The Orioles’ surprising, but not unwelcome signing of outfielder Ramón Laureano on Tuesday added another player with substantial major league experience to the 40-man roster. It also created intrigue.
Some had assumed that the Orioles had completed signing position players to major league contracts and that any further additions would be pitchers.
It could be that Laureano, who hit .296 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs with an .832 OPS in 67 games for Atlanta after hitting just .143 in 31 games with Cleveland in 2024, is simply a depth signing.
Perhaps there’s an injury to an outfielder, and Laureano will have to play regularly. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias avoided answering a question about injuries at last Friday’s Birdland Caravan.
“Not that I’m ready to, not to the level that I would get into here,” Elias said. “I traditionally forecast anybody who’s off on a very abnormal schedule when we get down to Sarasota, so I’ll probably do that in a couple of weeks.”
That means we have to wait another week until February 13th when Elias briefs the media as spring training begins to see if there are notable injuries to outfielders.
For now, the Orioles have Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, Cedric Mullins, Laureano, Tyler O’Neill, who was signed in December, and Dylan Carlson, who signed a one-year contract on January 27th They also have Daz Cameron, who was purchased from the Athletics last October 31st. Jorge Mateo and Ryan O’Hearn also can play the outfield.
Laureano, O’Neill and Cameron are right-handed hitters; Carlson is a switch-hitter.
It’s possible that Mateo, who had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in late August, could begin the season on the injured list. Cowser is also coming back from a broken hand.
“He’s doing well from his recovery,” Elias said about Mateo. “You’ll see him in spring training. He’s not going to be a hundred percent citizen of spring training, but he’ll be ramping up. We’ll be able to address whether or not he’s going to break or exact Opening Day a little bit later. It’s possible, but not ready to sort of make that forecast right now. He’s doing really well.”
If Mateo is not ready to begin the season, that means the Orioles could go with six infielders: O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle at first, Jackson Holliday (second), Gunnar Henderson (shortstop), Jordan Westburg (third) and Ramón Urías (utility) in addition to five outfielders: Cowser, Mullins, O’Neill, Kjerstad and Laureano.
Carlson has three options remaining, so that’s useful, and the Orioles also will have Jordyn Adams and Nick Gordon, both with major league experience, in camp.
It’s not out of the question the Orioles would use their surplus of position players to make a trade, especially one that could allow Coby Mayo to begin the season with the team.
Elias and manager Brandon Hyde were troubled by how difficult the second half of the season was, and they know that they’re going to need more depth to make a sustained run in the American League East.
“When we had all those injuries, it was really eye-opening what happens when your depth gets depleted,” Elias said. “That was a pretty extreme amount of injuries. I think, right now, with the way we’re constructed, we feel good about the depth that we put together. Now, anything can happen. We’ll see what happens. But I think that [Hyde is] going to have a lot of options on both sides of the ball and that’s a good thing.”
Laureano provides a right-handed alternative to Mullins in center field. In 2024, he hit .305 with an .869 OPS against left-handers. O’Neill hit .313 with a 1.180 OPS against lefties last year, but only .209 against right-handers.
Laureano’s addition adds $4 million to the Orioles’ payroll, which has risen to $160 million, according to Cot’s Contracts.
With owner David Rubenstein, cutting a player with money remaining on a contract isn’t going to be an issue. Nor will it be an issue to add other players. The Orioles’ payroll ranks 15th, less than $12 million less than the 14th-place Boston Red Sox, traditionally one of baseball’s biggest spenders.
“After he purchased it [the team], like I’ve said, it expanded our options in a great way,” Elias said about Rubenstein. “He and his group are really putting my department in a position where we can run the team the way that we feel is optimal. So we’re pursuing that, that really liberated us to do our jobs. The payroll is up right now. Like I said when it was lower, it doesn’t really count for anything. It’s the wins and losses that we care about.
“That’s nice, but it’s not really something that we talk about a lot or pay a lot of attention to. I think we’ve had the ability this offseason to go out and plug our needs on the roster, and that’s a really nice thing. I credit our owners for making it possible. I think it’s something that I think we can continue to look forward to.”
Note: The Orioles signed infielder Terrin Vavra to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Vavra, who played 67 games for the Orioles in 2022 and 2023, hit .254 with a home run and 17 RBIs. Last season, Vavra hit .236 with four home runs and 28 RBIs in 55 games for Triple-A Norfolk. He was recalled by the Orioles for a game but did not play. He was claimed off waivers by Seattle on August 23rd and hit .182 in 13 games before being released and re-signed by the Orioles.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.