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Josh VanMeter

Yankees Sign Josh VanMeter To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have signed utility player Josh VanMeter to a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Sterling Sports Management client will presumably receive an invite to major league Spring Training.

VanMeter, 29 in March, has exactly 300 games of big league experience. He suited up for the Reds, Diamondbacks and Pirates from 2019 to 2022, hitting 19 home runs in 841 plate appearances. He struck out in 24.7% of those but also drew walks at a solid 10.5% clip. The overall production has still been subpar, with his career line of .206/.293/.347 translating to a wRC+ of 72. But he has stolen 17 bases and provided defensive versatility. He has played all the non-shortstop infield positions, the outfield corners and even small amounts of time at both ends of the battery.

In 2023, he signed a minor league deal with the Brewers but didn’t make it to the majors. He spent significant time on the minor league injured list and only played 46 Triple-A games. Incredibly, he walked in 24.2% of his plate appearances at that level, leading to a bizarre slash line of .199/.400/.362 and wRC+ of 106.

The Yankees are set to have Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu at the infield corners, but each of them are now in their mid-3os and they both dealt battled injuries last year. Gleyber Torres should be at second base but he’s also in his final year of club control and has been in trade rumors for a while now. They have depth options with each of Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jeter Downs and Jorbit Vivas on the 40-man roster, but they’re all fairly lacking in experience and may be better served getting regular at-bats in the minors as opposed to sitting on the bench in the majors.

If VanMeter is added to the roster at any point, he’s out of options but could be retained beyond 2024 via arbitration.

Brewers Sign Josh VanMeter To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have informed reporters, including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that they have signed infielder Josh VanMeter to a minor league with an invitation to major league Spring Training.

VanMeter, 28 in March, has appeared in the past four major league seasons, spending time with the Reds, Diamondbacks and Pirates. He first got the call in 2019 and spent that season being frequently optioned between the majors and minors for the Reds. His work in the majors was a bit below average, as he hit .237/.327/.408 for a wRC+ of 88. But in 49 minor league games, he hit an incredible .348/.429/.669 for a wRC+ of 175.

Unfortunately, VanMeter hasn’t been able to come close to that level of production in the three years since, either in the majors or the minors. He spent most of 2022 in the majors with the Pirates, hitting just .187/.266/.292 for a wRC+ of 59. He was designated for assignment and outrighted in September, reaching free agency at season’s end.

Though he hasn’t hit much in the past few years, VanMeter at least brings defensive versatility. In his time in the big leagues, he’s played the outfield corners, every infield position except shortstop, as well as an inning behind the plate and three innings on the mound. It’s also possible his bat gets a boost from the upcoming rules against extreme defensive shifts, as he hits from the left side and was shifted in 79.7% of his appearances last year.

The Brewers have a bit of fluidity to their infield picture since Jace Peterson reached free agency and signed with the A’s while Kolten Wong was dealt to the Mariners. The club received Abraham Toro back in that Wong deal and also acquired Owen Miller from the Guardians. Luis Urías could take over third base while prospect Brice Turang is an option to join Willy Adames in the middle infield, but Turang has still yet to reach the majors. Mike Brosseau is also in the mix. The addition of VanMeter gives the club an experienced player to add some depth without using a roster spot for now. If he earns his way back onto the 40-man, he’s out of options and will have to stick around or else be designated for assignment. He has between three and four years of MLB service time and could be retained for future seasons via arbitration if he can work his way into Milwaukee’s plans.

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.

Which Remaining Free Agent Hitters Were Shifted The Most In 2022?

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It was announced back in September that Major League Baseball would be implementing some new rules for the 2023 season. One such change will be the limiting of defensive shifts, with teams required to have two infielders on each side of second base and all four on the near side of the outfield grass at the time the pitch is released.

The exact ramifications of these changes will be discovered as the 2023 season progresses, but the hope is that some routine grounders turn into hits instead. Those players who have been shifted the most could stand to reap the most benefit from the new environment. The prototypical example of the hitter that is the most harmed by the shifts has been a plodding and pull-happy left-hander who can be neutralized by having an infielder in deep right field. However, each player is unique and will have been attacked in different ways, so let’s look at the data, with a minimum of 100 plate appearances required to be considered here. Which free agents were shifted the most in 2022? (Quick note that Stephen Vogt has been excluded since he previously announced 2022 would be his last season.)

