Orioles Claim Josh Walker, Designate Drew Romo For Assignment

The Orioles have designated catcher Drew Romo for assignment, 7News Boston’s Ari Alexander reports.  The move opens up space on Baltimore’s 40-man roster for left-hander Josh Walker, as the O’s announced that Walker has been claimed off waivers from the Braves.

Romo only just arrived in Baltimore’s organization a few days ago, via a waiver claim off the Rockies’ roster.  Romo has never been outrighted before and had has only 73 days of MLB service time, so if he clears waivers here, he would have no choice but to accept an outright assignment to the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate.  Another waiver claim seems possible, as teams are always in need of catching depth, and Romo has some past prospect pedigree as a former first-rounder.

Selected 35th overall by the Rockies in the 2020 draft, Romo was drawing some top-100 prospect attention prior to the 2023 season, but his star diminished as he posted okay but unspectacular numbers in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Romo has a career .286/.337/.466 slash line and 21 homers over 632 PA with Triple-A Albuquerque, spending time at Colorado’s top affiliate in each of the last three seasons.  In 2025, his Triple-A production dropped to .264/.329/.409 over 244 PA.

Romo has also gotten some brief playing time in the majors, producing just a .419 OPS in 56 PA over 19 games with Colorado over the last two seasons.  The Rockies opted to move on and the Orioles made the claim, even if Baltimore is already quite set at catcher between Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo (not to mention Maverick Handley also on the 40-man).

Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, and Grant Wolfram are the only left-handed relief options on the Orioles’ 40-man roster, so adding Walker gives Baltimore a bit more depth in that area.  The O’s are already familiar with Walker, as he first joined the team on another waiver claim off the Phillies’ roster back in August, and Walker was then signed to a big league contract in November.  This guaranteed salary didn’t stop the Braves from claiming Walker away when the Orioles designated him in November, but the offseason roster churn has now seen Walker land back in Baltimore just a month later.

Walker has pitched in each of the last three MLB seasons, delivering a 6.59 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and 10.9% walk rate over 27 1/3 career innings with the Mets and Blue Jays.  The southpaw had spent his whole pro career in the Mets organization before he was dealt to the Pirates at the 2024 trade deadline, and Walker has since bounced around to multiple teams in journeyman fashion.

Since transitioning to bullpen work in 2022, Walker saw an uptick in his minor league strikeout numbers, but also an increase in his walks.  The 2025 season also saw Walker struggle to keep the ball in the yard, as he gave up seven home runs over 42 2/3 combined innings with the Triple-A affiliates of the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Phillies.  Walker has one minor league option remaining, so he could be a candidate for frequent shuffles back and forth between the 26-man roster and the Triple-A roster.