MLB Player News

Elmore re-signed with the White Sox last week on a minor-league contract, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

Elmore spent the 2018 season in the White Sox organization, playing exclusively at Triple-A Charlotte and submitting a .289/.397/.359 slash line across 394 plate appearances. The utility man hasn't surfaced in the big leagues since 2016 and will face an uphill battle to appear for the White Sox at any point in 2019 while he remains off the 40-man roster.

General manager Al Avila said Beckham will compete for playing time at second base in spring training, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Beckham, a non-roster invitee, will compete with utility man Niko Goodrum for the starting gig. The 32-year-old owns a career .239/.302/.366 slash line across parts of 10 big-league seasons, so even if he wins the job out of camp, he doesn't figure to offer much fantasy upside.

Beckham signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers on Tuesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Beckham spent most of the 2018 season with Triple-A Tacoma, slashing .302/.400/.458 with 10 homers and six stolen bases across 94 games. He also made 22 appearances for the Mariners, struggling to a .182/.250/.205 line. Beckham should serve as organizational depth in 2019.

Semien and the Athletics agreed to a one-year, $5.9 million contract Friday, avoiding arbitration, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Semien has posted a wRC+ between 95 and 98 for four straight seasons, though he received the best defensive grades of his career from both DRS and UZR last season, giving him a career year. He should continue to be a competent but not particularly interesting everyday shortstop for Oakland next season.

Drury signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Blue Jays on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Drury's 2018 season was marred by injury as early in the year he admitted to a long-running battle with migraines before suffering a lingering hand injury, while also being traded from the Yankees to the Blue Jays in July. The 26-year-old flashed solid numbers (.275/.323/.453) with Arizona in 2015 and 2016, but didn't see much major-league action last year.

Mathias received a non-roster invitation to Indians' spring training on Friday.

Mathias spent the last two years at Double-A Akron and posted a .232/.338/.370 slash line in 117 games during 2018. The 24-year-old is an extreme longshot to make the major-league roster given his limited success at Double-A, as he seems likely to spend the 2019 season establishing his footing at Triple-A.

Rodriguez has been shut down at the Dominican Winter League due to a shoulder issue, Emily Waldon of The Athletic reports.

The severity of the injury is not yet clear. Rodriguez projected to enter the season as a utility man. Dawel Lugo and Brandon Dixon could benefit should he wind up not being ready to go by Opening Day.

Lopez was invited to the Royals' major-league camp Tuesday.

Lopez is at best a long shot to break camp with the Royals, but the invitation indicates that the team likes Lopez and wants to give him a chance to work with the big-league coaching staff. He reached Triple-A for the first time in the middle of last season, posting a 109 wRC+ in 57 games for Omaha with an impressive 27:29 BB:K. With a little more seasoning in the minors, he could be knocking on the door sometime this summer.

The Athletics have discussed Barreto more as an outfield option than a middle-infield piece in recent weeks, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "We still have really high expectations for Franklin," general manager David Forst said Friday. "The one difference is we'll probably move him around a bit more than we have in the past...I think you'll see him take on more of a utility role. He's going to be a valuable guy for us, his bat is going to play. We'll try to get him a little bit everywhere starting in spring training."

The Athletics' decision to trade for Jurickson Profar adds fuel to the notion that Barreto wasn't being viewed as a viable candidate to replace free agent Jed Lowrie at second base, at least not to open 2019. The top prize in the 2014 trade that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto, Barreto's prospect sheen has worn off a bit after he slashed just .215/.252/.424 while striking out in 41.1 percent of his 151 career plate appearances in the big leagues. Still just 22, Barreto has plenty of time to improve his long-term outlook, but the lack of a clear path to consistent playing time during the upcoming campaign puts a damper on his fantasy utility in redraft formats.

Fontana signed a minor-league contract with the Rangers on Wednesday, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

Fontana spent most of the 2018 campaign with Triple-A Salt Lake, hitting .234/.397/.414 in 45 games. He also saw some brief action with the Angels, though he hit just .091/.167/.364 in 12 plate appearances. Fontana figures to serve as organizational infield depth for the Rangers.