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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.

Charlie Blackmon To Undergo Knee Surgery

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7:00pm: Kelsey Wingert-Linch of AT&T SportsNet has reported that Blackmon’s injury happened last week as he rounded a bag at Coors Field and that he tried to play through it. Blackmon is set to undergo surgery on Monday in Denver and should be healthy for Spring Training.

6:05pm: The Colorado Rockies have reinstated infielder José Iglesias from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, the Rockies have placed outfielder Charlie Blackmon on the 10-day injured list with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Iglesias returns to the active roster just over three weeks after his initial placement on the 10-day IL with a right-hand contusion. Before his injury, the 32-year-old Iglesias was in the midst of a strong season, slashing .300/.337/.392, good for a .729 OPS, with an extremely low 12.0% strikeout rate but paired with a below-average 3.8% walk rate. Additionally, Iglesias provided serviceable defense at shortstop, with a .981 fielding percentage and 0 Outs Above Average, as measured by StatCast.

After a strong showing with the Red Sox late in 2021 after being DFA’d by the Angels, Iglesias joined the Rockies as they moved on from the Trevor Story-era, signing a one-year, $5MM contract. With the recent promotion of prospect Ezequiel Tovar, ranked as the Rockies’ second-best prospect by MLB.com, Iglesias’s time in Colorado may soon be over. However, after a solid season with the Rockies, Iglesias will likely command a Major League contract in the offseason.

As for Blackmon, his 2022 season has been forced to end prematurely. Since signing a six-year, $108MM extension in 2018, Blackmon has posted a .287/.348/.478/.826 slash line with a WRC+ of 107, 7% better than league-average, park-adjusted, and two All-Star appearances. The 2022 season has not been as kind to the 36-year-old, with Blackmon amidst one of his weaker seasons in recent memory of .264/.314/.419/.733. The long-time Rockie has a player option for the 2023 season, with a value of $15MM, and is likely to accept it. Blackmon is expected to be healthy for Spring Training, per Wingert-Linch.

Injury Notes: García, Oller, Iglesias

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The Marlins activated outfielder Avisaíl García from the injured list today, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald, after missing over a month due to a hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Peyton Burdick was optioned in a corresponding move.

It’s been a disappointing season for García, the first of a four-year, $53MM deal he signed with with the Marlins. The Fish were surely hoping García could add some thump to their lineup after he hit 29 homers with the Brewers last year and slashed .262/.330/.490 for a wRC+ of 115. But he’s hit just seven long balls in 88 games this year, producing an overall line of .232/.269/.322, wRC+ of 68.

The Marlins are 17 1/2 games out of a playoff spot now and won’t be playing for much down the stretch. But García will look to get back into a groove and finish the season strong, going into the winter with some momentum and optimism for 2023.

Some other injury notes from around the league…

  • The Athletics announced a series of roster moves today, one of which was placing righty Adam Oller on the 15-day injured list. Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle relays that Oller’s IL placement is due to “right rib costochondritis.” The club hasn’t provided a timeline for the hurler, but he’ll miss at least the next couple of weeks. Since there’s only about four weeks remaining on the schedule, it’s possible that he’s done for the year. Acquired from the Mets in the Chris Bassitt trade, Oller made his MLB debut this year, tossing 73 1/3 innings with a 6.01 ERA, 13.4% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 31.7% ground ball rate.
  • The Rockies placed infielder José Iglesias on the 10-day injured list today due to a right hand contusion. Iglesias signed a one-year, $5MM deal with the Rockies in the offseason and became the first shortstop atop Colorado’s depth chart not named “Tulowitzki” or “Story” since 2006. He’s having another season typical of his career, providing solid defense while hitting a bit below league average. His batting line for the year is .300/.337/.392, producing a wRC+ of 92. Though that’s 8% below league average, his defensive contributions have allowed him to rack up 1.4 fWAR on the year. This offseason will feature another batch of superstar shortstops, including Dansby Swanson, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts, assuming those latter two opt out of their respective contracts. Iglesias isn’t quite at their level but will be in the next tier down, next to players like Elvis Andrus. With Iglesias out of the lineup the past three days, Alan Trejo has been slotted into the shortstop position.

