- Right-hander Alex Cobb won’t debut with the Orioles before April 14, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Cobb’s behind schedule because he sat on the free-agent market for a surprisingly long time – until March 21, to be exact – before scoring a four-year, $57MM deal. The 30-year-old threw four innings of 48-pitch ball in extended spring training on Friday, per Kubatko, and is likely to have an outing with Double-A Bowie on April 9, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets.
Orioles Rumors
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/30/18
Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles released southpaws David Holmberg and Hunter Cervenka, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 28-year-old Cervenka appeared in five games with the Marlins last season and has struggled to the tune of a 4.69 ERA in 48 big league innings between Atlanta and Miami. He’s long shown the ability to miss bats in the minors but has also had an ongoing battle with his control. Holmberg, meanwhile, tossed 57 2/3 frames for the ChiSox in 2017, working to a 4.68 earned run average with averages of 5.2 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9. The former second-rounder hasn’t had much big league success but has been serviceable in 299 2/3 Triple-A innings (4.23 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9).
Orioles Designate Four Players, Set Opening Day Roster
The Orioles set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated right-handers Alec Asher, Stefan Crichton, Michael Kelly and Jesus Liranzo for assignment. Their 40-man spots will go to Pedro Alvarez, Colby Rasmus, Craig Gentry and Danny Valencia. Mark Trumbo and Gabriel Ynoa, meanwhile, will open the season on the 10-day DL. Right-hander Alex Cobb will open the year in Double-A as he ramps up after signing late in Spring Training.
Asher, 26, appeared in 24 games for the O’s last season, including six starts, totaling 60 innings of work with a 47-to-23 K/BB. While Asher showed that he can work out of both the rotation or bullpen in multi-inning stints, he struggled to a 5.25 ERA and yielded 10 homers in last year’s 60 frames with the O’s. Asher does sport a quality 3.75 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of Triple-A work, where he’s averaged 6.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. He has also has a minor league option remaining, so he could make sense for a team in need of some rotation depth.
Crichton, also 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining.
The 25-year-old Kelly has never appeared in the big leagues, but he nonetheless scored a Major League contract from the O’s this past offseason on the heels of a strong Double-A showing with the Padres’ San Antonio affiliate in 2017. The former No. 48 overall pick worked to a 2.89 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 with a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate in 89 Double-A innings before being roughed up in his second go-around at the Triple-A level (albeit in an extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting).
Liranzo, 23, also comes without big league experience, but Baseball America ranked him 19th among Orioles farmhands this offseason. Liranzo isn’t lacking for velocity and has the upside of a quality bullpen piece, but he’s struggled with control throughout his pro career, including last season when he averaged six walks per nine innings pitched and posted an unsightly 4.85 ERA in 65 Double-A innings with the Orioles’ Bowie affiliate.
Each of Alvarez, Gentry and Valencia have been with the Orioles before. Alvarez’s stay with the team could be directly tied to Trumbo’s rehab, as each projects primarily as a DH. A brief experiment with Alvarez as an outfielder didn’t prove fruitful for the O’s last season, and they’re largely set at the infield corners as well. Gentry can back up at all three outfield spots and provide some speed off the bench, while Valencia provides a right-handed complement to Chris Davis as well as some insurance at third base and in the outfield corners.
As for Rasmus, it seems likely that he’ll receive fairly regular reps in right field after signing a minor league contract this winter. He showed well in a limited sample with the Rays last season before incurring an injury and ultimately stepping away from the game to be with his young family midway through the ’17 season.
Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Jose Mesa Jr. To Yankees
The Orioles announced today that Rule 5 pick Jose Mesa Jr. has been returned to the Yankees organization. He’ll report to Triple-A.
Mesa, a 24-year-old righty, had recently been designated for assignment. Having cleared waivers, he’ll head back to the organization that selected him in the 24th round of the 2012 draft.
Baltimore had considered Mesa for a bullpen spot along with two other Rule 5 pitchers, but elected against keeping him. Now, he’ll wait for an opportunity in a loaded New York pen.
Mesa did not turn in a compelling showing this spring, but has shown his share of promise in the minors. Last year, he pitched to a 1.93 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 84 innings over 29 appearances — including eight starts — at the High-A and Double-A levels.
O's Hope Britton Can Return By Early June
Zach Britton appears to be making good progress in his recovery from Achilles tendon surgery, and some in the Orioles organization think the closer could return to action by early June, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. An even quicker return isn’t out of the question, though Britton’s 60-day DL placement means that May 28 is the absolute earliest he can get back on the field, and the O’s might not want to rush him unless they’re absolutely certain Britton is ready to go.