1.  Rougned Odor – 93.8%
2. Kole Calhoun – 93.4%
3. Zack Collins – 88.9%
4. Brett Phillips – 88%
5. Brandon Belt – 85.2%
6. Mike Ford – 84.6%
7. Jed Lowrie (as a lefty) – 83.5%
8. Robbie Grossman (as a lefty) – 82.6%
9. Michael Perez – 81.8%
10. Mike Moustakas* – 81%
11. Tommy La Stella* – 80.5%
12. Josh VanMeter – 79.7%
13. Luke Voit – 76.9%
14. Colin Moran – 75%
15. Adam Duvall – 71.7%
16. Gary Sánchez – 70.5%
17. Dominic Smith – 70.4%
18. Jackie Bradley Jr. – 64%
19. Jurickson Profar (as a lefty) – 63.8%
20. Didi Gregorius – 60.3%

(* – Moustakas and La Stella technically aren’t free agents right now. However, they were both recently designated for assignment and are likely to be released given their onerous contracts.)

Odor has been quite awful at the plate recently, with his batting average finishing at .207 or below in each of the past four years. However, his batting average on balls in play has been at .244 or below in each of those seasons, well below his earlier career marks and the .290 league average in 2022. Perhaps the shift bans could get him closer to his earlier career number when he hit between .259 and .271.

Belt hit .285/.393/.595 over 2020 and 2021, good enough for a wRC+ of 162 which trailed only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper among all MLB hitters in that time. He was actually shifted more in those two seasons than he was in 2022. Injuries limited him to just 78 games and tepid production this year, but perhaps better health and some more open space on the field could help him return to being one of the best hitters in the league.

As for the rest, some of these guys are role players or aging veterans, but a few of them could be sneaky value pickups in the latter half of the offseason. Like Belt, many of them are coming off disappointing and/or injury-marred years and will be looking to bounce back in 2023. Grossman posted a 118 wRC+ over 2020 and 2021 but just an 82 this year. Voit had a 153 wRC+ in the shortened 2020 season but dipped to 112 and 102 in the past two campaigns. Duvall had a 108 wRC+ over 2019-2021 but an 87 here in 2022. Sánchez recorded a 143 wRC+ in his first two seasons but just a 96 in the following five years, including an 89 in the most recent campaign. Smith posted a huge 150 wRC+ over 2019 and 2020 but has slid to just 82 since. Profar is coming off a decent campaign and is arguably the best free agent still unsigned.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Outrights: VanMeter, Vieaux, Bard, Araúz, Medina, Castro, Jewell

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Catching up on some players who were recently designated for assignment…

Latest Moves

  • The Pirates outrighted left-hander Cam Vieaux and infielder Josh VanMeter to Triple-A after the duo each cleared waivers, according to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects (Twitter link).  Vieaux and VanMeter were each designated for assignment earlier this week.  VanMeter hit .187/.266/.292 over 192 PA with Pittsburgh this season, while playing all over the field as a defensive fill-in.  Vieaux made his MLB debut this year, with a 10.38 ERA over 8 2/3 innings in his first taste of big league action.
  • The Yankees announced that right-hander Luke Bard has been outrighted to Triple-A.  Since this isn’t the first time Bard has been outrighted in his career, he can opt for free agency rather than accept the Triple-A assignment.  The righty pitched one game in the pinstripes after being claimed off waivers from the Rays in early August, and for the 2022 season in total, Bard has a 1.80 ERA over 15 innings with Tampa Bay and New York.

Earlier Today

  • The Orioles announced that infielder Jonathan Araúz cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in June and has gotten into 15 games at the big league level this year between the two clubs. The 24-year-old hit just .132/.150/.211 in that time but provided defensive versatility by playing second base, third base and shortstop. In 35 Triple-A games this year, he’s hit .192/.264/.238. Since this is the first outright of his career and he has less than three years of MLB service time, he won’t have the right to reject the assignment and become a free agent.
  • The Mets outrighted right-hander Adonis Medina, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Medina, 25, was acquired from the Pirates in April for cash considerations and has been tossed between Triple-A and the majors all year long. In 23 2/3 MLB innings, he has a 6.08 ERA, 15.5% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. In 26 2/3 innings for Syracuse, he has a much better 3.71 ERA and 20.2% strikeout rate, though a much higher walk rate of 12.1%. This is the first outright of his career and he has less than three years of MLB service time, meaning he will have to accept the outright assignment to Syracuse.
  • The Cubs sent right-hander Kervin Castro outright to Triple-A Iowa, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The 23-year-old began the season with the Giants but went to the Cubs on a waiver claim in August. Between the two clubs, he’s thrown 12 1/3 MLB innings this year, but with a 10.22 ERA and 12.3% walk rate. In 34 2/3 Triple-A innings between the two organizations, he has a 5.19 ERA with a 16% walk rate. He has less than three years of MLB service time and this is his first career outright, meaning he will not be eligible to reject this assignment.
  • The Twins sent right-hander Jake Jewell outright to Triple-A St. Paul, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The 29-year-old began the year with the Guardians on a minor league deal, getting selected to the big league roster in August but getting optioned before appearing in a game. He lasted just over a week on the 40-man roster before getting designated for assignment and landing with Minnesota on waivers. In 48 2/3 Triple-A innings between the two organizations, he has a 3.14 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Unlike the others on this list, he has been previously outrighted in his career. That gives him the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it’s unclear at this point if he has done so.

