Miami Marlins sign third baseman Jonathan Villar

The Miami Marlins had the most interesting signing on the weekend when they came to terms with third baseman Jonathan Villar of La Vega, Dominican Republic to a one year contract worth $8.2 million on Friday. Miami acquired Villar in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles in December. In return, the Orioles received left handed pitching prospect Easton Lucas.

Villar batted .274 with 24 home runs and 73 runs batted in with the Orioles in 2019. After playing a complete season in Baltimore (162 games), Villar had 642 at bats. In 714 plate appearances, Villar scored 111 runs, had 176 hits, 33 doubles, five triples, 40 stolen bases, 61 walks, an on base percentage of .339, a slugging percentage of .453, 291 total bases, two sacrifice bunts and four sacrifice flies. He had career highs in runs, hits, triples, home runs, runs batted in and total bases.

Villar takes over the third baseman duties from Brian Anderson of Edmond, Oklahoma, who is making the transfer from the infield to the outfield on a regular basis. Anderson is expected to be the Marlins’ opening day right fielder.

Four years ago with the Milwaukee Brewers, Villar was simply known for his speed. He had a remarkable 62 stolen bases with Milwaukee in 2016, which led Major League Baseball that season.

The Marlins will become Villar’s fourth Major League Baseball team. In addition to the Brewers and Orioles, Villar has played for the Houston Astros.

With the loss of Villar, the Orioles are slated to have Rio Ruiz of Covina, California at third base in 2020. It was Ruiz’s first full Major League Baseball season in 2019. After three partial seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Ruiz batted .232 with 12 home runs and 46 runs batted in.

It is interesting that Villar is going from one bad team to another. The Orioles lost 108 games in 2019 and the Marlins lost 105 games last season.