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Giants Acquire Ryan Watson From Orioles

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The Orioles announced that they have traded right-hander Ryan Watson to the Giants in exchange for cash considerations. Trades after the deadline are allowed if the players involved have not been on a 40-man roster this year, which applies in this case.

Watson, 26, wasn’t selected in the 2020 draft, which was shortened to five rounds as a result of the pandemic. He then signed with the Orioles as an undrafted free agent and worked as a swingman for a few years with fairly unremarkable results. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 259 2/3 innings across various levels with a 4.30 earned run average.

Here in 2024, he’s been working exclusively in relief with some signs of encouragement. He has tossed 22 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 2.38 ERA. He has struck out 26.1% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8% clip.

Despite those decent numbers, the O’s never called him up. They bolstered their bullpen at the deadline by acquiring Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto from the Phillies, making it even less likely that Watson would be tapped. The Giants, on the other hand, traded Luke Jackson prior to the deadline and optioned their former closer Camilo Doval to the minors earlier tonight.

Watson hasn’t received much love from prospect evaluators but the Giants seem to be encouraged by his results this year. He will provide their bullpen with some non-roster depth and try to earn himself a roster spot.

Orioles Sign Jean Segura To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles announced that they have signed infielder Jean Segura to a minor league deal. The veteran has been out of affiliated ball for over a year, having been released by the Guardians at the start of August last year. He could perhaps report to Triple-A Norfolk shortly but may also go to another affiliate for a tune-up after his long layoff.

It’s a surprising signing that comes completely out of the blue. Not only has Segura not played any official games in the past year, he also wasn’t featured in any substantive offseason rumors, nor does it appear that he played in any winter or foreign leagues.

The absence comes on the heels of his worst career season. He hit .219/.277/.279 for a 52 wRC+ in 85 games for the Marlins last year, the first season of a two-year, $17MM deal that he signed with the Fish. He and Kahlil Watson were flipped to the Guardians for Josh Bell at the deadline, but the Guards immediately released Segura, indicating his inclusion was simply for financial reasons. No team signed Segura for the final two months or for 2024, until now.

Prior to his awful 2023 season, he had a lengthy run as a solid player in the big leagues. From 2016 to 2022, he got into 849 games between the Diamondbacks, Mariners and Phillies. He got to double-digit home runs in every full season of that stretch and had at least nine stolen bases in all of them. Overall, he hit 84 long balls and slashed .295/.345/.434 for a wRC+ of 107 while swiping 109 bases. He was gradually moved from shortstop to second base in that stretch, playing a bit of third base as well, and produced 21.9 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Whether Segura can engineer a bounceback after his rough 2023 season and long stint away from the game is anyone’s guess, but there’s no real risk for the Orioles in trying. The Guardians are still on the hook for the final year of his contract, so the O’s would only have to pay Segura the prorated league minimum for any time he ultimately spends on their roster, which would be subtracted from what Cleveland pays.

Not too long ago, the Baltimore infield was characterized by having more good players than opportunities, but the situation has changed significantly in the past few weeks. They included Connor Norby in the Trevor Rogers deal and also saw Jordan Westburg and Jorge Mateo land on the injured list.

They still have a solid infield mix though third base is perhaps a little less impressive than the other spots. Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle are sharing first base while Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson have the middle spots covered. At the hot corner, Ramón Urías and Coby Mayo are the top options at the moment. Mayo just got called up but his first 15 major league plate appearances have resulted in a line of .000/.133/.000. Urías has a much better line of .234/.309/.364, though that still leads to a subpar 95 wRC+. Urías does have a strong defensive reputation but his numbers in that department are down this year: -3 Defensive Runs Saved and -6 Outs Above Average from the third base spot.

The O’s can take a close-up look at the veteran Segura in the coming weeks and see how it goes. Perhaps he can convince the club’s decision makers that he’s an upgrade over their current options or simply provide them with some non-roster depth in case another injury pops up in the coming weeks. He’ll be competing with guys like Terrin Vavra and Liván Soto, who are each on the 40-man roster but currently on optional assignment, as well as non-roster guys like Niko Goodrum, J.D. Davis and Nick Maton.