Rockies Remain Unlikely To Trade Daniel Bard, C.J. Cron

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The Rockies have dropped seven of their last ten games, falling into last place in the NL West. They’re set to miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year, but they remain opposed to any kind of dramatic overhaul. General manager Bill Schmidt flatly rejected the idea of a rebuild earlier this month, and it seems likely they’ll hold onto most or all of their shorter-term players as well.

Closer Daniel Bard and first baseman C.J. Cron have drawn reported interest over the past few weeks, but the Rox haven’t seemed especially urgent to move either player. That remains the case, as both Danielle Allentuck of the Colorado Spring Gazette and Nick Groke of the Athletic relay that neither is likely to be dealt. Both Allentuck and Groke write that Colorado is optimistic about its chances of signing the 37-year-old Bard to a contract extension that’d keep him from hitting the open market this winter as scheduled. Cron, meanwhile, is already under contract for next season at a modest $7.5MM salary.

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Colorado manager Bud Black metaphorically suggested the Rockies have been underwhelmed with the trade offers they’ve received on their veteran players. “We’re fielding calls. We’ve got some players who are desirable,” Black said. “And I can’t speak to it, but I’ll give you some perspective. Team A might call on one of our players and their front office might say, ‘We like this guy.’ And our front office will say, ‘Well, yeah, he’s a good player, you should be on that player. … But this happens a little bit, too. Hey, you guys have a Range Rover. We’ll take your Range Rover and we’ll give you our Honda Accord.’ And teams expect you to do that. Why would we do that? ‘How could you not trade your Range Rover?’ Because we might try to keep our Range Rover! Rather than trade it for your Subaru!”

The Rockies actions in recent seasons have reflected a similar sentiment. While most non-contenders are happy to take the best offer on the table for the bulk of their impending free agents, Colorado declined to trade any of Cron, Jon Gray or Trevor Story at last year’s deadline. It paid off in Cron’s case, as they eventually agreed to a two-year extension and have been rewarded with the slugger’s .280/.335/.521 showing this season. Gray and Story departed in free agency, however, and Colorado received no compensation for the former after surprisingly deciding against issuing him a qualifying offer.

They’re set to adopt a similar approach to this summer’s deadline. Groke writes that Colorado is also hoping to extend starter Chad Kuhl, who’s slated for free agency this winter himself. The righty has expressed openness to staying in Denver, and the organization shares the desire to keep him around. The 29-year-old signed a $3MM guarantee over the winter after being non-tendered by the Pirates. He’s made 19 starts and soaked up 98 innings with mixed results.

Kuhl had excellent numbers early on, carrying a 3.56 ERA through the end of May. He’s hit a major rough patch of late, though, allowing five-plus runs in three of his last five starts while failing to work into the sixth inning on any occasion. Since tossing a complete game shutout against the Dodgers on June 27, he’s allowed 22 runs in 20 2/3 innings. That has brought his season line up to a 4.78 ERA with a personal-low 16.6% strikeout rate.

Spotty recent run notwithstanding, there’s some merit to the Rox’s desire to hold onto Kuhl beyond this season. He’s handled himself well at Coors Field, pitching to a 4.17 ERA while holding opponents to a manageable .258/.313/.428 line through nine home starts. Largely thanks to a quality slider, he’s mostly done well against right-handed batters. Kuhl’s lack of a trustworthy changeup has always contributed to marked platoon concerns, but his sinker-slider mix generally aligns with those of pitchers (i.e. Gray, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela) whom the Rockies have relied upon in recent years. Depending on the price point, keeping Kuhl around as a lower-cost option at the back of the rotation is defensible — particularly since the trade demand from other clubs figures to be modest given his numbers this month.

Shortstop José Iglesias and right-hander Alex Colomé are each ticketed for free agency as well. Igleias, as a contact-oriented infielder, could hold modest appeal to contenders looking for utility depth. Colomé doesn’t miss many bats, but he’s a solid strike-thrower and ground-ball specialist in the middle innings. Whether Colorado will deal either for a lower-level prospect or two remains to be seen, although both Allentuck and Groke posit that Colomé is the likeliest player on the roster to be traded.

