MLB Player News

Wendle worked on his arm strength this offseason with the intention of filling in more often at shortstop and third base in 2020, Josh Tolentino of The Athletic reports.

The versatile infielder enjoyed a solid spring (.259, two doubles, two home runs, three RBI, six runs) and is considered a lock to be on the team come Opening Day, especially with MLB reportedly preparing to allow teams to expand rosters to 29 players for at least the first month of the regular season. Wendle has experience playing up to five different positions, but he's spent the majority of his time at second base over the last two seasons. However, a stronger arm would certainly make him a more effective player when deployed on the left side of the infield, thus seemingly enhancing his job security.

Camargo would likely have been on Atlanta's Opening Day roster had the regular season begun as scheduled, even if he wasn't the starting third baseman, Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The club headed into the spring with Camargo battling Austin Riley for the starting job at the hot corner, and the loser was expected to head down to Triple-A Gwinnett to get consistent playing time. During an interview Friday, however, GM Alex Anthopoulos suggested that both had been playing so well in camp the battle could have continued into the regular season. "Camargo, Riley were playing unbelievably well," Anthopoulos told Fox Sports broadcaster Chip Carey. "We hadn't made a decision yet of who we were going to carry. We had started to talk about - the fact that the minor-league season was scheduled to start on April 9 and we were starting March 26 - we started to talk about carrying both. There's no reason to leave them down in Florida. They'd both been playing well enough to make the team." In the long run, Riley has the better prospect pedigree and is the favorite to claim the job, but if his strikeout problems persist in 2020, Camargo would get a chance to prove he's a starting-caliber player in the majors.

Nunez was released by the White Sox in March, Baseball America reports.

Nunez was a notable international signee out of the Dominican Republic in 2014 and had a great year (141 wRC+) as a 20-year-old in the Pioneer League in 2018, but for the most part he has struggled to produce as a pro.

Baldoquin was recently cut loose by the Angels, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

The Angels signed Baldoquin out of Cuba late in 2014, but the shortstop never made much of an impact at any of his minor-league stops. He slashed .241/.295/.317 with nine home runs and 21 stolen bases in 355 career minor-league contests and never ascended beyond the Double-A level.

Giron was released by San Diego on Monday, David Jay of MadFriars reports.

Giron enjoyed a solid half-season with Low-A Fort Wayne in 2015, slashing .285/.335/.407, but sputtered to a .222 average at the same level the following season and never generated much steam elsewhere. The 23-year-old hit .202 with an ugly 3:23 BB:K in 84 at-bats between High-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A Amarillo last season.

Basabe batted a combined .323/.352/.398 over 37 games between the AZL Rangers and short-season Spokane in 2019.

Basabe, who batted .344/.414/.474 and finished third as a 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League in 2018, continued to hit in the lower levels of the minors since signing out of Venezuela in 2017. The only downside of the move to the States was a drop in walk rate, but the 19-year-old didn't strike out much while hitting more line drives and flyballs. Defensively, the organization introduced the young shortstop to second and third base, potentially giving him more paths to the majors.

Seager slashed .385/.448/.577 with three extra-base hits and a 1.025 OPS over 29 plate appearances before spring training was suspended.

Despite hitting only 19 home runs last season, Seager enjoyed an understated campaign as he tied for the National League lead with 44 doubles while driving in a career-high 87 runs. He'll fill a near-everyday role at shortstop for the Dodgers when the regular season commences.

Story had a .250/.321/.375 slash line with three doubles and one stolen base over 10 games before the suspension of spring training.

Cactus League play was uneventful for the 27-year-old prior to baseball operations being halted, though there was an offseason development as he inked a two-year, $27.5 million deal in January to buy out his final two years of arbitration. Story had a .917 OPS with 35 homers, 85 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 145 games in 2019, and once play resumes he's poised for another season as Colorado's starting shortstop.

Crawford had a .391/.440/.565 slash line with one double, one home run and one stolen base in nine games before spring training was suspended.

The 33-year-old is set to start at shortstop again for the Giants in 2020, as he's appeared in at least 143 games in each of the past eight seasons. Crawford will look for a rebound season once play resumes after posting a 74 wRC+ last year, the worst mark since his debut campaign in 2011.

Franco hit .286 (2-for-7) with one RBI and and one run over three Grapefruit League games before spring training was suspended.

Franco wasn't slated to see an abundance of exhibition action since he's not likely to log any time in the majors in the coming regular season. However, the organization did want to get its top prospect his first taste of experience against big-league arms after he quickly mastered pitching at three different levels of the minors over the last two seasons. Franco topped out at High-A Charlotte in 2019, so he's likely to start the 2020 campaign at Double-A Montgomery. Jeff Passan of ESPN also reports Franco was set to play for the Dominican Republic team that was going to try and qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but that event has now been postponed for at least several months due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.