Miami Marlins sign free agent SS Luis Aviles Jr

While no major league transactions can happen at the moment, minor league deals can happen with all teams around baseball making moves almost daily. The Miami Marlins have made yet another minor league move as the club has signed free agent shortstop Luis Aviles Jr to a minor league contract, and have assigned the 26-year-old to Double-A Pensacola.

Miami Marlins sign free agent shortstop Luis Aviles Jr

A Miami, FL native, Aviles is a former 30th round pick by the Brewers from the 2013 MLB Draft when Milwaukee selected the then 18-year-old out of Southwest Miami High School. Having spent seven seasons from 2013-2019 in the Brewers organization, Aviles reached as high as Double-A in 2019.

Aviles spent the 2021 campaign in the Los Angeles Angels organization where he appeared in 67 total games, 66 of which came with Double-A Rocket City with one coming with Triple-A Salt Lake. The 26-year-old would have success during that span where he slashed .236/.287/.468 with 15 home runs, 46 RBI’s, and 12 stolen bases, as well as drawing 18 walks to 73 strikeouts.

A versatile defender, Aviles spent a majority of his time defensively at second base, but also saw a significant number of appearances at shortstop, third base, and left field.

Aviles also recently appeared in a total of 27 games in the Venezuelan Winter League with Tiburones de La Guaira where he slashed .257/.291/.343 with 17 RBI’s, with a majority of his appearances coming defensively at third base.

Having played a combined eight minor league seasons during his professional career, Aviles is a career .240/.291/.353 hitter. While not the biggest power-threat offensively, Aviles did hit a career-high 15 home runs in 2021, and is a player with excellent speed on the base paths.

A versatile player defensively as mentioned previously, the 26-year-old has seen time almost everywhere defensively with a majority of his appearances coming at shortstop.

As mentioned at the start, Aviles was assigned to Double-A on Thursday, and will likely split time between Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville in 2022.