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Jose Iglesias

Latest On Jose Iglesias, Mets

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The Mets signed Nick Madrigal to a split contract yesterday, seemingly addressing the team’s desire to add an experienced utility infielder alongside the younger in-house infield options.  The signing led to fresh questions about the status of last year’s veteran infield hand in Jose Iglesias, who remains unsigned in the wake of a magical season on and off the field in Queens.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote yesterday that “the Mets haven’t yet strongly pursued” Iglesias to this point in the offseason.  The Post’s Mike Puma added a bit more context to the situation, noting that the Mets may see Iglesias as slightly redundant within the team’s crowded infield depth chart, even though “Iglesias hasn’t been ruled out” for a return.

Iglesias signed a minor league contract with New York last offseason, and that contract was selected to the active roster on May 31, when the Mets also optioned Brett Baty down to Triple-A amidst a flurry of other roster moves.  Known more for his glove than his bat over his long career, Iglesias improbably delivered the best offensive performance of his 12 MLB seasons, hitting .337/.381/.448 with four homers (for a 137 wRC+) over 291 plate appearances.  His arrival on the roster almost exactly coincided with the Mets’ turnaround, as the team had a 23-33 record before Iglesias’ contract was selected and then a 66-40 record afterwards.  If that wasn’t enough, Iglesias even recorded the pop song “OMG,” which became the Mets’ anthem and unofficial rallying cry for the 2024 season.

Despite all this success and Iglesias’ role as a clubhouse leader and fan favorite, it is understandable why the Mets haven’t been proactive in re-signing the 35-year-old.  Iglesias’ offensive showing was heavily powered by a .382 BABIP, as he didn’t walk much or make hard contact.  To Iglesias’ credit, his sprint speed helped him turn some of those grounders into base hits, and he kept a lot of balls in play by rarely striking out.

Still, it is safe to assume that the Mets might view Iglesias’ 2024 numbers as something of a fluke, so moving to the roster flexibility offered by Madrigal’s split contract could be the team’s preferred tactic.  As Puma noted, New York might ideally prefer that any of its veteran infield options remain purely as depth, lest they block any playing time for Baty, Luisangel Acuna, Ronny Mauricio or others.

Mets Sign Nick Madrigal

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The Mets have a one-year agreement with infielder Nick Madrigal, the club announced. It’s reportedly a split deal that pays the Wasserman client $1.35MM in the majors, with another $500K available via performance bonuses.

Madrigal, 28 in March, has spent the past five seasons in Chicago. Playing for both the White Sox and the Cubs, he has generally served as a light-hitting, part-time depth infielder. He has stepped to the plate 940 times over those five seasons. His 9% strikeout rate is very low but he also doesn’t walk much, taking free passes 4.6% of the time. While he puts the ball in play a lot, he doesn’t do a ton of damage in the process. He currently has just four home runs and sports a career batting line of .274/.323/.344 for an 88 wRC+. Statcast hasn’t given him strong marks for his exit velocity, hard hit rate nor his barrel rate.

He has been able to contribute in other ways. He has 17 stolen bases in 23 attempts. His defense is also well regarded. He has racked up eight Defensive Runs Saved at third base in his career and has been league average at second base. Outs Above Average has given him a +7 score at the hot corner and +2 at the keystone.

The Cubs could have kept Madrigal around for the 2025 season via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.9MM salary. The Cubs decided to non-tender him instead, sending him to free agency without having to put him on waivers.

The Mets have some uncertainty in their infield. Francisco Lindor has shortstop locked down. Jeff McNeil’s offense hasn’t been great lately but even his diminished production has been better than Madrigal’s. He can also play the outfield but the Mets are fairly crowded out there. Since he’s still making an eight-figure salary, he’ll probably be the regular at second.

The corners are more up in the air. Pete Alonso remains unsigned, giving the club a theoretical hole at first base. However, it’s been suggested that the club might be content to have Alonso move on. In that scenario, the club would move Mark Vientos over from third to first, leaving the hot corner open for a competition between Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña.

They have also lost a key depth infielder. They signed Jose Iglesias to a minor league deal last offseason, which turned into a huge win. He got into 85 games and hit .337/.381/.448 while filling in at second, third and short. He became a free agent at season’s end. Recent reporting has suggested that the Mets were interested in bolstering their infield depth.

