Orioles Designate Four Players, Set Opening Day Roster
The Orioles set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated right-handers Alec Asher, Stefan Crichton, Michael Kelly and Jesus Liranzo for assignment. Their 40-man spots will go to Pedro Alvarez, Colby Rasmus, Craig Gentry and Danny Valencia. Mark Trumbo and Gabriel Ynoa, meanwhile, will open the season on the 10-day DL. Right-hander Alex Cobb will open the year in Double-A as he ramps up after signing late in Spring Training.
Asher, 26, appeared in 24 games for the O’s last season, including six starts, totaling 60 innings of work with a 47-to-23 K/BB. While Asher showed that he can work out of both the rotation or bullpen in multi-inning stints, he struggled to a 5.25 ERA and yielded 10 homers in last year’s 60 frames with the O’s. Asher does sport a quality 3.75 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of Triple-A work, where he’s averaged 6.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. He has also has a minor league option remaining, so he could make sense for a team in need of some rotation depth.
Crichton, also 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining.
The 25-year-old Kelly has never appeared in the big leagues, but he nonetheless scored a Major League contract from the O’s this past offseason on the heels of a strong Double-A showing with the Padres’ San Antonio affiliate in 2017. The former No. 48 overall pick worked to a 2.89 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 with a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate in 89 Double-A innings before being roughed up in his second go-around at the Triple-A level (albeit in an extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting).
Liranzo, 23, also comes without big league experience, but Baseball America ranked him 19th among Orioles farmhands this offseason. Liranzo isn’t lacking for velocity and has the upside of a quality bullpen piece, but he’s struggled with control throughout his pro career, including last season when he averaged six walks per nine innings pitched and posted an unsightly 4.85 ERA in 65 Double-A innings with the Orioles’ Bowie affiliate.
Each of Alvarez, Gentry and Valencia have been with the Orioles before. Alvarez’s stay with the team could be directly tied to Trumbo’s rehab, as each projects primarily as a DH. A brief experiment with Alvarez as an outfielder didn’t prove fruitful for the O’s last season, and they’re largely set at the infield corners as well. Gentry can back up at all three outfield spots and provide some speed off the bench, while Valencia provides a right-handed complement to Chris Davis as well as some insurance at third base and in the outfield corners.
As for Rasmus, it seems likely that he’ll receive fairly regular reps in right field after signing a minor league contract this winter. He showed well in a limited sample with the Rays last season before incurring an injury and ultimately stepping away from the game to be with his young family midway through the ’17 season.
Orioles Acquire Gabriel Ynoa From Mets, Designate Francisco Pena
The Orioles have acquired right-hander Gabriel Ynoa from the Mets in exchange for cash and designated catcher Francisco Pena for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, per a team announcement. The move opens a spot on the Mets’ 40-man roster, which the team still needed to do in order to make the re-signing of Fernando Salas official.
The 23-year-old Ynoa made his MLB debut with the Mets this past season, tossing 18 1/3 innings with a 6.38 ERA. His 17-to-7 K/BB ratio, 49.2 percent ground-ball rate and average fastball velocity of 93.5 mph were all more encouraging numbers than the unsightly ERA in that small sample. In 154 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this past season, Ynoa posted a 3.97 ERA with 4.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent grounder rate.
Ynoa ranked among the Mets’ top 20 prospects each year from 2012-15, with BA’s most recent report calling him a “control artist” and a potential fourth starter if he can make improvements to his secondary offerings. Also noted, though, was that while Ynoa has a knack for throwing strikes, he doesn’t hit his spot within the zone often enough, so honing his command could also be an area of focus moving forward.
“Our scouts feel he can develop into a Major League starting pitcher by developing a consistent breaking pitch,” said Orioles GM Dan Duquette of the newly acquired Ynoa. “We look forward to his contributions to the Orioles this season and beyond.”
Ynoa will give the Orioles some much-needed rotation depth beyond the quintet of Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez. He has a minor league option remaining, which was likely a key factor for the Orioles, as there doesn’t look to be an immediate spot in the rotation for Ynoa, barring a spring injury to one of the previously listed rotation members. The 154 innings that Ynoa threw at Triple-A last season represent his only experience at that level, so it seems likely that he’ll head to Norfolk to open the season for further development. Should things pan out for Ynoa, he’ll be under club control through the 2022 season in Baltimore.
Pena, 27, appeared in 14 games and hit .200/.238/.275 across 43 plate appearances for the Orioles last season. He was expected to compete with Caleb Joseph for the backup catcher role this spring and may still do so if he clears waivers. The defensive-minded backstop was out of minor league options, which undoubtedly played a role in the Orioles’ decision to designate him. In parts of four Triple-A seasons (1188 plate appearances), Pena has displayed good power but struggled to get on base, as evidenced by his .248/.294/.453 batting line. He’s thrown out 32 percent base base thieves in his minor league career and routinely draws considerably above-average framing grades from Baseball Prospectus.