Coming out of the MLB lockout the Los Angeles Dodgers faced needs in their starting rotation and position player depth for the bench.
Their first notable once free agency resumed was reportedly agreeing to a contract with Clayton Kershaw for the 2022 regular season. His deal is said to be worth a base of $17 million and include incentives.
Meanwhile, L.A. has additionally been linked to Freddie Freeman, Seiya Suzuki, Jorge Soler and Nelson Cruz.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, their first move to address the bench was agreeing to a one-year contract with a team option for 2023 with Hanser Alberto:
Source confirms: Dodgers in agreement with free-agent IF Hanser Alberto on one-year deal with club option for 2023. First: @JuniorMatrille
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 13, 2022
The 29-year-old has appeared in parts of six Major League seasons since making his debut with the Texas Rangers in 2015. Alberto remained with the Rangers organization until getting claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees in November 2018.
He was then claimed by the Baltimore Orioles and appeared in a career-high 139 games during the 2019 season. Alberto batted .305/.329/.422 with 21 doubles, 12 home runs and 54 RBI while primarily playing second and third base that year.
He then appeared in 54 of 60 games for the Orioles during the shortened 2020 season, but spent last year with the Kansas City Royals. There was some regression at the plate, but Alberto still hit .270/.291/.402 with 20 doubles, two home runs and 24 RBI over 103 games.
Alberto provides the Dodgers with flexibility in the field as he’s primarily played second base, third base and shortstop. He notably is a right-handed hitter and has fared well against left-handed pitching throughout his career, batting .333 with an .815 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Dodgers focused on bench
Prior to the reported agreement, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he anticipated the club making multiple additions and highlighted starting pitching and position player depth as key areas.
“I think it’s easy to look at our roster and say we need to focus on starting pitching and some depth on the position player side,” he said Friday.
“I like our ‘pen; can we get better? Certainly. Is there something that might happen in the ‘pen? Certainly. But I think on the position player side, the bench, we can add there as well.”
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