Cubs Hire Dixon Machado As Minor League Manager
The Cubs announced they’ve hired Dixon Machado to manage their Arizona Complex League affiliate. That seemingly brings an end to his playing career after 17 seasons in pro ball.
Machado spent the majority of that time in the minors. He played nearly 1300 minor league games, more than half of which came at the Triple-A level. The Venezuelan-born infielder had a four-year MLB run with the Tigers between 2015-18. He spent the ’19 campaign in the Cubs’ system before moving to Korea as a member of the Lotte Giants for two seasons. Machado came back to affiliated ball in 2022 and made a brief return to the big leagues that year, playing in five games as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
That would be Machado’s final MLB work, at least as a player. He has spent the last three years in Triple-A on minor league contracts with the Astros and Cubs. He appeared in 84 games for Chicago’s top affiliate in Iowa last season, hitting .221 with four home runs. Rather than continuing seeking minor league contracts, he’ll move into coaching as he nears his 34th birthday.
Machado appeared in 177 major league contests. He batted .226/.285/.292 with a pair of home runs and 107 hits. Machado was a .256 hitter in a little over 3000 Triple-A plate appearances and batted .279/.357/.392 over his two years in the KBO. The Cubs evidently valued him as an organizational mentor, as they signed him to a trio of minor league contracts despite never calling him up. They’ll keep him around in his first coaching opportunity, where he’ll manage a rookie ball team that’ll comprise mostly teenagers whom they’ve signed out of Latin America. Congratulations to Machado on a lengthy playing career and all the best in the next chapter of his career.
Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end. MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.
This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.
Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez
Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel
Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward
Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson
Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez
White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius
Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young
Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski
Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,
Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo
Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney
Royals: John Gant, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix
Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez
Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod
Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey
Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva
Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie
Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos
Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez
Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry
Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan
Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson
Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou
Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small
Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner
Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera
Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti
Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein
Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields
Cubs, Dixon Machado Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs are bringing infielder Dixon Machado back on a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’ll be the Octagon client’s third stint with the organization. He also played for the Cubs in both 2019 and 2022, spending the interim two seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization.
Machado, 32, spent the 2023-24 seasons in the Astros system but wasn’t called to the majors with Houston. He slashed .230/.369/.356 in 293 Triple-A plate appearances in 2023 and hit .228/.335/.305 in 202 minor league plate appearances last year.
Though Machado has twice been a part of the Cubs organization previously, he’s never played in a big league game for them. His most recent MLB work came with the 2022 Giants, and the rest of his MLB tenure has been spent in a Tigers uniform. The Venezuelan-born shortstop has played in 177 major league games and batted .226/.285/.292 in 522 turns at the plate. Though he’s never provided much value with the bat, he does have good contact skills, evidenced by an 18.4% strikeout rate in the majors and just a 14.4% rate in the minors last year.
Machado is a versatile defender who’s typically been capable of playing quality defense at any of shortstop, second base or third base. Since signing out of Venezuela as a teenager, he’s played more than 12,000 professional innings at shortstop (majors, minors and KBO combined). He’s also logged close to 1300 innings at second base and more than 300 at third.
The Cubs’ infield in 2025 figures to include Michael Busch at first base, Nico Hoerner at second, Dansby Swanson at short and top prospect Matt Shaw at third base. Veteran Jon Berti was signed to a big league deal to take a utility role. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman and out-of-options former top prospect Vidal Brujan are both on the 40-man roster, but neither is any kind of lock to make the team. Non-roster options for backup jobs in the infield include Nicky Lopez (who signed a minor league deal) and James Triantos, another top prospect in a loaded Cubs farm system.
Astros To Select Corey Julks, César Salazar
The Astros informed reporters of a handful of roster decision this afternoon (relayed by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com and Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Most notably, outfielder/third baseman Corey Julks and catcher/first baseman César Salazar are making the Opening Day roster. Neither player is yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will have to formally select their contracts in the next few days.
Houston will carry three catchers to start the season, as backstop Yainer Diaz is also breaking camp behind veteran starter Martín Maldonado. Díaz is already on the 40-man after making his MLB debut late last season. Catcher Korey Lee, outfielder Bligh Madris, infielder/outfielder J.J. Matijevic and infielder Rylan Bannon were all optioned, while non-roster invitees Dixon Machado, Justin Dirden, Austin Davis and Ty Buttrey were reassigned to the minor leagues.
Julks is a Texas native who attended the University of Houston. An eighth-round pick by his hometown club in 2017, he’s played five minor league seasons. The 27-year-old had a strong season with Triple-A Sugar Land last year, hitting .270/.351/.503 with 31 home runs and 22 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Baseball America slotted him as the #27 prospect in the Houston system this offseason as a result, the first time he’d placed among the organization’s top 30 farmhands. The outlet credits him with roughly average tools across the board and suggests he could step immediately step in as a fourth outfielder. He’ll earn that opportunity after a .275/.318/.550 showing in 40 plate appearances this spring.
