San Diego Padres acquire Alexi Amarista – MLB News
The San Diego Padres’ management has taken some drastic steps forward in order to bring little consistency in their results. They have acquired Minor Leaguer infielder Alexi Amarista from the Los Angeles Angels to help strengthen their position as they are
also not performing well with their bats at the moment.
While this type of situation was ideal for top management to make changes and bring new faces into the roster.
Along with infielder Amarista, Donn Roach was also acquired by the Padres in exchange of their right hand pitcher Ernesto Frieri. Both new faces which Padres have acquired are some of the top prospects of Major League Baseball.
"[General manager] Josh [Byrnes] felt players with the players coming back our way, you have two young guys who can have an impact on us in the future," Padres manager Bud Black said. "And with the middle infielder [Amarista], possibly relatively soon."
The local media however, talking more precisely about Amarista. His playing positions and new role in the Padres’ roster is also important. The former Angels’ infielder has also played in outfield and shortstop.
Amarista is coming from Angels’ farm system/Minor League team Triple-A Salt Lake where he was hitting with an enormous amount of energy. Before heading into the Padres’ franchise, he was hitting at .273 after playing 18 games along with eight extra base hits
and 12 RBIs.
Byrnes said for Amarista with confidence, "He's a smaller guy, but he's a guy who has hit above .300, is hard to strike out, can run a little bit and is a good defender. We like his ability to play a number of positions. For the short term and the long term,
it's an area we want to improve.”
In the meanwhile, the Padres’ new additions in the face of Alexi Amarista and Donn Roach are a healthy sign for them to revive their old offensive strategy with some young blood. On the other hand, currently going with 9-17 record, Padres are confident this
time that a postseason qualification is possible. It will be interesting to see what impact Amarista will have for the Padres during the long arduous regular season.
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