Jose Iglesias opts out of Padres contract

The San Diego Padres are dealing with a couple of injuries in their infield right now (Ha-Seong Kim and Manny Machado) so Jose Iglesias opting out of his minor league contract with the organization probably doesn’t make the front office very happy. Obviously it’s not hard feeling towards Iglesias but it’s just that Iglesias probably would’ve been the next guy up if another infielder had to go on the IL.

Kim had to be helped off the field during yesterday’s game after fouling a ball off of his left leg. X-rays came back negative but who knows how he’s going to feel in the coming days. Machado obviously is still on the IL and could continue to be on it through this weekend.

Iglesias signed with the Padres at the end of April and ended up playing 21 games with Triple-A El Paso. The 33-year-old hit .276 with a .744 OPS. His last appearance was on Tuesday against the Reno Aces.

Iglesias likely opted out because he wanted to get a better chance at getting to the major league level. He didn’t see that with San Diego because Brandon Dixon is ahead of him on the depth chart, Rougned Odor is raking and Machado should be returning soon.

The Padres Triple-A infield options are now down to Matthew Batten, Tim Lopes, Rangel Ravelo, Alfonso Rivas and Jantzen Witte.