Orioles Designate Jackson Kowar For Assignment
The Orioles finalized their Opening Day roster, announcing that right-hander Jackson Kowar and infielder Bryan Ramos were designated for assignment. (Ramos’ DFA was originally reported last night.) Baltimore also placed Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg on the 10-day IL. Holliday is recovering from a hamate fracture, and Westburg is attempting to rehab a UCL tear. Righties Andrew Kittredge (shoulder inflammation) and lefty Keegan Akin (groin strain) open the season on the 15-day IL.
Outfielder Dylan Beavers will avoid an IL stint after dealing with a knee issue late in camp. He’s on the Opening Day roster. Utilityman Jeremiah Jackson also grabbed an Opening Day spot. Righties Yaramil Hiraldo and Anthony Nunez won bullpen spots, as did southpaw Grant Wolfram. Righty Albert Suarez, who had an opt-out in his minor league deal, was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, so it seems he’ll forgo that opt-out and agree to open the season with the Orioles’ Triple-A club.
A hard-throwing former first-rounder with experience in parts of three MLB seasons, the 29-year-old Kowar allowed one run in six spring frames for the O’s. He walked four and struck out four. The former Florida Gator has an ERA north of 8.00 in 91 MLB frames, though he posted a 4.24 mark in 17 innings with Seattle last year. He’s still looking for his first real opportunity post-Tommy John surgery and has been regularly bounced around the waiver/DFA circuit dating back to last season.
Jackson had been in a battle for the final bench spot with several others, but he’s increasingly seemed like the favorite. Baltimore granted veteran Thairo Estrada his release a couple days ago, shortly after infielder Luis Vázquez suffered a broken thumb. Jackson and Ramos looked like the final two candidates for that spot, so when it was reported last night that Ramos was being DFA, Jackson’s spot looked all but secure barring a last-minute acquisition.
The 25-year-old (26 tomorrow) isn’t going to sustain the .365 BABIP that led to last year’s .276/.328/.447 debut effort, but he’s a versatile right-handed bat who can back up at multiple infield and outfield spots. With Holliday and Westburg beginning the season on the injured list, the Orioles are entrusting third base and second base to Coby Mayo and Blaze Alexander, respectively. Neither has much big league experience — not that Jackson does either — so sensible to have another capable option at each spot.
Suarez reportedly drew interest from other clubs but will seemingly stick around as a depth option. It’s a nice luxury for the O’s to have. The 36-year-old righty has given Baltimore a 3.59 ERA in 145 1/3 frames across the past two seasons but was non-tendered in the November after a flexor strain ended his 2025 season. He returned on a minor league pact and will presumably open the year in Norfolk.
Thairo Estrada Granted Release After Opting Out Of Orioles Deal
Veteran utilityman Thairo Estrada has been granted his release, the team announced. He had an opt-out provision in his minor league contract with Baltimore and is once again a free agent. The O’s also reassigned catcher Maverick Handley and outfielder Jhonkensy Noel to minor league camp. Both were non-roster invitees this spring.
Estrada, 30, went just 2-for-25 with a pair of singles and nine strikeouts this spring. It wasn’t the camp performance he was hoping for after a 2025 season in which he hit only .253/.285/.370 with the Rockies. Injuries limited Estrada to just 165 plate appearances a year ago. He missed time due to a broken wrist, a sprained thumb and a strained hamstring during a snakebit season.
From 2021 to 2023, Estrada slashed .266/.320/.416 with the Giants (105 wRC+). He eventually found himself upgraded from a utility role to the team’s starting second baseman. He combined that slightly above average bat with a strong glove to become a valuable player for San Francisco for a few years.
Things began to turn the wrong direction in 2024 — a season in which a left wrist sprain limited Estrada to just 96 games. He hit a paltry .217/.247/.343 (68 wRC+) even when he was healthy enough to take the field. The Giants cut him loose, and a one-year deal with the Rockies didn’t help him right the ship.
