Also, reliever Scott Blewett is back, for some reason.
One more Orioles outfielder has made his way back from the injured list this week. On Friday afternoon, the O’s activated Ramón Laureano from the IL, where he’d been placed on May 24 due to a left ankle sprain. Laureano is back after just a couple of games rehabbing with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. In a corresponding move, the O’s designated outfielder Jordyn Adams for assignment.
Separate from that pair of moves, the Orioles also announced that the team has acquired reliever Scott Blewett from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for cash considerations. Blewett, who was here for two games earlier in the season before being designated for assignment, was traded for cash to Atlanta when he left the O’s. Yesterday, after giving up five ninth inning runs as the Braves blew a six-run lead, Blewett was DFA’d by the Braves in turn. Perhaps the Orioles traded back the exact same cash.
Note that Blewett has not reported to the team yet, so this move does not yet affect the 26-man active roster. Matt Bowman should probably be thinking that he’s not going to be flying with the rest of the team back from Sacramento to Baltimore. This could change if a different reliever suffers an injury before roster move time arrives on Saturday.
Signed over the offseason to be a fourth outfielder, Laureano has ended up being one of the team’s better hitters. Over 36 games before his ankle injury, he had batted .266/.320/.532 for the season. That is better batting than has been produced by any Oriole other than Ryan O’Hearn. At present, with Cedric Mullins still on the IL, Heston Kjerstad largely not producing, and Jorge Mateo still occasionally getting center field starts, Laureano should come back and start somewhere on a daily basis, at least until he’s shown he’s not hitting any more.
Adams, 25, is sent packing after appearing in five games for the Orioles since his contract was selected on May 31, during which he received exactly one plate appearance. As the injuries piled up, I had wondered why the O’s were mucking around with guys like Adams and Cooper Hummel (also recently DFA’d, now a free agent) instead of their prospects like Jud Fabian or Dylan Beavers.
The answer seems to be that Mike Elias wanted expendable guys who could be dropped at a moment’s notice, rather than disrupting the minor league playing time of the prospects. With Laureano returning after Colton Cowser did a few days ago, the expendable guys have been expended and so they are gone.