The Cubs announced Wednesday that Machado has been named the manager of their rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Machado's move into the coaching ranks signals the end to a 17-year professional playing career. The 33-year-old infielder played exclusively at Triple-A Iowa in the Cubs organization last season, but he spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues from 2015 through 2022. Between stops with the Tigers and Giants, Machado slashed .226/.285/.292 with two home runs and three steals over 177 career games.

Pirates manager Don Kelly said Wednesday that it "would be a tough ask" for Griffin to make the Opening Day roster, Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan reports.

Griffin is a 19-year-old with only 21 games of experience above A-ball, so cracking the Opening Day roster would indeed be a difficult leap. It's also not a surprise that Kelly is tamping down expectations for the top prospect this early in spring training. It should become clearer the deeper we get into camp as to whether Griffin has a real chance to head north with the big club. Griffin hit .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases across three levels in his first professional season in 2025.

The Blue Jays claimed Cowles off waivers from the Cubs on Wednesday.

Cowles slashed just .235/.300/.371 with nine home runs and 18 steals over 462 plate appearances at hitter-friendly Triple-A Iowa in 2025. The 26-year-old has some defensive versatility with the ability to handle shortstop, second base and third base. He's likely ticketed for Triple-A Buffalo to kick off the 2026 season.

Holliday will have the stitches removed from his surgically repaired right hand Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Coming back from hamate bone surgery, Holliday will be cleared to gradually begin activities after the stitches are out. The 22-year-old infielder will begin the season on the 10-day injured list, but it could be a minimum-length stint or close to it. Jordan Westburg (oblique) and Blaze Alexander are candidates to play second base in Holliday's stead.

Swanson is willing to swap some power for more contact in 2026, Bruce Levine of Marquee Sports Network reports.

Swanson has clubbed at least 22 home runs in four of the past five seasons, but he also has a strikeout rate over 25 percent during that span and would like to cut that down. The 32-year-old's chase rate has been consistently above league average, but his in-zone contact rate has been well below average, as he ranked 129th out of 144 qualifiers in that metric in 2025. Swanson went 20-20 last season but still finished outside the top-12 in fantasy at a loaded shortstop position.

Nimmala has added 15 pounds from his playing weight at the end of last season, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports.

While it's good to see the 20-year-old bulk up, that weight mostly just replaces the mass Nimmala lost over the course of the 2025 campaign. That weight loss may have contributed to a summer slump that saw his offensive numbers crater -- he held an .842 OPS with 11 homers through his first 61 games for High-A Vancouver, but Nimmala managed just a .522 OPS with two homers over his final 59 contests. "I need to keep prepared and keep doing things the right way," the shortstop prospect said Tuesday. "That's something I look forward to taking into this year. Forget about what's going on on the field, but it's more like putting yourself in a good situation to play well." Encouragingly, Nimmala did maintain an improved strikeout rate all season, and if his more frequent contact turns into more frequent hard contact, he could be headed for a breakout in 2026.

Mayer has taken infield practice exclusively at second base during the first few days of camp, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

One storyline during camp is how manager Alex Cora deploys Mayer and Caleb Durbin, who has been used exclusively at third base thus far. Both infielders have experience at second and third base, and it's likely each will get reps at the two positions. "Everybody will benefit from reps, but we'll make a decision, probably sooner rather than later," Cora said. "We're not going to be waiting." A better indicator of the manager's plans should emerge when the Red Sox begin spring games this weekend.

Volpe (shoulder) said Tuesday that a return sometime in April is "definitely" possible, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.

Volpe is working his way back from last October's labrum surgery on his left shoulder and is being eased into things in Yankees camp. The shortstop began his hitting progression with dry swings Monday and will move on to tee work and soft-toss next. Volpe will also need to show he's able to dive on his surgically repaired shoulder without issue, which he hopes to accomplish in a couple weeks. Randy Miller of NJ.com reported earlier this month that Volpe wouldn't be ready to make his season debut "at least until May," but the 24-year-old believes he can make it back quicker than that. Any timetable at this point is approximate, as Volpe still has several rehab hoops to jump through. Jose Caballero will handle shortstop for the Yankees until Volpe is ready.

Rojas, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland were mentioned by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts as candidates to begin the campaign as the starter at second base with Tommy Edman (ankle) likely to be placed on the injured list, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.

Rojas re-signed with Los Angeles in December ahead of what he has stated will be his final season in the majors. The veteran infielder provided steady but unspectacular offense last season, slashing .262/.318/.397 with seven home runs, 27 RBI and five stolen bases over 317 regular-season plate appearances. Beyond that, though, he provided excellent defense and staked his place in Dodgers lore with his game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning during Game 7 of the World Series. Among the trio mentioned by Roberts, Rojas has the lowest offensive upside, but he could still win the starting second-base job until Edman returns if the team favors his defense and veteran presence (especially if Kim and Freeland fail to impress during the spring slate).

Freeland, Hyeseong Kim and Miguel Rojas were mentioned by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts as options to begin the regular season as the starter at second base with Tommy Edman (ankle) expected to be placed on the injured list, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.

Freeland struggled during his first experience in the majors last season, posting a .602 OPS with a 36.1 percent strikeout rate over 97 plate appearances. However, he recorded an .835 OPS with 16 homers, 18 stolen bases and 82 RBI across 106 games at Triple-A, so he doesn't have much left to prove at that level. Freeland, Kim and Rojas appear to be in a truly open competition to be the Opening Day starter at the keystone, and Freeland probably has the most to gain since he may begin the campaign in the minors if he doesn't win the positional battle.