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Orioles Designate Dwight Smith Jr., Select Mason Williams

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The Orioles have designated outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. for assignment and have selected the contract of outfielder Mason Williams, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

With Smith Jr. removed from the 40-man roster, the team will have a week to either trade the 27-year-old or place him on outright waivers. Per Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com, O’s general manager Mike Elias is hopeful that Smith Jr. will remain in the organization following his DFA.

Although his 2020 season has not gone as hoped, Smith Jr. was a capable contributor for last year’s Orioles, batting .241/.297/.412 in his first shot at a regular role with an MLB team.

However, he’s fallen out of favor in Baltimore as he finds himself in an increasingly crowded outfield mix in need of a true center fielder after the injury to Austin Hays. Smith Jr. is limited to left field and has struggled defensively since coming to Baltimore.

Mason Williams will join the Orioles roster as an option to play center field occasionally, and is more suited for a role as a fourth outfielder than Smith Jr. due to his positional flexibility. He appeared with the Orioles briefly last year, though he spent the majority of the year with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate. There, he hit .308/.371/.477 with 18 home runs, his most in a season since debuting in 2010.

Orioles Add Ryan Mountcastle, Mason Williams To Player Pool

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The Orioles have added top prospect Ryan Mountcastle and outfielder Mason Williams to their 60-man player pool, manager Brandon Hyde revealed to reporters at Summer Camp today (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Joe Trezza). That pair of additions brings the team’s total to 47 players.

Mountcastle, 23, was the No. 36 pick in the draft by the Orioles back in 2015 and has rated among the organization’s best prospects ever since. Questions persist about just where on the field Mountcastle will play — he was a shortstop in high school but has since played third base, left field and first base — but his bat is generally very well regarded. Mountcastle followed up 2018’s .297/.341/.464 slash (121 wRC+) in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting with a .312/.344/.527 slash (117 wRC+) in Triple-A last year. He doesn’t walk much but also doesn’t strike out at an alarming rate and has never batted worse than .281 in a full professional season.

Wherever Mountcastle settles in defensively, he’s viewed as a potential long-term piece who could fit into the middle of the team’s lineup. Given last year’s solid showing in Triple-A and the lack of a minor league season in 2020, it’ll be a surprise if Mountcastle doesn’t log significant at-bats with the Orioles.

As for Williams, he’s a former top prospect himself, although at 29 years of age, those days are behind him. Williams has seen MLB time in each of the past five seasons but has never found extended playing time or had much success in his fleeting big league auditions. He hit .267/.324/.300 in 11 games with the O’s last year and is a lifetime .286/.325/.382 hitter in the big leagues. That’s a generally respectable line, but Williams has never tallied more than 132 plate appearances in a Major League season. He’s a career .288/.341/.405 hitter in more than 1500 Triple-A plate appearances.

Orioles Announce Multiple Minor-League Signings

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The Orioles have announced a variety of minor-league signings. Among the notable players is outfielder Mason Williams, who received a brief look in the majors last September after a strong Triple-A season.

A few other players with MLB experience are heading to the Baltimore organization in hopes of earning a new shot at the majors. Southpaws Hunter Cervenka and Rob Zastryzny have appeared in multiple big-league campaigns. Likewise, infielders Jose Rondon and Jesmuel Valentin have seen the Show.

It’s possible to imagine a path back for each of those players. Williams will face stiff competition but obviously has impressed the club to an extent. The O’s clearly like the idea of creating some competition in camp for the left-handed side of their bullpen. Present top options include Richard Bleier, Paul Fry, and Tanner Scott. And the middle infield corps could be an area of change depending upon what the club does with Jonathan Villar and Hanser Alberto. The former could be a trade or non-tender candidate; it’s possible to imagine the latter drawing trade inquiries as well.

Here’s the rest of the slate of announced signings:

Mason Williams Elects Free Agency

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4:45pm: Williams has elected to become a free agent after being outrighted, as per a team announcement.

8:29am: This transaction is still “in the works” at the moment, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter), but it appears the result will indeed be an outright assignment of Williams.

