July 22: Alcantara cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com.
July 20: The Diamondbacks announced that infielder Sergio Alcantara has been designated for assignment. The move opens up roster space for the return of Ketel Marte, who has been activated from the restricted list.
Alcantara was just signed by the D’Backs on Friday, but his brief time on the roster didn’t result in any playing time. Because Alcantara is out of minor league options, he must be passed through waivers whenever his team wants to send him to Triple-A and outright him off the 40-man roster. Because Alcantara has been outrighted in the past, he has the ability to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.
The infielder used this exact mechanism just over a week ago, opting for the open market after the Giants DFA’ed him and attempted to outright him to Triple-A. It seems possible Alcantara could be more open to staying in Arizona’s organization since he only just arrived, but time will tell if Alcantara might prefer to join a club that has more infield vacancies than the fairly loaded Diamondbacks.
Alcantara made his MLB debut with the Tigers in 2020 and then saw semi-regular work as a depth option with the Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Padres during the 2021-22 seasons. He spent the 2023-24 seasons at the minor league level with three clubs (the D’Backs, Cubs, and Pirates) without seeing any more action in the Show, and after signing a minors deal with San Francisco last offseason, his tenure in San Francisco did result in a single Major League game. Alcantara was the starting shortstop in the Giants’ 11-2 loss to the Athletics on July 4.
With only a .207/.278/.340 slash line to show for 506 career plate appearances in the majors, Alcantara is much better known for his multi-positional glove than his bat. Alcantara is a good defender at shortstop, second and third base, so a club in need of some infield depth might consider putting in a waiver claim.
Marte missed the Diamondbacks’ first two games after the All-Star break due to a personal matter, with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reporting that Marte’s home was robbed during the break. The second baseman will return to the lineup today and look to continue what has been another tremendous season (290/.394/.567 over 297 PA) for the three-time All-Star.