The long-time Athletics stalwart is part of a crowded outfield mix. The O’s sure do like to horde outfielders. . .
Who is Ramón Laureano? For one thing, he’s a 30-year-old Dominican outfielder who spent seven years in Oakland before recent stints with Cleveland and Atlanta. A human highlight reel over 586 career games in CF and RF, Laureano is the author of this crazy over-the-shoulder grab in 2021, a 321-foot double play from deep center in 2018, and he ruined the Orioles’ (and DJ Stewart’s) day in May 2021 with a two-run homer and this web gem:
RAMON DOES IT AGAIN pic.twitter.com/VCyQhdxEBX
— A’s on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) May 2, 2021
But he’s also been DFA’d or non-tendered three times in the last two years. Oakland cut Laureano in 2023 after he hit .213/.280/.364 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI for them in 64 games. Claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Guardians, he had a good 2023, but struggled in 2024, batting .143/.265/.229 with one home run and four RBI in 31 games. After Cleveland DFA’d him, he signed a minor-league deal with Atlanta, who called him up midseason as an injury replacement. He hit well—he slashed .296/.327/.505 with 10 home runs, 29 RBI, and five stolen bases in 67 games—but they non-tendered him after the season.
Will Ramón Laureano find a more durable landing spot in Baltimore, with whom he’s signed a one-year, $4 million contract that also includes a team option for 2026 at $6.5 million? Laureano (originally a 2014 draft pick for Houston by current O’s GM Mike Elias) joins a crowded right-handed outfield mix in Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, and Daz Cameron. To me, multiple years of Laureano seem unlikely, but you never know how these contests will play out. He could turn out to be this year’s Ryan O’Hearn (<3).
With so many outfielders in the house, you figure spring training performance will actually matter for some of these folks. It’s early, but Laureano showed off a great veteran approach in his first spring game, chopping a high fastball up the middle for a game-tying single.
Whether Laureano sticks around, and if so, what kind of usage he’ll get are the major questions right now. One possibility is that he ends up as a regular platoon option. Certainly this possibility seems implied by the team’s signings this winter, when the front office took a core of left-hitting outfielders in Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser, and Heston Kjerstad, and added four OF’s who hit from the right (O’Neill, Laureano, Daz Cameron and Dylan Carlson, a switch hitter). The O’s are a prolific platooning team, their use of left- and right-batting Ryans at first base (Mountcastle and O’Hearn) over the last two seasons being an example. For what it’s worth, Laureano has good splits against lefties, with an .802 career OPS.
Another possibility is that he’ll be a fourth outfielder/injury replacement. It’s now known that IF/OF Jorge Mateo suffered a setback in his recovery from season-ending shoulder surgery, and maybe that’s what Mike Elias had in mind when he inked this deal in February. Laureano can play any outfield position, having handled center field in the majority of his career. In this scenario, Laureano plays the role Ryan McKenna used to, a right-handed pinch-hitter option or late-inning defensive replacement for Cowser or Kjerstad.
Either way, when it comes to how the crush of right-hitting outfielders will be cleared out, CC’s Mark Brown points out that Laureano’s signing would seem to push Dylan Carlson and Daz Cameron farther from the picture. The two former first-round picks (by St. Louis in 2016, and Houston in 2015, respectively) have fallen off the table at the plate since those days, and Laureano’s deal seems to suggest the team doesn’t really believe in either option.
Relatedly, what does the Laureano deal mean vis-à-vis the lefties, all of whom are homegrown Orioles products? In particular, does his arrival threaten to take away playing time from the left-batting Heston Kjerstad? Since being drafted in 2017, the 26-year-old slugger has never quite put it all together, with lousy injury luck limiting him to just 52 games in two seasons. It goes without saying, this is a make-or-break year for him.
My hunch, re: Kjerstad and the other outfielders in general, is that this team places its position players in three categories: one, the studs who play daily and don’t have to platoon even on their weak side (e.g. Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg sometimes, Jackson Holliday potentially); two, the working stiffs whose playing time depends on matchups (e.g. the Ryans and most of the outfield); three, utility types who are deployed as necessary (Jorge Mateo for the last two seasons). On my view, the O’Neill/Laureano signings signal that Kjerstad isn’t going to get the long leash to be the Type One kind, and will be used in a platoon this year. I do wonder if that could be bad for his development. Certainly keeping Kjerstad around as a utility type would be pointless.
Anyway, we digress, because this was a piece about Ramón Laureano. The 30-year-old has done some incredible things over his career, particularly as a defensive outfielder. To the extent I am invested in him, it’s mostly from a concern that he not stunt the growth of prospects like Kjerstad or even Colton Cowser. The offensive numbers will determine that, I presume. Laureano seems a good veteran option with much left to give, even if in a utility or quasi-mentoring role. Certainly we can say that the Orioles like to have options.