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Danny Espinosa

Mets Sign Danny Espinosa To Minor League Deal

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The Mets announced Friday that they’ve signed infielder Danny Espinosa to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.

Espinosa joins a crowded Mets infield mix that currently includes Jed Lowrie, Todd Frazier, Amed Rosario, Robinson Cano, J.D. Davis and first basemen Dominic Smith and Peter Alonso. He’ll face an uphill battle in cracking the roster because of that depth, particularly considering the struggles Espinosa has endured in recent seasons.

Once a high-quality regular for the Nationals, Espinosa has bounced all over the league since 2016, spending time with the Nats, Angels, Mariners, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Phillies (although not all in the Majors). Last year, in 80 games between the Triple-A affiliates for the Dodgers, Phillies and Jays, he hit a combined .229/.291/.356 in 315 plate appearances. If he doesn’t make the roster out of camp, the switch-hitting Espinosa will presumably head to the Mets’ new Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and give them some depth in the event of an injury.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/14/18

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There are quite a few minor moves to cover, with Baseball America’s Matt Eddy releasing several weeks’ worth of transactions. We’ll use this post to cover the most notable ones that haven’t yet featured on MLBTR:

  • The Angels released outfielder Ben Revere, who could perhaps be an interesting player to target for contending clubs that like the idea of adding a good defender and baserunning threat to their system. Revere, 30, hasn’t seen the majors this year after seven-straight seasons of action at the game’s highest level. He’s slashing .277/.319/.406 with a pair of steals through 166 plate appearances at Triple-A.
  • Ending a relationship that never seemed to work out, the Dodgers have cut loose infielder Erisbel Arruebarrena. Now 28, the former international signee hadn’t played much in the club’s system since he was suspended in May of 2016.
  • The Phillies have released a pair of former big leaguers: infielder Danny Espinosa and outfielder Adron Chambers. Espinosa’s always fickle bat has not yet recovered from a 2017 nosedive. In 240 Triple-A plate appearances with three organizations this year, he owns a .295/.239/.312 slash. Chambers, meanwhile, hasn’t seen the majors since 2013 and last played affiliated ball in 2015, but came back from an indy stint to produce a .278/.328/.437 batting line in 138 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • A host of players received their walking papers from the Diamondbacks. Righty Brian Ellington is among them; the flamethrower struggled badly with his command in limited minor-league action. Southpaw Anthony Vasquez was also released after after 85 2/3 innings of 5.04 ERA ball in the upper minors. The club also dropped several outfielders. Cesar Puello (.317/.426/.454) and Dan Robertson (.263/.361/.407) are both former big leaguers who were getting on base at Reno, but will now seek other opportunities.
  • The Giants released two notable players in righty Chris Heston and backstop Ryan Hanigan. Heston, 30, only made nine appearances in the minors this year owing to injury. Hanigan, who’s closing in on his 38th birthday, is still looking to crack the majors for the 12th-straight season but did not help his cause with a .175/.254/.193 batting line in 63 plate appearances at Triple-A.
  • The Cubs parted with Ryan Webb after he made just 11 appearances at the Rookie ball level. It is not immediately clear why the 32-year-old did not get a shot in the upper minors, or what’s next for him In eight seasons of MLB pitching, from 2009 through 2016, Webb owns a 3.43 ERA through 393 1/3 innings.
  • A variety of other former major-league relief pitchers were also on the move. Among them: The White Sox signed once-promising Braves reliever Mauricio Cabrera. Righty Dallas Beeler was released by the Royals. A trio of former MLB lefties are back in free agency after being cut free: Elvis Araujo (Orioles); Paco Rodriguez (Twins); and Dario Alvarez (Mariners).
  • Meanwhile, the Mariners parted with outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and the Nationals did the same with Alejandro De Aza. One-time Rule 5 pick Taylor Featherston landed with the Reds.

Phillies Sign Danny Espinosa To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies announced that they’ve signed veteran infielder Danny Espinosa to a minor league contract. The MVP Sports client will give the Phils some additional infield depth following this week’s injury to J.P. Crawford, who is expected to miss up to six weeks due to a broken hand.

Espinosa, who turned 31 back in April, has now been with seven different organizations since Opening Day 2017. The longtime Nationals infielder opened the 2017 season as the Angels’ second baseman but was released by the Halos last July. Since that time, he’s had brief stints with the Rays, Mariners, Yankees, Blue Jays and Dodgers (though he only appeared in the Majors with Tampa Bay and Seattle).

