Kansas City Royals Purchase Contract of LI Ducks, Former Met Adeiny Hechavarria

For independent baseball teams, when players perform well on the diamond, affiliated MLB organizations usually take notice and give players a first or second chance, weaken the squad for the moment. It is a tough occurrence, but it is one of the reasons these associations exist.

For the Long Island Ducks, today, the lost a vital infielder, as the Kansas City Royals franchise purchased the contract of Adeiny Hechavarria, an ex-New York Met, after belted seven longballs and 12 doubles (fifth in the Atlantic League) while amassing 29 runs, 43 hits, 78 total bases, a triple, 21 walks and a .920 OPS in 38 games.

Hechavarria will report to the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, Neb.

“Congratulations to Adeiny on this well-deserved opportunity,” Ducks President/GM Michael Pfaff said on LIDucks.com. “He is a talented player that performed very well with us, and we wish him the best of luck with the Angels organization.”

The Cuba native becomes the third member of 2023 Long Island team to have his contract purchased by a Major League organization. He joins right-handed pitcher Brett Kennedy (Cincinnati Reds, May 13) and Daniel Murphy (Los Angeles Angels, June 12).

Hechavarria has played with seven teams during his nine-year Major League career, including parts of five seasons with the Miami Marlins (2013-17), two each with the Tampa Bay Rays (2017-18) and Atlanta Braves (2019-20) and one each with the Toronto Blue Jays (2012), Pittsburgh Pirates (2018), New York Yankees (2018) and Mets (2019). He has appeared in 922 MLB tilts, posting a .253 batting average with 37 home runs, 273 RBI, 311 runs, 778 hits, 116 doubles, 36 triples and 35 stolen bases.

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— Jerry Del Priore

— Jerry Del Priore