The Angels announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Ehire Adrianza. Adrianza will take the place of third baseman Anthony Rendon on the active roster, as Rendon is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. Meanwhile, right-hander Robert Stephenson was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Adrianza on the club’s 40-man roster. MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger first reported that Adrianza was likely to replace Rendon on the club’s roster last night.
Adrianza, 34, will now participate in the 12th big league season of his career. The veteran made his big league debut with the Giants back in 2013 and made intermittent appearances with the club as a utility infielder off the bench, remaining the the club for four seasons despite a meager .220/.292/.313 slash line at the big league level. Despite that lackluster offense, Adrianza earned his role in San Francisco with his versatility, which allowed him to cover all four infield positions, as well as his switch-hitting, high-contact bat that allowed him to strike out just 18.1% of the time despite a 72 wRC+.
Prior to the 2017 season, Adrianza found himself designated for assignment by the Giants and eventually made his way to the Twins on waivers. He’d spend the next four seasons in Minnesota receiving far more regular playing time, and earned his expanded role by taking a small step forward with the bat. In 312 games with the Twins from 2017 to 2020, Adrianza slashed a decent .253/.317/.377 (86 wRC+) while posting a 19.1% strikeout rate against an 8% walk rate. The switch-hitter also expanded his defensive resume while in Minnesota, spending time at both outfield corners and even making a mop-up appearance on the mound in addition to his work around the infield.
After hitting free agency for the first time following the 2020 season, Adrianza signed with the Braves on a minor league deal ahead of what would become a career year of the infielder. The then-31-year-old made appeared in 109 games with Atlanta that year, slashing a respectable .247/.327/.401 with an excellent 10% walk rate against a 20.1% strikeout rate in 209 plate appearances while splitting time between shortstop, all three outfield spots, second base, and third base. Adrianza went on to appear on the club’s postseason roster that fall and earned a ring with the club when they won the 2021 World Series.
Things have taken a turn for the worse for the veteran in recent years, however. He’s appeared in just 42 big league games since the end of the 2021 campaign, slashing a putrid .159/.248/.187 in 121 combined plate appearances for the Nationals and Braves amid elbow and shoulder injuries. He caught on with the Angels this past winter on a minor league deal in spite of those injury and ineffectiveness issues in recent years, reuniting with former Braves third base coach and current Halos manager Ron Washington in the process. With Anaheim, Adrianza figures to provide the club with depth off the bench all around the infield, where the club is currently utilizing a combination of Nolan Schanuel, Brandon Drury, Miguel Sano, Zach Neto, and Luis Rengifo.
In doing so, Adrianza will take the roster spot of Rendon, who was pulled from yesterday’s game in the top of the first inning due to a hamstring strain. Now the soon to be 34-year-old veteran will head to the injured list once again after making frequent trips to the shelf in recent years that have limited him to just 219 total games since he signed a seven-year deal with the Halos during the 2019-20 offseason. Rendon had begun to heat up in recent weeks with a solid .357/.413/.411 slash line in his last 63 trips to the plate but now will be forced out of the lineup for the time being, though no timetable has been specified for his return to action.
Making room for Adrianza on the 40-man roster is Stephenson, whose placement on the 60-day IL is hardly a surprise after the club announced earlier this week that the right-hander would miss the entire 2024 season due to an elbow injury. It’s Stephenson’s first year with the Angels, and he remains under contract for two more seasons after this one with a club option on his services for the 2027 campaign.
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