The switch-hitting Espinosa has had a rough go of it so far in 2018, hitting a combined .190/.236/.276 through 125 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Dodgers and Blue Jays. That’s served as a continuation of last season’s .173/.245/.278 slash through 295 Major League plate appearances between the Angels, Rays and Mariners. Espinosa did hit 24 homers as recently as 2016 with the Nationals and is considered to be a strong up-the-middle defender, but his bat has become increasingly questionable in recent seasons.

Dodgers Release Danny Espinosa

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The Dodgers have released veteran infielder Danny Espinosa from their Triple-A club, tweets Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. He’d signed with the organization on a minor league pact back in early May.

Espinosa, who turned 31 last month, has bounced all over the league since opening the 2017 season with the Angels. The longtime Nationals infielder was released by the Halos last July, and has since had brief stints with five other organizations: the Rays, Mariners, Yankees, Blue Jays and Dodgers (though he only appeared in the Majors with Tampa Bay and Seattle).

Espinosa’s time with the Dodgers organization will prove to be brief, as he appeared in just 19 games with their Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City and batted .150/.203/.267 with a pair of homers but a 36.9 percent strikeout rate. Espinosa has long carried a strong defensive reputation and did slug 24 homers for the Nationals as recently as 2016, but he’s struggled mightily at the plate both in 2017 and again so far in 2018.

Dodgers Sign Danny Espinosa

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The Dodgers have signed veteran middle infielder Danny Espinosa to a minor league deal, according to Alex Freedman, the communications director for their Triple-A team in Oklahoma City (Twitter link). Espinosa has already joined OKC, per Freedman.

Espinosa, who had been on the market since opting out of a minors pact with Toronto on April 30, could provide LA with some emergency infield depth. The 31-year-old’s primarily a second baseman, but he also offers extensive experience at shortstop, where the Dodgers will go without the great Corey Seager for the rest of the season. Seager underwent Tommy John surgery last month, forcing the Dodgers to move center fielder Chris Taylor to short to replace him. The injury-laden club has also been without second baseman Logan Forsythe and third baseman Justin Turner, though Espinosa hasn’t seen much action at the latter spot.

While Espinosa was a solid regular at times with the Nationals from 2010-16, a period in which he posted two seasons of at least 2.7 fWAR, his career went off the rails last year. The switch-hitter divided 2017 among three teams (the Angels, Mariners and Rays) and hit a paltry .173/.245/.278 (41 wRC+) with 109 strikeouts in 295 plate appearances. He wasn’t much better at the beginning of this season with the Jays’ Triple-A club, as he batted just .232/.271/.286 (51 wRC+) with 15 strikeouts in 60 PAs before exiting the organization.

Danny Espinosa Opts Out Of Blue Jays Deal

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10:25am: Espinosa exercised an opt-out clause in his contract with the Jays, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

8:25am: Veteran infielder Danny Espinosa has been released by the Blue Jays organization, per an announcement from Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.

The 31-year-old Espinosa opened the 2017 season at the big league level with the Angels but has since bounced to four other organizations in that time. He saw brief stints in the Majors with both the Mariners and Rays (eight games apiece) before season’s end in 2017, and he was with the Yankees in Spring Training before being granted his release and latching on with the Jays on a minor league pact.

Espinosa has had a rough start to the Triple-A season with the Bisons, hitting .232/.271/.286 with 15 strikeouts against three walks in 60 trips to the plate. That inauspicious slash comes on the heels of a combined .197/.286/.344 batting line in 896 plate appearances at the big league level across the 2016-17 seasons.

Though the past couple years have been a struggle at the plate for the switch-hitter, he’s long carried a strong defensive reputation and is capable of playing both middle-infield spots. He’s also just a season removed from slugging 24 homers for the Nationals in 2016, indicating that there’s still some pop in his bat.

Toronto’s offseason pickups of Yangervis Solarte, Aledmys Diaz and Gift Ngoepe created plenty of middle-infield competition within the organization, and the promotion of international signee Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the Majors only further impeded Espinosa’s path to a potential roster spot. He’ll now look to latch on with what will somewhat remarkably be his sixth organization of the past calendar year — presumably one with lesser middle-infield depth than the Jays have at present.

Blue Jays Sign Danny Espinosa To Minor-League Deal

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The Blue Jays have signed infielder Danny Espinosa to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports was first to report that Espinosa had been spotted in the Jays’ camp.

The Yankees signed the 30-year-old switch-hitter to a minor-league deal earlier in the offseason. At the time, he seemed to have at least an outside shot to crack the Bombers’ roster as the team’s second baseman or utility infielder. That door closed to a sliver, however, when the club acquired Brandon Drury from the Diamondbacks, and slammed shut when the club signed veteran Neil Walker to a one-year, $4MM deal. With safer options in place, the Yanks released the veteran infielder; they had little reason to keep Espinosa around, who struggled to a .197/.286/.344 batting line with a 31.6% strikeout rate across the past two seasons.