Pirates Designate Josh VanMeter For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated infielder Josh VanMeter for assignment.  In other moves, right-hander Hoy Park and left-hander Eric Stout were called up from Triple-A, with Stout acting as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader with the Mets.

Acquired in a trade with the Diamondbacks in March, VanMeter’s first season in Pittsburgh has resulted in a .187/.266/.292 slash line over 192 plate appearances, a step down even from the modest offense VanMeter produced in 649 PA with the Reds and D’Backs in 2019-21.  VanMeter’s biggest asset has been his defensive flexibility, as he has mostly played first and second base this season while also making a few appearances as a third baseman, left fielder, catcher, and three mop-up pitching cameos.

This versatility has kept VanMeter in part-time and bench roles over the last four seasons, though with the season winding down, the Pirates will now open up more playing time for their younger players.  VanMeter is out of minor league options, so the DFA route had to be pursued in order to remove the 27-year-old from Pittsburgh’s roster.  A team in need of infield depth could potentially have VanMeter on the radar for a waiver claim, and the expanded September rosters create a bit of extra leeway for VanMeter’s out-of-options status.

Pirates Designate Anthony Banda For Assignment, Release Heath Hembree

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The Pirates announced a series of roster moves Monday, reinstating utilityman Josh VanMeter from the injured list, recalling righty Miguel Yajure from Triple-A Indianapolis, optioning outfielder Cal Mitchell to Triple-A and designating lefty Anthony Banda for assignment. Pittsburgh also released righty Heath Hembree after he cleared waivers, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) and assigned righty Jerad Eickhoff to Indianapolis after he cleared outright waivers.

Banda has been in Pittsburgh for a bit shy of a year, having been claimed off waivers from the Mets last August. He made 25 appearances down the stretch, tossing 26 1/3 frames of 3.42 ERA ball. That came with middle-of-the-road strikeout and walk numbers, but Banda was successful enough to hold his roster spot over the winter. He broke camp this season and went on to make 23 more appearances, but the 28-year-old didn’t have nearly as much success keeping runs off the board.

Through 19 2/3 innings, Banda owns a 6.41 ERA. He’s posted slightly below-average marks in both strikeout rate (22.4%) and swinging strike percentage (9.4%), although that’s come with career-best control. Banda has walked only around 5% of opponents, and he’s averaging a personal-high 95.3 MPH on his fastball. Opposing hitters have an unsustainably high .463 batting average on balls in play against him in spite of a general lack of hard contact.

Those better underlying traits could entice another club to roll the dice on Banda over the coming days. The Bucs will have a week to trade him or try to run him through waivers. He’s out of minor league option years, so any team that acquires him would have to keep him on the active roster or DFA him themselves.

Hembree heads to free agency after being designated for assignment himself last week (ironically to accommodate Eickhoff’s selection to the 40-man roster). That’s little surprise, as the veteran reliever is playing this season on a $2.125MM salary and is amidst a down year. He posted a 7.16 ERA with more walks than strikeouts in 20 appearances for the Bucs, but he’s only a season removed from punching out 34.2% of batters faced. That’ll at least generate some minor league interest now that Hembree’s back on the open market; a signing team would only owe him the prorated portion of the $700K minimum salary for any time he spends in the majors, with the Pirates on the hook for the rest of the money owed.

Eickhoff has the right to join Hembree in free agency, having been outrighted on multiple occasions in his career. He made just one MLB appearance, serving up ten runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Cubs. The veteran righty has otherwise spent the season in Indianapolis, tossing 48 1/3 frames of 4.84 ERA ball.

Pirates Acquire Josh VanMeter From Diamondbacks

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The Pirates and Diamondbacks announced a deal sending utilityman Josh VanMeter to Pittsburgh for minor league pitcher Listher Sosa. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Pittsburgh designated outfielder Jared Oliva for assignment.

Arizona had designated VanMeter for assignment over the weekend. The 27-year-old is out of minor league option years, meaning the D-Backs had to keep him on the active roster all season or bump him from the 40-man. The Arizona front office evidently determined they weren’t prepared to carry him in the majors.

