5:05pm: The Giants have officially released Beckham, the club told reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group).

4:10pm: The Giants will release Gordon Beckham from his minor league contract with the club as per Beckham’s request, MLBTR has learned. Beckham originally joined the Giants in a late-September trade with the Braves and re-signed with the club in February, joining a very crowded battle within the Giants’ camp to decide the third base and utility infield jobs.

The 30-year-old Beckham will now look for a clearer opportunity elsewhere with teams in need of infield depth. Most of Beckham’s MLB experience has some at second base dating back to his days as a regular with the White Sox, though he has also seen substantial action at third base over the last three seasons and even some action at short, starting seven games at the position for Atlanta in 2016. Beckham has hit .211/.285/.340 over 516 PA since the start of the 2015 season, though he does own a career .260/.360/.458 slash line coming off the bench (in 114 PA) over his career.