Salazar, also 27, was a seventh-round pick in 2018 out of the University of Arizona. The 5’9″ backstop spent the majority of last season with Double-A Corpus Christi. He posted a solid .277/.350/.489 line while connecting on 16 longballs in 85 games. Salazar only walked at a 6.8% clip but kept his strikeouts down to a modest 16.5% rate. While he only has 18 games of Triple-A experience, the Astros are confident he’ll be able to handle the jump to take on big league arms. He’ll add a left-handed bat to the bench and give skipper Dusty Baker some added flexibility to sub out Maldonado for a pinch-hitter as long as Houston carries three catchers.
Diaz is one of the organization’s best offensive prospects. The 24-year-old only got into six MLB contests last year but combined for a .306/.356/.542, 25-homer showing in the minors. He adds a bat-first complement to Maldonado behind the dish and could also see occasional starts at first base or designated hitter.
Houston will need to create a pair of spots on the 40-man roster. Placing second baseman Jose Altuve on the 60-day injured list feels like an inevitability, as he won’t begin baseball activities for two months after fracturing his thumb. Starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. could be another 60-day IL candidate as he’s slowed by a forearm strain, though general manager Dana Brown was noncommittal on that possibility today (via Rome).
Astros’ Options To Cover Second Base In Altuve’s Absence
The Astros announced this afternoon star second baseman Jose Altuve underwent successful surgery to repair the right thumb fracture he suffered in the World Baseball Classic. He won’t begin baseball activities for two months and will obviously need some time to work back into game shape from that point forward.
Given that timetable, it’s hard to envision Altuve playing in a big league game before June. Houston finds itself in a virtually unheard of position entering a season with some uncertainty at the keystone. Whomever gets the nod next Thursday against the White Sox will be the first player other than Altuve to start at second base on Opening Day since Bill Hall 12 years ago.
Houston general manager Dana Brown addressed the situation this afternoon (link via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The first-year GM didn’t rule out the possibility of going outside the organization for infield help but suggested the club preferred to address it with in-house players. “We’re going to look internally first. We have a good, core group of guys here,” Brown said. “We’ll exhaust what we have here in the organization because we do have some good players and we’ve always been interested in depth, (but) sometimes to acquire that depth you have to go outside the organization.”
If the club were to make an addition, it’d presumably be a low-cost depth move. Altuve will obviously take the job back once he’s healthy. It probably doesn’t make much sense to pursue a trade for someone like Isiah Kiner-Falefa; rather, the likelier course of action could be to look to a free agent like Jonathan Villar or a veteran who could opt out of a minor league deal elsewhere before Opening Day.
If the Astros stay internal or merely add a veteran to Triple-A Sugar Land as depth, a pair of players stand out as favorites for second base reps.
Hensley, 27 next week, only has 20 games of big league experience. Four of them came in the postseason, including a pair of starts in the World Series. Those came after a late-season promotion on the heels of an excellent .298/.420/.478 showing in 464 plate appearances with Sugar Land. He only hit 10 home runs but connected on 30 doubles and four triples. More impressively, the right-handed hitter worked walks at an elite 17.2% clip against an average 22.2% strikeout rate. Among Triple-A hitters with 400+ PA’s, only Will Benson had a better on-base percentage while just Jon Singleton, Benson, John Andreoli and Delino DeShields Jr. drew walks at a higher clip.
The San Diego State product now ranks as the #5 prospect in the Houston system at Baseball America. Regarded as a bat-first utility infielder, he predictably draws praise for his plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills. He’s not regarded as a great defender but could offer a decent floor from an on-base perspective towards the back of the Houston lineup.
Dubón, acquired from the Giants last May, offers a very different profile than Hensley. He’s a versatile up-the-middle defender who makes a ton of contact but rarely walks. He’s played 262 MLB games over parts of four seasons, hitting .244/.287/.366 with a 17.2% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk percentage. That’s well below-average offense but he’s held a roster spot on the strength of his glove. Public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have graded him positively at each of second base, shortstop and in center field.
The Honduras native is out of minor league option years. That means the Astros will have to carry him on the active roster if they don’t want to risk losing him. Considering they agreed to a $1.4MM contract to avoid arbitration this offseason, it’s hard to envision they’d let him go. Dubón will be on the roster and could see a decent amount of action at second base but might not hit enough to be a regular.
Depth Options
Offseason waiver claim Rylan Bannon is an option at second or third base. The 26-year-old has only played five MLB games. He’s coming off a .249/.367/.421 showing over 99 games in Triple-A and has attracted interest from a handful of teams on the waiver wire. Houston added glove-first veteran Dixon Machado on a minor league deal over the winter. He’s a .226/.285/.292 hitter in parts of five MLB seasons and has struggled at the plate this spring. Minor leaguers Grae Kessinger and Will Wagner have performed well during non-roster looks in camp but likely aren’t immediate options considering neither has yet played a game at Triple-A.
