The Orioles announced that they have claimed outfielder Forrest Wall off waivers and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. He had been designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this week. To open a 40-man roster spot for him, right-hander Dillon Tate has been designated for assignment.
Wall, 28, fits the classic speed-and-defense mold that contending clubs tend to acquire this time of season. He gives the Orioles a bench option down the stretch in September and perhaps into the postseason, if they’re willing to dedicate a roster spot to what’s effectively a pinch-running specialist and potential late-game defensive replacement.
Selected 35th overall by the Rockies in 2014, Wall has played in a pair of big league seasons, suiting up for the Braves last year and for Atlanta and Miami this season. He has only 50 MLB plate appearances under his belt, with a .311/.380/.432 slash to show for it. That’s strong production, of course, but it bears mentioning that Wall is only a .269/.355/.380 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons; he’s not likely to sustain that small-sample big league production over a lengthier period.
Be that as it may, the Orioles won’t be counting on him to do so. Baltimore has a stout lineup as is, but Wall offers 93rd percentile sprint speed. That’ll be his carrying trait for the Orioles for however long they carry him on the roster down the stretch. We’ve seen plenty of clubs successfully employ this tactic with expanded September rosters and into the postseason in the past — the 2015 Royals and Terrance Gore come to mind. Baltimore, for all its offensive prowess, lacks this type of premium speed at the moment. Jorge Mateo is even faster than Wall, but he’s on the 60-day IL due to a subluxation in his shoulder. Cedric Mullins leads the club with 23 steals but isn’t nearly as fast as Wall.
Baltimore’s claim of Wall will bring to an end a lengthy Orioles tenure for Tate. The 30-year-old righty and former No. 4 overall draft pick came to the O’s back in 2018 as the former front office regime kicked off the rebuild that led to the development of the Orioles’ current impressive core. For several seasons, Tate was a staple in the Baltimore ’pen, but injuries have set him back.
From 2020-22, Tate pitched 158 innings with a 3.65 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and huge 57.9% grounder rate. He looked to have solidified himself as a quality late-inning piece for manager Brandon Hyde, but a flexor strain wiped out Tate’s entire 2023 season. Since returning, he’s shown diminished velocity with lesser strikeout and grounder rates: 15.5% and 50.9%, respectively. He’s been tagged for a 4.59 ERA in 33 1/3 innings this season, although Tate sports a 2.16 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate and 40.4% grounder rate in 16 2/3 Triple-A innings as well.
With the trade deadline behind us, the Orioles will have no choice but to place Tate on waivers. Given his track record, modest $1.5MM salary and additional club control, it’s possible Tate will be picked up by another club. The new team would only owe Tate the prorated portion of that salary — just $250K through season’s end. A new club could also retain him for another two seasons via arbitration. While Tate entered the season with 4.048 years of MLB service, he won’t spend enough time on the big league roster this season to cross five years. As such, he’ll be controllable through the 2026 campaign if another team wishes to claim him.
In the event that Tate goes unclaimed, he’d have enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. However, since he doesn’t yet have five years of service, doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of this year’s $1.5MM salary. As such, he’s likely to accept a minor league assignment if he’s not claimed. In that scenario, Tate would be eligible to become a free agent at season’s end unless he’s added back to the 40-man roster prior to that point.