With Estrada being cut loose, the Orioles’ options for the final spot on Craig Albernaz’s bench include Jeremiah Jackson, Bryan Ramos and Weston Wilson. Jackson and Ramos are both on the 40-man roster. Jackson is hitting .333/.353/.545 in 34 spring plate appearances but has minor league options remaining. Ramos is hitting .297/.366/.459 in 41 plate appearances and is out of minor league options. Wilson has hit .241/.405/.448 and has the most outfield experience of the group.
Non-roster invitee Luis Vázquez had been in the running for a utility role as well, but Albernaz revealed this afternoon that Vázquez suffered a broken thumb yesterday when he was hit by a pitch (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). There’s no timetable for his return, but the ill-timed injury obviously takes him out of the running for a roster spot. He’ll stick with the O’s as a depth option and rehab the injury in their system.
Jordan Westburg Undergoes Imaging For Potential Elbow Injury
Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg has been slowed by an oblique injury in camp and was already expected to miss the first few games of exhibition play as a result. However, it appears there’s greater concern than just a mild oblique strain. Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner reports that Westburg was sent for imaging on his elbow. The results have not yet been disclosed. O’s podcaster Brooks Rothschild suggested yesterday that Westburg could miss significant time due to an elbow issue.
Asked today whether Westburg was dealing with an elbow issue in addition to that oblique injury, manager Craig Albernaz told reporters (via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko): “Right now, he’s physically unable to participate. So he’s getting evaluated by a medical team and also outside people to make sure we have a plan in place and see what’s going on with Jordan and get him going.”
Baltimore’s infield is already banged up. Second baseman Jackson Holliday suffered a hamate fracture recently and is expected to open the season on the injured list. Westburg has typically been Baltimore’s third baseman but has plenty of experience at second base and could have filled in for Holliday while Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander or Jeremiah Jackson handled the hot corner. Now, it seems there’s a chance Westburg will instead join Holliday on the injured list.
Since his 2023 MLB debut, the now-27-year-old Westburg has been a consistently productive, well-rounded player when healthy. The “when healthy” caveat has proven critical, however. Westburg has never topped 107 games or 447 plate appearances in the majors. Since his initial call to the big leagues, he’s seen IL time for a broken hand, a pair of hamstring strains and an ankle sprain. Westburg carries a .264/.312/.456 batting line in 1027 major league plate appearances, but he’s played in only 341 games (majors and minors combined) across the past three seasons.
Baltimore has been giving former top prospect Coby Mayo plenty of reps at third base during spring training and will presumably continue to do so. Mayo has said that the focus of his early spring work is his defense at the hot corner. He was drafted as a third baseman, but scouts have long questioned whether he can handle the position, and the O’s have given him the majority of his major league work at first base. However, between the Pete Alonso signing and injuries elsewhere in the infield, it’s only logical to get Mayo some more work at third base to see if he can help out there on at least a semi-regular basis.
Mayo’s name was bandied about the rumor mill throughout the winter. Even as recently as this weekend, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested that Baltimore has continued to discuss the 24-year-old in potential trade scenarios. If there’s now concern surrounding Westburg’s availability, one would imagine that will lessen any such talks (unless, speculatively speaking, Mayo is shipped out for a more established veteran infielder).
If Westburg is sidelined for any significant period of time, there are possibilities outside the organization. Old friends Ramón Urías, Jose Iglesias and Emmanuel Rivera remain unsigned, as do veteran utilitymen Jon Berti and Luis Urías (Ramón’s younger brother). None of those players could be reasonably expected to match the offense of a healthy Westburg, but any of the three would deepen the infield mix and — specifically for Urias and Berti — provide a fair bit of defensive versatility. Myriad trade possibilities abound, even beyond the obvious names still on the market. The aforementioned Alexander certainly wasn’t a frequently discussed trade candidate when the O’s sent Kade Strowd and a pair of prospects to Arizona to pry him loose.
