Albert Almora Jr. was the Cubs CF of the future. Now he's a Red. Here's what to know
The Cincinnati Reds signed veteran outfielder Albert Almora, Jr. on March 20.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Almora played for the Chicago Cubs from 2016-2020. He batted .298 in 2017 and .286 in 2018 before struggling in 2019 and 2020.
Almora played in the 2016 World Series for the Cubs, playing in three games as a rookie with one at-bat.
A career .265 hitter, Almora has hit just .134 in 82 at-bats since 2020. He played with the Mets in 2021.
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Almora is not on the Reds roster and is in camp as a non-roster invitee.
The Reds now have quite a few outfielders in the camp now. Here's a look:
40-man roster:
- Shogo Akiyama
- Aristides Aquino
- Allan Cerda
- Jake Fraley
- T.J. Friedl
- Tyler Naquin
- Nick Senzel
No-roster invitees:
- Albert Almora Jr
- Trey Amburgey
- Lorenzo Cedrola
- Ronnie Dawson
Here's what to know about Almora.
Albert Almora was a top-10 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft
The Chicago Cubs famously rebuilt the organization in the early 2010s and in 2011 the Cubs went 71-91 and received the sixth pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Their pick was Almora, a high school prospect from Hialeah, Fla. Almora was selected just after Kyle Zimmer, who ironically signed with the Reds on the same day as Almora almost 10 years later.
In fact, the Reds are loading up on 2012 first-round picks. Almost a week after trading their own pick in that draft, Jesse Winker, the Reds spring training camp features:
- Zimmer (5th pick)
- Almora (6th pick)
- Naquin (15th pick)
- Lucas Sims (21st pick)
The Reds' own first-round picks in that draft, Nick Travieso (14th pick), Winker (supplemental first round pick and 49th overall) and Jeff Gelalich (supplemental first round pick and 57th overall) are no longer on the team.
The 13th pick of the 2012 draft, Courtney Hawkins, was a Red for a short time in 2018 and the 58th pick of the supplemental first round, Mitch Nay, was a Red from 2017-2019.
Albert Almora was once among of the top prospects in baseball
Almora was a top-50 ranked prospect in 2013. He was part of a wave of Cubs prospects that made their debuts in the mid 2010s, including Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, Jeimer Candelario and Wilson Contreras.
Almora was living up to the hype, somewhat, in his standout 2017 and 2018 seasons before slumping in 2019.
He turns 28 in April.
Albert Almora scored the go-ahead run in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series
Bryant hit a deep fly ball in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series and Almora, a pinch runner for Schwarber, advanced to second base on a tag. Ben Zobrist would hit a double later in the inning and the Cubs took the lead and won 8-7.
Albert Almora is close with Manny Machado
Almora and San Diego Padres star Manny Machado are childhood friends. Machado is considered family to Almora, who's father immigrated from Cuba. Machado attended the baptism of Almora's child during the 2019 free agency period which led some in the media to wonder if he was recruiting the star third baseman.
He wasn't, telling the media:
"At my son's baptism, we were with family. Smoked a cigar, we had a good time. There were a lot of childhood friends that we had there — we talked about stories, we talked about fishing. Baseball was not a topic I wanted to talk about, especially because I didn't want to feel in that position because I knew I was going to get asked these questions and I don't want to know anything.