Madrigal still has an option remaining, so he doesn’t need to be guaranteed a spot on the active roster. The fact that the Mets have given him a split deal suggests that going to the minors is a distinct possibility. If he eventually gets a big league roster spot, he could potentially replace Iglesias in that bench infielder role. If the young third base options struggle, he at least gives them a glove-first option there. If any of the club’s outfielders get injured and McNeil needs to go out there, or McNeil himself gets hurt, Madrigal could step in. An injury to Lindor could lead to Acuña or Mauricio covering short, which would bump Madrigal up the chart at third.

Since Madrigal has that option, there’s nothing really stopping the Mets from bringing back Iglesias or some other veteran infielder, so they’ve added some depth without closing any doors to other possibilities and at a fairly minimal cost. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported yesterday that the Mets “haven’t yet strongly pursued” a reunion with Iglesias. If Madrigal still has a roster spot at season’s end, he can be retained via arbitration for 2026.

Joel Sherman of The New York Post first reported that the two sides were in agreement. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported that it was a split deal. Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that it was a one-year pact. Sherman then reported the fact that Madrigal passed his physical, as well as the big league salary and bonuses.

Mets To Designate Omar Narvaez, Acquire Luis Torrens, Option Brett Baty, Christian Scott

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10:20am: The Mets are sending cash to the Yankees in the deal for Torrens, tweets Sherman. Specifically, it’ll be a $100K return for the Yankees.

9:50am: The Mets are shaking up the roster with a broad-reaching set of roster moves. Catcher Omar Narvaez is being designated for assignment, reports SNY’s Andy Martino. His spot on the roster will go to catcher Luis Torrens, who is being acquired from the Yankees and selected to the MLB roster, according to Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Meanwhile, third baseman Brett Baty and righty Christian Scott will be optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. They’ll be replaced on the roster by infielder Jose Iglesias, whose contract will be selected from Syracuse, and righty Dedniel Nunez, who’ll be recalled from Syracuse, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

It’s a significant slate of roster moves that’ll see the Mets jettison the veteran Narvaez, option two of their top prospects to Triple-A for more seasoning, and thus clear a full runway for Mark Vientos to get an opportunity as the everyday third baseman.

Narvaez, 32, inked a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $15MM in the 2022-23 offseason — the second season of which was a player option. After a lackluster debut campaign in Queens that saw him hit just .211/.283/.297, Narvaez unsurprisingly opted into the second season of his contract. This year’s production has been even more feeble, however. In 69 trips to the plate, Narvaez has managed only a .154/.191/.185 batting line with a dismal 22.2% hard-hit rate.

Prior to his time with the Mets, Narvaez was a quality regular with the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers from 2018-22 — even making an All-Star team with Milwaukee in 2021. That five-year span saw Narvaez bat .254/.337/.397. He was inconsistent with the bat on a year-to-year basis but wound up producing at a roughly league-average level overall during that half-decade run. On top of that, the Brewers — who have a reputation for improving catcher defense — revamped Narvaez’s skill set behind the plate. He rated as one of the game’s worst defenders in 2018-19 with Chicago and Seattle but posted seven Defensive Runs Saved and was worth an even more impressive 19 runs behind the plate in Statcast’s eyes — thanks largely to massive improvements in his framing.

The injury to Francisco Alvarez appeared to create an opportunity for Narvaez to get back to that previous form, but he’s been outhit by the defensively superior Tomas Nido, who returned to the big leagues after being outrighted to Syracuse last season. Nido hasn’t been great at the plate himself — his .233/.260/.370 batting line is well below par — but has handily outperformed his fellow backstop. That’ll allow Nido to stick around in what’ll likely be the lead catching role until Alvarez’s return.

Alvarez suited up for Double-A Binghamton yesterday, kicking off a 20-day window for his minor league rehab assignment. That could make for a short-lived stay on the roster for the newly acquired Torrens. The Mets will choose between him and Nido once Alvarez is ready for activation. In 124 Triple-A plate appearances with the Yankees, the journeyman Torrens hit .279/.339/.469 with five homers and six doubles.

Once a well-regarded catching prospect with the Padres and Mariners, the now-28-year-old Torrens is a career .227/.289/.354 hitter in 807 MLB plate appearances. He has a knack for hard contact, but too many of those well-struck balls are of the grounder variety. A hefty 49.9% of Torrens’ career batted balls in the majors have been on the ground, which is clearly suboptimal for a plodding catcher who ranked in the 24th percentile of big league players in sprint speed from 2022-23, per Statcast.

