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Hanser Alberto

Daniel Hudson Suffers Season-Ending ACL Injury

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TODAY: The Dodgers confirmed that Hudson suffered a torn ACL, and placed the righty on the injured list.  Right-hander Mitch White was called up from Triple-A and infielder Hanser Alberto was activated from the paternity list, while outfielder Stefen Romero was designated for assignment.

Romero’s contract was selected earlier this week when Alberto went on the pat list.  Unfortunately for Romero, his few days on the L.A. active roster didn’t result in any game time, so Romero still hasn’t officially appeared in an MLB game since the 2016 season.  Since last playing with the Mariners in 2016, Romero performed well in five seasons in Japan.

JUNE 24: The Dodgers’ bullpen was dealt a massive blow Friday, as setup man Daniel Hudson was diagnosed with what is very likely a season-ending injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, manager Dave Roberts announced to reporters after tonight’s game (Twitter link via Juan Toribio of MLB.com). Hudson will undergo an additional wave of testing to confirm the diagnosis, but the team believes he’s suffered a tear of the ligament. Hudson sustained the injury when he attempted to field a grounder but instead collapsed at the front of the mound.

Hudson’s loss is a gut-punch for a Dodgers club that will already be without right-hander Blake Treinen until after the All-Star break due to shoulder troubles. Hudson has stepped up and filled Treinen’s role as the team’s top setup option, pitching to a brilliant 2.22 ERA with a 30.9% strikeout rate against a 5.1% walk rate. He’s turned in a career-high 53.2% ground-ball rate as well, due in no small part to throwing his slider at a career-high 42.3% clip. A massive 80 percent of the sliders put into play against Hudson have been grounders so far this year.

The injury is extra difficult for Hudson due to the nature of his contract. The 35-year-old righty inked a one-year, $7MM contract with Los Angeles that contains a $6.5MM club option for the 2023 campaign. Based on how Hudson had pitched in the season’s first few months, that option looked like a lock to be picked up. Now, coming off a major knee injury, that seems considerably less likely. The contract also allowed Hudson to boost the value of that option based on his number of games finished, and with eight already under his belt, he had a decent chance of pumping up that option value a bit.

Even with Treinen out for much of the season, Dodgers relievers have still combined for a 3.40 ERA that ranks ninth in the Majors. They’ve been even better by measure of FIP, ranking third in the game at 3.25 entering play Friday. Nevertheless, with Hudson out of the picture, the Los Angeles bullpen is now primarily composed of inexperienced arms with minimal big league track records.

Righty Evan Phillips has been brilliant in 2022 (1.95 ERA in 27 2/3 innings) but entered the season with a 6.68 ERA in 67 career frames. It’s a similar story with right-hander Yency Almonte. The Dodgers have again received strong results from righty Phil Bickford and lefty Alex Vesia, but each is only his second full big league season. Brusdar Graterol is having a fine season but doesn’t miss bats at the level one might expect for someone with his velocity. Former Cy Young winner David Price has been solid in a relief role this year, and former division rival Reyes Moronta has shown promise as he looks to reestablish himself after a pair of injury-ruined seasons.

That group all leads to multi-time All-Star Craig Kimbrel, who hasn’t gotten the results he or the Dodgers hoped for at the time of the trade that saw the Dodgers and White Sox swap AJ Pollock for Kimbrel. The 34-year-old Kimbrel fired a scoreless inning tonight and boasts a 33.3% strikeout rate against a 10.4% walk rate in 23innings. However, after a strong start to the season, Kimbrel has given up runs in eight of his past 15 appearances. Tonight’s outing dropped his ERA to 4.30, and it should be pointed out that he’s currently plagued by a sky-high .404 average on balls in play (despite a very low 30.9% hard-hit rate). Kimbrel is probably due for some positive regression, but with him in something of a slump and the team’s top two setup options derailed by injury, the bullpen appears more questionable than expected.

