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Richard Urena SS | WAS
Blue Jays' Richard Urena: Added to 40-man roster
Urena was added to the Blue Jays' 40-man roster on Friday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.
Urena splitting time between High-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire, combined to hit .295/.335/.434 with eight home runs and 59 RBI. He figures to stay with New Hampshire to begin 2017 since he only spent 30 games there, but he has progressed enough that protecting him from the Rule 5 draft became necessary.
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Willy Adames SS | SF
Rays' Willy Adames: Added to 40-man roster
Adames was added to the Rays' 40-man roster Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Adames hit .274/.372/.430 with 11 homers and 13 steals in 132 games with Double-A Montgomery in 2016, solidifying his status as the top prospect in the organization. He will presumably advance to Triple-A early on in 2017 with a chance to break through to the majors before the end of the year.
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Johan Camargo SS | SF
Braves' Johan Camargo: Added to 40-man roster Friday
Camargo was added to the Braves' 40-man roster Friday.
2016 marked Camargo's first taste of Double-A, and he adjusted to the new level well by smashing 26 doubles and striking out just 16.7 percent of the time. The 22-year-old doesn't possess huge power, but his strong contact abilities paired with his defensive versatility across the infield bode well for his chances to move up the organizational ranks now that he's safe from the Rule 5 draft.
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Rosell Herrera SS | KC
Rockies' Rosell Herrera: Rejoins Rockies on minor league deal
Herrera signed a minor league contract with the Rockies on Friday.
He spent the entire season at Double-A Hartford, batting .292/.374/.379 with 36 steals while playing exclusively in the outfield corners. Herrera broke into professional baseball as a shortstop but his days of playing the infield seem to be over. While he's displayed a good approach at the plate, his bat does not profile especially well in the corners at the major league level.
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Daniel Castro SS | COL
Braves' Daniel Castro: Outrighted to Triple-A on Tuesday
Castro was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.
Castro has seen a sizable amount of major league playing time over the past couple years, but he hasn't taken advantage of it, as displayed by his .217 batting average in the big leagues. The 23-year-old will head back to the minors to find his stroke and act as organizational infield depth.
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Javier Baez SS | DET
Cubs' Javier Baez: Plays hero in Game 1 victory
Baez went 2-for-3 with a home run in a victory over the Giants in Game 1 of the NLDS on Friday.
Only one run was scored in the game, and it came on Baez's home run in the bottom of the eighth. He slashed a modest .273/.314/.423 in 421 at-bats this year, but for one day at least he's the most famous man in Chicago.
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J.P. Crawford SS | SEA
Phillies' J.P. Crawford: Smooth recovery from knee surgery
Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development, said Crawford has had a smooth recovery from knee surgery and will have a normal offseason, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.
Crawford underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in September to remove a loose body from his left knee. He will be ready for spring training, where he is expected to get a chance to compete for a starting job.
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Adalberto Mondesi SS | BOS
Royals' Raul Mondesi: Second base an option again in 2017
Mondesi is among the candidates vying for the Royals' starting job at second base in 2017, the Kansas City Star reports.
Despite a PED suspension early in 2016 while he was in the minors, Mondesi debuted with the Royals in late July as a 20-year-old and struggled to find regular playing time down the stretch as he hit .185/.231/.281 in 47 games. Prior to his suspension, Mondesi displayed a combination of power and speed that was previously unseen in his profile, and a significant part of his long-term value comes from his defensive ability shortstop, where he's currently blocked by Alcides Escobar. He'll get an opportunity to compete for the job at the keystone in spring training with the likes of Whit Merrifield, Cheslor Cuthbert, and Christian Colon.
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Jorge Mateo SS | TB
Yankees' Jorge Mateo: Move to CF could be in cards
Mateo has played some center field in instructs, and could eventually move to that position long term, if needed, the Star-Ledger's Brendan Kuty reports.
He has seen time at shortstop and second base, in addition to center field, so an official position change is not in the works yet, but given the Yankees' internal depth at shortstop and Mateo's speed, he might fit best for the Yankees in center field. This would slightly hurt his value in dynasty leagues, but the development of his hit tool will ultimately be what determines whether or not he is a significant long-term asset.
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Dee Strange-Gordon SS | WAS
Marlins' Dee Gordon: Swipes 30th base Sunday
Gordon went 2-for-3 and stole his 30th base of the season in Sunday's loss to the Nationals.
An 80-game PED suspension hurt his overall numbers, but Gordon still finishes the regular season with some momentum, hitting .440 (11-for-25) over his last six games with seven steals. If he can avoid another infraction, he should once again compete for the MLB stolen base crown in 2017.