No Extension Talks Yet Between Orioles, Anthony Santander

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Anthony Santander is slated to become a free agent following the season, and the outfielder told reporters (including Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com) that the Orioles haven’t yet had any extension talks.  The lack of negotiations didn’t seem to bother Santander since he is “just focusing on helping my team win right now,” but he reiterated that he wanted to remain in Baltimore.

“This is the team that gave me the opportunity to play in the big leagues,” Santander said.  “I like where we are right now.  We are a really good team.  This team is about to get in a World Series soon, hopefully this year.  Of course I would like to stay here for the rest of my career….So happy and thank you for the fans that want me to stay here.”

Santander began his pro career in Cleveland’s organization, but he came to the Orioles in the December 2016 Rule 5 Draft, and has subsequently become one of the most-cited examples of how the R5 can add talent to a team’s roster.  After making his MLB debut in 2017, Santander struggled in his first few tastes of big league action before finally breaking out during the shortened 2020 campaign.  After a dropoff in 2021, he got back on track in 2022-23 and has now stepped up again with the best full season of his career.

Aaron Judge is the only player with more homers than Santander this season, as the O’s stalwart has left the yard 34 times — already a career high even in early August.  Santander’s power has fueled his 137 wRC+ and overall .248/.311/.540 slash line.  The batting average and OBP almost exactly match his career averages, but while consistent hitting and getting on-base isn’t always easy for Santander, he has an above-average strikeout rate and makes the most of his contact.  He ranks in the 92nd percentile of all hitter in barrels this season, with an even 40 over his 110 games.

Between this offense, a solid right-field glove, and the fact that 2025 will be Santander’s age-30 season, the outfielder figures to land a very nice payday on the free agent market this winter.  The Orioles will surely issue him a qualifying offer, and Santander will just as surely reject that one-year offer in search of a longer-term deal, so the O’s would land a compensatory draft pick if Santander signed elsewhere.

With David Rubenstein now owning the Orioles, it is no longer a foregone conclusion that Santander will be wearing another uniform in the coming years.  Rubenstein already okayed a modest payroll increase to fund the Orioles’ trade deadline moves, and GM Mike Elias figures to have considerably more money to work with as the front office figures out the best route to sustaining and building on its outstanding core of young talent.  Since Rubenstein only officially took over the club last spring, this offseason represents a new era for the franchise in terms of how the O’s will approach trades, free agent signings, and the possibility of retaining productive stars like Santander.

To this same end, it isn’t surprising that Elias and company haven’t yet explored a contract extension with Santander’s reps, given the overlap of Rubenstein’s purchase and Spring Training (when most teams hash out extensions with impending free agents).  Players generally prefer to eliminate distractions by halting contract talks once the season begins, so there’s nothing unusual in the two sides not holding any discussions.

That said, Santander’s future in Baltimore has long been considered a question mark exactly due to that young core.  Santander’s name surfaced in trade speculation back when the Orioles were still rebuilding, but the club held onto him due to his veteran presence and the continued production that Santander brought to an O’s team that got back to contention a little earlier than expected.  The longtime outfeld trio of Santander, Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays was officially broken up at the trade deadline when Hays was dealt to the Phillies, and Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad are now viewed as the outfield staples of the future.  With this duo already getting big-league action and notable outfield prospects Dylan Beavers, Enrique Bradfield, and Jud Fabian down on the farm, Baltimore might opt to let Santander walk, and replace him either from within or with a short-term veteran outfield bat.  Ryan O’Hearn’s club option for 2025 seems like a strong bet to be exercised, giving the Orioles more corner outfield depth.

Orioles To Sign J.D. Davis To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles are signing infielder J.D. Davis, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post on X. It’s a minor league deal for Davis, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner on X. The veteran was released by the Yankees last week.

Davis 31, came into 2024 on a solid five-year run of being an above-average bat at the major league level. But this season has been an unusual one in a few different ways, which have largely been disappointing for him.

