The Orioles announced that they’ve re-signed outfielder-turned-pitcher Dariel Alvarez to a minor league contract. Baltimore had only just begun to convert Alvarez from the outfield to the mound when he suffered an elbow injury that will likely lead to Tommy John surgery. In need of a 40-man spot, the O’s released Alvarez last week, though reports shortly thereafter indicated that they hoped to work out a new minor league pact.
Alvarez, 28, defected from Cuba and signed with the Orioles back in 2013. However, while he’s performed decently in parts of three Triple-A seasons, he’s never dominated the level or shown the proficiency needed for the O’s to consider him for a regular spot in their outfield. In 304 games with Norfolk, Alvarez has batted .285/.317/.409 — numbers that closely resemble the .250/.314/.406 line he’s managed in 35 Major League plate appearances.
Alvarez’s excellent arm has reportedly been a consistent point of interest for the Orioles, though, which served as the impetus for his transition to the mound. Though he figures to miss the entire 2017 season, he’ll rehab with the only Major League organization he’s ever known and could conceivably return to the Orioles for the 2018 campaign as well, when he can resume his work on the mound.
Couldn’t hit and now he can’t throw. Poor guy.
Dude, you got it all wrong.
He could hit, he didn’t run go routes to the ball.
Did you even watch him play ever?
The other problem was he depended on his ++ arm too much
If he could hit, they wouldn’t have had him convert to a pitcher. They have a DH spot they could have used on him. But he never walked and never produced enough.
He can make contact, but he swings at everything. He has no plate discipline, and the only reason he didn’t have a Chris Davis strikeout rate is because he had the ability (for better or worse) to make weak contact on pitches he should have never swung at.
Also, he is a below average outfielder with a great arm that makes up for some of his poor play. Kinda like Puig.
Love that picture for this story. It says” meh, who cares” perfectly
I read signed “Pedro Alvarez” and thought to myself, they couldn’t really have signed this guy to two minor league contracts it was bad enough he agreed to one the first time ($2.5m if he makes the roster) Thank god it was someone else..