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Hanser Alberto

White Sox, Hanser Alberto Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent infielder Hanser Alberto, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The CAA client will be in Major League camp as a non-roster player this spring.

Alberto, 30, spent the 2022 season with the Dodgers and batted .244/.256/.365 with a pair of homers, nine doubles and a pair of triples in 159 trips to the plate. The Dodgers declined a $2MM club option on the well-traveled veteran, instead choosing a $250K buyout and sending Alberto back to the free-agent market.

The 2022 season was the least productive of Alberto’s career, but he’s not far removed from a more respectable .292/.315/.411 showing in 1036 plate appearances split between the Orioles and Royals from 2019-21. Thanks to plus bat-to-ball skills (career 12.2% strikeout rate) but also one of the freest-swinging approaches (career 2.3% walk rate) of any hitter in baseball, Alberto can regularly be counted on for respectable batting averages with middling OBP marks. He’s lacking in terms of extra-base pop, which has also contributed to negating some of the value derived from his penchant for putting the ball in play.

Still, as far as bench infielders go, a career .272/.294/.380 is decent — and it should be pointed out that Alberto carries a much stronger .323/.341/.449 slash in his career against left-handed pitching. He’s able to play second base, shortstop and third base, and Defensive Runs Saved pegs him as above-average at all three spots. (Statcast’s Outs Above Average likes his left-side defense but has panned his work at second base.)

The White Sox are still in search of a clear everyday second baseman, with current in-house options including Leury Garcia, Romy Gonzalez and Lenyn Sosa. Alberto will add some depth and could win a spot on the bench to help out against left-handed pitching. It’s unlikely he’d slide into a strict platoon with the switch-hitting Garcia, though, as Garcia’s career numbers are better against left-handed pitching than against right-handed pitching himself. Both Gonzalez and Sosa, meanwhile, are right-handed hitters as well. That arguably creates some redundancy, but a quality, versatile defender who can put the ball in play isn’t a bad depth option to stash on the bench or in the upper minors.

The Top Remaining Free Agent Middle Infield Options

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Jean Segura came off the board last week on a two-year deal with the Marlins. That removed the top remaining free agent middle infielder, leaving clubs with very few possibilities for help either at shortstop or second base.

Of course, Carlos Correa lingers over the entire market. Until he officially puts pen to paper somewhere, there’s at least a chance for another twist in that saga. Various reports have suggested Correa’s focused on hammering out his deal with the Mets in spite of their concerns about his physical, and that was essentially confirmed yesterday by Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. We’ll set Correa aside and look at the best options remaining for teams outside of Queens.

Here are the still-unsigned free agent middle infielders who tallied at least 150 plate appearances in 2022:

