MLB Player News

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is working on slowing down his at-bats, according to MLB.com.

Arenado is trying to develop into a more complete hitter, and realizes there are things he has to do in order to reach that level. "I'm working on staying back, driving through the baseball," Arenado explained. He said he got caught out on his front foot too much last season, which prevented him from getting on base more often. Arenado hit .267/.301/.405 in 486 at-bats last year.

Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon is not worried about competing for his job, according to The Washington Post.

Rendon was promoted aggressively, but held his own in the majors last year when Danny Espinosa struggled. Rendon isn't going to stress about whether he begins the year as a starter. "I’m just going in just like every other year, work hard, do my own thing and try to win some ballgames and we’ll see how it goes," Rendon said. Rendon has a good relationship with manager Matt Williams. Williams managed Rendon in the Arizona Fall League in 2012. During his rookie season, Rendon hit .265/.329/.396 in 351 at-bats.

The Padres announced Thursday 18 players received non-roster invites to spring training. Among the 18 players invited to spring training are catcher Austin Hedges and starting pitcher Matt Wisler, who are considered the team's top two prospects by Baseball America.

Other top prospects receiving invites were shortstop Jace Peterson (No. 7) and starting pitcher Joe Ross (No. 10). 2011 first-round pick Cory Spangenberg was also on the list.

The remaining players coming to camp as non-roster invites are Blaine Boyer, Leonel Campos, Anthony Carter, Dennis O'Grady, Adys Portillo, Kevin Quackenbush, Cody Decker, Alex Dickerson, Rico Noel, Daniel Robertson, Jonathan Galvez, Alberto Gonzalez and Xavier Nady.

The Cubs are eager to see how third baseman Mike Olt will perform this spring now that it appears his vision problems have been corrected, according to MLB.com.

Olt, who hit a disappointing .201 in 107 games last season in the minors, is taking allergy medication, which has helped improve his vision.

"I think we'll see pretty early in camp just how the things he's done in the offseason have had an effect," said Cubs senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod, who added Olt is an "athletic, strong guy who can play third base."

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez has avoided arbitration with the club.

Alvarez will earn $4.25 million next season. He's coming off a year in which he hit .233/.296/.473 in 558 at-bats.

Although the Rockies are hoping for a bounce-back season from Josh Rutledge, the team is heading into spring training with DJ LeMahieu atop the depth chart at second base, according to MLB.com.

"DJ has put himself in a good position," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "DJ played well enough to earn the right to come into camp No. 1 on the depth chart.

"The sign of a great defender is he is able to make the majority of the plays look routine. That's DJ's strength. He goes unnoticed, but he makes a lot of plays -- difficult plays to his left and right -- and makes them look routine."

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told MLB.com that he would not guarantee what role Anthony Rendon would play on the team in 2014. When asked if Rendon would return to the role of starting second baseman, Rizzo replied, "I don't know where he is going to play or what he is going to do."

As a rookie in 2013, Rendon hit .265 with seven home runs and 35 RBI in 98 games.

Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter, Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond and Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez have joined Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt as Silver Slugger award winners among National League infielders.

Carpenter's first Silver Slugger award comes after leading the majors in runs (126), hits (199) and doubles (55) while hitting .318/.392/.481 with 11 home runs and 78 RBI in 626 at-bats. Desmond's second straight Silver Slugger award comes after hitting .280/.331/.453 with 20 home runs, 80 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 600 at-bats. Alvarez's first career Silver Slugger award comes after hitting .233/.296/.473 with 36 home runs and 100 RBI in 558 at-bats.

Rockies rookie third baseman Nolan Arenado picked up his first career Gold Glove award Tuesday night. He joined Carlos Gonzalez as Gold Glove winners for the Rockies. 

The 22-year-old Arenado hit .267 this season for the Rockies with 10 homers, 52 RBI and 49 run scored. He had a fantastic season in the field, leading to the Gold Glove. 

Cubs infielder Mike Olt indicated Friday that he will hope to compete for the starting third base job for Chicago in spring training 2014, MLB.com reports. 

Olt had a disappointing 2013 season. He hit just .201 over 107 minor league games, primarily at the Triple-A Iowa level. He had 15 homers and 42 RBI with 132 strikeouts and only 55 walks. 

Olt was plagued by vision problems this season, but claims he's over those issues now. He's already working at the Cubs' spring training complex in Arizona.