A view of the on-field authentic Brewers hat in the dugout during the game of the Milwaukee Brewers against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Former Olympic medalist signs minor league contract with Brewers

Originally posted on WI Sports Heroics | By Tyler Koerth | Last updated 12/3/22

The Brewers' major news this week was trading Kolten Wong to the Mariners. In return, they received Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro. Shortly after this, Matt Arnold made another transaction. He improved his minor league depth by signing Eddy Alvarez to a contract.

Alvarez has an incredible story as a dual-sport Olympian in which he has medaled in both the winter and summer Olympics.

Eddy Alvarez, what a story. He has medaled in the winter (speed skating) and summer (baseball) Olympics and was one of the flag bearers for the U.S. in Tokyo. @CDeNicola13 wrote about him: https://t.co/GeKphBrjYT

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) December 3, 2022

In 2014 Alvarez won a silver medal in the Sochi Winter Olympics. He was a member of the United States 5,000-meter relay speed skating team. Alvarez then earned a medal in the Tokyo Olympics as a member of the United States baseball team.

Receiving an Olympic medal in both the summer and winter events is very rare. At the time Alvarez became just the third American to accomplish this and the sixth person overall.

2023 will be Alvarez’s age 33 season. Over the past three years, he’s played for the Marlins and the Dodgers. He has appeared in just 50 major league games and overall has a .183/.262/.262 slash line with a .524 OPS.

In the minor leagues, Alvarez has put up some gaudy batting average numbers. In 2019 he appeared in 70 games and finished with a .324 average. 2021 resulted in a .320 batting average, but in just 36 games. Last year, he hit .322 in 47 minor league games.

The Brewers are currently well stocked at the major league level in regards to their infielders. Alvarez will help provide minor league depth and he has quite the backstory.

This article first appeared on WI Sports Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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