  • Elvis Andrus (34): Andrus is arguably the top unsigned free agent infielder. The 14-year veteran still brings a high-contact bat and quality baserunning to the table. Public defensive metrics have been divided on his work recently, with Statcast’s Outs Above Average generally rating him as an above-average shortstop despite less enthusiastic reviews from Defensive Runs Saved. Andrus looked like a glove-only player after hitting .255/.302/.360 from 2018-21, but he bounced back with a solid 2022 campaign. He hit .249/.303/.404 with 17 home runs (the second-highest total of his career) last season. That included a very strong finish, as Andrus hit .271/.309/.464 in 43 games with the White Sox after the A’s released him in mid-August in a move seemingly motivated by a desire to keep him from vesting a $15MM option in his contract for the 2023 season.
  • Josh Harrison (35): The final couple months of the season saw Andrus and Harrison overlap on Chicago’s South Side. The latter played the entire season there after signing a one-year free agent deal during Spring Training. Harrison appeared in 119 games, mostly split between second and third base. He hit .256/.317/.370 with seven home runs across 425 trips to the plate, overcoming a slow start to finish the year with roughly average offensive numbers. The veteran had posted similar numbers in each of the previous two seasons. He doesn’t draw many walks or hit for significant power, but he’s a respected clubhouse presence who consistently puts the ball in play. Harrison still earns solid grades from defensive metrics for his second and third base work; he’s not an option at shortstop, however.
  • José Iglesias (33): Iglesias spent the 2022 season as the primary shortstop in Colorado. He hit .292/.328/.380 through 467 plate appearances, right in line with the production he’s managed over the past four seasons. Igleias is very difficult to strike out and hits for consistently high batting averages, albeit without much else to drive the offensive profile. He rarely walks or hits home runs, though he’s a threat for 25-plus doubles annually. That offense sufficed when paired with the excellent defense that defined his early MLB tenure. He’s drawn less favorable reviews from public metrics the past two seasons though. Statcast has pegged him as a league average shortstop in each of the last two campaigns, but Defensive Runs Saved has rated him a staggering 26 runs below average since the start of 2021. How teams feel about Iglesias’ glove at this stage of his career figures to determine whether he’ll get semi-regular playing time again or have to assume more of a utility role in 2023.
  • César Hernández (32): Hernández suited up 147 times and tallied 617 plate appearances with the Nationals last season. He was a durable presence in the lineup for manager Dave Martinez but had a rough season. Just a year after popping a career-high 21 home runs, the switch-hitter mustered only one longball in the nation’s capital. Hernández is limited to second base and has posted subpar defensive metrics in each of the last two years. He might be limited to minor league offers.
  • Rougned Odor (29): Odor spent the 2022 campaign in Baltimore, his third team in as many seasons. The production was similar as it has been at each of the previous two stops. Odor has enough left-handed power to connect on 10-15 home runs with fairly regular playing time. Yet he also makes plenty of outs thanks both to consistently low walk rates and a propensity for infield pop-ups. Odor is almost strictly a second baseman — he has intermittent experience at third base as well — and posted below-average defensive numbers last year.

Utility Types/Bounceback Fliers

  • Hanser Alberto (30): Alberto brings a high-contact righty bat to a bench. He never walks and has only once topped three home runs in a season but has plus bat-to-ball skills and is well-regarded as a clubhouse presence. Alberto hit .244/.258/.365 in 159 plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2022.
  • Johan Camargo (29): Camargo spent the 2022 season with the Phillies, hitting .237/.297/.316 through 166 plate appearances. The switch-hitter had a pair of productive years with the Braves to open his MLB career but has since had four straight well below-average seasons. Camargo’s most natural fit is at third base, though he played more shortstop with Philadelphia.
  • Harold Castro (29): A left-handed hitter, Castro makes a decent amount of contact. He’s a career .284 hitter but rarely walks or hits for power. He’s played extensively throughout the infield and even logged a fair bit of center field work but rated poorly defensively at every stop. The Tigers non-tendered him at the end of the season.
  • Yu Chang (27): Chang bounced around the league via waivers in 2022, suiting up for four teams. He hit .208/.289/.315 in 190 combined plate appearances. Chang had been a prospect of some regard during his time in the Cleveland farm system. He hasn’t hit in limited MLB looks in any of the past four seasons but can play all four infield spots.
  • Didi Gregorius (33): Gregorius was an above-average shortstop as recently as 2020. Unfortunately, a two-year free agent deal to return to the Phillies over the 2020-21 offseason didn’t pan out. Gregorius struggled offensively in both seasons, including a .210/.263/.304 line in 232 trips to the plate last year. The Phils cut him in early August and he didn’t sign elsewhere before year’s end.
  • Josh VanMeter (28): VanMeter is primarily a second baseman who has some experience at the corner spots. He hit .187/.266/.292 with a trio of home runs through 192 plate appearances with the Pirates last season.
  • Jonathan Villar (31): Villar has excellent speed and has stolen more than 35 bases on three separate occasions. He’s intermittently been a productive hitter, posting above-average offensive numbers as recently as 2021. Last season was a disappointment, however. Villar hit .208/.260/.302 in 220 plate appearances between the Cubs and Angels. He spent the final couple months of the year in Triple-A.

Dodgers To Decline Club Option On Hanser Alberto

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The Dodgers are going to decline their club option on utility player Hanser Alberto, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. They will pay him a $250K buyout instead of a $2MM salary, with Alberto becoming a free agent.

