The final weekend of spring training, Holliday is reassigned, and the sky is falling!
Good Morning, Birdland
Mike Elias and the Orioles’ front office have determined that Jackson Holliday still has a few things to learn in Triple-A Norfolk. Therefore, the decision was made on Friday to re-assign the top prospect to minor league camp, ending his hopes of making the Opening Day roster in 2024
If we step back for a moment, it is not a totally surprising call. Holliday just turned 20 this past offseason, and he has only 18 games of Triple-A experience under his belt. He’s already way ahead of schedule, and if we travel back to the start of camp, this always seemed to be the most likely outcome. As talented as Holliday is, he wasn’t going to be walking his way onto a roster that won 101 games a year ago. It would be a battle.
It’s not as if the Orioles are desperate for a second base solution either. Ramón Urías is no scrub, Jorge Mateo has spent some time at the position this spring, Jordan Westburg will probably get some innings there as well, and Kolten Wong is around (for now). Their combined output compared to the rookie version of Holliday probably won’t be too different even if the long-term expectations are clearly different.
But that is all still tough to square when considering that Holliday had a huge spring! The team gave him oodles of playing time, and he made the most of it, hitting .311/.354/.600 with two homers. He managed this while also handling a position change from shortstop to second base. And he was constantly the most exciting player on the field. There is no doubt that he is one of the organization’s 26 best players.
Now, calling this pure service time manipulation does not feel entirely fair. As laid out above, there are some understandable reasons why the Orioles want Holliday to get a little more seasoning. There is the position change to consider, but also his walk (6.3%) and strikeout (31.3%) rates this spring. Neither one was good in the spring, and that might only be exacerbated in a true major league game.
At the same time, it’s easy enough to see the Orioles doing the baseball math in their head. Sure, the team would get a draft pick if Holliday was on the Opening Day roster and then went on to finish high enough in Rookie of the Year voting. But Holliday would also then have earned an entire year of service time. What’s more valuable: a draft pick or one extra year of Holliday? It helps that Colton Cowser is around and could make his own run at Rookie of the Year, netting the club a pick regardless.
Of course, there is no guarantee that sending Holliday down right now prevents him from earning that year anyway. Adley Rutschman started 2022 in the minors, didn’t get the call until May 21, and then still did enough to earn Rookie of the Year votes and get his year of service time anyway.
What does seem certain is that Holliday—provided he stays healthy—will make an impact on the 2024 Orioles at some point. This is probably the only season in which Corbin Burnes will be in Baltimore. The organization needs to make the most of it. That means promoting Holliday if/when it becomes obvious that an upgrade is needed and his schooling in Norfolk are complete. Hopefully that comes sooner rather than later.
Links
Elias lays out reasons for Orioles’ decision to reassign Holliday | Roch Kubatko
Holliday did go just 2-for-14 against left-handed pitching this spring. There is some evidence to suggest he has room to improve.
Jackson Holliday is ready for the big leagues. The Orioles just aren’t ready to call him up yet. | The Baltimore Sun
Yeah, the title feels fair. But within the piece the writer indicates that the Orioles are prioritizing 2030 over 2024. I’m not sure that’s really true, but they are ensuring that Holliday plays for both teams. And the reality is that this roster is probably good enough without Holliday to win 90+ games again, but the bonus is that they will add him at some point!
Julio Teheran Plans To Exercise Opt-Out If Not On Orioles’ Roster | MLB Trade Rumors
The Orioles have only gotten Teherán into four games this spring, and the numbers aren’t great (9.1 innings, five runs, eight hits, five walks, seven strikeouts). Maybe he makes it so that the team can maximize roster flexibility early on, but they have other options.
Kolten Wong Triggers Opt-Out With Orioles | MLB Trade Rumors
Wong has been bad down in Sarasota (.185/.290/.296), and he was terrible between the Mariners and Dodgers last season (.183/.256/.263). It’s fine that he doesn’t want to play in the minors at this point in his career, but it doesn’t make too much sense for the Orioles to keep him on the big league roster.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- The late Lee May (b. 1943, d. 2017) was born on this day. He spent six solid seasons in Baltimore from 1975 through 1980, even earning down-ballot MVP votes on two occassions.
- Bruce Howard is 81 today. Born in Salisbury, the pitcher would appear in 10 games for his home state team in 1968.
- Sam Bowens (b. 1938, 2003) has a posthumous celebration. He played outfield for five seasons in Baltimore, from 1963-67.
This day in O’s history
It’s been a slow day in Birdland, according to Baseball Reference. So instead, here are some events that have happened elsewhere in the world:
1888 – The Football League, the world’s oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time in England.
1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa.
1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight.