The Orioles announced a series of roster tweaks on Thursday. Baltimore has selected right-hander Anthony Nunez to their 40-man roster. Right-hander Shawn Dubin and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Daniel Johnson have been outrighted off the roster. Left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Baltimore claimed outfielder Pedro Leon off waivers from the Astros, while left-hander Jose Castillo was claimed by the Mets.
The team also exercised its club option on right-hander Andrew Kittredge, whom they acquired from the Cubs earlier this week. The Orioles declined their club option on utilityman Jorge Mateo, who is now a free agent. They also announced the signing of outfielder Leody Taveras, a deal that had been reported yesterday. The litany of moves brought Baltimore’s 40-man roster to 40 players.
Nunez came over at the trade deadline in the Cedric Mullins deal, along with fellow pitching prospects Raimon Gómez and Chandler Marsh. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a shortstop by San Diego in 2019. After a pair of uninspiring seasons at the lowest rungs of the minors, he converted to pitching. The Mets signed Nunez in 2024. He tossed 10 innings between the Complex league and Single-A that season. High-A hitters were no match for Nunez in 2025, as he dominated with a 0.63 ERA and a 46.2% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings. Nunez moved to Double-A in May and continued to pitch well, recording a 2.10 ERA over 22 outings. After the trade, he pitched a game for Double-A Chesapeake before heading to Triple-A. Nunez held hitters to a .125 batting average while striking them out at a 32.3% clip over 16 games with Norfolk.
Carlson and Johnson cleared waivers and elected free agency. Dubin also made it through waivers and is a minor league free agent. Carlson is the biggest name of the bunch, but it’s been a while since his days as a top prospect for the Cardinals. Since a strong 2021 campaign with St. Louis, he’s steadily declined at the plate. The 27-year-old bottomed out with a 67 wRC+ over 96 games split between the Cardinals and Rays in 2024. Baltimore took a flyer on him, but he scuffled to a .203/.278/.336 slash line across 241 plate appearances. He’ll now be looking for his fourth team in three seasons.
Johnson has spent parts of four MLB seasons with three teams. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers from San Francisco in August. He went 5-for-24 in 17 games with the Orioles. Dubin was also an August waiver claim, coming over from the Astros. He threw eight innings with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.38 ERA.
Walker has bounced around plenty over the last year and a half. The Mets traded him to the Pirates midway through 2024. He signed with Toronto as a minor league free agent last offseason. The Blue Jays traded him to the Phillies at the end of May. After Philadelphia designated him for assignment in August, the Orioles claimed him off waivers. Walker has a 6.59 ERA across 26 big-league appearances over the past three seasons.
Ragsdale and Castillo are no strangers to waiver claims, including moves that involved each other. Baltimore claimed Ragsdale from San Francisco in August, only to toss him back on the waiver pile when they grabbed Castillo. The Orioles claimed Ragsdale again in September, this time from the Braves.
Houston signed Leon in 2021. He reached Triple-A that same season. Leon slashed .299/.372/.514 with Sugar Land in 2024, leading to a brief call-up. He recorded a pair of hits over seven games with the Astros before heading back to Triple-A. An MCL sprain cost Leon the majority of the 2025 campaign. He played just 25 games this past season.
Nunez is a cool story. Similar to Jayvien Sandridge other Yanks, he signed out of HS, but used a rule that allows you to go play college ball if you’ve only played a certain number of pro seasons, hence why he was R5 eligible in spite of playing in college as recently as 2024.
Yes. His story is really interesting. And since he first started out as a position player, throw in the pandemic era, he’s really only been pitching for 2-3 years if you count college. The mileage is low. He’s only allowed 2 HRs in his pro ball career so far, with high whiff numbers. There’s something interesting with his arm. I can see why Baltimore is protecting him on their roster instead of depth pieces they’ve let go.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the 40 man with free agent acquisitions. I assume they are likely to swing trades and acquire free agents so some of these moves will be depth moves and those with options might start in the minors after spring training.
Cleaning it out. More DFA’s to come. I’d be surprised if Handley and Jackson both made it on the 40 through the winter
Jackson will make it to ST but Handley will be Dfa when we start signing free agents.
kittredge gonna close?
is felix ever coming back? or he gonna spend the rest of his career on the DL?
I usually ask who a team’s closer is gonna be on November 6th after their star closer goes down after the deadline the year prior. The question always gets answered immediately.
strong answer. love it to be Albert’s brother Robert — but time will tell.
I think Kitteridge is a safe bet. They had no good internal answer after Felix went down.
Lots of movement already from Elias, expecting a very bold offseason, just hoping not too bold as the core is very good and going to get better.
I think he has a long leash with boldness. As long as he doesn’t start giving out 7-8 year deals to 32 year olds—I’ll be alright. Looking forward to seeing the moves made
None of that is bold. The 40 had a # of AAAA guys so he cleaned them out. He made some of claims bc why not with open slots. When he signs FAs, some of those claims will lose their spot.
Dubin is a mild surprise, even though his 2025 was rough his first two years were solid. Hopefully that’s a sign Elias is shooting for a more impactful middle innings guy than a high-3s rebound candidate.
Eh, nevermind. I was thinking his FIP was an indicator of better under the hood metrics. Just looked under the hood, and nope. That WHIP is pretty gross. To his credit, he was good for the O’s in that brief audition. After they absolutely shelled him twice with the Stros, though.
He was just an innings sponge in a lost year. Out of options is tough.
FIne with the Carlson move and apparent replacement. Carlson showed a glimmer for maybe a month last year but basically is what he is.
Nunez probably will start in AAA and be on the Norfolk/Baltimore shuttle as a bullpen piece. Interesting story.
Fine with these adjustments on the fringe of the roster. As long as these aren’t it. Let’s see where they are after the winter meetings.