Steve Webb
Infielder joins club after visa holdup
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers announced today that the team had come to terms with infielder Hanser Alberto on a free agent deal. According to the team, Alberto was signed for 1.6 million on a one-year deal with a club option for the second.
It was a major-league contract, so Matt Beaty was designated for assignment to free up the roster space (more on that in a minute).
Alberto, a stocky Dominican most recently of the Kansas City Royals, has had his moments in his big league career. His best year by far was 2019, when he hit .305 with the Baltimore Orioles, finishing in eighth place in the American League for the batting crown. Not too shabby. With Kansas City last season, he played mostly third base, but had over twenty games at both short and second.
“Alberto is a smooth, quality defender who can play all over the infield with aplomb. Also throws well. Has plenty of ability to hit for average and is also a good base-runner. Does not have a lot of home-run power, so he must maximize his ability to steal bases in order to become an impact offensive player at the big-league level.”
sportsforecaster.com
Certainly, with the spate of signings we’ve seen in the last couple of days, the Dodgers are looking for veterans who can help their squad today, not in a few years down the road. Alberto is a useful insurance policy if Justin Turner goes down with injury, or if he just needs a day off from the grind. Indeed, he might be a nice defensive replacement in the ninth inning for Turner when the Dodgers are trying to nail down a win.
So long, Matt Beaty
Not sure what was up with the Beaty DFA, but maybe the writing was on the wall for him. With the Dodgers crowded lineup, there just wasn’t going to be much playing time for the Hitman, although I thought they would keep him around and occasionally use him as a DH or late-inning replacement when a game was out of hand one way or another. In his three-year Dodger career, Beaty slashed .262/.333/.425 and had a 101 OPS+, including .270/.363/.402, a 107 OPS+ with seven home runs in 120 games last season.
It’s doubtful Beaty clears waivers, and maybe, there might be some trade interest in the next week. His fate is up in the air, but for now he’s off the Dodgers 40-man roster. He did have his moments in his Dodger career, though. Some of my favorites were when he was part of the three-straight rookie walk-off home runs (with Alex Verdugo and Will Smith) in 2019, and the absolute tear he went on after being recalled from the alternate site in 2021. In the space of about two weeks in May of last year, he raised his batting average from .091 to .295, and was about the only good thing happening during that horrid road trip in the season. So for that we will always be thankful. Godspeed, Matt Beaty.
