CLEVELAND, Ohio – Indians continued to add pieces to their field mix on Thursday, agreeing with veteran Billy Hamilton’s terms, according to a report by Venezuelan journalist Daniel Álvarez Montes.
Montes tweeted that Hamilton and the Indians have a deal, pending a physical examination, on a lower league contract with an invitation to spring training. The club is familiar with Hamilton’s move, as the 30-year-old played 36 games last year for the Cubs and Mets, but spent six seasons before that with Cincinnati’s Cleveland spring training partners (2013-18) .
The Indians were unable to confirm the signature on Thursday night.
On Thursday morning, the club hired former Mariners and Brewers player Ben Gamel for a secondary league with an invitation to spring training. The moves give Cleveland several field options for the training ground, including Oscar Mercado and Bradley Zimmer in the center, along with Daniel Johnson, Jordan Luplow, Josh Naylor and Jake Bauers in the corners.
The club signed with former Twins left footballer Eddie Rosario, with a one-year contract last week, valued at $ 8 million.
Hamilton is likely to serve as insurance in the central field for Mercado, who finished spring training last March, taking care of a sore wrist before the COVID pandemic closed camps. Mercado appeared in just 34 games during the regular season of 60 games, hitting 0.128 with an OPS of 0.328.
Hamilton stole at least 56 bases each 2014-17 season and finished second in the National Newbie League of the Year by voting for Jacob deGrom in 2014. A Cincinnati choice in the second round in the 2009 draft, Hamilton’s most productive season it was 2016 when he cut .260 / .321 / .343 with three home runs and 17 RBI in 119 games as the club’s main central defender.
Hamilton was potential number 31 in baseball in 2012 when he stole a record 155 bases for Macon Class A and cut 0.311 / 0.410 / 0.420, but since 2016 he has been unable to maintain any consistency at the base, hitting a total 0.234 with 0.611 OPS for four clubs.
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