Rockies Unlikely To Be Major Deadline Sellers

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At 39-49, the Rockies are tied with the D-backs for last place in the National League West, sitting 18 games back from the division-leading Dodgers. Only eight teams in baseball have a worse winning percentage than Colorado, and several of those eight came into the 2022 season with no intention of competing as they progressed through rebuilds. The Rockies, as has become par for the course, seem to feel their club is underperforming and don’t envision a major sell-off. General manager Bill Schmidt replied with a simple “no” when asked by Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette if he expects to be a big seller at this year’s deadline.

It’s a familiar refrain for a Rockies club that has enjoyed just two winning seasons in the past decade and appears well on its way to a tenth sub-.500 finish in the past dozen seasons. The Rockies are 171-212 dating back to 2019 but have nevertheless generally eschewed even the trades of veterans on expiring contracts. They added Kevin Pillar and Mychal Givens at the 2020 deadline, for instance. The Rox eventually traded Givens last summer, but that was the sole deadline deal for a club that had Jon Gray, Trevor Story and C.J. Cron on expiring contracts — plus righty Daniel Bard, who is a free agent at the end of the current season.

On the one hand, it’s refreshing to see a team continue to try to turn its fortunes and win in the here-and-now without embarking on an arduous multi-year rebuild (which, in itself, is not the panacea it’s often framed to be). On the other, the Rox have continually expressed ardent belief that this core can be the nucleus of a winning club but have yet to see that faith manifest in the form of consistent wins on the field.

Zealous confidence in the core has been demonstrated through far more than just words. Colorado extended Cron, infielder Ryan McMahon, lefty Kyle Freeland, righty Antonio Senzatela and catcher Elias Diaz, traded for Randal Grichuk and signed Kris Bryant to an eye-popping seven-year deal in an effort to finally turn the corner this year. Smaller deals for Jose Iglesias, Alex Colome and Chad Kuhl were meant to further bolster the roster. But at with just 20 days until the trade deadline, they find themselves in a familiar spot, and the only names among those extensions and new acquisitions who’ve performed up to expectation are Cron, Kuhl, Colome and perhaps Iglesias.

Despite the lackluster results, Schmidt tells Allentuck that he “believe[s] in these guys,” adding confidence that the farm system will soon bring about some reinforcements. The Rox indeed have some nearly MLB-ready talent on the cusp of the Majors, but the system as a whole is ranked between 23rd and 25th among all 30 teams at each of Baseball America, MLB.com, The Athletic and ESPN. Schmidt, the scouting director-turned-GM, surely views his group more favorably, but as Allentuck explores in greater detail, nearly every one of the organization’s most promising pitching prospects has dealt with injuries of varying severity this winter.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the Rockies should, at the very least, be open-minded about deals involving veterans who are set to be free agents at season’s end. That would include Bard, who’s been one of the better closers in the NL this season, as well as Kuhl, Colome, Iglesias and hard-throwing but mercurial righty Carlos Estevez.

However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported over the weekend that the Rox hope to sign the 37-year-old Bard to an extension rather than trade him. Allentuck notes that a deal between the two parties isn’t close but similarly suggests that an extension is likelier than a trade. While Nightengale wrote the Rockies could listen to offers on Kuhl, the right-hander himself tells Allentuck that he’s also open to an extension and would prefer to stay in one place rather than bounce around the league. Schmidt seemingly hinted at this when noting that the most commonly speculated trade candidates in Colorado “are the guys that want to stay here.” Based on the team’s recent rash of extensions, it’s certainly possible Kuhl re-signs on a new multi-year deal rather than changing hands in the next three weeks.

There’d obviously be plenty of risk associated with extending Bard or Kuhl. Bard is already 37, and although he’s whiffed 29.5% of opponents, limited hard contact and notched a career-best 56.4% ground-ball rate en route to a 2.14 ERA, his 2021 campaign (5.21 ERA in 65 2/3 innings) is a reminder of the overall volatility of relief pitching. Add in Bard’s age and still-ugly 12.2% walk rate, and there’s definite downside, strong as his results to date have been.

