White Sox's Wilmer Difo: Latches on with White Sox
Rotowire
Difo signed a minor-league contract with the White Sox on Saturday.
He's essentially taking the utility role at Triple-A Charlotte vacated by Zach Remillard, who was called up to the majors Friday. Difo, 32, is a career .250/.311/.353 hitter over parts of eight major-league seasons.
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Yankees' Wilmer Difo: Reassigned to minor-league camp
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Difo was reassigned to minor-league camp by the Yankees on Saturday.
With the infield depth available for the Yankees, it was a long shot for Difo to make the Opening Day roster. The infielder will likely head to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the 2023 season.
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Yankees' Wilmer Difo: Receives NRI from Yanks
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Difo signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees on Friday and was invited to major-league spring training, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
Difo will receive $1.2 million if he's in the majors. The 30-year-old utility infielder is a career .250/.311/.353 hitter across parts of eight major-league seasons for three different teams.
Difo elected free agency Sunday after the Diamondbacks outrighted him to Triple-A Reno.
Rather than joining Reno for the final week and a half of its season, Difo will explore the open market and look to find a new home in advance of the 2023 campaign. Before Arizona designated Difo for assignment last week, he saw action in just three games for the Diamondbacks, logging six plate appearances.
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Diamondbacks' Wilmer Difo: DFA'd by Arizona
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Difo was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Difo's contract was selected by Arizona on Sept. 1, but he went 0-for-6 with a strikeout over three games during his stint with he major-league club. The 30-year-old will lose his spot on the 40-man roster after Jordan Luplow was recalled Monday.
Difo's contract was selected from Triple-A Reno on Thursday.
Difo played in 116 games for the Pirates last season but was forced to settle for a minor-league role with the Diamondbacks to begin the 2022 campaign. He's slashed .269/.311/.398 with seven homers, 43 RBI, 33 runs and four stolen bases over 72 games at Reno this year but will provide depth for Arizona now that rosters have expanded to 28 players.
Difo (not injured related) received his work visa and reported the Diamondbacks' training facility this week, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
This ends the nearly month-long saga as Difo attempted to secure clearance to travel to the States from the Dominican Republic. The infielder will work his way into playing shape before being assigned to Triple-A Reno. The 30-year-old Difo is a .251 hitter over parts of seven big-league seasons. He could enter the mix at third base once he hits stride, particularly if Josh Rojas (oblique) is still sidelined.
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Diamondbacks' Wilmer Difo: Visa issue update
Rotowire
Difo (not injury related) has an appointment scheduled for Wednesday with the consulate in the Dominican Republic, when he's expected to clear up visa issues that prevented him from traveling to the United States, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
If the issue is cleared up and Difo can join the organization, he's expected to get at-bats for Triple-A Reno before getting a chance on the major-league roster. Difo slashed .269/.329/.384 in 240 plate appearances last season with the Pirates.
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Diamondbacks' Wilmer Difo: Dealing with visa problems
Rotowire
Difo remains in the Dominican Republic while handling a visa issue, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.
Difo inked a minor-league contract March 19 with the hope of potentially competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster, but he has been unable to make his way to the United States at this point. It's unclear as to when he may be able to report to camp, though it won't be on a big-league roster.
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Diamondbacks' Wilmer Difo: Signs with Diamondbacks
Rotowire
Difo agreed to a minor-league deal with the Diamondbacks on Saturday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
In 2021, Difo had four home runs with one stolen base and a .269 batting average in 240 plate appearances. Difo played all over the infield and outfield for the Pirates. He could battle for infield reps with Josh Rojas, Nick Ahmed and Josh VanMeter.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Outrighted to Triple-A
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Difo cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday.
Difo had a pretty good year by his standards in 2021, hitting .269/.329/.384 in 240 trips to the plate, good for a nearly average 95 wRC+. He stands a decent chance of returning in a bench role at some point in 2022, though nothing in his track record suggests he should be getting regular at-bats, as he owns a lifetime 75 wRC+ over parts of seven seasons.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Cranks fourth homer
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Difo hit a two-run home run as a pinch hitter in Friday's 8-6 loss to Philadelphia.
The infielder hit for pitcher Nick Mears in the seventh inning. Difo's blast put Pittsburgh ahead briefly, but Didi Gregorius answered with a three-run blast in the bottom of the frame. Through 228 plate appearances, Difo has a .271/.333/.382 slash line with four homers, 22 RBI, 24 runs scored and a stolen base. He hasn't started since Sept. 14 as Pittsburgh has faced a run of right-handed pitchers.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Returns to bench vs. righty
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Difo is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds.
Difo went 2-for-8 with a run scored while manning second base in both of the past two games, but those two starts came against left-handed pitchers. The lefty-hitting Hoy Park will get the nod at the keystone with a righty (Vladimir Gutierrez) on the mound for Cincinnati, so the switch-hitting Difo doesn't look to be much more than short-side platoon player for the Pirates.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Collects three hits
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Difo went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored in an 11-7 win over the Cardinals on Thursday.
Drawing the start, Difo collected his first RBI since August 14. The 29-year-old has primarily been used in a bench role this season, slashing .269/.332/.389.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Filling limited role for Bucs
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Difo remains out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.
Difo appeared to be a candidate to receive more playing time in the second half of the season after Adam Frazier was dealt to the Padres ahead of the trade deadline, but an increased role hasn't materialized for the 29-year-old utility man. He's picked up only four starts since the All-Star break, with deadline pickup Hoy Park and prospect Rodolfo Castro instead taking priority over Difo in the infield.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Bump in near-term playing time?
Rotowire
Difo struck out in his lone batting appearance in Sunday's 6-1 loss to the Giants.
He entered the game as an eighth-inning replacement at second base for Adam Frazier. Following Frazier's trade, Difo could see additional playing time at second. Tucupita Marcano, Erik Gonzalez (side) and Cole Tucker (Triple-A) are also candidates to play second base, as is Rodolfo Castro, who is currently with Double-A Altoona. For his part, Difo put together a 12-for-25 string in mid-July but has done his best work as a pinch-hitter (10-for-31, two homers).
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Looks like top option off bench
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Difo will start at third base and bat second Sunday against the Mets.
Difo's run of regular work in right field looks to have come to an end after Gregory Polanco (hip) was reinstated from the injured list Saturday, but the former's multi-positional versatility will likely make him the next man up for work when any of the Pittsburgh regulars require a breather. He'll be spelling a resting Ke'Bryan Hayes at the hot corner in the series finale. Difo is slashing a sizzling .423/.516/.731 across 26 at-bats in July.
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Pirates' Wilmer Difo: Contributes three-run blast
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Difo came off the bench to hit a three-run home run in Saturday's comeback win over the Mets.
Difo entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and took New York reliever Seth Lugo deep to right field to pull the Pirates to within 6-5. It was the third homer of the year for the former National, who is slashing .287/.347/.454 across 118 plate appearances in his first season with the Pirates.
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Player Bio
HT/WT: 5-11, 197 lbs
Birthplace: Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