Latest On Orioles' Roster Shuffling
- The Orioles all but finalized their 25-man roster today, re-assigning left-handers Joely Rodriguez and Josh Edgin to Triple-A while sending Luis Sardinas, Alex Presley, and Cedric Mullins to minor league camp. (Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was one of several reporters with the details.) While not officially announced, it seems as though Rule 5 draft pick Nestor Cortes Jr. has made the team based on these moves. Rodriguez’s minor league deal with the O’s contains an opt-out clause sometime this summer, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports, and Rodriguez may have already attracted some attention after an impressive performance in camp. Rodriguez has an 0.87 ERA over 10 1/3 Spring Training innings, with just one walk against six strikeouts.
No Reunion Between Orioles, Ryan Flaherty
- The Orioles attempted to reunite with one of their ex-players – free-agent utilityman Ryan Flaherty – on a minor league contract, but he’ll head elsewhere on a big league deal, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The identity of Flaherty’s next team isn’t known. The 31-year-old hasn’t been on the open market for long, having opted out of the minors pact he had with the Phillies on Thursday.
Craig Gentry Likely To Make Orioles
- Outfielder Craig Gentry is likely to make the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggested (on Twitter) after they optioned outfield prospect Austin Hays to Double-A on Saturday. Gentry, 34, is in his second year with the franchise; he re-signed on a minor league contract in the offseason after slashing .257/.333/.386 in 117 major league PAs in 2017.
Article XX(B) Free Agents Update: Saturday
Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement contains a provision that allows certain free agents who are signed to minor league contracts to receive a $100K retention bonus if they are not on the team’s 25-man roster or the Major League disabled list five days prior to the season.
Free agents who qualify for this distinction are those who have at least six years of Major League service time and had a Major League contract expire at the end of the previous season, but signed a minor league deal ten or more days prior to Opening Day.
The deadline for teams to decide on these players is today at 11am central time. By the deadline, teams with these players in camp need to decide whether to:
- Add the player to their 25-man roster or Major League disabled list (or agree to do so in writing).
- Pay the player a $100K retention bonus to keep him in the organization beyond the deadline and send him to the minors.
- Grant the player his outright release from the minor league contract so that he may pursue opportunities with other teams.
We’ll use this post to keep track of the Article XX(B) free agents whose respective teams have elected option one or two; in other words, players who won’t be released for the time being. The most recent updates are on top.
- Miguel Montero has been informed that he’ll make the Nationals as the club’s backup catcher, according to Jamal Collier of MLB.com. He’ll earn a $1.3MM base salary, as outlined in the details of the pact he signed with the club on February 1st. Montero beat out young backstop Pedro Severino in a camp battle for the role.
Earlier…
- Right-handed reliever Fernando Salas will make the Diamondbacks’ opening day roster, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports. He’ll join a relief crew that seems somewhat thin behind Archie Bradley, Brad Boxberger and Yoshihisa Hirano. The 32-year-old pitched to a 5.22 ERA across 58 2/3 relief innings last season between the Mets and the Angels. In a related move, the team has designated Rule 5 pick Albert Suarez.
- Indians manager Terry Francona announced today that reliever Matt Belisle will be the seventh member of the club’s opening day bullpen (hat tip to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Belisle had been competing with Carlos Torres for the final relief job; he pitched to a 4.03 ERA while saving 9 games for the Twins last season.
- Danny Valencia has been added to the Orioles’ roster, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets. Valencia stated a while back that he had no plans to go to the minors if he didn’t make the big league club, so adding the corner infield to their roster was Baltimore’s only path to retaining him. He’ll prove a right-handed-hitting complement to first baseman Chris Davis.
- The Reds have informed middle infielder Cliff Pennington that he’ll make the major league club, John Fayman of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports via Twitter. He’ll serve as a bench player for a rebuilding Cincinnati club while top prospect Nick Senzel gets more seasoning at the Triple-A level. Pennington hit .253/.306/.330 for the Angels last year.
Orioles To Place Rule 5 Pick Pedro Araujo On Opening Day Roster
- The Orioles will carry righty Pedro Araujo to begin the season, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to tweet. He only has made one appearance north of the High-A level in the Cubs organization, but was awfully impressive there in 2017. In 64 2/3 innings over 44 apperances, he allowed just 13 earned runs on 42 hits while racking up 83 strikeouts against 17 walks. Araujo kept that output going in the Arizona Fall League and into the Grapefruit League, so the O’s — who frequently utilize the Rule 5 process — will see if he can take it another big step forward in the majors.
