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Orioles Place Cionel Perez On 15-Day IL Due To Oblique Strain

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The Orioles have placed southpaw Cionel Perez on the 15-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  Right-hander Jonathan Heasley was called up from Triple-A to take Perez’s spot in the bullpen.

Perez faced only two batters during an appearance in yesterday’s 13-4 Orioles win over the Angels.  The lefty allowed a triple and a single before being removed with that was initially described as back discomfort, though the designation of an oblique strain creates more uncertainty about when Perez might be able to return.  Unless Perez has a very mild strain, oblique issues usually sideline players for at least 3-4 weeks, and often longer if the strains are of the Grade 2 category or higher.

Danny Coulombe and Keegan Akin are the other left-handed options in Baltimore’s pen, so the O’s should be able to manage the balance until Perez is able to return.  Coulombe is ticketed for more higher-leverage work in general, leaving Akin as the current top choice for perhaps more specialized work against left-handed batters.  Nick Vespi and Matt Krook are both on the 40-man roster and could be recalled if the Orioles feel more southpaw depth is required.

After posting a 6.04 ERA over his first 50 2/3 innings in the majors, Perez unexpected broke out after joining the O’s in 2022.  The lefty delivered a 1.40 ERA over 57 2/3 frames that season, even if his 3.48 SIERA was perhaps a better reflection of his overall performance.  Some regression hit in the form of a 3.54 ERA in 53 1/3 innings for Perez in 2023, and both his strikeout and walk rates were rather unimpressive.

Perez is a grounder specialist (54.7% career groundball rate) who has held left-handed batters to a .207/.305/.304 slash line during his time in the majors.  Perez has seemingly erased the home run problems that plagued him earlier in his career, as he has allowed just four homers over 111 innings with the Orioles.  He avoided arbitration with the club this winter by agreeing to a $1.2MM salary for 2024, and the O’s also hold a $2.2MM club option on his services for 2025.

Orioles Designate Tyler Nevin, Ryan McKenna For Assignment

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The Orioles set their Opening Day roster today and made a few roster moves, including designating outfielder Ryan McKenna and infielder Tyler Nevin for assignment. The 40-man roster count drops to 38.

Nevin, 27 in May, came to the O’s from the Tigers via a cash deal in January. He has been a solid multi-positional player in the minors but has struggled to hit against major league pitching. He has hit .315/.394/.522 at Triple-A over the past two years for a wRC+ of 134. But in 313 major league plate appearances in his career thus far, he has a lesser line of .203/.310/.301.

He came into spring and performed well, hitting .333 /.367/.474, but got squeezed out of a bench job when the O’s recently signed Tony Kemp. Since he’s out of options and there was no room for him on the active roster, he had to be removed from the 40-man entirely.

The O’s will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers, but it seems fair to expect some interest from other clubs. Despite being out of options, he has a strong minor league track record and was just hitting well in the spring. He’s capable of playing any of the four corner spots, which could help him find a landing spot somewhere. He also comes with five years of control remaining since he has just over a year of service time.

McKenna, 27, has been serving as a part-time outfielder for the Orioles over the past three years. He’s played in 284 games from 2021 to the present, having hit .221/.299/.318 in his 504 plate appearances, striking out in 33.3% of them. He’s considered a strong defender and has stolen eight bases in nine tries.

He’s also out of options and got squeezed off the roster, meaning the O’s will have a week to find a trading partner or pass him through waivers. He reached arbitration for the first time this winter as a Super Two player and agreed to a salary of $800K, slightly above the $740K league minimum.

MLB Owners Approve Sale Of Orioles To Group Led By David Rubenstein

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March 27: As expected, the Angelos family’s sale of the Orioles to Rubenstein’s group has been approved by the league’s other owners, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced in a press release. The approval was unanimous.

“I congratulate David Rubenstein on receiving approval from the Major League Clubs as the new control person of the Orioles,” Manfred said in a statement within today’s release. “As a Baltimore native and a lifelong fan of the team, David is uniquely suited to lead the Orioles moving forward. We welcome David and his partners as the new stewards of the franchise.”

