Baltimore Orioles continue to add to their camp roster with new additions

The Baltimore Orioles have signed several former major leaguers over the past few days, although none of them look poised to make the Opening Day roster.

Dan Duquette is continuing to make moves to fill out the Baltimore Orioles‘ rosters as the team approaches the full start to Spring Training.

Now, let’s not get too excited, or too frustrated. None of these players are expected to be major contributors. But, especially with the World Baseball Classic this year, there will be opportunities for some extra players to get reps.

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The Baltimore Orioles have signed Chris Johnson, Juan Francisco and Michael Choice over the past few days. On Wednesday, they learned that Francisco Pena cleared waivers, another positive development.

Let’s briefly review each of these players, their past experience, and rate them on their chance of getting to the majors, on a scale of 1-10.

Chris Johnson – Probably the most established of the bunch, we discussed the signing here.

Not only is it a good story of Johnson likely playing for his father, Ron Johnson, at AAA Norfolk, but if he makes the Orioles’ roster, the team will only need to pay him the league minimum as the Indians are paying his full salary.

Johnson is a career .275/.313/.404 hitter, playing for the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians and Miami Marlins.

Johnson struggled in Miami, hitting .222/.281/.329 with 5 HRs, 11 2Bs in 113 games. But, this is a guy who in other seasons has hit over .280 three times, and also is a guy who hits a lot of doubles.

With Johnson playing 1B and 3B, there won’t be many opportunities to make the roster. However, if J.J. Hardy would get injured, I would expect Johnson to be one of the first to be called up, with Manny Machado moving over to SS. Considering Hardy’s injury history, I would say this is not exactly unlikely.

Chance of playing for the Orioles – 5/10

Juan Francisco – Francisco is another player who plays the corner infield positions, and I would rate him behind Johnson at this point.

A career .236/.297/.439 hitter, Francisco has power, hitting 48 HRs in 2013 between Atlanta and Milwaukee. He also struck out 138 times that year. In 2014, his last year in the majors, Francisco hit 16 HR in 106 games for the Toronto Blue Jays, striking out 116 times.

Francisco played a grand total of nine games between the Japanese League and the Dominican League in 2015, and did not play in 2016.

Chance of playing for the Orioles – 0/10

Michael Choice – Choice has played a grand total of 96 games in the major leagues, with most of them coming in 2014 for the Texas Rangers. He is a career .188/.253/.320 hitter and is primarily a corner outfielder.

Choice spent the 2016 season in AAA Columbus, playing in the Cleveland Indians’ farm system. There, he hit .246/.304/.456 in 71 games, with 14 HRs, 39 RBIs, 11 2Bs and 33 runs scored.

Choice is 27, and a former top 100 prospect, so there is certainly a chance that he could find himself in camp with the Orioles.

My expectation is that he is another deep depth signing, and would be behind both Rule 5 players, Joey Rickard, Christian Walker and others.

Chance of playing for the Orioles – 0/10

Francisco Pena – Pena was not claimed off of waivers, and remains in the Orioles’ system.

This is good news. Sure, Pena has only played in 23 games in the majors, the majority of them (14) coming for the Orioles last season.

A career .191/.224/.255 hitter, Pena hit .200/.238/.275 for the O’s last year.

But, his ability as a backup catcher lies in his work with the pitchers. Dan Duquette, Buck Showalter and others were supporters of Pena’s catching ability.

I am a firm believer that he is not near passing Caleb Joseph on the depth chart, as Caleb is also supported for his defense, and is known as a better hitter.

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However, if an injury were to occur to Welington Castillo or Joseph, particularly early in the season before Chance Sisco can prove himself at AAA Norfolk, Pena would likely become the backup catcher.

Chance of playing for the Orioles – 2/10

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Baltimore Orioles continue to add to camp roster with new additions

By Nate Wardle | Feb 15, 2017

The Baltimore Orioles have signed several former major leaguers over the past few days, although none of them look poised to make the Opening Day roster.