Baltimore Orioles Roster: July Comings and Goings

Feb 28, 2014; Port Charlotte, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Nolan Reimold (14) bats in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in a spring training exhibition game at Charlotte Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles have had a number of recent transactions about which we may catch up with some thoughts and comments … doing so while game two of the Saturday doubleheader has begun. The first game was a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox with a walk-off blooper after an infield single and sacrifice … geez! Of course, if the Orioles could score more than two unearned runs in nine innings, the situation would not have been present. Good pitching stops good hitting again… more on all of this later.

A big roster move of course is the return of Manny Machado in game two after his five-game suspension has now been served. The big concern was how the Orioles were going to manage being without him and playing with a 24-man roster. They were 4-1. So much for that big worry. But he is now back, and it will be interesting to see if he can continue with the hot hitting displayed in the series of games just prior to the suspension. Let’s hope so, as it would make a huge difference in the lineup. The need for the Orioles is not just to have Manny back from the suspension, but to also have him back to Manny 2013 form.

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A pending resolution to the Nolan Reimold saga should be realized by the 10th at the latest. He has been designated for assignment after apparent attempts to find a trade partner failed. Any team who claims Reimold off waivers will be responsible for roughly one-half of his $1.025-million salary.

Conventional wisdom has always been that Reimold would never pass through waivers – that he is good enough that someone will claim the former second-rounder and top 100 prospect. But perhaps the salary and injury history will be just enough to squeeze him through successfully? I do hope so. Readers of this blog will not remember my long history of being a Reimold advocate, even in the face of his sad health history. He would appear now to finally and truly be beyond the issues … and yes, we’ve heard that before, I know. If he goes, I guarantee a day will come when the O’s see him down the road and he spanks our boys and we regret seeing him elsewhere. However, having written all of that, and given the surprisingly awesome situation with Nelson Cruz, Steve Pearce, and Delmon Young this year, there really is no better or different path that Dan Duquette should have taken. Reimold is a good guy, and I hope he can yet be an Oriole player at some point.

Also being DFA-ed was Michael Almanzar – the Rule 5 draftee who has gone back to Boston after his long injury rehab. It never made even the least bit of sense to me why the Baltimore Orioles would have an interest in this guy, even with the yet-to-be-fully-recovered Manny Machado at that time. My guess is that we will not likely hear of this fellow again, though, with all young guys with a dream, I wish him well.

As I write this, the Ubaldo Jimenez walk machine is working its poison tonight, but at least the bullpen was not used up in game one.

Being recalled to the Orioles also for game two is Preston Guilmet. In his previous stint this year with the Birds he pitched in nine games. He was not scored upon in six innings covering his first four appearances. But then he gave up six runs in the next 3.1 innings of work. His numbers at Norfolk this year feature 27 innings with a 4-1 record and 4.60 ERA; but a good note is that his WHIP is an excellent 1.09.

After the end of this second game, the current 26-man roster will need to see a reduction of one player. The most obvious choice would be Ramon Ramirez, so I would look for him to be used a bit before the night is over. Beyond this, another move will need to be made to get Kevin Gausman on the roster for Sunday. So Guilmet may well be gone on the shuttle back to Norfolk, whereas Ramirez would be a DFA.

It seems to Baltimore Orioles fans that the Birds are continuously making these moves at a level beyond other teams. I believe this is true to some extent, though less this year than in the last two seasons.

As a final unrelated note, the Fox announcers were just talking about what a tiny team is the Red Sox, meaning they have so many small players. It is so true. I remember in the last series pulling up their roster online while looking at the game to check out this very issue. Lots of little guys.

So, after three innings and five Ubaldo walks on a pitch count of 57, I’m going to concentrate on the game. Actually John Lackey has 58 pitches. It could be a long night.

Whoohoo… Nick Hundley with the bomb … ttyl.

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