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Phillies Designate Kaleb Ort For Assignment

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The Phillies designated right-hander Kaleb Ort for assignment this morning, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The move clears space on the club’s 40-man roster for second baseman Whit Merrifield, whose signing was reported last week.

Ort, 32, has posted huge numbers in the minors but struggled to replicate those results at the major league level. But since he still has one option year remaining, that makes him appealing as a depth arm who is potentially on the verge of a breakout. That has made him just enticing enough for plenty of teams to want to take a shot on him, but his hold on a roster spot has been tenuous. He finished the 2023 season with the Red Sox but that club put him on waivers in October. He has since gone to the Mariners, Marlins and Phillies via waiver claims but has now lost his roster spot yet again.

Over the past three years, he has tossed 51 2/3 innings in the big leagues, allowing 6.27 earned runs per nine. He struck out 20.9% of batters faced while issuing walks at a 10.2% clip. Those numbers aren’t especially impressive but he averaged around 96 miles per hour on his fastball and had success on the farm. In the same three-year stretch, he has 97 2/3 innings of Triple-A work with a 2.76 ERA and 31.1% strikeout rate. The 10.9% walk rate was still high but the overall body of work has clearly been better at that level.

The Phils will have a week to trade Ort or try to pass him through waivers. Given the way his offseason has gone, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were changing teams yet again in the next week. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would stick with the Phils as non-roster depth.

The Opener: Spring Training, Anderson, Woodruff

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On the heels of an early-morning deal, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Position Players arrive in camp:

While many hitters report to camp early, today marks the date position players are meant to report to camp for roughly a third of the league, along with the first full-squad workouts for many teams. It’s the final reporting date of the spring, after which point all players are expected to be at Spring Training (with some exceptions such as those for players dealing with visa issues or that have yet to sign). Teams reporting today include a 101-win Orioles club that added ace right-hander Corbin Burnes just before camp began but announced a UCL sprain for last year’s ace right-hander, Kyle Bradish, shortly thereafter, as well as a Mariners club that completely retooled its starting lineup this winter after missing the postseason by just one game last year.

2. When will Anderson sign?

Reporting over the weekend indicated that the Marlins recently extended an offer to longtime White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. The Marlins have long been considered an obvious fit for the 30-year-old, who flashed star potential at times from 2019-22 as he hit .318/.347/.474 while earning two All Star appearances, a Silver Slugger award, and an AL batting title. All that came crashing down in 2023, however, as Anderson posted the lowest wRC+ among all major league regulars last year while turning in characteristically average defense at shortstop. In spite of Anderson’s struggles, however, a weak market for shortstops leaves him as one of the best available, and few teams have a bigger need at the position than Miami.

Though the Marlins have been connected to Anderson most frequently throughout the winter, they aren’t the only team for whom the shortstop could make some sense. The A’s have a clear hole at shortstop and have added other bounceback candidates such as Alex Wood and Ross Stripling this winter, while the Angels or Giants could use Anderson as a veteran complement to youngsters Zack Neto and Marco Luciano, respectively. With position players now reporting to Spring Training, will Anderson get a deal done in the coming days?

3. What does the Hendriks deal mean for Woodruff?

As previously mentioned, right-hander Liam Hendriks agreed to a two-year guarantee with the Red Sox earlier this morning. The relief ace is coming off an injury-marred 2023 campaign and is set to miss most of the 2024 season, though has been among the very best arms in the game when healthy in recent years. In many ways, his free agency greatly resembled that of right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who dominated to a 2.28 ERA in 11 starts last year but struggled with shoulder issues before eventually going under the knife back in October. Like Hendriks, Woodruff isn’t expected to return to the mound until the mid-summer at the earliest but has been an elite arm in the past.

Could Woodruff’s market begin to pick up with Hendriks off the board? Early indications were that Woodruff could pursue a two-year guarantee of his own this winter, though there hasn’t been much buzz regarding his free agency this winter outside a loose connection to the Mets earlier in the offseason.

Mets To Sign Luke Voit To Minor League Deal

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Feb 19: The sides have agreed to terms, per Newsday’s Tim Healey, and Voit has joined the Mets in camp. Healey adds that the contract is expected to be finalized later today.

