The Baltimore Orioles keep adding depth

Photo: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Today the Orioles announced they have added another option at catcher by agreeing to terms with veteran backstop J.P. Arencibia. The former first-round draft pick spent most of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays before spending last season in the Ranger’s organization. Now, Arencibia will begin his career with the Orioles after inking a minor league deal and a spring training invite.

The move is hardly earth-shattering, but Orioles’ GM Dan Duqette has stated on numerous occasions that depth at the catching position would be priority this offseason, and he hasn’t disappointed. The Orioles have five catchers on their 40-man roster, not including Arencibia. If All-star Matt Wieters is healthy for opening day, there could be quite a crowd behind home plate this March, all fighting for the back-up catching job and possible the last roster spot.

Despite losing veteran Nick Hundley, who signed with the Rockies this offseason, the Orioles still have two hold-outs from last seasons in Steve Clevenger and Caleb Joseph. Clevenger is probably the long-shot to win the job. It seemed as if the Orioles knew Clevenger could hit at the major-league level, and his left-handed bat could have made a good combination with the switch-hitting Matt Wieters, who has historically hit better from the right-side. Unfortunately, the Baltimore-native’s defense wasn’t up to par with Buck Showalter’s expectations, and he lost the back-up job early last season.

It will be interesting to see what happens with last year’s starter Caleb Joseph in spring training. The veteran minor-leaguer flourished early last season after finally getting his chance at the Major-League level. However, his offense crumbled down the stretch when hit only .080 in September and failed to get a hit in 15 of his last 17 games. Despite his offensive struggles, his defense remained strong and allowed him to continue to garner most of the starts behind the plate.

The Orioles have also added veteran Ryan Lavarnway this offseason. The Orioles are familiar with Lavarnway after watching him the last few seasons with the Boston Red Sox. However, although he adds another veteran option for the Orioles, he has failed to solidify a role on a major-league roster the last few seasons, and is likely slatted for AAA Norfolk.

Despite only a minor-league deal, newly-signed J.P. Arencibia may now be the favorite to win the job. He has shown pop in the past, hitting 73 homers over the last four seasons. His signing could be an indication that the organization felt they needed more offensive production from the position than last season. However, there is no doubting how much the organization has emphasized defense from the catching position, and it’s unclear whether Arencibia can play to those standards.

The Orioles continued their relatively unexciting offseason today by adding another option for backup catcher. However, it’s obvious Duquette values depth, and throughout the course of a 162-game season many of these fairly unnoticed moves will probably prove tremendously valuable.