Veteran infielder Orlando Arcia went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Twins, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. He had the right to elect free agency but will instead accept an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul.
The Twins selected Arcia to the major league roster last month after they optioned Royce Lewis to third base and moved Brooks Lee from shortstop to the hot corner. The 31-year-old wound up appearing in 19 games and taking 50 plate appearances. He hit .271/.300/.354 with a homer in that span. He’ll now return to the Saints (the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate), for whom he slashed .318/.376/.556 with eight homers in 165 plate appearances prior to his call to the majors.
Arcia has played in parts of 11 major league seasons and accrued nearly nine years of service in the process. The younger brother of former Twins outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, Orlando once ranked among the sport’s 10 best prospects but never came close to reaching his ceiling with the Brewers, his original organization. He had a nice two-year run with the Braves after being traded to Atlanta, hitting .258/.319/.419 in 767 plate appearances from 2022-23.
Since that quality run in Atlanta, Arcia’s bat has regressed. He’s batted .217/.265/.338 over his past 866 big league plate appearances and is now a lifetime .240/.292/.369 hitter in 3587 plate appearances as a major leaguer. He’ll have plenty of playing time in St. Paul right now with top shortstop prospect Kaelen Culpepper recently hitting the injured list due to a hip strain. Even if the Twins give Culpepper a shot to prove he’s their shortstop of the future once he returns, Arcia could work his way back to the big leagues with another injury in the Minnesota infield or if infielder/outfielder Tristan Gray (.244/.288/.370) continues to struggle.
