The Diamondbacks are signing infielder Luis Guillorme, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase on X. It appears to be a major league deal, as Álvarez-Montes adds that the infielder is already at LoanDepot Park in Miami for tonight’s game against the Marlins. The Snakes will need to make a corresponding move or moves to add the veteran to their active and 40-man rosters.
Once Guillorme officially becomes a Diamondback, it will be his third club of the year. He began the season with Atlanta but was traded to the Angels in May. The Halos had most of their infield either banged up or on the injured list at that time, with each of Anthony Rendon, Michael Stefanic, Brandon Drury, Luis Rengifo and Miguel Sanó dealing with injuries. He played a part-time role with the Angels until he was released last week.
Between the two clubs, Guillorme has hit .218/.285/.290 this year, a line that translates to a wRC+ of 63. That’s roughly in line with last year’s production, when he hit .224/.288/.327 with the Mets for a wRC+ of 70. He was non-tendered after 2023 and became a free agent, which led to his deal with Atlanta.
Prior to the lackluster performance that began last year, Guillorme had a some solid years in Queens. He got into 201 games for the Mets over the 2020 to 2022 period, slashing .278/.367/.344 for a wRC+ of 107. He did that while bouncing between the three infield positions to the left of first base, getting average-ish grades at all three in that time.
The Diamondbacks recently lost a big piece of their infield with Ketel Marte landing on the injured list due to a left ankle sprain. That has led to Kevin Newman moving from a bench role into the club’s regular at the keystone, next to Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop and Eugenio Suárez at third base.
The club has Blaze Alexander on hand as infield depth but he’s fairly lacking in experience, with just 61 big league games under his belt to this point. He’s also right-handed, whereas Guillorme hits from the left side, so having both on the bench could give manager Torey Lovullo a bit more flexibility in optimizing his non-Marte lineups. Guillorme has a 98 wRC+ against righties in his career, compared to a 63 wRC+ against southpaws. Newman, a righty, has a 98 RC+ with the platoon advantage but a 69 without.
It’s a fairly low-cost pickup for the Snakes, as the Angels are on the hook for most of Guillorme’s $1.1MM salary. Arizona will only have to pay him the prorated version of the $740K league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Angels pay.
Guillorme hasn’t been in amazing form of late but has a decent track record, which could perhaps allow him to help the Diamondbacks get through this period of time without Marte, which they hope will be short. If Guillorme bounces back and holds his roster spot through the end of the year, he can be retained for 2025 via arbitration.