Outfielder Leody Taveras has an agreement with the Orioles pending a physical, reports Mike Rodriguez. The team has yet to officially announce the move.
Seattle designated Taveras for assignment in mid-June. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners had acquired him via waiver claim from Texas in early May. Taveras elected free agency a few weeks ago.
Taveras spent the past five big-league seasons with the Rangers. He debuted in 2020, serving in a part-time role. Taveras didn’t provide much at the plate over his first three seasons, but offered strong center field defense and some speed on the basepaths. He stepped into a bigger role the following year, appearing in 143 games. After totaling 660 plate appearances from 2020 to 2022, he reached 554 in 2023. Taveras hit 14 home runs and stole 14 bases while slashing .266/.312/.421.
The strong 2023 helped Taveras maintain a large role in 2024, though he fell off as a hitter. He posted an 84 wRC+ across 529 plate appearances. Taveras did steal a career-high 23 bases, but hit just .229. Notably, Taveras qualified for arbitration ahead of the 2024 season given his Super Two status. He earned $2.55MM that year. Taveras and the Rangers agreed to a $4.75MM deal for 2025, but luxury tax considerations led to trade rumors. Texas ultimately kept him around, only for Taveras to crater at the plate. He slashed .241/.259/.342 in 30 games with Texas before being cut loose. He continued to struggle after joining the Mariners, hitting .174 over 98 plate appearances.
Baltimore will take a flyer on Taveras as potential center field depth. Tyler O’Neill will be back for the Orioles, likely joined by some combination of Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, and Dylan Carlson in the outfield. While Taveras posted underwhelming marks by Statcast’s Fielding Run Value this past season, the Orioles could still consider him as a reliable defensive alternative to their current options.
interesting
Honestly dig it as a low cost veteran option. And if he can bounce back…that’s even better.
Kinda as a Laureano replacement in my mind.
More like carlson replacement. Should be a depth move only.
Totally forgot he was a Mariner in 2025. It was a long season.
he was forgettable
So he’s represented by Boras.
A good faith move for a Gunnar extension?
Any chance of the Orioles extending Henderson ended in about May 2024.
Print the playoff tickets!
bruh this guy won’t help them make the playoffs
You fell into the chasm of sar.
I’d imagine AI gets that stale old joke by now.
Injuries happen a lot to OFs and Depth guys often end up in n there for quite a few ab. Carlson played way too much and was bad. A better 3rd CF will absolutely help.
wish that was the first time I heard that
MLB does that every year.
I guess more details forthcoming but hard to see what the rush would be if you’re the Orioles to give him a major league contract. And just as hard if you are Taveras to see the rush to take a minor league contract
Could be a split contract with early season opt-out. He’ll have a spot for Spring Training.
Dumpster diving. O’s fan not gonna like the off season If this is the trend
They’re actively doing more than anyone else before we’re capable of doing anything major. Why don’t we just wait and see?
Why would I not like the FO jumping the rest of the market and adding a bunch of decent quality depth pieces before the offseason even properly begins? We needed a solid defensive CF to stash at AAA in case of injury and Taveras is probably that guy.
It’s not like he is going to be starting in CF at Camden Yards everyday over Cowser.
It doesn’t matter what the front office does, the fans will absolutely hate it.
I’ve arted smarter comments than this, OP
Good good, nothing wrong with this, needed a backup OF.
Love the aggressive approach outta the Warehouse.
Same here. Get some of the banal but necessary procedural stuff (like adding fungible veteran depth to stash in Norfolk for when injuries inevitably hit) out of the way now so we can focus squarely on the big stuff when unrestricted free agency opens tomorrow.
It’s a good sign, IMO.
As a? Go on…
I wouldn’t bet that Dylan Carlson makes it through non tenders.
Carlson looks more like org filler or KBO at this point in his career
He’s now out of options. With the way he’s played the last 3 years—it’s going to be tough for him to stick around. I guess a garbage team like the White Sox could kick the tires but that’s about it.
Is this a major league deal or camp invitation?
I’m just here hoping that the moves we’ve been making are just depth/filler moves before the actual impactful moves are made. Enns, Kittredge and Garcia are solid moves but more still needs to be done in regards to the bullpen. Leody is a decent depth option to have in the outfield but this team needs both a solid defensive centerfielder and a reliable productive bat to add to an offense that has underperformed both in the regular season this past year and the most critical moments in 2024’s wild card games.
In my opinion you go get the best bat you can and let Cowser man center even if he isn’t the most consistent out there defensively. You might be able to find at bats at first base splitting time with Mayo if you don’t want to commit to him as he’s been a very mixed bag thus far. I’m just hoping for a more inspiring offseason after last years to be honest.
He hit lefties much better last year. Possible platoon piece?
He’s actually better against righties, usually. That’s his power side.
Interesting that Heston Kjerstad wasn’t mentioned along with other O’s Outfield possibilities. Has he fallen out of favor with the organization already?
Medicals. Don’t know what if anything you’ll get from him. I’d say he has a better shot of playing for the O’s this year than Dylan Carlson who got a mention though.
Kjerstad was demoted to AAA then didn’t play after about July due to some undisclosed health issue.
The guy was a really good hitter but had serious brain issues after the Yankees beaned him. No one knows if he lost it or can recover but they are certainly not talking about it.
Way too simple to say fell out of favor, more like hope he recovers.
Well, it’s only simple if you are a person who doesn’t follow the Orioles regularly and maybe wasn’t aware of any lingering or new health issues
He hasn’t been right since taking a 97 mph Clay Holmes fastball to the temple in July 2024 and seems to have another medical condition on top of that, but the team has been very vague about what that might be other than saying he was suffering from “fatigue.”
He has myocarditis too. I’m not counting on anything from Kjerstad. He’s a surprise wild card who could obviously make an impact.
Can he pitch?
Lame
Wasn’t on my radar last year at all.
Depends on the context. If replacing Carlson with better hitting and speed as the 4th or 5th OF and as a backup bridge until Bradfield is ready? Sure. If that and they are picking up the RH power bat General Soreness was supposed to be? Sure. Great.
If its “we’re good with Cowser, Taveras will have a significant impact, and we’re going to hope General Soreness will be healthy this time” then I’m not satisfied, its not the OF of a contender.
We’ll find out this winter.
Mariners Legend Leody Taveras