MLB Player News

Jimenez (leg/illness) returned to action Sunday in the Dominican Winter League, Junior Matrille of Fiebredeportiva.com reports.

It was originally reported that he suffered a minor leg injury, but he also dealt with the flu over the past few days. When healthy, Jimenez has been a dominant force in the Dominican Winter League. He has four home runs and a 1.175 OPS in 15 games, picking up where he left off at the end of the minor-league season at Double-A. Jimenez could earn an assignment to Triple-A out of spring training, with a chance to force a big-league promotion this summer.

Trade talks between the Marlins and Red Sox for Stanton "may be heating up," according to an MLB source, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. "They're definitely in play," the source said of the Red Sox, who are at least exploring the possibility of acquiring MLB's reigning home-run king.

The Marlins are believed to be prepared to entertain offers for Stanton at next week's meeting of general managers that kicks off Monday in Orlando. Other teams are reportedly in the mix, including the Cardinals, Phillies and Giants. Stanton has the right to veto or accept any trade, and there's speculation that he would prefer to play on one of the coasts. The Red Sox are circling in after a year in which they experienced a drop in power.

Ohtani (ankle) will be available this winter after being posted by the Nippon-Ham Fighters on Friday, Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times reports.

Although this was one of the most expected announcements of the offseason, it is now official, and teams will be able to negotiate for the 23-year-old's services in the near future. At this point, it would be very surprising if Ohtani is not wearing an MLB uniform by the time spring training rolls around. He's coming off ankle surgery in October but is fully expected to be ready for spring training.

Canha had surgery on his right wrist to remove a cyst Tuesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Canha should be all healed up and ready to go by the time spring training rolls around, barring any sort of setback that stems from this procedure. During the 2017 season, the outfielder played in 57 big-league games for the A's, slashing .208/.262/.382 with five home runs and 14 RBI.

Jimenez injured his leg during Wednesday's game in the Dominican Winter League, Phil Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Jimenez apparently tweaked his leg while running the bases in Wednesday's game with Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter League. The injury isn't considered serious and the top prospect shouldn't be sidelined for too long. Jimenez is off to a strong start this winter, hitting .367 with three home runs and a 1.090 OPS in 49 at-bats.

Brantley (ankle) will remain with the Indians next year after the team decided to pick up his $12 million option for 2018, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Brantley underwent ankle surgery a couple of weeks ago, which could wind up causing him to miss the beginning of spring training, but it appears as though Cleveland isn't too worried about his status. The team elected to retain Brantley's services for another season, which will come after a rough couple of injury-plagued campaigns in 2016 and 2017. Although he only played in 90 regular-season games this past season, he did slash .299/.357/.444 with nine home runs and 52 RBI, giving the team confidence that if he can get healthy, the 30-year-old can be a weapon in 2018.

The Pirates picked up McCutchen's $14.5 million club option for 2018 on Friday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

McCutchen will return to Pittsburgh for another season following this announcement, as the 31-year-old underwent an up-and-down season in 2017. All in all, he wound up slashing .279/.363/.486 with 28 home runs and 88 RBI, and he hit .361 after May 26.

Miller underwent core muscle surgery in October, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Miller underwent the surgery multiple weeks ago but the specifics of the procedure weren't revealed until Thursday. The surgery was performed to address issues in Miller's groin and lower abdominals, two areas that caused the veteran infielder a lot of trouble during the regular season. The surgery carries with it a six-week rehab time, so Miller should be back to full health when spring training rolls around.

An MRI on Lewis' knee revealed no new structural damage, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Lewis, who was playing in the Arizona Fall League, was sent back to Seattle to visit team doctors after he felt something in his structurally repaired knee during one of the games. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious, though the Mariners won't send him back to the AFL as they believe he would benefit more from extra rehab and strength work. The highly regarded 22-year-old will look to head into 2018 fully healthy after appearing in just 38 games with High-A Modesto last season due to a lingering knee issue, hitting .255/.323/.403.

Pederson will bat sixth and play left field for Game 2 of the World Series against the Astros on Wednesday.

With right-hander Justin Verlander on the hill for Houston, manager Dave Roberts will turn to a lefty bat and place Enrique Hernandez on the bench for this contest. He decided to go with Pederson over Andre Ethier because of the former's ability to hit velocity. This marks only the second start Pederson has made in the 2017 postseason, the other coming in the NLCS against the Cubs in Game 3, in which he went 1-for-3 from the plate.