The Rays are bringing utilityman Daniel Robertson back to the organization on a minor league contract with an invite to spring training, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The two parties are in the process of finalizing the contract.
Robertson, 29 next month, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since a 50-game stint with the 2021 Brewers, but he spent the 2017-19 seasons as an oft-used bench piece for the Rays, batting .231/.340/.352 with 16 home runs, an 11.6% walk rate and a 25.2% walk rate in 831 plate appearances along the way. He’s most frequently appeared at second base in his big league career (816 innings) but does have ample experience at third base (601 innings) and shortstop (569 innings) in addition to brief looks in the corner outfield (38 innings) and at first base (eight innings).
Tampa Bay traded Robertson to the Giants for cash back in 2020, and he appeared in 63 games between San Francisco and Milwaukee from 2020-21. He didn’t hit much in a tiny sample of 114 plate appearances, however, and those struggles continued in Triple-A last year, when he hit a combined .219/.319/.395 between the top affiliates for the Twins and the Phillies.
Still, Robertson can play all over the diamond and has had some modest success both in Triple-A and in the Majors over the course of a decade-long professional career. He’s the second veteran utilityman signed by Tampa Bay in as many days, as the Rays also inked Charlie Culberson to a similar pact yesterday. The Rays will see a dozen of their players depart for the World Baseball Classic in early March, including infielders Jonathan Aranda, Wander Franco and Isaac Paredes, so having some extra veterans in camp will come with an additional benefit.