Kuhl, meanwhile, has a 4.02 ERA through 87 1/3 innings — a total that’s already the second-highest mark of the oft-injured righty’s career. The 29-year-old’s 16.9% strikeout rate ranks 71st of the 79 pitchers in MLB with at least 80 innings so far, and his 29.4% opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone ranks 73rd. His 41.7% hard-hit rate is the highest mark he’s ever yielded. Perhaps the return wouldn’t be enough to justify a trade, and it can’t be ignored that it’s rare for free-agent pitchers to voice a willingness (or in this case, even a preference) to call Coors Field home.

Still, keeping Kuhl would effectively lock the 2023 Rockies into relying on the same rotation that has produced a 28th-ranked 5.06 ERA in 2022 (plus a 24th-ranked 4.47 FIP and 28th-ranked 4.58 SIERA). In doing so, they’d be betting heavily on improvements from German Marquez, Freeland and Senzatela — although with all three now signed to lucrative multi-year deals, there’s little choice but for the organization to hope for just that.

Last year’s deadline was Schmidt’s first in the GM chair after more than 20 years in other front office roles with the Rockies, so there was no precedent for how he’d approach the trade market. Now, between what we saw last summer and the latest comments to Allentuck, it seems likely to expect a conservative approach that’ll leave the bulk of the roster intact.

That would ostensibly set the stage for another offseason of win-now transactions for the Rockies, but there are payroll considerations to keep in mind as well. Assuming Charlie Blackmon picks up next year’s $10MM player option, they’ll already have $120.5MM in guarantees on the books. That doesn’t include potential salaries for extension candidates Bard and Kuhl, nor does it include arbitration raises for Austin Gomber, Brendan Rodgers, Tyler Kinley, Garrett Hampson and Robert Stephenson. All of that will push the Rockies much closer to their franchise-record $145MM payroll, meaning it’ll be incumbent for the current group to right the ship if they’re to truly turn their fortunes in future seasons.

Rockies Notes: Bryant, Schmidt, Pitching, Bard

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Kris Bryant looks to be close to returning to the Rockies lineup, as manager Bud Black told reporters (including MLB.com’s Thomas Harding) that Bryant will return to the team for an evaluation on Monday.  If all goes well, Bryant could be activated from the injured list for tomorrow’s game against the Dodgers.

Bryant’s next appearance will be only his 18th game of the season, as the former NL MVP has twice been sidelined due to lower back strains.  Bryant’s first IL stint cost him just shy of a month of action, and after being reinstated, he played in only two more games before returning to the injured list.  All told, Bryant has made only 73 plate appearances and hit only .270/.342/.333 in his first season in a Rockies uniform.

Getting their prized free agent signing back onto the field is the first step in what the Rockies hope is a second-half turnaround.  Today’s 6-3 loss to the Twins dropped Colorado’s record to 31-42, and the team sits in last place in the NL West.

While the Rockies’ ownership and front office has often been overly optimistic about the team’s chances, GM Bill Schmidt took a more measured tone in accessing his club’s play, telling The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders and other reporters on Friday that the first goal was “just thinking about getting back to playing .500 baseball.”  In regards to the trade deadline, Schmidt said “we will always listen” to offers from other teams, but the priority is still “to try to win as many games as we can.”

It’s difficult to tell whether or not Colorado’s record could have any real impact on their status as deadline sellers, considering that last year, the Rox opted to retain such pending free agents as Trevor Story and Jon Gray.  If the Rockies are again prioritizing building around their core and not dealing players they think they can re-sign (i.e. how they re-signed C.J. Cron last fall), it could be another relatively quiet deadline for the team.

Case in point, Saunders feels the Rockies could try to extend closer Daniel Bard, since “they love his work ethic and his leadership and he’s become a second bullpen coach.”  If a deal can’t be struck, however, it is possible Bard could be a candidate to be moved by August 2.  Bard is enjoying a terrific season at the back of the Rockies’ bullpen, and is scheduled for free agency after the season, making him a tempting rental pick-up for any contender looking for relief help.

