The Orioles have reached a one-year, $3MM deal with shortstop Jose Iglesias, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. It includes a $2.5MM salary for 2020 along with a $500K buyout of a $3.5MM club option, Dan Connolly of The Athletic tweets. Iglesias is a client of MVP Sports Group.
The 30-year-old Iglesias has done much better this offseason than last, when he sat on the market until the Reds added him on a minor league agreement in late February. Iglesias, who had been a member of the Red Sox and Tigers to that point, had established himself as a slick-fielding, light-hitting shortstop before the Reds picked him up. That remained the case in Iglesias’ lone season in Cincinnati, but Iglesias nonetheless proved to be a nice bargain pickup for the club. He totaled 1.6 fWAR across 530 plate appearances last year, in which he slashed .288/.318/.407 with a career-high 11 home runs (he hadn’t hit more than six in prior seasons) across 530 plate appearances.
Now a member of the Orioles, a rebuilding, non-contending club that’s coming off back-to-back 100-loss seasons, Iglesias will take the reins at short for a team that used Richie Martin and Jonathan Villar at the position throughout 2019. Martin, a Rule 5 addition, was in over his head and now figures to spend a large portion of the upcoming season at the Triple-A level. And the Orioles traded Villar, now a Marlin, in the wake of a productive season.
Could be a turning point in the Orioles future….
Hahaha
Not sure what you trolls expect the Orioles to do. It’s a solid signing, not costly, fills a position of need, gives Martin the opportunity to develop more at AAA.
preach
Pennant!
This is a nice signing, short and long term for the young pitchers that will be coming up as Prospects, late season.
There is nothing worse for a young pitcher to pitch outs and not get outs. It also saves the bullpen from overuse. An elite defender at the SS position is actually a nice move here
Makes sense. Solid move for the rebuild … nothing amazing but will get the job done for now
I mean this seriously. It’s the kind of deal than has no downside. He plays lousy or gets hurt and the cost is minimal. He stays healthy and plays well and he can return a mid level prospect that might be helpful down the road when Baltimore is on the upswing.
Idk what your definition is of a mid lvl prospect… but any return rather it be cash or a minor leaguer that the organization thinks they can develop into something decent will be a win for the O’s. His glove alone likely will earn him the money they pay him. Likely best case in my opinion…. he’s flipped to a contender for a bench glove in return for a project minor leaguer and cash. That minor leaguer is then flipped with others in a bigger deal down the road. That’s the ceiling of his potential in my opinion.
Decisions seem easy these days. (I.e., not always a good problem to have, as they say.)
I still want Richie Martin get a chance to be the starter. He improved as the season went on
Hmmm, he had good offensive numbers in September with a pretty small number of ABs (29), but his July and August offensive numbers were worse than his June offensive numbers. “He had good September offensive numbers” is a more accurate statement. You’re welcome…
Which is the only reason why he wasn’t below the Mendoza Line last year.
Eat-He was below the real Mendoza line of 215 at 208.
Just sayin’.
Everyone picks on me when there have been a lot worse hitters in ML history.
But it made me famous so I am not complaining.
I really think he needs to spend some time in AAA now that they officially have the rights to him. He desperately needs it.
Bingo, Crumpy
Martin has better than average glove work, but he can use some seasoning with the Tides in 2020. It’s usually a big jump from AA straight into the bigs, and he handled it decently, considering. I think he’s still part of the rebuild plans, after all he still has all of his option years going into spring training. But he (and the club) will be better off if he gets a little bit more development.
All great points.
Yeah?
I’m so happy for him in that he finally got an MLB deal. The fact that he had to settle for a minor league deal last year was kind of surprising. For the Orioles, even though you’re not getting much of a bat with him you’re getting a great defender that can potentially help out the younger arms
that they have.
He has made over $26M over 10 seasons and he made over $2M last year and over $6M in 2018. But we are glad you are so happy for him!!!
spotrac.com/mlb/cincinnati-reds/jose-iglesias-8454…
I know but the $2.5MM last year wasn’t guaranteed. This deal is guaranteed. I thought it was ridiculous that he had to wait until February to sign a non-guaranteed deal.
You’re not getting much *OBP* with him. You’re actually getting a good bat though.
FTFY
He signed with the Orioles. Major league is debatable.
nice deal for him. he should be able to start.
Yeah, at least he won’t have a batting average that’s barely over the Mendoza Line.
Orioles are reportedly also making contract offers to::
Julio Iglesias,
Gabriel Iglesias,
Enrique Iglesias
They are trying for the FIRST EVER all Iglesias infield.
You could send that bomb to Iran.,
DONE !!
Have to get it past the modern day version of axis annie pretty soon.
Excellent!