The Orioles will hold a press conference to discuss the sale tomorrow morning at 11am ET.

March 25: Major League Baseball’s other 29 owners will vote on the sale of the Orioles from the Angelos family to a purchasing group led by billionaire David Rubenstein on Wednesday, Britt Ghiroli and Evan Drellich of The Athletic report.

Back in late January, John Angelos agreed to sell the controlling stake in the Orioles — and related assets, including the team’s stake in the MASN network — to Rubenstein’s group for $1.725 billion (a figure announced by the team at the time of the agreement). That sale is still pending majority approval from the league’s 29 other owners, though no pushback on the transition has been expected. Drellich and Ghiroli call the vote “a formality,” which generally aligns with prior reporting and expectations.

As reported back in January, Rubenstein’s group will initially be purchasing a 40% stake in the team — enough to cement him as the franchise’s new control person among other owners but not the entirety of the Angelos family’s stake. At the time the two parties negotiated the sale, it was agreed that the remainder of the Angelos family’s share in the team would be transferred to Rubenstein’s group following the passing of family patriarch Peter Angelos, the former Orioles control person and majority owner who’d since taken a step back due to health concerns and ceded control of the club to his sons, John and Louis (in what became a contentious battle for control of the organization that eventually saw John emerge as control person). This contingent was designed to avoid substantial capital gains taxes for the Angelos family.

Peter Angelos passed away this past weekend at 94 years of age. That won’t accelerate the transfer of the Angelos family’s entire stake in the team to Rubenstein’s group. Drellich and Ghiroli report that Wednesday’s vote will only be on the originally agreed upon 40% stake for Rubenstein & Co.; they’ll eventually formally acquire the remainder of the Angelos family’s 70% stake in the club, but that transaction will not be completed by Opening Day.

Rubenstein, 74, is a Baltimore native and the co-founder of private equity firm the Carlyle Group. Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.7 billion. His ownership group also includes several notable investors, including Orioles icon Cal Ripken Jr., NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill, former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Ares Management co-founder Michael Arougheti, among others. Peter Angelos originally purchased the controlling stake in the Orioles for $173MM back in 1993.

MLBTR Podcast: A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Luis García Jr, Lance McCullers Jr, and Kendall Graveman of the Astros are likely out, at the very least, until mid-June.  How come none of these guys are on the 60-day injured list?  Do you seen the Astros moving them there and if so, when? (49:15)
  • Do you think it’s possible that the league begins to follow the Angels and Rangers footsteps and call up recent draft picks as soon as they show any signs of potential? Also, do you think it is at all possible that teams start to call up teenagers? (52:25)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Orioles Sign Tony Kemp, Designate Nick Maton

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The Orioles announced that they have signed infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp to a major league contract, with infielder/outfielder Nick Maton designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Kemp will make a salary of $1MM, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner, a bit north of this year’s $740K league minimum.

Kemp, 32, is coming off a decent stretch with the A’s over the past four years. His 11.7% strikeout rate was quite low and he drew walks at a solid 10.5% clip. He didn’t provide much thump when putting the bat on the ball, as he hit just 20 home run in his 1,488 plate appearances in that time. But his .240/.330/.345 batting line was still close to average, translating to a 97 wRC+.

Unfortunately, the most recent season of those four was the worst, as he hit just .209/.303/.304 in 2023. He settled for a minor league deal with the Reds this winter and had a nice spring, slashing .333/.391/.619, though in a tiny sample of 23 plate appearances. Despite that good form, he wasn’t going to make the roster of a Reds club that has a fairly crowded position player mix, so he returned to the open market. He had an opt-out on his minor league deal and he either triggered it or the Reds simply let him go to explore other opportunities.

The Orioles are also loaded with position player talent but will find a way to squeeze Kemp in somehow. They seem to have opted to get some of their talented youngsters more playing time at the Triple-A level, with guys like Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Kyle Stowers and Heston Kjerstad all being optioned or reassigned last week.

While those guys are getting regular playing time on the farm, Kemp will take on a multi-positional bench role with the major league club. He’s not really an option at shortstop, with just two career innings there, but he has plenty of experience at second base and left field.