Given Bard’s unusual career path, he might be more open than most pending free agents to signing an extension.  He went more than six full seasons between MLB appearances, as Bard struggled at both the big league and minor league levels, and he also stepped away from the sport entirely for two years.  Bard’s comeback has now yielded three largely successful seasons with the Rockies, and Bard might welcome some long sought-after security in the form of a multi-year commitment to remain in Denver.

Schmidt seemed to downplay the idea of dealing any arms, saying that “I still say that our pitching is our strength, and it’s too hard for us to acquire pitching.  So we still have the core that we are going to build around, going forward.  That hasn’t changed.”  This would seem to rule out the idea of the Rox dealing any starters, and maybe also relievers like Bard or (another scheduled free agent) Alex Colome, though Colome seems likelier to be moved than Bard.

Beyond the hurlers, Saunders figures that veteran infielder Jose Iglesias is the likeliest trade candidate, and that there isn’t much chance Charlie Blackmon would waive his no-trade protection to allow a deal.  (Plus, the Rockies may not have the willingness or ability to deal Blackmon anyway.)  Interestingly, Saunders suggests that the Rox should at least be open to the idea of moving Cron, even though the first baseman is still under contract for the 2023 season.

Rockies Sign Jose Iglesias

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The Rockies have signed shortstop Jose Iglesias to a one-year contract, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter).  Univision’s Mike Rodriguez tweeted earlier tonight that Iglesias and the Rox were close to reaching a deal, and later noted that Iglesias will earn $5MM.  Iglesias is represented by MVP Sports Group.

As Nick Groke of The Athletic notes, the Rockies signing Iglesias to play shortstop means “the door is shut on the Trevor Story era.”  Story picked up the mantle as Colorado’s regular shortstop from Troy Tulowitzki in 2016, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting and garnering MVP votes in each of the 2018-20 seasons.  The Rockies extended the $18.4MM qualifying offer to Story in November, and he remains a free agent.  The Iglesias signing also solidifies former third overall draft pick Brendan Rodgers as the team’s second baseman.

Iglesias, 32, has played for the Red Sox, Tigers, Reds, Orioles, and Angels in his 10-year MLB career.  Iglesias signed with the Red Sox as a slick-fielding shortstop out of Cuba back in 2009.  On his way to a second place Rookie of the Year finish in 2013, Iglesias was traded to the Tigers in a three-team deal at the July deadline.  Stress fractures in both of his legs kept him out for the entire 2014 season, but Iglesias went on to make his lone All-Star Game in 2015 and served as the Tigers’ shortstop for four seasons.

Iglesias joined the Reds on a surprising minor league deal in late February of 2019, ultimately serving as the club’s starter at shortstop.   He joined the Orioles as a free agent in January 2020, posting an uncharacteristic 160 wRC+ in 150 plate appearances.  That led Baltimore to pick up Iglesias’ $3.5MM club option for 2021, though they traded him to the Angels for a pair of minor leaguers a month later.  Iglesias took the bulk of the Angels’ innings at shortstop in 2021, yet was released in September.  He came home to the Red Sox on a big league deal and hit well in his brief time there, though he was ineligible for the club’s postseason roster.

With a career 87 wRC+ at the plate, defense is Iglesias’ calling card.  His Statcast Outs Above Average metrics dating back to 2016 have generally been above average.  Iglesias’ Defensive Runs Saved metrics have been erratic, and he struggled in Ultimate Zone Rating in ’21.

Iglesias has endured what you might call a lack of respect from the game in the most recent years of his solid career, from the minor league deal with the Reds to the release by the Angels.  Nonetheless, he’s served as his team’s primary shortstop in every season dating back to 2015, and just signed the largest contract of his big league career since coming over from Cuba.  The post-lockout free agent market has quickly provided homes for the few non-star free agent players who tallied 500+ innings at shortstop in 2021, with the Cubs signing Andrelton Simmons to a $4MM deal yesterday and the Astros adding Niko Goodrum on a $2.1MM pact today.  Story and Carlos Correa, with much higher expected price tags and qualifying offers attached, have yet to sign.

