Padres signing Rougned Odor to minor league deal

The San Diego Padres are signing of veteran infielder Rougned Odor to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell.

This move came as a surprise to some, as San Diego already has Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim who can play second base on the roster, but maybe it shouldn’t be one because President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller has been making numerous depth signings all around the roster since the end of the 2022 season.

David Dahl, Julio Teheran, Brent Honeywell, Cole Hamels, Sean Poppen, Jose Lopez, Craig Stammen and Tom Cosgrove have either been brought in or brought back. Michael Wacha, Nelson Cruz, Matt Carpenter and Adam Engel are some other depth additions who should be making the big league roster.

The 29-year-old brings a wealth of experience to the Padres, as he has nine years of major league experience under his belt. He spent the last couple years with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles after spending seven seasons in the majors with the Texas Rangers, which is where Preller worked before coming to the Padres.

Odor, Cruz, Nick Martinez and Yu Darvish all used to be in the Rangers organization.

Odor is going to strike out but he’s been able to stay pretty healthy in his big league career. He has played 100+ games in each of his eight major league seasons (excluding the shortened 2020 season).

Odor will be fighting for an Opening Day bench spot alongside Brandon Dixon, Jose Azocar, David Dahl, Adam Engel and maybe even Matthew Batten and Taylor Kohlwey. He should get plenty of playing time in March with Cruz, Kim, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado being away from the team because they’re participating in the World Baseball Classic. Infielder Eguy Rosario was going to get playing time but he fractured his ankle working out this offseason.