Kemp has fairly neutral platoon splits in his career, 100 wRC+ versus lefties and 93 against righties, but Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg are both right-handed. Since Urías and Westburg will likely be covering second and third base in some combination, Kemp can provide a lefty-swinging complement. Left fielder Austin Hays and first baseman/designated hitter Ryan Mountcastle are also right-handed, which perhaps provides another path for Kemp to factor into the club’s plans.

He also had double-digit stolen bases in each of the past two years, which could allow him to serve as a pinch-runner at times. His left field defense has been considered around league average though the metrics are split on his work at the keystone, with seven Outs Above Average but -17 Defensive Runs Saved.

The O’s were seemingly deciding between Tyler Nevin and Nick Maton for a bench/utility role, as both are out of options and were acquired from the Tigers in separate cash deals this offseason. Nevin hit .333/.367/.474 this spring while Maton hit just .000/.207/.000.

That poor performance has seemingly cost Maton his roster spot. The O’s will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers. He has struggled in the majors, with a .208/.306/.361 batting line thus far, but he’s naturally been better in the minors. He’s hit .274/.383/.440 on the farm over the past two years for a 118 wRC+ while spending time at all four infield positions and the outfield corners.

That could lead to him finding some interest from other clubs, but since he’s out of options and the season is about to begin, he might get squeezed by the fact that many clubs are making tough roster cuts right now. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the O’s as non-roster depth.

What remains to be seen is exactly how Baltimore will structure its bench before Opening Day. James McCann will have one spot as a backup catcher, with Kemp and Jorge Mateo serving as infield/outfield pieces. That leaves just one spot for Nevin or Colton Cowser, the latter of whom is still optionable.

Orioles Release Kolten Wong

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March 24: The Orioles announced this morning that they’ve granted Wong his release. The infielder is now free to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

March 22: Infielder Kolten Wong informed members of the Oriole beat that he is triggering his opt-out, giving the club 48 hours to decide whether to add him to the roster or release him. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the news. Wong is one of 31 veterans on minor league deals with automatic opt-outs at various dates, one of which is today.

Wong, 33, has long been a solid second baseman in the majors but is coming off an awful season. He hit just .165/.241/.227 for the Mariners and got released in August. He latched on with the Dodgers and finished well, line of .300/.353/.500, but in a small sample of just 34 plate appearances. Since he had taken 216 trips to the plate with Seattle, he still finished the year with a poor combined line of .183/.256/.263.

But the O’s took a shot on a minor league deal, a low-risk flier to see if he could bounceback to his previous form. From 2014 to 2022, he hit .263/.336/.401 for a wRC+ of 102. He also racked up 52 Defensive Runs Saved in his career, though Outs Above Average has considered him to be closer to par.

Here in the spring, he’s hit just .185/.290/.296. That’s obviously not impressive production but he might be able to carve out a bench role regardless. Infielders Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo were reassigned today, meaning they will open the season getting regular reps in the minor leagues. That will push Ramón Urías into a regular infield role alongside Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.

Jorge Mateo will be present on the bench but it’s possible the club may want a little extra covering on the infield since Mateo has also been playing some outfield lately. But infielders Tyler Nevin and Nick Maton are both on the 40-man roster and each is out of options. Maton is having a rough spring but Nevin is hitting .346/.382/.500.

If Wong doesn’t get a spot with the O’s or elsewhere, he doesn’t seem to have a lot of enthusiasm about signing another minor league deal. “I’ve got 10 years in this already,” Wong said, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. “I don’t plan on going down to the minor leagues after this. Whatever happens, happens.”

Orioles Owner Peter Angelos Passes Away

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Peter Angelos passed away today at age 94, as per an official statement from the Orioles and the Angelos family.  Angelos had been battling illness for the last few years and had left the public eye, and his son John took over as the Orioles’ chairman and control person in regards to official league business in 2020.

