Diamondbacks Sign Veteran Shortstop to Minor League Deal

The Diamondbacks signed veteran shortstop Elvis Andrus to a minor league deal, complete with an invite to Spring Training, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.

Andrus, 35, is coming off a season with the Chicago White Sox, in which he slashed .251/.304/.358 with a .662 OPS in 406 plate appearances, over 112 games of action. 

The right-handed hitting infielder struck out only 17.5% of the time in 2023. As solid as that number is, it's also a career high by 1.6%. While he doesn't walk frequently (6.2% walk rate in 2023), the veteran has solid plate discipline and rarely chases pitches.

Andrus has had a productive major league career over 15 seasons in the bigs, hitting close to or over .300 on multiple occasions, and has been very durable, making a majority of starts over most of his career. He spent the first 12 of those seasons with the Texas Rangers, before spending some time with the Oakland A's and Chicago White Sox.

Andrus accounted for 0.85 average WAR in 2023 with the White Sox, but is more of an offensive shortstop, as he hasn't posted a positive DRS since 2018, and is a career -17 in that category.

The D-backs are locked in the middle of a battle for their backup shortstop position, with Geraldo Perdomo named as the starter. Andrus looks to be another piece to that battle, and is with the team at Salt River Fields today.

Manager Torey Lovullo said that Andrus' name "will enter those conversations," surrounding the backup shortstop role, but noted that a career of solid production doesn't guarantee the veteran an automatic job.

"It is an opportunity, that's what I told him, there's nothing that's been promised to him. I told him just go out and play his game, and let it fall where it may, but what he will get are some opportunities to show us what he can do. And that excites a lot of us… there’s a lot of moving parts, some very key decisions that we need to make down the stretch here," Lovullo said.

But the veteran was open to this approach. Lovullo said that an opportunity was "all he asked for," and that the veteran was grateful for the chance that he was given, despite not having a definitive role carved out for him yet.

"Signing the deal... some of the conversation was 'give me the opportunity,'" said Lovullo, "and when he came into my office, he thanked me for the opportunity, and I said 'you will get that opportunity, and you will get honest feedback from all of us,' so we're excited about this."

Other names in the backup shortstop mix include top prospect Jordan Lawlar, Spring breakout candidate Blaze Alexander and veteran Kevin Newman, with a chance for corner infielder Jace Peterson to take some reps at short once his right wrist inflammation is healed. Emmanuel Rivera Peterson also has more of a corner infield resume, but could be a dark horse to take some reps at the shortstop position.

As there has been a significant lack of infield depth for the D-backs, general manager Mike Hazen continues to make moves to ensure that there are viable options at all infield positions in the event of injury, and an intense competition between both young studs and veterans.