ORLANDO—The Winter Meetings are roughly the halfway point between the end of the regular season and the start of spring training, and the Orioles have already turned over 25 percent of their 40-man roster with more moves to come.
Some of the additions are of interest only to the hardcore — right-handed pitcher George Soriano, claimed off waivers from Miami, and Friday’s double claims of outfielder Will Robertson from Pittsburgh and catcher Drew Romo from Colorado.
Others were headline moves. The trade of enigmatic starter Grayson Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder Taylor Ward added intrigue to the offseason.
Signing reliever Ryan Helsley to be the Orioles’ closer was also of great interest.
Another important move was reacquiring reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Chicago Cubs a few hours after Craig Albernaz was introduced as Orioles’ manager.
Kittredge and Helsley could be a formidable eighth- and ninth-inning combination, but president of baseball operations Mike Elias has his sights set on more moves.
The Orioles need left-handed relievers. For the moment, only Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns and Grant Wolfram are on the 40 man roster, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Cade Povich was converted into a reliever.
Last month, the Orioles signed switch-hitting outfielder Leody Taveras, who was an everyday player for the Texas Rangers in 2023 and 2024 but was banished to the minor leagues by Seattle after the Rangers waived hm in May. Taveras didn’t play in the major leagues after June 7th, but he could be a reserve outfielder.
So could Robertson, a left-handed hitter with two options remaining. Taveras doesn’t have any left.
Romo’s claim was also interesting since it gives the Orioles four catchers on the 40-man roster. If the team decides to use a third catcher besides Samuel Basallo and Adley Rutschman, they can choose between Romo and Maverick Handley, who also remains.
Once they claimed Romo to reach the 40-man limit, they decided to designate first baseman/outfielder Ryan Noda for assignment and not Handley.
The other three moves were the promotions of minor league right-handers Cameron Foster, Anthony Nunez and outfielder Reed Trimble to the major league roster to prevent them from being selected in Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft. Unless the Orioles drop a player between now and Wednesday afternoon, they’ll be ineligible to participate.
Foster and Nunez are likely to be summoned during the season, if they don’t make the Opening Day roster since they have options.
Trimble’s speed is attractive. He’s stolen 61 bases without being thrown out in five minor league seasons.
Perhaps there will be more new names on the 40-man roster before the Winter Meetings end on Wednesday.
Kent elected to Hall
The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee elected Jeff Kent to the Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Kent was named on 14 of the 16 ballots. He hit more home runs than any other second baseman in history and had eight seasons of more than 100 RBIs, something no one second baseman had done.
To be elected, a player needed to be named on 12 of the 16 ballots (75 percent).
Carlos Delgado received nine votes. Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy had six votes. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela each received fewer than five votes.
The Baseball Writers Association of America will reveal the winner of its Career Excellence award on Tuesday, and the Ford C. Frick Award winner for excellence in broadcasting will be revealed on Wednesday.
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