The Nationals have agreed to terms with Jamey Carroll according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that it's a minor league contract (also via Twitter) Carroll is represented by Millennium Sports.
Carroll, 40 next month, batted just .211/.267/.251 for the Twins and Royals last season but collected his 1,000th Major League hit along the way. He's just one year removed from a .268/.343/.317 batting line with solid defense at three infield positions for the 2012 Twins. Carroll can help to fill the utility infield role that was formerly filled by Steve Lombardozzi. The Nationals included Lombardozzi in the trade that netted them Doug Fister from the Tigers.
This will be Carroll's second stint in a Nationals jersey. The Indiana native was drafted by the Expos in the 14th round of the 1996 draft and made his big league debut with the Expos in 2002. Carroll was still with the organization when it jumped to Washington, appearing in 113 games for the Nationals in their inaugural season. Carroll has never had power — he has just 13 career homers — but he has a solid defensive reputation at three positions and a patient approach at the plate. He has a 9.7 percent career walk rate and is a career .272/.349/.338 hitter in 4,225 plate appearances.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first reported that Carroll was nearing a deal with an unknown team (on Twitter), and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reported that the Nationals and Indians were in the mix (Twitter link).
I think that the Padres should have given him a 1 year deal @ 600k. I think this is an excellent deal for the Nationals.
John McDonald is still a FA if the Padres want a slick fielding/no hit super utility guy with a solid veteran presence on the club.
Welcome back to DC, Jamey!
Thank you, Nationals.
Signed,
A Cleveland Indians fan.
Definitely had a sigh of relief when I saw this
Can we add a big thank you from Royals fans as well?
Deal pays for itself, kids will want to come to the park to see a real life lego man.
Welcome back, old friend.
He is one of the few former Expos still around. I know Bartolo Colon and Bruce Chen played for them. Am I forgetting any others?
Endy Chavez, Maicer Izturis, and Livan Hernandez are a few.
Dodgers should’ve done this on a minor-league deal.