The Tampa Bay Rays acquired infielder, and facial hair connoisseur, Danny Espinosa Friday afternoon. (Photo Credit: MLB.com)

According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) the Tampa Bay Rays have signed veteran infielder, Danny Espinosa. They have optioned Daniel Robertson to Triple-A Durham to clear a spot on the active roster.

Espinosa, 30, began the year with the Los Angeles Angels, yet was cut loose and sIG ex with the Mariners before being released there too. While the type of transaction is unknown, it’s likely a minor league deal.

Espinosa spent the first seven years of his career with the Washington Nationals, where he compiled a 6.8 fWAR over his first two seasons. Yet hampered by injuries, his performance came back down to Earth with the infielder accruing just an 0.1 fWAR between 2013 and 2014. He has bounced back defensively since though, posting terrific career marks in DRS and UZR in the middle infield.

Espinosa also has experience at the hot corner, giving him tons of versatility on the infield which likely appealed to the Rays which value defensive prowess. Offensively, however, it has been a different story.

In 2017 Espinosa has struggled to a career-worst .164 BA/.237 OBP/.279 SLG/.516 OPS slash line through 271 plate appearances (85 games) in the AL West — his first taste of American League play. He also saw his strikeout rate soar to 36.2%, while his line-drive rate plummeted to a career-worst 12.9% to go along with a career low 39 wRC+. As Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors) also noted, Espinosa’s hard-hit rate (32.2 percent) is still a bit higher than his career mark (31.1 percent), but the majority of those balls in play have apparently been of the fly-ball or ground-ball variety, as Espinosa checks in north of 41 percent in each regard (41.8% grounders, 45.7 percent flies).

If there are any questions as to when Kevin Cash will throw Espinosa into action, look no further than Friday night’s starting lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals.

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