He is one of the top defense SS in baseball, but he tends to hot dog too much. When he played in Detroit he looked like he was going to breakout big, but never did. He will be a quality pickup they might be able to flip
Let’s see RDRS/yr ranked 11th in 2019 out of SS with 100+ games at SS and RF/9 was next to last…his defensive stats at SS were definitely better than Villar’s or Martin’s though, so upgrade!
baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2019-specialpos…
This poser is really trying to steal my thunder
Defensive metrics tend to be suspect.
Iglesias is a top notch defender
Iglesias seems to me to be a bit underrated. Granted his offense has never been all that great BUT he does put the ball in play/doesnt strike out all that much and provides very solid defense at a premium position. And as an added bonus last year he even displayed a little bit of pop (11 HRs) idk it just seems like such a solid defender with decent enough contact skills would be something that teams would value more than they seemed to have to this point in his career. I guess this isn’t entirely a bad contract but it just seems like total utility guys are getting the same if not more $ whereas Iglesias has kind of proven he’s capable of being a starter yet still doesn’t seem to garner as much interests to guys I feel are essentially just as productive – like Startin Castro or even Jose Peraza. anyway I wish him the best and maybe this is the year he can more establish himself as a legitimate and valuable piece in the lineup – given that his stellar defense continues and he maybe builds on his career high 11 HRs a bit — he deserves it by all means a hard worker and someone who has stayed away from any controversy I wish him the best.
Did you graduate from Ga Tech?
This is the best move the orioles could’ve made. Made far too much sense. Huge defensive upgrade that will really help the pitchers. A good glove is far more valuable than a good bat at SS for this club. The left side of the infield won’t hit much but Ruiz and Iglesias definitely bring a plus glove.
I’m with you Jeff. I see Iglesias as underrated and under appreciated. He has a terrific glove and is a solid hitter for a shortstop.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=bat&#…
Jose Iglesias was the 21st ranked offensive SS last season. He hit 16% below league average. Wouldn’t be my definition of “pretty good” but you do you!
Gary Thorne will refer to him as a future hall of famer!
Gary will be singing “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” every time he comes up to hit. 😉
Pretty solid SS for the price tag
As a Reds fan, the Orioles will love watching him play SS. The guy is a wizard with the glove. Also as a Reds fan, I was hoping they could bring him back and have Galvis and Iglesias as options at short and also for late inning relief of Moustakas at 2b.. but I guess I’ll have to settle for Lindor…..
I’d rather have Jiggy backing Lindor up as well. I loved watching him play and I’ll miss him too.
Pretty easy one. 3M a year is cheap for his skillset, and he’s better than what they had.
Orioles are back
I like it.
Hated seeing the Reds let him go … should have brought him back and let Galvis go
believe me, the more you see of Galvis the more you will like. that man is a wizard at SS, and if not for B-Craw he would have at least a pair of Gold Gloves by now.
When one of the unexpected signings in your RTTS save happens in real life!
I’m surprised, but in a good way. I honestly didn’t expect the O’s to sign anyone of his caliber.
Red Sox whiffed on this one. For a roughly equal contract they got the unproven Peraza. Sure it’s a little risky plugging Iglesias in at 2B since he’s never played there, but it’s a fairly natural transition for a career infielder known for his defense. Maybe he isn’t willing to shift to 2B, but if is the Sox got the wrong man.
I think Boston is in for a pleasant surprise with Peraza. He had a slow start last year and David Bell panicked. Peraza is a solid ball player. Think Martín Prado with a lot more speed. I hated to see the Reds give him up for nothing!
Great move by the O’s that should help their pitching staff. He’s a better hitter than advertised, as well. I’m surprised a contender didnt nab Iglesias as depth up the middle. It’s possible he had offers as a part timer, but chose Baltimore where he will most likely start 150 games if healthy.
Good for him! He IS a major league starting shortstop, glad he landed somewhere that’s holding him in that esteem! Loved his awesome D and gritty clutch ABs here in Cincy, cheers and good luck!
Iglesias was really entertaining to watch in Detroit. Acrobatic slick fielding plays made most every opportunity. By far the bestshow on the field. Wished he stayed he made the games worth watching. Tigers couldve given us that bit of pleasure at least and still continue tanking. Baltimore fans are lucky. Enjoy
Wishing the same thing.
Wonder why they deleted my comment?
Thats weird its back lol
Thanks, O’s. Nice move in keeping with the tradition of excellent shortstops: Aparicio, Belanger, Cal, Bordick & Hardy.
Nice signing. As a Reds fan, Iglesias is a nice solid player to show the younger guys how to be a pro. Gonna miss him.
Finally Baltimore makes a FA signing. I wished they would have also gotten Brandon Dixon from the Tigers when they DFA him a week ago.