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Baltimore Orioles: More Roster Movement And A Decision Deadline

By Nick Stevens

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MAY 9: Catcher Jesus Sucre #45 of the Tampa Bay Rays blows a kiss upward as he leaves the dugout and takes to the field at the start of a game Kansas City Royals on May 9, 2017 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MAY 9: Catcher Jesus Sucre #45 of the Tampa Bay Rays blows a kiss upward as he leaves the dugout and takes to the field at the start of a game Kansas City Royals on May 9, 2017 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /
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The Baltimore Orioles have either reassigned or released a handful of players, signed a new minor leaguer, and have a decision to make with one of their catchers.

After granting Alcides Escobar his release on Wednesday afternoon, the Baltimore Orioles have reassigned infielder Jack Reinheimer and RHP Josh Lucas to minor league camp, per MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko. 

Pitchers Omar Bencomo and Bo Schultz have been released and are now free agents. Both pitchers were signed right before camp to provide spring training depth and possibly find a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, neither have worked out for the Orioles.

Reinheimer put together a decent spring (.393/.414/.571 line with four stolen bases) but he isn’t on the 40-man roster. Hanser Alberto is, also plays multiple positions, and has drawn recent praise from manager Brandon Hyde.

As we previously mentioned, the odds of Reinheimer making the final cut were low, along with Jace Peterson. Peterson has survived to live another day in big league camp, but could very likely be joining Reinheimer in the coming days.

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The Orioles have seemingly been pretty active on Fridays over the past few weeks. Will we see a waiver claim come through before the end of the business day? It has been reported that general manager Mike Elias is paying close attention to the waiver wire and may have space available on the roster, depending on the health of Austin Wynns, Nate Karns, Mark Trumbo, and Renato Nunez come Opening Day.

One roster decision that must be made on Friday involves catcher Jesus Sucre. Sucre was signed on a minor league deal before spring training and brings with him highly touted defensive abilities. Visa issues caused a late spring start, but word out of camp has been positive surrounding Sucre, who can exercise an opt-out in his contract on Friday.

Sucre will make $850,000 if he makes the major league roster and has another opt-out in May.

Wynns has yet to return to the lineup after suffering an oblique injury a few weeks ago. It’s highly probable Sucre will remain with the organization and make the Opening Day roster as Chance Sisco‘s backup.

In other news, the Baltimore Orioles have signed Samy Apolinar to a minor league deal. Apolinar is a 21-year-old catcher turned first baseman who was with the Los Angeles Angels organization last year, playing for their Dominican Summer League team. The 5’11” left-handed hitter hit .174 in 55 games. That’s all I got on him. In case you are like me and follow the minor league system religiously, you can now say you have seen his name before.

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The Orioles take on the Toronto Blue Jays at 6 pm Friday night. The contest can be streamed in audio format on MLB.com.

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