MLB Player News

White Sox manager Tony LaRussa said Wednesday that Anderson will serve as the club's leadoff hitter this season, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Even with Chicago bringing in a new skipper for 2021, Anderson was fully expected to retain his leadoff role after slashing .322/.357/.529 over 221 plate appearances last season. For the second straight year, Anderson greatly outperformed his expected batting average (.293), but even if regression finally rears its head in 2021, the 27-year-old should remain a major asset in that category. His power/speed combination and placement atop one of the majors' strongest lineups further burnishes his fantasy value.

Crawford showed up to the Mariners' first day of full-squad workouts Tuesday sporting about 10 additional pounds of muscle, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

The 26-year-old made significant improvements in both batting average (.255, up from .226) and on-base percentage (.336, up from .313) last season compared to 2019, but he knocked only two balls out of the park in 232 plate appearances. Crawford has never hit more than the seven home runs he managed in 2019 as far as the major-league level is concerned, but he did rack up 15 round trippers back in 2017 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley while still in the Phillies organization. Crawford's focus on adding strength this offseason undoubtedly was largely centered on improving his overall production at the plate as he looks to get his offense closer to the level of his Gold Glove defense at shortstop.

Adames trained "harder than last year" this offseason after a significantly underwhelming finish to the 2020 season and postseason, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

Adames split his training time between Miami and Santiago in the Dominican Republic this offseason after hitting just .149 over his last 18 games and following it up with an even more meager .136 mark in the postseason. Like teammate Kevin Kiermaier, Adames confessed to fears of being traded this past offseason, but he's back in his usual starting shortstop role and is looking forward to seeing his offseason work pay dividends. "Hopefully this year is a little bit different for me in a good way," Adames said. "I'm just happy to be around, just happy to be back and can't wait to be on the field and show what we can do."

Rays general manager Erik Neander says that Franco (biceps), the organization's top prospect, will have every aspect of his physical and mental preparedness closely monitored while he plays out his spring training invite, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 19-year-old phenom is considered to be relatively close to the big leagues despite his precocious age and the lost 2020 minor-league season. Franco is not only considered the Rays' top prospect by far, but he's been the consensus No. 1 in all of baseball two years running. Winter ball was supposed to help Franco make up for some lost developmental time late in 2020, but he was only able to log five games before shoulder soreness and biceps inflammation led to a shutdown. He's not expected to face any limitations once spring training begins, and Neander notes that Franco's elite pedigree notwithstanding, the shortstop will have "nothing handed to him" and will see his physical, emotional and mental maturity heavily evaluated during his time around the big-league club over the next several weeks. Franco's most recent minor-league stop was High-A Charlotte back in 2019, and given his level of dominance at that level, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising to see him already start the 2021 campaign at Triple-A Durham.

The Yankees announced Wednesday that Wells received an invitation to big-league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Duran, 21, is considered one of the top middle-infield prospects in the organization. The Yankees will allow the second baseman to train with some of the organization's more established players early on in camp, but he'll likely be assigned to minor-league camp shortly after the exhibition schedule gets underway. Duran most recently appeared for the Yankees' New York-Penn League affiliate in 2019, slashing .256/.329/.496 with 13 home runs and 11 stolen bases over 66 games.

Downs received an invitation to the Red Sox's major-league spring training Tuesday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

The organization's top prospect spent 2020 at the alternate training site, so he still received some developmental time despite the lack of a minor-league season. Downs had a brief 12-game stint at Double-A in 2019, but he spent most of the year at the High-A level and posted an .861 OPS with 19 homers and 23 stolen bases in 107 games. The 22-year-old could make his major-league debut in 2021, though he's facing long odds to make the Opening Day roster.

Correa agreed to a one-year, $11.7 million contract with the Astros on Saturday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Correa was slated to go to arbitration during the offseason, but he was able to reach an agreement with Houston ahead of the case. The 26-year-old posted a .709 OPS with five home runs and 25 RBI over 58 games during the abbreviated 2020 season and will serve as the Astros' starting shortstop once again in 2021.

Witt was invited Friday to the Royals' big-league spring training.

The second overall pick in the 2019 draft should attend more than a few big-league camps by the time his career is over. He's not particularly close to pushing for an actual roster spot, however, as his only professional experience to date has come at the rookie-ball level.

Franco (biceps) was invited to the Rays' big-league camp Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Franco might not be given serious consideration for an Opening Day roster spot, as he's yet to play above High-A, but his debut probably isn't too far off. While he's still just 19 years old, his bat is incredibly advanced for his age, as he owns a career .336/.405/.523 slash line with more walks than strikeouts in 175 games as a professional, numbers that would be impressive anywhere, let alone shortstop. Franco suffered a biceps injury in the Dominican Republic over the winter but appears to have escaped without any structural damage.

Allen was invited to Oakland's big-league camp Monday.

The 22-year-old shortstop has yet to advance beyond High-A, but he looked quite good at that level in 2019, hitting .292/.363/.434 there for Stockton in 2019. His prospect profile is driven by his excellent glove, as he has very little power, hitting a grand total of four homers in 228 career professional games.