Of course, this year’s Aug. 2 trade deadline is still more than five weeks away, so the Dodgers will have no shortage of time to address the issue, should they see fit. And with Walker Buehler, Andrew Heaney and Dustin May all currently on the injured list, the Dodgers could also be on the lookout for rotation reinforcements once the trade market heats up, too.

Dodgers To Sign Hanser Alberto

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The Dodgers have an agreement in place to sign utilityman Hanser Alberto, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter). Junior Matrillé (via Twitter) first broke news of the deal as a Major League contract with a club option for 2023. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter) seconded the club option, confirming that the Dodgers will have two years of team control over Alberto. Rosenthal notes that the Dodgers locked into their pursuit of Alberto after missing out on Josh Harrison, who signed with the White Sox.

The 29-year-old right-handed batsman began his career with the Rangers after signing as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He made his Major League debut with the Rangers in 2015. Regular playing time eluded him, however, until landing with the Orioles for the 2019 season. The versatile defenseman spent two years in Baltimore before playing last year with the Royals.

While Alberto has been a borderline starter the past couple of seasons, he will transition to a clearer bench role with the Dodgers. That said, manager Dave Roberts certainly utilizes his bench, and there’s no shortage of injury history on the Dodgers’ roster. Last year, Alberto slashed .270/.291/.402 over 255 plate appearances, falling in line with his history as a contact-first, low-walk-rate bat with a glove capable of shifting all over the diamond.

Royals Outright Hanser Alberto, Scott Blewett

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The Royals announced that infielder Hanser Alberto and right-hander Scott Blewett have cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Kansas City’s 40-man roster tally now sits at 38, but they have an additional four players on the 60-day injured list who will need to be reinstated before the start of the offseason.

Alberto had been eligible for arbitration, so the Royals’ designation will function as an early non-tender. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Alberto to land a $2.1MM salary in 2022, a price the club deemed too high after a below-average showing. It’s the second consecutive winter in which Alberto has been cut loose, as the Orioles non-tendered him last offseason.

Baltimore’s regular second baseman from 2019-20, Alberto signed a minor league deal with K.C. and cracked the Opening Day roster, locking in a $1.65MM salary. He spent the year in a utility role, starting games at each of third base, second base and shortstop. Over 255 plate appearances, the 29-year-old hit .270/.291/.402 with a pair of home runs.

Alberto has been one of the game’s tougher players to strike out in recent years, helping him post consistently strong batting averages. That has come with virtually no walks or power, though, capping his overall value. By measure of wRC+, Alberto was sixteen percentage points below the league average this past season, and his 1.4% walk rate was the second-lowest mark of the 362 hitters with 200+ plate appearances. He might be looking at another minors pact this winter.

Blewett was not arbitration eligible, but the Kansas City front office evidently determined they didn’t wish to devote him a 40-man roster spot all winter. Blewett was passed through outright waivers in April but re-selected to the big league club in September. He tossed five innings of one-run ball there, but he was far less effective with Triple-A Omaha.

The 25-year-old Blewett worked in a swing capacity for the Storm Chasers, tossing 69 innings in 23 appearances (including ten starts). He posted a 6.39 ERA, largely on account of the nineteen homers he served up. The Royals’ second-round pick in 2014, Blewett now hits the open market and could find himself in a different organization for the first time in his pro career.

Royals Select Hanser Alberto

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The Royals have added infielder Hanser Alberto to their 40-man roster, Alec Lewis of The Athletic was among those to report. Their 40-man is now full.

Alberto, previously with the Rangers and Orioles, signed a minor league contract with the Royals over the winter. He’ll now earn a $1.65MM salary, potentially with another $350K in bonuses, off the Royals’ bench. As someone with quite a bit of experience at both second and third base, the 28-year-old will provide Kansas City some insurance behind Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier. He’ll also give the team a stopgap until it’s ready to promote top infield prospect Bobby Witt Jr., whom it reassigned to the minors earlier this month.

