Infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson has been released by the Diamondbacks, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment by the Snakes a week ago. He’ll be a free agent once he clears release waivers, if he hasn’t already.
Hampson, 30, signed a minor league deal with Arizona in the offseason. They selected him to the Opening Day roster, preventing him from triggering an opt-out chance. That locked Hampson into a $1.5MM salary for this year. Hampson is a veteran with more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping that salary in place. It seems the Snakes have decided to skip that formality and send Hampson more directly to free agency.
As a free agent, any club could sign Hampson and would only have to pay him a prorated version of the $760K league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Diamondbacks are paying him.
It’s possible that some club may be interested in that arrangement. Hampson has never been a huge threat at the plate but has provided value in the field and on the basepaths. He has a career .239/.302/.358 batting line, production which translates to a wRC+ of 69. That indicates he’s been 31% worse than league average overall. His production with the D’Backs this year was shaped differently but worked out to be roughly the same value. In 41 plate appearances, he had nine walks but just five hits, leading to a humpbacked .167/.359/.167 line and 71 wRC+ in that small sample.
But Hampson has 66 steals in 82 attempts during his career. He has also played every position on the diamond except catcher. Most of that has been at second base and center field but the ability to bounce around is attractive in a bench player. Given the low cost, it’s possible some club brings Hampson aboard as a guy who can serve as a defensive replacement and/or a pinch runner.
Photo courtesy of Reggie Hildred, Imagn Images