Orioles Designate Weston Wilson, Select Sam Huff
The Orioles announced that utilityman Weston Wilson has been designated for assignment. Taking Wilson’s place on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters is catcher Sam Huff, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Norfolk.
Huff’s arrival is related to the availability of Samuel Basallo, who made an early exit from Friday’s game due to what the team described as abdominal discomfort. The injury hasn’t yet been seemed serious enough to warrant a trip to the injured list, but even if Basallo is fine after a day or two of rest and recovery, the Orioles now have Huff on hand as a backup catcher behind Adley Rutschman.
Baltimore signed Huff to a minor league contract during the offseason, and his deal was previously selected to the active roster in April when Rutschman was on the 10-day IL. Huff appeared in three games for the O’s during his week on the 26-man roster before he was DFA’ed, and after Huff chose free agency over an outright assignment, he quickly re-signed with the Orioles on a fresh minors contract.
Should Basallo’s abdominal issue prove to be a short-term concern, it is very possible Huff will face another DFA within the next few days. Wilson is also no stranger to the DFA cycle, as he was designated and then outrighted off Baltimore’s 40-man roster last February, just a couple of weeks after the Orioles claimed him from the Phillies’ waiver wire. This past outright means that Wilson also has the ability to elect free agency over an outright assignment, assuming he clears waivers this time around.
Wilson’s contract was selected to the active roster on April 13, but he has seen only sporadic action in a backup role. Wilson has hit .231/.348/.333 in 46 plate appearances over 19 games, playing mostly at third base with one game in the outfield and three mop-up outings as a pitcher.
Now a veteran of the last four MLB seasons, Wilson has a .240/.331/.413 slash line over 291 career PA with the Orioles and Phillies. Wilson also has a good deal of experience at first and second base plus some work at the other two outfield positions, so he offers some versatility to any team looking to add bench depth on a waiver add.
Orioles Acquire Kyle Nicolas
Right-hander Kyle Nicolas has been traded from the Reds to the Orioles, per announcements from both clubs. The Reds, who designated him for assignment a few days ago, receive cash considerations in return. Baltimore has optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. To open a 40-man roster spot, right-hander Eduarniel Núñez has been designated for assignment.
It’s the second trade for Nicolas this year. Back in March, the Pirates traded him to the Reds in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Callihan. The trade hasn’t worked out for either side thus far. Callihan has spent most of this year in Triple-A and has put up a .223/.305/.346 line at that level.
Nicholas has also been primarily in the minors this year. He logged 7 1/3 major league innings for the Reds but with seven earned runs allowed. His 15 2/3 Triple-A innings have resulted in an uninspiring 5.17 earned run average. His 24.4% strikeout rate at that level was decent but he gave out walks at a massive 20.7% pace.
The Orioles are presumably looking past his rough 2026 numbers. In the past, his stats have been more intriguing, though still with notable control issues. A former starting pitching prospect, he has been a primary reliever in recent years. Over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he threw 46 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.11 ERA. His 14.1% walk rate was way too high but he struck out 30.7% of opponents. He also threw 92 2/3 big league innings over that two-year span with a 4.27 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate.
Nicolas is in his final option season but the O’s can keep him in the minors for now. If they can help him rein in his stuff, perhaps they can get him back on track. It’s also possible that he ends up losing his roster spot. The Orioles are one of the most aggressive clubs when it comes to cycling players through the edge of their roster. Since the season has started, they have acquired Jayvien Sandridge, Lou Trivino, Christian Roa and Núñez in small trades, free agent signings or waiver claims. Each guy was then designated for assignment not long after.
In most of those cases, the goal is to get the player through waivers and be kept as depth without using a roster spot. If Nicolas is eventually passed through waivers in the future, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he does not have a previous career outright nor three years of service time.
Turning to Núñez, he provides a template for what might be ahead for Nicolas. Núñez was designated for assignment by the Athletics in mid-May. The O’s sent out cash considerations to get him, sent him to Norfolk and have now bumped him off the roster three weeks later.
