Baltimore Orioles: Birds Add Two Players To Their Minor League Depth

The Baltimore Orioles acquired both a Minor League infielder and pitcher in the past week.

In what were moves that flew under the radar, the Baltimore Orioles acquired two players to add to their Minor League depth over the past week.

On Tuesday the Orioles claimed RHP Tayler Scott on waivers from the Seattle Mariners.  He replaced left hander Sean Gilmartin on the 40-man roster and was assigned to the Norfolk Tides (AAA) where he will add another arm to their bullpen.

With the current state of the Baltimore Orioles pitching corps, arms are certainly needed in Norfolk.

The following day, the Orioles acquired infielder Patrick Dorrian from the Pittsburgh Pirates as the player to be named later from the May trade of RHP Yefry Ramirez. Dorrian will be assigned to the Frederick Keys (A-Adv.) once he is activated.

Scott, who was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB draft, has had a well-traveled career.  He was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016 following five seasons in the Cubs organization.  The Brewers traded him to the Texas Rangers in 2017 and the Mariners signed him after he elected free agency in November of 2018.

He comes to Baltimore from the Tacoma Rainiers (AAA) where he compiled a 3-2 record with one save and a 6.43 ERA over 35.0 innings of work.  Ironically enough, he was the opener in the Mariners’ June 20th game against the Orioles where he lasted just two-thirds of an inning.

Dorrian was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 12th round of the 2014 MLB draft and was subsequently released in August of 2014.  He attended Lynn University in Florida before being signed by the Pirates in June of 2018.

Familiar to the Orioles as a member of the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League, Dorrian hit .256/ .346/ .443 with six home runs and 31 RB’I over 64 games.  He is averaging a  strikeout and 0.4 walks per game, however.

Utilized primarily as a third baseman and DH, it will be interesting to see who Dorrian replaces on the Frederick roster.  Could this signal an end of the Baltimore organization’s patience with Jomar Reyes‘ who has struggled to develop?

These moves were in no way immediately earth-shattering but are in line with Baltimore Orioles General Manager Mike Elias’ goal of building the talent pipeline.  Moves like this are made in the hopes of bearing fruit in the future.