DODGERS MOVE MOOKIE TO SHORT
Mookie Betts already is switching spots in the infield for the Dodgers, moving to shortstop from second base. The Dodgers had planned for Betts, a sixtime Gold Glove winner and a seven-time All-Star outfielder, to be their regular second baseman but shifted him to shortstop for their spring game Friday against the Reds. Manager Dave Roberts called the switch, which came 12 days before the team’s season opener March 20 against the Padres in South Korea, ‘‘permanent for now.’’
‘‘We’re all on the same page here,’’ Betts said after the game was stopped by heavy rain in the fifth inning and eventually canceled. ‘‘We don’t really care what happens, we just want to win. As for me, I don’t care. I genuinely do not care. I’ve said it a million times: I just want to win . . . . Put me wherever. It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m on the diamond, I’m going to do the best I can do.’’
Expected shortstop Gavin Lux has struggled in the field, primarily with short-hopping throws to first base. The Dodgers moved him back to second, the position where he made 153 starts in a span of four seasons.
Given a chance to be the Dodgers’ shortstop last season, Lux suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while running the bases in a spring game and had season-ending surgery March 7.
‘‘Just to make this move right now, it’s something that the entire organization feels is the right thing to do to give us the best chance to prevent runs and to win baseball games,’’ Roberts said.
VOTTO, 40, SAYS HE’S JOINING JAYS
Former National League MVP Joey Votto said he has agreed to terms on a minor-league contract with his hometown Blue Jays.
Votto, a 40-year-old first baseman, became a free agent last fall after the end of a 12-year, $251.5 million contract with the Reds, for whom he played 17 seasons.
‘‘I am excited about the opportunity to work my way back to the Major Leagues,’’ Votto, a six-time All-Star and the 2010 NL
MVP, wrote on X. ‘‘It’s even sweeter to attempt this while wearing the uniform of my hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays.’’
The Blue Jays made no immediate announcement of a deal.
Votto hit .202 with 14 home runs and 38 RBI in 65 games last season. He didn’t play till June 19, 10 months after having surgery on his left biceps and rotator cuff. In his career, he has a .294 average with 356 homers, 1,144 RBI and a .409 on-base percentage.
REDS PROSPECT GETS 80-GAME BAN
MLB announced Reds infield prospect Noelvi Marte, 22, has been suspended for 80 games without pay after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance bolderone in violation of its drug policy.
The suspension of Marte, who hit .316 with three homers, 15 RBI and an .822 OPS in 35 games last season, will take effect at the start of the regular season. He was expected to open the season as the Reds’ third baseman.