Royals call up Paredes to fill in for Dyson

KANSAS CITY -- Outfielder-infielder Jimmy Paredes was called up from Triple-A Omaha by the Royals on Friday.

He fills the vacancy left when outfielder Jarrod Dyson was placed on the bereavement list because of a death in the family. Dyson is scheduled to rejoin the club on Monday at Cleveland.

Paredes, 25, is a switch-hitter with a .319 average (15-for-47), one home run and four RBIs for Omaha. In 11 games, he's already played five positions for the Storm Chasers -- second base, third base, shortstop, left field and right field.

"I moved around. It's a good thing for me because it'll help me in the future," Paredes said.

Paredes played parts of the previous three seasons for Houston, batting .234 in a total of 118 games with three homers and 31 RBIs. He played second, third, left and right for the Astros. Paredes was originally signed by the Yankees in 2006 and dealt to the Astros in the 2010 trade that sent Lance Berkman to New York.

"I signed the first time as a shortstop and then got moved to third, then second and then the outfield. I've played all the positions," Paredes said. "When I started to play the outfield, I was a little confused, but now I've got it."

You could pardon Paredes if he got a bit confused about where he belonged over the past winter. In November, he was claimed off waivers from the Astros by the Marlins. On Feb. 15, the Orioles claimed Paredes off waivers and just two days later, the Royals claimed him from the Orioles.

"I said, 'Wow, where am I going?' They said, 'Kansas City, fly to Arizona,' so I took my flight there," he said.

Paredes trained with the Major League club in Arizona, was assigned to Omaha and now has found his way to KC.