The Orioles announced that outfielder Jhonkensy Noel has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He will stay in Baltimore’s system but without taking up a spot on the roster.
The O’s are one of the most aggressive clubs when it comes to claiming players from the waiver wire and then putting them back out there shortly thereafter. The desired result is that the player clears, allowing the club to keep the player in a non-roster capacity, which has happened in this case.
From there, the best-case scenario is that the player follows in the footsteps of Ryan O’Hearn. The O’s acquired O’Hearn from the Royals in January of 2023 and then passed him through waivers. He hit his way back onto the roster a few months later. He spent more than two years as a productive member of the club before being traded to the Padres alongside Ramón Laureano for a package of prospects at the 2025 deadline.
Noel, 24, has flashed big power in his career but has been a poor hitter apart from that. In 351 plate appearances with the Guardians over the past two seasons, he launched 19 home runs but his 4.8% walk rate and 32.8% strikeout rate were both significantly worse than league average. He had a .193/.242/.401 batting line and 79 wRC+ in that time. Since he’s not an especially strong defender or baserunner, that offense was untenable.
He exhausted his final option season in 2025, which pushed him off the edges of Cleveland’s roster and onto the waiver wire. The O’s were able to grab him and then pass him through unclaimed today. He’ll return to the Triple-A level, where his offense has been more encouraging. He stepped to the plate 536 times at that level over the past two years with a 7.5% walk rate and 23.7% strikeout rate, still not great numbers but better than his big league work. His combined .285/.349/.538 Triple-A slash line in that time led to a 130 wRC+.
Even if Noel succeeds in Norfolk, he doesn’t have an amazing path back to the majors. Baltimore’s outfield mix currently includes Colton Cowser, Taylor Ward, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, Reed Trimble, Heston Kjerstad and Marco Luciano.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
Someone does this in my OOTP baseball online league and it’s the most annoying thing ever. No one can waive players without him claiming them. He’s burned a lot of bridges doing this.
O’s have been doing this for a while. They’re not the only ones. Thing is, it never works out. I’m not sure why they bother, especially a team like the Orioles which has no potential opening for a player like him in the near future.
Sure seemed like it worked out when they did it with O’Hearn…
Uh, it worked out with O’Hearn, Urias, and a slew of role players. It’s called “depth.” Ever heard of it?
Those players are just journeymen they could have picked up other ways. It’s just another way to be cheap.
Cheap is good, and often really smart. Hard to build a consistent winner simply by (over)spending.
@seam
repeating the same lame complaints about cheapness that were lobbed (correctly at Johnny Boy Angelos) at the previous Orioles ownership without any thoughtfulness is not helpful.
They gave Emmanuel Rivera 1 mil to stay ready in Norfolk last season, and he was fine when they needed him to sub for Westburg on his IL visits.
How are they journeymen when the examples given had only ever been with one team in MLB (O’Hearn) or hadn’t even debuted yet (Urias)?
Just stop.
@miketrout Is there a consequence to those burned bridges for him? Although I’m familiar with OOTP the game, I can’t begin to imagine the inner workings and politics of a long-running league.
To a certain extent yes. For one, he can never waive his players because someone will claim them out of spite. And while most people can look past it when talking about a major trade, a number of people (myself included) refuse to make any minor trades with him.
Appreciate the answer! Don’t know why learning about the most obnoxious OOTP makes me more interested in joining a league
Joc Pedwrsen is that you? Wait til Tommy finds out
Exactly where he needs to be and wish him luck there.
Without this intrigue to distract them maybe we can find some more pitching.
Not the orioles news we were hoping for today.
Best case scenario for the O’s here.
Cleared waivers… that means Dana passed.
Another smart move by Elias. As for there not being room in the roster, that’s merely theoretical. If he kills it in AAA, and there are (as there always are) injuries, a space will be made for him. (Also theoretical of course!)
Tyler O’Neill is there, just waiting to hit his opening day home run and then pull a hammy on the way back to the dugout.
For those of us already in the throes of post-Christmas doldrums and melancholy; this move sure adds fuel to the fire. Maybe next year, Big Christmas…
Hope he finds the Christmas magic again, but a little early to leave out the cookies and milk.
Rush Limbaugh was right.
Alright I’ll bite. How?
Christmas is canceled. This is the future the Whigs want.
Designated MLB HR derby participant mac mcclung GLeague style.
The parade’s been rained on and the balloon’s been popped and salt’s been applied to the wound and our dream’s been deferred and the rug’s been yanked out from under us and the other shoe done dropped while we were wearing flip flops and the champagne’s gone flat and the cake’s collapsed and someone else is wearing our tuxedo and the ship, the B’more Clipper, has sailed without us, and the train has left the station…congrats to the BoSox on signing Ranger while we get Big Christmas in AAA. Yeah and whoopee!
Missed out on Ranger but they managed to keep Noel.
Not a bad spot for Big Christmas to land honestly. After injuries to Cowser and O Neil (who you can unfortunately pencil in for another IL stint at some point) there’s likely to be some opportunity at some point for him due to injuries to other guys. That being said bradfield jr is coming up the pipeline in the near future I imagine and Dylan beavers is certainly worthy of an extended look.
To clarify, the Orioles do not just DFA players a few days after claiming them. They do so to make room for a new player claimed or signed.
Decent depth move filling out the Tides roster. More importantly now that Ranger is off the board I’d love to see the O’s get aggressive and press the Rangers for Degrom and Seagar. Seems like a good match to me.
Or more realistically….get aggressive for Valdez, Gore, or Peralta.
I’m wondering if they’re lingering in the short-term Kyle Tucker market. Unlikely, but don’t rule it out…
Not against paying up for Kyle Tucker but would certainly rather spend to lock up Gunnar vs 5-7 years of Tucker. Gore makes me nervous as he’s been inconsistent his entire career. Valdez would be stellar too but I just like the idea of that Rangers duo coming to Camden
Why why why would they want Seager?
Perennial threat and would fit nicely at 3b and kick Westy to 2nd. I’d anticipate continued growth from Jackson but I think if they could build a package around him for those 2 it would make the team deep and an actual WS threat.
Preposterous, never going to happen. Elias loves his IF, except for not having a legit utility guy there.
Another one tool player whos power got him through the minors. Speaking of OHearn. What did he learn when he basically started over. You don’t have to home run swing at every pitch. Hit the mistakes. 2-0 or 1-1, is much better than 0-2.
The Guardians can develop like any pitcher into an inning-eating machine, but when it comes to getting a hitter to 25 HRs, they are completely lost. My expectation is that Big Christmas finds the massive hole in his swing, shrinks it, and finds some success in Norfolk, earning himself a promotion to the Charm City.
Bullseye
Poor johonsky
I think its a great strategy for the mid and low market teams. The depth allows them to cover for injury or flexibility to make trades. If Noel hits at AAA these things work themselves out
Christmas backup gift. Good for Eve’s work to make improvements at the #25, #26th and #27 spots.
Good strategy for mid Atlantic teams is crab
No! Not large Christmas!
I’ll second that Cleveland can’t develop hitters for power. Could see him thriving.. I’m a diehard Guardians fan. Good luck in Baltimore.
And happy new year to you! In jail!!!