Alberto had rough seasons in Texas from 2015-18 (he didn’t appear in the bigs in ’17), but he did hit for good averages in Baltimore in the past two seasons. He ended his Orioles tenure as a .299/.322/.413 batter with a meager 10.2 percent strikeout rate (albeit with a minuscule walk percentage of 2.7) over 781 plate appearances. Most of the 28-year-old right-hander’s damage came against lefty pitchers, whom he victimized for a .394/.411/.532 line in 280 trips to the plate as an Oriole.

Central Notes: Bryant, Cruz, Alberto, White Sox

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Despite myriad trade rumors that have centered on him over the past several months, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) that he’s still open to a contract extension with the team. “I’ve always said I’ve been open and willing to hear what (the Cubs) say and take it with open arms and consider everything that’s thrown my way,” Bryant said. “I think I’ve communicated that to them.” Bryant is scheduled to become a free agent next winter, but in the meantime, he’ll make $19.5MM this season. It doesn’t seem any team has jumped at the chance of taking on that type of money for Bryant – even though he’s a former MVP who has typically held his own, he had a difficult 2020 campaign. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer suggested earlier this month that he expects Bryant to open 2021 with the club.

  • It may have taken longer than expected for the Twins to re-sign designated hitter Nelson Cruz, whom they inked to a one-year, $13MM guarantee earlier this month. The Twins believed they’d keep Cruz throughout the process, though, as president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told MLB Network Radio on Thursday that “we passed on some other players” who could have prevented them from bringing back Cruz. The identities of those players aren’t known, but the Twins would have been hard-pressed to upgrade at DH over Cruz, who slashed an incredible .308/.394/.626 with 57 home runs in 735 plate appearances with the team from 2019-20.
  • The Royals’ Hanser Alberto only received a minor league deal during the winter, though it sounds as if he has a good chance to earn a spot on their season-opening roster. Manager Mike Matheny called the addition of Alberto a “sneaky good signing” earlier this week, Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star writes. Alberto spent the previous two seasons with the Orioles before joining the Royals. Alberto didn’t hit for much power or draw many walks in Baltimore, but he did see quite a bit of time at two infield positions (second and third) and make life difficult on left-handed pitchers, against whom he slashed .394/.411/.532 in 280 trips to the plate.
  • The White Sox have hired Todd Steverson as a special assistant to executive vice president Ken Williams, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets. Steverson spent 2014-19 as the team’s hitting coach – a role he held with the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate last season. He’ll focus on scouting in his new job with the White Sox, per Fegan.

Royals Sign Hanser Alberto To Minor League Contract

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6:24PM: The Royals have officially announced the signing.

5:37PM: The Royals have signed infielder Hanser Alberto to a minor league deal, according to reporter Junior Matrille (Twitter link).  Alberto will earn $1.65MM in guaranteed salary if he makes Kansas City’s big league roster, with another $350K available in potential bonuses.

Alberto has spent the last two seasons as a regular in the Orioles’ lineup, splitting time at second base and third in 2019 and then settling in as the everyday second baseman in 2020.  Over 781 plate appearance since the start of the 2019 campaign, Alberto has hit .299/.322/.413 with 15 home runs, with that respectable slash line undermined by a lack of walks and some of the lowest hard-hit ball numbers of any hitter in the league.  The Orioles chose to non-tender Alberto rather than pay him a projected arbitration salary in the range of $2.3MM to $4.1MM, and since he has another year of arb eligibility beyond 2021, the Royals potentially have two years of control over his services.

Given the lack of experienced infield depth on the K.C. roster, there certainly seems to be a good chance for Alberto to win himself at least a bench job, and perhaps even a platoon role at second base if Nicky Lopez is protected against left-handed starters.  The right-handed hitting Alberto has some very good numbers (.350/.367/.464) in 350 career PA against southpaws over his career.

Alberto has also seen action as a shortstop at the MLB level and even played a handful of games as a first baseman and corner outfielder, adding to his bid for utilityman work.  Kelvin Gutierrez, Erick Mejia, and rookie Lucius Fox are some of the other contenders for a backup infielder role, though the Royals’ infield picture could be shaken up considerably during the season if star prospect Bobby Witt Jr. is given an aggressive promotion to the Show.

