Blue Jays sign Danny Espinosa

The Blue Jays have signed veteran infielder Danny Espinosa to MInor League deal that includes an invite to Spring Training. Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports says he is already in camp.

Espinosa (31 in April) played 7 seasons for the Washington Nationals before hitting free agency after his 2016 season. 2017 saw him sign on with the Los Angeles Angels, putting up a forgettable 77 games before being traded to the Mariners, who kept him around long enough to play in 8 games. They then shipped him to Tampa Bay where the Rays also had him play in 8 games. All told, he put up a .173/.245/.278 line over 295 PA across the 3 teams.

His Nationals career was a bit better. In his nearly 3000 PA with them, he hit .226/.302/.388, but provided solid defense primarily at second base. Fangraphs tells us that over 5000 innings at second, he had 24 DRS and a 29.2 UZR (7.8 UZR/150). He also spent 2016 at SS, where he accumulated 8 DRS and 1.4 UZR in his only full season of SS work, so he could probably handle himself there too.

Presumably Espinosa is here to compete with Gift Ngoepe for the final bench spot. Neither of them will provide much of a bat, but both should bring at least above average defense. Espinosa brings a little more power and veteranness that Ngoepe doesn’t have, and even though he doesn’t have a 40 man spot right now, I would be surprised to see Ngoepe make the team over Espinosa.

Welcome to the team Danny!