Good morning Birdland,
Opening Day is right around the corner, which means the Orioles’ roster is beginning to take shape. That continued on Tuesday, when the O’s “cut” more players, including top prospects Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo.
These were not surprising moves. Basallo only played in 21 games at Triple-A last year, and there was no path to playing time for him right now. Mayo, on the other hand, has spent significant portions of the last two seasons in Norfolk. He did enough in 2024 to earn a major league cup of coffee, but it did not go well (4-for-41, 22 strikeouts). And coming into camp this year it was tough to see where he fit unless an injury at first or third base took place. So far, that has not happened, and so he will go back to Triple-A.
Mayo is not happy about the demotion. He described it as “difficult,” a “lose-lose” situation”, and said that “it sucks.” Of course, being disappointed and being confused are two different things. You can be sure that Mayo is aware of the roster makeup and that his chances of making the team out of camp were remote. He’ll just have to force their hand with monster stats in Triple-A.
It will be interesting to see what the Orioles do with Mayo in Norfolk. He played 34 innings at first base in the spring and 33 innings at third base. The team does not necessarily “need” a player at either of those positions, but first base could probably do with an upgrade at some point. Ryan O’Hearn is in a contract year, and Ryan Mountcastle is still trying to find another level to his offensive game. It could be that Mayo is the long-term answer, but that remains to be seen.
In any case, sending Mayo back to Norfolk to begin the season will slow down his service time accumulation, and likely keep him under team control for an additional year. That does not seem to be why the Orioles sent him down. There are legitimate concerns, plus a possible position change on the horizon. But you can be sure that they are OK with hanging onto one of their prized youngsters for a bit longer.
Links
Suárez or Povich? O’s No. 5 rotation spot could go either way | Orioles.com
I am putting my eggs into the Cade Povich basket. He showed promise last year. He has upside. He’s left-handed. And he doesn’t really fit in the bullpen, whereas Albert Suárez does. It’s the logical conclusion.
The Orioles optioning Coby Mayo might be unfair. That doesn’t make it wrong | The Baltimore Sun
Is it even unfair? This is not a case of service time manipulation. Mayo has struggled when on the major league stage, and the team has solutions at his two positions right now. The only other avenue for Mayo besides this would probably be a trade to get a big-time pitcher, but that doesn’t seem to be an option right now.
Notes on Orioles non-roster invitees who remain in camp and their chances to stick | Roch Kubatko
Some good info here on the guys that find themselves on the fringes of the roster. Will any of them make it? Eh, probably not unless the Gunnar Henderson injury continues to linger.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Rocky Coppinger turns 51 today. He spent parts of four seasons with the Orioles from 1996-99, throwing 182.1 innings and accumulating a 5.68 ERA in that time. He was traded to the Brewers in 1999 for Alberto Reyes.
This day in O’s history
March 19th has been a slow day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. So, instead, here are some thing that have happened on this date beyond Birdland.
1918 – The United States Congress establishes time zones and aproves daylight saving time.
1965 – Teenage diver and pioneer E. Lee Spence discovers the wreck of a Confederate cruiser called the SS Georgiana 102 years after it was destroyed.
1979 – The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via cable TV network C-SPAN.
2008 – A gamma-ray burst referred to as GRB 080319B is detected 7.5 billion light-years away from earth, becoming the farthest object that is visible to the naked eye.
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