MLB Player News

Barger was added to the Blue Jays' 40-man roster Tuesday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Barger vaulted up Toronto's prospect list in 2022 and has now been protected from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. The 23-year-old began last season with High-A Vancouver and worked his way up to Triple-A Buffalo by mid-September. He went 10-for-32 with two home runs during his brief stint at Triple-A and had a .933 OPS for the season.

Martinez was added to the Blue Jays' 40-man roster Tuesday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Martinez is one of Toronto's top prospects, so it's not a surprise the organization opted to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. The young third baseman played in 118 games for Double-A New Hampshire last season and had a .203/.286/.446 slash line with 30 home runs, 76 RBI and six stolen bases.

Perez was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster Tuesday.

Detroit added Perez to the 40-man roster in order to protect him from being selected during the upcoming Rule 5 draft. The 23-year-old split 2022 between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, and he posted a .903 OPS with 14 home runs and 18 steals between the two levels.

Ornelas was added to the Rangers' 40-man roster Tuesday, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

After slashing .301/.362/.425 with Double-A Frisco in 2022, Ornelas was deemed worthy of a spot on the 40-man roster for Rule 5 protection. Given a bit more time to develop in the minors, the 22-year-old infielder has a good shot at cracking the big leagues.

Hamilton was added to Boston's 40-man roster Tuesday, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Hamilton is so fast that he could be used as a pinch runner at times now that he is on the 40-man roster. The 25-year-old middle infielder was just a touch above league average as a hitter at Double-A (104 wRC+) but hit 12 home runs with 70 steals in 119 games.

The White Sox exercised Anderson's (hand) $12.5 million team option for 2023 on Sunday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Even though Anderson was limited to just 79 games in 2022 due to a pair of trips to the injured list, the two-time All-Star is still viewed as a core piece for the White Sox. The team's decision to keep him aboard for 2023 thus comes as no surprise, and barring a dramatic downturn in performance, Anderson will most likely stick around with Chicago through the 2024 season, when he can be brought back on a cost-effective $14 million team option. Since the start of the 2019 campaign, Anderson's .309 batting average ranks third in the majors among players with at least 1,000 plate appearances.

Pena went 3-for-4 with a home run and an additional RBI during Thursday's 3-2 win over the Phillies in Game 5 of the World Series.

Pena recorded his second three-hit game in the postseason, and it came at the perfect time for the Houston offense. The 25-year-old got the Astros on the board in the first inning with an RBI single, and he put the Astros ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning with a solo homer off Noah Syndergaard, knocking the Phillies' starter from the game. Pena has had an outstanding postseason in his rookie campaign -- he is 18-for-54 (.333) with four homers, eight RBI and 11 runs scored. The rookie is slated to face Zack Wheeler in Game 6 with the Astros just one win away from the World Series title. Pena was 1-for-3 with an RBI double against Wheeler in Game 2.

Diaz is out of the lineup for Game 5 of the World Series against the Phillies on Thursday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Diaz started Games 2 and 4 and has gone 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in the series. Yordan Alvarez will man left field while David Hensley serves as the designated hitter.

Pena went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and an additional run scored during Sunday's 6-5 win over the Yankees in Game 4 of the ALCS, earning the series MVP award.

Pena continued his fantastic rookie season Sunday with a massive three-run homer off Nestor Cortes that evened the score at 3-3. Pena took advantage of back-to-back walks allowed by the usually reliable Cortes, sending a cutter 408 feet into the left field seats at Yankee Stadium. This marked the rookie's third home run and sixth extra-base hit of the postseason, as he continues to shine as the successor at shortstop to Carlos Correa. Pena's next at-bats will come against the Phillies, who he played in the final regular-season series, going 2-for-6 with a home run.

Pena went 3-for-4 with a solo home run during Game 1 of the ALCS in the 4-2 win over the Yankees.

The remarkable rookie season for the Houston shortstop continued Wednesday as Pena tallied three more hits, including a solo shot off Frankie Montas in the seventh inning to give the Astros a three-run cushion. Pena is now 7-for-20 in the postseason, and he has homered in back-to-back games for the Astros. Coming into 2022 with big shoes to fill, the 25-year-old is proving that the Astros do not need Carlos Correa at shortstop to have success in the postseason.