For the Rockies, Iglesias will help bridge the gap to their top shortstop prospect, 20-year-old Ezequiel Tovar.  Baseball America ranked the Venezuelan ninth among Rockies prospects, explaining, “Tovar still has several years of growth ahead of him, but he’s talented enough defensively to eventually be the Rockies’ starting shortstop.”  Having gone with an affordable light-hitting veteran option for 2022 in Iglesias, the Rockies figure to fill their stated goal of adding offense via the outfield.

Red Sox Outright Jose Iglesias, Yairo Munoz

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The Red Sox have outrighted infielders Jose Iglesias and Yairo Munoz, according to a team announcement. This now leaves their 40-man roster at 39, giving them the opportunity to potentially make an addition before tomorrow’s ALDS kick-off. (Munoz had been on the COVID-19 related injured list since September 1st and thus wasn’t taking up a roster spot.)

Subtracting Iglesias from the roster isn’t terribly surprising, since he is unable to play for the club again this season anyhow on account of being signed after the August 31st deadline. Players joining an organization after that date are ineligible for postseason play with their new club. Iglesias was released by the Angels September 3rd and signed with the Red Sox September 6th. He is also heading into free agency after the postseason, making it a formality to cut him loose a bit early.

The club could now potentially add a player from their minor league system to the 40-man roster for postseason eligibility. Players in the organization but not on the 40-man roster before September 1 can still participate in the playoffs via a petition to the Commissioner’s Office, a fairly common maneuver throughout the league.

Another roster question hanging over the club is whether or not J.D. Martinez will be on it. The slugger hurt his ankle recently and was left off the roster for the Wild Card game. As noted by Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Martinez took the field today and “tested his ankle at low intensity.” When Martinez was asked if he would play tomorrow, he gave the noncommittal answer, “You’ll find out.” Of course, any player that the Red Sox could potentially call up would pale in comparison to a healthy Martinez, who had yet another excellent season at the plate, hitting .286/.349/.518, for a wRC+ of 128.

Red Sox Sign Jose Iglesias

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11:46am: The Red Sox have announced the signing of Iglesias to a Major League deal and added him to the active roster. Additionally, Boston has reinstated reliever Josh Taylor from the Covid-19 list, selected the contract of right-hander Michael Feliz and returned Covid replacement players Kutter Crawford, Jack Lopez and John Schreiber to Triple-A Worcester. None of the three had to be passed through waivers to be sent down and removed from the 40-man roster because they were specifically appointed as Covid-19 replacements.

11:30am: Shortstop Jose Iglesias, who was released by the Angels over the weekend, is at Fenway Park today, per the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham (Twitter link). The Globe’s Alex Speier tweets that the Red Sox are expected to announce the signing of Iglesias shortly. He’s represented by the MVP Sports Group.

The Red Sox, in the midst of a Covid-19 outbreak in their clubhouse, have a whopping 11 players in Covid protocol at the moment. That group includes infielders Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo, Enrique Hernandez and Yairo Munoz, leaving the Sox in dire need of some infield help. Jonathan Arauz and Jack Lopez have been lining up in the middle infield in recent days, but Iglesias figures to step into that mix and begin logging some regular reps while the team awaits the return of Bogaerts and others.

It was a rough season for Iglesias in Anaheim — his lone year with the Angels. The 31-year-old wasn’t able to replicate last year’s enormous production at the plate — or even to come particularly close. It was just 150 plate appearances, but Iglesias posted a career-best .373/.400/.556 batting line with the Orioles in 2021 before slipping back to a .259/.295/.375 slash that falls more in line with his overall career numbers.

More troubling than a return to the norm at the dish, however, has been the decline in Iglesias’ glovework. He’s made 16 errors in 961 innings this year after making just 18 errors in 2393 innings from 2018-20 combined. Iglesias had never made more than 11 errors in a season but already has 10 throwing errors alone, in addition to six fielding errors. Defensive Runs Saved pegs Iglesias at a stunning minus-21 this season, while his Ultimate Zone Rating is a career-low minus-4.9.

