MLB Player News

Marte flew out in his only at-bat in Saturday's spring training loss to the Angels. He's hitting .261 (12-for-46) this spring and remains in the shortstop competition with Chris Owings and Nick Ahmed.

Owings is hitting .409 and looks like the leading candidate for the starting job, but a decision may not come until next week. If he can show signs of getting on base at a clip closer to his 2015 level in Seattle, Marte could become a threat to overtake Owings for the starting job at short at some point this season.

Drury, who is hitting .408 with a 1.064 OPS this spring, has won the starting second base job, manager Torey Lovullo told ArizonaSports.com. "Offensively he's having a great spring, but we knew he was built around offense and that was going to be, really, the non-issue for him," Lovullo added. "So he should be proud of himself for how he's addressed the needs defensively, he's been really good."

With Drury locked in at second base, Chris Owings, Nick Ahmed and Ketel Marte are battling for the starting shortstop job. Drury hit 16 home runs and compiled a .786 OPS last season and could take a bigger step forward in the power department in 2017 with steady at-bats at a set position after playing the infield and outfield last season.

Fontana was optioned to the minors Friday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

The 25-year-old had a nice spring, batting .270 with a home run and eight RBI in 37 at-bats. The Angels already have their middle infield set with Andrelton Simmons, Danny Espinosa and Cliff Pennington all healthy, leaving no room for the rookie shortstop. Fontana will start the year with Triple-A Salt Lake and should be the first to get the call to the majors should any of the aforementioned players go down to injury.

Semien was scratched from the lineup Saturday due to an illness, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The shortstop could miss a day or two, but the ailment isn't likely to threaten his availability for Opening Day. Expectations are fairly high this season for the 26-year-old, who clubbed 27 homers to go with 75 RBI in 2016.

Adames is 11-for-42 (.262) with three home runs in 23 Cactus League games.

Adames is incorporating first base into his defensive repertoire in an effort to land an Opening Day roster spot, and his bat is helping to strengthen his argument. However, the power surge might not be enough to help the switch-hitter punch his ticket to the big leagues, as Jordan Patterson and Stephen Cardullo seem to be the front-runners to fill the void left after Ian Desmond (hand) went down due to injury.

Beckham was granted his release from the Giants on Thursday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Beckham initially joined the Giants in a September trade with the Braves last season, and the 30-year-old re-signed with a minor league deal with the club in February. He slashed just .194/.268/.250 through 36 spring at-bats, and the Giants proved to be too deep in the infield to keep him around. Beckham will now look to catch on as infield depth elsewhere.

Merrifield went 1-for-2 with an RBI, a walk and a stolen base in Wednesday's 6-2 victory over the Padres in Cactus League play.

Merrifield's five stolen bases during Cactus League games are tops among all Royals players, and his contributions on the basepaths to go with a .389 on-base percentage have kept him in the mix for the starting job at second base to begin the season. Unfortunately for Merrifield, Raul Mondesi has been even more impressive in the batter's box during the spring and appears to be the frontrunner for the Opening Day gig at the keystone, so Merrifield may be more realistically competing with Christian Colon for a utility role in the infield at this stage of spring camp.

Albies was reassigned to minor league camp Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

After a very impressive, if short, spring training stint with the Braves, Albies will begin the season at Triple-A Gwinnett and look to improve on last season's .248/.307/.351 line. While the 20-year-old would seem to be blocked at the major league level by Brandon Phillips, the Braves are only on the hook for $1 million of Phillips' 2017 salary. Once the front office decides Albies is ready and has delayed the start of his service time clock sufficiently to ensure an extra year of control, expect the organization's No. 4 prospect to get the call.

Sweeney was assigned to the minors Tuesday, The Orange County Register reports.

The 26-year-old was acquired by the Dodgers this past offseason, but he was never considered a candidate to make the Opening Day roster. The utility man performed well in camp, batting .297 with a pair of home runs in 21 Cactus League games. He will likely start the year with Triple-A Oklahoma City and could get a call to the majors if injuries strike the big-league club.

Torres was reassigned to minor league camp Tuesday.

Torres will begin the season with Double-A Trenton. In 18 Grapefruit League contests, the coveted prospect hit .464 (13-for-28) with six doubles, two home runs and nine RBI. Despite the fact that the Yankees starting shortstop Didi Gregorius is expected to miss extended time with a shoulder strain, the team thought it was best not to rush Torres to the big leagues. The 20-year-old has a chance to make his major league debut further down the road in 2017.