A week ago, it would have seemed that Espinosa had even less of a chance to break through with the Jays. But following the news that Troy Tulowitzki is unlikely to be ready for opening day, there’s at least an opportunity for Espinosa to compete for an infield job in Toronto. That competition will be stiff, though; Devon Travis, Aledmys Diaz and Yangervis Solarte would seem to be firmly ahead of him on the depth chart.

Espinosa’s best seasons came with the Nationals from 2011-2012. During those seasons, he amassed 1,316 plate appearances and hit .242/.319/.408 with 38 homers and 37 steals. He was worth 6.8 fWAR during that span in part due to his sparkling defense at second base.

Yankees Release Danny Espinosa

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The Yankees have released veteran infielder Danny Espinosa from his minor league contract, GM Brian Cashman told reporters today after announcing the signing of Neil Walker (Twitter link via the YES Network’s Jack Curry).

The move will allow Espinosa the opportunity to find a club better-poised to give him a chance at cracking the big league roster. Since the Yankees signed Espinosa earlier this offseason, they’ve acquired Brandon Drury in a trade and signed Walker to a one-year deal. With that pair on the 25-man roster, plus prospects Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar on the horizon and utility options like Tyler Wade and Ronald Torreyes, Espinosa clearly faced an uphill battle in ever seeing any big league time in the Bronx.

Over the past two seasons, the switch-hitting Espinosa has struggled to a dismal .197/.286/.344 slash with 283 strikeouts in 896 plate appearances — a whopping 31.5 percent strikeout rate. But, Espinosa is a talented defensive player that has experience all around the infield and has a history of decent offensive output against left-handed pitching. While it’s now been two years since he’s delivered anything in the way of offensive production in the big leagues, Espinosa still should hold appeal to other organization with lesser depth up the middle.

Yankees To Sign Danny Espinosa To Minor-League Deal

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The Yankees have elected to add 30-year-old infielder Danny Espinosa on a minor-league deal, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports on Twitter. He’ll receive an invitation to spring training camp, where he’ll compete for the Yankees’ second base job.

Prior to the 2017 season, Espinosa had played exclusively for the Nationals. While he spent most of his career as a reserve infielder, a strong finish to the 2015 season earned him a full time role in 2016 during which he batted .208/.306/.378 while homering 24 times and stealing nine bases. However, he struggled mightily last season across 295 combined plate appearances between the Angels, Rays and Mariners… Espinosa managed just a .523 OPS while striking out nearly 37% of the time.

Espinosa’s true calling card is his excellent defense in the middle infield; he’s been worth a total of 34 runs saved between shortstop and second base over the course of his eight-year MLB career. However, even that once-spectacular defense declined a bit last season. Fangraphs gave him a 2.6 defense rating, which is a career low for the veteran. All told, he played at a full win below replacement level for the 2017 campaign, and he’ll have to rebound significantly in order to convince the Yankees he’s deserving of a roster spot.

With Starlin Castro now in Miami, the 25-year-old Ronald Torreyes figures to be Espinosa’s biggest competitor for the job out of spring training camp. Of course, it’s probably a moot point considering the club is likely just looking for a temporary stopgap until top prospect Gleyber Torres is ready to claim the starting job at the keystone.

Espinosa was Washington’s third round pick in the 2008 draft (87th overall). His MLB debut came on September 1st, 2010, during which he had one hit and an RBI in 2 at-bats. The California State University Long Beach product provided 11.3 WAR during his time with the Nationals prior to a trade that sent him to the Angels in exchange for two minor-league pitchers.

Rays Outright Danny Espinosa

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The Rays have outrighted infielder Danny Espinosa, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). His 40-man roster spot will go to lefty Xavier Cedeno, who is set to be activated from the 60-day DL.

Espinosa, 30, saw limited action in Tampa Bay late in the season after a brief stop with the Mariners. He spent the first half of the year receiving regular time with the Angels — who acquired him from the Nationals over the offseason — but never came around at the plate. All told, the eight-year MLB veteran has stumbled to a .173/.245/.278 batting line this year.

The switch-hitting Espinosa has never consistently produced at the plate, though he delivers a good bit of home run power for a middle infielder and has posted several seasons of near-average hitting despite his swing-and-miss proclivities. He’s a gifted up-the-middle defender and good baserunner, though, so he doesn’t have to hit all that much to be useful.

Clearly, though, the offensive struggles this year were so significant that it was hard for Espinosa to hold down a roster spot. It’s perhaps still conceivable he could land a guaranteed deal for 2018, though odds are he’ll have to settle for a minor-league deal and a chance to earn a job with an infield-needy team in camp.

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