The Cincinnati Reds have added another experienced glove to the mix, signing veteran infielder Orlando Arcia to a minor league contract and assigning him to Triple-A Louisville, where he’s expected to join the Bats.
Arcia, 32, is a Venezuela native who has logged parts of 11 big league seasons. His 2026 campaign was split between the Minnesota Twins’ major league roster and their Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul, and it followed a winding path from spring training all the way to free agency.
He opened the year with the St. Paul Saints after not making Minnesota’s roster out of camp. Arcia settled in quickly enough to post a .750 OPS during his first month in Triple-A, then surged in May with a .426/.466/.796 line over the first 13 games of the month before getting the call to the majors.
His start with the Twins was loud: eight hits in his first 15 at-bats. But the stretch that followed turned rough in a hurry, as he managed just 5-for-33 over the next three weeks, a .152 clip that led to him being designated for assignment.
He cleared waivers, was outrighted back to St. Paul, and picked up right where he had left off, hitting .353 with one strikeout in nine games through the end of June.
July brought another downturn. Over 15 games in the first three weeks of the month, Arcia hit just .143/.197/.286 before Minnesota released him. He then landed with Diablos Tojos in the Mexican League, but that stay was brief as well, lasting only three games before he was granted free agency and moved on to Cincinnati.
At the big league level, Arcia owns a career line of .240/.292/.369. His best season came in 2023 with Atlanta, when he made the All-Star team and posted .264/.321/.420 marks while setting career highs in doubles with 25, home runs with 17, runs scored with 66, slugging percentage at .420, and RBI with 65.
Defensively, Arcia brings plenty of versatility. He has experience at shortstop, second base, third base and first base, and has also spent some limited time in the outfield, though his last game there came in the 2022 season.
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