Padres News: Rougned Odor to Get Plenty of Opportunity with So Many Players Away at WBC
The Padres signed second baseman Rougned Odor to a minor-league contract on Wendesday, immediately bringing him into camp as a non-roster invite. Odor is a nine-year MLB veteran and is somehow, amazing, inexplicably, still just 29 years old. After seven years with the Rangers, Odor spent a year with the Yankees and a year with the Orioles.
Padres manager Bob Melvin is quite familiar with Odor, having managed the A's in the American League West for Rougned's entire time in Texas. Melvin said Odor will get plenty of chances to play this spring with so many of San Diego's players heading off to play in the World Baseball Classic.
"I know a lot about him, you know. I managed against him for quite a while. ... We're a little short on infielders, especially with the WBC, too, so he'll get the opportunity to play. Good chance I'll start him tomorrow at second base, and we'll see what he has to offer."
Odor is a fairly unique player in baseball history. He's the only player ever to hit 30 home runs with an OPS+ below 80, and he did it twice in three years. In 2019, the 5-foot-11 righty knocked 30 round-trippers but posted just a .721 OPS, good for a 79 OPS+. Two years earlier, he also hit 30 homers with a .649 OPS, which comes out to a 63 OPS+.
Odor's OPS numbers have been low throughout his career mostly because his combination if low batting average and low walk rate give him a career on-base percentage of .287. He and Juan Uribe are the only players in MLB history with at least 170 home runs and an OPS+ below 90.
So chances are, Odor is in San Diego camp to be a warm body during the WBC. Could he get hot and make a run for a roster spot? Sure, but even at his best he wasn't very good, and he hasn't been as his best in at least five years.
