Cubs Notes: Boyd, Outfield, Shaw
Left-hander Matthew Boyd returned to the Cubs after his stint with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and was promptly named the team’s Opening Day starter by manager Craig Counsell. He’ll take the ball and be followed by Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga in some order. Righties Javier Assad and Ben Brown are potential 40-man alternatives, and veteran Colin Rea will open the season in a swingman role in the bullpen.
Boyd, who turned 35 last month, tossed a career-high 179 1/3 innings with the Cubs last season. He worked to a strong 3.21 ERA with a slightly below-average 21.4% strikeout rate but a terrific 5.8% walk rate. Boyd is entering the second season of a two-year, $29MM contract. He already unlocked $500K of incentives last year based on his workload, and he’ll be paid $14.5MM in 2026 with the opportunity to earn another $500K via incentives (reaching 120 innings). He’s also owed a $2MM buyout on a 2027 mutual option that won’t be picked up by both parties.
In other Cubs news, the team announced its latest wave of cuts this morning. Lefties Luke Little and Ryan Rolison were optioned to Triple-A, as was fleet-footed outfielder Justin Dean. The Cubs also reassigned a handful of non-roster players to minor league camp — Vince Velasquez most notable among them.
By sending Dean to Triple-A to begin the season, the Cubs made it quite likely that they’ll open the season with a current non-roster veteran holding a bench spot as a reserve outfielder. Former top prospect Kevin Alcántara remains in big league camp and is on the 40-man roster, but he has an option year left and is currently 4-for-21 with nine strikeouts in 23 official spring plate appearances. The team would presumably prefer him to be playing every day in Iowa rather than sitting on the bench and grabbing a start or two per week anyhow.
The most notable non-roster outfielders in camp are Dylan Carlson, Michael Conforto and Chas McCormick. Carlson has been the most productive of the bunch and offers the bonus of being a switch-hitter who can handle all three outfield spots. Conforto is a pure lefty who’s not an option in center field, though he has the most prominent major league track record of this group (albeit not in the past couple seasons). McCormick is a righty-hitting center fielder who can handle all three spots and has crushed lefties in the past (but struggled against all opponents in 2025).
One player who clearly seems ticketed for a heavily used role off the bench: former top prospect Matt Shaw. The 24-year-old hit just .226/.295/.394 as a rookie but did have a nice showing over the season’s final three months. The Cubs’ signing of Alex Bregman displaced Shaw from last year’s home at third base, and he’s now moving into more of a utility role.
We’ve already seen Shaw get some reps in the outfield and at second base, but The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma writes that he’s now working first base into his repertoire as well. Shaw tells Sharma that he worked out at first base for about three days before making his debut at the position there during yesterday’s Cactus League game.
Getting some work in at first base is all the more important in the event of Tyler Austin‘s knee surgery, which will keep him sidelined for several months. Austin returned from Japan’s NPB this year, signing a one-year deal with the Cubs to serve as a righty-swinging complement to Michael Busch at first base and the provide some pop off the bench.
That role is obviously on hold for the time being, and with no clear option to step up and take it — right-handed-hitting corner infield prospect Jonathon Long has been slowed in camp by an elbow issue — Austin’s injury could create some additional at-bats for Shaw in the early portion of the season. Busch batted .207/.274/.368 against lefties last season and is a career .230/.295/.356 hitter in left-on-left settings. Shaw hit .250/.318/.490 versus left-handers last year and finished as a Gold Glove finalist at the hot corner, so he should have the athleticism and defensive acumen to handle a multi-position role.
Cubs’ Tyler Austin Out “Months” Following Knee Surgery
First baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin recently underwent a debridement procedure on the patellar tendon in his right knee, which will leave him sidelined for “months,” Cubs skipper Craig Counsell announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). That suggests he’ll be a 60-day IL candidate the next time Chicago needs a 40-man roster spot.
Austin, 34, has spent the past six seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He originally signed in NPB after spending parts of four big league seasons with the Yankees, Twins, Giants and Brewers, during which he posted a .219/.292/.451 slash with 33 homers in 583 turns at the plate.
