Alexander James Binelas (born May 26, 2000) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

in the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

organization.

Amateur career

Binelas attended Oak Creek High School in

Oak Creek, Wisconsin Oak Creek is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. It sits on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and is located immediately south of Milwaukee. The population was 36,497 at the 2020 census. In 2011, the city was one of the ...

. In 2018, his senior year, he was named Player of the Year by the Greater Metro Conference and the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association after batting .508 with four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s while also pitching to a 1.94

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

. He was selected by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

in the 35th round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

, but did not sign, instead choosing to honor his college commitment to play baseball at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

. In 2019, Binelas' freshman season at Louisville, he played in 59 games (making 54 starts), hitting .291 with 14 home runs and 59 RBIs. He was named a Freshman All-American by multiple media outlets including ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

'' and the

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 30 teams in the n ...

. After the season, he was invited to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, joining teammates Reid Detmers, Bobby Miller, and Michael Kirian. As a sophomore in 2020, Binelas appeared in two games before suffering a

hamate The hamate bone (from Latin language, Latin wiktionary:hamatus, hamatus, "hooked"), or unciform bone (from Latin language, Latin ''wikt:uncus, uncus'', "hook"), Latin os hamatum and occasionally abbreviated as just hamatum, is a bone in the huma ...

injury to his right hand, missing time due to the injury before the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, his junior season, he batted .256/.348/.621 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs over fifty games.

Professional career

Milwaukee Brewers

Binelas was selected by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in the third round with the 86th overall selection of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

. He signed for a $700,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut with the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona Complex League Brewers before being promoted to the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games ...

of the Low-A East. Over 36 games between the two clubs, he slashed .309/.390/.583 with nine home runs, 29 RBI, and 11 doubles.

Boston Red Sox

On December 1, 2021, Binelas, David Hamilton, and Jackie Bradley Jr. were traded to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in exchange for Hunter Renfroe. Binelas was assigned to the

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

to begin the 2022 season. In late June, he was promoted to the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

of the Double-A Eastern League. Over 113 games between the two teams, he batted .206 with 25 home runs, 78 RBI, and twenty doubles. Binelas returned to Portland for the 2023 season, batting .223 with 16 home runs and 52 RBI over 82 games. Binelas spent a majority of the 2024 season with Portland and played three games with the

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. Th ...

at the end of the season. Over 91 games between the two teams, he batted .252 with nine home runs and sixty RBI. Binelas began the 2025 campaign with Triple-A Worcester, playing in 13 games and batting .257/.366/.457 with two home runs, six RBI, and one stolen base. On May 23, 2025, Binelas was released by the Red Sox organization.

Philadelphia Phillies

On May 26, 2025, Binelas signed a minor league contract with the

.https://www.milb.com/transactions/2025-05-26

References

External links

Louisille Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Binelas, Alex 2000 births Living people Arizona Complex League Brewers players Baseball players from Wisconsin Baseball third basemen Carolina Mudcats players Greenville Drive players Louisville Cardinals baseball players People from Oak Creek, Wisconsin Portland Sea Dogs players Sportspeople from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Worcester Red Sox players