That swap looked a bit surprising at the time but will now pay considerable dividends. Alexander can handle either second base or third base. He hit .230/.323/.383 in 74 games last year but closed out the season on a more impressive .239/.338/.415 stretch following the D-backs’ trade of Eugenio Suárez, at which point Alexander took over as the primary third baseman.
Jackson Holliday To Begin Season On Injured List Following Hamate Surgery
Feb. 12: Holliday had successful surgery today to address his fractured hamate bone, according to multiple reports, including from Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun. The second baseman is expected to be sidelined several weeks beyond Opening Day.
Feb. 11: Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday will open the 2026 season on the injured list after suffering a fractured hamate bone in his right hand during live batting practice on Feb. 6, president of baseball operations Mike Elias announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). He’ll likely miss the first several weeks of the season.
Elias also added that infielder Jordan Westburg suffered an oblique injury three weeks ago while training but is only expected to miss the first few games of Grapefruit League play (via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko). The team isn’t concerned about his Opening Day status at this juncture. Righty Colin Selby, meanwhile, is dealing with inflammation in his right shoulder and is expected to open the season on the injured list (per Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun).
The Holliday injury is the most notable of the bunch. The former No. 1 pick and top prospect had been in line to open the season at second base after hitting .242/.314/.375 with 17 homers and 17 steals in his age-21 season with the O’s last year. Second base will now presumably fall to some combination of trade acquisition Blaze Alexander and utilityman Jeremiah Jackson. Alternatively, Baltimore could play Westburg at second base and give Coby Mayo some run at third base to begin the season.
Many fans on social media were quick to jump to the conclusion that the Holliday injury was a driving factor behind Baltimore’s acquisition of Alexander in last week’s trade with the Diamondbacks. However, the timing was a matter of happenstance; Holliday actually suffered the fracture in his hand/wrist the day after the Alexander trade was completed. Perhaps there was some modest concern about Westburg’s oblique at the time, but Holliday’s injury didn’t have any impact on that swap.
Hamate fractures are relatively common. Stars Francisco Lindor and Corbin Carroll are currently in similar boats at the moment. The resulting surgery typically sidelines players for anywhere from four to eight weeks. Hand injuries of this nature can often have a lingering impact on a player’s power output even after he’s cleared to return to the field, though every case is unique unto itself, of course. Assuming Holliday indeed hits the injured list, this will the first major league IL placement of his young career.
As for Selby, there’s less certainty on his outlook at the moment. The Orioles acquired him from the Royals in a July 2024 swap sending cash back to Kansas City. He spent the rest of that year and the majority of the 2025 season in Triple-A, but the 28-year-old righty was effective in 14 big league frames in 2025. Those 14 innings came over the life of 11 appearances and saw Selby hold opponents to five runs (3.21 ERA) on 16 hits and just two walks with 14 strikeouts. Selby also tossed 25 2/3 innings of 2.45 ERA ball at the Triple-A level, fanning 31.5% of his opponents there.
Selby’s IL placement opens up some space in the team’s Opening Day bullpen competition, which could create an easier path for lefty Grant Wolfram, righty Yaramil Hiraldo or out-of-options right-hander Rico Garcia. Right-hander Chayce McDermott, too, could find himself in that mix. He’s been a starter in the past, but Elias said today that the 27-year-old righty will be used as a reliever in the upcoming season (via Kostka). Righty Tyler Wells, meanwhile, will build up as a starter. There’s currently no clear rotation opening for him, but stretching out in camp will create some insurance for rotation injuries. Wells could open the season in a long relief role in the ‘pen or in the rotation with Triple-A Norfolk; he still has two minor league option years remaining.