While Austin showed plenty of power over his relatively limited MLB tenure, he was far too prone to strikeouts, fanning in a grisly 36.9% of his career plate appearances in the majors. He’s radically cut down on his strikeouts in Japan and has been especially productive the past two seasons, combining for a .299/.370/.559 slash with a 10.3% walk rate against a 19.2% strikeout rate.
Clearly, Austin is not facing as strong of competition in NPB as he would in MLB, but it’s still a notably more encouraging strikeout rate. Even it can be reasonably expected to climb several points back in North American ball, it’s unlikely to practically double; Austin seems to have made some clear gains in terms of contact and pitch selection.
For now, the well-traveled veteran’s MLB comeback will be on hold. The Cubs signed him to a one-year, $1.25MM contract over the winter, putting him on the 40-man roster in the process. The hope was that he could spell Michael Busch against tough lefties after Busch hit just .207/.274/.368 in left-on-left matchups this past season (and .230/.295/.366 in his career). Austin also has plenty of corner outfield experience and could’ve made occasional appearances there or at designated hitter versus southpaws.
Perhaps that role will still be waiting for him when he’s sufficiently rehabbed this knee injury, but a firm timetable is tougher to ascertain. In the meantime, non-roster invitees like Chas McCormick, Dylan Carlson and Michael Conforto now stand a better chance of breaking camp with the club.
Counsell also revealed that lefty Jordan Wicks has been slowed by forearm inflammation, but the team has already ordered an MRI which did not show structural damage to the southpaw’s ulnar collateral ligament. It’s unclear when he’ll get into games.
The 26-year-old Wicks is a former first-round pick and top prospect but has been pushed way down the depth chart for the Cubs, who’ll open the season with Edward Cabrera, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga in the rotation. Righty Colin Rea is back to hold down a swing role and could get the first crack at spot starts as needed. The Cubs also have Javier Assad and Ben Brown on the active roster, while ace Justin Steele should be back from last year’s UCL repair at some point in the season’s first few months, barring setbacks.
Wicks is somewhere around eighth or ninth on the rotation depth chart at the moment. He pitched only out of the bullpen in the majors last year (8 1/3 innings), and that role might give him a better crack at eventually carving out some staying power on the big league roster. He’s pitched 95 big league innings across the past three seasons and owns a lackluster 5.21 earned run average with a sub-par 18.5% strikeout rate but solid walk and ground-ball rates of 7.5% and 43%, respectively. He notched a 3.55 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate in 71 Triple-A frames last year (16 starts, four relief appearances).
Cubs, Dylan Carlson Agree To Minor League Deal
January 27th: Carlson will make $2MM if he cracks the majors, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, with another $1MM available via incentives.
January 26th: The Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent outfielder Dylan Carlson, as first reported by Greg Zumach. The ALIGND Sports client receives a non-roster invitation to major league spring training, where he’ll compete for a bench job.
Carlson is the second veteran outfielder to sign a minor league deal with the Cubs in the past week. Former Astros outfielder Chas McCormick also received an NRI from Chicago and will be in the mix for a bench spot.
The 27-year-old Carlson was the No. 33 overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Cubs’ archrivals in St. Louis. He ranked as one of the ten best prospects in the sport prior to his big league debut and had a nice showing in his first full season back in 2021 (.266/.343/.437, 18 homers) but has seen his bat stall out since. Carlson was a league-average hitter in 2022, but in three subsequent big league seasons has mustered only a .210/.294/.314 batting line in 761 trips to the plate between the Cardinals, Rays and Orioles. He’s dealt with shoulder, ankle, hamstring, thumb and wrist injuries along the way. The ankle injury, suffered in 2023, required season-ending surgery.
Carlson, a switch-hitter, had an uncharacteristically poor showing against left-handed pitching last year, but that came in a small sample with Baltimore. He’s been good against lefties throughout his career, hitting them at a .274/.347/.410 clip in 566 plate appearances. His left-handed swing and approach haven’t been nearly as refined; in 1421 turns at the plate versus right-handed pitching, he’s a .217/.298/.356 hitter.