He and the Giants went to an arbitration hearing in the winter, which he won, though it turned out to be a hollow victory. The arbiter sided with him and his reps, opting for their $6.9MM salary as opposed to the $6.5MM figure the team sought. However, under the collective bargaining agreement, arb salaries are only guaranteed if the sides avoid a hearing.

The Giants then took advantage of the weak free agent market, signing both Matt Chapman and Blake Snell after they lingered in free agency into the month of March. The Chapman deal nudged Davis off his perch as the club’s regular third baseman, so they released him. Since his salary wasn’t guaranteed, the Giants only had to pay him 30 days’ termination pay, roughly $1.1MM.

Davis then went out into the aforementioned tepid free agent market and had to settle for a $2.5MM guarantee from the Athletics, far less than what he was slated to earn in San Francisco. With Oakland, he missed a couple of weeks while on the injured list with a right adductor strain and didn’t get into much of a groove around that IL stint. He hit .236/304/.366 for a wRC+ of 96 and was designated for assignment in June.

The Yankees then acquired him but didn’t give him much playing time. He was on the roster for over a month but battled an illness and only got into seven games, hitting .105/.227/.158 in those. He was designated for assignment just prior to the trade deadline but the Yanks couldn’t find a taker. Since he has more than five years of major league service time, he could have rejected an outright assignment while retaining the remainder of his salary. The Yankees skipped that formality by releasing him.

It’s undoubtedly been a rough year but it’s a sensible flier for the O’s to take, especially on a minor league deal. Davis had a robust slash of .268/.352/.443 from 2019 to 2023 for a wRC+ of 120, indicating he was 20% better than the league average hitter in that time period. Since the Yankees released him, they are paying what’s left of his contact. If the O’s select him to the roster at any point, they will only have to pay him the prorated major league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees pay.

Baltimore recently placed both Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg on the injured list, subtracting two pieces of their infield mix. Prospect Coby Mayo is up covering third base now but has six strikeouts and no hits through his first 12 plate appearances. Ramón Urías is there as well but he isn’t having a strong season, hitting .238/.310/.370 for a wRC+ of 96 with -3 Defensive Runs Saved and -6 Outs Above Average.

If Davis can get into good form and Mayo keeps struggling, the veteran could be a low cost fix to the problem for the O’s. Davis will presumably report to Triple-A Norfolk in the coming days and get some regular at-bats, something that he’s had difficulty finding this year.

Orioles Place Grayson Rodriguez On Injured List

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August 7: The Orioles announced today that Rodriguez has been placed on the 15-day IL with right lat/teres discomfort, retroactive to August 4. Left-hander Keegan Akin was recalled in a corresponding move. Additionally, outfielder Heston Kjerstad was placed on the IL with a concussion, retroactive to August 1. He was optioned to the minors on that date but this IL placement presumably rescinds that option.

August 6: Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez was scratched from his scheduled start against the Blue Jays due to what the club later announced as “right lat/teres discomfort.” As noted by Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun, Rodriguez began to warm up for his start this evening before appearing to say to pitching coach Drew French, “I don’t feel right.” Rodriguez left the field for the clubhouse after the conversation and was replaced by right-hander Albert Suarez as the game’s starter. Rodriguez is returning to Baltimore to receive further evaluations and have imaging done on his right lat, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Weyrich) following the club’s loss to the Blue Jays this evening.

Details regarding the severity of Rodriguez’s discomfort are minimal, so it’s unclear at this point if the right-hander will require a trip to the IL or when he could next be expected to take the mound. After all, the righty’s discomfort will surely bring to mind his stint on IL due to shoulder inflammation earlier this year that ultimately lasted nearly three weeks. Rodriguez also has a history of lat issues, having dealt with a lat strain as a prospect back in 2022 that ultimately cost him three and a half months.

Regardless of how long Rodriguez ends up missing, the news is a worrying development for the Orioles just one week after the trade deadline as they gear up for a run at their second consecutive AL East crown and another postseason run. Injuries in the starting rotation have been frequent in Baltimore this year. The club lost three starters (Kyle Bradish, John Means, and Tyler Wells) to UCL surgery back in June and has also previously saw right-hander Dean Kremer spend time on the shelf in addition to Rodriguez’s aforementioned shoulder issue early this year. Those injury woes led the Orioles to stock up on starting pitching depth ahead of last week’s trade deadline as they swung deals to bring right-hander Zach Eflin and lefty Trevor Rogers into the fold.

