Good morning Birdland,
It’s been a busy 36 hours or so in the warehouse!
On Thursday evening, the Orioles acquired catcher Jake Rogers from the Tigers in exchange for minor league pitcher Zane Barnhart. Shortly thereafter, Chadwick Tromp was DFA’d to make room for Rogers on the big league roster. Rogers is another organizational depth option type behind the plate, but is apparently viewed as a slight upgrade over both Tromp and Sam Huff, and maybe even Yohel Pozo. The fact that the Orioles felt they
needed to upgrade that role (and were even said to be in the mix for Logan O’Hoppe before he was traded to the Rangers) may indicate that one of Adley Rutschman or Samuel Basallo is a bit farther from a return than we would like.
On Friday afternoon it was announced that the Orioles had agreed to an extension with right-handed reliever Yennier Cano. The deal buys out his final two years of arbitration for a total of $7.5 million, and then includes a club option for 2029 at a cost of $10 million alone. Cano has been rumored to be on the trading block recently. This extension shouldn’t necessarily change that, but it could allow the Orioles to ask for slightly more since he now comes with an additional (albeit costly) year of team control.
Soon after, the team revealed that Ryan Mountcastle had suffered a “pretty significant” oblique strain as he was preparing to play in his first rehab assignment following a broken foot that occurred back in April. The recovery is expected to take multiple months, meaning that Mountcastle’s season is probably over, as could his time with the organization. He has a $7.5 million team option for 2027, but it’s hard to see the O’s picking that up given how the last two seasons have unfolded.
On Friday night, the Orioles played an exciting game against the Phillies, clawing back from another deficit to ultimately win the game 6-4, thanks in large part to a clutch two-RBI triple off the bat of Gunnar Henderson. Paired with losses by the Guardians and Mariners, the Orioles are now just 1.5 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot with a 54-56 record.
And the latest news out of Baltimore came after the win, when it was reported that the Orioles were sending pitcher Dean Kremer to the Twins in exchange for 18-year-old outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes. The move is something of a shock given how dependable Kremer had been coming into 2026. But something clearly changed this past offseason. The Orioles bulked up their starting staff, which pushed Kremer down to Triple-A to begin the season. Then he missed two months with a quad strain. Since returning, he has struggled mightily, and was poised to be skipped in his next turn in the rotation. Instead, he will head to Minnesota and the Orioles will look elsewhere for rotation help.
Reyes was slotted in as the Orioles 20th-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. He slashed .296/.409/.541 for the Twins Rookie League squad this season, and had just been promoted to Single-A. He’s likely headed to Delmarva once he reports to his new organization. Reyes was originally signed for $322,500 as an amateur just last year.
All of this jives with Mike Elias comments to the media on Friday as well. He explained that the Orioles will not have “a strong bias toward being in one of those buckets, buyer or seller.” To me, that means expiring contracts, like Taylor Ward, Andrew Kittredge, and Trevor Rogers could be on the move, but I would imagine players under control going into 2027 will largely stay put. That could certainly change though.
The trade deadline is in two days.
Links
Not buyers or sellers, Orioles approaching ‘complicated’ Deadline with open mind | MLB.com
More from Elias on his approach to the deadline. Even things like a potential extension for Trevor Rogers gets brought up by the media. Elias doesn’t give anything up, but I would imagine the club has a few more moves up their sleeve before Monday’s deadline.
Orioles and reliever Yennier Cano agree to $7.5 million contract for 2027-28 | AP
Here are the details of the aforementioned deal with Cano. He will make $2.75 million in 2027, followed by $4.75 million in 2028. It’s a nice bit of certainty for a player that is older than most at this stage of his career. Cano is already 32 years old and still more than two seasons away from his first crack at free agency.
Mountcastle sidelined with pulled oblique, plus other injury updates | Roch Kubatko
A bunch of injury updates, including the headline note about Mountcastle. Rutschman will begin hitting this weekend and go on a rehab assignment next week. That would seem to set him up for a major league return next weekend, but we shall see. Basallo is further away, though he is throwing and will get back to hitting in the next few days. Elias says that the Rogers move is not indicative of how far either one is from a return, but it is good insurance.
Chris Davis’ Orioles career ended on a low. Only now can he appreciate the highs. | The Baltimore Banner
Davis was a really good Oriole, and anything I have ever heard about him as a person was positive as well. It’s nice to be past his late-career struggles so that we can all appreciate him for the amazing things he often did in the orange and black.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Adam Jones turns 41 today. The centerfielder became the face of the Orioles during an era that brought winning baseball back to the organization. From 2008 through 2018, he made five all-star games, won four Gold Gloves, and a Silver Slugger. He took his place in the team’s Hall of Fame just last year.
- Travis Driskell is 55 years old. Between 2002 and ‘03, the righty tossed 180.2 innings for the O’s.
- Tony Muser turns 79. He was the O’s first baseman for parts of three seasons from 1975 through ‘77.
- The late George Bamberger (b. 1923, d. 2004) was born on this day. He pitched in three games for the Orioles in 1959.
This day in O’s history
1993 – Orioles slugger Glenn Davis is knocked unconscious when Jeffrey Hammonds fouls a ball off into his own team’s dugout. Davis was already recovering from a broken jaw.
1994 – Cal Ripken Jr. becomes the second play in history to appear in 2,000 consecutive games as the O’s shut out the Twins, 1-0.
2000 – Mike Mussina throws the third one-hitter of his career and strikes out 15 as the Orioles beat the Twins 10-0.
2003 – The Orioles trade right-handed pitcher Sidney Ponson to the Giants in exchange for Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss, and Ryan Hannaman.
2005 – Rafael Palmeiro is suspended for violating MLB’s steroids policy. He had famously testified to Congress earlier in the year that allegations made by Jose Canseco about Palmeiro’s steroid use were “absolutely false.”
2023 – The Orioles acquire pitcher Jack Flaherty from the Cardinals , sending three prospects (Drew Rom, César Prieto, and Zack Showalter) back the other way.