The versatile Carlson can handle any of the three outfield spots, though his defensive grades in center field have slipped in small samples over the past couple seasons. Statcast graded his sprint speed comfortably above average earlier in his career, but Carlson was closer to the mean in 2025, sitting in the 56th percentile of big leaguers in that regard. He typically shows plus arm strength, based on the velocity of his throws from the outfield, but was closer to average in that regard this past season as well.
Carlson may not have developed into the star the Cardinals hoped, or even a quality regular, but if he can get back on track against left-handed pitching and play solid defense across the three outfield spots, he’s a fine fourth outfielder. Chicago’s outfield is set with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki lining up from left to right, but Crow-Armstrong hit only .188/.217/.376 against lefties this past season.
If the Cubs want to give Crow-Armstrong some breaks against tough southpaws or even move to more of a platoon system, Carlson’s skill set could lend itself well to a complementary role, though the same could be said for fellow NRI McCormick. Waiver claim Justin Dean and prospect Kevin Alcantara are both on the 40-man roster as well. Both hit from the right side of the plate and can handle all three outfield spots.
Orioles Announce Several Roster Moves
The Orioles announced a series of roster tweaks on Thursday. Baltimore has selected right-hander Anthony Nunez to their 40-man roster. Right-hander Shawn Dubin and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Daniel Johnson have been outrighted off the roster. Left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Baltimore claimed outfielder Pedro Leon off waivers from the Astros, while left-hander Jose Castillo was claimed by the Mets.
The team also exercised its club option on right-hander Andrew Kittredge, whom they acquired from the Cubs earlier this week. The Orioles declined their club option on utilityman Jorge Mateo, who is now a free agent. They also announced the signing of outfielder Leody Taveras, a deal that had been reported yesterday. The litany of moves brought Baltimore’s 40-man roster to 40 players.
Nunez came over at the trade deadline in the Cedric Mullins deal, along with fellow pitching prospects Raimon Gómez and Chandler Marsh. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a shortstop by San Diego in 2019. After a pair of uninspiring seasons at the lowest rungs of the minors, he converted to pitching. The Mets signed Nunez in 2024. He tossed 10 innings between the Complex league and Single-A that season. High-A hitters were no match for Nunez in 2025, as he dominated with a 0.63 ERA and a 46.2% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings. Nunez moved to Double-A in May and continued to pitch well, recording a 2.10 ERA over 22 outings. After the trade, he pitched a game for Double-A Chesapeake before heading to Triple-A. Nunez held hitters to a .125 batting average while striking them out at a 32.3% clip over 16 games with Norfolk.
Carlson and Johnson cleared waivers and elected free agency. Dubin also made it through waivers and is a minor league free agent. Carlson is the biggest name of the bunch, but it’s been a while since his days as a top prospect for the Cardinals. Since a strong 2021 campaign with St. Louis, he’s steadily declined at the plate. The 27-year-old bottomed out with a 67 wRC+ over 96 games split between the Cardinals and Rays in 2024. Baltimore took a flyer on him, but he scuffled to a .203/.278/.336 slash line across 241 plate appearances. He’ll now be looking for his fourth team in three seasons.
Johnson has spent parts of four MLB seasons with three teams. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers from San Francisco in August. He went 5-for-24 in 17 games with the Orioles. Dubin was also an August waiver claim, coming over from the Astros. He threw eight innings with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.38 ERA.
Walker has bounced around plenty over the last year and a half. The Mets traded him to the Pirates midway through 2024. He signed with Toronto as a minor league free agent last offseason. The Blue Jays traded him to the Phillies at the end of May. After Philadelphia designated him for assignment in August, the Orioles claimed him off waivers. Walker has a 6.59 ERA across 26 big-league appearances over the past three seasons.
Ragsdale and Castillo are no strangers to waiver claims, including moves that involved each other. Baltimore claimed Ragsdale from San Francisco in August, only to toss him back on the waiver pile when they grabbed Castillo. The Orioles claimed Ragsdale again in September, this time from the Braves.