His big league track record is still quite limited. He made ten appearances for the A’s last year and posted a 7.11 ERA in those. In the minors, he has shown some similar tendencies to Nicolas, with strikeout stuff but also poor control. From 2023 to 2025, he tossed 153 1/3 innings in the minors with a 2.99 ERA. He struck out 30.4% of batters but gave out free passes at a big 14.7% clip. The walks have gotten worse this year, with Núñez at 20.2% through 17 2/3 innings.
He now heads back into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the O’s could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put Núñez on waivers sooner than that. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick around as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of service nor a previous career outright and therefore wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images
Orioles Outright Dietrich Enns
TODAY: Per Roch Kubatko, Enns has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.
May 26th: The Orioles announced that they have recalled left-hander Nick Raquet from Triple-A Norfolk, a move that was reported by Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com earlier. In a corresponding move, the O’s designated fellow lefty Dietrich Enns for assignment.
Enns, now 35, had an intriguing comeback season in 2025. He had made his major league debut a few years prior but wound up pitching overseas from 2022 to 2024. He was back in North America last year and logged 46 1/3 innings between the Tigers and Orioles. He allowed 4.08 earned runs per nine. His 24.5% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate were both a bit better than average. He may have even had better results without a .338 batting average on balls in play, which is why his 3.54 SIERA was a bit lower than his ERA.
The O’s signed Enns for the 2026 season, a one-year deal with a $2.625MM guarantee and a club option for 2027. Here in 2026, a left foot infection put him on the IL for about a month, from early April to early May. Around that IL stint, he has given Baltimore 16 innings with a 3.94 ERA but with worse numbers under the hood. His 18.6% strikeout rate and 15.7% walk rate are both subpar figures. His BABIP and strand rate are now to the lucky side, so his 5.24 SIERA suggests he’s been worse than last year, even though he ERA is slightly better.
The Rays and Orioles went to 13 innings last night. Baltimore ultimately came out on top but it was a bit of a pyrrhic victory, as they had to use six relievers in the process. One of them was Enns, who was pitching for a second straight day. It’s likely that Baltimore’s decision to cut Enns came from a combination of the pitching staff being taxed, him being unavailable, and his uninspiring results this year. He is out of options and needed to be bumped off the 40-man entirely to open an active roster spot.
Enns now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Orioles could take five days to explore trade interest. Given this year’s results and salary, they may not find much interest. If Enns were to clear waivers, he would likely stick around as non-roster depth. He has a previous career outright and would technically have the right to elect free agency in that scenario. But since he has less than five years of big league service time, he would have to walk away from the money he is still owed on his current deal.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
Orioles Re-Sign Albert Suárez
3:20pm: The O’s have officially announced their singing of Suarez. To open a 40-man spot, righty Dean Kremer was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Kremer has been on the IL since April 20th due to a right quad strain and his 60-day count is retroactive to that date. He will therefore be eligible for reinstatement in about three weeks. He hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment and is presumably not close to returning.
1:45pm: Right-hander Albert Suarez elected free agency yesterday after the Orioles passed him through waivers unclaimed, but he’s predictably lined up to rejoin the team in short order. Suárez is already back in the Orioles’ clubhouse, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, and the team is expected to finalize a new contract with him and option righty Cameron Weston to Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move. That suggests it’ll be a big league deal for Suárez, who’d be available out of the ‘pen for tonight’s game.
As was the case following his last DFA in Baltimore, Suárez near-immediately returns on a new contract. He’s out of minor league options, but both he and the Orioles seem content with an arrangement similar to the one between the Braves and Carlos Carrasco (profiled here earlier today). Effectively, Suárez is something of a 41st man on Baltimore’s 40-man roster. The team will probably continue to add him to the big league roster, DFA him, pass him through waivers, and re-sign him as needed. It’s feasible that another team would claim Suárez at some point, but the O’s could always bake in some friendly terms that make the right-hander likelier to clear.
The 36-year-old Suárez has a 2.75 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with the O’s this season but just a 12.3% strikeout rate and an ugly 11.1% walk rate. His run-prevention numbers have been buoyed by a .186 average on balls in play and 9.2% homer-to-flyball rate, both of which (particularly the former) are likely to regress.
