MLB Player News

All three have the option to elect free agency and will presumably do so in the coming days after being removed from Detroit’s 40-man roster at the outset of the offseason. Both Madris and Vilade are merely emergency position player depth while Sammons made six relief appearances last year as a 29-year-old rookie.

Loftin will take a seat as a precaution for Sunday’s tilt. The 26-year-old is battling for a roster spot with the Royals, but assuming this is just precautionary, there’ll be plenty of time for him to be ready for the regular season.

Giolito will an up-and-down session Thursday, and assuming that goes well, the 30-year-old will be on the bump for a “real” start against Philadelphia a few days later. The right-hander missed all of 2024 after an internal brace procedure last spring, and offers some late-round intrigue in mixed leagues.

It was the first of the spring for Abbott, and the left-hander told reporters it was a “big step and big checkmark.” The 25-year-old is hoping to be ready for the start of the regular season, and believes there’s enough time for him to build up in order to do so. At this point it seems just as likely that Abbott opens the year on the shelf as it does that he makes starts for the Reds, but progress is progress.

Acee notes that the third baseman is going through defensive drills Sunday. The Padres have split-squad games Tuesday, so Machado could play in either of those contests. The 32-year-old was scratched from Friday’s lineup with back tightness, but it appears his absence is just precautionary with three-plus weeks to go until the season begins.

Mederos, 23, will likely see appearances with the Angels before the end of 2025, but was never likely to break camp with the big-league club. The rest of these names are just organizational fodder.

Hyde noted that Henderson is improving, and that’s really all fantasy managers can ask for. The 23-year-old will be held out over the weekend, but there’s no reason to think he won’t be ready to help Baltimore and fantasy players by the time the regular season kicks off.

Kittredge warmed up to pitch during Saturday’s tilt, but the 34-year-old didn’t get into the game because of his soreness. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde called the right-hander day-to-day, so it doesn’t appear Kittredge is dealing with an injury that will prevent him from being ready for the regular season.

Westburg has been out of action in the Grapefruit League because of soreness in his back, but he resumed throwing over the weekend, and the fact he’s back to swinging the stick suggests he should be able to get into game action in the coming days.

Mathews was a long shot to make the St. Louis rotation out of spring training, but he is widely considered one of the top pitching prospects in the Cardinals’ system, and he has a good chance of making starts for the team before 2025 comes to a close.

The surgery will likely mean that he misses the start of the 2026 season as well. Criswell was competing for a bullpen spot with the Rockies to begin the year, but obviously there’ll be another hurler who wins a low-leverage spot in the Colorado bullpen to begin the year.