Infielder elected free agency after being outrighted by the Giants, relays of NBC Sports Bay Area. Hed been designated for a signment on Monday with returning from the injured list. Villar, 28, will look for a new opportunity for the first time in his career. He has been with the Giants since they selected him in the 11th round Amir Riep Jersey of the 2018 draft. The right-handed hitter showed some promise during his rookie season three years ago. He hit nine home runs with a .455 slugging percentage in 52 games. He would have needed to improve upon a 32% strikeout rate to find long-term succe s, though. The Giants never gave him much of a chance to do so. Villar appeared in 46 games the following season, and he hit just .145 while striking out 32% of the time. That more or le s closed the book on his MLB tenure in San Francisco. He has appeared in only 20 big league contests over the past two seasons. Villar has tallied well over 1200 Triple-A plate appearances over the last three years. Hes a lifetime .273/.381/.507 hitter with 61 home runs at the top minor league level. That minor league production has also come with a decent amount of swing-and-mi s. Villar has punched out at a near-26% clip in Triple-A. He has cleared outright waivers twice in the past two months, suggesting every team has trepidation about him making enough contact to produce at the big league level. Hed be limited to minor league offers if he remains in the affiliated ranks. Speculatively speaking, he could also explore opportunities in a foreign league. Thats a relatively common path for players in their mid-late 20s who have had Triple-A succe s but face questions about their ability to hit major league pitching. Andraez Williams Jersey