Alberto, 30, has bounced around the league in his career, spending time with the Rangers, Orioles and Royals before signing with the Dodgers for 2022. He’s never been a huge threat at the plate, with his 12 home runs in the “juiced ball” season of 2019 marking a career high. However, he doesn’t strike out much, with a career rate of 12.2%, well below this year’s 22.4% league average. He also adds some defensive versatility, having spent some time at all four infield positions and the outfield corners.

The Dodgers have long been big fans of versatility and signed Alberto for a $1.6MM guarantee for 2022, which came in the form of a $1.35MM base and $250K buyout on the 2023 option. If Alberto had taken a step forward, he could have been a bargain at that price, but he largely produced more of the same. He hit .244/.258/.365 in Los Angeles for a wRC+ of 73, with his most notable contribution to the club arguably being that he stepped into a role as the designated mop-up pitcher. He eventually logged 11 innings in various blowout games, putting up a tidy 4.09 ERA in that time. He’ll now return to the open market in search of his next gig.

Previewing Upcoming Club Option Decisions: National League

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In the past two days, MLBTR has taken a look at how players with contractual options could impact the upcoming free agent class. We looked at players with vesting provisions on Tuesday before turning our attention to American League players under control via team options yesterday. Today, we’ll check in on their National League counterparts.

Braves

It has been strange year for Morton, who starred on last year’s World Series winner. He re-signed on a $20MM deal with a matching option for next season. Through 22 starts and 122 2/3 innings, the two-time All-Star has a slightly underwhelming 4.26 ERA. That’s largely attributable to a dreadful first couple months, however. He has an ERA of 3.55 or below in each of the past three months, carrying a cumulative 3.44 mark while holding opponents to a .198/.276/.369 line since June 1. Morton is still sitting in the mid-90’s with his fastball, striking batters out at a quality 27.3% clip and has ironed out his control after some uncharacteristic wildness through his first few starts. At first glance, a $20MM salary seems pricey for a pitcher entering his age-39 season with Morton’s overall numbers, but he’s not shown any signs of physical decline and has looked great lately. If he keeps at this pace for another two months, the Braves will probably welcome him back. That, of course, assumes Morton wants to continue playing. He’s hinted at retirement in years past and set fairly strict geographic limitations on his market during his latest trips to free agency.

Mets

The Mets acquired Vogelbach from the Pirates to add a left-handed platoon bat to what had been an underwhelming designated hitter mix. He’d hit .228/.338/.430 through 75 games in Pittsburgh and has raked at a .341/.473/.568 clip over his first couple weeks in Queens. For a negligible $1.5MM salary, keeping Vogelbach around feels like an easy call. He’s technically arbitration-eligible through 2024 regardless of whether the Mets exercise his option. The option price should be more affordable than whatever he’d receive through arbitration next offseason, so if the Mets surprisingly declined the option, they’d likely non-tender him entirely.

  • John Curtiss, RP ($775K option, arbitration-eligible through 2025)

There’s nothing new to report on Curtiss. He signed a big league deal just before Opening Day with the knowledge that he’d likely miss all of this season recovering from last August’s Tommy John surgery. He was immediately placed on the injured list. Next year’s option is valued at barely above the league minimum salary, so it’s just a matter of whether the Mets plan to devote him a roster spot all offseason. Curtiss is controllable through 2025 if the Mets keep him around.

Phillies

Segura has been the Phils’ primary second baseman for the past four seasons. He’s generally hit at a slightly above-average level, relying on excellent bat-to-ball skills to prop up an aggressive offensive approach. He’s paired that with above-average defensive ratings at the keystone. He’s lost most of this season after fracturing his finger on a bunt attempt, but he’s healthy now and performing at his typical level. Across 195 plate appearances, he owns a .284/.324/.421 line with seven home runs. Segura is a good player, but a $16MM call will probably be too much for a Philadelphia club that already has five players on the books for more than $20MM next season (and will add a sixth notable salary — more on that shortly). The market also hasn’t been particularly robust for second base-only players in recent years. Segura will be headed into his age-33 season.

