MLB Player News

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez confirmed to reporters following Thursday's full-squad workout that the second baseman position is a "wide open" competition, and that Jose Peraza, Alberto Callaspo, Phil Gosselin and Jace Peterson are all entering camp with a chance to make the club, per MLB.com.

"It's wide open," Gonzalez said. "It's all depending on how we want to work second base, the infield and even the bench."

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke will spend spring training judging his infielder's versatility for depth behind Jean Segura and Scooter Gennett, per MLB.com.

Milwaukee has three shortstops on its 40-man roster with the chance to break camp with the big-league club. Hector Gomez, 26, and Luis Sardinas, 21, are expected to see time at second base behind Scooter Gennett.

"We want to give Scooter a chance against lefties, but if there's a day off we want to give him, or if it works out that we need to have a [right-handed hitting] guy there more often, who's it going to be?" Roenicke said. "Is it going to be Sardinas? Jimenez, because we know he hits lefties well? Who's that other guy who's going to be there?"

Yadiel Rivera, 22, should see some work at third behind Aramis Ramirez.

Coming off a breakout season in 2014, Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon said he doesn't plan to change anything in his game.

It should come as no surprise since he finished fifth in the NL MVP race last season after batting .287 with a .473 slugging percentage, .824 OPS, 21 home runs, 39 doubles, 83 RBI and 111 runs.

“My game is simple,” Rendon said Wednesday, per The Washington Times. “I just try to put the barrel on the ball. When I put the barrel on the ball, good things come out most of the time.

“That’s what’s awesome about this game. A guy with two years [of experience] and a guy with 20 years, he’s still trying to improve himself in every part of the game. This game, you learn something new each and every day, so take it one day at a time and try to better yourself.”

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura arrived to spring training Tuesday ready to put his 2014 season behind him. A year after being an All-Star in 2013, Segura hit just .246 with five home runs and 31 RBI in 146 games last season.

"I'm trying to forget about what happened last year. I never been that unproductive in my career," he said, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That was my first time. Sometimes you need to have one of those years to learn what it takes to go to the next level.

"Pitchers are going to adjust to you and you need to adjust back. As a young guy, you don't realize what's going on. It was a tough year."

Segura said he made some changes to his batting stance, which he hopes will get him back on track offensively in 2015.

"I've been working on it because I had some troubles getting out front with my left leg," said Segura, who is holding his hands back more and putting more weight on his back leg. "It works. I used it in winter ball and it worked for me. I'm going to continue to do it. It helps me stay back more."

New Cubs manager Joe Maddon met with the media at spring training on Friday and admitted he had no idea who would be playing third base for the team. 

Maddon declared the battle for the hot corner wide open. 

The competition seems to boil down the three options. Mike Olt played 52 games at third for the Cubs last season. He hit .160 with 12 home runs and 33 RBI. He enters spring training as the likely favorite. 

Kris Bryant is the team's third baseman of the future. The second overall pick in the 2013 draft, shot through the farm system in a year and a half. He played 70 games at Triple-A Iowa last season, hitting .295 with 21 home runs and 52 RBI. He hasn't yet made his Major League debut. 

Arismendy Alcantara is also an option. The versatile rookie played 48 games in center and 25 at second base last season and has been praised as being capable of playing anywhere on the field. He hit .205 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI. 

Infielder Pedro Alvarez won his arbitration hearing against the Pirates, according to CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman.

Alvarez will receive $5.75 million in 2015 instead of $5.25 million, which is the amount the Pirates submitted. 

Alvarez hit .231 with 18 home runs in 122 games last season. After committing 25 errors at third base in 99 of those games, the Pirates have considered moving Alvarez to first base.

Pirates infielder Pedro Alvarez will start camp in the mix at first base after struggling defensively at third base last season, committing 25 errors in 99 games. He'll just need to be adequate defensively at first base due to his offensive strength, the Associated Press reports.

"He's not the first player and he's not the last player that will go through a struggle," Pirates genearl manager Neal Huntington said. "He's not going to be the first and the last to come out of that struggle. We need to get him back to hitting balls in the seats."

Alvarez hit 36 home runs in 2013 while making his first appearance in the All-Star Game. His bat cooled off amid his defensive issues last season, and he hit just .231/.312/.405 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI in 398 at-bats. It's possible he platoons with Corey Hart at first base this season, though manager Clint Hurdle indicated in December that the plan was to use Alvarez every day at first base.

While Cubs fans might be expecting or hoping for top prospect Kris Bryant to win the starting job at third base this spring, Mike Olt still expects to be in the mix as well, per MLB.com.

"I'm just making sure I'm ready and making the adjustments I need and that I learned from last year," Olt said. "I took a lot out of last year. It took me a while to kind of get over a lot of negative things, but when I started focusing on the positive things I did and the things I can improve on, which were slightly easy adjustments, I think it'll help me."

Olt was the Cubs' opening-day starter at third base in 2014, but he struggled offensively and was even demoted to the minors for a stretch last season.

"I just lost confidence, and that's the most important thing about baseball is confidence," Olt said. "If you can get positive things out of the negatives, and build on that, you can get back on track, and that's what I'm trying to do."

Olt said he will try not to swing so hard at the plate in an effort to make him a more consistent offensive player.

"It's tough to say but when you swing hard, everything starts to fly open, and if I can be quick to the ball, I'll let the natural power take over," he said. "It's tough to tell yourself but when you can calm yourself down, you get in a good position."

Rockies infielder DJ LeMahieu is expected to be the team's primary second baseman for a third straight year in 2015 after he took home his first Gold Glove award in 2014.

Barring any unforeseen issue, LeMahieu would be the first Rockies player to be the primary second baseman for three consecutive years since Clint Barmes (2008-10).

"That's huge for me -- I want to be that guy, and I want to be out there every single day," LeMahieu said, per MLB.com. "Plus our infield defense is the best in the league. It's fun to be a part of this team."

While LeMahieu is a strong defender, his offense is not quite at the same level. He has just a career .276/.314/.361/.676 slash line.

"I've spent a lot of time this offseason working on being the player that I am, getting better at that, than trying to be the player I'm not," LeMahieu said.

The Phillies have begun training third baseman Cody Asche on outfield drills, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Monday.

"He’s still our third baseman," Amaro Jr. said. "We view him as our opening day third baseman. But we have introduced him to some outfield. He’s doing some light drills out there, getting acclimated to outfield drills, rudimentary stuff."

Ache has been utilized and trained on a variety of positions while coming up through the minors, including left field, first base and second. 

Amaro thinks he has the ability and athleticism to pay a new position.

"It’s important to find out if he can do it," Amaro said. "It’s also important to create some versatility. At some point we may ask him to go out there. It might be later this year. It might not be. But it behooves us to take a peek."