Houston signed Leon in 2021. He reached Triple-A that same season. Leon slashed .299/.372/.514 with Sugar Land in 2024, leading to a brief call-up. He recorded a pair of hits over seven games with the Astros before heading back to Triple-A. An MCL sprain cost Leon the majority of the 2025 campaign. He played just 25 games this past season.
Orioles Select Jacob Stallings, Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have placed catcher Chadwick Tromp on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain. Fellow backstop Jacob Stallings has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Stallings, infielder Emmanuel Rivera has been designated for assignment. Outfielder Dylan Carlson has been recalled to take Rivera’s active roster spot. The O’s also announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler, who was recently designated for assignment, has rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency.
Baltimore has been hit with a barrage of catcher injuries in recent weeks. Adley Rutschman went to the injured list with an oblique strain in the middle of June. A few days later, Maverick Handley landed on the concussion-related IL. Those injuries got Tromp to the big leagues but now he himself has landed on the shelf.
At the same time Tromp was getting called up, the O’s signed Stallings for some experienced catching depth. The 35-year-old had just been released by the Rockies after getting out to an awful start this year, hitting .143/.217/.179. But he has a solid reputation for his glovework and veteran leadership behind the plate. His offense was also better as recently as last year, when he slashed .263/.357/.453.
His solid performance in 2024 prompted the Rockies to re-sign him to a one-year deal with a $2.5MM guarantee. But now that they’ve released him, they are on the hook for the majority of that money. The O’s will only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum salary for any time he spends on the roster. He should serve as backup to Gary Sánchez, at least until Rutschman or the other backstops are able to come off the IL.
Rivera, 29, was just added to the roster a few days ago. That move was seemingly prompted by Jordan Westburg dealing with a finger injury. Westburg has missed the past three games and is out of the lineup again today, but presumably the finger has healed up enough that he could be back in there soon, which has allowed them to sacrifice some infield depth in order to address their catching situation.
This is the third time Rivera has been designated for assignment by the Orioles. In each case, he has gone unclaimed on waivers and accepted an outright assignment. He has between three and five years of service time, meaning he has the right to elect free agency when outrighted but has to forfeit his remaining salary in order to exercise that right. He is making $1MM this year, making it understandable that he keeps accepting. It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out in the coming days.
Tyler, 28, never pitched for the Orioles at the big league level. He was claimed off waivers from the Phillies a couple of weeks ago but kept on optional assignment. Since he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency and has done so.
His major league experience consists of 48 innings thrown across three separate seasons with a 4.31 earned run average, 15.9% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate. From 2021 to 2025, he tossed 397 minor league innings with a 4.65 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and grounders on almost half the balls in play he allowed.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Orioles Select Emmanuel Rivera, Designate Kyle Tyler
The Orioles announced a trio of roster moves, including the selection of Emmanuel Rivera‘s contract from Triple-A Norfolk. To make room on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, outfielder Dylan Carlson was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Kyle Tyler was designated for assignment.
Rivera’s arrival seems like a direct response to Jordan Westburg‘s finger injury, which forced him to make an early exit from yesterday’s game. Westburg jammed his left index finger during a stolen base attempt last weekend and missed three games in recovery, though his attempt to return to action was short-lived. Interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including the Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer) that Westburg may again miss a “couple of days” but the injured list isn’t a consideration.
If Westburg is able to return in short order, Rivera will at least get to celebrate his birthday with his Orioles teammates, as the infielder turns 29 tomorrow. Rivera is no stranger to roster shuffles, as he is out of minor league options and has been designated for assignment four times since the start of the 2024 season — once apiece by the Diamondbacks and Marlins in 2024, and twice this year by the Orioles. The first two of those DFAs saw Rivera change teams via trade and then claim, whereas this year, the O’s have twice outrighted Rivera to Triple-A after he cleared waivers.
Rivera has hit .232/.303/.275 over 76 plate appearances with Baltimore this season, which is a step back even from his modest .243/.306/.363 career slash line in 1118 PA and 365 MLB games. Rivera has primarily played third base over his five big league seasons, so he can provide some depth at the hot corner while Westburg is sidelined.