While those additions helped to shore up the club’s shaky back of the rotation, losing Rodriguez for a significant period would be a deeply worrisome outcome as the 24-year-old has emerged as the club’s clear #2 starter behind ace Corbin Burnes. Rodriguez has generally pitched quite well in the sophomore season of his career with a decent 3.86 ERA in 116 2/3 innings of work across 20 starts that’s matched with even better peripheral numbers. He’s struck out 26.5% of batters faced while walking just 7.3%. That’s left him with a strong 3.67 FIP and an even better 3.60 SIERA, the latter of which is good for top 25 among all qualified starters this year and slightly better than Burnes’s own 3.71 figure.

Should Rodriguez end up missing time, it seems likely that the club would turn to Suarez to take over his spot in the rotation on a more permanent basis. The 34-year-old journeyman last appeared in the majors back in 2017 before the Orioles brought him in on a minor league deal and added him to their roster, but he’s done well in a swing role since then, with a 3.75 ERA in 15 starts including his five scoreless innings of work filling in for Rodriguez this evening. Other options to replace Rodriguez in the rotation (or Suarez in a long relief role if he returns to starting) would be youngster Cade Povich, who has struggled to a 6.27 ERA in eight starts in the majors this year, and lefty Cole Irvin, who was recently outrighted off the 40-man roster. Top pitching prospect Chayce McDermott, who made his big league debut in a spot start earlier this year, may have been a possible candidate to help fill in for Rodriguez in the majors but the club announced earlier today that he’s been placed on the minor league IL with a stress reaction in his right scapula earlier today.

Reds Made Offer For Trevor Rogers Before Deadline

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It was a relatively quiet trade deadline in Cincinnati, with the Reds dealing away veteran righties Frankie Montas and Lucas Sims while acquiring Jakob Junis (in the Montas deal), young outfielder Joey Wiemer (also for Montas), veteran first baseman Ty France (for minor league catcher Andruw Salcedo) and pitching prospect Ovis Portes (for Sims). President of baseball ops Nick Krall and his staff generally dealt from the fringes of a contending roster and brought in some complementary veterans. Via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Krall said after the deadline that he didn’t want to sell “just to put younger players on the roster” and cited the team’s run differential and looming returns (e.g. Matt McLain, Emilio Pagan) as reasons to be optimistic of a run down the stretch.

That said, it seems Krall & Co. took at least one more substantial buy-side swing. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald report that the Reds, Mets and Orioles all made offers that the Marlins liked in exchange for left-hander Trevor Rogers. The Mets’ interest in Rogers was already known, and the Orioles of course acquired the lefty in exchange for what many considered a surprisingly strong package of second baseman Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers. Jackson and Mish report that the Reds offered “one of their top pitching prospects” to the Marlins, but Baltimore ultimately topped that offer by agreeing to part with a pair of MLB-ready position players. The Mets also made a formal offer, per the report.

The level of interest in Rogers is reflective of the lack of pitching that was available on this summer’s market. Though the 26-year-old southpaw finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2021, he’s since dealt with shoulder and biceps injuries that have greatly reduced his arsenal and his effectiveness. Rogers’ fastball has dropped about two miles per hour since that rookie showing, while his slider has flattened out and misses far fewer bats than it did in ’21.

After finishing the ’21 season with a 2.64 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate in 133 innings, Rogers has combined for a 5.02 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in 234 2/3 innings. He was sitting on a 4.53 ERA with a career-low 18% strikeout rate at the time of the trade and has since been tagged for five runs through 4 1/3 innings in his lone Orioles start.

Cincinnati’s reported interest in Rogers comes at a time when in-house arms like Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson are facing notable injury concerns. The former has been out since early July with an elbow strain. The latter hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this season and only has 10 2/3 minor league innings on the year. He last pitched on June 2 and has been down since due to a shoulder strain. Both are on the 60-day injured list.