In Baty and Scott, the Mets are sending two of the organization’s most touted prospects back to the minors. Baty, 24, has now seen MLB action in three straight seasons but has yet to cement himself as the everyday third baseman — or even as a viable big league bat. This year’s .225/.304/.325 batting line is 12% worse than average, by measure of wRC+, but nonetheless stands as his most productive season in the big leagues. Since making his debut late in the 2022 season, Baty carries a .214/.281/.325 line in exactly 600 plate appearances.

Baty, the No. 12 pick in the 2019 draft, has been particularly cold of late, tallying just six hits in his past 54 trips to the plate. He’s considered a superior defender to the also-24-year-old Vientos, but Vientos’ bat has been too loud for the Mets to ignore. Also long considered one of the organization’s better prospects, Vientos is hitting .295/.354/.591 with three homers in just 48 plate appearances. The former No. 59 overall pick’s performance emphatically warrants greater playing time. With Baty sent to Triple-A, he’ll receive that chance and could well establish himself as a long-term corner option for the Mets with a strong showing.

Scott, who’ll turn 25 in a couple weeks, has pitched well through his first five MLB starts. In 27 2/3 frames, he’s worked to a 3.90 ERA with a 22.3% strikeout rate and excellent 5.4% walk rate. However, the right-hander was a reliever in college whom the Mets have moved into a rotation role since turning pro. He’s thus never worked a full starter’s workload, with last year’s 87 2/3 frames standing as a career-high. The Mets have multiple off-days on the schedule in the near future, lessening the need for rotation arms. As such, they’ll send Scott to Syracuse, where they can more easily manage his innings and simultaneously afford the big league club an extra reliever.

Passan does note that Scott is expected to return to the big leagues before long. His promotion to date certainly warrants that. And if the Mets continue on their current trajectory, it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see other members of the rotation dangled in trade scenarios. For now, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana, Tylor Megill and David Peterson are lined up to make the next five starts. Severino is on a one-year deal, while Manaea has a opt-out at season’s end and Quintana is in the second season of a two-year contract.

In place of Baty, the Mets will turn to the veteran Iglesias. He’s carved out a reputation as a plus defensive shortstop with good contact skills but minimal impact when he does put bat to ball. Iglesias didn’t play in the majors last season but is a career .279/.319/.382 batter in more than 4000 plate appearances. He’s come to the plate 175 times in Syracuse this season and turned in a .273/.309/.442 slash.

Iglesias will give the Mets a true backup shortstop to Francisco Lindor, something they previously lacked, and is plenty capable of spelling Vientos at the hot corner or stepping in for Jeff McNeil at second base even if the overwhelming majority of his career has been spent at shortstop.

As for Nunez, this will mark his third stint with the Mets already this year. He was up earlier this week as the 27th man for a doubleheader and also had a four-game run earlier in the season. He’s pitched 8 1/3 innings over five appearances, holding opponents to three runs on seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts.

Latest On Mets’ Roster Decisions

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Most of the Mets’ roster has come into focus with Opening Day approaching, and the team continued to make its final roster cuts this weekend.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo has the summary of the decisions, including the news that utilityman Zack Short and (somewhat provisionally) first baseman/outfielder D.J. Stewart will break camp with the team.  Stewart’s status is a little up in the air since he is the proverbial 26th man on the 26-man roster, and the Mets might yet replace him if a player they like becomes available on the waiver wire or in free agency, as rival teams also make their late cuts.

Short was claimed off waivers from the Tigers last November, and has been much more known for his defensive versatility than his bat (.174/.266/.308 in 450 career plate appearances) over his three MLB seasons in Detroit.  However, Short has looked really good at the plate this spring, while Stewart has struggled.  Ironically, Stewart has almost the opposite profile, as he has been productive if inconsistent in hitting .220/.339/.425 with 37 homers in 807 career PA, but isn’t known as much of a defender.  Stewart joined the Mets on a minor league deal last winter and hit a very solid .244/.333/.506 over 185 PA in his first season in Queens.

Short and Stewart got the nod ahead of a pair of minor league signings in Ji-Man Choi and Jose Iglesias.  The two veterans have opt-outs in their minors contracts but Choi told DiComo that he will report to the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate rather than re-enter free agency.  Iglesias also indicted that he will likely remain with the organization to await another possible opportunity later in the season.

