The Orioles introduced earlier this week that they’ve signed infielder Franklin Barreto to a minor league deal. It’s unclear whether or not or not the deal contains an invite to huge league Spring Coaching subsequent yr.
Barreto, 28, signed with the Blue Jays as an beginner out of Venezuela and made his professional debut in 2013. He shortly rose among the many prospect ranks within the early years of his profession and was a consensus top-100 prospect within the sport by the point Toronto shipped him to Oakland within the Josh Donaldson commerce again in 2015. He remained a consensus top-100 prospect over the subsequent a number of years at the same time as his offense took a step again after reaching the higher minors.
After hitting a stable .281/.340/.413 in 507 journeys to the plate on the Double-A stage in 2016, Barreto discovered himself promoted to Triple-A the place he didn’t put up huge numbers regardless of the inflated offensive atmosphere of the Pacific Coast League. Spectacular as his .290/.339/.456 slash line at Triple-A in 2017 could look with out context, it was really simply 3% higher than league common by measure of wRC+. Barreto’s peripheral numbers had been additionally lackluster as his strikeout fee jumped practically ten factors from the place it was in Double-A, leaving his general slash line propped up by an unsustainable .384 BABIP.
Regardless of these crimson flags, the A’s promoted Barreto to Oakland for his huge league debut in 2017. The cup of espresso didn’t go particularly properly, as Barreto hit simply .197/.250/.352 with an eye-popping 43.4% strikeout fee in 76 journeys to the plate. That efficiency was 40% worse than league common by wRC+, and left the infielder as soon as once more relegated to shuttling between the Triple-A and large league ranges the next yr in 2018. That season, Barreto improved on his first style of huge league motion the yr previous to hit a decent .233/.253/.493 with a 102 wRC+. Whereas Barreto’s 5 dwelling rus in 75 plate appearances helped to prop up his general numbers, a 38.3% strikeout fee and a stroll fee of simply 1.3% recommended he nonetheless didn’t have the required plate self-discipline to be an everyday contributor within the majors.
Issues took a flip for the more serious for Barreto from there, as he didn’t hit a lick in 68 huge league plate appearances for the membership over the subsequent two years. The A’s finally lower bait on the infielder partway by means of the 2020 season, once they shipped Barreto to Anaheim in trade for veteran infielder Tommy La Stella. He made one other 18 journeys to the plate for the Angels down the stretch that yr, however struck out at a 44.4% clip whereas hitting .118/.167/.118. That transient stint with the Angels represents Barreto’s final motion within the huge leagues. Since then, he’s frolicked in each the Astros and Nationals organizations on minor league offers earlier than departing affiliated ball for the Mexican League’s Diablos Rojos del Mexico earlier this yr.
Barreto’s time in Mexico really went fairly properly, as he lit up opposing pitching to the tune of a .343/.430/.576 slash line in 372 journeys to the plate throughout 76 video games. That evidently caught the eye of the Orioles, who’ve introduced him into their organizational fold as a non-roster depth possibility for the membership. Barreto figures to primarily act as harm insurance coverage given Baltimore’s crowded infield combine that already options Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Ramon Urias, and Jorge Mateo. He primarily performs shortstop however has loads of expertise at second base and middle area to associate with at the very least occasional work in every single place on the diamond besides catcher.