The Reds aren’t lacking when it comes to high-end pitching prospects — particularly not after selecting Wake Forest righty Chase Burns with the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft. Burns isn’t eligible to be traded until the offseason, and fellow top prospect Rhett Lowder (last year’s first-round pick and a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport) surely was off limits. Prospects Connor Phillips, Lyon Richardson and Chase Petty have all struggled to varying extents in the upper minors this season, but all are still generally well-regarded even if their respective values are down from peak levels. Righty Julian Aguiar has notably upped his stock this season as well and likely isn’t too far from a big league look.

Rogers is controlled by the Orioles for another two seasons, so this isn’t a case where their deadline interest could portend offseason free-agent interest (although Cincinnati could certainly take a run at prying Rogers from the O’s this winter if the interest remains strong and/or the Orioles sour on the lefty). But it’s still a relevant footnote to keep in mind, both when Rogers is next available via trade/free agency and because it could foreshadow a Reds pursuit of some controllable arms this offseason.

Right-hander Hunter Greene and lefties Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott are all generally locked into long-term rotation spots. Twenty-six-year-old righty Carson Spiers is attempting to solidify his own rotation status down the stretch. Even with a decent stock of upper-level arms, the Reds could look to deepen that group via the trade or free-agent markets this winter.

Orioles Outright Cole Irvin To Triple-A

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that left-hander Cole Irvin has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. The move comes on the heels of Irvin being designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline last week.

The 30-year-old lefty was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies in the 2016 draft and spent the first two seasons of his career pitching out of the bullpen in Philadelphia but didn’t truly establish himself in the big leagues until he was traded to the A’s as part of a cash deal prior to the 2021 season. Upon arriving in Oakland, Irvin was moved to the rotation and quickly found some success as a back-of-the-rotation starter. In his two seasons with the A’s, the lefty pitched to middling results with a 4.11 ERA (95 ERA+) and 4.25 FIP, but did so over an impressive 359 1/3 innings of work. While that innings total may not seem like much compared to the recent past when starters would regular throw 200 innings in a season, that figure actually meant Irvin pitched the 13th-most innings in all of baseball over that two year period.

That ability to eat innings, his league minimum salary, and a relatively low acquisition cost seemingly made Irvin something of a perfect acquisition for an Orioles team that entered the 2023 season in desperate need of some certainty in the rotation following a 2022 campaign where they surprised with an 83-79 record and appeared ready to take another step toward contention despite the club’s intention of keeping payroll additions to a minimum until their vaunted positional core was fully in place at the big league level. Given how well the sides matched up and Oakland’s plan to trade everything on the roster that wasn’t nailed down, it was hardly a surprise when the Orioles acquired Irvin in a deal where they shipped infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to Oakland in exchange for both the lefty and pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky.

As good a fit as Irvin seemed to be on the surface when he was brought in by Baltimore, however, things have not gone that well since he landed with the club. The lefty was optioned to Triple-A just three starts into his tenure as an Oriole after struggling to a 10.66 ERA in those appearances and wouldn’t return to the big leagues until he was called up to be a swing man in mid-June of last year. His solid performance (3.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP in 64 1/3 innings) earned him an arbitration-level contract with the Orioles this winter, who offered him $2MM to act as depth for their young rotation.

The depth Irvin provided proved to be a much-needed asset for the Orioles throughout the first half this year as their rotation battled injuries to each of Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means, Tyler Wells, and Dean Kremer throughout the early months of the year. Each of Bradish, Means, and Wells ended up requiring UCL surgery by the end of June, and those numerous injuries kept Irvin as a fixture in the Baltimore rotation throughout the first half. After a shaky start to the year, Irvin settled in to post a strong 1.88 ERA and 3.49 FIP in ten appearance (eight starts) from mid-April through early June.