A Baltimore native, Angelos built his fortune through a renowned legal career, most notably a landmark consolidated action case in 1992 representing thousands of workers in various fields who had been exposed to asbestos over the course of their jobs.  Angelos led a group of investors that purchased the Orioles in 1993 for $173MM, and quickly established himself as something of a maverick within baseball’s ownership circles during the 1994-95 players’ strike.  Though the strike was settled before replacement players took the field for the 1995 season, Angelos’ refusal to use such players (who he viewed as scabs) drew some animosity from his fellow owners and respect from the MLBPA.

On the field, the Orioles went through plenty of ups and downs during Angelos’ tenure as owner.  There was little doubt about Angelos’ desire to win, as he immediately increased the team’s payroll and brought several big-name free agents into the fold, helping Baltimore reach the ALCS in both 1996 and 1997.  After that last ALCS appearance, however, the Orioles didn’t have another winning season until 2012, as Angelos was often accused of taking a heavy hand in baseball operations.  This manifested itself in a revolving door of managers and general managers, until things began to stabilize under Buck Showalter and executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette.  The Orioles had five seasons of .500 or better ball from 2012-16, including three postseason appearances and another trip to the ALCS in 2014.

The Orioles’ payrolls tended to fluctuate based on the team’s competitive level, and Baltimore ranked within the top ten of league spending as recently as the 2017 season.  Angelos had particular concerns about certain types of baseball-related investments, perhaps most notably a wariness about any kind of long-term guarantee to pitchers (especially pitchers with any sort of injury history).  Angelos was also famously critical of baseball’s international signing system, which resulted in the Orioles essentially sitting out for the international amateur market for several years.

John Angelos’ stewardship of the team brought about some changes to the Orioles’ business, as GM Mike Elias was given broad leeway to modernize and revamp the baseball operations department as part of a near-total rebuild.  The O’s posted losing records from 2017-21 (the latter three under Elias) before winning 83 games in 2022, and then bursting out to win 101 games and the AL East crown last season.  With an incredible core of young talent in place, the Orioles now look like World Series contenders both this season and perhaps for many years to come.

This new era of Orioles baseball will take place somewhat outside of the Angelos family, as it was announced in February that the team had been sold for $1.725 billion to a new ownership group led by David Rubenstein.  (John Angelos is still an investor in the Orioles.). The news of the sale followed years of speculation and drama about the future of the franchise, as legal and personal issues within the Angelos family and the Orioles’ expiring lease at Camden Yards in 2023 led to some concerns that the O’s could be sold or moved to another city.  As it turned out, the Orioles arranged a new lease to remain at Camden Yards for at least the next 15 years, and Rubenstein’s full purchase of the organization is expected to be approved by the league within a few weeks’ time.  Rubenstein was initially slated to take over 40 percent of the team, but now will take full ownership of the club as a result of the elder Angelos’ passing.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Angelos’ family, friends, and loved ones.

AL East Notes: Holliday, Gil, Red Sox

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The Orioles shocked the baseball world yesterday by reassigning top prospect Jackson Holliday to minor league camp, effectively ending his bid to make the Opening Day roster. The consensus #1 prospect in the entire sport, Holliday has taken the minors by storm since being selected first overall in the 2022 draft. After hitting .297/.489/.422 in 20 games down the stretch the year he was drafted between rookie ball and Single-A, Holliday tore through the minors in 2023 to advance all the way to the Triple-A level before the end of his first full season as a pro. In 125 games last year, Holliday slashed .323/.442/.499, including a strong .338/.421/.507 showing in 36 games at the Double-A level. The youngster continued to tear the cover off the ball this spring as well, slashing .311/.354/.600 across 15 games during camp.

GM Mike Elias today explained the club’s decision to start Holliday in the minor leagues after that incredible performance to reporters, including MASN’s Roch Kubatko. Among the reasons Elias listed for Holliday not breaking camp with the Orioles was his lack of experience against left-handed pitching. Holliday’s numbers against southpaws last year, while decent, were not at the same caliber as those he posted against right-handed pitching. While he crushed righties to a .331/.437/.551 slash line, his 124 trips to the plate against lefties last year saw him hit just .296/.387/.389. Elias also suggested that Holliday’s minimal experience at second base- where the club plans to play him in the majors- was another motivating factor behind Holliday’s demotion. The youngster has started primarily at shortstop throughout his professional career and has only 25 appearances at the keystone in 145 career minor league games.

