The Orioles are in agreement with righty Julio Teherán on a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). The deal comes with a $2MM base salary if he cracks the MLB roster for the Mato Sports Management client.
Teherán can battle for a rotation or long relief job with Baltimore. The 33-year-old started 11 of 14 big league outings with the Brewers a year ago. He allowed 4.40 earned runs per nine across 71 2/3 innings. Teherán showed excellent control, keeping his walks under the 5% threshold. He doesn’t miss many bats, though, running a modest 17.4% strikeout percentage behind an 8.9% swinging strike rate.
That was Teherán’s 12th big league campaign. The two-time All-Star has bounced between a few clubs since leaving the Braves after the 2019 season. He was blitzed for a 10.05 ERA with the Angels in 2020. Injuries kept him to one start for Detroit the next year and he was out of affiliated ball two seasons ago.
Teherán doesn’t throw particularly hard at this stage of his career. His fastball has steadily dipped over his major league run. He averaged an even 90 MPH with his sinker a year ago. While opponents teed off on that pitch, Teherán found a bit more success with his secondary offerings.
Baltimore has some questions at the back of the starting staff. With Kyle Bradish and John Means opening the season on the injured list, the O’s are down to Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer as rotation locks. Cole Irvin and Tyler Wells appear the frontrunners for the last two spots. Bruce Zimmermann and Jonathan Heasley are each on the 40-man roster as depth options.