Bio
Abdiel Layer comes to Siouxland after spending 2024 with the Milwaukee Milkmen in the American Association. Layer slashed a line of .233/.291/.410 with the Milkmen, hitting 10 home runs and driving in 35 in 69 games. The 26-year-old infielder played 40 games at shortstop, 30 games at third base and one game at second base with a .938 fielding percentage with Milwaukee. He would finish second on the team with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Layer has spent parts of four seasons playing winter ball in his native Puerto Rico, including 39 games this winter season, hitting .241 with three home runs and 15 RBI in 39 games for San Juan in the Puerto Rico Winter League.
Layer spent parts of five seasons with the San Francisco Giants organization after being the 40thround selection in the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from Miami Dade College. He played just eight games with the Giants Orange team in the Arizona Complex League. In those eight games, he launched one homer with six RBI, hitting .259. In 2022 Abdiel Layer played 30 games at class A San Jose in the California League, hitting .232 with five home runs and 16 RBI.
Abdiel Layer played in a career high 84 games in 2021 with San Jose. He would slash a line of .212/.270/.394 with 13 long balls and 46 RBI. He added 11 doubles and three triples to his homer total giving him 27 extra base hits for the Giants low-A club. His RBI and home run totals were good for fourth on the club in 2021. Layer would not play due to the world-wide pandemic in 2020.
In 2019 A. Layer played 40 games with rookie-level Giants Orange in the Arizona League, slashing a line of .292/.339/.507 with five home runs and 30 RBI. He added another three games at Salem-Kiezer of the Northwest League, going 2-for-11 in a short stay at the low A level. Layer made his professional debut in 2018, playing 43 games for the Giants Black in the Arizona League, hitting three home runs and 25 RBI. He would swipe nine bases in 11 attempts with a slash line of .289/.358/.428. He did see action at class A Augusta for four games in his rookie season, going 0-for-11.
Abdiel Layer would spend one season at Miami Dade College in 2018, playing in 51 games with eight home runs and 48 RBI. He added six stolen bases to go along with a .265 batting average. He would be drafted the first time in 2017 after his senior season at Colegio Angel David High School (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) in the 13th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, he went on to Miami Dade where he was picked by San Francisco following his only college season. In his four winter seasons, he has played 104 games and hit eight home runs with 42 RBI, totaling .276 for his career in Puerto Rico. Layer has played 385 games professionally, including winter ball with a career slash line of .251/.310/.417 with 45 home runs and 201 RBI with 55 stolen bases.
The Explorers exchanged outfielder Scott Ota for Abdiel Layer brokering the deal with the Milwaukee Milkmen on January 21, 2025.