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 consists of an invite to large league Spring Coaching subsequent 12 months.
Barreto, 28, signed with the Blue Jays as an beginner out of Venezuela and made his professional debut in 2013. He rapidly 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 whilst 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 did not put up large numbers regardless of the inflated offensive surroundings 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 have been additionally lackluster as his strikeout charge jumped almost 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 large league debut in 2017. The cup of espresso didn’t go particularly nicely, as Barreto hit simply .197/.250/.352 with an eye-popping 43.4% strikeout charge 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 massive league ranges the next 12 months in 2018. That season, Barreto improved on his first style of massive league motion the 12 months previous to hit a decent .233/.253/.493 with a 102 wRC+. Whereas Barreto’s 5 house runs in 75 plate appearances helped to prop up his general numbers, a 38.3% strikeout charge and a stroll charge of simply 1.3% urged he nonetheless didn’t have the required plate self-discipline to be a daily contributor within the majors.
Issues took a flip for the more severe for Barreto from there, as he didn’t hit a lick in 68 large league plate appearances for the membership over the subsequent two years. The A’s ultimately minimize bait on the infielder partway by means of the 2020 season, once they shipped Barreto to Anaheim in alternate for veteran infielder Tommy La Stella. He made one other 18 journeys to the plate for the Angels down the stretch that 12 months, 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 large 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 12 months.
Barreto’s time in Mexico really went fairly nicely, 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 not less than occasional work in all places on the diamond besides catcher.