One player who is somewhat unexpectedly heading to Triple-A is Mark Vientos, who was initially slated to be a part-time third baseman and DH heading into camp.  However, New York then signed J.D. Martinez this past week, and while Martinez will begin his season in the minors to make up for his lost spring prep time, Martinez’s presence will monopolize the designated hitter role.  As a result, Brett Baty and Short now could work as a third base platoon, since the Mets want Vientos to get steadier playing time in the minors.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns also noted that the team wants to see Vientos get more work in at third base.  Vientos’ defensive future has long been a question mark, as he is considered a subpar third baseman and playing at DH or first base with the Mets isn’t an option for at least 2024 due to the presence of Martinez and Pete Alonso.  Becoming even a passable third baseman could greatly help Vientos stick in the majors and keep him from being pigeonholed as a first base/DH type at most.  Vientos has hit just .205/.255/.354 with 10 home runs in 274 career PA in the big leagues, but the former second-round pick doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors after three seasons of crushing Triple-A pitching.

Assuming Stewart is indeed the last position player on the roster, the only remaining 26-man decisions facing the Mets are their last two bullpen spots.  DiComo writes that Michael Tonkin is “a heavy favorite for one” spot, and Yohan Ramirez and Sean Reid-Foley are competing for the other job.  All three pitchers are out of minor league options, DiComo notes that rival scouts have been watching Ramirez and Reid-Foley in anticipation of either pitcher potentially being available on the waiver wire.  The loser of the competition might end up traded rather than designated for assignment, if enough interest exists from teams in need of bullpen depth.

Mets Sign Jose Iglesias To Minor League Deal

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The Mets signed veteran shortstop Jose Iglesias to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. The MVP Sports Group client will be invited to big league camp in spring training.

The 2023 season was the first year in which Iglesias, 33, didn’t play in the big leagues since he missed the 2014 season due to injury. Iglesias went to spring training with the Marlins, didn’t make their Opening Day roster, and opted out of his minor league deal with Miami on April 20. He signed multiple minor league deals with the Padres thereafter, opting out of each.

Despite a solid showing with San Diego’s Triple-A club, Iglesias didn’t get a call to the big leagues with the Padres or another club. He played in 28 games with El Paso, batting .317/.356/.537 in 135 trips to the plate.

Prior to the 2023 campaign, Iglesias was a mainstay on big league rosters. Though he’s rarely provided huge value at the plate, he has a track record of strong glovework at shortstop and is also capable of playing both second base and third base. From 2018-22, Iglesias batted .287/.322/.404 — albeit with much of that production coming at very hitter-friendly home venues like Coors Field and Great American Ball Park.

Iglesias has long displayed excellent bat-to-ball skills, evidenced by his career 12.4% strikeout rate. However, he also rarely walks (career 4.3%), regularly leading to strong batting averages with middling on-base percentages and below-average slugging percentages.

With Francisco Lindor at shortstop, Jeff McNeil at second base and a series of third-base options including Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Joey Wendle, there’s no clear path to a regular role for Iglesias on the Mets’ roster. That said, he’ll join Zack Short as a potential utility infield option off the bench and give the Mets an experienced veteran they can stash in the upper minors for depth.

Adding depth has been a major focus for new president of baseball operations David Stearns in his first month-plus on the job. In addition to adding Iglesias, signing Wendle to a big league deal, and claiming Short off waivers, the Mets have added catchers Tyler Heineman and Cooper Hummel via waivers; signed pitchers Andre Scrubb, Kyle Crick and Cole Sulser to minor league contracts, and added righty Austin Adams on a split MLB deal.

Jose Iglesias Opts Out Of Contract With Padres

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Veteran infielder José Iglesias has opted out of his minor league deal with the Padres, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Assuming San Diego doesn’t add him to the MLB roster, he’ll return to free agency.

It’s familiar territory for Iglesias. He followed a similar path with the Marlins a few months ago, opting out after signing a minor league pact in Spring Training. He caught on with the Padres, triggered an opt-out a month later, then re-signed on a new minor league deal with San Diego.

Iglesias is still searching for his first MLB call of the year. He got to the highest level in 11 of the 12 seasons between 2011-22. Iglesias carved out a lengthy career as a regular thanks to excellent shortstop defense and a high-contact bat that allowed him to run strong batting averages. His public defensive marks have dropped over the past two seasons, though, contributing to his struggles to find an MLB look thus far in 2023.