The Bucs will have to keep VanMeter in the bigs themselves. That they parted with a minor leaguer, rather than waiting to try to grab him off waivers, indicates he’s at least likely to break camp with the MLB team. Pittsburgh would’ve been third in waiver priority based on their finish near the bottom of last year’s standings. (The Pirates had the league’s fourth-worst record, but the D-Backs were one of the teams below them). Rather than risk another team trading for VanMeter or the Orioles/Rangers grabbing him on waivers, the Bucs decided to relinquish a young pitcher to add him.

VanMeter adds a left-handed, multi-positional bat to the mix for skipper Derek Shelton. He has appeared in each of the past three seasons with the Reds and D-Backs, tallying 649 plate appearances. The former fifth-round pick has a career .212/.300/.364 slash line, offense that checks in 25 percentage points below average by measure of wRC+. It was a similar story last season, when VanMeter hit .212/.297/.354 in a personal-high 310 trips to the dish with Arizona.

Those results aren’t great, but VanMeter has shown some promising traits that caught the attention of the Bucs front office. He’s walked in an above-average 10.6% of his plate appearances. Last season, he only chased 21.1% of pitches outside the strike zone, the tenth-lowest mark among the 262 hitters with 300+ trips. That’s partially attributable to an overall patience at the plate — he also has one of the lower swing rates on pitches in the zone — but that selectivity has allowed VanMeter to work plenty of deep counts. He also has slightly above-average career marks in hard contact rate and average exit velocity, pairing his measured approach with some raw power.

VanMeter isn’t regarded as a great defender anywhere, but he’s got plenty of experience at each of first, second and third base and in left field. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Yoshi Tsutsugo are going to play most days in the respective corner infield spots, but the Bucs don’t have obvious answers at the keystone or in left. VanMeter will presumably start off as a bench bat, but there should be a chance to earn more at-bats on a rebuilding Pittsburgh team if his performance warrants.

Oliva had been one of the candidates to see some time in left field, but his future in the organization is now in question. Ranked among the back half of the Bucs top 30 prospects by Baseball America in each of the past three seasons, the University of Arizona product looked like he may develop into a fourth or fifth outfield type. He posted strong offensive numbers with gaudy stolen base totals up through Double-A in 2019, but he’s coming a tough campaign.

The right-handed hitter appeared in 64 games and tallied 249 plate appearances with Triple-A Indianapolis last season. He posted a .249/.321/.364 line in a fairly hitter-friendly setting, and he didn’t produce in a 20-game big league look in July. The Bucs will now have a week to trade Oliva or place him on outright waivers. Given that he’s only 26 years old and still has a couple option years remaining, it’s not out of the question another club takes a flier.

Sosa, meanwhile, is a 20-year-old righty who spent last season in the Florida Complex League. The Bucs signed him for $150K out of the Dominican Republic during the 2018-19 international signing period. The 6’4″ hurler posted a 4.31 ERA in 31 1/3 innings last season, striking out 25% of opponents against a tiny 3.8% walk rate.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Diamondbacks Acquire Sergio Alcantara From Cubs, Designate Josh VanMeter

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The Cubs have traded Sergio Alcantara to the Diamondbacks for cash considerations, per a team announcement from the D-backs. Josh VanMeter was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Alcantara was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week to open up a roster spot for reliever Mychal Givens. His reputation is that of a glove-first infielder who can provide value with defense and speed, even if his bat doesn’t produce much. Last year, in 89 games for the Cubs, he hit .205/.303/.327 for a wRC+ of 71. But on the defensive side of things, he generally rated well, with Statcast ranking his work as being worth 9 Outs Above Average in that sample of just over half a season, spending time at shortstop, second base and third base.

It was recently reported that Nick Ahmed is still dealing with some shoulder soreness that has been bothering him for almost two years now. The acquisition of Alcantara boosts the team’s shortstop depth, with the new team member acting as a safety net in the event Ahmed requires some time on the IL or even just occasional rest days.

As for VanMeter, he originally came over to Arizona as part of the Archie Bradley deal before the 2020 trade deadline. Over the past three seasons, he’s gotten into 233 games between the Reds and the Diamondbacks. In that time, he’s hit just .212/.300/.364, for a wRC+ of 75. Despite that tepid batting line, he may still draw interest from other clubs for a couple of reasons. First of all, his Triple-A numbers are much better, as he’s hit .298/.379/.576 at that level. He’s also only 27 years old and has the positional versatility that teams love these days, having seen big league action at first, second and third base, as well as the outfield corners. He’s likely to hit the waiver wire in the coming days, with any team looking for a versatile bench piece potentially putting a claim in. But VanMeter is out of options, meaning he would have to stick on the roster of the acquiring team or else be put on waivers yet again.

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