Baltimore Orioles Sign a Handful of Free Agents to Minor League Deals
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Orioles have signed a handful of free agents to minor league deals, including former Orioles Ruben Tejada and Luis Sardinas.
The Baltimore Orioles have signed a handful of free agents to minor league deals. Among them are former Orioles Ruben Tejada and Luis Sardinas, as well as pitchers Jhan Marinez, Joely Rodriguez, and Jeff Ferrell.
Other signings include pitcher Ralston Cash, catchers Armando Araiza and Yojhan Quevedo, and infielders Angelo Mora, Garabez Rosa, and Erick Salcedo.
None of these moves are expected to make a major impact on the Baltimore Orioles roster, more than likely these players will either fill out the minor league rosters or compete for bench or bullpen positions.
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Tejada has had the most meaningful experience in the major leagues, playing with the Baltimore Orioles last year in 41 games and slashing .230/.293/.283 with 17 runs and five RBIs. He spent all of 2012, 2014, and 2015 starting for the New York Mets, though never really found much success offensively.
Sardinas also joined the Baltimore Orioles last season, playing in Triple-A Norfolk and slashing .319/.348/.419 with five home runs, 34 runs, 30 RBIs, and six stolen bases in 83 games.
As for the pitchers, Marinez has bounced around the major leagues, playing for the Miami Marlins, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s spent limited time in the major leagues but has had some reasonable success, posting a 3.70 ERA over 58.1 innings pitched last season, entirely out of the bullpen.
Rodriguez is a lefty and played for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, pitching out of the bullpen with a 6.33 ERA and a 6.00 K/9 over 27.0 innings pitched. Ferrell has spent his entire career with the Tigers up to this point and only pitched 9.1 innings with them in the majors last year with a 6.75 ERA.
Tejada and Sardinas will likely do battle during Spring Training for the Orioles’ bench utility spot as both were in the organization last year and Tejada was given a shot at the shortstop position while J.J. Hardy was injured before the Orioles acquired Tim Beckham at the trade deadline.
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The pitchers picked up will likely rotate in and out of the Baltimore Orioles’ bullpen as needed, though it’s unlikely any of them will make a big enough impact that they’ll stay in the majors for any significant period of time.