This year’s so-so numbers notwithstanding, Suárez has been an important contributor in Baltimore since returning from a half decade pitching overseas (three years in Japan, two in South Korea). He’s piled up 165 innings in two-plus seasons as an Oriole, logging a 3.49 ERA, 18.6% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. Most of that work came in 2024; shoulder and elbow injuries combined to limit Suárez to 11 2/3 MLB frames last year. He’s already surpassed that mark in 2026 despite the multiple DFAs.
Since Suárez is out of options and amenable to the on-and-off-the-roster setup the Orioles appear to be using here, there’s a good chance he’ll once again be designated for assignment when the O’s need a fresh arm. The cycle will likely repeat itself at that point, with Suárez passing through waivers, returning on a new deal, and so on. It’s a more tumultuous path than most big leaguers traverse, but Suárez has already picked up 40 days of big league service and pay this season — players accrue service/salary while in DFA limbo — so it’s still a pretty lucrative one, especially for a 36-year-old with fewer than four years of service under his belt.
Orioles Activate, Option Heston Kjerstad
The Orioles announced Thursday that outfielder Heston Kjerstad, who’s been out all season due to a hamstring strain, has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll fill the lone vacancy on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, which is now at capacity.
Formerly the No. 2 overall draft pick and one of the sport’s top prospects, the now-27-year-old Kjerstad still hasn’t experienced major league success. He’s appeared in parts of three big league seasons but compiled only a .218/.284/.365 slash in a total of 314 trips to the plate. The former Arkansas standout has fanned in 28% of his plate appearances in the majors and walked at only a 5.7% rate. Kjerstad makes a decent amount of hard contact but is far too prone to chasing off the plate and makes contact at a below-average rate when he expands the zone.
Though he’s struggled in limited major league looks, Kjerstad has a productive track record in Triple-A. He’s logged parts of four seasons at the top minor league level and delivered a hearty .274/.354/.482 slash with a 9.4% walk rate and 24% strikeout rate. He’s homered 29 times, collected 36 doubles and logged seven triples in 755 plate appearances at that level.
To this point, Kjerstad has never really gotten an extended look as an everyday outfielder. Health troubles have played a role in that but aren’t entirely at the root of the issue. He dealt with myocarditis early in his professional career and has twice been on the major league injured list due to concussions. Last year’s season ended with an unspecified medical issue; he reported severe fatigue to the Orioles, which prompted a wave of testing. The team never disclosed the results of that testing, but Kjerstad appears healthy enough for game action now.
Looking past those medical issues, however, Kjerstad’s calls to the majors have typically come to replace a more established outfielder who’s on the shelf with an injury. The O’s have also platooned him heavily despite pretty decent left-on-left numbers in the minors from 2022-24. The Orioles were rebuilding when Kjerstad was drafted in 2020, but much of his time on the cusp of the majors (and in the majors) has come when the O’s have been operating with more of a win-now focus. That’s led to veteran acquisitions of Tyler O’Neill, Taylor Ward, Ramon Laureano and others. Some have worked out better than others, but all have combined to cut into would-be opportunities for Kjerstad.
Assuming Kjerstad spends more than 20 days in the minors, today’s transaction will burn his final minor league option year. The O’s will presumably want to get him a real look later in the season, as he’ll head into 2027 without any minor league options, meaning he’d have to make the roster or else be designated for assignment. Young outfielders like Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers haven’t really cemented themselves as fixtures in the Oriole outfield as the team had hoped, so there might still be some opportunity for Kjerstad to seize a spot if he’s called up later this year. If not, he’ll have to win a job heading into the ’27 season. Speculatively speaking, he could also emerge as a change of scenery candidate at this year’s deadline or in the offseason.
Orioles To Select Cameron Weston
The Orioles are going to select right-hander Cameron Weston, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Fellow righty Trey Gibson will be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding active roster move. Baltimore had a couple of 40-man vacancies due to both Albert Suárez and Dietrich Enns being designated for assignment in recent days, so Weston fills one of those vacancies.
Weston, 25, was Baltimore’s eighth-round pick in 2022. Reports on him have generally noted that he doesn’t have overpowering stuff but he does have a deep arsenal than can help him keep hitters off balance. He throws a low-90s sinker along with a slider, cutter, changeup and splitter.