Beltway Notes: Spencer Kieboom, Ross, Alberto, Stallings, O’s, Nats

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Catcher Spencer Kieboom elected to become a free agent after the Nationals outrighted him off their roster in October 2019, and Kieboom tells Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post that he decided last winter to retire after eight seasons of pro ball.  Kieboom’s MLB resume consisted of a single game in 2016 and then 52 games with the Nats in 2018, though knowing that he was becoming an afterthought on the team’s organizational depth chart left him “beyond frustrated.”  After twice being called up in 2019 but not appearing in any games, Kieboom decided it was enough.  “From a self-evaluation standpoint, I knew I couldn’t reach my goal anymore.  I wouldn’t have stopped if I had more in the tank.  I just didn’t,” Kieboom said.

The next step in his newfound retirement was returning to Clemson to finish a marketing degree, and Kieboom is now working on starting his own business and also spending time with a growing family that includes a newborn.  We at MLBTR congratulate Kieboom on his career and wish him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.

More from the Nationals and Orioles…

  • Nationals righty Joe Ross is looking forward to returning to pitching after opting out of the 2020 season, a decision he recently discussed with the media (including MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman).  “With the medical professionals in my family – both my parents, my sister, some close family friends – it just kind of made sense to take this as serious as you could,” Ross said.  “There were a lot of unanswered questions going into it.  Not that we know everything now, but the initial shock value of what was happening added up with a few other things, and I decided to take time away, which is always hard to do.”  Now that MLB has had more time to implement and adjust COVID-19 protocols, Ross is “pretty confident going into this year that everyone will have a pre-solidified plan on how to” keep players and personnel safe.  Ross’ decision to opt out cost him a year of service time and the entire prorated share of his original $1.5MM salary, and he’ll now return to Washington’s roster competing for a starting rotation spot.
  • The Orioles non-tendered Hanser Alberto on Wednesday, though GM Mike Elias told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) that the move was made largely due to “the quirks of the arbitration system” and that the O’s will “continue to have interest in pursuing” on a new contract.  “I think that the interest is mutual, but it’s now his right to explore opportunities and we’re going to have to compete for him. But he’s somebody that’s meant a lot to this team and we hope we’re not closing the door on him,” Elias said.  Alberto was projected for a salary in the $2.6MM range in his first trip through the arbitration process, coming off of two decent seasons as a regular starter (mostly at second base) in Baltimore’s infield.
  • Without a 2020 minor league season, trading for prospects is an even riskier proposition than usual considering the lack of fresh scouting information about most young players.  However, the Orioles’ recent acquisition of right-hander Garrett Stallings from the Angels (as part of the return in the Jose Iglesias trade) was aided by the team’s past interest in Stallings as a potential 2019 draft pick, as Elias told The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz and other reporters.  Since the O’s had already scouted Stallings during his time at the University of Tennessee, the team had that background as a comparison point when they saw Stallings finally get back onto a mound in the Angels’ instructional camp this fall.  “We knew what he was in 2019, and then to see those performances a month ago, see the stuff, the velocity, and all of it be a little bit better than what he showed in college, it’s pretty encouraging,” Elias said.

AL East Notes: Morton, Zunino, Walker, Red Sox, Yolmer

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Charlie Morton “wasn’t surprised” that the Rays declined to exercise their $15MM club option on his services, but the veteran right-hander told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the team’s decision “doesn’t mean we won’t try to work something out.  If there’s mutual interest, the next step is gauging what that looks like.”  Rays GM Erik Neander indicated yesterday that the team indeed hoped to bring Morton back for a third season.  If an acceptable deal can’t be worked out with the Rays or another club, Morton reiterated to Topkin that he’ll gauge whether he wants to keep playing, weighing such “typical factors” as his health, playing for a contender, and “does it make sense financially and geographically?”

