Albert Almora Jr. was the Cubs CF of the future. Now he’s a Red. Here’s what to know – Yahoo Sports

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:

No-roster invitees:

Albert Almora Jr

Trey Amburgey

Lorenzo Cedrola

Ronnie Dawson

Here's what to know about Almora.

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:

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.

Story continues

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.

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.

Chicago Cubs' Albert Almora Jr. (center fielder) reacts after scoring on Ben Zobrist's RBI double during the 10th inning of Game 7 of the Major League Baseball World Series against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Cleveland. Almora played for the Smokies in 2014-15. In two seasons, he hit .262 with 8 home runs and 56 RBIs.

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.

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.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Albert Almora signed with the Reds. Here's what to know

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Albert Almora Jr. was the Cubs CF of the future. Now he's a Red. Here's what to know - Yahoo Sports