Running out of options
Team preparing for season with less roster flexibility
SARASOTA, Fla. — Ryan McKenna was 2,000 miles away, but the Orioles needed an outfielder.
In August, Baltimore was playing in Oakland when Aaron Hicks was placed on the injured list, and the club needed to bring someone up from Triple-A. So they called McKenna, a frequent passenger on the shuttle between Triple-A and the majors, to join the club on the West Coast.
McKenna was with the Norfolk Tides in Memphis, Tennessee, and flew overnight to arrive in Oakland in the morning. Operating on little sleep, a jet-lagged McKenna started in right field that night and went 2-for-3 in an Orioles win over the Athletics.
It’s unlikely McKenna will be in a similar situation this season.
McKenna is one of several Orioles players who no longer have a minor league option. Baltimore can no longer send those players to the minors without designating them for assignment and trying to pass them through waivers — meaning the shuttle between Norfolk and Baltimore will not have all the same names as previous years.
As a result, the Orioles’ brass will have less roster flexibility in 2024 than in any year of the Mike Elias-Brandon Hyde era. It also adds a wrinkle in constructing the opening day roster, as players without options would be at risk of being claimed by another organization if they don’t break camp with the Orioles.
Nine players on Baltimore’s 40-man roster are out of options. No other MLB team has more than seven such players, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
“That is part of the business and it’s part of the game, and options and lack of options are part of the decision-making process,” said Hyde, who is entering his sixth year as Baltimore’s manager. “This year, we have quite a few guys that don’t have any options left. That’s going to factor into our decisions.”
Players have three minor league options when they debut in the majors. They can be sent down in three different seasons — up to five times each year — before running out of options. McKenna, for example, has appeared in 282 games for the Orioles over the past three years, but he was optioned to Triple-A in each season — a total of 11 times.
In addition to McKenna, the Orioles’ optionless players on the 40-man roster with under five years of service time are: relief pitchers Mike Baumann, Cionel Pérez and Jacob Webb; infielders Jorge Mateo, Nick Maton, Tyler Nevin and Ramón Urías; and starting pitcher Cole Irvin. MLB players with more than five years of service can reject being optioned to the minors.
Of the nine players, the only ones who are seen as near-locks to make the opening day roster are Irvin,
Pérez and Baumann. Webb is one of many relievers competing for one of the two open spots in the Orioles’ bullpen. Mateo, Urías, Nevin and Maton are competing for infield spots, while McKenna is in the mix for a backup outfield job.
“It is what it is. I’m in a place where I believe that stuff will happen for a reason,” McKenna said. “We’re going to have a good year, the Orioles will have a good year no matter what. I’m excited to be a part of that, that’s where my mind is. But if anything ends up happening, I’m going to work hard to do what I can.”
McKenna made his major league debut in 2021 for an Orioles team that went on to lose 110 games. Three years later, he looks around the clubhouse and sees more talent than a 26-man roster can hold. No matter how the Orioles make up their opening day roster, it’s likely that more than a handful of players who are big league-caliber players will be left off — a result of having one of the deepest 40-man rosters in the American League.
“It’s coming into fruition,” McKenna said of the rebuild he experienced. “That’s what organizations want is depth. If you call on somebody that you need and they’re not ready, that’s only going to hurt your team. Having those guys who are big league ready is huge for us.”
Webb isn’t new to the effects of life without a minor league option. The right-hander was out of options last season with the Los Angeles Angels, and when the club went all in at the trade deadline to acquire several big league arms, he was the odd man out. The Angels designated him for assignment in early August and attempted to pass him through waivers, during which he was turned down by 27 other clubs before the Orioles claimed him.
The 30-year-old quickly became one of Hyde’s most reliable relievers down the stretch before struggling in late September and allowing back-breaking home runs in Baltimore’s losses in Games 1 and 2 of the AL Division Series.
“In a way, yes,” Webb said when asked if being optionless alters a player’s mindset. “But you’re still competing for a spot. You’ve still got a job to do. You’ve still go to perform. It’s not a given. But it does make it a little bit harder on them because they have to take you off the roster, DFA you, all that stuff. As of right now, I’m just trying to compete and work on my stuff and, hopefully, I’m given a spot.”
Earlier in his career, Webb experienced the shuttle life as a bullpen arm with the Atlanta Braves. In 2021, before the new rule in the collective bargaining agreement limiting the number of times a player can be optioned in one season, Webb was optioned seven times in one season. He didn’t allow an earned run in 15 big league appearances between May 21 and Sept. 21 but was optioned six times during that stretch.
Teams do this — especially good ones — to keep their bullpens as fresh as possible, and the Orioles regularly utilize the flexibility minor league options provide. Right-hander Logan Gillaspie, who is no longer with the organization, was optioned four times in both 2022 and 2023. Left-hander Nick Vespi, despite consistently pitching well in both Triple-A and the majors, has been optioned the maximum five times in each of the past two seasons. On Wednesday, Vespi was optioned to minor league camp.
“That’s also kind of part of the process when you’re a younger guy, especially a bullpen arm,” he said. “They just shuttle you probably more often than any other position, to be honest, even if you are pitching well.”
The large number of optionless players doesn’t just affect the Orioles’ ability to maneuver during the season. It could also play a large role in determining who makes the opening day roster. Any players who don’t journey north with the club to begin the season — unless they’re traded — would need to pass through waivers before being assigned to Triple-A. For the majority of the group, it’s unlikely all of the other 29 teams would let them pass through waivers.
The option situation could be a factor in any close roster battles, potentially helping those without them and hurting those with them. Webb is up for one of the final two spots in the bullpen along Bryan Baker, who has one option remaining. McKenna is up against prospects Colton Cowser, Kyle Stowers and Heston Kjerstad for one, maybe two, outfield spots, but each member of the trio has minor league options, while McKenna doesn’t. The same goes for Mateo and Urías as they compete with prospects Coby Mayo and Jackson Holliday. On Friday, the Orioles reassigned Holliday, MLB’s top prospect, Mayo and Norby to minor league camp and optioned Stowers and Kjerstad.