A look at under-the-radar offseason moves

From the outside, Yennier Cano was a throw-in to the Jorge López trade. Danny Coulombe was a nondescript reliever not good enough to make the Minnesota Twins’ roster. Ryan O’Hearn was minor league depth with the potential to be nothing more than a bench bat.

During the 2023 season, though, Cano was an All-Star, Coulombe was one of the best left-handed relievers in the majors and O’Hearn was one of the Orioles’ best hitters.

The acquisition of each of those players went under-the-radar at the time. Cano wasn’t the top prospect the Orioles got back for López. O’Hearn was acquired in early January and then designated for assignment. Coulombe was added at the end of spring training as rosters were being set.

Is it possible the next Cano, Coulombe or O’Hearn was added by the team in similarly low-key moves this offseason?

It’s difficult to find diamonds in the rough as often as Baltimore did with those three players, but the organization went out and added four lesser-known players so far this offseason for a reason. Here’s how they could make an impact.

Nate Webb

Heading into the 2022 season, Webb was an intriguing prospect in the Kansas City Royals’ system.

With a high-90s mph fastball that touched 100 mph, Webb was coming off a season in which he struck out 37.7% of batters he faced. In 59 innings between Low- and High-A, the right-hander tallied 89 strikeouts — more than four times as many walks as he issued — and allowed just 40 hits. He pitched so well that Kansas City added him to its 40-man roster in the offseason to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Baseball America ranked Webb, who also sports a slider and a changeup, the Royals’ 26th-best prospect entering the 2022 season, but he struggled for most of the year, posting a 9.99 ERA in 33 innings and walking 15.2% of opposing batters.

Webb elected free agency at the end of the season and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates before spring training in 2023, but he missed the entire season after undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction.

The Orioles signed Webb to a two-year minor league contract as he continues making his way back from surgery. It’s unlikely Webb will play for the Orioles in 2024, but he’s a name to track once he returns to the mound and heading into 2025.

Sam Hilliard

In a matter of three weeks, Hilliard went from being an Atlanta Brave to being one of four players the Orioles avoided arbitration with at the nontender deadline.

The competition for the one or two spots behind outfielders Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander is shaping up to be one of the most competitive of spring training, and Hilliard is in the mix.

Hilliard, who is on the Orioles’ 40-man roster, has some advantages. He’s the most experienced of the group — his 717 MLB plate appearances are more than Ryan McKenna, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad have combined — and he can play all three outfield spots.

It’s not hard to see why the Orioles claimed Hilliard off waivers from the Braves in November. Despite inconsistent playing time with Atlanta in 2023, some of Hilliard’s tools jump off the page. According to Statcast tracking data, his arm strength and speed have both ranked in the top 10% at least one season during his career. Hilliard, who turns 30 in February, also posted an average exit velocity of 92.4 mph and a hard-hit rate of 48.7% in his 78 plate appearances last year — excellent figures in an albeit small sample size.

After posting a 1.006 OPS to end the 2019 season with the Colorado Rockies, Hilliard entered 2020 as the organization’s ninthbest prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He hit .213 with a .741 OPS in limited playing time between 2020 and 2021 before struggling mightily with a .544 OPS in 2022. He was traded to Atlanta in the offseason and hit .236 with a .725 OPS in the first half before missing the remainder of the season with a heel injury.

Hilliard also has experience playing in a large outfield similar to Camden Yards’ new left field. At Coors Field, Hilliard compiled 11 defensive runs saved in left field in just 377 innings. Manager Brandon Hyde is fond of having a bench outfielder who can provide flexibility, and Hilliard provides a left-handed hitting version of McKenna.

Tucker Davidson

Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias’ first addition to the 40-man roster this offseason was to bring in a pitcher with experience starting a World Series game.

The Orioles claimed Davidson off waivers in late October after the left-hander was designated for assignment by the Royals. Davidson doesn’t have the pedigree or resume of a World Series-caliber starting pitcher, but that doesn’t change the fact that his lone postseason outing in 2021 came as the Braves’ Game 5 starter against the Houston Astros.

When Charlie Morton was injured during the Fall Classic, the Braves replaced him with Davidson, who had started just five career big league games. The southpaw struggled in his two innings, walking three and allowing two runs, but the Braves would go on to win the World Series with Davidson on the roster.

Davidson, who turns 28 in March, made Atlanta’s opening day roster in 2022 as a starting pitcher but struggled and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels. Overall in 2022, he walked more batters than he struck out in 52 innings. After an up-and-down first half as a reliever in 2023, he was designated for assignment by the Angels and ended the season stronger with the Royals. He increased his strikeout rate in 2023 and cut his walk percentage in half.

Davidson’s main pitch is a hard slider at 85 mph, which he threw 44% of the time last season. But two pitches added to his repertoire in 2023 — a sweeper versus lefties and a splitter against righties — gives him weapons to get both sides of the plate out. While he threw his splitter just 63 times last season (mostly with Kansas City), he generated a 53.6% whiff rate on the pitch. For comparison, Félix Bautista’s splitter drew whiffs 60.2% of the time.

It’s unclear whether the Orioles view Davidson, whom they passed through waivers in November, as a starter or reliever, but his platoon-neutral profile would make him an interesting candidate should the Orioles need a lefty out of the bullpen.

Jonathan Heasley

The third player on this list to have Royals ties, Heasley might be the most likely to play a role on the 2024 Orioles given his recent experience in the big leagues and current spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster.

On Monday, Kansas City needed to create room on its 40-man roster and shipped Heasley to Baltimore for an 18-year-old pitcher in rookie ball. The 26-year-old righthander was a starter in 2022 and a reliever this past season.

Heasley, who turns 27 in January, sports a starting pitcher-esque mix with a mid-90s mph fastball and a curveball, sweeper and changeup.

In 2022, he went 4-10 with a 5.28 ERA and a well-below-average 15% strikeout rate. He spent most of 2023 in the minors, posting a 6.85 ERA as both a starter and reliever. In 12 big league relief outings, Heasley posted a 7.20 ERA and struck out nine batters across 15 innings.

Heasley fills an obvious need for Baltimore: a reliever who has minor league options.

The majority of the Orioles’ relievers either don’t have options or are too good to be optioned: Craig Kimbrel, Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Pérez, Cole Irvin, Jacob Webb and Mike Baumann. Because of that crunch, Heasley could provide the Orioles with more flexibility throughout the season as a reliever who can be shuttled from Triple-A to Baltimore.