Royals add former Orioles second baseman Hanser Alberto on a minor-league contract
Less than three weeks away from the scheduled start of spring training camp the Kansas City Royals added infield depth in the form of former Baltimore Orioles starting second baseman Hanser Alberto.
Alberto, 28, signed a minor-league contract, the Royals announced on Sunday night. The deal will pay him $1.65 million plus up to $300,000 in performance bonuses if he makes the major league club, according to a source familiar with the deal.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Alberto has started games at second base, shortstop and third base in the majors. He debuted in the majors in 2015 with the Texas Rangers.
Most recently, he played for the Orioles in 2019 and 2020. The Orioles non-tendered him this winter as he entered his first arbitration-eligible offseason.
He started 127 games in 2019 (played in 139 games) and 53 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (played in 54).
A right-handed hitter, Alberto batted .305 in 2019 and .283 in 2020. He struck out just 80 times in 781 plate appearances and batted .394 against left-handed pitching the past two seasons, an MLB-best among players with at least 100 plate appearances against lefties during that stretch.
Last season, he slashed .283/.306/.393 with 15 doubles, 35 runs scored, three home runs and 22 RBIs in 54 games.
The Royals projected starting infield includes shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, second baseman Nicky Lopez and Hunter Dozier moving back to third base after having played outfield and first base in 2020.
Lopez, a left-handed hitter, has struggled to find his footing offensively early in his big-league career (.228/.279/.307 slash line in 159 games).
Mondesi has been injury-plagued early in his big-league career, though he played in 59 games last season coming off of season-ending shoulder surgery in 2019.