Orioles President Discusses Payroll, Offseason Targets
The Orioles have made a few moves this offseason but are still looking for a big rotation upgrade and an impact bat. President of baseball operations Mike Elias spoke to the media today about the club’s offseason and was asked if the O’s had enough spending capacity to address both needs via free agency. “Yes, I think so,” Elias said, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun. “I mean, you look at our payroll as it stands right now, and it’s still well below where we went last year.”
Baltimore went into 2025 with an Opening Day payroll of $165MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Thanks to some midseason trades and some guys reaching free agency at season’s end, next year’s payroll isn’t close to that number. As of today, their 2026 club is slated to cost about $118MM, per RosterResource. Even if there’s no bump in payroll coming, that’s more than $45MM in wiggle room.
Elias candidly admitted last month that a front-of-rotation starter and a reliever with closing experience were on the to-do list. The latter seems to be ticked off the list, at least for now. The O’s signed Ryan Helsley earlier this month. Today, Elias said the club is still looking for an external reliever but also might want to leave room open for some of their incumbent arms, per Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun.
That still leaves the rotation as an item to be crossed off. Adding an impact bat was also on the list. The O’s acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels last month but Elias admitted in the wake of that deal that bolstering the lineup was still on the agenda.
Elias said today that the club is willing to be open-minded about the positional fit of the hitter they look to add, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. “If the player is good enough, we can figure out ways to accommodate them, so we have a lot of conversations going on, mostly in free agency, but also in some trades, on guys we view as impact bats.”
Just about anywhere the O’s add to their position player group, there will be domino effects. They don’t have a pure designated hitter but there are several guys who would currently project to spend time there. The catching duo is currently Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, so the DH spot could be used to have both of them in the lineup regularly. In the outfield, they have Ward, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill and others in the mix. Given O’Neill’s injury history, it would make sense for him to get some DH time. At first base, they have both Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle in the mix, so the DH spot would be needed if the O’s want both of those guys getting at-bats. The rest of the infield includes Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.
Adding just about any impact hitter would knock someone down the pecking order. If the O’s successfully sign a notable free agent bat, perhaps that will push someone currently on the roster to the trading block. In recent weeks, the O’s have been connected to notable free agents like corner outfielder Kyle Tucker, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Pete Alonso. On the starting pitching side of things, the O’s have been connected to names like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King and Zac Gallen.
MLBTR predicted Tucker to earn a guarantee of $400MM over 11 years. That’s an average annual value of $36.36MM, which would eat up most of Baltimore’s remaining spending capacity, assuming they are willing to run a similar payroll in 2026. With the others, it’s somewhat possible to imagine two of them fitting into the club’s remaining payroll space. Valdez was projected for a $30MM AAV, Alonso $27.5MM, Schwarber $27MM, Imai $25MM, Suarez $23MM and then King and Gallen both at $20MM.
Theoretically, if the O’s do add two names from that list, they could also then save money via the trade market. For instance, Mountcastle is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $7.8MM next year. Or perhaps there’s a path where younger and cheaper players are traded for a more notable return, which lessens the need to do everything via free agency. Elias has yet to sign a starting pitcher to a multi-year deal but there have been offers, including putting a four-year pact on the table for Corbin Burnes.
If they do go the free agent route, Elias has already said they are willing to sign guys who rejected qualifying offers. As a revenue-sharing recipient, the O’s would have to forfeit their third-highest selection in next year’s draft to sign a guy who rejected a QO. Of the aforementioned names, that would apply to Tucker, Schwarber, Valdez, Suarez, Gallen and King. Alonso wasn’t eligible to receive a QO because he got one a year ago. Imai is coming over from Japan, so the QO situation doesn’t apply, but whoever signs him would have to pay a posting fee to his NPB club.