Feb 17: The Mets are reportedly “moving toward” a minor league deal with Luke Voit, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. SNY’s Andy Martino reported earlier this afternoon that the sides were discussing a potential deal, which would include an invite to big league Spring Training.

Voit, who celebrated his 33rd birthday earlier this week, started the 2023 season with the Brewers but struggled through 22 games with the big league club, hitting just .221/.284/.265 with a 36.5% strikeout rate and just three extra base hits (all doubles) in 74 trips to the plate. That brief stint in Milwaukee was the only big league action Voit saw last year, though he did rake to the tune of a .263/.420/.615 slash line at the Triple-A level in 45 games split between the Brewers and the Mets, the latter of whom he signed on with in June of last year after being released by Milwaukee earlier in the month.

While Voit’s 2023 campaign certainly left something to be desired, he’s also enjoyed his fair share of success throughout seven seasons in the big leagues. Voit made his debut in 2017 as a member of the Cardinals and hit to roughly league average results during a 62-game stint on the club’s bench, though he wouldn’t remain in the organization for long as he was traded to the Yankees in the deal that sent Giovanny Gallegos to St. Louis. That kicked off an incredible four-year stint in the Bronx where Voit slashed a whopping .270/.362/.519, including a dominant showing in the shortened 2020 season that earned him a ninth-place finish in NL MVP voting.

Voit’s tenure with the Yankees came to an end after the club landed Anthony Rizzo in a deal with the Cubs prior to the 2021 trade deadline before deciding to extend him the following offseason. With Rizzo entrenched at first base for the foreseeable future, the Yankees decided to flip Voit to the Padres just before the start of the 2022 season. Voit appeared in just 82 games for San Diego before he was swapped once again, this time to the Nationals as part of the blockbuster that sent Juan Soto to San Diego (where, coincidentally, Soto would eventually find himself traded to the Bronx back in December.)

If the deal is completed, Voit would provide the Mets with a veteran slugger who sports a 121 wRC+ for his career in the majors. While Voit certainly won’t be usurping star slugger Pete Alonso’s role as the club’s everyday first baseman, Voit could provide competition for youngster Mark Vientos for the role of the club’s primary DH to open the season if the deal is completed. All signs in recent months have pointed toward the Mets offering Vientos a chance to establish himself in the majors to open the 2024 campaign, though he’s struggled to a .205/.255/.354 slash line in 274 trips to the plate at this point in his major league career. If Vientos’s struggles continue, Voit’s presence could give the club a veteran fallback option as they try to remain competitive in 2024 while primarily focusing on building for the 2025 season and beyond.

Mariners Have Discussed Signing Matt Chapman

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With Matt Chapman still available as we enter late February, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes that “the Mariners have discussed the possibility of” signing the free agent third baseman.  It isn’t clear if these discussions could be due-diligence explorations within the front office, or whether or not president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto might have reached out to Chapman’s camp about a potential contract.

Eugenio Suarez was seemingly locked in at Seattle’s third baseman when the offseason began, yet the M’s created a vacancy at the hot corner when Suarez was traded to the Diamondbacks in November.  Since Luis Urias was acquired in another trade with the Red Sox about a week before the Suarez deal, the initial expectation was that Urias could potentially take over for Suarez, yet that situation was further altered after another trade — last month’s swap with the Twins that brought Jorge Polanco to the Pacific Northwest.  With Polanco now established as the new every second baseman, third base looked to be covered by Urias and Josh Rojas in a platoon, with utilityman Dylan Moore also providing more depth.

Signing Chapman would deliver yet another shakeup to the infield picture, and push Rojas, Urias, and Moore firmly into backup roles unless any got some at-bats spelling Ty France at first base.  Since public defensive metrics haven’t traditionally been impressed by the glovework of France, Polanco, or shortstop J.P. Crawford, adding a multi-time Gold and Platinum Glove winner like Chapman would go a long way towards helping the Mariners’ run prevention.

