The Minnesota Twins have decided to take a chance on a versatile veteran speedster and outfielder.
Yesterday afternoon, Twins insider Do-Hyoung Park tweeted the news that the Twins had signed outfielder Billy Hamilton to a minor league contract.
Hamilton is a guy who has bounced around during his career.
He came up with the Cincinnati Reds back in 2013 and played there until 2018.
Since then, he has bounced around between the Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Miami Marlins.
He also spent some time in the Seattle Mariners organization.
Now he heads to the Twins.
Hamilton Heads To Minnesota
Hamilton will report the team’s FCL facility in Fort Meyers, Florida.
Over his career, Hamilton has hit for a lifetime average of just .239.
He’s hit 24 career home runs and has a career on-base percentage of .293.
The hitting has never quite been there for Hamilton, but his speed makes him a valuable weapon off the bench for any team, as he could be deployed as a pinch runner in a key spot.
This season, Hamilton had mustered just one hit in 13 at-bats with the Marlins, hitting for a poor .077 batting average.
Hamilton is always a threat to steal a base if he gets on.
This seems to be more of a depth move for the Twins right now.
Hamilton doesn’t seem to have a clear path back to the big leagues, even with Byron Buxton on the injured list.
For now, he’ll head to Fort Meyers and get some reps in the minor leagues.
We’ll see if the Twins might want to promote him in September and have him as an option off the bench for some speed and defense.
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