Things took a turn for the worse from there, however, as Irvin had been lit up to the tune of an 8.72 ERA and 6.11 FIP in his final 32 innings with the Orioles. Those struggles led him to be moved to the bullpen in early July, but the Orioles pulled the plug when the lefty continued to struggle in a multi-inning relief role. Now that he’s with the club in Triple-A, Irvin figures to serve as a non-roster depth option for the club down the stretch, backing up a rotation mix that currently features Rodriguez, Kremer, and ace Corbin Burnes alongside deadline additions Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers. An injury to any of those pieces or long reliever Albert Suarez could provide Irvin an opening to return to the majors this year but he’d have to leapfrog youngsters Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster, on the depth chart in order to do so.

Orioles Outright Matt Krook

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The Orioles announced yesterday that left-hander Matt Krook was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing waivers.  Baltimore designated Krook for assignment earlier this week to open up some 40-man roster space in the wake of the team’s slate of trade deadline moves.

Acquired from the Yankees in a cash trade last February, Krook’s time in Baltimore has included a single Major League appearance — one inning pitched in the Orioles’ 11-2 loss to the Rangers on June 30, as Krook was charged with two earned runs in his lone frame of work.  The southpaw has otherwise spent the season in Norfolk, posting a 4.11 ERA and a very solid 27% strikeout rate over 35 relief innings, but a big 16.4% walk rate has undermined Krook’s results.

Control problems have long plagued Krook, as he has a 14.6% walk rate in his 569 2/3 career minor league innings.  Despite all the free passes, Krook’s ERA in the minors is still a respectable 4.03, since he misses a lot of bats and does an outstanding job of avoiding home runs and keeping the ball on the ground.

The move to full-time relief pitching in New York’s farm system last season only improved Krook’s overall numbers apart from continued issues with walks.  Krook’s time with the Yankees did pay off in the form of his big league debut last season, though he was tagged for a 24.75 ERA in four innings over four appearances.

This was the first time Krook has been outrighted off a 40-man roster, and he is obviously far short of five seasons of MLB service time.  As a result, Krook had to accept the outright assignment and couldn’t opt for free agency.  It wouldn’t have been a surprise if another team had been interested enough for a waiver claim, but for now Krook will remain as a depth option for the Orioles at Triple-A.

Orioles Promote Coby Mayo

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Aug. 2: The O’s formally announced Mayo’s promotion. Infielder Livan Soto was optioned to Norfolk to open a spot on the active roster. Baltimore’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Aug. 1: Top prospect Coby Mayo is joining the Orioles, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (X link). The 22-year-old will be making his MLB debut. Mayo is not yet on the 40-man roster but the O’s have an opening, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding active roster transaction.

Baltimore took Mayo out of high school in the fourth round of the truncated 2020 draft. He signed for an above slot $1.75MM bonus and has ripped through minor league pitching at every level. The 6’5″, 230-pound corner infielder had pushed his way towards the top of a loaded O’s system by the start of the 2022 campaign. He had good but not elite numbers as a 20-year-old between High-A and Double-A that season.

A monster showing in the upper minors last year vaulted Mayo to the top of the overall league prospect rankings. He hit .307/.424/.603 with 17 homers in 78 games for Double-A Bowie. The O’s bumped him to Triple-A Norfolk late last season. Mayo responded with an excellent .267/.393/.512 slash across 62 contests.

Mayo entered the year as a top 30 minor league talent in the eyes of most evaluators. He has done all he can to reinforce that acclaim with another excellent year in Norfolk. Mayo has popped 20 homers over 335 plate appearances. He’s hitting .294/.370/.581 with a strong 10.1% walk rate. While his 24.5% strikeout percentage is a bit higher than average, it’s not a major concern for one of the best power-hitting prospects in the league.

The righty-hitting Mayo is tied for fourth in the International League in home runs. Among 83 hitters with 300+ plate appearances, he leads the league in slugging percentage. Mayo is 10th among that group in average and 25th in on-base percentage despite being one of the league’s youngest hitters.

Mayo ranks as the sport’s #12 prospect at Baseball America and FanGraphs. Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Mayo 18th on his recent update of the sport’s top 60 prospects. All three outlets have him as either the #2 or #3 player in the Baltimore system. He’s behind Jackson Holliday and alongside catcher Samuel Basallo at the top of an organization that is still loaded with high-end young talent.

