José Iglesias (baseball)

Defection and minors

While in Cuba, Iglesias played with the Industriales, from the Cuban National Series. With pitcher Noel Argüelles, Iglesias defected from the Cuban junior national team while in Canada in July of 2008. Iglesias signed as an international amateur free agent with the Boston Red Sox in September 2009. Prior to the 2011 season, Iglesias was the sole Red Sox prospect on the MLB.com annual list of top 50 baseball prospects, where he was ranked 42nd.

2011

In March 2011, Iglesias was optioned to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Iglesias was called up by the Red Sox and made his major league debut on May 8, 2011 as a defensive substitute for Jed Lowrie in the ninth inning of a 9–5 win over the Minnesota Twins. In the next game, he represented the game-winning run, scoring from first base on a Carl Crawford double in the 11th inning. On May 11, 2011, Iglesias made his first MLB start due to Jed Lowrie being sick.

2012

Iglesias started the 2012 season in Pawtucket. He was called up to Boston May 1 after an ailing back sidelined Kevin Youkilis, but he did not appear in a game before being sent back down to Triple-A. Iglesias also appeared late in the 2012 season to back up Mike Aviles, and hit his first career home run during this stretch.

2013

Entering 2013, Iglesias was ranked as the 10th best prospect in the Red Sox organization, and 96th on the MLB.com Top 100 Prospects list. He started the season in Boston, going 9-for-20 with two doubles and one RBI in six games, but was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket after Stephen Drew was activated on April 10. He was recalled by the Red Sox on May 24 when third baseman Will Middlebrooks was placed on the DL. Iglesias excelled while splitting time between shortstop and third base, remaining in the starting lineup even after Middlebrooks returned from the DL. Despite being known primarily for his defense, Iglesias batted .420 for a stretch of over 100 at-bats after being recalled, including an 18-game hitting streak that was broken on June 19 against the Tampa Bay Rays. For his efforts, he was named the American League Rookie of the Month for June. Iglesias started the 2013 season playing 63 games with a .330 batting average, a home run, and 19 RBIs while with Boston.

2013

On July 30, Iglesias was traded to the Detroit Tigers in a three-team deal that sent Jake Peavy and Brayan Villarreal to the Boston Red Sox and Avisail García and Francellis Montas to the Chicago White Sox. Iglesias chose jersey No. 1, making him the first Tigers player to wear it since Lou Whitaker retired in 1995.

Iglesias drove in a run with a single in his very first game as a Tiger, on August 2, helping Detroit to a 2–1 win over the White Sox. The next night, he hit his first home run as a Tiger, a solo shot to left field in the fourth inning. Following the 50-game suspension given to Tigers starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta on August 5 for his connections to the South Florida Biogenesis clinic, Iglesias was named the Tigers new everyday shortstop.

For the rest of the 2013 season with the Tigers, Iglesias batted .259 with 2 home runs, and 10 RBIs in 46 games. Overall in 2013, Iglesias hit .303 with 3 home runs and 29 RBIs in 109 games combined with both the Red Sox and Tigers. On the field, he committed 6 errors in 357 chances.

Regardless of his trade after the All-Star Break, Iglesias was part of the Tigers 25-man active roster for their postseason run. During the postseason, Iglesias batted .231 with an RBI. In Game 6 of the 2013 American League Championship Series, Iglesias was the final out of the series to strike out, resulting in the Tigers losing the series to the eventual World Series champ Boston Red Sox after 6 games.

Iglesias was named the 2013 Detroit Tigers/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year. Iglesias finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2013, being edged out by Wil Myers.

2014

On January 8, Iglesias and the Tigers agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth $1.65 million. Although Iglesias is under team control through 2018, his 2014 salary had yet to be determined after the contract he signed with the Red Sox as an amateur free agent expired. Iglesias missed the entire 2014 season due to stress fractures in both of his shins.

2015

On July 6, Iglesias was named as a reserve for the American League at the 2015 All-Star Game. On September 5, it was announced that Iglesias suffered a non-displaced small fracture in his right middle finger at the PIP joint after being hit on the hand by a pitch, and the team announced he would be out for at least two weeks. With the Tigers later falling out of the AL Central race, the team elected to not activate him from the DL for the remainder of the season. During the 2015 season, Iglesias posted a .300 batting average in 416 at-bats, with 17 doubles, two home runs and 23 RBIs.

2016

On January 15, 2016, the Tigers avoided arbitration with Iglesias, agreeing on a one-year, $2.1 million contract. Iglesias made one trip to the disabled list in 2016, after suffering a left hamstring strain in August, but still reached career highs with 137 games, 467 at-bats and 26 doubles. He finished the season with a .255 batting average, 4 home runs and 32 RBI. Following the season, Iglesias was named a Gold Glove Award finalist for shortstop, along with Francisco Lindor and Andrelton Simmons. With just five errors in 574 chances, he posted an AL-best .991 fielding percentage. His 11.6 ultimate zone rating (UZR) ranked third among AL shortstops.

2017

On January 13, 2017, the Tigers avoided arbitration with Iglesias, agreeing on a one-year, $4.1 million contract.