Tyler is another veteran of the DFA process, as a whirlwind stretch of transactions in March-April 2022 saw Tyler join four different teams on waiver claims. The Phillies also claimed Tyler away from the Marlins in August 2024, and the Orioles claimed him from Philadelphia less than two weeks ago after the right-hander was designated yet again.
Tyler has a 4.31 ERA over 48 career innings in the majors but he has yet to see any big league work this year. With a 4.19 ERA over 66 2/3 combined innings with the Phillies’ and Orioles’ Triple-A affiliates, Tyler might well find himself on the move again to another team in need of some rotation or long relief depth.
Orioles Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day IL, Designate Kyle Gibson
The Orioles have placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder impingement, and designated right-hander Kyle Gibson for assignment. Outfielder Dylan Carlson and right-hander Kade Strowd were called up from Triple-A in the corresponding roster moves.
After signing a three-year, $49.5MM free agent deal this past winter, the early days of O’Neill’s tenure in Baltimore have been marked by injuries and a subpar performance at the plate. This is already his second IL trip, as he previously missed a couple of weeks due to neck soreness in late April and early May. It is fair to wonder if these health issues have led to O’Neill’s modest .188/.280/.325 slash line and two home runs over 93 plate appearances, as O’Neill just hasn’t looked like himself this year.
Being hampered by injuries has been a frequent subplot of O’Neill’s eight-year MLB career, as the outfielder has only twice topped the 100-game mark in a season. One of those comparatively healthier seasons came with the Red Sox in 2024, as O’Neill made 473 PA over 113 games and hit .241/.336/.511 with 31 home runs. O’Neill hit the IL on three separate occasions but with a minimal amount of missed time, which allowed O’Neill plenty of opportunity to mash at Fenway Park.
The O’s were impressed enough to bring O’Neill aboard in what was the most expensive signing of Baltimore’s offseason, yet like so many other moves in what is becoming a Murphy’s Law year for the Orioles, O’Neill has yet to deliver much at the plate. Given how much criticism was directed at the front office and at ownership for not spending over the winter, the struggles of one of the players who did receive a healthy contract has only added to the discord of the Orioles’ 15-29 start.
Gibson was another offseason signing, though he joined the O’s just a week before Opening Day on a one-year, $5.25MM contract. The Cardinals declined their $12MM club option on Gibson’s services for the 2025 season, sending the veteran starter into the open market for what ended up being an extended stay. Since he didn’t have a proper Spring Training, Gibson agreed to begin the season in the minors so he could ramp up, but it seems like the right-hander is still showing plenty of rust.
Called up to the Orioles’ roster in late April, Gibson has been tagged for a 16.78 ERA over four starts and 12 1/3 innings. The ugly numbers include six runs allowed in just two-thirds of an inning in yesterday’s start, which ended up as a 10-6 Orioles loss to the Nationals.
Gibson was blunt about his lack of performance when speaking with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other media yesterday, saying “four times taking the mound feeling like you haven’t given the team a chance to win each time is a pretty big gut punch. Feeling like you’re part of getting a manager fired is a gut punch. Just not going out there and being able to compete and give the team a chance to win every five days is frustrating. So yeah, I don’t know if any of you guys have ever felt the feeling of essentially letting down your co-workers, but it’s a gut punch.”
The DFA doesn’t necessarily mean that Gibson’s time in Baltimore is over. Since there is no chance another team will claim the right-hander (and assume the rest of his salary) off waivers, Gibson could accept an outright assignment to Triple-A to give himself more time to get on track. Gibson also has more than enough MLB service time to decline an outright assignment, which would allow him to retain his salary and re-enter free agency again.
Strowd is now back with the Orioles for the second time within the last month, though the right-hander has yet to officially make his Major League debut with an in-game appearance. A 12th-round pick for Baltimore in the 2019 draft, Strowd’s minor league numbers aren’t great, as he has only a 6.99 ERA over 56 2/3 career frames at the Triple-A level. That performance does come with a 31.02% strikeout rate and grounder rates that frequently top the 50% mark, but also a 12.41% walk rate.