To his credit, the 33-year-old had a nice offensive showing in Triple-A. He appeared in 28 games for San Diego’s highest affiliate in El Paso and hit .317/.356/.537 with four home runs over 135 trips to the plate. The power is probably inflated by the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting — Iglesias hit only three homers in 467 plate appearances for the Rockies last season — but he has continued to put the ball in play at a high rate. He went down on strikes in only 16.3% of his trips with El Paso.

Iglesias has played almost exclusively shortstop at the big league level, logging over 8000 career innings there. He spent most of his time there in Triple-A but logged a few starts at both second and third base as well. He’s no longer the defender he was at his peak, but he can cover any infield position and still hits for a high enough average he should at least find another minor league deal elsewhere.

Padres Re-Sign Jose Iglesias To Minor League Deal

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Just days after veteran infielder Jose Iglesias triggered an out clause in his minor league deal with the Padres and was granted his release, he’s re-signed with San Diego on a new minor league pact, the team’s Triple-A El Paso affiliate announced last night. Iglesias was back in the lineup with the Chihuahuas last night, going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.

It’s a quick turnaround, though these scenarios aren’t exactly uncommon in baseball. Iglesias presumably took a few days to survey interest around the league and gauge the market for big league opportunities before returning to the Padres’ affiliate he’s already spent the season calling home. Quick re-signings like this can also grant the opportunity for new terms (e.g. additional opt-out dates) to be written into the new contract that wouldn’t have existed had the player simply foregone the out clause in the first place.

The 33-year-old is out to a solid start in Triple-A this season, slashing .293/.350/.446 with a homer, nine doubles and a triple in 103 trips to the plate. He’s walked at an 8.7% clip against a 14.6% strikeout rate that’s well south of league-average (but also a bit elevated from last year’s 12% mark in the big leagues).

Iglesias spent the 2022 season with the Rockies, batting .292/.328/.380 as their primary shortstop. That’s about par for the course for Iglesias. Over the past several seasons, he’s maintained strong batting averages thanks to minimal strikeout rates but has been largely unable to supplement that average thanks to some of the lowest walk rates in baseball and minimal power output. Dating back to 2018, he’s batted .287/.322/.404, with a disproportionate amount of his extra-base hits coming in an anomalous 2020 campaign (three homers, 17 doubles in just 150 plate appearances).

Once touted as one of the game’s elite defenders at shortstop, Iglesias has seen his glovework slip in recent seasons — at least in the eyes of most defensive metrics. He hasn’t posted a positive mark in Outs Above Average since 2020 or in Defensive Runs Saved since 2019. He made a career-high 16 errors at shortstop in 2021 despite logging what was then his lightest workload at the position in a full 162-game season. Last year’s eight errors in 975 frames was an improvement over 2021, but Iglesias averaged eight errors in a considerably larger 1105 innings per year at short from 2015-19. He’s been well below average in terms of arm strength in each of the past three seasons, per Statcast, ranking 74th among 100 shortstops with an average 81.5 mph on his throws to first base (league average is 85.3 mph).

Even with Manny Machado sidelined due to a fractured hand, the Padres are deep in infield options on the big league roster. Xander Bogaerts and Ha-Seong Kim are holding the left side of the infield down, while Jake Cronenworth and Rougned Odor handle the right side. Odor hasn’t hit much this season, but he’s been on a well-timed hot streak over the past two weeks. Of course, Fernando Tatis Jr. is plenty familiar with playing the infield if needed there, though he’s taken quite well to right field (8 DRS, 4 OAA).

Jose Iglesias Opts Out Of Padres Deal

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Veteran infielder Jose Iglesias has opted out of his minors deal with the Padres, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, the 33-year-old Iglesias has been a quality glove-first middle infield option for big league clubs ever since his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2011. With more than 1,000 games in the majors under his belt, Iglesias owns a career slash line of .279/.319/.382, good for a wRC+ of 87 with a career strikeout rate of just 12.4%. Most recently, Iglesias played 118 games for the Rockies in 2022, with a .292/.328/.380 slash line (85 wRC+) and 12% strikeout rate that was largely in line with his career norms.

The majority of Iglesias’s value throughout his career has come from his glove, however, as Iglesias has ranked as one of the top defensive shortstops in the league since his debut in 2011 according to both UZR and OAA, with the fourth-most UZR and ninth-most OAA, minimum 1,000 innings at the position. That being said, metrics have soured on Iglesias’s glovework in recent years, with Statcast considering him a roughly league average defender over the past two seasons while Defensive Runs Saved considers him a whopping 26 runs below average over that same timeframe.

