Baltimore Orioles Minors Monday: Re-signing Craig Gentry

The Baltimore Orioles have done an excellent job of filling spots in the minor leagues.

One of the most recent Baltimore Orioles signings was for the familiar face, free-agent outfielder Craig Gentry.

The team signed him to a minor league contract on February 7 according to several sources, including Eduardo A. Encina with the Baltimore Sun.

Gentry’s team history

The Rangers drafted Gentry in 2006. Now, he is a 34-year-old veteran. He spent five years playing for the Rangers before he was traded to the Oakland Athletics, where he played for two season. Gentry earned his free agency and was signed by the Los Angeles Angels where he played for a partial season and was released. The Orioles signed him for the 2017 season and released him at the end of the season.

Gentry’s stats to know

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Gentry has never played more than 121 games in a season. He played in 77 games with the O’s in 2017. Despite his minimal amount of playing time, he has a slash that isn’t bad: .261/.334/.338. Gentry does not hit for power, but he can get on base. He hit .257/.333/.338 with the Orioles. But, in the 2016 season, he only hit .147 with the Angels. Those numbers are representative of his up and down seasons with his various teams.

He’s a utility outfielder, nothing more

Gentry is what he is, which is a utility outfielder. This shows in his WAR in 2017 was 0.2, so he did not add or subtract any wins or losses for the team. His best WAR season was in 2013 with the Rangers when he finished the season with 3.6.

Despite having several consecutive seasons in the MLB, he has significant experience in the minor leagues. He played 37 games with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides in 2017 and hit .243/.309/.331 with them. Throughout his career, he has played in 19 different minor league and foreign league teams. That’s significant.

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Gentry will get his chance in spring training to fight for a spot on the Major League roster. But, he has one thing going against him – he’s a right-handed hitter. The O’s desperately need a left-handed bat and they have Jaycob Brugman and Anthony Santander who can hit from the south side. But, Gentry does still have a chance to earn a spot and he will most likely do what he can to land on the 25-man roster.