Angels Infielder Who Played in 4 Games This Season Joins AL's Best Team

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jul 5, 2024

Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles announced the signing of former Los Angeles Angeles Angels utility player Niko Goodrum to a minor league contract on Sunday.

Goodrum is on his fifth organization of the season after clearing outright waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 17. Going back to spring training, Goodrum has spent time with the Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, Angels, and Pirates this season.

Despite playing with so many organizations this year, Goodrum has only appeared in 13 big league games between the Angels and Rays. He appeared in nine with Tampa Bay and four with Los Angeles going 3-for-29 with 10 strikeouts. He’s hitting .103/.188/.103 on the year.

The Orioles announce they've agreed to minor league deals with infielder Niko Goodrum and right-hander Burch Smith.

Goodrum: former 2nd rounder who elected free agency this month. Plays some outfield too.
Smith: 34-year-old reliever with a 4.25 ERA for the Marlins this year

— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) June 28, 2024

Goodrum has 75 Triple-A plate appearances on the year batting .270/.387/.444. He has drawn 11 walks with three home runs in that limited sample.

The 32-year-old switch hitter has spent parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball. He’s a career .224/.297/.383 hitter with 1,564 big league plate appearances. Goodrum spent 2023 between Triple-A Worcester in the Boston Red Sox’s system and with Lotte in the Korea Baseball Organization. He batted .295/.373/.387 in 201 KBO plate appearances.

He provides a depth option at virtually every position outside of catcher and center field.