There would also be an offensive upgrade, though not as much as one might imagine.  Since the start of the 2021 season, Chapman has posted a 110 wRC+ over 1824 plate appearances, while Urias has a 107 wRC+ in 1219 PA and Rojas a 99 wRC+ in 1410 PA.  Urias and Rojas both hit so poorly in 2023 that it obscures their very solid numbers in the previous two years, albeit in less playing time than Chapman received as a true everyday player with the A’s and Blue Jays.

That said, Chapman’s 2023 campaign was also a mixed bag at best at the plate.  He got off to a scorching start that won him the AL Player of the Month Award for April, but Chapman then hit only .205/.298/.361 over 467 PA from May 1 to the end of the regular season.  A finger injury particularly hampered Chapman over the last couple of months and he ended up with a 110 wRC+ (from 17 homers and a .240/.330/.424 slash line in 581 PA), yet this shaky platform year is quite likely the reason why Chapman has lingered so long on the open market.

Chapman is also a free swinger at the plate, which would seemingly run counter to the Mariners’ offseason goal of improving the lineup’s contact hitting.  Seattle’s 25.9% strikeout rate was the second highest of any team in baseball in 2023, yet Chapman has averaged a 29.9% strikeout rate since the start of the 2020 season.  Chapman has generally been able to offset his strikeouts by doing a lot of damage when he did make contact, and his barrel and hard-hit ball rates were among the best in the league last year, even if his bottom-line numbers didn’t reflect the quality of his contact.

Beyond the on-field questions, there is also the more practical matter of whether the Mariners can even meet Chapman’s contract demands.  It is possible Chapman and agent Scott Boras might have lowered or been willing to lower the asking price this deep into the offseason, yet if that is the case, other rumored suitors as the Giants or Cubs might still be in a better position than the M’s to take advantage, to say nothing or any other mystery teams.

The Mariners’ full purchase of the ROOT Sports Northwest regional sports network has put some added expenses onto the organization’s books, and seemingly limited what the front office has had available to spend this offseason.  Roster Resource projects Seattle for a $135MM payroll in 2024, and though Dipoto said that the Mariners were able to spend beyond their $140MM payroll from last season, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of wiggle room available.

Chapman would still require a hefty average annual value even on a shorter-term deal with opt-outs involved, and as mentioned earlier, another club might well be able to outbid Seattle within that kind of unique structure.  There is also the fact that Dipoto has traditionally been much more open to trades than pricey free agent signings as a roster-building strategy, as Robbie Ray’s five-year, $115MM contract from the 2021-22 offseason is far and away the biggest deal given to a free agent in Dipoto’s tenure.

As Divish notes, the Mariners have had interest in Chapman in the past, back when the A’s were shopping the third baseman as part of their wide-ranging fire sale after the 2021 season.  The Athletics reportedly wanted Noelvi Marte as part of any trade package involving Chapman, and the M’s instead held onto Marte only to eventually move him in the Luis Castillo deal at the 2022 deadline.

NL Notes: Grichuk, D’Backs, Kiermaier, Keller, Lodolo

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Randal Grichuk underwent surgery last month to remove bone spurs from his ankle, so the newest member of the Diamondbacks roster might not be ready to make his Arizona debut by the very start of the season.  “It’s one of those things where there’s a good chance I’ll be ready for Opening Day and if not, it’s a week.  In the grand scheme of things, big picture, it’s nothing to worry about,” Grichuk told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and other reporters.  Obviously the D’Backs weren’t concerned enough to back away from their $2MM deal with the veteran outfielder, and Grichuk could possibly be used as a designated hitter at first until he is fully ready for outfield work.

As to what the D’Backs might have left on their shopping list after a busy offseason, GM Mike Hazen told reporters (including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports) that “I think building out relief depth is probably something that we’re talking about.  Pitching in general…I think from a position player standpoint, we’re probably in a spot where it’s less likely to see a clear opportunity for somebody.  But we still have competitions underneath the starting roles.  So we’ll see where that takes us.”

More from the National League….

