8:37 p.m. ET
Jeff Passan ESPN
Vicinity
- ESPN MLB insider
Author of The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports
Utilityman Brandon Drury and the Los Angeles Angels agreed to a two-year, $17 million deal, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, adding the Silver Slugger winner to a lineup that had already taken on outfielder Hunter Renfroe and infielder Gio Urshela this winter .
The 30-year-old Drury won the award after a 2022 breakout in which he hit .263/.320/.492 with 28 homers and 87 RBIs. Drury’s versatility is his trademark, having played in all four infield positions and right field this year.
After signing a minor league deal with Cincinnati in March, Drury made the Reds’ opening day roster and hit 20 homers in 92 games, transforming him from an afterthought into a coveted deadline trade target. San Diego landed him for teenage shortstop Victor Acosta, and although Drury’s numbers went down with the Padres, he was still an above-average hitter.
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Prior to 2022, Drury had jumped from Arizona to the New York Yankees to Toronto to the New York Mets. When given playing time, he showed power — 51 home runs in 1,589 career at-bats prior to this year — but a under-.300 percentage on base kept teams from giving him a full-time role.
The Reds had no such concerns, and the former 13th-round pick finally had the kind of season to make up for the low OBP. The deal will nearly triple his previous career earnings of $5.7 million.
Los Angeles’ quest for relevance in the American League West dates back to a season in which the Houston Astros won the World Series and the Seattle Mariners earned their first playoff spot in two decades while the Angels finished 73-89. The addition of Drury, Renfroe and Urshela to a lineup expected to include Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Taylor Ward and Jared Walsh should help the Angels’ offense, who finish 25th this year in the MLB.