Balbino

Fuenmayor

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi had reported earlier in the week that a deal was close. Fuenmayor hit .291/.325/.405 with six home runs and 42 RBI in 381 plate appearances this past season at Triple-A with the Royals after returning from a knee injury.

Fuenmayor batted .291/.325/.405 with six home runs and 42 RBI in 381 plate appearances this past season for the Triple-A affiliate of the Royals. The 26-year-old corner infielder (soon to be 27) is nothing more than an organizational depth signing for Atlanta.

It was his first homer in 14 at-bats to go with a strong .357 batting average this spring. The 27-year-old third baseman will serve as organizational depth in the minors this year. He hit .291/.325/.405 in 101 games with the Royals’ Triple-A team last year.

Fuenmayor has emerged as a legitimate Triple Crown candidate. He’s second in RBI (50) and batting average (.348) and leads the league in total bases (165), slugging (.585) and OPS (.966). The 25-year-old has hit .375 during his six-game hitting streak and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Fuenmayor doesn’t have much left to prove in Double-A. The next stop before the majors is Triple-A Omaha.

This is a rather unique transaction, as Fuenmayor was set to become a minor league free agent after this year. Kansas City moved to prevent that from happening, as Fuenmayor slashed .354/.386/.591 in 308 PAs with Double-A Northwest Arkansas (and .427/.408/.846 in his first six games at Triple-A). This agreement won’t become official until after the season. We would assume this is a minor league contract, but if that’s the case, we wonder why Fuenmayor wouldn’t have rolled the dice on the free market this winter coming off a great season. Perhaps the Royals sweetened the pot in some way. As the deal isn’t official, we’re left to speculate until the late autumn.

Fuenmayor has been in the minors since 2006 but still hasn’t made it past Double-A. For Fuenmayor, it’s been worth the wait. He’s finally come into his own this year, hitting .352 with 14 HR and 45 RBI. He leads the Texas League in slugging percentage (.592), OPS (.979), hits (88) and total bases (148). If this keeps up the 25-year-old won’t be long for Double-A.

Sunday was Fuenmayor’s second four-hit game of the series. He’s been ridiculously hot over his last seven games, batting .516 with 13 RBI. He’s sixth in the Texas League in average (.363) and eighth in OPS (.966). If Fuenmayor continues at this rate, he won’t have to toil in Double-A much longer.

He’s at .207/.307/.287 with 27 strikeouts in 87 at-bats overall. The 17-year-old Fuenmayor was considered one of the Jays’ top position prospects from the moment he was signed out of Venezuela last year, but it seems it’s going to be another year or two before he’ll be ready to put up numbers.

He has an 8/0 K/BB ratio to go along with his one hit in 24 at-bats. The Blue Jays have gone really slowly with Fuenmayor since giving him a big bonus to sign as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela in 2006, but it shows few signs of paying off. He has little plate disclipline, and he’s a poor defensive third baseman.

Still just 24-years-old, Fuenmayor slashed an impressive .347/.383/.610 with 23 homers and 99 RBI in 95 games in the Independent League in 2014. Despite his impressive power, he’s never advanced past A-ball in the minor leagues, and is nothing more than a depth signing.