MLB Player News

The Red Sox are hopeful that Bogaerts (shoulder) will be available to serve as a designated hitter in Grapefruit League games as soon as this weekend, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Boston has been cautious with Bogaerts since he first reported soreness in his right shoulder March 1, but the star shortstop looks to be nearing a return to full health. After he was cleared to resume a throwing program last weekend, Bogaerts will take another step forward Wednesday, when he's scheduled to take live batting practice. If Bogaerts checks out fine during the workout, the Red Sox could clear him to rejoin the spring lineup as early as Friday's game against the Rays.

Ahmed (knee) was unavailable for Tuesday's spring game against the Rockies, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Ahmed missed his second consecutive game due to the injury. While Ahmed rehabs, Josh Rojas (on Monday) and Domingo Leyba (Tuesday) are filling in at shortstop.

Bogaerts said Tuesday that his shoulder feels "pretty close" to 100 percent and he thinks he'll be ready for Opening Day, Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald reports.

He's set to take batting practice for the first time Wednesday, and assuming that goes well, he will be tracking toward being active on Opening Day. Bogaerts has already resumed throwing and appears to be nearing game action.

Lindor and the Mets will begin discussions on a contract extension this week, Anthony Rieber and Tim Healey of Newsday report.

The shortstop, who picked up his first hit of the spring Monday, will become a free agent next offseason and has said he doesn't want contract talks to linger into the regular season, so the clock is ticking. Lindor could end up getting a deal in excess of $300 million, following in the wake of mega-deals signed by Manny Machado, Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis in recent years, and new team owner Steve Cohen hasn't shown any qualms about opening up his wallet. Chances seem good Lindor's stint with the Mets will last longer than just the current campaign.

Bogaerts (shoulder) is scheduled to take batting practice Wednesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The Red Sox had initially left the door open for Bogaerts to face pitching Tuesday, but the team will instead give the shortstop another day to recover from his shoulder injury before he takes the next step forward in his rehab program. Bogaerts, who has already resumed throwing since developing the sore shoulder early in camp, could be ready to rejoin Boston's spring lineup at some point next week.

Baez went 2-for-3 with a grand slam in Monday's Cactus League game against the Rangers.

Baez hit his first home run of the spring, and the 28-year-old is off to a hot start, posting a 1.128 OPS through five games. He had a down year in 2020, registering a .598 OPS that was his worst since his 2014 rookie campaign. However, Baez has the talent to be an obvious bounceback candidate in 2021, and his ADP could creep up if he keeps raking this spring.

Allen, considered the top defensive prospect at shortstop in all of baseball entering 2021, has played in seven of the Athletics' first eight Cactus League games, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "This spring is important for [Allen]," manager Bob Melvin said. "He's a top prospect of ours, and we want to take a hard look at him."

The fact the 22-year-old has yet to play above the High-A level and lost a year of in-game action in 2020 will prevent Allen from opening the season any higher than Double-A Midland, but that doesn't necessarily rule out an ascension all the way to the majors at some point in 2021. So says Oakland's farm director Ed Sprague, who saw plenty of Allen at the team's alternate training site last season and was impressed with the prospect's developing plate skills. Allen will naturally need to continue demonstrating that offensive improvement at the minor-league level before a promotion is considered, but the consensus on his glove is that it's already major-league caliber.

Adames is hitting .300 (3-for-10) with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs across his first four spring games.

Entering his fourth major-league season, Adames is looking to put it all together after showing plenty of flashes thus far in his first three campaigns. Adames slugged .481 in 2020, belted a career-high 20 home runs a season prior, and generated a career-best .348 on-base percentage as a rookie back in 2018. The 25-year-old upped the intensity of his training this past offseason in an attempt to hit on all cylinders offensively in 2021 and hold off elite prospect Wander Franco as long as possible, and he's gotten his quest off to an encouraging start, albeit over a small sample early in Grapefruit League play.

Ahmed was scratched from the lineup for Monday's game against the Giants due to right knee soreness, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

The issue doesn't appear to be a particularly serious one. Josh Rojas slid to shortstop in his absence and would likely spend time at that spot should Ahmed's injury linger into the regular season, but that seems unlikely at this point.

The Diamondbacks scratched Ahmed from their lineup for Monday's Cactus League game against the Giants due to a sore right knee, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports.

Manager Torey Lovullo labeled Ahmed as day-to-day, so the team doesn't appear to be too considered about the shortstop's knee injury. Due to his so-so plate skills and modest power and speed, Ahmed isn't an especially high-upside fantasy option, but his stable everyday role gives him some appeal in deeper mixed leagues and NL-only formats as a compiler.