The Orioles have agreed to a minor-league deal with second baseman Johnny Giavotella, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He can earn $1.1MM annually at the MLB level in the deal, which also includes incentives.
Presumably, Giavotella will compete for a bench spot in Spring Training. If he fails to make the roster, he’ll have a chance to opt out at the end of camp (March 27th). If he ends up opening the year in the minors, and isn’t later promoted, he can also request his release on July 31st.
Giavotella, 29, spent the better portion of the past two seasons as the Angels’ near-regular at second. Though he put up a serviceable .272/.318/.375 batting line in 2015, however, he fell off last year. After 367 plate appearances of .260/.287/.376 hitting, the Halos outrighted Giavotella, who has generally rated as a somewhat below-average defensive performer. Though he hit well in his brief stay at Triple-A, he wasn’t recalled when rosters expanded. Because he had been outrighted earlier in the year, Giavotella was eligible to take free agency after the season.
For the O’s, the move bolsters their infield depth with little in the way of a commitment. It’s possible that Giavotella could push Ryan Flaherty for the team’s utility job, though the left-handed-hitting Flaherty makes for a more natural pairing with the team’s righty bats.
Solid bench signing. He will fit well Baltimore, scrappy little player. Still remember when he was highly-touted coming out of the Royals organization, thought he would be the starting second baseman in KC for the next decade, he was supposed to be one the first guys to blossom from that Hosmer, Moustakas & Perez group that came up together.
I feel like the KC brass never really liked him for some reason. He never underperformed when his number was called in the bigs. I just think they didn’t expect much from him for the future. Much like Eibner. They seem to love Colon though, with all the sputtering he does from year to year.
What do you mean “never underperformed” with the Royals? He never hit the way he needed to, and his glove and range were always poor.
The KC FO gave him plenty of chances to perform, but he never did break out. That’s why they never really liked him.
Plenty of chances? They gave him piece work here and there. You want a AAA kid to come up and just bat .400? The kid didn’t get regular PA’s, and his glove and range were no worse than the garbage the team has put out at 2b for the past decade. You can say the FO gave Getz plenty of chances. Gio never got a fair shot at making that spot his.
Also flaherty presents defensive value (insert uzr/drs here) and giavotella has always graded poorly with the glove. Insert this in Jeff ;)
Flaherty is not a defensive value, if at all it’s because he can plays many positions. However he is below league average defensively at all but RF, and 2b. And he’s league average at those two. If Giavotella can play all 3 INF positions he should be an offensive upgrade to Flaherty.
Buck LOVES Flaherty for some reason
He’s a useful bench guy since he is versatile, but Showalter really really likes him. The only place he ever seems to hit is Fenway.
Good depth pickup. Should help the team at whatever level he’s at.
The guy is a spark plug, plays hard and was clutch for us in 2015. Wish him the best.
How is it that Erick Aybar who 5 seasons ago was a Gold Glover and 2 seasons ago was an All Star is not generating any interest after one bad season???
Because all of his peripheral stats were bad too
Per Jeff Passan he’s generated interest from a few teams, I wonder if he is holding out for a Major League deal.
I knew buying a Johnny G jersey was a bad investment..
Go get ’em, Johnny G. Thanks for the memories!
Cool, the Os need some depth on the infield for sure
I loved Johnny G. He was about as clutch as they come… I remember in 2015 when we had the last inning like 6 run rally and jonny hit the soon to be game winner. He was a fiery little player that i loved to watch. Good luck to him on the O’s.