Still, as a veteran capable of solid defense up the middle with a decent bat, Iglesias could make a solid bench contributor for teams in need of infield help. That’s allowed him to secure minor league pacts with both the Marlins and the Padres since the end of the 2022 campaign, though neither club ultimately made the decision to promote him to their big league roster. Now back on the open market, Iglesias will look for a third organization to offer him a role, presumably on another minor league deal.

As for the Padres, Iglesias’s decision represents another blow to the club’s infield depth after Manny Machado hit the injured list with a fracture in his hand earlier this month and Ha-Seong Kim left yesterday’s game after taking a pitch off his knee. That being said, the club still sports Roughned Odor, Brandon Dixon, and Jake Cronenworth among their capable infield options alongside Xander Bogaerts, to say nothing of Fernando Tatis Jr. who converted to outfield work this season following the acquisition of Bogaerts.

Padres, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Padres are signing veteran shortstop José Iglesias to a minor league deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Iglesias had just opted out of a contract with the Marlins last week.

Iglesias spent the 2022 campaign with the Rockies. He played in 118 games and tallied 467 trips to the plate as Colorado’s primary shortstop, hitting .292/.328/.380 with a meager 12% strikeout rate. Iglesias demonstrated continued excellent contact skills and a similar overall offensive profile as he’s shown throughout his career. He typically runs high batting averages without a ton of power or many walks. In a little more than 4000 MLB plate appearances, the Cuba native is a .279/.319/.382 hitter.

That offense was more than reasonable while Iglesias was playing a Gold Glove caliber shortstop early in his career. Public metrics have soured on his glove since he’s gotten into his 30s. Statcast has pegged him as a league average defender in each of the past two seasons. Defensive Runs Saved, meanwhile, has graded him a staggering 26 runs worse than average at the position since the start of the 2021 campaign.

As a result, he’s been limited to successive non-roster deals with Miami and now San Diego. Iglesias stuck in the Marlins organization for a couple weeks after failing to crack the roster out of Spring Training. He didn’t appear in a Triple-A game before triggering his opt-out though. He’ll presumably join the Padres’ top affiliate in El Paso in the coming days.

Despite the dip in his defensive marks, Iglesias brings more than 4000 MLB innings of shortstop experience to the organization. The Friars already have Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim and perhaps Fernando Tatis Jr. as options to play shortstop in the majors. Iglesias adds a veteran as injury insurance and could perhaps branch out to other infield spots in El Paso.

Jose Iglesias Opts Out Of Deal With Marlins

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Shortstop José Iglesias has triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Marlins, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Feinsand adds that Iglesias is returning to free agency, indicating Miami has chosen not to override the opt-out by adding him to the big league roster.

The veteran infielder lingered on the open market for the bulk of the offseason. He caught on with the Fish on a minor league pact during the second week of March. Iglesias collected three hits in 15 at-bats over seven exhibition games. He had a chance to retest free agency a couple weeks later after the Marlins informed him he wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Iglesias passed on the first opt-out and agreed to stick in the organization. He never appeared for Triple-A Jacksonville, though, and he’ll now return to the open market in search of a new opportunity. Iglesias is only a season removed from being a regular shortstop in the major leagues. He played in 118 games and tallied 467 trips to the plate for the Rockies last year, hitting .292/.328/.380 with a meager 12% strikeout rate.

The 33-year-old still brandishes excellent bat-to-ball skills. He’s never been one to take many walks or hit for home run power. Iglesias’ best seasons were built around high batting averages and strong marks for his shortstop defense. Public metrics have soured on his glove since he’s gotten into his 30s. Statcast has pegged him as a league average defender in each of the past two seasons. Defensive Runs Saved, meanwhile, has graded him a staggering 26 runs worse than average at the position since the start of the 2021 campaign.

A team that feels Iglesias is still a viable shortstop defender could have interest in his services. The Dodgers recently lost Miguel Rojas to the injured list and have considered using Mookie Betts at shortstop for the first time in his MLB career. They’d make sense as a speculative fit for Iglesias, who has over 8000 big league innings. Teams like the Reds and A’s have gotten very little out of the position through the season’s first couple weeks.

That’s also true of the Marlins. Miami’s shortstops own a meager .226/.269/.290 line over 67 plate appearances. General manager Kim Ng and her staff nevertheless prefer to stick with their MLB options rather than turning to Iglesias. The Fish have given the bulk of the work there to Jon Berti, with Joey Wendle and Garrett Hampson picking up a few at-bats.

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