Elias also provided one other note about the club’s plans, noting that they hope to develop Jeremiah Jackson in a utility role, per Weyrich. Jackson debuted in 2025 and hit well, with a .276/.328/.447 line, though that was buoyed by a .365 batting average on balls in play. He played second base, third base and right field. In the minors, he also has experience at shortstop and the other two outfield slots.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
Orioles To Select Jeremiah Jackson
The Orioles are going to select infielder Jeremiah Jackson to their roster. Manager Tony Mansolino informed reporters, including Steve Melewski, that he will take the roster spot vacated by left-hander Gregory Soto. Soto was traded to the Mets earlier today.
Jackson, 25, gets called up to the majors for the first time and will be making his debut as soon as he gets into a game. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and has been putting up huge numbers in the minors this year. Split between Double-A and Triple-A, he has 351 plate appearances with 15 home runs. He’s only drawing walks at a 4% clip but is also only striking out 14.2% of the time. He has a combined line of .311/.340/.538 line and a 135 wRC+.
Prior to joining the Orioles, Jackson spent time in the systems of the Angels and Mets. The Halos flipped him to the latter club in the 2023 deadline deal which sent right-hander Dominic Leone to Los Angeles.
The lack of strikeouts this year is notable, as that was a key problem for Jackson in previous seasons. He had a 33% strikeout rate in 2021, but he has dropped that down over the years. Defensively, he’s played the three infield spots to the left of first base and all three outfield spots as well. He has some speed on the bases, regularly putting up double-digit stolen bases totals, including ten already this year.
It’s possible that this will be a short big league stint for Jackson. Putting him in for Soto gives the club 14 position players and just 12 pitchers. That’s less than ideal and they will likely look to even that back to 13 and 13 soon. On the other hand, it’s possible the Baltimore roster is set for further moves in the coming days. Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías, Ramón Laureano, Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Trevor Rogers, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge are all candidates to be moved before the deadline.
It’s anyone’s guess how the roster will look in the wake of all those theoretical trades. Since Jackson can play multiple positions, perhaps he’ll find a way to still have a role once the dust settles next week.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Angels Acquire Dominic Leone
The Angels have acquired right-hander Dominic Leone from the Mets, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. Mike Puma of the New York Post first reported that the Mets were engaged in discussions on a Leone deal. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets received infield prospect Jeremiah Jackson in return.
Leone, 31, first broke into the big leagues with the Mariners back in 2014 with an impressive 2.17 ERA (168 ERA+) and 3.07 FIP in 66 1/3 innings of work. Since then, he’s bounced around the league, playing for Arizona, Toronto, Cleveland, St. Louis, and San Francisco in addition to Seattle and New York. The Angels will be the eighth team of his ten-year career in the majors. The veteran hurler sports a career 3.75 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 386 1/3 innings of work.
He’ll join the Angels following a rather difficult stint in New York. While he’s posted a 4.40 ERA that’s roughly league average by measure of ERA+ in 31 appearances, his 5.26 FIP is more concerning. While Leone’s 26% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate rate among the best marks of his career, he’s seen his groundball rate plummet to just 35.4%, far lower than his career 42.5% rate. While that isn’t entirely a problem by itself, Leone has also allowed a whopping 13.4% barrel rate this season, resulting in 18.4% of his fly balls leaving the year for home runs.
While Leone’s tendency to allow the long ball has severely limited his effectiveness this season, he should nonetheless be a useful arm for an Angels bullpen that ranks bottom four in the majors with just 1.3 fWAR as a collective unit. While Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore form a quality duo with which the club can close out games, Leone can help the likes of Aaron Loup and fellow deadline acquisition Reynaldo Lopez cover the middle innings for the Angels.
As for the Mets, they’ll receive a quality prospect in return for a veteran rental arm in the midst of a difficult season. Headed to Queens in exchange for Leone is Jackson, the Angels’ #9 prospect per MLB Pipeline. The 23-year-old infielder has shortstop, second base, third base, center field, and left field during his minor league career and has swiped 56 bags in 73 professional attempts. His been a league average hitter with Double-A Rocket City this year, slashing .248/.321/.447 in 349 plate appearances.