This one’s a no-brainer for the Phillies to exercise. Nola is one of the sport’s top pitchers, a picture of durability and consistently above-average numbers (aside from a blip in his 2021 ERA that didn’t align with still excellent peripherals). One can argue whether Nola’s a true ace, but he’s at least a high-end #2 caliber arm. He’s given the Phils 144 2/3 innings of 3.17 ERA ball this season, striking out 27.9% of batters faced against a minuscule 3.6% walk rate. Even on a $16MM salary, he’s a bargain.

Reds

Wilson signed a complex free agent deal with the Yankees during the 2020-21 offseason. A one-year guarantee, the deal contained player and team options for 2022. Wilson and the Yankees agreed that if he triggered his $2.3MM player option for 2022, the team would get a 2023 option valued at $500K above that year’s league minimum salary. That provision carried over to the Reds when Wilson was dealt to Cincinnati at the 2021 trade deadline, and he indeed exercised the player option last winter. Next year’s league minimum is set at $720K, so Wilson’s option price will come in at $1.22MM.

It’s certainly affordable, but it still seems likely the Reds will let him go. The 34-year-old (35 next week) southpaw underwent Tommy John surgery in June, meaning he won’t return until late in the ’23 season at the earliest. He made just five appearances this season and posted a 5.29 ERA over 34 innings last year.

Brewers

Wong presents a tricky case for a Milwaukee club that typically runs slightly below-average player payrolls. He’s hitting .255/.336/.425, offense that checks in around 11 percentage points above league average according to wRC+. It’s among the better showings of his career. He doesn’t have huge power, but Wong’s an effective baserunner with plus bat-to-ball skills and good strike zone awareness. He’s a good but certainly not elite offensive player, one who’s performed about as well as Milwaukee could’ve reasonably hoped when signing him over the 2020-21 offseason.

What seems likely to determine whether the Brewers bring him back is how they evaluate his defense. A two-time Gold Glove award winner, Wong has rated as one of the sport’s best defensive second basemen for the majority of his career. Public metrics have unanimously panned his work this year, though, with Statcast’s Outs Above Average pegging him as the worst defensive second baseman in 2022. Wong’s speed has also taken a step back, and perhaps the Brewers think he’s just past his physical prime as he nears his 32nd birthday. If that’s the case, they probably buy him out, since Wong’s value has been so heavily concentrated in his glove. If they feel this year’s downturn is just a blip and expect he’ll return to his old ways on defense, then keeping him around makes sense. Like Segura, Wong could be affected by the market’s recent devaluation of second basemen. It’s also worth noting that Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Milwaukee was open to trade offers on Wong before this summer’s deadline. They didn’t move him, but it’s perhaps an indication the front office is leaning towards a buyout.

Boxberger has spent the past couple seasons on low-cost contracts in Milwaukee and generally performed well. He carries a 2.51 ERA through 43 innings this season, albeit with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates. Boxberger has a career-worst 8.4% swinging strike rate, and the front office could view his strong run prevention mark as little more than a mirage. The financial cost is modest enough they could nevertheless keep him around, particularly since manager Craig Counsell has trusted Boxberger enough to give him plenty of high-leverage opportunities (largely with good results).

Rockies

Oberg is technically controllable for another season via club option, but the Rockies will obviously decline it. He earned a three-year extension after the 2019 season on the heels of two consecutive sub-3.00 ERA campaigns, no small feat for a reliever calling Coors Field home. Unfortunately, Oberg has dealt with persistent blood clotting issues that prevented him throwing from a single major league pitch throughout the course of the contract. The 32-year-old hasn’t officially announced his retirement, but he admitted in May he’s no longer actively pursuing a return to the field. He’s taken on a role in the Colorado scouting department to stay involved with the organization.