Defensive struggles notwithstanding, Iglesias now returns to his original organization as a veteran reinforcement at a critical juncture. The Sox are quite unlikely to run down the Rays, who lead them by eight games in the standings, but are hoping to maintain a three-game lead over the upstart Mariners for the second AL Wild Card spot. They’re also just a half-game behind the Yankees for the top AL Wild Card spot and would surely like to eek ahead of their archrivals in order to seize home-field advantage in a theoretical Wild Card showdown.

The Red Sox originally signed Iglesias back in Sept. 2009 after he left his native Cuba. He spent the next several seasons rising through their minor league ranks and making a handful of big league appearances before settling in as their shortstop in 2013. Boston, however, sent him to the Tigers that summer in a three-team trade that sent Jake Peavy from the White Sox to the Red Sox and Avisail Garcia from Detroit to Chicago. (The White Sox picked up both Frankie Montas and J.B. Wendelken from the Red Sox in the trade as well.)

It’s something of a full-circle moment for Iglesias, who won’t be eligible for the postseason roster due to the fact that he’s joining the organization after Aug. 31. He’ll still have the opportunity to help his original club reach the postseason again, though, and this late change of scenery can also provide him an offseason for the league’s other teams as he preps to head back to free agency this winter.

Angels Release Jose Iglesias

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The Angels announced they’ve released shortstop José Iglesias. The move clears active and 40-man roster space for right-hander Janson Junk, whose previously-reported promotion to the majors has now been made official.

It’s a somewhat surprising move, as Iglesias has served as Los Angeles’ regular shortstop for the majority of the season. Acquired from the Orioles over the winter, the 31-year-old has started 111 of the Angels 134 games to this point. But he’s proven unable to sustain last year’s small sample offensive output, as Iglesias is hitting .259/.295/.375 with eight home runs across 447 plate appearances (85 wRC+). That’s a bit below his career .276/.316/.380 mark and well off last year’s .373/.400/.556 pace.

As evidenced by his career production, Iglesias has never been a particularly fearsome hitter. He’s instead long been regarded as one of the game’s top defensive infielders, which has led to regular opportunities as an everyday shortstop with the Tigers, Reds, Orioles and Angels in recent seasons. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently examined, though, Iglesias’ defensive metrics have tumbled this season — a problem that has plagued much of the club.

Defensive Runs Saved has pegged Iglesias as 21 runs below average at shortstop this season, the league’s worst mark for a player at any position. Ultimate Zone Rating and Statcast’s Outs Above Average aren’t quite so bearish, but both systems also peg Iglesias as below average with the glove. Single-season defensive metrics can be variable, and Iglesias is being compared to his peers at shortstop — who tend to be among the game’s best overall infielders. So there remains some hope of him turning things around somewhat, but his unanimously poor ratings this year also likely suggest that his days as one of the sport’s most valuable defenders could be behind him.

Whether Iglesias can right the ship defensively will be determined elsewhere, as he’s apparently not in the future plans for the Angels. At 66-68, Los Angeles is almost certainly going to miss the playoffs this season. Iglesias was due to reach free agency this winter, and the Angels were evidently prepared to move on and look for other options at the position.

For the season’s final few weeks, it seems they’ll give a look to utilityman Jack Mayfield, who has flashed some power potential in recent weeks and has ample long-term team control. Mayfield is hitting just .216 with a .262 on-base percentage overall and is soon to turn 31 years old, though, so it’d be a surprise if Los Angeles is content to roll into 2022 with him pencilled in as the regular shortstop. More likely, they’ll turn to free agency or trade this winter with Mayfield reassuming a depth role moving forward.

Iglesias is playing out this season on a $3.5MM contract. Around $600K of that salary is still owed through the end of the year. Unless another club claims Iglesias off release waivers, the Angels will remain on the hook for the rest of that sum. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, Iglesias would be free to sign with any team for the prorated portion of the league minimum, which would be subtracted from the Angels’ tab. Because he is being cut loose after September 1, Iglesias wouldn’t be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster if he were to latch on somewhere for the stretch run.

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