  • The Padres, Twins, Yankees, and Angels were linked to Kevin Kiermaier’s market before the outfielder re-signed with the Blue Jays, but Kiermaier told MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi that the Cubs, Dodgers, and Giants also had interest.  Kiermaier and his family’s love of Toronto and his Jays teammates ultimately sealed his return to the Blue Jays, though it’s interesting to speculate how the four-time Gold Glover might’ve fit into his other suitors’ plans.  Adding Kiermaier would’ve given the Cubs some flexibility if Pete Crow-Armstrong wasn’t ready for a starting role just yet, while depending on the timing, the Dodgers might not have re-signed Jason Heyward if Kiermaier had instead been added to the fold.  Signing Kiermaier likely wouldn’t have prevented the Giants from signing Jung Hoo Lee, though Lee might’ve been ticketed for more time as a corner outfielder than in center.
  • The Pirates and Mitch Keller had several discussions about a contract extension last season, and Keller is “really looking forward” to a fresh set of negotiations this spring.  “Going through arbitration and stuff, [the two sides are] obviously talking.  Hopefully it’ll pick up, and we’ll get something going,” Keller told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Keller is under arbitration control through the 2025 season, and the right-hander has emerged as the de facto ace of the Pirates’ rotation over the last two seasons.
  • Left-hander Nick Lodolo has already been at the Reds’ spring camp for a month, as Lodolo has been getting in extra work in the aftermath of an injury-marred 2023 season.  Lodolo tossed 34 1/3 innings over seven starts before suffering a stress fracture in his left tibia in May, and he made only three minor league appearances before being shut down in late August.  Lodolo told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that he isn’t feeling any pain in his left leg, and though he isn’t up to feeling exactly normal just yet, Lodolo and manager David Bell are hopeful the pitcher can be ready to be part of the Opening Day roster.  “Health will be the top priority,” Bell said.  “So if we don’t feel great about it, we could always just delay it, making sure that he’s fully healthy. He’s in a place that he could catch up and be on time for the season.”

NL East Notes: Harper, Sale, Crick

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After his recovery from Tommy John surgery necessitated a move to first base last season, Bryce Harper took well enough to his new position that the Phillies announced in November that Harper would be their regular first baseman in 2024 and beyond.  The two-time NL MVP spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb) about the situation today, saying “I wanted them to know that I was on board with anything they wanted to do,” and that Harper left the decision about his position up to the club.  “I said if you want me in right field, I’ll play right.  If you want me at first, I’ll play first base.  I think collectively, they said, first base is where we want you.  I said, ’OK, I’ll do everything I can to be there,’ ” Harper said.  He is now spending his Spring Training further working on what seems to be his permanent new position, noting that “I don’t think I’ll move back out to right.  I don’t.  But never say never.”

Harper also confirmed that he is interested in extending his contract, as agent Scott Boras stated in December.  The idea caught many by surprise given that Harper still has eight seasons and $196MM remaining on his original 13-year, $330MM contract, and he’ll be turning 39 years old in October 2031.  While Harper said “I haven’t really thought too much about” his contract situation, he said that “playing into my 40’s, I mean, that’s the biggest thing for me.  So I want to get that done.”  It remains to be seen if Harper, Boras, and the Phillies could possibly reach some kind of deal to add two (or more?) years onto Harper’s contract, yet president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has downplayed the idea of a renegotiation.

More from around the NL East…

  • Chris Sale has battled through several injury-plagued seasons, but the winter of 2023-24 “was the first time going into an offseason without dealing with something since 2018 or something like that,” the new Braves starter told The Athletic’s David O’Brien and other reporters.  “It’s been a long time.  I had a lot of fun this offseason, being able to play baseball and do things that I haven’t been able to do.”  In both acquiring Sale from the Red Sox and then signing him to a two-year extension, the Braves are putting a lot of faith that the southpaw is ready to rebound as he enters his age-35 season.  Atlanta even looked into acquiring Sale during the 2023 season, according to manager Brian Snitker.
  • Mets reliever Kyle Crick is recovering from a Grade 4 calf strain and might not start throwing bullpens until closer to the end of spring camp, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes.  New York signed Crick to a minor league deal in December and he has no issue with pitching in the minors for the start of the season, given how his injury will seemingly prevent him making the Opening Day roster.  Crick posted a 3.56 ERA over 187 1/3 relief innings with the Giants, Pirates, and White Sox from 2017-22, though he didn’t pitch in 2023 until surfacing in Dominican Winter League action a few months ago.
  • There’s enough happening within the division that this is our second batch of NL East Notes today.  Earlier on, Nick Deeds compiled another set of items about the Marlins, Phillies, Nationals, and Braves.