Despite the rough bottom-line results, the Orioles were intrigued enough by Strowd’s ability to miss bats to add him to the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. This latest call-up should at least allow the righty to get a big league appearance on his resume, and given Baltimore’s pitching needs, there’s plenty of opportunity for Strowd to stick if he pitches decently well during however long he remains on the roster.
Orioles Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day Injured List
The Orioles announced that outfielder Tyler O’Neill has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to neck inflammation. The placement is retroactive to April 24. Outfielder Dylan Carlson was called up from Triple-A to take O’Neill’s place on the 26-man roster.
O’Neill didn’t play in Baltimore’s game on Thursday and presumably wouldn’t have played yesterday either, had the Orioles’ game with the Tigers not been rained out. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun) that the IL placement was meant “to get [O’Neill] right” and completely over his neck soreness, though the outfielder isn’t expected to miss more than the minimum 10 days.
Signed to a three-year, $49.5MM guarantee in December, O’Neill was the biggest acquisition of the Orioles’ offseason, though the deal could end up being a one-year, $16.5MM pact if O’Neill triggers an opt-out clause at season’s end. After hitting his customary Opening Day home run, O’Neill has yet to really get rolling this season, as he has hit only two homers in total while batting .215/.284/.385 in 74 plate appearances. The outfielder’s walk and hard-contact rates are down, and he has continued his high-strikeout ways with a 28.4% strikeout rate.
O’Neill’s .337 xwOBA is much higher than his .293 wOBA, so there is at least some evidence that he has just been somewhat unlucky in the season’s first month. His IL stint might well act as an unofficial reset point for O’Neill’s 2025 season and Orioles tenure, once his neck heals up.
Colton Cowser Out At Least Six To Eight Weeks With Broken Thumb
10:34am: Manager Brandon Hyde told the O’s beat this morning that Cowser will miss six to eight weeks at minimum (via Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner).
9:00am: The Orioles announced Monday that outfielder Colton Cowser has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a fractured left thumb. A timetable for his return was not specified. Cowser suffered the injury last night while sliding into first base on a close play; he was ruled out (video link). Fellow outfielder Dylan Carlson has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in Cowser’s place.
It’s a sour start to the season for Cowser, last year’s runner-up in American League Rookie of the Year voting. He’s posted just a .125/.222/.313 slash through his first 18 plate appearances and will now be looking at an absence of some note while his hand mends.
Cowser enjoyed a monster spring, tallying 52 plate appearances with a .364/.462/.568 batting line, two homers and three doubles. The former No. 5 overall pick out of Sam Houston hit .242/.321/.447 with 24 homers, 24 doubles, three triples, nine steals, a 9.3% walk rate, a 30.7% strikeout rate and plus defense across all three outfield spots last year.
In Cowser’s place, the O’s will turn to Carlson, whom they signed over the winter on a one-year, $975K deal. Like Cowser, Carlson is a former top pick (No. 33 overall by the Cardinals in 2016) and top prospect. Things never fully panned out for the switch-hitter in St. Louis, however. Carlson looked on the cusp of a breakout in 2021 when he slashed .266/.343/.437 with 18 homers as a 22-year-old, but he followed that with a .225/.309/.341 output over the next three seasons. The Cards shipped him to the Rays in exchange for reliever Shawn Armstrong at last year’s trade deadline. Armstrong was designated for assignment by St. Louis in August. Carlson was non-tendered by Tampa Bay over the winter.
Still only 26 years old, Carlson can handle all three outfield spots. His status as a switch-hitter with versatility on the defensive side of things will give the O’s plenty of flexibility when writing out the lineup or making in-game substitutions. Carlson is a much, much better hitter from the right side of the plate (.285/.361/.431) than from the left side (.219/.300/.355), which could set the stage for a some form of platoon with Heston Kjerstad in left field. The O’s also have righty-swinging Ramon Laureano in the mix for outfield time, though either Carlson or Laureano could also see some DH time against lefties over Ryan O’Hearn.
