Dwight Smith Jr. Richard Ureña Luis Ortiz Brian Gonzalez

From the time he was claimed off waivers in spring training in 2019 to the moment Ryan Mountcastle was called up to the big leagues in August 2020, Smith was the Orioles’ primary left fielder. He had his ups and downs, but he did a job for a team with the idea that it wasn’t going to be his job forever.

Smith signed a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds, and a switch to the National League in the old style with double switches and more opportunities off the bench might suit him better.

Ureña never appeared for the Orioles after being an offseason waiver claim and coming to spring training this year, but that’s notable in itself. He was a well-regarded young player with the Toronto Blue Jays and clearly had a role with the Orioles entering camp, but by the end of the first week of camp he was doing drills with the players ticketed for the minors and seemed to have made a poor impression.

He didn’t get invited to the secondary site at Bowie either and signed on a minor-league deal to go back to the Blue Jays this winter.

Speaking of homecomings, the former first-round pick of the Texas Rangers went back there on a minor-league deal after a lost 2020 with the Orioles. Acquired as part of the Jonathan Schoop trade with the Milwaukee Brewers in July 2018, Ortiz struggled in his major-league time — most recently in 2019 — and wasn’t in the mix this year.

Gonzalez never madethe big leagues after he was the Orioles’ first selection in the 2014 draft as a third-rounder, though he seemed to come close in 2020 as a reliever. Gonzalez went to rework his body and delivery at the renowned Driveline Baseball facility with fellow left-hander Bruce Zimmermann this offseason and earned rave reviews from player-development staff on his transformation this year.

Still, when he hit minor-league free agency, the opportunity elsewhere seemed too alluring. He signed a minor-league deal with a spring training invite early in the fall, a sign that there was quick interest in him. He would have been in a tough battle for a big-league role with the success of Paul Fry and Tanner Scott, but all sides would have likely savored him getting a chance here.