The Rays declined options on both Morton and (at $4.5MM) catcher Mike Zunino yesterday.  Jet Sports Management represents both players, and agent B.B. Abbott told Topkin in a separate piece that there aren’t any hard feelings about the contractual decisions.  “Their first choice was to be in Tampa, and it probably still is their first choice,” Abbott said, but now that Morton and Zunino are on the open market, “they owe it to themselves to see what’s out there.”

More from the AL East…

  • Taijuan Walker figures to get a lot of attention in free agency this winter, but there is mutual interest between Walker and the Blue Jays in a return to Toronto’s rotation, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes.  Acquired in a trade from the Mariners in late August, Walker posted excellent numbers (1.37 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 2.27 K/BB rate) in his six starts in a Jays uniform.  Beyond the on-field results, Walker was also impressed by both the Jays’ long-term potential as contenders, and how the club treats its players.  “They have really good staff, coaches, training staff.  For me, it’s all about comfort and people,” Walker said.  “Being connected and having that family, and that’s what it felt like.”  Once one of baseball’s most highly-touted pitching prospects, injuries cost Walker virtually all of the 2018 and 2019 seasons but he has somewhat revived his stock after his solid 2020 performance.
  • While the Red Sox have interviewed several candidates to be their next manager, “the managerial search appears to be centered on determining if Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora can work well together,” the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham writes.  Of course, Cora was already Boston’s manager when Bloom was hired as the club’s chief baseball officer last October, though Cora’s firing and subsequent one-year suspension are undoubtedly considerations for Red Sox ownership and the front office in deciding whether or not to bring Cora back.  While Cora’s return has been widely speculated, Abraham isn’t sure a rehire “is automatic,” opining that Cora could potentially wait to see if another high-profile job (perhaps with the Mets) becomes available.
  • Now that Yolmer Sanchez has been claimed on waivers, the Orioles have some extra depth as they consider other infield moves, as MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski writes.  No decision has yet been made about Jose Iglesias’ $3.5MM club option, and with Sanchez now on hand as a second base candidate, the O’s could potentially non-tender Hanser Alberto, who is projected to earn between $2.3MM and $4.1MM in arbitration (depending on how arb salaries are calculated this winter).  Sanchez is himself eligible for arbitration, however, and his projected $6.2MM arb figure last winter was the chief reason why the White Sox non-tendered him last November.

From Waiver Fodder To MLB Regular?

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If you’re a hitter who records a wRC+ of 150 during a season, it means you were absolutely tremendous and 50 percent better than the average offensive player. The Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte finished with exactly that number last season, and as most who follow baseball know, he was a contender for National League Most Valuable Player honors. Shifting to the AL, the Orioles essentially had their own offensive version of Marte, at least against left-handed pitchers. While facing southpaws, little-known infielder Hanser Alberto batted an eyebrow-raising .398/.414/.534 in 227 plate appearances. Only J.D. Martinez (.404) bettered the right-handed Alberto’s average versus lefties, while just 18 batters defeated his 151 wRC+ against them.

Alberto’s ownership of southpaws was a rare bright spot during a 54-win campaign for the Orioles, and no one could have expected it after he was passed around so much during the previous offseason. The Rangers, with whom Alberto appeared in the majors from 2015-16 and again in 2018, designated Alberto for assignment and he left the organization when the Yankees claimed him on waivers in November 2018. He never suited up for the Yankees, though, as they lost him to the Orioles via waivers in January 2019. That was not the end of a busy offseason for Alberto, whom the Giants picked up on waivers in February before the Orioles claimed him yet again in March.

You have to give credit to the 27-year-old Alberto for persevering through a whirlwind of transactions and emerging as one of the O’s most productive players a season ago. The question now is whether Baltimore has a keeper or at least a valuable trade chip in Alberto.

First of all, the fact that Alberto thrashed lefties last year isn’t the only positive. He’s also versatile enough to play multiple infield positions (second and third) and under affordable control via arbitration through 2022. Problem is that it’s hard to envision Alberto sustaining his 2019 production. Prior to then, he was just a .192/.210/.231 hitter with zero home runs in 192 major league plate appearances. That doesn’t mean the light bulb couldn’t have gone on – Alberto was a solid .309/.330/.438 batter over 1,000 Triple-A attempts before last season – but it appears there was a substantial amount of luck lifting him up during his first year in Baltimore.

