Nationals Sign Dante Bichette Jr.
The Nationals have agreed to a minor-league deal with corner infielder Dante Bichette Jr., per an announcement from the High Point Rockers. Bichette had been playing with the indy ball outfit, which sold his contract to the D.C. organization.
The 26-year-old Bichette has a familiar name for baseball fans of a certain age. His namesake father was a well-known slugger with the Rockies. The family name is now more notable for another player: Bo Bichette, a top Blue Jays prospect who is Dante Jr.’s brother.
Back to the Bichette at issue here, he’ll earn a return to the affiliated ranks for the first time since the 2017 campaign. A former first-round draft pick and Yankees prospect, Bichette was cut loose after three-straight tepid showings at the Double-A level. He has performed better thus far in the Atlantic League in 2019, slashing .397/.424/.529 with three home runs in 145 plate appearances.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/23/17
We’ll use this post to keep track of teams’ minor moves throughout the day…
- Infielder Matt Dominguez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball, Steve Adams of MLBTR reports (on Twitter). Once a highly regarded prospect, the 28-year-old Dominguez hasn’t panned out in the bigs since debuting with the Marlins in 2011. He spent all of last year with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate and hit .264/.295/.425 with 16 home runs in 451 plate appearances.
Earlier updates
- The Rockies have agreed to terms on a minor-league pact with Dante Bichette Jr., whose father was a four-time Rockies All-Star. News of the pact was originally reported by Matt Kardos at Pinstripe Prospects, and later confirmed by the elder Dante Bichette (via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). Bichette Jr. began his career in promising fashion after the Yankees made him a supplemental first round pick in the 2011 draft; the third baseman hit .342/.446/.505 with the Yankees’ Rookie league affiliate. However, he’s never quite managed to replicate that success at any other level of the minors. As such, Bichette Jr. has yet to reach Triple-A. Most recently, he hit .262/.352/.352 with the Trenton Thunder (Double-A affiliate of the Yankees) in 2017.