6:41am: The Orioles have outrighted outfielder Mason Williams, according to the International League transactions page. That comes in addition to four other recently announced 40-man roster cuts.

Williams turned in a strong 2019 effort at Triple-A, where he slashed .308/.371/.477 (117 wRC+) over 494 plate appearances. The Orioles added him to the big-league roster late in the season, giving him a brief shot at stating his case for a role in 2020. But the 27-year-old didn’t do much damage in an eleven-game stint.

Once a highly regarded prospect, Williams has yet to gain any traction at the game’s highest level. He has appeared in each of the past five campaigns but carries only a .286/.325/.382 slash in 234 trips to the plate. Having previously been outrighted, Williams can elect free agency.

AL East Notes: Alford, Orioles, Chacin

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Longtime Blue Jays prospect Anthony Alford will be out of options next spring, increasing his urgency to make an impression with the club, Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star writes. That said, opportunities in a crowded Toronto outfield aren’t necessarily easy to come by. Manager Charlie Montoyo said this week that he plans to “try to play him just like anybody else,” Armstrong notes, but the sheer volume of outfielders will inherently limit Alford’s time on the field.

The Jays also have Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, Billy McKinney and Jonathan Davis vying for playing time in addition to Randal Grichuk, who signed a five-year contract earlier this year. Furthermore, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. could soon return the injured list. Alford has seen time in parts of three seasons but still has just 24 games in the Majors to his credit — during which he has not been productive. The former two-sport star also slashed a rather lackluster .259/.343/.411 in Triple-A this season. Injuries and his time in football have played a role in limiting Alford’s development, who indeed needs to make a favorable impression at the MLB level sooner rather than later.

More from the AL East…

  • The Orioles, too, are trying to evaluate their long-term outfield mix by getting as looks at Austin Hays, DJ Stewart and Mason Williams this month, as explored by MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. The club views Hays as a potential opening day center field candidate next season, Kubatko notes. Hays made his MLB debut as a 21-year-old in 2017 but played only about a half season’s worth of games in 2018 and 2019, thanks in part to a fractured ankle that required surgery. Prior to his debut, Hays was one of the fastest-rising prospects in all of baseball, and it seems the organization hasn’t soured on him even after a regime change in the front office. Kubatko adds that the Orioles would like to keep Williams, a former top prospect with the Yankees, in the organization this offseason, so it seems he’ll have a chance to stick on the 40-man roster. Stewart, meanwhile, posted big numbers in Triple-A but was also limited by ankle and concussion issues. Beyond that, GM Mike Elias spoke to Kubatko about the difficulty of evaluating players based on Triple-A results at a time when changes to the baseball have clearly skewed the offensive environment.
  • Jhoulys Chacin has thrown well with the Red Sox since signing a minor league deal there, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, who wonders if the righty could be making a case for a job next season. The Red Sox’ lack of pitching depth proved to be a significant flaw in 2019, and Chacin would represent a low-cost option who has fit in well with his new teammates. Abraham recounts the story of how Chacin came to be with the Sox, outlining a pressure-filled bullpen session that served as an audition for the veteran righty. “They wanted to see me pitch and said maybe they would give me an opportunity,” Chacin recalls. “I had 30 pitches to show them what I could do.” Since passing that test and landing a roster spot, Chacin has tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings with two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Orioles Select Mason Williams, Designate Jace Peterson

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The Orioles announced today that they have selected the contract of outfielder Mason Williams. To create roster space, infielder Jace Peterson was designated for assignment.

Williams was expected to come onto the active roster for the month of September, but needed to be added to the 40-man. A host of other players that already held 40-man spots are also heading for the big-league dugout: lefty Ty Blach, catcher Austin Wynns, and righties David Hess, Evan Phillips, and Chandler Shepherd.

Once a well-regarded Yankees prospect, the 28-year-old Williams got his first extended chance at the majors last year with the Reds. He produced at close to the league-average rate offensively but was outrighted at season’s end. Williams has spent the entire season to this point with the Orioles’ top affiliate, slashing .308/.371/.477 with 18 home runs in 494 plate appearances.

