The Orioles announced they’ve claimed infielder Jacob Amaya off waivers from the White Sox. Chicago had designated him for assignment last week when they finalized their signing of Josh Rojas to a one-year free agent deal. Baltimore designated righty reliever Roansy Contreras for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Amaya is a defensive specialist who can play anywhere on the dirt. The majority of his experience has come up the middle. Amaya has nearly 4500 professional innings at shortstop and more than 1000 frames at second base. He has made 13 minor league appearances at third base as well, though his MLB experience has been exclusively in the middle infield.
The 26-year-old drew praise from scouts for his athleticism and plus arm strength. He ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Dodgers system at Baseball America in each season from 2019-22. Los Angeles traded him to the Marlins for veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas on the eve of the ’23 season. BA ranked Amaya as Miami’s #11 prospect (albeit in a weak farm system) as recently as last spring.
Amaya’s offensive upside is limited. He has shown a patient approach and worked plenty of walks in the minor leagues. Amaya has minimal power, though. MLB pitchers haven’t been afraid to attack him in the strike zone in his limited big league work. Amaya has hit .182 with just one extra-base hit (a double) in 81 plate appearances. He has walked only four times while striking out on 29 occasions.
The middling production at the dish has led Amaya to bounce around via waivers. He has gone from Miami to the Astros to Chicago and now to Baltimore since the start of last season. Amaya didn’t have a good season in Triple-A, combining for a .221/.308/.330 slash with five homers over 76 games between Miami’s and Houston’s affiliates.
Baltimore is one of the most active teams on the waiver wire. The Orioles frequently use waivers to churn through the back few spots on their 40-man roster. Amaya is out of minor league options and has an uphill path to cracking a Baltimore infield that could include Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías and Jorge Mateo. Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera is also out of options. There’s a decent chance the O’s try to sneak Amaya through waivers in the next couple months.
That’s a cycle in which Contreras has found himself. The former top prospect has been a part of five organizations since the start of the ’24 season. He opened the year with the Pirates, who traded him to the Angels in May. The out-of-options hurler stuck in Ron Washington’s bullpen for the remainder of the season. The Halos waived him at the beginning of the offseason. Contreras has subsequently gone to the Rangers, Reds and Orioles via waivers but hasn’t held a spot for more than a few weeks. Baltimore just claimed him last Friday.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Contreras owns a 5.47 earned run average over 136 2/3 innings. His 18.5% strikeout percentage and 10.5% walk rate are worse than the respective MLB averages, as is his 1.4 home runs allowed per nine. The performance and the inability to send him to the minors without putting him on waivers could lead to him continuing to bounce around the league. Contreras has intrigued a few teams as a depth arm, as he sits around 95 MPH with his four-seam fastball and throws six different pitches.
Welcome to San Diego, Roansy!
“Welcome to San Diego, Roansy!…just don’t unpack your bags”
Finished it for ya!
I hope he’s got a decent Frequent Flyer program, he’s sitting on a gold mine of tickets!
I had already forgotten that we claimed Contreras tbh.
What is the most teams a player has been with in one calender year? Since the start of the 2024 MLB season, he has not been on the Pirates, Angels, Rangers, Reds, Orioles, and now probably a 6th team.
Ro is working quickly to be an employee of every franchise…….
Mike Baumann pitched for 5 teams last year, I think I recall hearing that was a record?!?
I believe that it tied Oliver Drake’s record from a few years back.
Now, as far as the record for being with the most organizations in on year or offseason… I’m not sure. But although I can’t think of specific examples at the moment, I seem to recall many instances of guys in their first years of having to pass through waivers being claimed and dropped 3 or 4 times in a year or even an offseason.
Great post, Monk. Forgot about Ollie! And you’re right, so many names have hit that offseason DFA train, too many to recount and how many times is beyond my memory!
He’s no Livan Soto.
Should have DFA’d Roansy for Livan. Haha
I’m at Sheetz as I type this.
He must have alot of options.
None.
Roansy is becoming quite the hat collector these days.
Contreras has a chance to be on every team by opening day.
What is the Is fascination with good fielding crappy hitting players. Stop claiming these guys. How about just go for guys that are all around good at baseball.
All around good players aren’t available for free on waivers.
A player who is good at defense can sometimes learn how to hit.
A player who is bad at defense, usually never becomes good at defense.
How many times has poor Roansy been released this off-season? 3? 4?
now he needs to be released and claimed by each of the rest of the MLB clubs, LET’S SET A RECORD!!!
Contreras must have set a record
fir DFA’s.
I don’t know if it’s the most, but former Oriole Oliver Drake got DFA’d nine times between May 2018 and January 2019.
This has to be tough on Roansy as it is the fourth time in 8 months but on the other hand many teams have been interested in him.
Amaya is likely to be placed on waivers prior to ST if they find a bullpen piece with options.
I am a hard die hard Orioles fan but what is the thing they have on hiring infilders after infielders, don’t we have enough on the team and on the farm? Even the International main pick was also a shortstop
I am a die hard Orioles but what it is with collecting infielders after infielders, we have a ton of them on the team and on the farm, they just even signed another shortstop in the International Pool …
I’m just happy he will never play for the White Sox again.
Never say never with the White Sox org.