The Orioles have placed infielder/designated hitter Jimmy Paredes on waivers, reports Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic (Twitter link). Because Paredes has been outrighted in the past, he could refuse a minor league assignment and become a free agent, notes Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).
Baltimore had to make a decision on the out-of-options Paredes, whose Triple-A rehab assignment was set to end today. The 27-year-old had been working his way back from a wrist injury since beginning the season on the disabled list. While Paredes logged extensive time at the plate in 2015, slashing .275/.310/.416 with 10 home runs in 384 trips, the Orioles’ lack of trust in his defense limited him to just 72 2/3 innings over a career-high 104 games. Given his defensive issues and Pedro Alvarez’s presence as their DH, Paredes no longer had a place on the Orioles’ roster.
Paredes, a career .257/.293/.369 hitter in 845 major league PAs, is owed a $520K salary this season and has three years of arbitration eligibility remaining.
Gwynning's Anal Lover
Considering his current salary and versitiliy, I would assume he would become a free agent, sign for more money, and potentially have a starting role as a second baseman or third baseman.
mookiessnarl
Below average hitter and defender. He’d have more luck as a utility guy, but since he can’t play defense that’s probably off the table. There really isn’t a spot for a guy like that on a team. He’ll get a MiL deal somewhere if he’s lucky, but he’s not going to walk on somewhere as a ML starter.
agentx
Paredes could start in SD immediately, and probably even after Solarte returns and the Padres move Wallace off 3B and back to the bench.
That’s if neither TB nor ATL seek a stopgap to their 2B issues by claiming Paredes first, though I’m guessing TB will stick with Beckham/Pearce at 2B and ATL will also pass on Paredes and his shaky glove.
bleacherbum
I agree, Padres have 4 injuries to infielders right now and Adam Rosales and Brett Wallace aren’t cutting it at 3rd. They should claim Paredes, give them a little more pop in a lineup that doesn’t have much of it right now.
sals029
Paredes hit .216/.252/.265 after the break last year, his only productive season in the big leagues. Also he is pretty bad defensively at all positions, not sure that qualifies as versatile. My guess is that he clears waivers and accepts a triple A assignment.
agentx
Good points about his second-half line and glaring lack of defense. Paredes is not an especially good player, but he’d only have to outplay the likes of Jose Pirela, Adam Rosales, and Jemile Weeks to get into the 2B mix in SD.
mstrchef13
Paredes is so bad defensively that the O’s put Steve Pearce at 2B last year rather than let Paredes play in the field. Offensively last year he was terrible in the second half when the league figured out he would swing at every curveball thrown his way and he never figured out how to stop. He struck out 42 times in 102 AB in the second half of the season. He had his chance, was good for a few months, but never made the adjustments necessary to sustain success. Any team considering starting him in the field must be really desperate.
drmorales
He seems like an upgrade over Campbell, maybe mets interested.
CursedRangers
Maybe he can replace Prince Fielder at DH for my Rangers.
dbacksrs
They have Fielder for four more years, he’s not going to ride the bench because of a slow start to this season.
CursedRangers
I was joking
cubsfan2489
Go joke somewhere else. Because of “bigpapi4ever”, nobody can be taken as a joke on these chat boards
agentx
C’mon, cubsfan2489… if we stop joking just because of him then the terrorists have won.