The Baltimore Orioles filled a hole in their infield by agreeing Tuesday with free agent Freddy Galvis to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.
Galvis broke into the big leagues with Philadelphia Phillies in 2012 and spent the past two years with Cincinnati Reds. The 31-year-old hit .220 with seven homers and 16 RBIs during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Galvis is expected to take over as Baltimore’s shortstop from Jose Iglesias, who was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in December. Galvis played 33 games at shortstop last season and 16 at second base.
He would receive a $250,000 assignment bonus the first time he is traded.
Galvis had a $5.5 million salary last season — the option year of his previous contract –which wound up as $2,037,037 prorated during the shortened season.
Galvis has a .247 career batting average with 95 home runs and 386 RBIs. A journeyman who is headed to his fifth big league team, Galvis started with the Phillies, made a one-year stop with the San Diego Padres in 2018 and played with the Toronto Blue Jays before joining Cincinnati during the 2019 season.
His best season offensively was in 2019, when he hit 23 homers with 70 RBIs.
Baltimore signed him primarily for his ability to deftly play in the middle of the infield. He has a .984 fielding percentage as a shortstop over 801 games.