As for Peterson, he has struggled since the O’s summoned him to help fill out the position-player mix. The six-year MLB veteran carries a .220/.269/.330 batting line in 108 trips to the plate on the season.

Orioles Unlikely To Call Up Top Prospect Ryan Mountcastle

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The Orioles are likely to select the contract of outfielder Mason Williams to join the club as a September call-up, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (link). However, it doesn’t seem as though top prospect Ryan Mountcastle will get the opportunity to make his MLB debut this month (Twitter link).

Mountcastle, a 2015 supplemental rounder (36th overall) ranks among the organization’s top five prospects and has had a productive season in Triple-A, hitting .310/.343/.527 with 25 homers, 35 doubles and one triple through 548 plate appearances. He also comes with significant concerns about his defense and is regarded by some as a prospect without a true position on the field. Scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB.com and Baseball America all agree that Mountcastle’s bat alone should make him a big league regular, but each notes that his throwing issues continue to push him down the defensive spectrum. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs liken his profile as a bat-first regular with huge defensive questions to that of Nicholas Castellanos.

It’s not clear whether a desire for further defensive refinement or a preference not to begin Mountcastle’s service clock is the driving factor behind the decision not to bring him to Camden Yards; most likely, both are factors. Regardless of his ultimate defensive home, Mountcastle seems likely to emerge in the big leagues next season, but his omission from the team’s expanded September roster is no doubt a bitter pill for fans who were hoping for a glimpse of the future in 2019. It’s been a trying season for Orioles fans, who’ve seen their club win the second-fewest games in Major League Baseball.

In Williams, 28, the Orioles will take a look at a top-prospect-turned-journeyman who has enjoyed a nice season in Triple-A Norfolk, where he’s batted .309/.372/.481 with 18 home runs, 15 doubles, three triples, and four stolen bases. The grandson of former big leaguer Walt Williams, the lefty-swinging outfielder was originally a fourth-round pick of the Yankees organization back in the 2010 Rule IV draft. Once ranked as the game’s 74th-best prospect by MLB.com prior to the 2012 season, Williams has shown some glimpses in limited big league action, with a .289/.325/.396 (93 wRC+) output across 200 at-bats split between the Yankees and Reds rosters since his MLB debut in 2016. Williams signed a minor league deal with Baltimore this past March.

Orioles Sign Mason Williams To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles announced that they’ve signed outfielder Mason Williams to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Williams, once regarded as one of the game’s top outfield prospects, spent the 2018 campaign with the Reds organization and tallied a career-high 132 plate appearances at the Major League level. Now 27 years old, Williams hit .293/.331/.398 with Cincinnati last season and has experience playing all three outfield positions. He’s yet to tap into the potential that made him such a vaunted farmhand in his days with the Yankees but does have a .278/.327/.371 slash in just over 1000 Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll give the O’s some depth in the upper minors.

The Orioles also announced that they’ve acquired minor league infielder Yeltsin Gudino from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash. The 22-year-old Gudino hit .276/.347/.306 in 344 plate appearances across two Class-A levels last season and has experience playing all four infield positions (but primarily the two up-the-middle slots). Gudino has never shown any semblance of power, but he’s punched out in just 14 percent of his career plate appearances in the minors while drawing walks at an 8.9 percent clip.

At one point, Gudino was actually a rather high-profile signing for the Blue Jays, as evidenced by the $1.2MM signing bonus they gave him back in 2013. Baseball America ranked him eighth among international prospects at the time, though certainly Toronto’s expenditure has failed to pay dividends as Gudino has never developed at the plate. The Orioles have assigned him to Class-A Advanced Frederick for the time being.

Reds Re-Sign Mason Williams To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced a slew of minor league signings today (Twitter link), including the re-signing of outfielder Mason Williams to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. Cincinnati also confirmed its previously reported minor league deals/invites to MLB camp for infielder Christian Colon and righty Anthony Bass. Furthermore, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that the Reds agreed to a minor league pact and an invite to Spring Training with former Twins right-hander Felix Jorge, though the organization has yet to announce that addition.

