The Orioles announced this afternoon that they’ve added utilityman Jose Barrero on a minor league contract. Francys Romero reported the agreement before the club announcement. He’ll head to Triple-A Norfolk.
Barrero elected free agency last week after being waived by the Cardinals. The 27-year-old had been designated for assignment when St. Louis added Garrett Hampson on a waiver claim from Cincinnati. Barrero had spent almost two months on the Cardinals’ big league roster but rarely played. He appeared in 22 games, coming off the bench all but eight times, and hit .138 in 29 at-bats.
It marked the fifth season in which the righty-hitting Barrero logged some big league time. He was once a highly-regarded prospect in the Cincinnati system and played parts of four seasons with the Reds. A lack of plate discipline undercut the power and athleticism that had intrigued scouts. Barrero has punched out in 36% of his career plate appearances, leading to a .182/.238/.257 slash at the highest level.
Barrero had been out to a hot start in Triple-A before St. Louis called him up. He’d hit .299/.396/.517 with four homers in 23 games. It was a much better minor league showing than he’d managed a year ago, when he limped to a .188/.277/.345 mark with Texas’ top affiliate. Barrero is athletic enough to play any up-the-middle position and provides a versatile upper minors depth piece for the Orioles.
Not to take away from this man getting a job but, can we just bring basallo up and let him be our catcher? He can’t be as bad defensively as we have been overall at the position right?
Nice addition to the O’s, those are some good numbers in AAA, he seems like the type of olayer who needs everyday run to keep it going. It was a nice improvement in the BB% and K% this season in MiLB. The strikeouts will always be high but there are some really good hitters in MLB striking out at a rate of 25% – Cal Raleigh, Ohtani, Elly De La Cruz, Aaron Judge, Buxton, Riley Greene — if he can raise the OBP and the SLG and can get the strikeouts down to around 25% he could still be a very good player.
Os love their sub .200 hitters
Another team hoping they can figure Barrero out.
@gr8
That loser Ryan O’Hearn was one of those sub 0.200 hitters too. Glad you’re not in the scout team.
That’s true. But signing .190 career hitters and hoping for the best is a tough way to win a championship
I’ve always been intrigued by Barrero and equally surprised at his limited opportunities at mlb level. He was signed out of Cuba with top 5 pick money. Huge, fast, has power and can pretty much play anywhere on the field besides pitcher and catcher. And he’s produced in the minors besides one year after a wrist surgery. The naysayers point out five seasons of opportunities but the truth is he has 162 mlb games. So he’s had one season of limited playing time scattered across five years. Kinda of hard to produce and fulfil potential under those circumstances. I watch a lot of baseball and see so many guys that just aren’t good and have no talent but get way more at bats and playing time. Not sure why this guy with all his potential can’t get one (whole) year to see what he can do. Perfect example Cardinals bring him up. He goes 2 for 3 with two Xtra base hits including a homerun. He promptly gets benched and doesn’t start again for over two weeks.