Padres signing Jose Iglesias to minor league deal

The San Diego Padres seem to have decent minor league infield depth at the moment but A.J. Preller has added to it, as Mark Feinsand is reporting that they are signing veteran infielder Jose Iglesias to a minor league deal. Iglesias just opted out of his minor league contract with the Miami Marlins last week.

The 33-year-old is not a power-first infielder but has an on-base percentage north of .300 in each of his last five seasons. Last year with the Colorado Rockies, Iglesias hit over .300 in the first half of the season but slowed down in the second half.

The Padres may be making this move because they don’t plan on keeping Rougned Odor on the roster once Adam Engel (hamstring) returns from his rehab assignment. If Odor is designated for assignment and gets though waivers, Odor could choose to leave the organization to try to land elsewhere if he has an opt-out in his contract.

Iglesias joins Tim Lopes, Matthew Batten and Max Schrock as middle infield options at Triple-A El Paso. If Jose Azocar is sent down at some point (and Engel is the fourth outfielder), then that could make room for Iglesias to join the big league roster to give Bob Melvin an additional bench infield option.