Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Twins released veteran infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. from his minor league deal, per the Triple-A International League transactions log. The 32-year-old has split the 2019 season between the Twins and White Sox systems, hitting a combined .235/.337/.325 through 194 plate appearances. He’s seen action both in Double-A and Triple-A, primarily logging innings at second base and third base. At one point, De Jesus was considered a well-regarded prospect with the Dodgers, but he never established himself in the Majors despite multiple stints with three different clubs. In parts of four MLB seasons, De Jesus hit .242/.303/.327 through 545 plate appearances. His most recent look in the bigs came with the 2016 Reds.
Knew it was close to the end for him when he was the first base coach for the Red Wings a couple days ago
It’s not unusual at the AAA level for veteran players to act as a base coach during games. Often the manager will take a base as well.
He is only 32 and he could help any team as a back up utility player. Wonder what he could have been if he had gotten a fair shot like some of these ss or second baseman like Panik, Arcia ,Castro, Russell or others.
I got the impression that the biggest issue Dejesus had was that he wasn’t good enough defensively at any one position to stick around as a utility guy. He certainly used to hit well enough at AAA every year that one would have expected him to have had more big league opportunities, and he was a part of 2 big player for prospect trades (Dodgers to Red Sox, then Red Sox to Pirates) in 2012 which suggest that he had some appeal as a developmental player.
I seem to remember he had a bad injury early in his career that changed everything…..