Nationals sign utility man Ehire Adrianza to one-year, $1.5M deal

The Nationals and utility man Ehire Adrianza are in agreement on a one-year, $1.5M deal, pending a physical, per Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base. Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post confirms the deal, adding that there will be incentives tied to the contract to potentially increase the sum total.

Adrianza joins an increasingly robust collection of journeyman utility players in Washington. The 32-year-old switch hitter and Cesar Hernandez are the two vets who have secured guaranteed money, along with Alcides Escobar, the incumbent starter at shortstop. Adrianza’s contract doesn’t make him a starter in Washington, but it does presume he will be on the roster on Opening Day. And for what it’s worth, Escobar signed for less money, and he’s looking like a multiyear starter for manager Davey Martinez’s club.

What’s more, the Nationals haven’t exactly set the world on fire with their free-agent signings, but when it comes to veteran infielders, they’ve gone the quantity-over-quality route. Beyond the trio mentioned above, speeders Dee Strange-Gordon and Lucius Fox are also in-house with an opportunity to make the team. Richard Urena, Maikel Franco, Adrian Sanchez, Jake Noll and Andrew Young are among the other veteran darts whom they’ve thrown at the roster board this winter.

The question for Washington is how many roster spots exactly are available for the taking? More specifically, how secure are the active roster spots currently held by Carter Kieboom and Luis Garcia? Most of the veteran build-up can be attributed to the Nationals’ lack of minor league depth, but at a certain point, one has to wonder about the confidence level leadership has for their young infield duo.

Dougherty suggests that the Nats may want to see Garcia spend time at shortstop, moving Escobar to the bench. That certainly makes sense if he’s going to stay on the major league roster. It’s hard to imagine how either player or team benefits from Garcia coming off the bench.

Presumably, that’s where Adrianza steps in. The versatile defender can play anywhere on the field, giving the Nationals some flexibility with their roster construction. Martinez tends to ride his starters offensively, but having Adrianza on the bench might even allow Washington to ride with a short bench at times. With just a $1.5M commitment, it’s also not impossible that Washington moves on from Adrianza if he’s not performing as expected. The payroll isn’t yet close to where it’s been in years past, so this might just be an example of Washington throwing some money at a problem to make up for the lack of some organizational depth at the top.