Orioles players Scott Moore, Cla Meredith, Alberto Castillo, and Michael Aubrey elected free agency, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. They appear to be minor league free agents, having finished the season at Triple A and off the 40-man roster.
Moore, 27 in November, hit .209/.274/.337 in 96 plate appearances for the Orioles this year, playing mostly second base. He joined the Orioles in August of '07 in the Steve Trachsel deal with the Cubs. Moore was designated for assignment in '09 and '10, clearing waivers both times. He hit .280/.345/.476 at Triple A this year while playing mainly third base.
Meredith, 27, tallied 15 relief innings for the Orioles this year with a 5.40 ERA, 4.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and four home runs allowed. The sidearmer racks up groundballs and handles righties well on his best days. The Orioles acquired him from the Padres for Oscar Salazar in July of last year. He was designated for assignment and cleared waivers in June.
Castillo, 35, whiffed 11 but allowed five homers and 12 earned runs in his 10.6 inning stint with the O's this year. He was designated for assignment in June to clear a 40-man spot for Jake Arrieta. Castillo's work in Triple A: a 4.54 ERA, 9.8 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9 in 39.6 innings. He was done in by 46 hits allowed. His previous work in Triple A was more encouraging.
Aubrey, 28, was drafted 11th overall by the Indians in 2003. It appeared that he might get a shot at first base for the Orioles heading into this season, but they signed Garrett Atkins and ended up designating Aubrey on April 1st. He spent the season at Triple A, hitting .235/.310/.495 with 22 home runs in 419 plate appearances.
Of this bunch, Aubrey and Moore might be useful to a team.
Meredith might be helpful in a limited role on a good defensive team. He is a submariner who specializes in keeping the ball in the ballpark and puts the ball in play. Due to a lack of effective options, the Orioles probably overused him and left him exposed. He was one of the cache of arms who felt the brunt in their desire to protect from overexposing their promising young arms.
All 4 had been removed from the 40-man roster during the season, so it’s likely that they elected free agency as 6-year minor league free agents.
Out of all them I’ll miss Aubrey.
The rest sucked and good riddens.