MLB Player News

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings is progressing well from offseason shoulder surgery, reports The Arizona Republic.

Owings was expected to miss the first week to 10 games of spring training, but manager Chip Hale said he's ahead of schedule.

"I don't have an exact [return] date," Hale said. "But he's past where I thought he was."

When asked about former Mets teammate Ruben Tejada, Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes shook his head and said "something is wrong," per Newsday.

Reyes revealed that during his final season with the Mets he tried to pass the torch to Tejada to become his replacement. Reyes landed in Miami in the offseason, and Tejada was destined to be his permanent replacement. Now entering spring training, Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets.

"Every time I talk to him I try to give him some advice," Reyes said. "What can I do? I try to push him to do stuff. I don't know if he gets it or not...He had the opportunity to be the everyday shortstop for a long time there in New York. You have to work, man. When you're younger, you think you have everything there for you. But if you do something wrong, it's going to go away. Quick.

"When I was there, I always give a lot of advice to him. We were always together. My last year there, every time I talk to him: 'This is going to be your position for a long time. Don't let it go away.' See what happened now? It's 2015 and he doesn't have a position to play. When they talk about who is going to play every day, they don't talk about Tejada. They talk about Flores."

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon told reporters Thursday that he won't put a number on how many bases he'll swipe this season, and is more focused on improving his on-base percentage and scoring runs in his first season with his new club, per MLB.com.

"No goal," Gordon said. "I just want to score runs. That's it. I scored a lot of runs last year, and I don't think nobody realizes that. Whatever [stolen bases] I get is what I get. Whatever is going to make me score is what I want to do."

Gordon led MLB last season with 64 stolen bags. His 92 runs were tied with then-teammate Yasiel Puig for eighth most in the National League. He hit .289/.326/.378 over 609 at-bats last season.

Although Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets, Ruben Tejada still feels he can win the job, per NJ.com.

"Yeah, why not," Tejada said. "I have to demonstrate here why we're here and why I want to. Come here the same way every year, stay healthy, the first thing, and work."

Tejada started a team-high 105 games at shortstop in 2014 for the Mets. 

"I'm ready to work and do my job inside and outside and stay focused and positive, do everything in the right way and keep going," Tejada said.

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings is expected to miss 8-10 spring games, according to MLB.com.

Owings is coming off shoulder surgery, and the team wants to play it safe with the injury. The 23-year-old is expected to open the season as the team's starter at short. He hit .261/.300/.406 over 310 at-bats last year. 

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon is eagerly awaiting the start of spring training and is particularly looking forward to working with infield coach Perry Hill, per MLB.com.

"I was waiting on [Hill], like, a month ago," Gordon said. "I'm excited. I work hard. That's one thing I pride myself on, working as hard as possible. I'm just ready to take my game to the next level."

Gordon made the move from shortstop to second base in 2014. During his first All-Star campaign, Gordon posted a .981 fielding percentage in 144 games at second base for the Dodgers.

"There's a lot more second base in me," Gordon said. "There is a lot I still don't know. Honestly, I didn't really know how to learn on the fly with the Dodgers. Bone (nickname for Hill) is going to be a great teacher. I've heard nothing but great things about him, so I can't wait."

The Mets have privately indicated infielder Ruben Tejada should garner most of his playing time on the days when starting pitcher Jonathon Niese is on the mound because Niese induces more grounders than the other starters, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN.

Wilmer Flores is expected to be the team's starting shortstop, barring a trade to bring in a shortstop. Although, Mets manager Terry Collins has indicated Tejada will still be in the mix for the starting job this spring.

While Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford had career highs in runs (54), triples (10), home runs (10) and RBI (69) in 2014, he still only hit .246 in 153 games. Crawford really struggled against right-handed pitchers, batting .213 as opposed to .320 against lefties.

Still, the Giants appear hopeful Crawford could be an impact player in 2015, per MLB.com.

"We really feel he's coming into his own," general manager Brian Sabean said, declaring that he envisions "an All-Star-type season" from Crawford.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy outlined the plans he has for the batting order in 2015, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

He expects Angel Pagan to hit leadoff. He will be followed by Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Casey McGehee, Norichika Aoki and Brandon Crawford. The pitcher will hit ninth.

The Giants and shortstop Brandon Crawford avoided arbitration Tuesday, agreeing to a $3.175 million salary for 2015, according to CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman. Crawford, who is in his first year of arbitration, made $560,000 in 2014.

Crawford just finished his fourth season in the majors and third full season in 2014. He had career highs in triples (10), home runs (10), runs (54), RBI (69), walks (59) and games played (153).