Orioles quietly add breakout career minor leaguer to their 40-man roster ahead of trade deadline

This week, a series of under-the-radar roster moves resulted in the Orioles getting their hands on an interesting depth outfielder named Rudy Martin Jr. With Chris Bassitt still a ways away from returning from his "minor back surgery," the Orioles moved him to the 60-day IL. The clock started on that back in early June, and it looks like Bassitt won't be back until late August at the soonest, so that made a lot of sense for the Orioles. Around the same time that this happened, Martin Jr. triggered an upward mobility clause in the minor league contract that he signed with the Royals last year. The clause meant that Martin Jr.'s organization, the Royals, had to offer him to all the other teams in the league, and if any of them wanted to add Martin Jr. to their 40-man roster, the Royals would either have to send him to that team or add him to their 40-man roster.

With the Orioles recently freeing up a 40-man spot, they had room to add Martin Jr., and the Royals decided it wasn't worth it for them to DFA someone to make room for Martin Jr. on their 40-man roster. So now the Orioles have a brand new outfielder knocking on the door of the major leagues.  

The Orioles have a new outfielder in Triple-A

Martin Jr. is an interesting story. He was a 25th-round pick back in 2014 when the draft had that many rounds. Ever since then, he has been grinding for over a decade in the minors and in other leagues to get to the point where he is now, thriving in Triple-A within shouting distance of the major leagues.

This season between Double-A and Triple-A with the Royals, Martin Jr. has a slash line of .284/.414/.441. His promotion to Triple-A was recent, and since then he's played even better than he had been playing in Double-A pre-promotion. His Triple-A slash line is .385/.489/.590. The exit velocities are not impressive, and he doesn't have a single barrel, but his approach at the plate has been excellent, and his contact and hard-hit rates are very solid. He'd be an interesting changeup from the rest of the Orioles outfielders, who, outside of Taylor Ward, have all really struggled to make contact this season.

It'll be interesting to see if the Orioles use Martin Jr. to put some pressure on the Orioles outfielders currently underperforming on the roster. Having a player as hungry as Martin Jr. added to the 40-man could serve to send a message: "We don't care how highly regarded a prospect you were or how much money you're making, if you don't produce we'll give someone else a shot."

In addition to sending a message, it is always good to have guys on the roster who didn't have the red carpet rolled out for them on their way to the big leagues. Much of the Orioles roster is made up of former first or second-round picks who glided through the minors with ease. Having a career minor leaguer like Martin Jr. on the roster could be a reminder not to take this opportunity for granted.

If the Orioles either sell their veteran outfielders at the deadline or move some of their younger outfielders in a buy-low move, that could open up an opportunity for Martin Jr. to make his debut here in a couple of weeks.

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