The results were definitely working in the lower levels. From 2022 to 2024, he logged 163 1/3 innings as he climbed from Single-A to Double-A. He posted a 3.09 earned run average with a 28.3% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. Going into 2025, Baseball America ranked him the #13 prospect in the system while FanGraphs had him at #14.
The effectiveness of his diverse arsenal seemed to wane as he reached more polished hitters. He tossed 135 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year with a 4.59 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate. This year, he has a 6.26 ERA through 11 appearances with a big 30.8% strikeout rate but a worrisome 14.6% walk rate. BA now lists him 28th in the system while FG recently placed him 42nd.
The Orioles have a rotation consisting of Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, Brandon Young and Trevor Rogers. Perhaps Weston is coming up to take on the long relief role that Suárez was in previously, as the O’s kick off a four-game series hosting the Blue Jays. Bassitt is taking the ball tonight but is having a rough year, with a 5.51 ERA so far. Rogers takes his 6.96 ERA to the mound on Friday. Young goes on Saturday and has a solid 3.47 ERA on the year but in a small sample of seven starts. In his 19 career starts, he has a 5.17 ERA.
If the O’s get into trouble at any point in the coming days, perhaps Weston could eat some innings for them, sparing the other relievers. Since this is his first call-up, he has a full slate of options and could be easily sent back to Norfolk if the O’s need a fresh arm again in the future.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Albert Suárez Elects Free Agency
Orioles righty Albert Suárez passed through waivers unclaimed following his recent DFA, the club announced. He rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and is now a free agent.
This marks the second time this season that Suárez has gone unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency. He quickly re-signed on a new minor league contract last time around. The O’s also non-tendered Suárez back in November, only to eventually re-sign him on another minor league deal. Given that history, there’s a good chance Suárez will return the Orioles organization on a new contract before very long.
Suárez, 36, has posted a sharp-looking 2.75 ERA in 19 2/3 frames with Baltimore’s big league club this season, but the underlying numbers aren’t so rosy. He’s only fanned 12.3% of his opponents and issued walks at an unsightly 11.1% clip. Nearly 80% of the batted balls against Suárez have been in the air. He’s gotten by thus far with help from a tiny .186 average on balls in play and a 9.2% homer-to-flyball rate, but both figure to trend in the opposite direction over a larger sample.
Suárez broke into the majors with the 2016 Giants, but his career took off over in Asia after he signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Suárez spent three seasons pitching in NPB and another two with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Samsung Lions before returning to North American ball with the 2024 Orioles. He gave Baltimore 133 2/3 innings of 3.70 ERA ball that season. Injuries cost him much of the 2025 season, but he’s been healthy again in 2026.
Overall, since returning to MLB with the ’24 Orioles, Suárez has a 3.49 ERA, an 18.6% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate in 165 innings. His strong 2024 season makes up for the bulk of that production, but he’s a serviceable depth arm who can operate as a swingman or fifth starter as needed. That might hold appeal to other clubs, but Suárez and the O’s are clearly comfortable with one another, so a new minor league deal — and perhaps several more iterations of this DFA, elect, re-sign cycle — wouldn’t at all be surprising.
Orioles Designate Albert Suarez For Assignment
The Orioles announced that right-hander Albert Suarez has been designated for assignment. Prior to today’s doubleheader with the Tigers, Baltimore activated left-hander Grant Wolfram from the 15-day IL to use him as the 27th man, and Wolfram will now stay on the 26-man roster in Suarez’s place.
These transactions are becoming routine for Suarez, who has now been DFA’ed three times by the Orioles in under a month. The first designation saw Suarez clear waivers and then elect free agency, as a previous outright on his resume allowed him to decline the Orioles’ outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. However, Suarez quickly re-signed with the O’s on a minor league contract, then was selected back to the active roster, and DFA’ed and outrighted again within the span of five days.
This time, Suarez chose to just accept the outright assignment, and spent a couple of weeks in Norfolk before the Orioles selected his contract again last Tuesday. Unless Suarez is claimed off waivers, it seems probable that Suarez will end up staying with the O’s in some fashion, either via accepting the outright assignment or another free agent trip that results in another fresh minor league deal.
