Baltimore Orioles: Trying To Make Sense Of An Overcrowded Outfield In Norfolk

The Baltimore Orioles recently added a fifth outfielder to their AAA affiliate Norfolk Tides’ roster.  The question is why?

The Baltimore Orioles recent acquisition of outfielder Keon Broxton has caused a ripple effect throughout their minor league system.

To make room for Broxton on the 40-man roster starting pitcher Alex Cobb was transferred to the 60-day IL and reliever Yefry Ramirez was DFA’d.

However, in my opinion, the move with the most significant effect on the organization was the Baltimore Orioles decision to option outfielder Joey Rickard to Norfolk to open a spot on the 25-man roster.

Rickard had one option remaining so he was a logical choice to be moved, the question is why Norfolk and what does it mean for the Tides’ outfield?

The Tides outfield currently is patrolled by Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, DJ Stewart and Mason Williams.  All four have spent significant time playing in the outfield.  Mullins, who was optioned to Norfolk on April 22nd has played 24 games in centerfield out of the 25 games he has appeared in, Santander has 35 games in the outfield out of 36 games played, Stewart has 35 games in the outfield out of 42 games played and Williams has been in the outfield in all of the 37 games he has played.

How exactly will Rickard fit into this situation, and what are the plans for this group of outfielders?

When looking at this group, all five have Major League experience and all but one, Williams, is on the Baltimore 40-man roster.  Additionally, Williams is the only one without options remaining so should he ever be called up it would have to be to stay; he could not ride the “Norfolk Shuttle” without going through waivers first.

Adding Rickard to the mix realistically means removing someone from the Norfolk outfield if everyone is expected to get regular playing time.

Some will say the obvious move would be to promote Stewart to Baltimore.  He is in the midst of a white-hot month of May in which he is slashing .476/ .532/ .921/ 1.453 with 14 runs scored, five home runs, 26 RBI and one stolen base in 18 games.

On the surface, this makes sense but where would you put Stewart and who would you remove for the current Orioles roster?

Trey Mancini and Broxton are permanent members of the outfield for the time being with Dwight Smith Jr. and Stevie Wilkerson in the mix as well.

Chris Davis simply clogs the roster and prevents moving Mancini out of the outfield unless he moves to designated hitter.

In addition to the depth on the current roster, the ultimate of Mark Trumbo from the IL further muddies the water.

Trumbo would probably start as the DH before possibly being put into the outfield.  His return will further block Mancini’s versatility.  The front office, led by general manager Mike Elias, has quite a few decisions to make in regards to the roster.

Simply put, there is no room for Rickard in Norfolk right now, and there may be no room in Baltimore either for any of the current Norfolk outfielders in the foreseeable future, Stewart in particular.

Some would counter the proposed promotion of Stewart by pointing out that offense is up all over AAA baseball since they are now using the MLB baseball and the fact that he has been hot for just a few weeks; can he sustain it is what would be said.

The bottom line is that the Norfolk outfield is overcrowded and that issue must be resolved one way or the other.