The Diamondbacks have signed veteran outfielder Abraham Almonte to a minor league pact with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. He’s represented by ISE Baseball. The actual signing took place last week, it seems, though the D-backs didn’t formally announce the move themselves, so it flew largely under the radar. The only acknowledgment of the move came from the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate, on Twitter.
Almonte, 29, tallied 151 plate appearances with the Royals this past season but mustered just a .179/.260/.284 slash in that time. Almonte enjoyed a solid 2015 run with the Indians but has turned in a trio of underwhelming performances since that half season, hitting a combined .230/.292/.357 in 540 plate appearances between Cleveland and Kansas City. In all, the switch-hitter has a career .662 OPS but has drawn positive defensive marks at all three outfield spots — including +9 Defensive Runs Saved and a 5.0 Ultimate Zone Rating in 1283 innings of center field duty.
[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]
Outfield depth will be an area of focus for the D-backs this offseason, as A.J. Pollock is likely to sign elsewhere after rejecting Arizona’s qualifying offer. Jon Jay, too, is a free agent this winter, while part-time outfielder Chris Owings stands out as a non-tender candidate after a miserable finish to his 2018 season. David Peralta, Jarrod Dyson, Steven Souza Jr. and Socrates Brito are all internal options in the outfield, and there’s also been some talk of moving Ketel Marte to center field, as Zach Buchanan of The Athletic recently explored (subscription link).
He couldn’t crack the lineup for the dreadful Royals last year, no chance he’s anything more than system depth in Arizona.
Fun Fact: his favorite players growing up were Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez
You said this earlier in the year.
Fun fact: he found Jesus but it hasn’t helped his batting.
Fun Fact – The Diamondbacks now have TWO Abraham Almonte’s since they have one at Class A as well
Any relation to Victor Victoria Mesa??
Jon Jay should get a deal in Korea or Japan
That’s stupid lmao he’s going to get a major league contract. Someone who needs to go to Japan or Korea is Chris Carter
Jon Jay sucks. Without question, the most overrated player in MLB
When the Tribe had this guy my favorite moment was when they DFA’d him. He’s that bad.
If Almonte hadn’t led off every game for the first month of the Mariners’ 2014 season then there’s a better than awful chance that they could have made it to the Wild Card game that year. Man, was that a terrible watch.