Dodgers

  • Max Muncy, INF ($13MM option, $1.5MM buyout)

One of the game’s best hitters from 2018-21, Muncy has had a disappointing season thus far. Seemingly nagged by health issues tied to a ligament tear he suffered in his elbow late last season, he’s had a huge downturn in his offensive production. Muncy still boasts elite strike zone awareness, but his results on contact are way down. Overall, he carries a meager .180/.317/.360 line across 366 trips to the plate.

Still, given what Muncy’s shown himself capable of in the past, it seems unlikely the Dodgers let him go to save $11.5MM. This is an organization that annually runs one of the league’s highest payrolls, and they’ve shown a willingness to place one-year bets on players with upside but risk (e.g. tendering a $17MM arbitration contract to Cody Bellinger on the heels of a .165/.240/.302 season disrupted by injuries). They’ll probably do the same with Muncy and hoping he rediscovers his prior form with another offseason to rehab his elbow.

The Dodgers signed Duffy to a one-year guarantee this spring knowing he wasn’t likely to factor into the plans until midseason. He’d been shooting for a June return but has still yet to make his Dodgers debut, although he’s reportedly throwing at the team’s Arizona complex. It’s unlikely the Dodgers bring him back for $7MM given his recent health woes, but he could change those plans if he makes it back to the mound late in the season and looks like a potential impact arm, as he did at times with the Royals.

Hudson signed a one-year guarantee over the offseason and quickly emerged as a key high-leverage option for manager Dave Roberts. He dominated over 24 1/3 innings, pitching to a 2.22 ERA with an excellent 30.9% strikeout rate while averaging north of 97 MPH on his fastball. The veteran righty looked like one of the sport’s best relievers for two months, but he unfortunately blew out his knee trying to field a ground-ball. He tore his left ACL and is done for the year. The Dodgers could still roll the dice given how well he’d pitched before the injury, but that’s no longer a foregone conclusion. A $5.5MM decision isn’t onerous — particularly for L.A. — but there’s plenty of risk in Hudson’s profile given the injury and the fact that he’ll be headed into his age-36 season.

The Dodgers added the veteran Alberto on a fairly surprising big league deal. He’s been a below-average offensive player for three years running, with his solid contact skills not quite compensating for a lack of power and one of the game’s most aggressive approaches. He’s played a limited utility role, serving as a right-handed bench bat capable of splitting his time between second and third base. Next year’s option price is very affordable, but the Dodgers can probably find a hitter with a bit more punch to play the role Alberto has assumed.

Nelson underwent Tommy John surgery last August, but the Dodgers brought him back for the league minimum salary to get a cheap option on his services for next year. He’s been on the injured list for all of 2022, as expected. Whether the Dodgers keep him will depend on how he looks at the start of the offseason, but $1.1MM for a 33-year-old who posted a 1.86 ERA and punched out 37.9% of his opponents in 29 innings when last healthy is beyond reasonable.

Padres

The Padres have spent the past few years trying to get out from under the money they owe Myers. The extension to which they signed him in January 2017 never worked out, as he’d been a roughly average hitter aside from a monster showing in the shortened 2020 campaign up until this season. The 2022 season has been a disaster, as Myers owns a .233/.277/.295 showing through 159 plate appearances and has lost two months to a right knee injury. He’s healthy now but relegated to fourth outfield duty. Myers will probably find a big league opportunity somewhere this offseason, but it’ll come with a new team and with a substantial pay cut.

Giants

Longoria is nearing the end of an extension he first signed with the Rays a decade ago. His production dipped late in his stint with Tampa Bay, and Longoria slogged through a trio of mediocre seasons through his first four years in San Francisco. He’s had an offensive resurgence over the past two years, carrying a .254/.340/.468 line in 470 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. Longoria’s still a good hitter and capable defender at the hot corner, but he’s dealt with plenty of injury concerns as he’s gotten into his late 30s. He’s gone on the injured list five times in the last two seasons, including long-term absences for a shoulder sprain and hand surgery. The hefty buyout means it’d only be an extra $8MM for San Francisco to keep him around, but it seems likely they’ll look to get younger at the hot corner. It’s possible the three-time All-Star takes the decision out of their hands entirely, as he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle in June that he’s not ruling out retiring after this season.

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.

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