Michael Almanzar

Michael Gabriel Almanzar Campo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.

• Born December 2, 1990 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Michael Almanzar has played as high as AAA. His father Carlos Almanzar pitched in the majors.

Michael signed with the Boston Red Sox in July 2007 for a $1.5 million bonus; the scout was Pablo Lantigua. He hit .348/.414/.472 in 23 games for the GCL Red Sox and .207/.238/.314 in 35 games for the Greenville Drive; at age 17, he was the youngest player in the Carolina League. He fielded .928 overall at third base. Baseball America named him the Gulf Coast League's #5 prospect, behind Aaron Hicks, Kyle Skipworth, Jefry Marte and Jason Knapp. He struggled in 2009 with Greenville (.207/.261/.293 in 49 G) and the Lowell Spinners (.230/.288/.302 in 59 G; 3 for 12 in the playoffs), but Baseball America still ranked him as the 19th-best prospect in the New York-Penn League.

Almanzar produced at a .246/.294/.376 clip for the 2010 Drive, with 27 doubles; he made 36 errors at the hot corner, fielding .904 there. Playing primarily first base in 2011, he fell under the Mendoza Line, hitting .199 (with only 4 HR and 15 BB) between Greenville (.220/.267/.311 in 50 G) and the Salem Red Sox (.182/.223/.264 in 61 G). He rebounded in 2012 with Salem, hitting .300/.353/.458. He was 5th in the Carolina League in average (between Xander Bogaerts and Michael Earley), tied Nick Ahmed for the double lead (36), tied Ahmed for third in hits (136) and was 4th in total bases (208, between Earley and Ronny Rodriguez). Among Red Sox farmhands, he was 6th in doubles and 7th in average (between Garin Cecchini and Bryce Brentz. He was named to the league All-Star team at third base. He hit only .185/.272/.235 in the Arizona Fall League, playing for the Surprise Saguaros.

In 2013, he hit .268/.328/.432 with 29 doubles, 16 home runs and 81 RBI as a corner infielder and DH for the Portland Sea Dogs; he stole 13 bases in 16 tries. He tied Tyler Collins for 9th in the Eastern League in doubles, was 5th in RBI (between Allan Dykstra and Collins) and was 6th with 219 total bases (between Alex Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar). He was picked by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2013 Rule V Draft, one of only two position players picked; Adrian Nieto was the other. However, he failed to make the team in spring training in 2014 and was returned to the Red Sox. The Orioles still liked what they saw, as on August 30th, they reacquired him from Boston in a trade, along with 3B Kelly Johnson, in return for Jemile Weeks and Ivan DeJesus Jr.

Sources

• 2013 Red Sox Media Guide
• MILB.com
• Baseball America