Giants Notes: Soler, Lineups, Transactions, Slater, Zaidi

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The Giants’ three-year, $42MM contract with Jorge Soler was finalized and announced earlier today, so Soler, manager Bob Melvin and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi were now officially able to discuss the deal with the media.  Melvin told reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic) that Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores played a key role in helping recruit Soler, as the three players are friends.  This helped lure Soler to San Francisco and the West Coast in general, as Soler’s preference was to stay on the East Coast, ideally close to his home in Miami.

Soler will now head west for the first time in his career, after playing with the Cubs, Royals, Braves, and Marlins during his 10 previous Major League seasons.  Though Soler’s production has tended to vary wildly over his career, he comes to the Giants on the high of hitting .250/.341/.512 with 36 homers for the Marlins in 2023, bringing some needed pop to San Francisco’s lineup.

This power naturally lends itself to the cleanup spot, and Melvin said that Soler will primarily hit fourth in the batting order and act as the regular designated hitter.  New arrival Jung Hoo Lee will hit leadoff and be the everyday center fielder, flanked on the grass by Michael Conforto in left field and Mike Yastrzemski in right.  Since both corner outfielders are left-handed hitters, Soler might get some time out of the DH spot when a southpaw is on the mound, though Melvin sees the DH role as a natural way to keep Soler healthy and free of the nagging injuries that have bothered him in recent years.

In general, it seems like the Giants are going with at least slightly more of a regular lineup under Melvin, as opposed to the matchup-centric style of revolving lineups favored by former manager Gabe Kapler.  There are still some obvious platoon or timeshare possibilities built into the roster, including Austin Slater’s role as a right-handed hitting complement to the lefty-heavy starting outfield.  However, Melvin said Slater is a little behind the other outfielders in spring work, as Slater spent the offseason recovering from right elbow surgery in October.  It doesn’t seem like Slater is in danger of missing Opening Day, though Melvin said Luis Matos will get some extra work as a center fielder.

Since it’s only mid-February, the chance still exists that the Giants might yet add another regular to the mix via free agency or trade.  Though some gamesmanship must be acknowledge whenever an executive says they’re happy with their team, Zaidi inferred that further moves to the big league roster were unlikely, if not impossible.

“It’s a little bit more disruptive to add at this point.  Anybody who’s a free agent, we’ve theoretically had three and a half months to figure out a deal and if it hasn’t happened yet, at some point organizationally, you just need to turn the page and focus on the players you have,” Zaidi said.  “You never rule anything out, whether it’s now or May or June or whatever, but you know, at this point, the calendar makes any further additions unlikely.”

The Giants’ offseasons under Zaidi have largely been defined by the superstar players they didn’t sign (i.e. Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto) than the players they did acquire, leading to some consternation amongst the Bay Area fanbase.  Still, Slusser notes that the Giants’ signings of Soler, Lee, Jordan Hicks, and Tom Murphy ranked the team second behind only the Dodgers in free agent spending, and San Francisco also completed a major trade in acquiring Robbie Ray from the Mariners.

Zaidi defended the Giants’ pursuits this winter, saying “we’re going to continue to take the big swing in free agency when it makes sense and some of the guys that we’ve pursued and have landed are top five-10 players in baseball.  I’ve said this about a couple of them: I’m always surprised there aren’t more teams in on them rather than that maybe they wind up somewhere else.  You expect things like this to be competitive and we always feel like we have to be able to pivot when things don’t work out.  We think we’ve added some exciting players and I think we feel that energy in camp.”

Phillies Sign Austin Brice To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies signed right-hander Austin Brice to a minor league deal this morning, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. The deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training.

Brice, 32 in June, last made an appearance at the big league level for the Pirates back in 2022. The righty made his major league debut in 2016 as a member of the Marlins, though he would ultimately pitch just 14 innings with the club before being sent to Cincinnati as part of the deal that sent Luis Castillo to Cincinnati. Over two seasons with the Reds, Brice struggled to a 5.40 ERA with a matching FIP across 70 innings of work before the club designated him for assignment following the 2018 season. After a series of waiver claims, Brice found himself back in Miami ahead of the 2019 season and enjoyed the best season of his career as he pitched to a solid 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins.