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Houston’s lineup should remain one of the league’s best even in Altuve’s absence. Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, José Abreu and Jeremy Peña are capable of driving a strong run-scoring group. Still, it’s obviously far from ideal to have both Altuve and Michael Brantley open the season on the shelf as Houston gets their title defense underway. In all likelihood, they’ll be counting on one of Hensley or Dubón to step up early in the year to fill the void.
Astros, Dixon Machado Agree To Minor League Deal
The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with infielder Dixon Machado and invited him to Major League Spring Training, per a team announcement.
A longtime Tigers farmhand, the now 30-year-old Machado saw Major League time in parts of four seasons with Detroit, hitting a combined .227/.285/.295 in 505 trips to the plate from 2015-18. Lack of MLB success notwithstanding, Machado has a solid track record in the upper minors and, after a nice showing with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019, signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2020.
Machado spent two years in the KBO, both with the Giants, and batted a combined .280/.359/.393 in 277 games there. That showing netted him a minor league pact to return to the Cubs, who flipped him to the Giants in a depth swap prior to the trade deadline. Machado went 3-for-15 in five big league games with San Francisco before being cut from the 40-man roster and heading back to Triple-A. Between the Cubs and Giants, Machado appeared in 121 Triple-A games and hit .291/.372/.391.
All told, Machado has logged parts of five seasons in Triple-A, batting .267/.347/.373 in 2222 plate appearances at the top minor league level. He’s a versatile infield defender with experience at all four positions, albeit just 43 innings at first base. The vast majority of Machado’s professional work has come at shortstop, where he’s logged more than 11,000 innings and drew positive reviews from scouting reports dating back to his prospect days.
The addition of Machado is generally a depth signing for the Astros, though with Aledmys Diaz reaching free agency this winter, the door for Machado to make the team and seize a utility role is perhaps a bit more open than it would’ve been in offseasons past. Mauricio Dubon and David Hensley are both on the 40-man roster and both give the ‘Stros a potential utility infielder for 2023, though Hensley has minimal Major League experience.
34 Players Become Free Agents
The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.
None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.
There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:
Catchers
- Taylor Davis (Pirates)
- Dustin Garneau (Tigers)
- Andrew Knapp (Giants)
- Pedro Severino (Brewers)
Infielders
- Willians Astudillo (Marlins)
- Johan Camargo (Phillies)
- Michael Chavis (Pirates)
- Matt Davidson (Athletics)
- Dixon Machado (Giants)
- Richie Martin (Orioles)
- Josh VanMeter (Pirates)
- Tyler Wade (Yankees)
Outfielders
- Greg Allen (Pirates)
- Lewis Brinson (Giants)
- Jaylin Davis (Red Sox)
- Jonathan Davis (Brewers)
- Jackson Frazier (Cubs)
- Brett Phillips (Orioles)
Pitchers
- Tyler Beede (Pirates)
- Austin Brice (Pirates)
- Miguel Del Pozo (Tigers)
- Jerad Eickhoff (Pirates)
- Luke Farrell (Reds)
- Paul Fry (Diamondbacks)
- Eric Hanhold (Pirates)
- Travis Lakins Sr. (Orioles)
- Mike Mayers (Angels)
- Daniel Mengden (Royals)
- Juan Minaya (Nationals)
- Sean Newcomb (Cubs)
- Dillon Peters (Pirates)
- Dereck Rodriguez (Twins)
- Cesar Valdez (Angels)
- Aneurys Zabala (Marlins)
Giants Outright Dixon Machado
Infielder Dixon Machado went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento by the Giants, tweets Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News. The Giants designated Machado for assignment just a week after acquiring him from the Cubs in a minor swap that sent 30-year-old righty Raynel Espinal to Chicago. Machado’s acquisition helped the Giants to patch a brief infield need with Thairo Estrada in concussion protocol and veterans Brandon Crawford (knee inflammation) and Evan Longoria (minor oblique strain) all on the injured list. That trio has since been reinstated, pushing Machado from the roster.
It’s uncommon to see a team give up a player in move designed as only a short-term stopgap, but Espinal is a 30-year-old right-hander who’d signed as a minor league free agent, pitched to a 5.29 ERA with San Francisco’s top affiliate in Sacramento, and can again become a minor league free agent at season’s end. Viewed through that lens, the Giants didn’t exactly surrender any potential long-term value in the swap, which will simply provide the Cubs with a bit of rotation depth in the final couple months.
