The Nationals and utility man Ehire Adrianza are in agreement on a one-year, $1.5MM deal, pending a physical, per Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base (via Twitter). Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post confirms the deal (via Twitter), adding that there will be incentives tied to the contract to potentially increase the sum total.
Adrianza joins an increasingly robust collection of journeyman utility players in Washington. The 32-year-old switch hitter and Cesar Hernandez are the two vets who have secured guaranteed money, along with Alcides Escobar, the incumbent starter at shortstop. Adrianza’s contract doesn’t make him a starter in Washington, but it does presume he will be on the roster on Opening Day. And for what it’s worth, Escobar signed for less money and he’s looking like a multi-year starter for manager Davey Martinez’s club.
What’s more, though the Nationals haven’t exactly set the world on fire with their free-agent signings, but when it comes to veteran infielders, they’ve gone the quantity-over-quality route. Beyond the trio mentioned above, speeders Dee Strange-Gordon and Lucius Fox are also in-house with an opportunity to make the team. Richard Urena, Maikel Franco, Adrian Sanchez, Jake Noll, and Andrew Young are among the other veteran darts that they’ve thrown at the roster board this winter.
The question for Washington is how many roster spots exactly are available for the taking? More specifically, how secure are the active roster spots currently held by Carter Kieboom and Luis Garcia?
More to come…