at that point," Rand said, per MLB.com.

The Tigers still aren't certain about Cabrera's opening-day status. Detroit opens the season April 6 against the Twins.

"That’s too far out right now," Rand said. "First of all, we have to get him cleared to do the activities."

Cabrera is currently doing partial weight-bearing activities.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is currently in a partial weight-bearing stage of his recovery from offseason ankle surgery. He'll need to pass a CT scan in February when he consults with Robert Anderson, a Charlotte, N.C., orthopedic surgeon in order to move into a full weight-bearing program, reports the Detroit News.

"His rehab has gone well," Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said on Friday. "He's in a partial weight-bearing stage, six weeks in a boot, which began just before Christmas. He'll get back and see Dr. Anderson next month and hope the CT scan will show that everything's well and that he can move into a full weight-bearing program."

It remains to be seen if Cabrera will be at 100 percent in time for opening day.

The Mariners are "not looking" to trade shortstop Brad Miller but remain open to the right deal, a club official told the Tacoma News Tribune.

"Look, there’s all sorts of speculation (about Miller)," the club official said, "and it’s easy to see why. The guy’s an athlete, and everybody — and I mean everybody — thinks he’s going to hit. That’s why lots of teams ask about him. But understand this: We’re not looking to trade him. I’m not saying it won’t happen, but it’s a lot less likely than some people seem to think."

Miller was in the Mariners' offer to the Dodgers when the team was looking to acquire Matt Kemp before he was traded to the Padres. If he remains on the team, Miller is expected to battle Chris Taylor for the starting shortstop role.

Athletics announced pitcher Austin House has been traded to the Rockies Thursday. Mark Canha to the A’s.

House has a 3.27 ERA over three seasons in the minors. While playing in Triple-A in 2014, Canha hit .303 with 20 home runs and 83 RBI. The Rockies picked up Canha from the Marlins in Thursday's Rule 5 draft.

The Red Sox traded outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to the Tigers on Thursday in exchange for pitcher Rick Porcello. The Tigers also acquired reliever Alex Wilson and minor-league pitcher Gabe Speier.

Cespedes is in the final year of a four-year, $36 million contract, while Porcello is in his final year of arbitration.

The 29-year-old Cespedes has a .263 average, .464 slugging percentage and .780 OPS in 416 games over three MLB seasons. Porcello, who won a career-high 15 games and had a career-low 3.43 ERA in 2014, is 76-63 with a 4.30 ERA in six MLB seasons.

Wilson has a 2-1 record, 3.38 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 44 relief outings for Boston. He had a 1.91 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 18 outings in 2014.

The 19-year-old Speier is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 12 career appearances (eight starts) in the minors. He was a 19th-round pick in 2013.