Alberto concluded last season with an overall line of .305/.329/.422 (96 wRC+) and 12 dingers and 1.9 fWAR in 550 PA. He also led the league in strikeout percentage (9.1) and came in 10th in contact percentage (86.5). Looks like good news, but was it impactful contact? Not really. According to FanGraphs, Alberto ranked dead last among 135 qualified hitters in hard-contact percentage (24.6). Statcast also wasn’t enthralled, ranking Alberto in the bottom 1 percent of the majors in hard-hit rate, average exit velocity and walk percentage. Alberto did place in the game’s 88th percentile in expected batting average (.290), but even that looks as if it will be difficult to maintain. Just about all of his damage came off southpaws (righties held him to an awful 57 wRC+), but he posted a .435 batting average on balls in play against them that you can’t reasonably expect to carry over.

While Alberto’s bottom-line production versus lefties was otherworldly last year, chances are that it won’t continue. But even if it doesn’t, you can’t criticize Baltimore in this case. The team has already gotten far more value from Alberto than it could have realistically anticipated when it added him to its roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Phillies, Werth, Harper, Mets, Gimenez, Orioles, Martin

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Jayson Werth was not surprised when his bromantic partner Bryce Harper signed with the Phillies exactly a year ago yesterday, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. After years of traveling together, yukking it up from stadium to stadium, Werth knew Harper’s feelings about the league about as well as could be expected, and given his own positive feelings about his time in Philly (he won a ring there in 2008), Harper taking a shine to his mentor’s former club definitely tracks. Werth impacted both franchises in their most recent championship endeavors, directly for the Phils as he hit .309/.387/.582 during their ’08 run. For the Nats, he provided legitimacy to the franchise at the outset of their current run of competency. The Nationals have posted a winning record in each of the last eight seasons back to 2012, Werth’s second year with the club. That’s enough reminiscing for today. Let’s stay in the NL East and check in on some spring training news…

  • New York Mets prospect Andres Gimenez added a leg kick to his swing this winter in an effort to get more lift, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. Gimenez will have to push the envelope to make his presence felt at the major league level this season, but he’s breathing down Amed Rosario’s neck. Robinson Cano is owed big money over the next four seasons, but there’s certainly the possibility that one of the Mets’ young shortstops could eventually move to the keystone. Despite some uncertainty regarding Rosario’s performance at the big league level, shortstop is a deep positional field for the Mets organizationally. Gimenez is the Mets’ 2nd-ranked prospect, per Fangraphs, behind only Ronny Mauricio, who trails Gimenez in timeline by roughly the same margin between Gimenez and Rosario. For now, Rosario, 24, will keep the position warm until Gimenez, 21, can take it. That is, until Mauricio, 19 in April, can get to it first. 
  • Jumping to the junior circuit, the Baltimore Orioles expect 2020 to be a development year for Richie Martin – out of the spotlight. With defensive wizard Jose Iglesias in-house to hold down shortstop – until July at least – Martin can make up for lost time in Triple-A. Last year’s Rule-5 selection from the A’s, Martin was pushed into a full season with the big league club last year, and his naïveté showed. Martin put up -0.6 rWAR and a 50 wRC+ in 2019 as their more-or-less everyday shortstop. Still, Martin isn’t giving up the possibility of winning a job at second base or in a utility role, per MASN’s Roch Kubatko. The team lacked middle infield depth last season, but they at least have more players vying for those roles this spring – likely leaving Martin on the outside looking in on opening day. Hanser Alberto has his name on one roster spot, while Andrew Velazquez and Ramon Urias are contenders for utility roles, while Stevie Wilkerson, Pat Valaika, Jose Rondon, and Dilson Herrera are all in camp as non-roster invitees. 
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