Machado, also 30, appeared in five games and took 17 plate appearances with the Giants, hitting .200/.294/.200 in that tiny sample. He’s had a nice season in the upper minors, batting .312/.402/.394 in 391 plate appearances during his first season back in North American ball after a nice showing in the Korea Baseball Organization. Machado spent the 2020-21 campaigns with the KBO’s Lotte Giants and turned in a .280/.359/.393 in 1095 plate appearances. His power and prowess on the basepaths both faded in his second KBO season, but Machado posted nearly identical batting averages (.280, .281) and on-base percentages (.356, .361) in two otherwise consistent seasons abroad.
Because he’s been outrighted in the past, Machado will have the opportunity to reject this assignment in favor of free agency. There’s been no indication to this point that he plans to do so, however. Assuming he indeed sticks with the Giants for the remainder of the season, he’ll give them some depth behind veterans Longoria, Crawford, Estrada, Wilmer Flores and Tommy La Stella over the final couple months. He can again be a free agent at season’s end.
Giants Reinstate Brandon Crawford, Joc Pederson; Designate Dixon Machado
The Giants announced that shortstop Brandon Crawford has been activated from the 10-day injured list, while outfielder Joc Pederson is also back after being activated from the seven-day concussion IL. To create roster space, San Francisco optioned infielder David Villar to Triple-A and designated infielder Dixon Machado for assignment.
Crawford has been battling soreness in his left knee for most of the season, and the injury has resulted in two trips to the IL for the veteran shortstop within the last six weeks. This latest IL stint sidelined Crawford for a little over three weeks, and it is possible that the lingering nature of this problem could lead to Crawford getting a few more days off than usual over the final two months of the regular season.
Coming off a career year in 2021, Crawford’s knee issues could be partially to blame for his dropoff this season, as the shortstop is hitting only .215/.297/.332 over 279 plate appearances. There’s still time for Crawford to get on track and finish the year in more respectable fashion, even if it might be too late for the Giants to get back into the wild card race.
With the Giants moving some veteran players at the trade deadline, it is quite possible he might’ve been moved had it not been for his concussion symptoms. The good news, however, is that Pederson is able to make a quick return after hitting the concussion-IL on July 29, so he doesn’t appear to be dealing with any lingering after-effects. The slugger is hitting .242/.319/.492 with 17 home runs over 285 PA, and his first-half performance earned a slot on the NL All-Star roster.
It could be a very short stay in the Giants organization for Machado, who was just acquired in a trade with the Cubs on July 31. San Francisco was in a crunch for shortstop depth with Crawford and Thairo Estrada both on the IL, and thus Machado provided some short-term help. Machado’s five games with the Giants represented his first MLB playing time since 2018, as he has since been playing in the KBO League and with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate.
Giants Acquire Dixon Machado From Cubs
3:15PM: The Giants announced the trade to reporters, including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, with minor league righty Raynel Espinal going the other way. The 30-year-old made his MLB debut last year, logging just two innings for the Red Sox. The Giants signed him to a minor league deal for this year, with Espinal working as a starter in Triple-A. In 19 games, he has thrown 81 1/3 innings with a 5.29 ERA. He has an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate for the year but below-average walk and ground ball rates of 10.3% and 39%.
As expected, Thairo Estrada was placed on the concussion IL to make room for Machado on the active roster, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com was among those to relay. To make room on the 40-man roster, righty Tobias Myers was designated for assignment. Myers began the season with the Guardians but went to the Giants in a trade earlier this month. Between the two clubs, he’s thrown 63 innings in Triple-A this year with a 6.14 ERA.
2:42PM: The Giants have officially acquired Machado, Morosi reports. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers adds the interesting detail that Machado requested a trade, likely in order to land on a team that could offer him big league playing time.
2:09PM: The Giants are looking to acquire infielder Dixon Machado from the Cubs, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link) reports that the two sides are in talks. It isn’t known if this could be part of a larger multi-player swap, or if Machado would be the primary player involved.
It is quite possible it could be a cash-considerations type of minor move, as Machado hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2018. The Giants are also in particular need of shortstop help, as injuries have drastically thinned out their shortstop depth chart at both the Major and minor league levels. Brandon Crawford is on the 10-day injured list recovering from a knee injury, while Thairo Estrada was hit in the head by a pitch yesterday and is expected to be placed on the seven-day concussion IL.
After appearing in 172 games with the Tigers from 2015-18, Machado has since played with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in both 2019 and 2022, with two seasons with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants sandwiched in between. Over those four years, Machado posted some solid averages and developed a knack for getting on base, even if his power was sporadic at best (though he did hit 17 home runs during the homer-happy 2019 Triple-A season).
This year at Triple-A Iowa, Machado has hit .312/.402/.394 with two homers and 10 steals (in 13 chances) over 391 plate appearances. While Machado has played as a shortstop for the vast majority of his pro career, the 30-year-old has also seen some action at second and third base, making him a good fit for the Giants’ preferred model of versatile players.