BA and FanGraphs each credit Mayo with 70-grade power (plus-plus) on the 20-80 scouting scale. FanGraphs writes that Mayo could be susceptible to strikeouts early in his MLB career, but evaluators generally feel he shouldn’t have any problem getting to his impact power while drawing plenty of walks.

Mayo’s defense is more of a question. He has played exclusively on the corner infield in his minor league career. The vast majority of that experience has come at third base. Most scouting reports peg him as a fringe-average defender there despite excellent arm strength. FanGraphs’ report suggests Mayo may be best suited moving off the position to right field, but the O’s have not given him any outfield work in the minors.

He’ll break into the majors as a third baseman. Baltimore lost Jordan Westburg to a broken hand yesterday. The O’s have yet to provide a clear timeline on the All-Star’s return, yet he’s certainly in for a lengthy absence. Baltimore played Ramón Urías at the hot corner today. With Urías hitting a league average .244/.318/.381 in 195 plate appearances, they’ll turn to Mayo in the hope that the youngster provides above-average offense right out of the gate.

That’s no guarantee for any prospect, as Holliday’s struggles after his first big league call demonstrated early in the season. Yet there’s nothing more for Mayo to prove in the minors, as he now owns a .283/.380/.552 slash with 36 doubles and 32 homers in 602 career Triple-A plate appearances (the equivalent of one full season). Mayo would probably have gotten a look by now if he were in most other organizations. The O’s have such an impressive collection of infielders that they could afford to wait for him to comprehensively dominate minor league pitching.

Baltimore fans can dream on a future infield comprising Mayo, Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Westburg from right to left. For now, Mayo will stick at the hot corner with Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn continuing to share first base and designated hitter. Urías should kick into a utility role which could bump recent trade pickup Livan Soto to Norfolk.

Barring a herculean start to his MLB career that earns him a top two finish in Rookie of the Year balloting, Mayo will not get a full service year this season. The O’s control him through at least the 2030 campaign; he won’t reach arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason. If Baltimore options him back to the minors at any point, that could delay his path to arbitration and free agency.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Marlins Claim Cristian Pache

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The Marlins have claimed outfielder Cristian Pache off waivers from the Orioles, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Baltimore designated him for assignment two days ago. Pache is out of minor league options, so he’ll go right onto the big league roster. Miami has multiple 40-man vacancies after their deadline sell-off, so only a corresponding 26-man roster move will be necessary when the team announces the claim.

Pache, 25, is a former top prospect whose bat has never come around at the big league level. He’s still a lights-out defender in center field and can give the Marlins a standout defender at a position that’s been a point of weakness on the roster for several years now. In 119 plate appearances between the Phillies and Orioles this season, Pache is hitting .210/.297/.276 with a 36.1% strikeout rate. Overall, he’s a lifetime .181/.244/.274 hitter in 546 big league plate appearances.

Even with that dearth of offensive value, Pache’s glove made it seem like a virtual lock he’d be claimed by another team when the O’s designated him for assignment this week. He can handle any of the three outfield spots but has spent the bulk of his career in center field, where he was lauded as a true 80-grade defender during his prospect days. Defensive metrics bear that out. He’s played 1338 innings in the field in his major league career and been credited with 12 Defensive Runs Saved and an even gaudier 16 Outs Above Average. Pache “only” sits in the 77th percentile of big leaguers in terms of sprint speed, but his jumps, reads, instincts and arm strength are all so strong that he nevertheless stands out as one of the sport’s premier defensive talents.

Pache entered the season with 2.031 years of big league service time, and since he’s spending the whole year in the majors — again, he cannot be optioned — he’ll finish with 3.031 years. That’ll make him arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and give Miami an additional three years of club control. He’s not going to hit for them, but the rebuilding Fish might simply be content to give him frequent playing time because of his defensive wizardry, knowing that if anything, the lack of offensive contributions is going to keep his price tag low during the arbitration process.

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