The Royals have added a pair of former MLB infielders out of independent ball on minor league deals, per a team announcement. Adeiny Hechavarría is headed to Triple-A Omaha, while Jack Reinheimer will report to Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
Hechavarría is the more notable of the duo. He was an everyday player for the Marlins early in his career and has tallied nearly 1000 games over nine MLB seasons. A career .253/.291/.351 hitter, Hechavarría was a bottom-of-the-lineup defensive specialist. He hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2020, as he played in Japan from 2021-22.
The 34-year-old spent Spring Training with the Braves this season. He didn’t make the Opening Day roster and was released. Hechavarría signed with the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks in April. He hit .297/.382/.538 with seven homers in 38 games to earn his way back to affiliated ball.
Reinheimer, 30, has 23 games of MLB experience between the Diamondbacks and Mets in 2017-18. He’s been in the Atlantic League with the Gastonia Honey Hunters, where he’s impressed with a .313/.421/.513 line with as many walks as strikeouts. The East Carolina product is a .266/.334/.358 hitter over parts of five Triple-A campaigns.
While the Royals have added some infield experience, they’re losing a bit of catching depth. Jakson Reetz is opting out of his minor league deal, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams (Twitter link). The righty-hitting backstop played in two big league contests with the Nationals back in 2021. He’s been in Omaha this year, putting together a quality .274/.349/.526 slash through 106 trips to the dish.
Now that is a name I haven’t heard in a long time
I think my Uncle knows him, he said he was dead.
was about to comment this exact thing
I think I have doubles of his Donruss rookie card from 2002
Still got almost 2 full years to go. Gonna be tough unless he really gets on a hot streak.
I always thought Hechavarría was a great athlete, really smooth at SS, but can’t hit well enough to stay in the Show. Like so many talented athletes before him who I thought would stick around – Peter Bourjos, Billy Hamilton, any other recents (?)
Gregory Polanco
Matt Quatraro, with no other way to turn, walked outside and shot up a flare at 3:00am. Adeiny was first (and only) responder, so welcome back to the bigs where you hit it big……well, kinda big……ok, ok, you were replacement level for 7+ years.
Have his pops baseball card, Andy Etchebarren senior. hopefully he’ll have as productive career as him when he played for the Orioles.