Suarez is out of minor league options, so the O’s have to designate him and expose him to the waiver wire whenever the club wants to shift him off the active roster. Suarez has some leverage in this back-and-forth situation given his ability to reject outright assignments, but it could be that he is content to stick it out in a familiar environment with the knowledge that he’ll probably get another look in the majors pretty soon.
Amidst all this roster shuffling, Suarez has a 2.75 ERA over 19 2/3 big league innings this season, including four shutout frames in Game 2 of today’s doubleheader (a 4-1 Orioles loss). Suarez’s ability to eat innings has made the former swingman and starter into a useful long man for Baltimore, though he has barely more strikeouts (10) than walks (nine) and he benefited greatly from a minuscule .186 BABIP.
Orioles Outright Jose Espada
The Orioles announced that right-hander Jose Espada has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week when the O’s claimed outfielder Michael Siani. This is Espada’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, so he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. He’ll provide the Orioles with some non-roster depth for the time being.
Espada, 29, signed a minor league deal with the O’s in July of 2025. He was added to the 40-man in August and then optioned to the minors, suggesting he probably had some kind of opt-out in that deal. He was called up in September and made one appearance before getting optioned back to Norfolk. He’s had a similar experience so far this year, spending most of it in the minors. He was recalled three times but only made one appearance.
He also made one appearance with the Padres in 2023, so he has three big league appearances on his ledger. He has thrown five scoreless innings in total. A career earned run average of 0.00 is nice but it’s obviously a very small sample. His larger body of work at Triple-A is less impressive. In 65 innings at that level, he has a 4.57 ERA. He has a strong 27.5% strikeout rate in that sample but a worrisome 15.5% walk rate. He mostly throws a mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider, with a 90ish splitter being his third pitch in terms of usage.
After the 2023 season, the Padres non-tendered Espada, sending him to free agency without needing to put him on waivers. He spent 2024 in Japan, throwing 27 innings for the Yakult Swallows with an ERA of 5.00. He re-signed with the Friars on a minor league deal ahead of 2025 but eventually was released from that pact and signed with the Orioles. Since this is his first time clearing waivers and his service time count is under three years, he has to accept the outright assignment. He will try to improve his control and earn his way back to the majors.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau, Imagn Images
Braves Claim Maverick Handley
The Braves on Thursday claimed catcher Maverick Handley off waivers from the Orioles, per a team announcement. Righty Hurston Waldrep moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move. Handley was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Handley, 28, was the Orioles’ sixth-round pick in 2019. He’s spent his entire career in the organization. Over the past year, he’s been on and off Baltimore’s 40-man roster and up and down between Baltimore and the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk. Handley has only 48 big league plate appearances and has gone just 3-for-42 in that time. It’s not a good big league track record, clearly, but Handley logged a .258/.373/.367 slash in Triple-A last year. He’s regularly posted lofty walk rates in the minors, and he’s regarded as a quality defender.
Handley isn’t going to jump right onto the big league roster, but he gives an injury-decimated Atlanta catching corps some depth. The Braves recently put star backstop Drake Baldwin on the injured list due to an oblique strain. He’s likely looking at a weekslong absence. Veteran complement Sean Murphy isn’t an option at the moment. After spending the early portion of the season rehabbing from hip surgery, he suffered a broken middle finger and is sidelined for another two months or so.
That’s left the Braves with a light-hitting catching tandem of Sandy León and Chadwick Tromp. Both are decent defenders who can’t be expected to hit in the majors. That’s true of Handley as well, to an extent, though he at least has quality on-base numbers in the minors thanks to his penchant for drawing walks. León and Tromp both regularly post on-base percentages in the .250 range.
Waldrep’s move to the 60-day IL is purely procedural. It does nothing to impact his timetable to return. The talented young righty underwent spring surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. Since his IL placement was retroactive to three days prior to Opening Day — the maximum allowed — he’s already effectively spent 60 days on the IL. Moving from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset the required minimum, but it does open a 40-man spot. Waldrep isn’t on a minor league rehab assignment yet anyhow, so he’s not especially close to returning, but this won’t change anything when he’s finally ready to be activated.