Williams, 27, is a former Yankees top prospect who didn’t pan out in the Bronx but fared reasonably well with Cincinnati last season. The Reds gave Williams his largest slate of MLB work to date, as the 2010 fourth-rounder appeared in 51 games and hit .293/.331/.398 with a pair of homers, five doubles and a triple in 132 plate appearances during that time.

Williams’ return to the organization is all the more notable given Cincinnati’s decision to non-tender Billy Hamilton. While Williams assuredly won’t be viewed as a concrete solution in center, he’ll join the competition for an outfield job with the Reds this spring and could stand a decent chance at eventually cracking the roster if the team doesn’t bring in a more established option via free agency or trade. Williams does, after all, have more than 5000 professional innings in center field under his belt between the Majors and the minors.

As for Jorge, he’s a slight-of-frame righty listed at 6’2″ and 170 pounds but long rated as one of the more polished arms in the Twins’ system. He never drew Top 100 prospect billing throughout the league but did make a pair of starts for the Twins in 2017 and has a solid track record up through the Double-A level. Now 25 years old, Jorge missed much of the 2018 season due to injury and has only a handful of innings in Triple-A, but he owns a career 3.75 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 209 innings at the Double-A level. He’s never been one to miss many bats, but Jorge has typically demonstrated pinpoint control throughout his minor league tenure and has kept the ball on the ground at better than a 50 percent clip in recent seasons.

Cincinnati also indicated that it’ll bring right-hander Alex Powers back to the organization as a non-roster invite to MLB camp after a trio of solid seasons. The former White Sox farmhand has been with the Reds since 2016 and delivered his most encouraging season yet in 2018, pitching to a 2.34 ERA with 11.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 0.64 HR/0 and a 42.5 percent grounder rate in 42 1/3 innings of relief. Powers will turn 27 next month, meaning those fairly gaudy numbers came against much younger and less-experienced competition, but the bottom-line results were enough for the Reds to want to take a look this spring.

Reds Claim Matthew Bowman From Cardinals; Dilson Herrera, Mason Williams Outrighted

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The Reds announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Matthew Bowman off waivers from the division-rival Cardinals. Additionally, infielder Dilson Herrera and outfielder Mason Williams have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville.

Bowman, 27, was a quality middle-relief option for the Cards from 2016-17, working to a 3.70 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9 in 126 1/3 innings. He stumbled in 2018 however, requiring multiple DL stints for ongoing blister issues and generally performing poorly when on the field. In 23 innings this past season, he posted a 6.26 ERA with a career-best 10.2 K/9 mark but also a career-worst 4.1 BB/9 mark. Bowman does have a minor league option remaining, so he could be a flexible ’pen option for the Reds in 2019.

The 24-year-old Herrera went unclaimed after hitting .184/.268/.414 in 97 plate appearances for the Reds late in the 2018 season. It’s been a couple of years since he was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jay Bruce from Cincinnati to the Mets, but Herrera’s late cup of coffee was actual his team debut. The former top prospect’s career has been utterly derailed by shoulder troubles, and while he finally surfaced in the Majors with the Reds, he didn’t do enough to secure a roster spot for the 2019 season. Because he’s previously been outrighted by the Reds, he can now elect fre agency, leaving the Cincinnati organization with nothing to show for that Bruce swap; lefty Max Wotell, the only other player in the trade, was cut loose earlier this season.

The 27-year-old Williams is a former top prospect in his own right, though it’s been quite some time since he was perceived in that light. He inked a minor league pact with Cincinnati and made his way to the big league roster, hitting .293/.331/.398 in 132 PAs. Solid as that showing was, he couldn’t stick on the 40-man nor did another team claim him, so he, too, can head to the open market as a minor league free agent by virtue of that fact that he’s also been outrighted previously (by the Yankees in 2017).

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