Unfortunately, that success at the big league level was short-lived, as Brice has posted a 5.85 ERA in 40 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season and spent the entire 2023 campaign in the minor leagues pitching for the Twins and Diamondbacks, for whom he posted a combined 6.92 ERA in 40 1/3 innings. Despite those brutal numbers last year, Brice’s overall body of work at the Triple-A level still features decent numbers. In 170 1/3 innings of work at the level across six seasons, Brice has posted a 4.54 ERA with a solid 25% strikeout rate against a 10.3% walk rate alongside a strong 47.4% groundball rate.

Those serviceable peripheral numbers are brought down, however, by Brice’s troubles with the longball. Brice has allowed a whopping 17.6% of his fly balls to leave the yard for home runs throughout his major league career, and allowed an even higher percentage at the Triple-A level last year. Given his solid peripherals and penchant for grounders, it’s easy to see how Brice could be a serviceable big league reliever if he can get his home run issues under control.

The right-hander will have a chance to prove himself capable in that regard with the Phillies this spring, where he’ll join fellow NRIs such as Ryan Burr and Nick Snyder in competing for a role in the club’s crowded bullpen. Should Brice fail to make the big league roster out of camp, he’ll likely serve as relief depth at the Triple-A level alongside depth options already on the 40-man roster such as right-handers Michael Rucker and Kaleb Ort.

Orioles Acquire Matt Krook From Yankees

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The Orioles acquired left-hander Matt Krook from the Yankees today in exchange for cash considerations, according to an announcement from both clubs. Baltimore designated infielder Diego Castillo for assignment in order to make room for Krook on the club’s 40-man roster.

Krook, 29, had been designated for assignment by the Yankees earlier this week in order to make room for infielder Jordan Groshans on the club’s 40-man roster. Krook made his big league debut last year and struggled badly in four innings of work, walking six batters and allowing 11 runs during his brief cameo in the majors. Brutal as that start to Krook’s big league career was, the southpaw was dominant at the Triple-A level for the Yankees last year, pitching to a 1.32 ERA in 27 appearances while striking out a whopping 39% of batters faced.

The 2023 campaign was Krook’s first as a reliever. He had worked primarily out of the rotation in previous seasons and garnered solid results in previous years, including a 3.76 ERA in 215 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level from 2021-22. Unfortunately, he also walked a hefty 13% of batters faced over that same time frame, likely prompting his move to the bullpen last season. While Krook has evidently struggled with control throughout his career, there’s no question that the southpaw sports power stuff capable of succeeding in the majors if he can command it successfully.

Krook figures to join the bullpen mix in Baltimore, where Danny Coulombe, Cionel Perez, and Keegan Akin are the club’s southpaws projected to make the Opening Day bullpen as things stand. That leaves Krook likely to join the likes of right-hander Bryan Baker and lefty Nick Vespi as optionable relief depth, though they also figure to receive competition from non-roster invitees this spring such as Andrew Suarez and Nathan Webb.

As for Castillo, the infielder’s time on Baltimore’s 40-man roster comes to an end just two days after he was initially claimed off waivers from the Phillies. The 26-year-old has spent the past two months riding the transactional carousel, having been part of the Diamondbacks, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, and Orioles organizations at various points during that time. Castillo has notched 97 games at the big league level throughout his career and in that time has slashed just .205/.250/.380 across 284 trips to the plate. Despite that weak offensive performance to this point in his career, Castillo has performed well in the minors, with a strong .296/.410/.407 line across three seasons at the Triple-A level.

That sort of on-base and contact ability would make him an attractive bench piece for any club if he can translate it into big league production, particularly given his defensive versatility. Castillo has primarily played second base and shortstop throughout his career, though he’s also seen time at first, third, and both outfield corners. Now that he’s been designated for assignment once again, the Orioles will have seven days to either work out a trade or attempt to pass him through waivers. Castillo has not yet been outrighted in his career and, if passed through waivers successfully, can be retained in the minors as non-roster depth entering the 2024 season.

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