Omar Infante signs with Braves on minor league deal

Infante is making $7.75 million this year and $8 million in 2016 in the last season of four-year $30.25 million extension he signed with the Royals after the 2013 season, a deal which includes a $2 million buyout of a 2018 option.

The Braves will pay him a prorated portion of the major league minimum salary of $507,500 for any time he spends in the majors. Kansas City is responsible for the remaining balance for 2016 and $10 million over the next two years including the buyout.

After a short stint with the Braves’ Danville rookie ball team, he’s scheduled to join Triple-A Gwinnett.

“He is going to play a few days at Danville and kind of get his ‘sea legs’ under him,” Braves John Coppolella said. “He hasn’t played in ten or 12 days.”

Coppolella went on to say that it isn’t a guarantee that he ends up back in Atlanta. His signing is viewed as a low-risk move with good potential upside.

“There isn’t anything that says he will end up here with us in Atlanta,” he said. “We hope that happens but there isn’t anything set in stone.”

Braves interim manager Brian Snitker remembers him well. He was the Braves third-base coach when Infante was with the club from 2008-2010.

“I loved Omar and he was a great guy and great teammate,” Snitker said. “He did a great job here for us and was very athletic. He played second, shortstop and could run. I have nothing but really good memories of Omar and he is a great teammate.”

One other potential unspoken benefit of having Infante: He’s close friends with former Brave Martin Prado, the godfather to Infante’s daughter. There’s a chance the Braves will pursue Prado as a free agent next winter.

Infante had one of his best seasons with the Braves in 2010, when he hit .321 with eight homers and 47 RBIs before being traded to the Marlins in the Dan Uggla deal in November 2010.