Orioles Sign Dylan Carlson, Designate Jacob Amaya For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have signed outfielder Dylan Carlson to a one-year deal. The ALIGND Sports Agency client will reportedly make $975K with a $25K bonus for getting to 200 plate appearances. Infielder Jacob Amaya has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Carlson, 26, has seen his stock slide in recent years. That includes a very rough showing in 2024. Between the Cardinals and Rays last year, he stepped to the plate 265 times but struck out in 28.3% of those appearances and hit just .209/.287/.277 for a wRC+ of 67. The Rays could have retained him via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $2.7MM salary, but they non-tendered him instead.
It’s been a steep drop from a few years ago. Carlson was selected by the Cardinals with the 33rd overall pick in 2016 and he performed well in his first professional games. Baseball America ranked him as one of the ten best prospects in the entire league in both 2020 and 2021.
In the latter of those two years, he seemed to be on his way to delivering on that prospect hype. He got into 149 games for the Cards in 2021, hitting 18 home runs and slashing .266/.343/.437 for a 111 wRC+. He also got some decent marks for his glovework, leading FanGraphs to credit him with 2.4 wins above replacement on the year. Since he was only 22 years old at the time, it would have been fair to consider that just the beginning.
Unfortunately, his production has trended down since then, perhaps due to a lack of health. A left hamstring strain sent him to the injured list, followed by a later stint for a left thumb sprain. He played 128 games with a .236/.316/.380 line and 98 wRC+. In 2023, left ankle issues were the culprit, sending him to the IL multiple times and eventually requiring surgery. He hit .219/.318/.333 for a wRC+ of 84, getting into just 76 games. In 2024, a left AC joint sprain put him on the IL to start the year. As mentioned earlier, he went on to have a poor season and got sent to free agency.
For the O’s, they probably aren’t expecting much out of Carlson except to fill a fourth outfielder role. They have Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser likely to be their regular trio on the grass. Even if someone in that group gets hurt, they have Heston Kjerstad as an option to step up. He still has options remaining and could perhaps be ticketed for everyday at-bats in Triple-A until he’s needed in the majors. The designated hitter slot will probably be shared by first basemen Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn.
That will likely leave Carlson and Daz Cameron in bench/depth roles. Carlson has played all three outfield spots in his career, with mixed reviews. Defensive Runs Saved considers him to have been slightly above average on the whole, though Outs Above Average has him a bit below par.
Based on his past prospect pedigree, there’s theoretically some upside there since Carlson is still young, though he will need to stay healthy and find a path to some regular playing time. If that comes to pass, Carlson can be retained for 2026 via arbitration. He also has a full slate of options, so it’s possible the O’s send him to the minors to try and get him back on track that way. His service time is at four years and 104 days, putting him 68 days of the five-year mark. Once he gets to that line, he can’t be optioned without his consent.
Amaya, 26, was just claimed off waivers earlier this month. The O’s have a penchant for grabbing guys off the wire and then trying to pass them through at a later date, so it’s not especially surprising to see that happen here.
The young infielder is considered to be stronger as a fielder than as a hitter. He has plenty of experience with the middle infield positions, as well as some time at third base, generally impressing prospect evaluators. He has hit .182/.222/.195 in 81 major league plate appearances. That’s a tiny sample size but his minor league work has also been subpar. Over the past two years, he stepped to the plate 868 times on the farm and hit .241/.332/.379 for a wRC+ of 80.
He exhausted his final option in 2024. As his out-of-options status was nearing, he started to bounce around the league. He was designated for assignment by the Marlins in March and traded to the Astros. Houston put him on waivers in August, which led the White Sox to make a claim, though they subsequently lost him to the O’s this month.
Amaya heads back to DFA limbo and will know his fate within a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any possibility of a trade would need to be explored in the next five days. Based on his past few DFAs, he’s probably headed for the waiver wire again in the coming days. If he clears this time, the O’s will retain him as some infield depth but without him taking up a roster spot.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the financial terms.