Diamondbacks Reinstate Lourdes Gurriel Jr., DFA Luken Baker

After suffering a torn right ACL on September 1, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is ready for his return to the majors, as the Diamondbacks officially reinstated the outfielder from the 10-day injured list.  To make room for Gurriel on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, first baseman Luken Baker was designated for assignment.

D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo hinted yesterday that Gurriel could be in Arizona’s lineup as soon as this weekend, completing what has been a remarkably quick comeback from such a serious knee surgery.  Gurriel was projected to miss 9-10 months given the usual timeframe for ACL tears, yet he made such solid progress in Spring Training and in just two games of a minor league rehab assignment that the D’Backs felt comfortable in bringing him back after a little over seven and a half months.

Depending on how Gurriel’s knee holds up, he might end up getting fairly regular duty in his old left field position pretty soon, without the need for steady DH duty.  Pretty much no matter where Gurriel plays, it was easy to project Baker as the odd man out of a roster crunch, as Baker has appeared in only three games (with five plate appearances) since his minor league contract was selected on April 7.

Arizona signed Baker to that minors deal in December, and possibly with an eye towards platooning Baker and Pavin Smith at the position.  Carlos Santana was signed later in the season to fill that role, yet the first base situation was thrown into total flux shortly after Opening Day.  Smith played in two games before being placed on the IL due to a balky elbow that has now required surgery, and Santana has also been out since April 6 due to an adductor strain.

Baker’s contract was selected in the wake of Santana’s injury, yet Baker didn’t get much opportunity due to the unexpectedly strong play of Jose Fernandez and utilityman Ildemaro Vargas in handling the first base duties.  The D’Backs seem content to leave the position (and a share of the DH workload) to that duo, leaving Baker now exposed to the waiver wire.

If Baker clears waivers, he has the right to decline an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno in favor of free agency, since Baker has a previous outright in his career (last August, when Baker was in the Dodgers organization).  The first baseman could opt to just move on given how Arizona’s first base picture has remained crowded, or another team might look to claim Baker just as the Dodgers did last August when the Cardinals parted ways with the 29-year-old.

Baker spent his first three MLB seasons in St. Louis, hitting .206/.317/.338 with four home runs over 189 PA.  While his power hasn’t translated much against big league pitching and Baker is defensively limited as a first base-only player, he has posted good numbers at Triple-A, and could be viewed as at least a depth option.