The Los Angeles Dodgers released infielder Jonathan Araúz from Triple-A Oklahoma City after just three months with the organization.
Araúz was signed to a Minor League contract this past offseason and he was assigned to OKC when the 2024 season started.
Araúz signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an international free agent on August 7, 2014 and has spent a majority of his career in the Minors. He was traded from the Phillies to the Houston Astros in 2015 and did not make his MLB debut until the Boston Red Sox took him in the Rule 5 Draft before the 2020 season.
He wasn’t able to stick around in the Majors for long as he has played in 95 games in the Majors from 2020-2023 with the Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Mets.
He hasn’t had much success in the Majors with a .184 batting average, .561 on-base plus slugging percentage. In his limited plate appearances, he has never had a wRC+ higher than 77.
In 2023 the Mets waived Araúz from the 40-man roster and attempted to outright him to Triple–A Syracuse, elected free agency and signed his deal with the Dodgers.
During his brief time with Oklahoma City, he batted .227/.286/.324 with 56 strikeouts and 51 wRC+ in 225 at-bats. He played all around the infield on defense, but a large majority of his time came at second and he also received some starts as the designated hitter.
His positional versatility is what made him an attractive depth signing for the Dodgers in the first place, but the team decided to part ways with him after his lackluster offensive production.
At just 25-years-old, Araúz should be able to find himself another opportunity with a team willing to take a low-risk gamble on him.
Jonathan Araúz at the 2023 WBC
Araúz was selected to represent his home country of Panama ahead of the 2023 WBC and had a pretty decent showing at the tournament. In four games, he batted .267/.421/.333 with a double, a run scored, and was tied for the team lead in RBI with three.
Panama finished with a 2-2 record, and ended up in fourth place in their group after factoring in the tiebreaker. On the bright side, they did earn an automatic bid to the 2026 WBC.
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