Of course, those reasons for sending Holliday to the minors to open the year, however valid they may be, won’t outweigh the impact the move could have on Holliday’s future team control in the eyes of many. A player must be on the major league roster or injured list for at least 172 days of the 187-day season to earn a full year of service time. In other words, if Holliday spends at least 16 days in the minors this year, the Orioles could gain an additional year of team control over the up-and-coming star. Of course, if Holliday were to finish in the top two of AL Rookie of the Year voting this year, he would still be granted a full year of service time even if he spends less than 172 days in the majors this year. It’s also possible the club could reverse course in the early days of the season and call Holliday up in time for him to receive a full service year, in which case the club would receive a draft pick in the event that Holliday wins Rookie of the Year this season or finishes in the top 3 of AL MVP voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.

More from the AL East…

  • The Yankees are “seriously considering” right-hander Luis Gil as their fifth starter to open the season, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman adds that Gil wouldn’t have any innings restrictions in such a scenario despite having 29 2/3 innings of work across the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and the subsequent rehab. With ace Gerrit Cole set to miss the early months of the season due to nerve inflammation in his elbow, the Yankees will need an additional starter to pair with Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt in the rotation. Barring an external addition, Sherman indicates that the fifth spot in the rotation is likely to come down to either Gil or Will Warren, a 24-year-old righty who posted a 3.35 ERA in 129 innings between the Double- and Triple-A levels last year. Gil is the more experienced hurler of the two, with 33 1/3 innings in the majors under his belt. Those seven starts in the big leagues came during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and saw Gil pitch to a solid 3.78 ERA with a 4.12 FIP.  [UPDATE: Gil has indeed won the fifth starter’s job, Boone told the New York Post’s Greg Joyce and other reporters today.]
  • Center field prospect Ceddanne Rafaela will break camp with the Red Sox to open the season, Alex Cora told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) this afternoon. Rafaela has appeared likely to make the club in the aftermath of injuries suffered by both second baseman Vaughn Grissom and outfielder Rob Refsnyder this spring. The 23-year-old has experience both on the infield dirt and in the outfield, though he figures to see the bulk of his playing time in center field as part of an outfield mix that also contains Tyler O’Neill, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida. Rafaela made his big league debut last season with a 28-game cup of coffee that saw him hit just .241/.281/.386 in 89 plate appearances, though he slashed a far more impressive .312/.370/.618 in 60 games at the Triple-A level last year.
  • Sticking with the Red Sox, veteran catcher Roberto Perez won’t be opting out of his minor league deal with the club according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Perez, 35, has spent the majority of his career in Cleveland and is regarded as one of the finest defensive catchers in the game, though he’s slashed just .169/.268/.288 since the start of the 2020 season and was limited to just 5 games in the majors last year before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. Should the club stick with its current catching tandem of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, that would leave Perez likely ticketed for Triple-A to open the season, where he’d serve as an excellent non-roster depth option for the Red Sox in the early part of the season. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Perez will have additional opportunities to opt-out of his deal with the club on May 1 and June 1 should he decide to test the open market later this season.

Julio Teheran Opts Out Of Deal With Orioles

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March 23: Teheran has exercised his opt-out clause, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He now figures to return to free agency where he’ll hunt for a new deal that offers him a better chance of receiving playing time in the big leagues.

March 22: Veteran righty Julio Teheran intends to trigger an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Orioles if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, reports Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link). The O’s will need to decide in the next few days whether to give him an MLB spot or let him retest free agency. His contract would come with a $2MM base salary if he makes the team.

Baltimore signed Teheran a little less than one month ago. He has started three of four appearances in camp, allowing five runs with a 7:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 9 1/3 innings. There’s not a whole lot to be gleaned from that small sample, although it hasn’t been a resoundingly strong performance.

If Teheran were to make the team, it’d very likely come in a long relief role. O’s manager Brandon Hyde confirmed yesterday that they’ll open the season with a rotation of Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin (link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). Righty Kyle Bradish and southpaw John Means are each starting the year on the injured list. GM Mike Elias told reporters this afternoon that both pitchers are expected to contribute early in the first half of the upcoming season (X link via MLB.com’s Jake Rill).

