Veteran infielder Hanser Alberto announced his retirement via Instagram earlier this week, bringing a career that saw him spend parts of eight seasons in the majors to a close. He played for the Rangers, Orioles, Dodgers, Royals, and White Sox throughout his time in the big leagues.
Alberto, 33, signed with the Rangers out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur and made his pro debut back in 2010. He hit well out the gate in the Dominican Summer League and went on to slowly climb his way through the minors before making it to the majors in 2015. He struggled early on in his big league career and hit just .194/.204/.226 across 76 games in the majors as an up-and-down bench bat for Texas during his first two years in the show. After missing the 2017 season due to a shoulder injury, Alberto re-emerged with the Rangers in 2018 but once again struggled badly across a 13-game sample.
After being designated for assignment by Texas during the 2018-19 offseason, Alberto bounced around the league on waivers before finally landing in Baltimore ahead of the 2019 campaign. The Orioles were headed for a 108-loss campaign that year, but Alberto proved to be a major bright spot for the club as he took over a regular role with the team. He enjoyed a career year in Baltimore, slashing .305/.329/.442 in 139 games. That batting line was good for a 95 wRC+, and combined with strong defense at second base was enough to make Alberto a 3.4-win player according to Baseball Reference. He also struck out at a career-low 9.1% clip. Alberto took a step back during the shortened 2020 season, posting an 87 wRC+ with 13.1% strikeout rate, but still managed to appear in 54 of the Orioles’ 60 games that season.
Impressive as he had been in 2019, the Orioles opted to non-tender Alberto rather than carry him on the 2021 roster at his arbitration price tag. Over the final three seasons of his career in the majors, Alberto bounced between various clubs in a utility role. He joined the Royals on a minor league deal for the 2021 campaign, and his 83 wRC+ in 103 games for the rebuilding club was enough to convince the Dodgers to give him a major league contract for 2022. Alberto’s productivity took a step back as he neared his 30th birthday, however, and he slashed just .235/.259/.374 with a wRC+ of 74 over his final two years in the majors with L.A. and Chicago.
After being dogged by injuries during his time with the White Sox, Alberto missed most of the 2024 campaign and was limited to only playing winter ball. He returned to full-season play in 2025 when he joined the Mexican League’s Piratas de Campeche, and ultimately appeared in 26 games for them (plus an additional one for the Saraperos de Saltillo) before returning to winter ball. He appeared in 24 winter league games during the 2025-26 season for the Gigantes del Cibao but has now called it a career.
In all, Alberto made it into 488 games at the big league level. Along the way, he collected 378 hits, 22 homers, 12 steals, and 4.4 bWAR. He wraps up his career with a lifetime .269/.292/.381 slash line. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Alberto on his career and wishes him the best in his future pursuits as his playing career comes to a close.
Pretty cool that he appeared in 10 games as a pitcher for the Dodgers in 2022.
Yeah saw him at Dodgerland on a visit: no better way to troll the DBacks than to insert him in the 8th w a 10-2 lead. It’s like we dont care enough to roll someone on our staff out there, just try and catch us. The Sox picked him up thinking maybe we have us an Ohtani
Don’t know how you write a Hanser Alberto tribute without mentioning his 11 innings of 4.09 ERA work for the 2022 Dodgers, which led to the rule change limiting the use of position players as pitchers.
Which is another example of useless Manfred rule engineering, no?
Even as a Padre fan I found it entertaining.
Oh boy. Retired?
Now what will we do?????
Cynically complain and be miserable,in your case.
Thank you Mrs. Alberto. 🙂
Regards to everyone back home.
**He hit well** I’m assuming not will.
We don’t really know. Maybe Will deserved it.
Nick Deeds special
I like his stat line from 2019 season. Over 300 avg and averaged more than a hit per game played.
Over how many games?
The article says 139. That is a good season. Anyone that can make it 8 years in the majors deserves a tip of the cap. Congrats Hanser. Good luck in retirement.
Modern day Manny Mota ?
Man, I loved Alberto with the O’s. Such a great attitude, always smiling, and the hard work he put in to improve his defense was evident. He was a hoot for the Dodgers too. Stand-up guy, great fun to watch during some bad O’s years. Congrats Hanser!
“Hanser, he’s hot right now”
The next article will state he’s “considering” ……
Good dude
Easily a top 17 veteran infielder of all time.
I’ll wager none of his 22 career home runs were cheepies. He took a cut like the Lord said “My dear son Hanser, you have only one swing left.”
I haven’t heard that name in forever. He had a good albeit brief run on some terrible Orioles teams.