Baltimore Orioles: RHP Gabriel Ynoa Elects Free Agency

The Baltimore Orioles have removed another pitcher from the 40-man roster.

As the self-proclaimed former president of the Gabriel Ynoa fan club, I’d like to send a fond farewell and best wishes to the latest Baltimore Orioles 40-man roster casualty.

In a move announced Monday evening by the organization, the Orioles have removed Ynoa from the 40-man. He has cleared waivers and decided to test free agency instead of accepting an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

At the same time, Baltimore has reinstated RHP Alex Cobb off the 60-day Injured List, meaning the Orioles 40-man roster remains at 36, for the moment.

Ynoa had every opportunity to claim a rotation spot this season, but failed to capitalize. He didn’t fare much better out of the bullpen for Brandon Hyde and the Orioles, making him expendable as the O’s make room for Rule 5 draft-eligible prospects and potential low-cost pitching free agent signings and waiver claims.

Ynoa finished the 2019 season with a 1-10 record, a 5.61 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He struck out just 67 and gave up 29 home runs in 110 innings. He was worth -0.5 fWAR.

The Orioles sent cash considerations to the New York Mets for Ynoa back in February of 2017. Instantly becoming a Top 30 prospect in the system, Ynoa showed promise in his nine outings at the big league level that season, using his 93-94 mph fastball and wipeout slider to show just enough to keep the organization intrigued.

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Unfortunately, he missed virtually all of 2018 with injuries and wasn’t able to turn a corner in 2019. Ynoa would have entered spring training in competition for a rotation spot next season, but Mike Elias and the Orioles had other plans after going over their first year evaluations.

Now 26, Ynoa is sure to catch on somewhere as a minor league free agent, just not in Baltimore. He won’t be the last pitcher on the current Orioles roster to be moved, not surprising after the disaster that was 2019.

However, 2020 isn’t going to be much better. Until the young arms like Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, and Bruce Zimmermann are deemed ready (the three likeliest pitchers to make their MLB debut next season), the Orioles will continue to cycle through low-cost offseason pickups, waiver claims, and fringe major leaguers in hopes of finding enough pieces to build a workable bridge to better times.