The O’s don’t have a ton of flexibility to accommodate a long reliever. Craig Kimbrel, Danny Coulombe, Yennier Cano, Jacob Webb, Cionel Pérez and Dillon Tate should all have bullpen spots secure. Mike Baumann is out of options and has tossed 5 2/3 scoreless frames with six strikeouts this spring. It’d be a surprise if the O’s risked losing him on waivers. That would leave only one spot available. Lefty Keegan Akin still has an option remaining, but he has outpitched Teheran in camp, fanning 10 without allowing a run over 7 1/3 innings.

Teheran worked mostly as a starter a season ago. He opened 11 of 14 appearances as a member of the Brewers. Teheran allowed 4.40 earned runs per nine across 71 2/3 innings. He struck out a below-average 17.4% of opponents while keeping his walks to a pristine 4.5% clip.

Orioles Reassign Jackson Holliday, Option Heston Kjerstad And Kyle Stowers

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The Orioles announced that they have optioned outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers while catcher David Bañuelos, infielders Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo, infielder/outfielder Connor Norby and right-hander Albert Suárez have been reassigned to minor league camp.

Holliday not making the club registers as a surprise, despite his youth. He just turned 20 in December but has seemed to be on a beeline for the majors. Last year, he went through Single-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A, succeeding at every stop. He came into this year as the consensus top prospect in the league and was invited to big league camp. He could hardly have done much more to earn a spot, as he slashed .311/.354/.600 here in the spring, but it seems that wasn’t enough for the Orioles to add him to their major league roster.

Instead, he’ll go to Triple-A and await his debut. The move could have repercussions for his path to free agency and arbitration, depending on how long it takes him to get the call. A major league season lasts 187 days but it takes 172 for a player to earn a full year of service time. That means Holliday could still get to the one-year mark if he’s called up in the first couple of weeks of the season, though the O’s may be motivated to not let that happen. If he can’t get to one year in 2024, then he won’t be on track to get to six years and free agency by the end of 2029.

The latest collective bargaining agreement contains measures to incentivize teams to add top prospects to their roster and discourage service time manipulation. A player can still earn a full year of service time, even if not called up early enough, if he finishes in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting. Additionally, teams that carry a prospect on the roster long enough to get a traditional full year of service time can net themselves an extra draft pick if the player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in the voting for Most Valuable Player or Cy Young during their pre-arbitration seasons. To qualify for these measures, a player has to be on at least two of the top 100 prospect lists at MLB.com, ESPN or Baseball America.

As mentioned, Holliday is the consensus number one prospect in the league and all of that is therefore in play. The Orioles already saw this play out in 2022 when Adley Rutschman was injured for the start of the year and was slated to come up shy of one year of service, but finished second in ROY voting and earned that full year anyway.

It seems neither the incentives nor the disincentives swayed the Orioles much and they will keep Holliday in the minors for now. That seemingly leaves Gunnar Henderson as the everyday shortstop while Jordan Westburg and Ramón Urías handle second and third base. That could perhaps leave a bench spot open for Kolten Wong, who triggered his opt-out today, giving the O’s 48 hours to decide about him.

It’s also somewhat surprising that Kjerstad and Stowers got sent down, but perhaps less so. The O’s have a full outfield consisting of Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays and Anthony Santander, with Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn sharing first base and the designated hitter spot. Colton Cowser is also around and should be in the mix.

Stowers has hit just .207/.267/.331 in the majors but has much better numbers in the minors and is having a great spring. He has seven homers in Grapefruit League play and a line of .256/.267/.744, but he’ll have to serve as depth for the time being. Kjerstad didn’t show as much this spring, hitting just .265/.294/.286, but he made a nice debut in the bigs late last year. Regardless, he will also have to wait for his next major league opportunity.

The Orioles figure to have one of the most talented Triple-A teams this year, at least to begin the season. As injuries crop up throughout the year, as they do for all clubs, they are the one best positioned to find suitable replacements waiting in the wings.

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